: Liegeieireen: VT Makes . partys stares ore Soe Pe eeegees a THE UNIVERSITY _ .., . «< OF ILLINOIS a LIBRARY \..| - Return this bo | | Latest Date S&S | University of Illinois Library | FER 7 1978 ok on or before the tamped below. ; UV ; Oh 194! em 3 Gi MARY 4.1931 SEP| 1 5 1994 L161—H41 BIRITGH, OR RUSSIAN WHIST. Ce a a a a VALUE OF THE CARDS. The value of the cards is the same as at short whist. oF . Tricks are taken. in ‘the same manner, and the odd tricks, over and above six, are counted as at short whist. METHOD OF PLAYING. There are four players as at short whist, the cutting for partners, shuffling and dealing is the same, except that no card is turned up for trumps. The dealer, after the cards have been looked ‘at, has the option of declaring the suit he elects for trumps, or of saying ‘‘ Pass,” in which latter case his partner must declare a suit for trumps. [Entered at Stationers Hall} Pebble bie PAMPHLET. 5 £886. Facsimile Reproduction, | | | i ; ee BIRITCH, OR RUSSIAN WHIST. | In eitheae ‘case of the dealer or his. part jooleiae the one declaring may, instead of declarin trumps, say “BIRITCH,” which means that the hands shall be played without trumps. After the declaration of trumps, or “ BIRITCH,” either of the adversaries may say “CONTRE,” in which case the value of all tricks taken is doudled, _ the dealer or his 5 Seat may however ete may goon ‘until one side ceases to Pie a the previous ° “SUR CONTREING.” ‘When. the deci eatian has bce: ae and the ‘“CONTREING’? and ‘SUR CONTREING ”” os oe leads a ees Then the partner of the deates exposes all his s cards, on the table, which are played by the dealer - as at Dummy Whist. . No suggestions as to play may be made by the one standing out (Dummy) to the dealer. A revoke counts the same as at Short WEES but the exposed hand cannot revoke. A misdeal does not change the deal, but in such cases the cards must be re-shuffled, re-cut, and re-dealt. | -eenearesamunvanananneaiene anette ioneneiestaeceeaneenotntivonnasenetie nt — cca neeciiominecenanans ae Ree Ne eee eT Te oN Ne noses rao NE Toten rete oS THE BIRITCH: “PAMPHLET, ieee: 3. eiapishetasn:nslen tienes Nimans ARTA LLL AIO | | BIRITCH, OR RUSSIAN WHIST. Lacy setaysaaatatesi sheen ens t NET LER EAA LA A EN ALL LDA LLL EL LAA LEAL . After each rubber there is a fresh cut for partners. GAMES. AND RUBBERS. A game is won by the first side which scores in play 30 points. The honours do not score towards the game. The Rubber consists, as at Short Whist, of two games out of three. _ SCORING. The edd tricks count as follows :— If‘ Birrrcn ” is declared . . . . each 10 points. » “ HEARTS” are madetrumps. . 5, 8 13 et Sa DIAMONDS Ad o3 $3 Bicak * +? 6 b> ” CLUBS é sate $y oS ys 4 » +s) SPADES ** a % aa ke) If all the tricks are taken by one side they add 40 extra points. This is called “ GranD SLAMM.” ‘If all the tricks but one are taken by one side they add 20 extra points. This is called ‘ Petit SLAMM.” The winners of each rubber add go points to their score. This is called ‘* ConsoLATION.” tiie OLR E Cre PAM PALE Te. 15386. Facsimile Reproduction. _ essen stonccecnai Nee see iy senate nha Stes in nent eronetaciein haretoncomeRe tong BIRITCH, OR RUSSIAN Waist. cae nts oennt cnet minnvii sie ne neni te sen rec aceon exons toate scone arena ee There are four honours if “ Brritcu” is declared, which are the four aces. Equality in aces counts nothing, | 3 aceS . 5 ss sw te mS trie, 4 oe = 4 4 » inonehand. . . = There are five honours, viz :~-Ace, -Knave and Ten, if trumps are _declar Simple honours (3) . = 2 = 23 a 2 : 4 -y, (in one hand) = | 35 2% - |. - other ae except that hee do not ffec the | or rubbers, and are not doubled by a ‘CONTRE. . If one hand has vo trumps (umes having ee declared) his side, in case of it scoring honours, adds — the value of simple honours to its honour score, or, case of the other side scoring honours, the value of simple honours is deducted from the latter’s honour score. This is called “ CHICANE.” cc peice icon nC OOS RAS RtN RN ORE RE Nooo enoofne i asRnNNoRerDARRRRNSRSeSO THE ,BIRITCH PAMPHLET, * 1886. A cn Reena RNa: Bible PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST BY O. PAUL MONCKTON . London: THE WEST STRAND PUBLISHING CO., Ld. :: 1913 PREFACE In putting forward this series of short essays on the history of various pastimes, the writer hopes that they may be of interest to more than one _ section of readers. A great many individuals make some particular game their chief amusement or hobby—and incidentally it is universally recognised that every human being should have a hobby; but the endeavour is usually confined to the acquire- ment of a sufficiency of skill in the pastime of their choice. In this way only, does the pleasure derived become a real recreation both to mind and body. No doubt some do acquire a vague presentment of the history of the game which has cast its spell over them. It would be extraordinary if this were not the case. But it is only the very few—those blessed with the “historical mind ” combined with ~ a considerable modicum of leisure, who will labour “to invest themselves with any exact historical narrative. There must be many in the former category, who would be glad to obtain such know- -ledge in a general form, if only it could be conveyed °40 them in a short essay of sufficient interest and without the burden of dry historical record, technical minutise and petty detail. This is the spirit in which this collection of essays 3 fo, SG68255 4 PREFACE was written. No claim is made for the publication of very much matter which may not be found—by those who know where to look—stored away in a dark corner of some dusty shelf. Indeed the Badminton series of volumes on sport, contains much of interest in the shape of early history. But in most of the essays something hitherto unpub- lished may be found. An effort has, however, been made to collect and collate the chief points in the history of the various pastimes, and to connect them into a readable narrative, sauced here and there with anecdote and quaint instance: and if any reader, on glancing through an essay, felt that he had obtained thereby a renewed zest for his hobby, the writer would be well content. In conclusion the writer would wish to express his thanks to the Contemporary Review, Times, and other papers, in which some of these essay shave previously appeared. O. Paut MonoxktTon. 11, Vicororta STREET, S.W. June, 1913 CONTENTS . Tae History or “‘ BRIpGE ”’ . THE CONSTITUTIONAL HiISTORY OF CHESS . LITTLE-KNOWN SPORTS AND PASTIMES: . “ Kutine ” . THe EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL . [THE History oF BOWLS AND SKITTLES . CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL . GOLF . THe IDENTITY OF CHESS AND PLAYING CARDS . PAmME on LAWN TENNIS . THe History oF PLAYING CARDS XII. BILLIARDS AND CROQUET . ; Liv 139 167 186 213 236 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS BrgpiIrcH PAMPHLET. ; . ‘ Frontispiece FACING PAGH ‘* BERSERK’? CHESSMAN y z . é - 32 “Cock THROWING” . : ; ; 48 ‘““RBowLs IN THE OLDEN Days”’ “ ‘ PreLis “OrEAG’’?: CRICKET IN THE FOURTEENTH CentuRY 128 GoLF IN THE Low COUNTRIES ; ‘ fe . 144 A TypE oF SKITTLES . : ; ‘ - ge TIE Tue Eient or ‘ Men” ; ‘ : ‘ 2 208 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST I THE HISTORY OF “BRIDGE” THE most extraordinary fact about Bridge, the most popular card-game yet invented, is that its history should be so obscure, although the age of the game cannot be much more than fifty years—an age with which few players will be inclined to credit it, but which is quite small when compared with such hoary veterans as chess, bowls, or even playing-cards themselves. It is commonly, but erroneously, supposed that Russia is the country responsible for the up-rearing of this infant prodigy—a mistake, which arose in all probability because the first little pamphlet, which is known to have been published on the subject of “* Bridge ” was entitled “ Biritch, or Russian Whist.” The history of this pamphlet has been investigated by the writer, as far as he was able to trace the very meagre clues which the author of this work left behind him; and at the same time inquiries, whose results are here recorded, have been made in Denmark, Russia, Turkey, Greece, and elsewhere : —countries, which various authorities have given, at different times, as the birthplace of the game— in order to see if it was possible to find any traces, 9 10 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST written or otherwise of Bridge: and also to dis- cover what the word ‘ Bridge” itself means, and to what language it belongs. The proper location of this word would be regarded very generally as the final criterion in settling the whole dispute on the subject of the origin of Bridge. The game in some of its details is similar to a good many other card-games which, in various countries and at different times have found a clientéle amongst devoted card-players. Mr. Dalton, in “ ‘Saturday’ Bridge,” tells us that there is a Russian game called “Ieralasch,” or ~ Teralache,”’ which resembles Bridge in a few particulars; and certainly the games “Siberia ” and ‘¢ Preference,” the latter a game known in America as well as in North Europe, do bear some likeness to Bridge, but only in a few details. A Swedish game, “* Vera,” also bears a certain resemblance to Bridge, but this game is for three players only. Vera would seem to be more of the nature of Auction Bridge than anything else, and may indeed have suggested this latter game; but a Swedish gentleman, who knew both Bridge and Vera assured the writer that he considered the latter was the better and certainly the harder game to play; yet, in spite of this assertion, which no doubt was partly in- spired by patriotic sentiment, an inquiry elicited the response that the native game Vera was slowly, but surely, being driven out by the foreign—and orphan—importation. The result of the inquiry has been curious in that every country has been drawn blank ; and not only so, but that every nation seems only too anxious to deny parentage to a card-game which, THE HISTORY OF “ BRIDGE” 11 amongst all others, whist included, has obtained a greater hold of the popular imagination than any . other card-game yet invented. Why this should be so the writer cannot attempt to explain, but the fact remains that, from the correspondence now in his possession, none is willing or in the least anxious to accept the responsibility ; all seem only too ready to shift the burden on to another, usually England, the country which, so far as Western nations are concerned, has certainly acted as the cradle of the game, though, in all probability, she cannot claim for herself the honour of birth. Found- ling though Bridge may be, none will deny the sturdy growth which the game has attained in a few short years. The writer of the article in the “ Encyclopedia Britannica” (Tenth Edition) on the subject ‘‘ Bridge”’ gives Denmark as the country in which this game was first played, but in the Eleventh Edition ac- knowledges that the country of origin is doubtful. An inquiry in Denmark only brought to light a Danish pamphlet, dated 1892, in which a game called “ Boston ” was described, which the writer’s cor- respondent thought was the forerunner of the game of Bridge. This game of Boston, he was told, was invented in America at the time of the War of Independence, but no authority was given for this assertion, which is extremely dubious. Nor did the game appear to have any special resemblance to Bridge, beyond other card games of the “ Pre- ference” type. It would be interesting, however, if the original authority for stating that the game was of Danish origin could be produced. One gentleman assured the writer that the game could 12 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST never have had its birth in Denmark, because the Danes are an agricultural race, and not much addicted to card-playing! A search in Russia, Greece, and Turkey, together with inquiries ad- dressed to those, who, from their position might be considered most likely to know, elicited nothing in the shape of published matter or MSS. on the subject of Bridge. It can, the writer thinks, be accepted that no written record of the game is to be found, at least in any of these places which are open to the inquirer, such as the Public Libraries and Clubs; although private records may yet pro- duce their evidence as to the exact origin of Bridge. Perhaps in the future some scrap of parchment may be found with the original rules of Bridge written thereon in Turkish, which seems from all the evidence available, the most likely country of © birth; but until this event takes place, the exact manner in which this game came into existence, must be added to the sum total of those mysteries, a search into whose depths adds so much to the joy of living in this world of to-day. We are thus thrown back, so far as any written history is concerned, to the small pamphlet, “ Biritch, or Russian Whist,’’ which is the earliest known publication on the subject. This pamphlet consists of a double sheet of buff paper about 6 in. by 4 in. It was published in February, 1886, by Messrs. Blandford Low & Co., of 34, Lime Street, E.C.—a fifm whom the writer has been unable to locate, with a view to tracing the history of the little pamphlet. The author, supposing this individual to be identical with the holder of the copyright, was one Mr. John Collinson, whose address is given THE HISTORY OF “BRIDGE” 13 as 90, Cromwell Road, but who no longer resides there; and should these words by any chance strike the eye of this gentleman, or of any one who was acquainted with him, it would be most interest- ing to try and discover how this pamphlet came to be written. Inquiry in Constantinople has thrown no light on the mystery of its origin, although the pamphlet is supposed to have been compiled there ; but at this distance of time such a trifling—as it then seemed—occurrence would be quickly for- gotten. It would appear as though the Fates themselves were leagued in their efforts to add the name of Bridge to the list, already large, of those pastimes whose history is lost in the hazy distances of time. But it is a mistake to suppose that only one copy of this work is in existence, namely the copy in the British Museum. The writer has himself held two of them in his hand at the same time—one in the possession of the Cambridge University Library, and the other in private possession. The Librarian of the Oxford University Library, has been kind enough to inform the writer that the “ Biritch”’ pamphlet lies, properly filed, on their shelves. This makes four copies in all; and now that attention has been drawn to the matter, further copies may come to light : but wide advertisement has failed to bring to notice any further copies of this rare pamphlet. It would appear possible that this pamphlet was reprinted. The copy existing in the Cambridge University Library, which would be one of the earliest copies issued, and similar to the one in the British Museum Library, is printed on a thicker and darker coloured buff paper than the copy which 14 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST came into the writer’s temporary possession from private sources. The private copy 1s printed on a much thinner type of paper, lighter in colour than the first copy; which makes it appear that the demand for the first edition caused the publishers to bring out a second in a cheaper form. The meaning of the word “ Bridge > must have puzzled many players. It is almost certain that the word is a phonetic corruption of the word “ Biritch,” with which this pamphlet is headed ; and by deduction from the wording of one of the paragraphs, it would seem that its author con- sidered that, when a player went no trumps, he went ‘ Biritch.” This, of course, may be, and usually is, considered the meaning of the word ; but as this pamphlet was written at least twenty years after the game is known to have been played, it may perhaps be considered doubtful whether the author attached the correct meaning to the phrase ; but rather, as is so often the case in the history of games and pastimes, that the word had come to be used in a sense which it did not originally mean. The phrasing, however, of the pamphlet caused the writer to inquire whether the word—or any similar phonetic expression—could mean “ without trumps,” by no means an impossible supposition, because the prefix “bi” in some Oriental languages, such as Persian, Hindustani, and Turkish, does mean “ without.” Unfortunately neither Turkish, Greek, Tartar, Russian, nor Danish furnishes any word for “ trumps ” which could be construed into “ ritch ” or any phonetic equivalent. In modern Greek, the native word in use for a trump is, apparently, “ kozi,” and “to trump” THE HISTORY OF “BRIDGE” 15 appears to be “tsarko,” although the French “ atout ’? is commonly used, neither of which bears the least resemblance to “‘ritch.”” Again in Turk- ish the word for a trump is ‘“‘ goz ’’—which leads to a dead end. Incidentally the French “atout’”’ is quite common in both countries, Another gentleman assured the writer that the word Bridge was originally pronounced Braitch— rhyming with the English letter H—but Pro- fessor Browne of Cambridge has most kindly informed the writer, in reply to a communication, that, so far as he is aware, by search and otherwise, the Turkish language possesses no such word as “Biritch”’ or ‘“‘ Braitch”’; and not only so, but that the general form of the word hardly suggests the Turkish language. This gentleman suggests, however, that the word may be a corruption of the Turkish Bir-uch meaning one-three, and so Bridge would mean the “ one-three ’”’ game—an admitted guess, whose excellence is so obvious that it will hold the field until the proper meaning of the word is ultimately discovered. The Tartar language contains two words—" Biriich,” meaning a wolf, and “ Bir- intch,” a town-crier—both equally impossible. It will thus appear that the origin of the word must be considered dubious until such a time as a linguist appears who knows all the Levantine languages and dialects, and who might be able to locate such a word as Bridge appears to be—whether “ Biritch,” “ Britch,” or “ Braitch.” While speaking of the origin of the word, it might be worth while to give a story which has gained some credence, but which sounds more like the Magic inspiration of some despairing bachelor at 16 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST the dinner table than any sound basis for the origin of the word. Somewhere in Leicestershire, two neighbouring families were supposed to be living, who were both acquainted with the charming and delightful game. of Bridge. They used to visit each other’s houses, which were at some small distance apart, on alter- nate evenings for the purposes of play. The dis- tance between the two houses was, however, much shortened by a short cut over a stream spanned by a dangerous, rustic bridge. At the end of the evening’s play, so runs the tale, the guests would say to the hosts: ‘‘ Thank Heaven, it is your bridge to-morrow ”—meaning it was the turn of the hosts the following night to risk their necks crossing the ‘dangerous bridge. In this way it is supposed by some credulous persons the game derived its name. Mr. Dalton, in his “ ‘Saturday’ Bridge,” from which the above tale is taken, tells us that he received a letter from a well-known Greek gentleman in London, saying that the writer of the letter, when a young man in Manchester in the early sixties, remembered his father playing a game similar to Bridge. It can be taken, as a consequence, that the game is at least fifty years old; and, coming from such an undoubted source, it seems fairly’ certain that the game was imported from some Levantine country; but as the modern Greek language contains no word anything like Bridge, it would be difficult to assign the honour of inven- tion to Greece. It is curious, however, that the game did not spread from Manchester at this time, if it was played in Greek circles in Man- chester; and we can only presume that, strangers he THE HISTORY OF “BRIDGE” 17 . in a strange land, the Greek Colony preferred to play their own game amongst themselves, rather than to try and teach, what is, after all, none too easy or simple a game to learn, to others, with whom they came in contact in business or pleasure. It is very generally supposed that the game was first played by the Russian Corps Diplomatique in Constantinople, but there appears to be no founda- tion in fact for the statement that it was the Corps Diplomatique who invented the game. It would seem much more probable that some members of this august body may have learnt the game locally ; and, becoming enamoured of the new “ invention,” have introduced it to others—perhaps to this very Mr. John Collinson, who thus derived the erroneous impression that the game was of Russian origin. Played though the game may have been in Man- chester in the early sixties, it was not from this source that Bridge took such firm hold of the popular imagination. It is a well-known episode in Bridge History how Lord Brougham first intro- duced the game into the Portland Club in the autumn of 1894, although Bridge was known and played in America at this time, having been introduced from Paris about a year previously. This was the point from which Bridge started on its career of triumphal progress, a career which has continued uninterruptedly ever since. M. Jean Boussac says that Bridge was introduced into Paris from England about 1893, and quotes the Figaro, November 26, 1898, to prove this state- ment. Doubtless Bridge was played in private circles in London before 1894, especially by those whose relatives had come in contact with the game 2 18 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST in Egypt and elsewhere in the Near and Far Kast. Those who are interested in this particular aspect of Bridge History, cannot do better than read the chapter on the “Evolution of Bridge” in Mr. Dalton’s work. Referring once more to the pamphlet “ Biritch, or Russian Whist,” it will be gathered that we are not sure if the rules there given are the authentic rules of the game, or on what authority they are based; not that it is possible or even reasonable, to suppose that any recognised card authority existed at the time of compilation, in Constan- tinople or wherever else the pamphlet may have been written. The work bears the impress of care- ful collation—more for the sake of putting forward the principal points of the game, than of making any attempt at being a complete compendium of rules. This bears out the generally accepted notion that the pamphlet was written with a view to spreading a knowledge of the game amongst English players, in very much the same way that Mr. Barbey did for American players some years later. The most striking differences between the rules as here published and the game as now played, is that in which a trick in No Trumps is made to count 10 instead of 12. This is certainly as it should be, because 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 form an arithmetical pro- gression; and also the score for honours in a no trump declaration, as now reckoned, is 30 for three aces and 40 for four aces (in two hands). If 12 were the correct figure, then these two numbers should be 36 and 48 respectively, because it is definitely stated that three aces in one hand or four aces in two partners’ conjoint hands, are to score respec- | THE HISTORY OF “BRIDGE” 19 tively, the value of three or four tricks. No definite number of points, per se, was assigned to the values of the different honour scores at any time, either in a no trump or suit declaration; as a result, in this case, 10 is clearly the correct figure. The manner in which 12 came to be sub- stituted for 10 is not known; but the change is certainly a Western innovation, and one which has all the appearance of being accidental. It is all the more curious considering that the score for aces, aS honours in a no trump declaration, re- mained as originally intended. Again the honours score for four aces in one hand, in a no trump declaration, is valued at 8 tricks. This would make 80, and not 100, as the correct sum to add to the above-the-line score under such circumstances. Possibly this alteration was caused by a preference for the round number, 100, to the ‘“‘ odd’ number 80; or more probably, the multiplier 10 was chosen to bring the no trump honour score—when all possible honours were held by one person—into line with the suit declaration, so that no matter whether a suit or no trumps were declared, 10 should be the multiplier when all the honours were held by one person. This, however, in itself must have been a later alteration, because, again, it is expressly stated that 5 honours in one hand are only to score 9 tricks; at any rate this is only another point in favour of the theory that 10 is the correct figure for the value of a trick in no trumps. No doubt the alteration from 9 to 10, when all honours were held in one hand, was made to get over the difficulty of the occurrence of one partner holding four honours, and the other partner 20 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST one honour. The scores for Great and Little Slam remain as they are now. It may interest many to know that “‘Slam (alias Honours)” are two old card games which, according to Cotton in “The Compleat Gamester,’’ were so simple and childish. as not to be worth description—they were probably a kind of ‘‘ Beggar my Neighbour ’”—but the origin of the word itself is not known. It is merely another instance of the way in which a word, in this case meaning, originally, a definite game of cards, has come to mean a particular episode in another game—in this instance another game of cards. The rules of Bridge were first definitely compiled by a joint committee of the Portland and Turt Clubs in 1895; since that date they have been revised more than once, but only in minor par- ticulars, the original excellent foundation, based on the ‘‘ Biritch ’’ pamphlet and on the experience of the different members of the original rules com- mittee, being found sufficient for the purpose of controlling the game. The history of Auction Bridge is the study of the growth of a sturdy offspring from a full-grown parent, whose chief fault lay in the fact that the declaration was always in the hands of the dealer, As a result the dealing side was given a decided ad- vantage in every game, an advantage which was hardly compensated by the ordinary rotation of deals. The game is said to have been invented in India, about the year 1902, by three Indian civilians, who were taking holiday at some distant hill- station, of such barrenness that no fourth player was procurable at any price, for the making of the fourth necessary member of an ordinary Bridge THE HISTORY OF “BRIDGE” 21 table. That the hill-stations of India are fairly populous places, most people with any experience of India will agree, especially stations where three Indian civilians might be expected to foregather ; it is only possible to suppose that the inventive three had gone off on some expedition, where no other European was available. Most Europeans can play Bridge, in India, at a pinch. The tale goes that after playing ‘‘Cut-throat”’ until they were weary, the three proceeded to try and devise some new game for three, which might offer fresh points of interest to their tired brains. The idea of bidding for the deal occurred to one of them after several unsuccessful efforts at novelty had been tried and cast aside. Acting on this inspiration (which may have been borrowed from “ Vint’), a game was developed, which has gradually spread over the face of the earth under the name of “ Auc- tion Bridge.” The Bath Club at one period laid claim to the in- vention of the game about the year 1906, and in a manner which was imitative of the way in which the game really did originate as has just been described. The late Mr. Oswald Crawford was the first person to mention the game, in a letter to the Times of January 16, 1903. It is there described as the “new game of Auction Bridge for three players.”’ As this gentleman had been out to India only a little while previously, it would seem probable that he first heard of it, and incidentally played it, in that country, and then, on coming home to England, wrote about the game in the columns of the Times. At that time Auction Bridge did not catch on in ~ 22 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST England. Again in 1906, Mr. Crawford wrote an article in the Daily Mail describing more fully the game of ‘“‘ Auction,” and, as the date of this article coincides approximately with the date when the Bath Club laid claim to prior invention, Mr. Dalton has supposed that this was the article from which the members of the Bath Club drew their inspiration. Auction Bridge was a three-handed game as first devised. Perhaps it may have been the Bath Club which stoppered the new wine of the three-handed Auction Bridge principles into the old bottles of the conversational and conventional four-handed ordinary Bridge. Every one knows that three makes no company. As originally designed the bidding was confined to the first round, though it is probable that the dealer was allowed two bids; while it was possible for the opponents to halve, as well as to double, whatever declaration might have been made. This is an aspect of the game which has quite disappeared, and so far as the writer is aware, has never been present in ordinary Bridge. All kinds of absurdi- ties would have arisen if the halving principle had been permitted to remain, after the declaration had been allowed to proceed round and round the table until every one was satisfied. ** John Doe,” the well-known Anglo-Indian writer on “ Bridge,” was the first author to publish a work on the subject of “ Auction.”? This book was printed and published by the Pioneer Press at Allahabad in 1904. It will be thus seen that a published work on the subject was extant at least a year before the claim of the Bath Club, with regard to the invention of the game, was made; but it & THE HISTORY OF “BRIDGE” 23 must be admitted that this club can claim to be the home of the game in England for two or three years after introduction. Auction Bridge did not “ take on” with the same dynamic inspiration which marked the introduction of the parent game into Clubland, but a few short years previously ; it spread more slowly, but none the less surely. Mr. Du Cane is credited with introducing the game into the Portland in 1908, where it took root and spread, largely to the exclusion of ordinary Bridge; and from that day to this, Auction has been disseminated far and wide, attaining a degree of popularity, which threatened to oust the older game, not because of any intrinsic superiority, but because the element of chance is certainly present to a greater degree than in the older game, and thus makes Auction Bridge appeal to those, a con- siderable majority of humanity, who prefer to trust to their luck, rather than their skill. In ‘“‘ Auction Bridge Up to Date,” Mr. Dalton has a good deal of information, which was given to him by Mr. Jessell, the great card historian; and no doubt, in times to come, the names of the three civilians who first invented Auction Bridge will be chronicled in letters of gold in the archives of the Portland and Bath Clubs—the former of which is the acknowledged home of card-playing in all its varieties. But it must not be supposed that Bridge, either Auction or ordinary, has reached the utmost limit of its evolutionary changes, Fifteen months ago (March 29, 1912) an article appeared in the Daily Mail from the pen of Mr. Diehl, advocating wholesale changes in the art of Auction Bridge. 24 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST One of these proposed changes is put forward, avowedly, to “stimulate the bidding,” or in other words to make the game still more of a “ gamble ” than it is at present. The suggestion is—that only 12 cards should be dealt to each player, and that the last 4 should be taken, looked at by the highest bidder, who keeps one himself and distributes the others, one each to the three players at the table. It is true that many writers on “ Bridge” try to make out that Auction is no more of a “ gambling ” game than ordinary Bridge. But the fact remains that the course of evolution of all card-games has been in the direction of additional ‘ stimulation,” so as to increase the element of chance in a particular way. By limiting the stakes, the maximum sum won or lost can be kept within bounds; but this limitation does not make the revised game any the less gambling in spirit. Chess is the only game— except draughts, a game which has been exhausted i.e. all possible combinations have been worked out— in which the element of chance is entirely absent ; an all-sufficient reason to account for the popularity of this game in the past, and assuredly in future ages. But the writer does not agree with Mr. Diehl that, either with or without his proposed alterations, Auction Bridge will endure for “‘ some decades at least.”’ In that period other alterations will have been made; and in a century’s time, the game will have been altered out of all knowledge, and will be known in all probability by quite another name. Such has been the fate of almost all games of chance; especially when the fickle goddess is allowed to assert her sway, as the years roll by, to a greater and greater extent. II THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF CHESS Lost in the dim distances of the long-forgotten past, the history of the origin of chess—the most ancient of all games, beloved alike by king and peasant—has formed the theme of many learned writers. Historical research on this subject has been carried out by savants of all ages and nationalities, both Western and Eastern ; but in spite of the most strenuous endeavour, up to the present moment, the exact manner in which this game came into existence is buried in complete oblivion. Nor is it likely that future ages will be any more successful in elucidating this problem than present or past generations. | This is all the more remarkable considering the world-wide ubiquity of the game. Chess, with the very slightest alteration in its form, is known throughout the length and breadth of the world, civilised or uncivilised. The balance of evidence tends to show that chess is Indian in origin. The ordinary Hindustani word in use for chess is “ shatrang,” which in reality is a Persian word, but which is in colloquial use throughout India. The word “chess” is a mere corruption of “‘shatrang.”” But “ shatrang ”’ itself . derived from a still more ancient Sanscrit iti ag OS anata all 25 26 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST We are thus led to the belief that, although the chess of medieval and modern Europe was un- doubtedly derived from Arabic or Persian sources, yet India was the real cradle in which the game was nurtured. The words “ check ” and “‘ mate,”’ mere phonetic equivalents of the Persian words “Shah” . = a king, and “ mat’? = he is dead—the king 1s dead—are conclusive proof of the Persian origin of the game so far as its introduction into Western countries is concerned. Interesting, however, as the philology of chess may be, the history of the game itself, and of the different pieces of which it is composed, is of still greater interest, for its own intrinsic value as well as for the study of contemporary constitutional and military history which is thus afforded. Up to about the ninth century of the Christian era by far the largest part of the population of India adhered to the Buddhist religion. The recent event of the finding of the crystal casket, containing certain bones of Gautama the Buddha, in the Pesha- wur district, incidentally emphasises this fact; an event of considerable historical importance, which may have been passed unnoticed, except by those in close touch with the most recent archeological discoveries in India. The ancient Buddhist faith positively forbade the shedding of blood; and, indeed, predicted a far severer punishment in the world to come to the soldier than to the murderer. The ancient Pundits reasoned that a murderer, generally, would only slay under the impulse of the moment or under some sudden provocation ; but that the soldier went out to battle with the fixed intention of slaying: he CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF CHESS 27 killed in cold blood—and was guilty of the greater crime in consequence. But at the same time, the cravings of human nature for strife—that bump of pugnacity which is marked to a greater or less extent on the cranium of every member of the human race—was not overlooked; and of all the theories which have been advanced as to the origin of chess, for it must be remembered that the exact origin is quite unknown, the most plausible appears to be that the ancient Buddhist priests invented the game, so that the natural fighting instinct of mankind might find an outlet without transgressing the Buddhistic commandment. In the light of the early history of India, which, in the main, is one long procession of invasion, rapine, and murder, this theory may seem fantastic ; but it must be remembered that the Buddhist priests were wont completely to shut themselves off from the world in some secluded spot, in their en- deavours to follow the rigid teachings of their founder; and it is by no means impossible that, finding the fundamental fighting instinct of humanity was an almost insuperable barrier to their inner strivings, these priests attempted a solution of the problem by the invention of the game of chess. In attempting to unravel the history of chess it is a most unfortunate fact that the climate of India is an unfavourable one for the preservation of ancient manuscripts. Old manuscripts seldom lasted more than four hundred years. For this reason copies had to be made in order that the ancient writings might be preserved. Two grave sources of error are thus opened out— 28 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST inaccurate copying in the various transcriptions, and interpolation by the scribe; the latter person- age was often no doubt a young Pundit, who would be naturally wishful to put forward his own views. These reasons, in themselves, are sufficient to account for the obscurity of the origin of the game ; and for these same reasons it is highly probable that this origin always will remain hidden, even from the most learned and energetic worker of any subsequent generation. It might be mentioned in passing that the Hindu- stani and Sanscrit word “ chatauranga ” is used to mean “chess”? in the most ancient MSS. extant. This is an additional fact going to show the probable Indian origin of the game. So far as it is possible to rely on ancient MSS. the game has not always been played with sixteen pieces ; and although the movements and even the names of the different pieces have varied considerably in the course of the last ten centuries—particularly about the fifteenth century—yet in its main essentials the game as now played is the same as it was in the days of long ago. It is very doubtful whether the original chess was a four-handed game, played with dice, as some have supposed. The essence of the game clearly points to a military origin, where chance would be elimin- ated, and where the natural sequence of events, the result of worldly experience, would produce two, rather than four, battling hosts. Apart from this, the confusion which would result from four. inde- pendent sets of chessmen playing on the same chess- board would be almost inextricable, while the evidence, furnished by the names of the pieces, points CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF CHESS 29 to the same conclusion. The fact that the move- ments of the pieces in the earliest days of chess were not the same as they are now would not alter this conclusion: although it is known for certainty that some form of four-handed chess did exist in early times. Throughout the ages these moves have not greatly varied. The chess-board is most certainly the same, though it was not until the sixteenth century or thereabouts that the surface was chequered black and white. The king, the most important piece on the board, on whom the whole game centres, was said originally to have been subject to capture; but under these conditions the method of conducting the game is not quite clear, because in modern chess the capture of the king terminates the game. Pos- sibly all pieces and pawns had to be captured before the game was finally won. At this early period, the king could make three moves at a time in any direction, and in addition could make a knight’s move, in order to avoid capture. He was, indeed, the most powerful piece on the board; for, at the same period of history, the queen, or rather the piece which corresponded to the present queen, could only move one square at a time in a diagonal direction. Castling is, comparatively speaking, a modern innovation. It replaced the king’s knight’s move. The history of chess appears to have followed the constitutional history of India with some exactitude as regards the development and powers of the various pieces. The word “ queen,” it should be remembered, is somewhat of a misnomer; the 30 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST original word was “ firz,” or “‘ farz,” which means a “councillor” or ‘‘ generalissimo ” of the male sex. In many Indian States—Nepaul is a good example at the present moment—the real power lies in the hands of the Prime Minister, who is also, in the particular instance cited, the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. It might seem possible that as the real power slowly slipped from the hands of the ruling monarch himself, and became vested, gradu- ally, in the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief —a, position which, curiously enough, is hereditary in some cases—the game of chess was altered to meet these altered circumstances. Thus the king, stripped of most of his offensive power, still remains the most important person, whose capture ter- minates the game; but in his fighting capacity he no longer exists on the board, the whole of his powers being handed over to his chief adviser. The reason why the “ firz ”’ should have developed into a female in modern chess is an interesting study in comparative history. Certain it is that in no country in the world do women occupy such an inferior position in every-day life as in India. They are child-bearers and nothing else. It is impossible to think that this change can have ~ been Indian in origin. The most feasible explana-_ tion, and the one which will bear the closest examina- tion, is the following: The word “ firz,” or “ farz,”’ became corrupted into “‘firzia,” or “farzia” as the game spread westwards. Various similar forms are to be found in medieval MSS. The game of draughts is also very old ; perhaps the Greek reooo are the direct lineal ancestors of the present game. The game of draughts was well known in Kurope, CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF CHESS 31 particularly in France, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and in its method of play did not differ materially from the game as at present played. The French word for a draught is a “ dame,” a corrupt form of the German “ damma ”’ = a draughts- man. In common English, however, “ draughts- man,” and not “ draughtswoman,” is the word in general use. In draughts, when a “ dame ” reaches the eighth square, it becomes a queen or king. In exactly the same way when a pawn in chess reaches the opponent’s side of the board, it becomes a “farz,” or “farzia.”’ The femininity of the most powerful piece on the board can be accounted for by the close resemblance of the two games in this particular. Indeed, old MSS. are extant in which the words “regina”? and “ ferzia ”’ are used indis- criminately, meaning a “queen.” ‘This fact practically confirms the curious confusion of origin. It may be that the intellectual coterie of some by- gone age intended a delicate compliment to a great militant queen by the alteration to the sex of _ the king’s chief adviser in the military game of chess. Some indeed might say that, at the present day, such a compliment would not be out of place— due, however, to the ephemeral glory of those Amazons, the Suffragettes. Some authorities have it that the queen derived her great power from a similar analogy to the game of draughts. But the history of the other pieces, except, per- haps, the knights, is not so clear. The two knights are Obviously the horsemen of the contending hosts. Horses are to be found all over the East. But the meaning of the “ two hops and a jump ” move by which these mounted warriors career over the 6 - 39 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST board is obscure. It may be conjectured that, after the castle and the bishop had been assigned their moves (in the early days these two pieces could only move two steps at a time either straight up and down the board or diagorially across it—moves which have been of the same type throughout all the suc- cessive centuries) some different move had to be found for these horsemen. As a result, the fertile brain of the inventor conceived the strange move, which is a stumbling-block to so many beginners. The fact that in the earliest days neither queen, bishop, nor castle could sweep the board in the manner they do at present, must not be forgotten in the search for the origin of the quaint knight’s move. The pawn is the common foot-soldier; as first arranged, a pawn could only make one move at a time, straight forward, even for his first move. The reason for the double step which a pawn can make at will, when moving from off his own square, is probably to be found in the fact that the game was thus more quickly opened up. The word ‘““nawn”’ is identical with the common Hindustani ‘‘ neon,” or private policeman. The bishop is a most interesting piece. The Arabic word which represents a “bishop” is ‘¢ Alfil >—otherwise Aleph-hind, the Indian ox. But the Arabic alphabet lacks the letter “p.” As a consequence the Persian word “pil” = an elephant, became “ Alfil,” or “fil,” as it 1s some- times written, in Arabic. . Elephants are to be found all over India, and undoubtedly formed a part of the fighting lme in battle, as Carthaginian history clearly indicates. ISLE OF LEWIS CHESSMAN. “ Beserk, biting his shield.” 