Jane Lippincott - Editor 

U.S. Court Tennis Association

P.S. Summer does not officially end until September 22 at 10:29 PM EDT...or if you go by my calendar, you have until Columbus Day weekend. Whatever date you choose, enjoy!

1539. That's when work began on the Falkland Palace tennis court, one hour north of Edinburgh, Scotland. The court apparently has been in continuous use as a tennis court since it opened for play. Falkland Palace is a jeu quarre as opposed to a jeu a dedans in that it has no dedans or penthouse along that wall. It also has no tambour. Nor does it have a roof. What it does have, however, are four rectangular winning openings (called "lunes"), a winning vertical board in the penthouse corner of the service end (called an "ais"), and two entrance doors fitted in, fittingly, at chase the door! On a recent visit to Edinburgh, I had the great thrill to play a few sets at Falkland Palace as the guest of Peter Cuhasac, his son Jonathan, and the other welcoming members of the Falkland Palace Real Tennis Club. As you can see from photos, the floor is laid in separate stones (akin to Hampton Court but perhaps with wider joints). The walls are rather rough, and grab cut on the ball quite aggressively. To allow for the safety of visitors to the wonderful surrounding gardens, who might encounter an errant ball struck out of court, subdued signs are set out to signal that a game of tennis is in play.   I had the great stroke of luck to knock a ball through the upper left lune, taking a point. After 20 minutes of searching the gardens I found two errant balls but not the one that I had hit. Apparently these balls sometimes land in thick hedges and work their way down to the ground over time. Many thanks to Peter, Jonathan and the other club members for this special treat!