Lesson 3: The Kings Who Banned Golf
Here is a funny story about golf. Three different Scottish kings — King James II, King James III, and King James IV — all tried to ban golf.
Why? Because young men were supposed to practice shooting arrows — archery — to protect Scotland. But they kept skipping archery practice to play golf instead. The kings said: no more golf!
But people kept playing anyway. You cannot stop a game that people love.
And then — here is the really funny part — King James IV decided to try golf himself. He loved it. The king who banned golf became a golfer! After that, nobody tried to ban it anymore. Sometimes the best way to understand something is to try it yourself.
Three kings tried to ban golf. But King James IV eventually tried it himself, loved it, and the ban quietly ended.
Can you think of something that a rule said you couldn’t do, but you really wanted to do it anyway? How is that feeling connected to the Scottish golfers who kept playing even when the king said no?
Royal decree role-play: take turns being the king who makes a silly rule about golf and the commoner who argues back. Then swap. Use the most dramatic royal voice you can. After playing, write your own royal decree in your history journal: ‘By order of King/Queen [your name], the following rules about golf are hereby declared…’ Make it as funny or as serious as you like.
Role-play builds historical empathy more effectively than any lecture at this age. Keep it playful. If your child wants to argue the commoner’s case for ten minutes, let them — they are doing historical reasoning.