12th Century. From the British Museum. ‘ OF THE. ITY OF | UNIVERS 2. i e Pee ‘ < 4 . = : si . CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF CHESS © 33 © Also elephants do take the place of bishops in some Indian sets of chessmen, and the writer has himself _ played with such a set. Oxen have never, probably, found a place in the line of battle, though they would be common enough in the commissariat department of the armies of old. If the Hindustani word ‘‘ Aleph-hind”’ is to be accepted as only meaning an “ox,” a difficulty arises as to the Indian origin of the piece as well as of the game itself. The word may have meant any large beast, and possibly bore a special significance, when used in connection with the game of chess. The elephant origin certainly appears the most probable. Bishops could only make two steps at a time along their diagonals, but, like the knight, could jump over the intervening piece. The curious result followed that two opposing bishops of like colour moving on the same diagonal could never attack one another. It was not until the sixteenth century that such revolutionary changes in the movements of the king, queen, bishop, and, in fact, of all the pieces, except the knight, were adopted, as exemplified in the present condition of the game. The bishops may be of French origin. In the early days, the fighting bishops, crusaders, and other fighting religious devotees, formed one of the most important elements in any army, and doubtless were incorporated in the game of war, when elephants were no longer used in battle; and possibly as a compliment to the fighting prowess of the ancient religious fighting orders. The rook or castle is a very doubtful quantity. The earliest parchments refer to this piece as a 3 34 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST ‘“rukh,” a Persian word, meaning a “ knight com- mander ’’—a superior kind of person to the ordinary knight—but as the balance of probability indicates an Indian origin for the game itself, as also for the men, this derivation should be received with some caution. If ancient history can be taken as a criterion, which certainly appears a justifiable course, the rook might have degenerated from the war chariot. This deduction is strengthened by the writer’s experi- ence in Rangoon, related below. Chariots were quite usual as weapons of warfare in all countries of the world, and although they died out before the power of Rome reached its zenith, yet Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor would not be such favourable countries for the use of a vehicle of this description in warfare as the flat plains of India. A very long period is thus left—much longer than in the case of all the other pieces—for the action of confusing influences to baffle the efforts of subsequent in- quirers in their historical research. One of the most ancient Sanscrit manuscripts alludes to the four great divisions of a fighting army as horse, foot, elephants, and chariots; and, additionaily, the Sanscrit word for a chariot is ‘“‘ratha.” Thus the four great elements in chess, knights, pawns, bishops, and castles, would correspond to these four ancient types. Possibly “ratha” and “rukh” are allied. The move of the castle, which has been the same throughout all history, points to the same con- clusion. Ancient chariots had no traces; the horses were only attached to the central pole. As a consequence there must have been a great deal of CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF CHESS — 35 difficulty in wheeling them, especially in the mad excitement of battle, when the animals would be more difficult to control. May it not be that the straightforward motion of the chariot is reflected in the direct motion of the castle of the present day in its solid swoop up and down, or across, the board 2 Perhaps the modern castellated form is also derived from the French, a change rendered desirable to suit the altered conditions of warfare. It is a pity, however, that in the military game of chess, where every piece possesses both an offensive and defensive power, due to the particular moves assigned to each, a stationary object, such as a castle, should have formed the image upon which to model the original ‘“ rukh,” the earliest known chariot. An explanation may be found in the con- fusion which would arise should both rook and knight be represented as horsemen on the same board. It would be difficult to differentiate one from the other; but if this were the case, it is a still greater pity that the chariot form did not re- appear in substitute, so as to preserve the ancient origin of the game. Some authorities have it that the rook or castle of to-day, is the elephant of the chatauranga of long ago; and that the castellated form is due to the howdah, adorning the elephant’s back, the elephant itself having disappeared. Against this, however, the etymology of the word rook must be set, which is undoubtedly the equivalent of the Sanscrit Ratha = chariot. A short time ago the writer had a curious experi- ence in one of the by-streets of Rangoon, which, so far as it went, confirmed the “ chariot ” theory 36 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST of the castle. Quite by chance he stopped before a native shop, and, to his surprise, saw a dozen men—all natives, but of every nationality—seated round a chess-board. Out of curiosity he stepped within, and was promptly made most welcome, an unusual experience after the bazaars of India. He sat down and watched the game in progress for a few minutes, but it was the chessmen themselves which attracted his attention particularly. Made of ivory and teak, these old men were battered and broken almost beyond belief, but the original form could still be distinguished, in spite of great disfigurement. The bishops were quite obviously elephants; but the knights, king, and queen had nothing remarkable about them. It was the castles which struck the eye at once. They appeared like a small three-sided box with sloping sides, mounted on stands of a much later date than the “ box ” structure itself. The fourth side of the box wag non-existent altogether; but the chariot form was suggested by this appearance. So battered and broken were they, that it was not possible to be positively sure, and in such circum- stances, no close examination of pieces could be made. Most unfortunately no further opportunity pre- sented itself to examine this ancient set of men, which was a matter of great regret of the writer. The aeroplane and machine gun of the future may, some time, replace the bishop and rook of to- day; but the past history of this most delightful of all games is, it is to be feared, lost in the mists of time. As a result of the publication of this chapter in the CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF CHESS 37 Contemporary Review, a correspondent in Worces- tershire most kindly sent the writer an old set of chess-men, which had been in the sender’s possession many years. The most striking feature in this set was the fact that ships took the place of rooks in the fighting line. Ships have never formed a part of the line of battle in the whole course of chess: and the reason that they did appear is due, prob- ably, to a mistranslation of the Sanscrit MSS. It is true that in one form of Chinese chess, a river appears upon the board, but this has nothing to do with the fighting pieces themselves. The fact that ships, which in all Western history have formed one of the most important factors in warfare, are absent from the game of chess, can be taken as an additional proof of the Eastern origin of the game. patna Ill LITTLE-KNOWN SPORTS AND PASTIMES THE average schoolboy is as ignorant of the sports and pastimes of our forefathers, as the modern text-books on the history of his country are intended to make him. The accusation is not one of wilful omission, for, after all, the capacity of any text- book is limited; it is rather, that much space is filled by giving information of a comparatively useless character—space, which might much better be devoted to short accounts of the “ home life ” of the early and medieval English. The pressing social problems of the present day can only be solved by an exact knowledge of the history and errors of the past. For instance, that Henry I. died from eating a surfeit of lampreys, and that some other worthy was drowned in a butt of Malmesey wine, are no doubt very interesting little anecdotes, but they are nothing else. Such information has no proper educational value ; notes on contemporary social life and custom would be just as interesting and far more educative. Few know exactly what a lamprey is, or, even if they do, whether such a fish still exists; or what, or where Malmesey might be—if indeed the word be any- thing more than a mere name. And, what is more, they care less. No one now-a-days wants to drown 38 LITTLE-KNOWN SPORTS AND PASTIMES 39 himself or any one else, in a butt of wine; or to deliberate on the exact physical effect of eating many lampreys. On the other hand, social cus- toms are comparative, and occasional references to the inner life of our forbears would certainly give the rising generation a much better idea of the changes which the centuries are working on us, as human beings—tiny elements in the vast scheme of evolution, in which we flatter ourselves that we hold the uppermost place. But, in narrating a few of the old customs of the early English, many of which were very cruel as judged by twentieth-century standards, it must not be thought that the writer wishes old sports and pastimes and customs to take too high a place as educative influences. Apart from the reason already given, it certainly is curious that in an age which, above all others, will be noted for its devotion to outdoor sports—particularly those of a national character—so little attention should have been paid to the history of the past. Comparative sport, to coin a term, forms an interesting field of study, because the national characteristics of various countries in all parts of the world, are more clearly reflected in their national pastimes, than in any other way. It is the study of humanity in bulk. One of the most curious old sports—if such term can be used—of which any authentic account has come down to us is the “ Bull-running,”’ which used to take place at Stamford, Lincolnshire, and at Tutbury in Staffordshire, a sport quite distinct from bull-baiting or bull-fighting. Riders, armed at the heel with sharp spurs, used also to ride bulls through the streets of Northampton within the last 40 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST century, with very much the same result that Butcher, in his Survey of Stamford, tells us took place in the latter town. “The bull-running is a sport of no pleasure,” he says, ‘‘ except to such as take a pleasure in beastliness and mischief; it is performed just the day six weeks before Christmas. The butchers of the town, at their own charge, provide the wildest bull they can get against the time. The bull overnight is had into some barn belonging to the aldermen. The next morning proclamation is made by the common bellman of the town, round about the same, that each one shut up their shop doors and gates, and that none, upon pain of imprisonment, offer to do any violence to strangers; for the preventing whereof the town, being a great thoroughfare, and this being term-time, a guard is appointed for the passing of travellers through the same without hurt; that none have any iron upon their bull clubs, or other staff, which they pursue the bull with. Which proclamation made, and the gates all shut up, the bull is turned out of the alderman’s house. And then hivie-skivy, rag and tag, men, women, and children, of all sorts and sizes, with all the dogs in the town promis- cuously running after them, with their bull clubs, spattering dirt in each other’s faces, that one would think them to be so many furies started out of hell for the punishment of Cerberus, And, which is the greater shame, I have seen persons of rank and _ family, of both sexes, following this bulling business. I can say no more of it, except to set forth the antiquity. thereof as tradition goes. William, Karl — of Warren, the first lord of this town in the time of King John, standing upon his castle walls in Stam- »\ LITTLE-KNOWN SPORTS AND PASTIMES 41 ford, saw two bulls fighting for a cow in a meadow under the same. A butcher of the town, owner of one of the bulls, set a great mastiff dog upon his own bull, who forced him up into the town; when all the butchers’ dogs, great and small, followed in pursuit of the bull, which by this time made stark with the noise of the people and the fierceness of the dog, ran over man, woman, and child which stood in the way. This caused all the butchers in the town to rise up, as it were, in a kind of tumult. \ The sport so highly diverted the Earl, who it seems was a spectator, that ‘he gave all those meadows in which the two bulls had been fighting perpetually as a common to the butchers of the town, after the first grass is eaten, to keep their cattle in till time of slaughter, upon the condition that, as the anni- versary of that day, they should yearly find at their own expense, a mad bull for the continuance of the sport,” a truly extraordinary pastime, and one fraught with a good deal of danger for those who took part in it. The Tutbury bulls fared even worse. We are told that the wretched animal had his horns sawn off, his ears cropped, his tail cut short, his body smeared over with soap, and his nose blown full of pepper in order ‘“‘ to make him as mad as it was possible to be.” If caught, the bull was baited and subsequently killed and served as the piéce de résistance at a banquet, to which all were invited. This custom was peculiar to Tutbury, being due to a special charter given to the king of the minstrels belonging to the Manor of Tutbury, by. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Although the Stamford custom may have had its S 42 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST origin in the manner above narrated, posterity are at some loss to determine the exact manner in which such a mad pursuit can have originated. The feasts of Saturnalia, with their usual accompaniment of dancing, singing, feasting, and merrymaking, if indeed of nothing worse, can hardly be held re- sponsible for the loosening of a mad bull in the public streets of a town, and chasing after it. No doubt in every case (not in Tutbury only) the bul served as the foundation for a subsequent feast. We can only presume that it was the sheer love of a rough and tumble—at a period of history when rough was a good deal more to the fore than tumble, in other walks of life than sport—which induced our ~ ancestors to take a part in such a hurly-burly of men and animals, as this ancient bull-running must have been. A point, sometimes forgotten is that the flesh of beasts killed “‘in hot blood,” i.e. in the chase, are of much finer flavour than those killed ‘in cold blood,” i.e. in the slaughter-house: indeed, after a bull-fight in Spain, the flesh of the slain bulls is eagerly purchased at a high figure. Cock-throwing and Duck-hunting were also two barbarous old pastimes, which now fortunately no longer exist. The former of these two sports is very ancient, nor is it known at what period this ‘sport’? came into existence. It consisted in setting up a cock at a fixed distance, and throwing short, thick sticks—something like the modern policeman’s truncheon—at the unfortunate bird, until it was knocked down. If the wretched fowl had its legs broken, or was otherwise maimed in the course of the throwing, it was customary to prop up the body with sticks or forked props, so that the LITTLE-KNOWN SPORTS AND PASTIMES 43 sport might be continued. The thrower, who struck this living Aunt Sally and killed it, claimed the corpse as his prize. Even Sir Thomas More, who wrote in the sixteenth century, admits to some skill with the “‘ cokstele,”’ or stick, as these implements were called, in the days of his youth ; while Chaucer in his ‘‘ Canterbury Tales ”—Nonnes Priest Tale— also makes allusion to the practice. Chaucer’s supposed reference, of which indeed there is not much doubt, runs as follows: There was a cocke For that a Prieste’s sonne gave him a knocke Upon his legges, when he was yonge and nice He made him for to lose his benefice. This tale supposes the cock to have overheard the young man telling his servant to call him at cock- crowing ; and, out of revenge and maliciousness, forbore to crow at the usual hour next morning. As a consequence the “ Prieste’s sonne ”’ overslept the hour of ordination. This story will, no doubt, recall to mind the popinjay, or cock, at which our early archers were wont to practise their skill. There is some doubt as to whether the popinjay was an actual live bird, or an imitation stuffed one; but, knowing the customs of the land as regards cock- fighting and cock-throwing, it is fairly safe to pre- sume that a live bird was the mark, although a stuffed specimen may have been substituted later. Throwing at cocks, one of the most cruel sports which disgraced old England, was not finally sup- pressed until as late as the beginning of the nineteenth century. Strutt tells us that it was a common practice to put a cock into an earthen vessel made for the purpose, and to place him in such a position 44. PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST that his head and tail might be exposed to view ; the vessel, with the bird in it, was then suspended across the street, about 12 or 14 feet from the ground, to be thrown at by such as chose to make trial of their skill. Twopence was paid for four throws, and he who broke the pot, took the cock as - his reward. An amusing incident is said to have occurred at North Walsham in Norfolk. Some wags put an owl into one of these vessels, and, having procured the head and tail of a dead cock, they placed them in the same position as if they belonged to a living bird. After much throwing, a labouring man of the town succeeded in striking the pot, but missed his prize. To the thrower’s unbounded astonish- ment the owl, now free, flew away and left him with nothing but the head and tail feathers of a dead cock, together with some broken potsherds, for all his trouble and his money. ‘The story goes on to say that owing to the ridicule, which this absurd adventure heaped upon the luckless husbandman, his life was made such a burden to him, that he was compelled to leave the town altogether. Duck-hunting, as its name implies, was the pur- suit of these waterfowl by dogs. It is obvious that tame or pinioned fowl must have been used, as otherwise the birds would have quickly escaped their tormentors by flight. A large piece of water was usually chosen for this ‘‘ pastime ”’ which appears to have been very popular, especially in the neighbour- hood of London, about the year 1750. After this date, the amusement seems to, have died out, more, however, from lack of suitable ponds than from any decrease in the innate cruelty of boys and LITTLE-KNOWN SPORTS AND PASTIMES 45 youths, by whom the sport was principally con- ducted. Sometimes the wretched duck was put into the water with an owl tied to its back. In this case the sport was conducted without the aid of dogs. The modus operandi was, however, simple enough. The owl, in its strange position, promptly started hooting, which, of course, frightened the duck who, as promptly, dived, and by so doing soused the owl. On the return to the surface, the performance was repeated again and yet again, until the owl was drowned and the duck very nearly in the same condition. It is difficult to understand where the “ sport ”’ in these instances can be supposed to have existed ; but when the shocking cruelty of bull- and horse- baiting, cock-fighting, and other kindred sports is remembered, we can only suppose that it was the sheer love of witnessing a fight, no matter of what -nature, which induced our forefathers to lend their patronage to these “ sports,’ and to debase them- selves by so doing. But it does not do for subse- quent generations, too vehemently to decry the customs of their forefathers. Many of these old pastimes had a distinctly amusing aspect, as for instance that of grinning through a horse-collar, or climbing the greasy pole—two items still to be found in a modern village coronation programme which has any pretence at completeness. But unfortunately most of these amusements are confined to the sterner sex—rather a misnomer, by the way, in these days of suffragette processions and threats. Ladies, however, were not forgotten even in the olden days, as a curious custom, which used to take place at 46 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST © Kidlington, or Kirtlington, in Oxfordshire, will bear witness. At this village, so it is said, on the Mon- day after Whitsun week, a fat lamb was provided ; and the maidens of the town, having their thumbs tied behind their backs, were permitted to run after it and she who with her mouth took hold of the lamb, was declared the Lady of the Lamb. The lamb was then killed and cleansed; the carcase with the skin hanging upon it, was carried before the Lady and her companions to the green on a long pole, to the accompaniment of music, and a morrice dance of men and another of women. The rest of the day was spent in mirth and glee. The next day the lamb, partly baked, partly boiled, and partly roasted, so as to suit all tastes presumably, was served up for the Lady’s feast, where she sat at the head of the table attended by her companions of the previous day’s chase. We are left wondering what can have been the origin of such a quaint custom as this, or even if it can possibly be true; and we can only suppose that it must have had originally some allegorical allusion to the Passover supper. It is known that Saturnalian rites and dances of the most impious description invaded the very churches themselves during early medizval history ; and even distorted the church services into pagan ceremonials for the occasional exercise of these heathen customs. Dancing round the Maypole, for instance, is one of the last remaining fragments of these old Saturnalia—in this particular instance, indeed, being of far older origin than mere Roman times—without, however, having trace of those sacrilegious elements to which there is such popular LITTLE-KNOWN SPORTS AND PASTIMES 47 objection. But a lively lamb, even though de- scribed as being “ fat,’”? must have taken a deal of catching by a bevy of damsels with their thumbs tied behind their backs, a notoriously painful pro- cess, especially when fine string is used. In our charity let us hope that the hobble skirt had not even been dreamt of, otherwise it is to be feared that roast lamb would never have graced the board for the next day’s festival. Another old Oxfordshire custom, which used to take place annually at Burford, was the practice of carrying a dragon up and down the town with mirth and rejoicing on Midsummer Eve. The image of a giant was also carried about in the pro- cession. We are indebted to Dr. Platt, a famous old worthy, for telling us that this old pageant originated through a victory gained by Cuthred, King of the West Saxons, over Ethelbald, King of Mercia, near this village about the year 750. The latter king lost his standard, which was surmounted by a gold dragon, in the action; a circumstance which gave rise to the particular form assumed by the rejoicing. The meaning of the image of the giant is probably to be found in the slaying of some notable warrior on the field of battle; and as, in those days, might was right, a man of giant stature was more than likely to have been a personage of great importance. Oxfordshire seems to have been very fortunate in the number of old customs and pageants which, at one time and another, were enacted within her borders—perhaps because this country was blessed, or over-blessed, with a super- fluity of monasteries and other religious institu- tions in early history. eR 1 aay Re CME» Tha} rat ‘| Rea NL ae Fae 48 . PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST Tilting at the Quintain is a manly pursuit, which ~ has now quite gone out of fashion, owing to the com- plete change which has taken place in the art of war; although formerly this pastime used to be considered the ne plus ultra of any person who made the smallest pretence at being a gentleman. The Quintain, at different times and in many countries, assumed a variety of aspects quite out of accord with the generally accepted modern notion, that a quintain was necessarily a revolving wooden figure at which novices in the use of arms were wont to tilt or combat for practice. In its very earliest form, a quintain took the form of a tall, notched pole—called a “ post-quintain.” This staff was about six feet high, and was firmly imbedded into the ground. The tyro in chivalry armed cap-a-pie, with sword, mace, or battle-axe in hand, and with his shield held vertically over his head, would then proceed to assault the post as though it were an actual enemy—treating it in very much the same way as a boxer does his punch-ball. This was considered an excellent exercise by the young Roman nobility, who were ordered to practise, at it twice a day, morning and noon. Additionally, in order to acquire strength and precision at striking, it was customary to use weapons of double the ordinary weight, while practising this mimic single combat. This fashion gave place to another, of similar nature, in which a spear was fixed upright in the ground, and the shield was attached to it at the top. The youthful knight then proceeded to try and cut down the shield from the spear by hewing at the ligatures by which the shield was secured. Pre- LS) 2 eet ONIMOYHL MOOD it 1 | es UNIVERSITY 0 te Per cnown SPORTS AND PASTIMES 49 sumably the object of this practice was the de- shielding of the foe, so that the sword might have the better opportunity of finishing the combat. In process of time, the wooden figure, as often as not carved into some fantastical shape—such as an absurd Saracen, with an impossible breadth of shoulder and length of sword arm—took the place of the post and spear. These wooden figures were pivoted and, if struck unskilfully with the lance, would revolve rapidly on their axis, and give the clumsy clown on horseback a re- sounding blow on the back with the sword, held in the left hand. This was looked upon as a dis- graceful performance, and the wight who was unfortunate enough to hit the quintain upon the shield, instead of upon the forehead, nose, or mouth, was debarred from running another tilt that day, in addition to receiving all the insult and opprobrium to which such a base stroke laid him open. The origin of the word Quintain is not known, Strutt has it, in the original edition of his “ Sports and Pastimes” that the word is a corruption of the Latin Quintus, some Roman man-at-arms, who invented this practice ; but who this old soldier was, or when he lived, is not mentioned. Dr. Cox gives the more likely derivation, that the word comes from the Latin “ Quintana,” the name of the street in the Roman military camps where the market was situated; and where as a consequence all martial exercises used to take place. An old illustration depicts a young warrior, clad in chain mail of Nor- man period, armed