Neil Stewart, age 14, of Springfield, ore., for his question:

Where did the game of golf originate?

Mary, queen of scots, was seen playing golf a few days after the murder of her husband. Later, Scotland banned the game to encourage archery, which was needed in national defense. But the king was caught breaking his own law. When the ban was lifted, sunday golf was forbidden but even this was too much for the golf loving scots. However, they agreed to stop playing during the sunday sermon. The king, the shoemaker and almost every other Scot was a golfer.

The Scots claim to have originated golf and history proves their unbounded enthusiasm for the game. Long ago, they may have taught it to the english and the dutch. In the 1700s, golf clubs were started in both Scotland and England, but the rules of the game were set by the St. Andrew’s golf club of Edinburgh, founded in 1754. Primitive golf was played by the Romans and perhaps by idle shepherds whacking pebbles with their Crooks  but the Scots made the rules and carried their enthusiasm for the breezy game around the world.