AXE-THROWING: Champion Morag's rivals in deep soapy again.

Byline: BY JACK McGRINDER

TAKE some marigold petals and a measured amount of Irish moss, add a little lemon grass and perhaps a sprinkling of cinnamon, grind it all together then stir over a low flame and see what you've got.

The basis of a reasonable bar of soap - good for the complexion and easy to make!

That, of course, is an idiot's guide to churning out bars of the stuff and, frankly, it might be a bit harsh on your skin, but Morag Paterson has an excellent line in home-made soap.

She makes a few bob from her genteel pursuit and she's well known for it in her home town of Dalry in Galloway. However, in her corner of the world she's better known as an axe thrower.

But don't go working yourself into a right old lather here, for Morag doesn't go about terrorising the locals under a full moon or anything like that. Nota bit of it, you see her chosen sport is axe throwing.

She's the Scottish and Welsh Open champion and she'll be defending her titles at St Asaph in Wales and Inverlieth Park, Edinburgh on the 4th and 11th of next month.

Morag said: 'I've been putting in a lot of hours practising and I'm determined to retain my titles but there are a lot of good axe throwers coming through.'

Axe throwing is a fast- growing sport and it attracts all sorts from butchers to bakers and-home made soap makers. In fact, policy-makers wouldn't have gone amiss in that last line.

For you'll never guess who might be going along to the 'Treefest' event at Inverlieth to try their hand at chucking axes. Some MSPs , that's who!

'We've sent out invitations to members of the Scottish Parliament,' Morag announced: 'And hopefully some of them will come along for lessons the day after the actual championships.'

To my mind, MSPs can be dangerous enough without teaching them how to throw a doubled-bladed weapon, but there you are!

'Sure, the axes are very sharp and they can be dangerous,' our alternative soap star declared: 'But no spectators are allowed behind the targets and a barrier is erected alongside and behind the throwers.

'The safety aspects of our sport don't vary greatly from archery. Also, as in that sport we aim at targets and ours measure four feet across with four rings and a bullseye.

Depending on where your axe lands you can score from one to five points.

'Contestants can throw from a distance of 20 or 40 feet, either single-handed or double-handed. Personally I prefer the latter.'

Most of the men use the one- handed method. But whichever way you prefer, Morag assured me that you get a real buzz out of axe throwing, a sport she got hooked on six years ago.

She said: 'A friend of mine has a woodyard and one day he invited me to have a go. I did and discovered I had a flair for axe throwing

CAPTION(S):

IN ON THE AXE: Even Franz Ferdinand's; Alex Kapranos has sampled throwing