with a broad two-edged sword, and with a triangular shield held, like a modern 50 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST umbrella, right over the top of the head, standing at the foot of one of these post-quintains—" pels,” as they were called, which got corrupted in “ pales” or “piles,” a word from which the heraldic “ party per pale’? may have been derived. The pole is a stout sapling, heavily notched all the way down the trunk, with the object of catching the blows of the sword or battle-axe, as delivered. Another old illustration shows a hobby horse, running on wheels, and upon which some child is riding with a lance, three times as big as himself, ready couched. The horse is being drawn forward by two companions of about the same age as the young aspirant to knightly honours; while the quintain consists of a square board, mounted on a short post. The whole forms an amusing caricature of the jousts and tourneys which used to be, in old- time England, what test cricket matches are to the present generation. . The quintain in its modern form is better known in the water than on land ; water quintain was not an unknown sport to our ancestors, though used as a serious means of obtaining proficiency in the weapons of war, instead of the mere modern spectacular absurdity to cause laughter. Now-a- days, two punts are used, and the opposing warriors, armed with a square board as a shield and a lance with another square plank as a tip, attempt to tilt each other into the water. It is an amusing pastime —to those who look on—and the winner depends for his success as much on the skill of his rowers as on his own prowess with the spear and shield. The origin of the word “ best man ” at a wedding would seem to be due to this old sport of running at LITTLE-KNOWN SPORTS AND PASTIMES 51 a quintain, which in later days assumed the form of a flat board counter-balanced by a bag of sand. The object was to break the board, while, if the rider dallied in his smiting, the bag of sand would swing round and knock him off his mount. Dr. Platt tells us that this sport is now only in request “at marriages, and is set up in the way for the young men to ride at as they carry home the bride, he that breaks the board being accounted the best man.” “ Cock-fighting ’’ by two men, with their knees trussed up and a stick under them, an amusement well known on board ship, is a form of quintain. In this case, it is the object of either combatant to upset his opponent by getting his toes under those of his companion. Another form assumed by this game is for one competitor to seat himself on the corner of a three-legged stool, and to hold one of his legs out parallel with the ground, supporting it with his two hands. The other competitor seated in the bight of a rope, swung from overhead, then puts out his foot and swings against his seated foe, so that the opposed outstretched feet come in violent contact—statics and dynamics, as it were. He who upsets the other is accounted the winner. Of the countless thousands, who, day by day, pass down Pall Mall, few know that the origin of the word is due to a game called Pale-Maille, which used to be played in the neighbourhood. This game was originally something like golf, remembering that balls, stuffed with feathers, used to be the vogue for this latter game, instead of the present-day marvels of slender rubber thread with an armoured cover- ing all that twentieth-century scientific skill can 52 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST contrive. This game seems, however, to have changed in its nature, and to have become a game like croquet. Cotgreve tells us that ~ Pale-Maille is a game wherein a round box ball is struck with a mallet through a high arch of iron; which he that can do at the fewest blows or at the number agreed upon, wins.” There appear to have been two arches, one at either end of the alley. The word “ Pall-Mall ” is derived from “ Pila” = a ball—a word which came to be corrupted into Pale and Pall, but which has no connection with Patime, a word derived from ‘‘ palma” = palm of the hand, and. the original of the present game of Lawn Tennis— and Mall, which is a corruption of Maillet, the imple- ment with which the boxwood ball was struck. The Stuart kings were very fond of the game of Paille- Maille, and, in their day, the street or walk now known by the name Pall-Mall was devoted to the practice of this old pastime. The very fact that so many early pastimes were all played with balls, causes great confusion, in attempting to investigate the history of these old games. Old historians were very loose in their descriptions of the way the different games were played in medieval times; and, considering that these games were regarded as mere childish sports, too childish altogether for the playing by grown- up people, it must not be a matter for surprise that the early history of games, which to-day fill many columns in the pages of the daily press are now very obscure. Our forefathers had other things to do than smite a leather ball about a field during the stirring periods of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a period when every man LITTLE-KNOWN SPORTS AND PASTIMES 53 had to know how to carry and also to use arms in the defence of his country. A very quaint old custom, which for nearly two centuries now, has been abandoned, was the Hock or Hoke day celebrations. Hock day, or as some have it, Hock days, were usually kept on the Monday or Tuesday following the second Sunday after Easter day. The custom was specially prevalent in Hampshire, and consisted in the townsfolk form- ing themselves into parties of men and women. On the Monday, the women would bind the men with ropes, and draw them to the pavements, or pathways, at the same time demanding a sum of money for pious uses before they would release them from their bonds; while on the Tuesday the reverse order of proceedings would be adopted, and the men would bind the women. The two days were given up to feasting and merriment; in fact the dwellers in medieval England were singularly fortunate in the number of holidays, which fell to their lot, reminiscent as it is of the large number of saints days in the Roman Catholic calendar. The origin and meaning of this ancient usage are quite lost to us; nor is it known what the word “Hock ” or “ Hoke” actually means, or to what the binding ceremony refers. Strutt thinks that the custom is in memory of the death of Hardicanute on Tuesday, June 8, 1041, by which the English were delivered from the bondage of the Danes, conceiving that the binding ceremony might refer to the abject state of slavery, to which the wretched Angles were reduced under their Danish task- masters, and that the donations for pious uses were simply acknowledgments to heaven for their release ~~ 54 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST —gifts of thankfulness, in fact. Whatever may have been the origin, it seems a little doubtful whether a custom, six centuries old, would not have survived beyond the seventeenth century, if it really had originated in this manner; and one cannot help thinking that this custom may be only another of those Saturnalian feasts, whose remote- ness prevents any possibility of satisfactory in- vestigation. IV T RULING Or the Scotch it is said that “‘ they keep the Sawbath and everything else they can lay their hands on.” The nation.as a whole do not deny this impeach- ment, in fact, they are rather proud of it : they merely add the characteristic proviso, “‘ provided it is worth the keeping.”” Consequently when anything turns up—be it a mere physical objective, a game of skill, or some mental attribute—which the whole Scotch nation regards as essentially “ their ain,”’ the available evidence should be examined as care- fully as possible in order to test the justice of this national decision. Incidentally, when every Scotch- man adds his quota of assurance to this verdict, it is all the more important to discover the true basis upon which this emphatic claim rests. “ Kuting,” or “ Curling ” as it is more often called, is claimed by Scotchmen all over the world, as being their national pastime, more so even than the Royal and Ancient Game of Golf; and perhaps it is the hereditary radical tendency of the Scotch nation, which induces them to apply the “ Royal ”’ appella- tion to a game other than that which they are pleased to regard as their national one. If we examine the sports and pastimes of the various nations, we see that their nature is largely 55 me Kitty 56 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST dependent upon the climatic conditions of their respective countries, and, as a consequence, that the principal characteristics of all the peoples on the face of the earth can be found reflected in their national pursuits. The moist and humid climate of Bengal, for instance, produces no ten- dency to play at games in the hearts of those, whose destiny it is to be born under Eastern skies. Their form of sport assumes a phase which does not appeal in the least to the sterner mould of the white races ; a native gentleman of the best type put the matter very neatly when asked why it was that he and his nation spent most of their time in and around the Law-Courts. ‘‘ Sahib,” he replied, “it is our Clicket ” (cricket). Under the torrid heat of the Indian sun, the battle of the survival of the fittest becomes a mental rather than a physical one; a fact which the Eastern civilisation recognised long centuries ago, and which the Western nations must realise, if they are to maintain their place in the system of the universe ; as Professor Lyde * showed some time ago, the Eastern nations may enter into the Western domain with a better chance of success than the Western into the Eastern. As we examine the races North and South of the Equator, we find the passion of the South reflected in the bull-fights of Spain, the need for warmth in the swift Lacrosse of Canada, and perhaps the canniness of the Scot in his love for curling. Curling was an inexpensive game in early days, its tools could be had for the picking up at any loch side. In attempting to make any examination into the history of a game, which above all others is famed * Contemporary Review, March, 1911. eA LING” 57 for its special vocabulary, three sources of informa- tion are available: (a) History as recorded by pen, ink, and parchment; (b) History as recorded by the etymology of the game; (c) History as recorded by those silent witnesses, the very implements with which the game was wont to be played in the olden days, and which the destroying hand of Time has been unable to touch. The very earliest record of the game on paper, would appear to be contained in a poem by one George Ruthven, in conjunction with Henry Adam- son, entitled ‘‘ Muses Threnodie,” which consists of a lament over the untoward death of the third of their number, John Gall. These three were in- separables, in Perth, at the beginning of the seven- teenth century; and Ruthven, in lamenting the death of his companion, Gall, calls in the various implements of sport, with which their joint lives had been intimately associated, to assist him in his funereal wail. First the ‘‘ Bowes” take up the dirge, then the ‘“ Clubs ’—golf clubs—and finally the “ Curling Stones.”’ And yee my Loadstones of Lednochian Lakes Collected from the lochs, where watrie snakes Do much abound, take unto you a part And mourn for Gall who loved you with his heart ; In this sad dump and melancholick mood The Burdoun yee must bear, not on the flood, Or frozen watrie plains, but let your tuning Come help me for to weep by mournful crooning. Of the three sets of games mentioned, archery, golf, and curling, curling is mentioned last, but it may not have been the least of those sports in which the souls of these three seventeenth-century 58 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST worthies delighted to rejoice. It chances that ‘“‘ bowes,”’ ‘‘ clubs,”’ and “‘ curling stones ” are men- tioned in alphabetical order in this curious old poem ; but it would seem that in making the loadstones of Lednochian Lakes—otherwise curling stones, for Lednoch, about four miles north of Perth, was famed. for its stones—take up the lament, the tearful poet was reserving his best until the last. The whole poem is too long to quote, but the wail over the death of John Gall is as intense in its feeling as that of David over Jonathan. “Gall, sweetest Gall, what ailed thee to die?” George Ruthven can indeed be called the “ father ”” of the game, because these lines constitute the first authentic written record of the existence of curling; — and they show that the game must have been fairly / well known about the year 1600. Subsequent to this date, references to the games are numerous both in poetry and prose; but there is no doubt that it was about this time that the game attained its great popularity. Before 1600, however, the history of the origin of curling is not so clear; and it is only by an examination of the etymology of the language used in the game, of the nature of the game itself and of the known history of games, which are similar to it, and whose history previous to 1600 is also known, and by comparing the winter game of curling with the games of other countries, whose climatic conditions closely resemble those of Scot- land, that it is possible to come to any conclusion as to whether the game of curling is of Scotch parent- * KUTING ” 59 age, or merely an imitation of some other popular amusement. In passing, it might be noted that the absence of any references to curling by poets and writers, pre- vious to 1600, need cause no surprise. Curling ig ‘a winter game, and could only have been played continuously in a country where continuous frost was of constant occurrence, a state of affairs to which the climate of England can lay no claim. Previous to 1600, the history of the English Marches, and incidentally of Scotland also, was one long procession of battle, murder, and sudden death ; and under such conditions, the lot of the literary recluse or even the book-read monk would indeed be hard. No local literature has survived the hard- ships of those troublous times, and as the history of the peoples themselves, their laws and customs, is a matter of some doubt, it must not be expected that the history of a mere game, important though the latter may be in reflecting the inner life of a nation, should have suffered any better fate. Important as the practical history, as exemplified in the ancient curling stones and other paraphernalia belonging to the game, which have been. preserved, may be, it is over the etymology of the expressions and words used in the game that the greatest amount of contention has arisen; and, looking at the matter from the point of view that every lan- guage, and indeed every word of every language, must have originated from somewhere, it is very easy to see where the bone of contention lies. The Scotch claim that curling is their own native game, and that the bulk of the terms used in it, such as bonspiel, channel-stane, crampit, curl, hog, kuting, 60 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST quoiting, or coiting, stug, wick, and many another, are their own; while their opponents claim that the game was introduced from Flanders some time in the fifteenth century or thereabouts, at the time when the religious disturbances in France, Belgium and the Netherlands were driving the Protestants, who incidentally constituted, as they do now in Ireland, the most skilful workers, out of their own countries. When it is considered that the Scotch language as a whole, contains large numbers of words of foreign origin, particularly of French and Low Country source, due to foreign influences in Scotch affairs at about the same period of history, the difficulty at once arises whether any particular word, connected with the game of curling, or not, was imported with, or without, the object with which the word was associated. Of the various terms used in the game, perhaps the two, over which the greatest controversy has been waged are “‘ bonspiel’”’ and “ kuting.” It is now admitted that “‘ bonspiel ”’ is a foreign word meaning ‘‘a good game ”—derived probably from “bon ”’=good and “spiel” an old Norse word, meaning a game (cf. the old game of “ knur and spel’). No doubt, from earliest history, wherever there was ice, there was equally certain to be games on the ice; but it is a mistake to suppose that the word ‘ bonspiel”” was used exclusively in curling. It was used of archery as well, and used in a sense which makes one suppose that the term meant a friendly intercourse, involving trials of skill of all kinds ; and as the word is known to be of foreign origin, it is fair to suppose that, as originally spoken it was not used, exclusively, for games on the ice; “ KUTING ” - 61 but may have been, and probably was, used of ice games as well as of others. It may be contended that the word has been taken from one game and used in another, the history of national sports being full of such parallels ; but against such a supposition as this, the whole known history of curling must be taken into account. Although, therefore, the Scotch may drink the well-known toast, “‘ The Pillars of the Bon-spiel—Rivalry and Good-fellowship,” in some- thing stronger than water, all honour to them for it, and with a degree of warmth and good feeling for which their nation is famous, yet in doing so they themselves must admit that the toast is one of good fellowship in all sporting contests, and not necessarily in curling only. 3 Turning now to the second of the two words, “ kuting,” “ coiting,” or “ quoiting,” a little ex- planation is first necessary. The Dutch, says Dr. Kerr in his history of curling, apparently played two kinds of game on the ice—one, a kind of shinty played with snowballs, and the other a kind of pitch-penny, played with small quoits. 'The whole question of the Scotch, as opposed to the exotic origin of Curling, rests on the point whether the game was introduced into Scotland by the Dutch or Flemish immigrants, who during the fifteenth century and even previously, had been introduced into England, owing to their skill in handicraft, and who were not at all loath to come on account of religious persecutions in their own country. The word “ kuting ” is one of the oldest words in use in Curling language, it means “ quoiting,” and the word “kuting-stone ” or ‘“‘ quoiting-stone” is the oldest form of the “ channel-stone ” of to-day. 62 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST — As the derivation of the word “ kuting” is in question, we naturally turn to contemporary dictionary compilers to see whether any similar words were in use in other countries. In. Kilian’s dictionary, dated 1632, of the German language, the two words “kluyten’? and “ kalluyten”’ occur, and opposite to them one reads ‘“‘ Ludere massis sive globis glaciatis: certare discis in aequore glaciato.”” “‘To play with lumps or balls frozen ; to contend with quoits (or, perhaps, as with quoits) on an icy plain.” This is the evidence, upon which the learned doctor concludes that a kind of “ shinty ” was intended by the first part of the paragraph, and a game of small quoits by the second part. In spite of the contention that the words “ kluyten”’ and ‘ kuting’’? can only be made one “by a great stretch of the imagination,” if any individual were to be put in possession of the foregoing facts, and then asked whether he thought there was any good ground for supposing that the two words were allied he would be certain to answer in the affirmative, unless he were a Scotchman. The elision of an “1” in etymology is nothing; curiously enough the surname ‘“ Faning ” is almost certainly derived from “ Fleming.” . . . So-and-so the Fleming . . . an instance very much to the point, under the cir- cumstance. ‘To any one who has played shinty or hockey on the ice, it is apparent that, if this Flemish game, whatever it may have been, were played with snowballs, or even with small blocks of solid ice, the ball would quickly be smitten to pieces by the excited players in passing, dribbling, and hitting. It seems impossible to believe that any national game can have been played for any “ KUTING ” | 63, length of time with material which would require renewing every two or three minutes. To examine now the famous phrase of Kilian a little more closely: the first part runs “ Ludere massis sive globis glaciatis,” “to play with lumps or balls frozen.” Now the English word ‘“‘ massive ” means a large lump as opposed to a small one, a fact which is borne out by a reference to “‘Smith’s Classical Dictionary ” as to the meaning of the corresponding Latin word. It is therefore more natural to sup- pose that Kilian meant to play with large lumps or (large) balls, frozen . . . and not small ones. “ Cer- tare discis in aequore glaciato ’’ means literally “ to contend with quoits on an icy plain.” There is nothing to show that the “ discis’’ were large or small. An ordinary examination of the phrase goes to show that it meant a game, like quoits, in which large lumps of frozen material were thrown along the ice after the fashion of quoits. Again the word “ cloyte”’ or “ clyte”’ is another word used in curling, meaning to squat down ; but this word was not used in the early days ap- parently. In the history of games, a mixture of terms through the association of one term with another in a similar game is of common occurrence. In chess, as already pointed out, authorities sup- pose that the immense power now possessed by the Queen was derived in all probability from an analogy with the game of draughts, where a man, on reaching the eighth square, is crowned and becomes a king with largely increased powers—an alteration which took place at about the same period of history as that to which reference is now being made. If we 64 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST imagine some of the imported Flemings, playing on the ice in Scotland, Scotchmen are sure to have been found on the same stretch of ice. If they did not know each other’s language, it is quite conceivable that the act of throwing, which essentially in- volves stooping, got confused with the game itself. “ Cloyte ” and “ clyte’”’ are phonetically very similar to “ kluyten ” and “ kalluyten.”’ But, after all, disputed derivations are unsatis- factory weapons, especially when the passage of at least three centuries has rendered the task of en- lightenment almost an impossibility. We are thus thrown back upon sheer historical research ; and as such great names as Professors Masson, Blackie, and Mackinnon—and all three names have an uncommon Scotch ring about them—unite in thinking that the etymology of the game is a very uncertain ground, upon which to lay any sure foundation, we must turn to the pages of history ; and in doing so, acquit the three learned Professors of bias, in disclaiming any evidences, one way or the other, which etymo- logy might give. Flanders is supposed to have been the country from which the game of curling was imported, — because some kind of ice quoit game is known to have been played by the Flemings; and, in order to examine this supposition of exotic origin, we must look for the first importation of Flemings into Great Britain; and as it is a matter of no dispute that they brought their work with them, it is equally certain they would have brought their play—had they any distinctive national pursuits— provided that circumstances, such as the weather, permitted them to practise their favourite pastimes. “ KUTING ” 65 Pembrokeshire appears to have been the locality in which the earliest Flemish emigrants were settled ; while other colonies certainly migrated north as far as Scotland. This would be about the beginning of the fourteenth century. It can be taken as an accepted fact that, wherever there is ice, there are certain to be games on the ice, and, the harder and longer the frost, the more likelihood there would be of finding national games. England has a peculiar climate of samples, which in itself is quite sufficient to prevent any national ice game from taking hold of her people: also the Flemings, as strangers in a strange land, would have kept themselves to themselves. Therefore, although the early Flemish settlers in England may have played their game of “ kalluyten,” whatever this game may have been, as King Frost allowed, they would only have done So very occasionally ; while the circumstances under which they lived, secluded from much _ outside intercourse, would have prevented the game from spreading, apart from the effect of the innate con- servatism of the English nation in adopting any- thing from the outside. , The Flemings, who came to Scotland, mostly settled in the border-land between England and Scotland; and also in Edinburgh, a district whose history up to the seventeenth century is one long succession of bloodshed. The snaffle, spur, and Spear cannot be said to be conducive to literary enterprise or to the playing of games, least of all to a game which, in its essential characteristics, in- volves good feeling and fellowship. Might was right in those days, and the families, which chose to disport themselves on the ice instead of guarding 5 66 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST their property would, on their return home, have found no property to guard. Wintoun, one of the earliest Scotch poets, ex- presses this lament most plainly : When Alysander oure king was deade That Scotland led in luve and le * Away wes sons f of ale and brede Of wyne and wax, of gamyn and glee Sueccoure Scotland and remede That stad { is in perplexyte. Surely if a poet, who above all other writers is supposed to portray, accurately, a nation’s inner life and character, thus expresses himself, it can be taken as an accepted fact that the conditions of living were such as to preclude the possibility of any such games being existent at this period of history; although perhaps the wording of this delightfully quaint verse would imply that the writer was giving vent to his feelings at the passing of the good old days, when “‘ gamyn and glee” were abundant. But what the poet may have referred to is a matter of pure conjecture. It is just possible that he may have referred to the game of bowls, which in its nature is very similar to curling. Bowls is known to have been extraordinarily popular in England, particularly the north of England, as early as the twelfth century; but curling, or any other game which might possibly be construed into curling, is not mentioned by Fitzstephen or any other early English writers—nor yet in any of the numerous prohibitory edicts, enacted in successive reigns, both in England and Scotland. * luve and le = joy. + Sons = abundance. { Stad = placed. “KUTING ” 67 Leaving aside any mere conjectures, we are led to suppose that, although there is no positive proof of the introduction of the game of curling from Flanders, yet it is most probable that the imported Flemings would have introduced their own games, and that the natural course of events would have prevented any such games from taking much hold upon the popular imagination until quieter times prevailed, and until the lapse of many decades should permit of the mixture by marriage of the Flemish immi- grants with the sons and daughters of the soil. Certain it is that the Flemings were introduced into Scotland on account of their skill as handicraftsmen, and it is a natural inference that their games would be games of skill rather than of brute strength. Dr. Kerr, in his natural anxiety as to the origin of curling, has overshot the mark in an amusing fashion. He says: “It is more difficult for us to believe . . .; and if it be said that we cannot prove this native (Scottish) origin, we reply that the onus probandi has been thrown upon those who deny it, and we have, etc.” The burden of proving @ negative is thus thrown upon all, who dare deny that curling is a game of proved Scotch origin. Surely the claim that Scotchmen cannot see a joke could scarcely need a better demonstration. It is for the Scotch nation to prove that the game is ** their ain,” conclusively ; and the persistency with which they make the claim gives one furiously to think that there must be something further behind the scenes, apart from the Scottish national charac- teristics, which make them keep anything worth the keeping. The consensus of opinion of the eminent pro- 68 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST fessors, whose names have been previously mentioned, that historical research would be the most likely to lead to some useful result, causes the mind to revert to the implements of the game itself, and of their known history. The oldest curling stones in existence are supposed to be the “‘ Stirling Stones.” — Carved upon one side are the words “A Gift,” and on the other side “St. J. B., Stirling, 1511.” Unfortunately the lettering, in which these inscrip- tions are cut, is not of the type which was current in the early sixteenth century ; and as a consequence although the stones themselves are undoubtedly ancient, their exact age is quite conjectural. The lettering is probably only about a century old, and, in the cutting, the scribe may have been perpetrat- ing a joke at the expense of posterity; or, perhaps, may have been endeavouring to add to the sum of human knowledge by some legend, handed down to him by his forbears. Ancient the stones may be, and heaven forbid that the want of genuineness of the writing, should make the stone itself any the less genuine; for all that, the circumstances are suspicious. At any rate, the inquirer is left wonder- ing, if he be of any other nationality than Scotch, whether the controversy on the subject of “ our ain ”’ game at the time, whenever it may have been, that this lettering was carved, was a sore point amongst players. Perhaps some devoted proselyte hoped to settle a matter, already much disputed, at some future date, knowing that his stone would become the desideratum of some collector, in consequence of the unusual lettering cut upon it. The curling stones of the past may be roughly divided into three classes: (1) Those previous to “ KUTING ” ‘69 about 1650, the early kuting or coiting stones, pilty cocks as they are sometimes called ; (2) 1650— 1800, the rough blocks with iron handles; (3) subsequent to 1800, the finished circular stones of to-day. The early kuting stones were stones of light weight, weighing perhaps five to twenty-five pounds, as compared to the immense rough blocks which did duty in the second class, and of which the Jubilee stone weighing 117 lb. is a good example. It must have needed a very Hercules to have sent such a stone as this ‘“‘ snooving up the howe,” and if in its passage it should chance to meet any weaker brethren—well, the Darwinian theory holds good for curling stones as well as for animate beings. Many stones of this type have been found, princi- pally retrieved from the bottom of lochs, of all shapes, sizes, and descriptions—varying in weight from 40 to 120 lb., and in shape from the “ three neukit ” shape, through all kinds of spheroidal forms, and ending finally with a shape which was approximately circular, but rendered so by blows with a hammer and not by any mechanical means. His favourite stones acted to a Scotchman in somewhat the same way as a favourite cricket bat to the “ flannelled fool” at the wicket, or the pet driver to the golf devotee. They were given, and known by, names—much as pet animals—and a certain stone, “ Whirlie ” by name, is well known in curling history. He was barred the links on account of his peculiarities and the extreme difficulty of removing him when once thrown. He was “ three neukit,” with a circular-shaped dome bottom, so that unless hit plumb in the middle, he would merely spin on his 70 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST axis. It was difficulties of this kind which no doubt led to the gradual supersession of the rough or partly hewn blocks—cheap though these latter were, and as such peculiarly adapted to the Scotch tem- perament—and the gradual adoption of the circular type. Apart from the fact that a symmetrically shaped stone would be much easier to throw accur- ately, difficulties no doubt arose, owing to the im- possibility of accurate measurement, when dealing with rude blocks; and, combined with the fact that gradual improvement is a necessary corollary to the survival of all games (which would show itself in the substitution of skill for strength), it is no surprise to find that a uniform circular shape has been universally adopted. Sure it is, that great strength must have been. needed to hurl the giant stones of the eighteenth century, and as a con- sequence that, at this period of history, skill must have been subordinate to strength rather than the inverse order. In attempting to draw any conclusion on the history of the game from the stones which have come down to us, it is certainly remarkable that, so far as is known, no stones have been found in Flanders or the Low Countries, whence the game is supposed by some to have been imported. ‘The timber trade of the northern ports, Dantzig and the like, is largely in the hands of Scotchmen, and it is certain that if any rumours of the finding of old curling stones had got abroad, some Scotchman would have heard of them—they are an ubiquitous tribe; although for his nationality’s sake it does not follow that he would have promptly published | the fact. This is, of course, a point, in favour of “ KUTING ” 71 Scottish origin. But as “‘ wherever there is ice, there are certain to be games on the ice,” it would be well to look a little deeper. Dr. Johnson describes Scotland as a land of stone and water ; the two essentials, provided King Frost is reigning, for the playing of the national game. Now are the Low Countries also lands of ‘‘ stone and water” ? We answer most emphatically, no. Lands of water they are, but of stone, no; and although perhaps in a few isolated instances, blocks of stone, sea boulders and the like, might be available along- side some of the dykes and inland waterways of Holland and the Netherlands; yet her soil is very largely fertile and alluvial, as opposed to the rock- girt waters and mountain-surrounded lochs of Scotland. We are therefore thrown back to the query as to what it was, with which the Flemings played their ice games. They might have used wooden blocks, which would no doubt have perished in the course of a few years, but then the definition of Kilian in his “ Dictionary ” that “ kluyten” means “ Ludere massis sive globis glaciatis: certare discis in equore glaciato,” stands in the way. To play with lumps or balls frozen ; to contend with quoits on an icy plain. They played with frozen blocks of some kind ; and if the English word “‘ massive ” can be taken as any criterion of the kind of frozen blocks they did play with—they played with large blocks, or ice-clods as Dr. Kerr calls them. It is generally admitted that curling in its original form was more like the present game of quoits; and it is not impossible that the two words may be derived from similar sources. We have seen that kuting, coiting, kluyten, ‘and kalluyten are very 72 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST much alike, and that no great stretch of the imagin- ation is wanted to make these words the same; also that in such a country as Flanders the ponds, dykes, and lakes would not be surrounded with the masses of stone from which any number of rough curling stones might be taken at will, and used for purposes of sport ; and that, as a consequence, there is every reason to believe the Flemings played a game, like quoits, with large ice balls, for the simple reason that they could not get anything else, hard and cheap, with which to play their games. It is equally certain that being skilled workmen themselves, their game would reflect the spirit of their everyday life ; and it is safe to conclude that the game they did play was one of skill, not strength, and consisted almost certainly, in throwing frozen spheres as near as possible to a given mark: “ certare discis in equore glaciato.” The flat plains of Flanders would be easy ground on which to make the frozen balls, perhaps large snowballs, with which the game was played. A snowball, to stand rough usage must be well made, an additional factor pointing to a skilful, rather than a forceful game; and in order to prevent a frozen slippery ball or block of ice, from slipping out of the hand, niches would be formed in its surface either from the natural warmth of the hand, by pressure of the fingers, or even artificially. Niches of this description are found cut, in the earliest of the rock kuting stones, which have come down to posterity. It is also generally admitted that the earliest curling stones were swept round from behind and sent forward in somewhat similar style to round-arm bowling at cricket, but not in quite such a marked * KUTING ” 73 manner. This is exactly the action which any individual would adopt in attempting to throw forward to some little distance, a slippery ball or block. To throw it underhand, would be to throw it upward, and, on landing, the ball, if a frozen block, would have a great tendency to break, to the extreme annoyance of the player; if a low sweeping action were adopted, this tendency would be to a large extent neutralised, while plenty of impetus would be obtained. Imagine what would happen, suppose a group of Flemings attempted to introduce a game of this description in Scotland. In the first place they would have some little diffi- culty in obtaining their “ massis sive globis gla- ciatis ;°’ since the land is very rocky. But sup- pose they did so—it is natural inference that some would break, that the Scotch would note this, and promptly start to seize the neighbouring rocks in order to play the game with some more substantial matter than mere frozen snow. In any competition between the ‘“‘ massis glaciatis ”’? and the rocks, the latter would quickly assert their superiority, or, to put the matter in the language of a Scotch curling stone maker, “‘ It must have been bairns’ play, for that neither the ice nor the clod-ice blocks would have stood the nidge of an Ayrshire hammer.” The Darwinian law would thus assert itself in the most unmistakable fashion, and even the Flemings themselves would be quick to realise the superiority of the new material. This supposition, though it may be called nothing better than a process of evolutionary logic, cer- tainly seems the natural course of events; and as, like all origins, the origin of curling is lost in the 74 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST recesses of at least three centuries of errant time, it is to some such course of reasoning that resort must be hand, unless something very new and very striking should appear from the family archives of some old Scotch family, or from the dust-ridden storehouses of the Public Record Offices. At the same time it is not disputed that the Scotch may have played with stones on the ice, it is almost certain that they would have done so, but the smallness of the early kuting stones, their curious shape, the niches cut in them, demand some ex- planation which ‘ Kilian’s Dictionary,” coupled with etymological research, and a process of evo- lutionary logic would appear to furnish. 7 It would also give a sound reason as to why the © Scotch nation insists on calling the game “ their ain game ”’ with a persistency which is remarkable in their prose and poetical writings. The Flemings introduced a certain game of their own, played with materials which the Scotch could not easily get, and possibly—indeed almost certainly—in a more skilful fashion than the Scotch played any game they might have been accustomed to, at the same period. The Scotch improved the imported game by playing it with a better-class material, and as a consequence claimed the game as “their ain ’—ag opposed to the “massis glaciatis”” game of their opponents ; and owing to the action of natural laws, the im- ported game would quickly become a negligible quantity, played as it was with such fragile material. It is a curious circumstance that the “ rough blocks ” of the second period should be so much larger and heavier than the kuting stones of the earliest known period. It goes rather to show that the early game “KUTING ” 75 was a game of considerable skill, not needing much physical strength to play it—then, as the years wore on, the Scotch nation as a whole adapted the new- found recreation to their brawny arms, and thus dis- counted to some extent the greater manual skill of the strangers; besides showing, what is generally understood to be the case, that, although the Flemings were known to be skilled artificers, at the period of history in question, the stout arms of the Scot were more often employed with the sword and spear than with the ploughshare or the curling stone. A brawny Scot would certainly endeavour to throw a stone far, rather than accurately. If the Scotch, as a nation, like to claim as their “ain game,” a type of game which must have been played in Scotland by the Flemish immigrants, a game which they immediately proceeded to improve upon, owing to natural surroundings—and which in succeeding years they have improved out of all knowledge—then let them do so. But one thing is sure, there is a great deal more likelihood of the game being an improvement on the “ massis gla- ciatis ” of the Flemings, which was almost certainly a game of skill, vide ‘‘ Kilian’s Dictionary,” rather than a game evolved from an original Scotch source ; at the same time it is not denied—nay it is ad- mitted as intrinsically probable—that the Scotch did hurl blocks of stone upon the ice, possibly at a mark. V THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL FooTBaLi can claim one undisputed, and indeed indisputable, point which puts this game on a pin- nacle above all others. Since the time when “ the memory of man runneth not to the contrary,’ to use the quaint old legal phrase, football has been the “popular” game, using this word in the modern twentieth-century political sense. It is the game in which the “ people ” ever delighted, the “ people ” as opposed to the early medieval nobility, to whom equestrianism was the beau-ideal of a gentleman. There is not much doubt that the word football comes down to us, through Teutonic channels, from a series of words, each meaning a foot; but it is a grievous mistake to suppose that the word meant, originally, a ball that was kicked with the feet; although this is the meaning universally assigned to it by a modern proletariat. The word meant a | ball-game which was played by individuals on foot as opposed to those on horseback. Possibly the fact that the ball gradually came to be of such a size and nature as to be capable of being kicked | with the foot, may have had something to do with the final nomenclature : but if one thing in football history is more certain than another, it is that “ foot- ball” was not so called because the ball was kicked with the feet. Apart from the written history of 76 EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 77 the Scone football, which is probably as old as any other, and which tells us explicitly that no person was allowed to kick the ball, it is known that the earliest balls were of small size, and quite incapable of being propelled, except accidentally, by the feet of the player. It is commonly asserted that the Romans were responsible for the introduction of football into England, understanding the word in its more modern sense; but the writer has been unable to trace any direct proof to this effect—even sup- _ posing that the Romans did play football. They played the games of “ Harpastum,” “ Paganica,”’ and ‘“ Follis,” amongst others, and, in all prob- ability, derived their ball-play from the Greeks. The first of these derives its name from the Greek dpratw, to “seize” or “grasp”’—but if the account of Athenzeus can be accepted, this game was much more like modern hockey than modern football. “‘ Paganica’’ was a game played with a ball stuffed with feathers, whose exact nature is somewhat obscure. Some say that this word comes from the Latin paga—a village, because the whole village were supposed to have taken part in the game. ‘This seems, however, a doubtful etymology, on which, presumably, rests the credit for the introduction of football into England by the Ro- mans. “Follis’ was a game of the “ Piladex ” type—the “baloune” ball, in fact, of medieval England. The first English writer, who mentions any game which might be construed into football, is Fitz- stephen in his well-known “ Survey of London ”— an eleventh century MS. Two games are men- 78 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST tioned, amongst others, “in jactu lapidum,”’ which is sometimes supposed to refer to bowls, since the earliest bowls are known to have been of stone, and the “lIudum pile celebrem ’”’—“ the celebrated game of ball ”’—-adding that this latter game was played by parties of boys on Shrove Tuesday, and that each party brought its own ball. It is this second expression, which is generally supposed to allude to football, for the reason mainly that sub- sequent history unites in telling us that Shrove Tuesday was, and still is, the day held sacred to the “ popular ” game. In passing, the writer would wish to utter a mild protest against the claim made, on behalf of football, — in the first sentence of the Badminton volume on the game. Football is there stated as being “ un- doubtedly the oldest of the English national sports.” “One of the oldest,” if you will, but not “ un- doubtedly the oldest ” ; the claim of bowls is equal, if not superior. No doubt “celebrem” can be translated into “‘ well-known,’ and it is more than likely that this is the intended meaning of the word. But “celebrem,” in spite of the absence of any public press, does not necessarily imply a greater antiquity in Britain than can be allotted to bowls. Football might be ‘“celebrem ” for quite another reason as will presently appear, and additionally Fitzstephen tells us that the game was played by ‘ boys, and was thus hardly a “ national’ game in the modern accepted sense; perhaps, only a type of hand-ball, which subsequently became meta- morphosed into football. Whether football or bowls as an Knglish national Sport, can lay claim to the greater age is a dubious point. EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 79 It is certainly curious that the origin of football, whether native or exotic, should be unknown to us. Surely that hurly-burly of men and sometimes of women also, all across country, which was the form assumed by the early medieval game, must have originated in a strictly temperate latitude. From its very nature the game can never have been a southern importation in the rude embryo stage. The influence of climate upon character is never more clearly marked than in the domain of national sports, because play has been the luxury, as work has been the necessity, of man since the Fall of Adam. But between the “ Paganica” of Ancient Rome and the “ludum pile celebrem” of Fitz- — stephen is fixed a great gulf of ten centuries of errant time, a gulf unbridged as yet, and perhaps unbridgeable. Fitzstephen gives no description of the game, it was too well-known, or, more probably, too simple to need such ; every one knew of it, but posterity are the losers. It would, however, be too much to read into Fitzstephen’s words that the game was only played upon Shrove Tuesday. Within a very short period, subsequent to his writing, football un- doubtedly became popular, especially amongst. the younger element to whom the rowdy nature of the game would appeal. But why Shrove Tuesday ? It is a biblical feast, but the stories of the old foot- ball as played at Chester and Corfe Castle, Derby and Scone, all tell us that the day before the com- mencement of Lent was devoted to the game. One theory might suppose that the inhabitants of Eng- land chose this day because such an amusement, with its accompaniment of wine, wassail, and good 80 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST cheer, would be strictly forbidden for forty days afterwards. Another theory is that the game might have been the survival of some a pagan feast, whose history is lost to us. At Chester, the legend runs that the head of a Dane, slain by a citizen in some combat, provided the first ball, certainly a gruesome one; and that the game arose in celebration of a victory over the Danes. In the same manner, Derby claims the origin of its local football in a victory over the Romans; and Scone in a conquest of some other foe. This unanimity is worthy of remark, and may be translated, perhaps, into the historical fact that some famous victory was won upon a Shrove Tuesday, which day, in consequence, was proclaimed as a Day of Rejoicing throughout the land, perhaps with the sanction and aid of Mother Church. Cele- brations of this kind were by no means uncommon, though most of these old feasts were abolished long ago. Burford in Oxfordshire is a case in point, where it was customary to carry a dragon and other paraphernalia up and down the village, in con- sequence of a victory gained by