Fifty years of athletics

EDITORS' NOTE
I
T
has been truly written that " of the making of many "
books there is no end," and in issuing this volume in
commemoration of fifty years of activity in the administra-
tion and development of amateur athletics in Scotland, the
Scottish Amateur Athletic Association adds itself to the
increasing number of those who desire through the medium
of the printed page to mark an important epoch in their
life-story.
Owing to the loss of the minute books of the earliest
years of the Association it is not possible to give a complete
narrative of its origin : nevertheless an endeavour has
been made to present a coherent story of its fifty years of
existence. The Editors beg to acknowledge with gratitude
the contributions made to this publication by Messrs.
W. Reid (" Diogenes "), J. K. Ballantyne of Walkerburn,
W. Maley, and William A. Whitton, Inverness. Further
acknowledgment is also gratefully made to athletic club
officials and others for facilities given by them for the
reproduction of many of the illustrations.
Especial thanks are also due to Messrs. J. Gilbert,
T. Jack, and J. McCulloch (all ex-Presidents of the
S.A.A.A.) for their valuable collaboration in the compila-
tion of the statistical section.
To those whose privilege it is to gaze down through the
mists of the past years this book may help to illumine the
memories of their youth, whilst to those whose vision is
directed towards the future may it prove a real inspiration
to carry on a service so ably begun and to sustain a tradition
so worthily created by their predecessors.
KENNETH WHITTON
DAVID A. JAMIESON
,joint Editors
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