The Muriel Sheldon Award is presented annually to the authors of the three best articles appearing in that year'sTay Valley Family Historian. The 2012 articles have once again been judged by Fife writer, Barbara Millar.

The winning article, which appeared in the October issue, is Alistair Macdonald’s A Game of the People. Alistair gives a thorough account of the rise of the game of golf in Scotland, from its first documentation in 1457. The article takes a good look at women’s participation in golf, how working class men in England eventually gained access to the game and how the game spread to the rest of the world.

The second placed article was also in the October issue of The Historian. Sandy Forbes unravelled a Longforgan War Memorial Mystery while researching the names of the men from the village who had died in World War I. Most of their histories were easy to find, but there was one man who was much more difficult to track down. Sandy discovered that his name should not have been there as he had not seen active service, let alone given his life in the Great War.

Richard Ian Ogilvie’s article, Henry Ogilvie, Vintner of Dundee, came third. It appeared in the February issue and as well as giving an interesting account of the life the author’s ancestor, the article superbly illustrates early 18th century life in Dundee.

Congratulations to the winners and our thanks to all the contributors to the Journal throughout the year. Special thanks to Barbara for agreeing to adjudicate the competition for the third year running. Members who would like to read the articles again, but have mislaid their copy, can login and download the issues at http://www.tayvalleyfhs.org.uk/members/the-historian.

Why don’t you send in an article?  You could be the next winner!

27 February 2013