Cuthred, King of the West Saxons, over Ethelbald, King of Mercia, near the village in the year 750. This explanation does not, however, remove the difficulty that, as Fitz- stephen says, the game was confined to boys— perhaps the seniors found the exercise with its tendency to riot somewhat over-strenuous to suit their whitening hairs—but it is at any rate a feasible one. | | The most probable explanation of the old Shrove Tuesday football would seem to have a solution much farther back. It is known that the early EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 81 Christian fathers found extreme difficulty in in- ducing their converts to give up their various pagan festivals. The ancient heathen Briton had no great objection to the changing of his faith for a better, but he showed a very great and a very human objection to the complete abolition of the various yearly festivities, with which his pagan mind had been filled. Indeed, so strong was the hold which some of these festivals had upon the heathen population, that these early fathers were obliged to sanction them ; and in order to get over the difficulty of their existence in the Christian Calendar, they are known to have shifted the posi- tion of at least one of the great Christian festivals, so as to make the date coincide with some popular heathen custom. In this the early fathers showed a deep knowledge of human nature, because it was not long before the populace began to associate the yearly festivities with the Christian, rather than with the ancient, and now forgotten, heathen rite. Thus it may be that the Shrove Tuesday football is really the graiting of some long-forgotten heathen ordinance, on to a Christian feast day, at a period when all historical narrative is necessarily a matter of some doubt, The next mention we have of the game is in Edward II’s reign. In 1314, owing to the great’ disturbance created in the streets of London by rowdy mobs, who collected to play the game, an edict was passed, prohibiting football altogether— mainly at the request of peaceable citizens. The statute runs “rageries de grosses pelotes.” “ Pe- lotes ” is interesting ag denoting a foreign importa- 6 89 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST tion—of the well-known Basque game of Pelota (Latin == pila, a ball); while if the modern slang word “rag,” or perhaps ‘“‘ scrum,” be taken as the translation of “* rageries,”’ the result would be about _ correct. It should be noticed particularly that, even at this early period of history, the game was essentially a popular one, in which all joined; un- like tennis or bowls, it required no expensive imple- ments of play, or specially prepared ground for its performance. But history is sadly lacking in the way the game was played; we get no mention of any rules for another two centuries at least. “‘ Grosses Pelotes” can be taken to mean “ balls like large tennis balls”’; and, as it is known with certainty that the earliest tennis balls were stuffed with wool and covered with leather, it would be fairly safe to assume that the earliest footballs were made in the same way—stuffed perhaps with old rags or cloths, on account of the expense of wool. A tennis ball was about three inches in diameter, and so perhaps the “ grosses pelotes ’’ of earliest football may have been.some eight or nine inches in diameter at the outside. All early balls, whether for tennis or golf, were usually imported into England, until prevented by the Tariff Reform statutes of Elizabeth. Between the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries, the game itself can hardly have undergone much alteration ; indeed, no alteration is apparent for another two centuries at least, when contemporary writers start speaking of “ goals’’ and other well- known terms. After Edward II’s reign, the same story can be told of football as of all other amusements, such as quoits and cards, bowls and skittles. Rough EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 83 -and barbarous, as it undoubtedly was, it was interdicted by statute, with a frequency and a regularity, which only serve to show the futility _ of the efforts of the authorities to put a stop to this essentially popular game. Edward ITI, Richard IT, and succeeding kings to Henry VIII, all attempted and in vain, to stop such games as “ playing at tennice, foote-balle and other games called corts (quoits ?), dice, casting of the stone (bowls, or per- haps ‘ putting the shot’), kailes (skittles), and other such ‘inopportune games’”—inopportune for the old, old reason, because they drew away the atten- tion of the people from the practice of archery, on which the national security depended, and incidentally led to occasional rioting, destruction of property, and bloodshed. Betting was not one of the evils, engendered by the game of “ footeballe,” although put forward as an additional and urgent reason for the suppression of the other sports and pastimes of medieval England. An important piece of evidence in football history came to light in the records of the Brewers’ Company of London for the year 1422. There, it is men- tioned that the “‘ Fraternity of the Football players ” hired the Hall of the Company for 1s. 6d. for some purpose, which almost certainly was feasting. Al- though it is well-known that the apprentices in the various towns, more particularly London, were very much addicted to the game, the fact that, so early as 1422, a Fraternity of Players existed for the playing of football is conclusive proof of the universality of the game. Professor Unwin, of Manchester University, that great authority on the early Guilds and their history, \ \ 84 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST has most kindly informed the writer that he is in- clined to think that the players formed their fra- ternity and went to mass together. The fraternity probably did not confine their membership exclu- sively to London players. Certainly other guilds did not so confine their membership ; indeed it might seem possible that some of the early London guilds were the results of a combination of individuals of like tastes—whether for work or play—in various parts of England. These guilds and fraternities, subsequently, made their headquarters in London, and thus came to be regarded as London guilds. The history of these guilds, previous to the middle of the thirteenth century, seems very obscure; but even with the records already in our possession, it is ‘most interesting to find an Amateur Football Asso- ciation at such an early date as the beginning of the fifteenth century, and probably much earlier. The existence of this Fraternity presupposes a set of rules and ordinances for the proper governance of such an association, which would be of the utmost interest could they be found. They would un- doubtedly deal with the method of playing the game itself, in addition to rules and regulations for the governing of the body corporate. It is to be feared however, that they have been destroyed long ere this. One other point might be noted. Each of these ancient guilds and fraternities is known to have had a “livery” of its own, with distinctive colourings for the various guilds. This “livery ’’ usually consisted of a cowl and a habit— something like a monk’s habit but somewhat shorter, with the necessary girdle. Additionally, the cowl was of one colour and the habit of another, though EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 85 this was not always the case. Now Strutt, in his well-known “Sports and Pastimes,” depicts an illustration, taken from a fourteenth century MS., of some youths playing at ball, which it must be confessed looks more like handball than football ; although at the same time we must remember that the exact nature of the earliest football is unknown to us. This illustration has often been reprinted.* The illumination shows four youths, all dressed alike in a short habit, a girdle, a pair of dark close- fitting leggings, and one of the four is shown with the cowl drawn over the head. The attitude of this last player distinctly suggests the onlooker, rather than the player, whilst the other three are engaging in the pastime, having taken off their cowls for the purpose. The point is that all four are dressed in a precisely similar manner, and it may be that the illustration is intended to represent four players from the “Fraternity of the Football Players” amusing themselves with a game of ball— perhaps the “ ludum pile celebrem ” of Fitzstephen. Under any circumstances, the parti-coloured shirts and jerseys of the present day would seem to have a@ great antiquity to recommend them. Henry VIII went further than his predecessors, and even enacted penalties against those who played the forbidden game; but to no purpose, perhaps because Bluff King Hal himself failed to keep his own ordinances. The common people determined to have their “ popular’ game, and they had it, in spite of the literary protests of a cer- tain section of public opinion, not unknown at the present day, who regarded all forms of outdoor * See Christmas Supplement, Field, 1911. _ 86 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST manly sport as “ beastlie furie,” and as such deserv- ing of rigorous discouragement. The game was despised by the noblemen of the period, as one fit only for yokels, it was disliked by the merchant class, because of the damage to property it engen- dered ; it was loathed by the Puritan element of the population—then slowly uprising—because they saw in Sunday football a direct perversion of the will of the Almighty; but it was beloved of the county-folk and work-a-day artisans and appren- tices, because it gave an opportunity for free play. to their lungs, arms, and legs, and at the same time afforded a most welcome relief from the tedium of the plough or the frowsiness of the workshop and counting-house. Carew, who wrote at the beginning of the seven- teenth century, in his ‘Survey of Cornwall,” tells us that there were two kinds of football or hurlng— “‘ Football to goals” and “‘ Football to the country ”’ ; but when this differentiation arose is doubtful: nor is the distinction between hurling and football always clear. Both types are with us now. The former is known to every individual throughout the land as a winter pastime, and the latter is still played on Shrove Tuesday in certain localities where the ancient game, of which “‘ Rugby ” is the modest descendant, yet survives. The Association game did not develop until quite late in history. .Goals, primarily, were fixed landmarks such as trees or buildings; and the field of play was the universe. But, for the smaller game, ‘playing to goals,” fixed goals were used with a distance of about 100 yards between the opposing sides. Doubtless, then as now, the discarded EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 87 clothes of the players made an excellent substitute for goal-posts. But the game was Rugby, Rugby in excelsis, where hacking, tripping, and all the dulcet arts of a “sporting” populace were allowed free play, with never a shrill whistle of some out- raged referee to say them no. Mr. Montagu Shearman, in the ‘‘ Badminton ”’ quotes a most amusing account of the game, written in the sixteenth century by a rigid old Presbyter, yclept Stubbes, who, the author is careful to point out, must himself have been a convert from football to Puritanism, or he could not have displayed his intimate knowledge of the tricks of the game. The description is too truly delicious. ‘** Lord, remove these exercises from the Sabaoth (he meant Sunday). Any exercise, which with- draweth from godlinesse, either upon the Sabaoth or any other day (!) is wicked and to be forbidden, Now, who is so grossly blind that seeth not that these aforesaid exercises not only withdraw us from godlinesse and virtue, but also haile and allure us to wickednesse and sin? For, as concerning foot- ball playing, I protest unto you that it may rather be called a friendlie kind of fighte than a play or recreation—a bloody and muthering practice than a felowly sport or pastime. For doeth not everyone lye in waight for his adversarie, seeking to over- throw him and pick him on his nose, though it be on hard stones, on ditch or dale, on valley or hill or whatsoever place it be, he c-"eth not so he have him downe; and he that can serve the most in this fashion, he is counted the only felow—and who but he?” Then he proceeds :—“ And no mervaile, for they have the sleights to meet one between two, 88 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST to dash him against the hart with their elbows, to butt him under the short ribs with griped fists, and with their knees to catch him on the hip and pick him on his neck, with a hundred such muthering devices . . .” and concludes by asking, “Is this muthering play now an exercise for the Sabaoth day ?”’ Most will agree that, if this “friendlie kind of fighte ” is accurately described in the above narra- tive, then it was not a fit “ exercise for the Sabaoth day.” Unfortunately it is common knowledge that, throughout the ages, none are more raucous against their previous companions than converts of any kind—religion, politics, science, and indeed every walk of life bear witness to this fact. From the close acquaintance of the narrator with the tricks of the football field, and from the lugubrious way he speaks about them, it is quite clear that this sixteenth century worthy was one of those, against whom sundry tricks were practised with considerable impunity; but that Mr. Stubbes neither had the pluck nor the desire to give as good as he was given. Contemporary coroners’ rolls certainly do bear witness that breaches of the peace, and even death, occasionally resulted from these games of football ; and also, that peaceably disposed citizens had a real ground of complaint when the game was allowed to pass the bounds of proper play, and to run riot up and down streets and over the face of the land. Shakespeare again mentions the game in King Lear, and also Burton in his famous ‘“ Anatomie of Melancholy ’”—both in a sense which shows that football players were regarded as being very far removed from the élite of society. Football was EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 89 the rowdy game, the game in which all could join, as opposed to the wealthy and highborn few, who still disported themselves with hound and _ hare, horse and horn. Turning again to the account which Carew, in his “Survey of Cornwall,” gives of the game of hurling, we find here the first mention of any definite rules. Sides are chosen for the game of ‘Hurling to goals ” as opposed to “ Hurling to the country,” in which village competed against village, or sometimes a half of the whole countryside played against the other half, with the whole county as the playground. The goals, from 8 to 10 feet wide, were about 100 yards distant from each other, and the contending players were to range up opposite each other ‘‘marking themselves in payres,” in the middle of the field of play—the system of “matching ”’ was already in vogue in the seventeenth century. Then some “ indifferent person ’’ was to throw up the ball in the middle of the ground. No one was to be allowed “‘ to butt or handfast below the waist ” or ‘‘ to deal a foreballe.”” No one, that is, was to pass forward, to charge below the waist or collar below the same portion of the human anatomy. The first and second of these two old rules still survive, the second being distinctly reminiscent of - that pious fraud, Mr. Stubbes; but the cry of ‘collar him low ” rings out to-day over the length and breadth of the field. Nor is it easy to say why this rule was originally made. Carew’s references are the earliest known, which. give any definite rules of the game, and which indeed can be said to form the basis of the modern Rugby code. His comments on the game are in every way —— 90 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST worthy of an Englishman, whose joy lay in the battle, and who counted not the broken head and bruised shin, provided his side won. “ ... with bloody pates, bones broken, and out of joint; and such bruises as serve to shorten their days; yet all is good play and never attorney or coroner troubled for the matter.”’ f But Norfolk, as well as Cornwall, produced its game of football called Camps or Campers, previous indeed to 1602. Get Campers a ball To camp there with all, runs a fifteenth century country rhyme; while some field names were known as camping closes or camping fields. This word “campers”? comes from the old German “kamp” meaning a “ con- test’ or “ battle.” Football itself used to be known as ““campyng”’ or “fighting ’—the “ friendlie kind of fighte ” of our old friend Mr. Stubbes. The ety- mology ef the word is probably from the Latin “ campus ’’—a field, which came to mean a battle- field, and so a battle. According to a long account of this game, written in 1823 by Moor, the game was somewhat similar to the Cornish ‘“ hurling roby the way, can it be that the modern “ hurly-burly ” of life is derived from this source? Assuredly hurling was no child’s play.. But Moor was not the first to describe the game; this was first done in 1673 ; whilst another writer mentions the same Mipuee describing it, as early as 1473. In “ campers ” “each party had two goals, ten to fifteen yards apart, the parties ten to fifteen a side stand in line facing each other at about ten yards’ distance, mid- EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 91 way between their goals and that of their adver- saries. An indifferent spectator throws up the ball, the size of a cricket ball... .” From this descrip- tion it seems doubtful whether each party had two goals or only one. If the first word of the sentence “each” be read in the sense “ either,’ then cer- tainly the sentence reads as if there were four goals, two on each side. On the other hand the latter part of the sentence reads “ between their goals and that” (not ‘“‘those ’’) ‘‘of their adversaries.” Again taking the first sentence: “Hach party .. . yards apart.” If the goal (or goals) of the opposing parties were ten or fifteen yards apart only, the field of play was impossibly small for a body of twenty or thirty players, whom we are definitely informed were lined up “‘ about ten yards’ distance, midway...” It seems as though each of the opposing parties had two goals to guard, ten or fifteen yards away from each other, and that the goals were about 100 yards as in the Cornish “hurling.” Each goal scored was called a “ notch ” or “‘ snotch,’”’ probably because the tally of them was kept on a notched stick, in the same way that runs at cricket used to be scored and called “ notches” in consequence. Also if a player was caught and held with the ball in his possession, a “ snotch ”— lovely word—was scored against his side. This rule no doubt arose to prevent “ holding’? and con- sequent real damage to limb and life; and at the same time to encourage “passing.” Seven or nine “snotches”’ scored game, which sometimes took two or three hours to win we are told, and we can well believe it. The size of the ball, obviously never intended to 92 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST be kicked, is most noticeable; but Moor is at pains to add that sometimes a large football was _ used, in which case the game was called “ Kicking Camp,” and if played with the shoes on, “ Savage Camp,” a name delightfully descriptive of the play- ful methods of our forefathers. Incidentally those who, like the writer, have seen the natives of India play football with their bare feet, know that the wearing of boots and shoes is by no means essential to sound and skilful play. This game of campers must have been very similar to the “ hurling ” “of Carew, and played in the same strenuous spirit. But even in 1823, there is no mention of anything of the nature of the modern Association or Rugby game; though all, who read this short descrip- tion, must agree that the old campers is more akin to the latter than to the former game, re- membering that this account, though written in 1823, must, from its nature, represent a game un- changed through centuries. And so we pass, leaving behind us the rigid puritanism of the middle of the seventeenth century, which dealt a blow to popular football from which it did not recover until the middle of the nineteenth. It is true that James I preferred the more graceful pastime of “ playing at the caitch”’ to any of the virile sports, such as football, which were so dear to the hearts of the common-folk. But it was the Praise God Barebones and the Crowning Mercy Cromwells who sounded the passing-bell of Sunday and Shrove Tuesday football. Occasionally men- tion is made of the game in the eighteenth century, in contemporary literature, but only in a cursory manner, and usually in connection with some EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 93 village wake or fair. The eighteenth century Statute (1728) which forbade the playing of bowls, skittles, and other similar games, and unlike its predecessors, was rigorously enforced, may, and probably did, have something to do with the decline of football in its national sense, although such pre- historic games as those of Chester, Scone, Purbeck, and Derby would survive. But they would be played with considerably diminished zeal. It is fortunate that such ancient customs die hard ; rather, like old oaks, they grow tougher with the weathering. The comparative decline and insignificance of football during the eighteenth century can be better understood when it is stated that Strutt, in his ‘Sports and Pastimes,’ hardly mentions the game at all. He does tell us that the ball was commonly a blown bladder, cased, however, with leather ; so it might be assumed that the modern type of ball came into use during the eighteenth century—as opposed to the ball, “the size of a cricket ball,” with which “camping” used to be played, and which must have been a hard ball. But the “ follis ” of the Romans must be remembered, and also the “baloune” ball of medizeval England—revived as ‘“‘ Piladex ” of the twentieth century: whilst even in the sixteenth century, bladders, with a few beans or peas therein, were blown tight, and then used as an amusement, especially during the winter months. It was the schools of England, especially the great public schools, which revived the game of football and are primarily responsible for the two great forms in which the game is at present to be found. 