MikeC:
You know, of course it is old ground to go over and we've all been there many times before discussing and arguing what Wilson and his committee's roll was with Merion East and what Macdonald/Whigam's may have been, but I appreciate that you reviewed the meaning of terms used by these men back then, particularly when they wrote about specific events and the terms they used to describe them.
Again, I bring up what was meant with specific events with the use of the term "laying out."
As you point out by quoting from David Moriarty's essay on Merion, "The Missing Faces of Merion" he virtually hinges his entire logic, assumption and conclusion that Macdonald/Whigam must have routed and designed Merion East and Wilson and his committee could only have actually constructed (built) the course to that Macd/Whigam "plan" on the fact that the term "laying out" must have meant the actual BUILDING of the golf course, the actual construction of it in fact! (He even offers an Oxford English Dictionary definition of the term "laying out" to apparently try to prove his point).
His clear implication therefore is that Wilson and committee could not have been involved in routing and designing the course on a paper plan if the term "laying out" was used such as in 'we laid out a plan.'
But, you know, Mike, a time-line is a very beautiful thing in how it can virtually prove the accuracy or in Merion's case the virtual lack of accuracy of this claim that Moriarty is making as to what "laying out" actually means or meant to those men involved with Merion in 1911.
"Your committee desires to report that after laying out many different courses on the new land, they went down to the National Course....."
and,
"On our return, we re-arranged the course and laid out five different plans. On April 6th Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Whigham came over and spent the day....."
So what does the use and beauty of a timeline prove when one considers the meaning of a term like "laying out courses" or "laying out plans" in the context of Wilson and his committee or Macdonald/Whigam? Well, when one fits the known and agreed upon dates into the puzzle or question, it's totally obvious; proof, in fact.
No one has ever said, or ever claimed, that Macdonald/Whigam had a thing to do with Merion or Wilson and his committee between June 1910 and the visit to NGLA which according to a letter from Wilson himself can be proved took place in the second week of March 1911.
But yet the wording of Wilson's report to the Board, given by Golf Chairman Robert Lesley in the middle of April 1911 proves that Wilson and his committee "LAID OUT many different courses" before the second week of March 1911 (the next and only second time Macd/Whigam became involved with the Merion project) and "FIVE DIFFERENT PLANS" FOLLOWING their NGLA visit. In neither case was Macdonald on hand at Merion to help them do this. Again, no one claims he was, not even the essayist Moriarty (although who the Hell really knows what he may "claim" next?
). No newspaper or magazine does, no report does, nothing does or ever has!
But the most telling point that proves the words and term "laying out a plan" could not have meant in this case with Merion, the actual constructing or building of a golf course to a plan, is that no course, no plan had yet even been considered or approved by the Board of Directors of MCC. Therefore when Wilson himself used those words and terms ("laying out numerous courses" and "laying out different plans") to describe what he and his committee had been doing throughout the winter and spring of 1911, the Merion timeline proves that no actual building had yet happened and wouldn't happen for at least a couple of months!!
Of course I'm now assuming that no one would be silly enough to claim that Merion was actually out their building and constructing a golf course BEFORE their Board of Directors of the club considered and APPROVED (and obviously funded) what the golf course was to be!
I make that assumption while always understanding that some people, and one or two in particular, on these Merion creation threads have made some remarkably silly claims!
When the TIMES various events TOOK PLACE are agreed upon by analysts considering some situational subject (in this case Macdonald/Whigam only saw MCC and the Wilson Committee three times---eg June 1910, at NGLA for two days in the second week of March, 1911 and the last time for a day on April 6, 1911) what a bullet-proof TIMELINE can prove is a very beautiful thing indeed!
Therefore, with the case of the meaning of the term "laying out" with Merion East it could not possibly have meant to those men involved with Merion East JUST the actual CONSTRUCTING or BUILDING of the golf course. It had to mean the routing and designing of it FIRST on a paper plan that we know existed from Wilson and his committee because the board meeting minutes state that paper plan was ATTACHED (the m.m.s state "attached here-with") to Lesley's Board report in the middle of April 1911 to be CONSIDERED by the club's board for APPROVAL.