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Though the links have been designated as common land since the twelfth century, control over them has historically been turbulent. When the Town Council went bankrupt in 1797, the land was used as a bond for security on a loan. Part of the agreement allowed the bond holders to sell the links, and they did so later that year. This triggered one of the darker periods for the course.
Two years later the land was sold again, to the Dempster family, merchants who saw an opportunity to raise rabbits for meat and pelts. But the rabbits soon overran the links. When members of the Society of St. Andrews Golfers (the forerunner of the Royal and Ancient) saw the ongoing destruction of the golf course, they began killing the rabbits, claiming the Dempsters had contravened the rule of the sale “that no hurt or damage shall be done thereby to the golf links.” The Dempsters asserted that of the 280 acres they farmed, only ten were part of the golf course, and that they should not be prevented from pursuing a legitimate commercial enterprise.
The Rabbit Wars continued in and out of court until 1821, when James Cheape, a significant local landowner, bought the rights to the links from the Dempsters and deeded it to the Society of St. Andrews Golfers. Cheape said afterward: “I am confident that in putting an end to all future litigation, I am rendering a service to my successors as well as to the Society. . . . Gentlemen, I have saved the links for golf!
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