94 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST It is clear that, before any definite rules were formu- lated, the scholars would amuse themselves with a football according to their inherited ideas, handed down through centuries of time. But at any par- ticular school these ideas would be considerably modified by the limits and nature of the playing fields and spaces available. Thus Eton, Harrow, and Winchester have each worked out for themselves a special game of football of their own—played by their particular school, but by no one else. Every- one is familiar, by name at any rate, with the wall- game at Eton. This can be taken as a typical example of a special kind of football, whose evolu- tion is, to coin a term, environic. Of the Association game, little can be definitely said on the subject of the approximate date, when the game emerged from the chaos of medizval football. A Frenchman, M. Misson, writing in the seventeenth century, in his well- known phrase, speaks of football in the streets of London in winter time as being “ wtile et char- mant.” If the game he saw was anything of the nature of the “‘ camping ” of Norfolk, or the “ hurl- ing’ of Cornwall, he certainly would not have described it as ‘‘ charmant,” in spite of any wish to please that section of the British people, who might afterwards read his book. It must have been some kind of ‘‘ soccer ” which he saw, perhaps a few ap- prentices endeavouring to keep themselves warm on a cold day by dribbling a ball along the streets, or amusing themselves with occasional kicking without any attempt at definite play. Again, the play- grounds of some schools cannot always have been adapted for the playing of the older Rugby game; EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 95 and as a result each school created a game of foot-. ball of its own. Mr. Shearman has elucidated the origin of the modern Rugby game. It would appear that in, or about 1749 a piece of land of about two acres was _ bought for the purpose of play at Rugby school, but this would not imply that football was freely played during the year in question. Again in 1817, a larger field was bought for the same purpose. The style of game which was played at this school pre- vious to the year 1823, is doubtful ; the committee who investigated the matter being of the opinion that it must have been a type of ‘ soccer,”’ because “running with the ball”? was not introduced until 1823, and did not acquire a “‘ customary ”’ sanction till so late as between 1830 and 1840, or legal sanction until 1846, although Judge Hughes in his “Tom Brown’s School Days,” tells us that this rule of run- ning was legalised by Big Side Levee in 1841-42. This was the period when athletics first began to be regarded at their proper worth in the Great Public Schools, and, as a result football was included in the games list of them all. But the exact birthplace of ‘“ Soccer” is obscure —if indeed the variety can be said to have had any definite birth. Mr. Shearman supposes that “ dribbling ” came into fashion at the public schools in the early part of the nineteenth century, owing to the danger to life, limb, and clothes to which the boys would have been exposed, by playing the old- fashioned game. This may, of course, be the origin; but boys, as a class, are notoriously in- different to the state of their garments, when follow- ing a joyous pursuit, and this, in spite of the master’s 96 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST taw or the parental wrath. Undoubtedly kicking, as a possible method of propulsion, was of much earlier date than its adoption by the public schools ; and the rule of Scone that kicking was forbidden, rather points to another type of early football, which the framers of these rules wished to stultify. Drib- | bling must have been known at a very early period of football history, and as the ball became larger, - must have risen into greater prominence. Perhaps the old Scone legislators wished to maintain the original game, in which dribbling was obviously im- possible ; but this would not prevent the practice of the dribbling game as a pastime, especially on frozen ground when heavy falls, due to tackling, would be really dangerous. It was not until between 1850 and 1860 that clubs ‘came to be formed, with members recruited from those schools, where the game was practised. Cam- bridge was one of the first clubs so formed, with Sheffield and Hallam in close succession. Also an old club known as the Forest Club with a ground near Epping Forest was the very first to be founded with the object of playing the dribbling game. ‘The famous Blackheath and Richmond clubs, the former of which celebrated its jubilee in 1911, were founded within a year of one another, Blackheath claim-_ ing the honour of an “earlier antiquity.” Five years later they met for the first time and, barring frost, snow, or fog, or other ‘“‘acts of God,” they have met regularly ever since, twice a year. Black- heath has won 88 times to Richmond 18, out of the 75 contests which have taken place; but this pro- portion of wins does not properly represent the even nature of the contests between these two clubs. The EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL 97 roll of famous players, whose names can be found on one side or the other of these two clubs, in- cludes almost every well-known name in Rugby football history, up to the last few years. Recently, the keenness of football players has caused the for- mation of many excellent clubs, little, if at all, in- ferior, to their two more famous brethren. But that period is the present. The first definite draft of rules for the Rugby code appears to have been drawn up in 1871-2, at the time of the formation of the Rugby Union; the code was revised in 1891-2, and has remained the same, practically, to this date. But in the fifties and sixties, each club possessed rules of its own, which differed from each other in many respects, and to such a degree that a rule was passed that the game was to be played according to the rules of the Home club. Thus two clubs playing “‘ out ” and “home” matches with each other would be equally handicapped. Most of these clubs, except Blackheath and Richmond, played a variety of the dribbling game. In 1863 the first attempt at the co-ordination of all football was made by the then existing London clubs, in which hacking and tripping formed a part. But before this committee had finished their deliberations, Cambridge stepped in with another set of rules, based on soccer principles from which, needless to say, ‘‘ hacking over ”’ and “tripping ’’ were absent. A joint sitting between the two committees was the next proceeding, in order to try and combine the hopelessly divergent styles of the two schools into one code of rules. The end might have been foreseen. The Cambridge and London dribblers outvoted the London Rug- 7 98 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST beians on the vexed question of “tripping” and ‘‘ hacking over,’ with the result that the Rugbeians withdrew from the association, which was then ’ formed for the governing of the game. In spite of this definite organisation of the Soccer — clubs, it was the Rugger game which made the greater progress in the country; a circumstance possibly due to the fact that it was not until 1873 that the Northern Soccer clubs, such as Sheffield, finally joined the Football Association. Differences of opinion on the “ off side’ rule, even to this day a fearsome bone of contention, were the cause of the aloofness of the industrial north from the parent association. But not until 1871, did the Rugby clubs, at the instigation of Richmond and Black- heath, form themselves into an association of their own. International matches under the Rugby code did not start until 1871, and under the Soccer code a year later; while not until 1874, did the two great Universities start battling under either code. VI THE HISTORY OF BOWLS AND SKITTLES THE game of Bowls is one of the oldest, and therefore ought to be one of the most respected of our English pastimes. The innate conservatism of the English character, in spite of the trend of modern thought, _ makes the adoption of any new conception—be it a political notion, some fresh game, or even a novel food-stufi—a serious consideration in the mind of the unsentimental Britisher; and as a necessary corollary, anything old is usually regarded with that respect which grey hairs ought always to inspire. Balls form the essential feature of almost all modern outdoor games; the very words bowl and ball are in all probability derived from the Same source, whilst most modern sports bear wit- ness to some kind of sphere, as the dominating influ- ence; but the common ancestor of this numerous progeny, like the Darwinian Missing Link, is lost in the darkness, which surrounds most origins. It can be taken as an accepted fact, that all nations played games with balls; and, although it would seem probable that, in earliest times, games with balls were an essentially feminine amusement, he would be a misogynist of a curious type who would dare claim that the modern game of Rugby football was a feminine amusement, played though it might be by a band of fighting Amazons—or rather in 99 100 + PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST. these days, of militant suffragettes. Haziness of origin in itself need be a matter for no surprise ; for if the history of the nations themselves, their laws and customs, their poetry and their traditions, is to a large extent a matter of speculation on the part of the learned savants of all countries, it must be expected that the history of the games they played, important though they may be in reflecting the inner life of any nation, will also be enshrouded in that same obscure fastness, the dim security of a remote antiquity. It is usually supposed that the word “bowl” is» derived from the Saxon ‘“‘bolla,’”? and the Danish ‘“‘bolle,”’ words which mean literally, a bubble, but which came to mean anything round or spherical. Others have it that the word comes from the Latin “bulla,” meaning a “round ball,” and through the old French “ boule’’ meaning a ball. These derivations can be taken to imply that balls or bowls were well known in the northern countries of Europe, because the word bowl, or its equivalent, is to be found in all the languages of the Teutonic group; and, con- sidering that it is in the very nature of man to throw sticks, stones, or anything else in offence or defence, it is again a matter for no surprise to find an early record of games in which skill in throwing-should form the essential feature. The history of the boy- hood of the Balearic Island contingent of slingers, who formed an important part of Ceesar’s legions, is well known. They had to sling down their dinner every day from the top of a high pole where it had been put, and unless they hit it with a stone, they got none. An empty stomach makes for a keen eye and a sure hand. | THE HISTORY OF BOWLS AND SKITTLES 101 William Fitzstephen in his ‘‘ Survey of London,” a work written—in Latin—at about the end of the - twelfth century, is the first authority that we have on the subject of the national games, as played in England at this period ; and although it is possible, nay almost certain, that similar games have been played by other nations, both east and west and throughout all ages—even the hieroglyphics of the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians depict games with balls—yet so far as the English game of bowls is concerned, this constitutes the first possible refer- , ence to the game. The reference runs “in jactu lapidum ’—“ in the throwing of stones,’ which in those early days might have been taken to refer to slinging, had it not been for the fact that a few sentences later, the careful Fitzstephen proceeded to refer, specifically, to slinging as a pastime, which thus precludes the possibility that “in jactu lapidum ” might refer to the art of war. Hight centuries have passed since these words were written ; and after such a lapse of time, it is not possible to prove absolutely and definitely that this phrase does refer to the game of bowls: but when it is considered that bowls, in their earliest form, are known to have been played with stone - implements, that Fitzstephen was mentioning, one after another, the various pastimes of the earliest English townsfélk, that from the twelfth century onwards reference is constantly made to the game fo bowls, and similar games, in Acts of Parliament and in other state papers, the deduction is not un- reasonable. For it may be asked, to what else could “in jactu lapidum ” refer? Some have sup- 102 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST posed that the phrase may have reference to the act of “ putting the shot,” which in early times was a sport, known to have been played with a large stone. But assuming this to be correct, the use of the word “ jactu’”’ would involve some stretch of the imagination, although it must be admitted that the word is sometimes used in the sense of “‘ casting.” The early stone bowls, which might have pri- marily originated from the ammunition of the old- time balista, gave place gradually to the wooden implements, about the same time that skittles were introduced into England—the beginning of the fourteenth century. Possibly the advent of the Flemings, who were skilled workmen, had some- thing to do with the change ; since they were skilled workmen to whom the hardly-wrought stone bowl would not appeal. It might be mentioned in passing that in modern bowls the bias is usually given by turning to shape in a lathe, and not, as is usually supposed, by weighting with lead. The earliest prints depict the game as being played without the aid of jacks, and it is supposed that, presuming the game to have been played by two players only, one of them first threw his bowl as a jack and his opponent then proceeded to throw his bowl, as near to it as possible: the object of the first player being, presumably, to throw his bowl according to the previously discovered weaknesses of his adversary. The reverse order of proceedings would then be adopted, and the winner of the ‘‘ rest ”’ would be the player who succeeded in placing his bowl nearer to his opponent’s throw. At first, perhaps, the game would have been a test of strength only, comparable to the quoit-throwing of the THE HISTORY OF BOWLS AND SKITTLES 103 ancient Greeks, when he who flung furthest received . the laurel crown; but, as in curling, strength would gradually give place to skill. Plenty of scope for individual. skill would be accorded, because, as in the present game, considerable latitude in the position of the jack would be possible, which would have to be curtailed as the course of natural evolu- tion altered the game, owing to differences in the various greens. In addition, if matches were played between different teams—which is the essence of the survival of all games—then an approximately similar condition of ground and conditions of play would have to be adopted by all. Strutt in his ‘‘ Sports and Pastimes of the People of England,” a book compiled in 1810, does not, unfortunately, give us much information on the subject of either bowls or skittles. He says that he was unable to trace the game before the thirteenth century. He tells us that even within his memory bowling greens were common, but that they had died out on account of the legislation which had been enacted against them. According to a seventeenth-century writer in ‘‘ Country Content- — ments,” 1615, bowling is a pastime “in which a man shall find great art in choosing out his grounde, and preventing the winding, hanging, and many turning advantages of the same, whether it be in open wilde places or in close allies (alleys); and for this sport the chusing of the bowl is the greatest cunning, your flat bowles being best for allies, your - round byazed (biassed) bowles for open grounds of advantage, and your round bowles, like a ball, for green swarthes that are plain and level.” From this it will be seen that various kinds of bowls were “104 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST in use at this comparatively late period of history. It would seem probable that bowls, skittles, long bowls—a form of ninepins,-which was sometimes called Dutch Rubbers—and other similar games, got confused with each other, as indeed was very likely. Stone bowls were in use until the fourteenth cen- tury; but it is a matter of question whether, as first played, the game took place in alleys or on greens, under shelter or in the open—or, indeed, if the game had any relation to the game of skittles. The word ‘‘skittle”’ is the same as the word “shuttle ’’—something that is thrown or cast— somewhat violently. It is derived from the Saxon “scytan,’’=to shoot, or throw, in all probability ; but again the Teutonic languages swarm with words of like meaning and similar derivation, used both abso- lutely and figuratively in the sense of something thrown or cast. Saxon though the origin of this word may be, it is equally possible that the word skittles may have come from some older Teutonic continental source ; and, as Fitzstephen does not appear to mean or refer to skittles, as opposed to bowls, it is fairly safe to conclude that bowls is the older game, in England at any rate. As a consequence, we are thrown back upon what, for want of a better term, might be called a process of evolutionary logic. It is known that archery was the exclusive pastime of the early English, a fact, borne out by many old parchments which deplore the advent of bowls owing to the injury inflicted on the national security by the withdrawal of many men from the practice of arms, and which also points to the fact that our ancestors realised to the THE HISTORY OF BOWLS AND SKITTLES 105 full the practical aspect of the Darwinian Law of ‘the survival of the fittest. On bad days, when rain would have ruined the bow strings and softened the glue which fixed the feathers to the shaft, it is natural to suppose that some indoor amusement was sought for, at a time when reading was confined to the very few, literature scarce, and the light strong enough to admit of indoor games before the setting sun announced the time of the indoor meal with its conclusion of wine and wassail. It is known that the game became popular very quickly, a fact which caused grave searchings of heart to those responsible for the national safety, but, beyond inference, there is nothing to show definitely what type of ball- game was first played. It is certain that any game of this description would be played outside rather than inside, and the presence of rush-strewn floors would prevent the use of much floor-space. All that is certain is that without the walls of a city bowling greens were commonly found, but within them bowling alleys—a fact which is in accord with the natural sequence of events, because land would be more expensive within the walls than without. The word “alley,”’ derived from the French “ aller,” to go—a passage along which people went—is found all over England, but there is nothing to show that the word, as used in the sense of a narrow street, derived its use from the fact that a bowling alley was established in the neighbourhood at some period of history. Any long narrow passage, used by pedestrians or others was termed an alley, and it is more possible that, as the game became popular— very popular—little used passages were converted 106 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST into bowling alleys for the amusement of the people, and indeed with their consent. Kayles (skittles), or keils as it is sometimes called, is the same as the French quelles, and is the game from which the modern ninepins is derived ;_ al- though the number of pins used was by no means always confined to nine. Some old illustra- tions show six and others eight pins—which were usually square in shape, tapering upwards to a fine point and of varying height. The centre pin was taller than the others, and was known as the king pin. The difference between kayles and cloish or clossh—as it was sometimes called—was that in the former game a stick, something like a policeman’s truncheon, was used as the missile, with which to knock down the pins; while in the latter game a bowl was used, usually spherical in shape, and with no bias. Nor was the arrange- ment of the pins quite the same in the two games ; in kayles, the kayle-pins were arranged in one long row, while in the game of clossh they were arranged in a square, three rows of three pins each, the centre pin being the king-pin. Another old game called “ loggats” is mentioned by Shakespeare. This game was a degraded kind of skittles, but played with bones instead of properly formed pins. Hamlet says: ‘Did these bones cost no more the breeding but to play at loggats with them ?”’ Another old Elizabethan play makes a dunce boast that he can play “ at skales, and the playing with the sheepes-joyntes.” ‘‘Skales’”? here means skittles ; while the second part of the line means either that sheep’s bones—knuckle bones—were used as the means of knocking down the pins; or THE HISTORY OF BOWLS AND SKITTLES 107 else the phrase refers to a separate game, that of “knuckle-bones,” a game known to all schoolboys of the present day, which is played with sheep’s knuckle bones. The latter is probably the more correct explanation. It may interest some to know that the word kittle—in the phrase “ they are kittle cattle”’—is probably derived from the game of skittles. Kittle, or skittle, would merely mean that the substantive described by such an adjective was easily knocked down, and therefore, not of much practical utility. After all, it is not a matter of much moment _ whether the game as first played was indoor or out- door; the one would be the necessary corollary of the other, especially in England, with her climate of samples. But it might be noted in passing that both archery and bowls, two of our oldest pastimes, are of a quiescent character. The stern activities which the modern games of football and even cricket —the two national pastimes at the present moment —demand, were not considered needful by the worthy merchants of those days; and perhaps a comparison of a similar nature can most suitably here be made, when we consider the thronging thousands who watch, rather than themselves play, the present-day pastimes. The main charac- teristics of all nations can be seen most clearly reflected in their popular sports, particularly in those which possess any history; unfortunately the modern rush of civilisation hardly admits of the making of history. A game—Bridge, for instance —is evolved almost out of existence in fifty years. Bowling greens and alleys were regarded with anything but a favourable eye from the fourteenth 108 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST century onwards, because the country folk were attracted from the practice of archery, and because the bowling-greens and alleys became places where debauchery of all kinds was permitted, and where plots could be hatched without let or hindrance from the ruling powers. Curling clubs and_bonspiels,- in the north of England during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were also made the occasion for the hatchment of all kinds of wickedness; even murders being planned and arranged either while the bonspiel was in actual progress, or during the feasting which invariably followed this national Scotch amusement. In 1388, Richard II’s reign, the enactments against bowls were renewed, while pains and penal- ties were prescribed against those who dared to play in public alleys, although private greens do not appear to have been so harshly treated. It was the evil of public gaming-places which then, as now, brought down the penalties of the law; an alley, in fact, became “a place within the meaning of the Act,” and was dealt with accordingly. Rigorous laws were passed in successive reigns, forbidding the playing of bowls, and kindred games —laws which were supposedly designed to safeguard the interests of the poorer classes, and prevent them from ruining themselves by betting upon the results of this most enticing pastime. Current literature makes it only too clear that the evils of gambling over games of skill, such as bowls or skittles, were as great, if not greater, at this time than at any other period of English history. It is to be feared that six centuries of progress and evolution have not been sufficient to curb man’s desire to back his skill, his THE HISTORY OF BOWLS AND SKITTLES 109 luck, or his opinion, with his money. After all, human nature will have her way in spite of the protests of that well-meaning section of public opinion, which, imagining itself to be perfect, desires that all others should emulate its example. Betting was higher in those days than now; yet “high” is a relative term, for the labourer who bets his week’s pay upon a throw at bowls, is in just as parlous a state as the nobleman who bets his ten-thousand-acre estate upon a cut at cards. One cannot help thinking that, as the game of skittles is known to have been introduced from the continent, and became popular in England about the same time, it was skittles, rather than the good old-fashioned game of bowls, which was thought so detrimental to the national life. The pressure of living would then, as now, draw the country folk to the towns, where skittle alleys rather than bowling greens would be the mode, and where the simple minds of the country folk would quickly become corrupted by contact with the town sweepings, a class of humanity who would naturally congregate round any spot which gave promise of an easily won spoil from the unsuspecting rustics. In spite, however, of stringent laws, further enactments were found necessary in Edward IV’s reign, where ‘Half-bowl” and other ‘newly imagined games ” were decried and banned, because betting had become a public curse, in that large numbers of people, particularly petty traders and the like, were impoverished of all their goods. We are left wondering what the “‘ newly imagined games ’’ may have been; but sure it is, that the in- 110 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST ventive genius of the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- turies in the way of games was not greatly inferior to that of the present day. The old statute of 1477-8 runs as follows: ‘“‘ Diverses novelx ymagines jeuez appelles Cloish, Kayles, Half-bowl, hand-in and hand-oute.’”’ Kayles was a game like skittles, the two words being derived probably from the same source, while ‘‘ Half-Bowl,” as its name im- plies, was played with a hemisphere of wood and not a sphere. Strutt in his “ Sports and Pastimes ”’ 1810, mentions the game, and says that it still sur- vived in Hertfordshire under the name Rolly-Polly. But what hand-in and hand-out meant, is somewhat doubtful at the present day. It may interest a good many to read a description of half-bowl, particularly as this game survived so long after bowls was effectually banned by law. Indeed it might seem as though some of these old games would take to themselves new leases of life, if the present craze for bowls in its various forms continues to spread over England. Half-bowl should be played on the floor of a room with a very level surface ; it was apparently an indoor and not an outdoor amusement. Fifteen small conical pins, about nine inches or so high, are wanted. Of these, twelve are placed at equal intervals all round the circumference of a circle about 24 feet in dia- meter. One of the three remaining pins occupies the centre of the circle. The other two are placed outside the circle, at the back of it, forming a row of five pins with the centre pin and two of the pins on the circumference. ‘‘ The bowl, when delivered, must pass either to right or left, above the pins and round the end pin, before knocking any down, other- THE HISTORY OF BOWLS AND SKITTLES 111 wise the throw is not reckoned ;”’ and, owing to the great bias of the bowl, this would appear to be no easy task. The middle pin—or king pin— counted four towards the game; the two inter- mediate pins, that is, the two pins upon the cir- cumference (in the row of five above), counted three each, whilst the first pin without the circle counted two; and the value of all the others, singly, but one. “Thirty-one chalks complete the game.” A chalk, it need hardly be added, is only a means of reckoning the score, so called because it was customary to chalk up the points as scored on any convenient wall or board. At this period of English history se craze for playing games must have taken a strong hold of the popular imagination, because in Henry VII’s and again in Henry VIII’s reign, enactments were passed prohibiting the playing of these games, but the very fact of the continuance of this repressive legislation points clearly to the futility of the previous laws which had been passed on the subject, and to the hold which such games possessed over the populace. By this time the culverin and other early artillery pieces were beginning to displace the bow in battle, so that it cannot have been injury to the practice of archery, which caused these frequent outbursts of legislation. Good King Hal is known to have laid out a bowling green at Whitehall, and when the people found their king disporting himself in this way, it is no marvel that they hastened to follow his example in the only way that they were able—by frequenting public alleys; and thus the good king unwittingly merely added to the evil which his legislators desired to suppress. It was 112 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST not the game itself which was objected to, but the evils which followed in its train. 7 The Act of 1541 is remarkable in many ways. Under it, private greens could be licensed for a sum of £100 yearly, a much larger sum in those days than now, and one which could only have been paid by the wealthy. The licensing of private greens also goes to show that the popularity of the game was admitted, and that the legislature had no objec- tion to the game when played in proper surround- ings. Thus it was, that statesmen endeavoured to secure a decent environment for the game, by placing a heavy tax upon the owners of a green. Curiously enough, however, although the severest penalties were enacted against owners of alleys, no provision seems to have been made for enforcing the law, so that the Act remained very largely a dead letter. An interesting sidelight is thrown on contemporary history by the Act of 1555, against bowling greens, in which the licences, granted in the previous Act of 1541, were revoked. This was done no doubt on religious and political grounds, because a private bowling green would form an admirable meeting place for Protestant malcontents during the reign of ‘“‘ Bloody Mary,” either for religious worship or for the hatchment of plots against the reigning sovereign. Such friendly meetings were indeed turned into unlawful assemblies, and dealt with according to the rigour of the law. After Mary’s death, however, the bowling greens and alleys again assumed full and unchecked sway ; the legislature was defied, while bowls and similar games were played throughout the land. Con- temporary writers cry out against the abuses to Onl ©34t) SAVG NAGIO HHL NI STAVOd THE HISTORY OF BOWLS AND SKITTLES 113 which these bowling alleys gave rise through the old cause—betting. Constant references occur in his- tory to the game at this period ; Drake was playing a game of bowls when the news of the advent of the Armada was brought to him, and every schoolboy knows the way in which he finished his game before - turning to the business of finishing the Spaniards. Again, to show that bowls was played during the period of the Commonwealth, the following anecdote is worth repeating. The late Mr. Esdaile of Cothelstone House, Taunton, was clearirig away the ruins which littered an old farmyard, where once had been a mansion of Lord Stawell, when he ~ found a set of bowls and a jack in the middle of them. The bowls were in position, just as they were left by the players, who were disturbed in their game by a band of Cromwellian soldiery. These -ruffians finally battered down the house. The bowls were precisely similar to those made at the present day. The Stuart kings were known to have been skilled exponents of the game, particularly the second Charles ; but it was during the seventeenth century, particularly under the egis of the mutton-eating king, that the game assumed even more licentious proportions than ever before in its history. It is worthy of note that the games of curling and bowls came into prominence about the same period of history—during the seventeenth century— and also that, generally speaking, bowls is played more in the north than in the south of England, although it is true that Southampton can boast what is probably the oldest bowling club in England, dating as it does from 1299. The early Scotch 8 114.“ PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST — ‘poet, Wintoun, writing about the end of the four- — teenth century, tells us that during the troublous times of the Middle Ages, the history of the English Marches was one long procession of rapine, battle, murder, and sudden death. He goes on to lament that ‘“‘gamyn” and “glee”—games and fun—were absent from Scotland—implying thereby that in happier days Scotland did not lack her sports and pastimes. As a consequence, before the beginning of the seventeenth century there is no mention of any Scotch sports or pastimes in her literature ; indeed during those riotous centuries there was scarce room for literature in Scotland. It is thus just possible to conceive that curling may have been derived from bowls. Unfortunately bowls, unlike curling, possesses no etymology worth speaking of, for beyond the words “ Jack,” ‘Turning the Jack,’ and “Rub,” the game has none ; but words borrowed from one game are constantly used in another. A “rub of the green” is used in golf and bowls alike, for instance. The word ‘Jack,’ originally, was the common Christian name, James, and came gradually to be used in a derogatory sense, as ‘‘ Jack of all trades,” ‘Jack in the box,’ and so on. Gradually the word came to mean anything of a common, though not necessarily useless, nature, as for instance the “ Jack” at bowls, which is a useful mark at which to throw, but which has not the importance of a ‘bowl ”’ itself. It was not until 1728 that the evils resulting from the licentiousness of the Stuart régime. were sup- pressed. Yet another Act was passed, but with this difference, that the penalties enacted were ” THE HISTORY OF BOWLS AND SKITTLES 115 rigorously enforced. The result was that, except for private greens, the public alleys were almost entirely abolished, and since that date these alley- ways have never regained their popularity. For the proper enjoyment of bowls, a very smooth piece of turf is wanted, which is perhaps one of the reasons why a game formerly so popular, has died out in English country houses. Important as a smooth surface is, for lawn tennis, cricket, croquet, and other modern pastimes, it is not so vitally essential as for the good old game of bowls. The making of a good lawn requires many years of careful labour, for the lover of a fine lawn, like the maker of poetry, has to be born and not made. But it might be interesting to mention at this point a few old maxims found inscribed in Cornish on some old bowls. These are taken from a MS. dated May 22, 1724, and preserved in the British Museum. “ Make you a good end,” is one of them— surely apt enough. ‘Gold win well” and “For Good Friendship,” are two others—the former dis- tinctly reminiscent of that love of gaming with which the whole history of the game has been associated. On the bowling green house itself ran the motto, “End well, with Friendship ’’—or in the original, ““Gwrd why duath vas.” But not being an adherent to the “‘ Neu speling ’’ the writer will not guarantee the correct rendering of the original, although he has done his best. All lovers of the good old-fashioned game of bowls cannot help but be struck with the following poem, which is taken from an old volume in the Harleian Library entitled “ Justin Pagitt’s Memor- ° andum Book,” The verses are every whit as 116 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST applicable to-day as at the period, some four cen- -turies ago, when they were written—while bei last four lines will appeal to all. A PARALLEL BETWIXT BOWLING AND PREFERMENT Preferment, like a game at bowles, To feede our hope hath divers play : Heere, quick it runs, there smooth it roules ; The betters make and shew the way. On upper ground, so great allies Doe many caste on their desire Some up are thrust and forced to rise When those are stopt that would aspire. Some whose heate and zeal exceed, Thrive well by rubbs that curb their haste, And some that languish in their speed Are cherished by some favour’s blast ; Some reste in others cutting out, The fame by whom themselves are made ; Some fetch a compasse farr about And secretly the mark invade. Some get by knocks, and so advance Their fortune by a boysterous aime: And some, who have the sweetest chance Their en’mies hit and win the game. The fairest casts are those that owe No thanks to fortune’s giddy sway ; Such honest men good bowlers are Whose own true bias cutts the way. VII CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL CRICKET is universally regarded as the national pastime of the British people ; and, in consequence, any attempt at a necessarily brief record of the history of our national game should occupy a principal place in a collection of histories of some of the more important sports and pastimes. Many indeed consider that a history of cricket is practically Synonymous with a history of the British nation. It will come as a sad blow to this fraternity, and as a surprise to others, to learn that the game of cricket can be said to have had no existence, as a separate institution, before the year 1750. . These words, “separate institution,’ demand a little explanation. In medieval England, various ball games were current; whilst some, such as “La Longue Patime” and “ Bowls,” obtained a degree of popularity, with which not even the modern craze for golf can compare. Unfortunately, all early descriptions of games are remarkable for nothing so much as the vagueness with which the author attempted to describe any particular sport ; nor do such illustrations as are available, with the painter’s curious ideas of breadth,’ perspective, and distance, add very much to our definite know- ledge of the game, which the illuminated MSS. were 117 ~ 118 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST supposed to represent. Thus it happens that old records must be judged with caution, not forgetful of the fact that sports did not occupy the important place in national life, which they do to-day. Many of these old ball games were played with a bat, a ball, and a wicket—-instruments, which were not necessarily called by these names in every case : but, as a consequence of this looseness of phrase and superficial resemblance, it is very difficult for a modern searcher to say, definitely, from the descrip- tion in some old-world tome whether a game can be accurately taken as the lineal progenitor of any present-day sport. ‘Twentieth-century ball games are a numerous progeny, which run riot over the land. The very first mention of the word “ cricket ” occurs in 1598. In the Constitution Book of Guild- ford, a MS. volume, there is a record of a dispute over a piece of ground near the town. John Derrick, a County Coroner, deposed that he knew it fifty years ago—i.e. in the reign of Edward VI, when it lay waste—‘‘ when he was a scholler in the Free School of Guildford, he and several of his fellows did run and play there at crickett and at other plaies.”’ That the game was unknown before this date, as a popular amusement, is certain; because none of the repressive statutes of the previous reigns contain any reference to cricket. It seems likely that “cricket”? in its earliest form was a game confined to girls and youths, and was local in character, being played mostly in the south of England; but during the whole of the seventeenth century, “cricket,” or “stool-ball”’ as the game CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL 119~ was called, is, practically, an unknown quantity to us. Cricket is first mentioned in print in Cotgrave’s Dictionary, 1632. The word “ stool-ball ”” leads up to the etymology of “ cricket,” concerning which there is much doubt. Many would like to believe that the word comes direct from the Anglo-Saxon “ cricce,”’ meaning a “ stick ”’ or “‘club;” but the known history of the game makes such an origin improbable. Two other sources of derivation are open to us, between which it is diffi- cult to choose. There is an old English word “ cricket”? meaning a “small stool,’ whose etymo- logy is obscure; but, as the original cricket was called “stool-ball,” it is very likely that the game may derive its name from the stool, which first formed the stumps. The other possibility is that the word may be derived from the French “ cricquet ”— a word which, according to the dictionaries, meant originally “a little horse,” but which was the word used for the mark or tee, in ‘‘ bowls,” at which the players would hurl their respective balls. The round “jack” is a later innovation. The game of bowls is acknowledged to be of the greatest antiquity ; and it is quite possible that the name, given tothe mark or tee at one game, has come to be substituted for that of another. This is an episode of constant.occurrence in the history of sports of all kinds, particularly of cards. It is also true that as early as the thirteenth century, a game of ball was played with a “Cryc” or “Cricce;” a word meaning literally, a “‘club’’; but this game is more likely to have been a rough Anglicised imitation of the ancient French game of Paille-Maille than anything else. The Latin crux = a cross is, per- 120 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST — haps, responsible for such words as crosier, cricce, crochet, and other similar terms. Paille-Maille was played in Languedoc in France as early as this period ; and, doubtless, was introduced into Great Britain at about the same time—probably into Scotland. At any rate, between that date and to-day, a great gulf of several centuries of errant time is fixed, in whose murky depths the exact history of primeval cricket is hopelessly lost. The vasty mazes of the British Museum Library have been vainly searched by the curious, for any chance references to the game in contemporary records; but with such slender Success as to be barely worthy of remark. Strutt, in his ‘Sports and Pastimes °—a work which is sometimes apt to be regarded with almost too great a veneration as a final authority—tells us that he can find no record of the game beyond the commencement of the eighteenth century— about 1702. Thus, in “ Pills to Purge Melancholy ” published by D’Urfey in 1719, occurs the following : Hur was the prettiest, fellow At Football or at Cricket ; At hunting chase or nimble race How featly Hur could prick it. But a volume, whose object presumably was the cure for an excess of introspection in the individual, by an introduction to the joys of various field sports, can hardly be considered as any very valu- able, much less final, authority on the history of our national game. The quotation proves that the word was then in use and, as a result, that the game must have been known. Again in a short MS. in the British Museum, dated June 23, 1708, occurs the CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL _121 following: ‘‘ We beat Ashstreet at Creekits.”? But no explanation of the game is offered : the spelling of “creekits”’ is, however, sufficiently quaint. Beyond the occasional mention of the word in such early MSS. and volumes as the above, and never in any direct historical narrative of the game, nothing has, as yet, been discovered to show what hold cricket had over the imaginations of British youth in the stirring periods to which allusion has just been made. In Mr. Astley-Cooper’s small volume, “ Cricket, 1742—-1751,” we have the score of the Kent v. England match, which took place on the Artillery Ground, London, on June 18, 1744, but after that date no more scores are available until 1772. This much is definite, that, up to the year 1744 or there- abouts, little or nothing is known of our national pastime ; and, sad to relate, it seems improbable that anything definite will ever be known of the early history of cricket, owing to the unfortunate fire, which in 1825 consumed the Pavilion at Lords, and with it destroyed all the records which had been stored within. Dr. Cox, in his latest edition of Strutt’s work, adds some interesting information. In the ward- robe accounts for Edward I, in the year 1300, the ~ sum of 100s. is entered towards the expenses in- curred by John Leek, tutor and chaplain to the young Prince Edward II, in playing at “* Creag ”’ and other games. Again, in 1420, a reference is extant to some form of ball game, of which a club and a ball were a part. John Coombe of Quidhampton was one of the witnesses examined by commissioners, appointed by 122 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST — the Pope, to inquire into some alleged miracles at the Tomb of Bishop Osmund of Salisbury. Coombe bore witness that, ten years previously, his neigh- — bours had been playing at a game of ball with great clubs (ludentes ad pilam cum magnis baculis), when a quarrel arose. Coombe, in attempting the part of the peacemaker, came to the usual end of such, and was hit over the head and shoulder by an irate player. Severe injuries resulted—but after some time he laid an image of wax, disfigured with wounds similar to his own, before the tomb of the saint: and, as a result of this offering—together with a proper meed of prayer—Coombe recovered the use of his injured limbs. Another interesting episode in cricket history is shown in one of the illustrations; but allowance must be made for the passage of the centuries in any judgment on the artist’s merits. This shows an ancient game of some kind, played with club and ball: and is taken from the Bodleian Library at Oxford—Number 264. In passing, however, it might be noted that it is a disputed point whether the Prince of Wales was killed by a cricket or a tennis ball in 1751. The latter seems the more probable; but the death of the Prince of Wales, who is known to have been a patron of cricket, would have caused a decline in the popularity of the game between 1750 and 1770, in spite of the fact that the Prince himself was far from popular. It was not until 1833 that Nyren’s famous little work appeared, called the ‘“ Young Cricketer’s Tutor.” This is a compilation, mostly from hear- say, of the say'ags and doings of some of the CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL 123 most famous old-time cricketers; and it is to this volume that the present generation is most indebted for its knowledge of the past. The records, contained in Nyren’s book, have been recently attacked on the ground that the information, is, at the best, only secondhand ; and doubtless old men, especially valiant old warriors, are prone to brag; but the record of individual recollection has a place in_ historical narrative, which it is hard to gainsay, although some of the “ travellers’ tales,’ contained in it, must obviously be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt. To be told, for instance, that David Harris, the great bowler, when getting on in years and gout- ridden withal, was allowed an armchair at the bowler’s end in which he used, soulfully, to repose after delivering the ball, and from which he did not rise until it was time that the next ball should be delivered, is to demand a tax on the reader’s imagination, which must bring his reasoning power into the bankruptcy court of laughter and incre- ‘dulity. But the history of the far-famed Hambledon | Club can be said to constitute the history of cricket, practically from the commencement of the game until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Founded probably about the year 1755, the Club was known as the Hambledon, or Squire Lamb’s Club, and it acted to the players of that generation in exactly the same way that the Marylebone Club does at the present day. All the best players belonged to it, and the names of Lord Frederick Beauclerk and Squire Osbaldeston, of Nyren and Beldham (known as Silver Billy), Harris and Small, 124 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST the Walkers, and the Manns, are not a tithe of those with which the early history of the game is asso- ciated. All added their quota to the glory of this Club, which reached its zenith about the year 1780, and did not go out of existence until 1825. This was the very year, in which the old records of the game were all consumed by fire in the pavilion of Lords, which even then was regarded as the Pantheon of the cricket world; but the fire might be more fittingly regarded as the funeral pile of the famous Hambledon Club. Nyren himself was the mainstay of this club. It was the retirement of this mighty old cricketer, whose personality was even a greater asset than his prowess, which caused the final collapse of the alma mater of cricket ; but not before the egis of power had been handed over to the Marylebone Club, which now exercises supreme control over the game—the control of a century of time. With the departure of Nyren, the mainspring was lost, and the club collapsed through want of driving power. But Hambledon in Hampshire is the name with which the early history of cricket will always be connected. This village—it was nothing more— was also the birthplace of Nyren himself; and it was the cradle, together perhaps with Farnham in Surrey, in which the infant cricket of England was nurtured, and from which the modern giant now spreads its arms over the British Empire. So powerful was the eleven which Hambledon could put into the field, that All England trembled and fell before the onslaught of this famous “ village team.” This was the club which legislated, and in vain, against the introduction of round-arm CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL 125 bowling, styling this type of delivery as throwing. This club it is, round which the ghostly glamour of _ the cricket past clings in soft wreaths, which the storms of time can never hope to shatter. After the club had gone to the limbo of things departed, but not forgotten, came the days of Lillywhite and Felix, of Pilch and Alfred Mynn, and the days of round-arm bowling: but, behold, are not these written in the Book of Wisden? Then, in their turn, these great ones passed away, and the name of Grace came to be associated with all that was best in the cricket world; and from that time to the present is small indeed. That time ts the present; and as the history of cricket within the last half-century is like an open book to all Englishmen, we shall not stop to re-tell such modern tales; but rather confine ourselves to those incidents in the more distant past, about which not so much is known. It is very curious that the implements of the game of cricket have varied but slightly in the course of the last one hundred and fifty years. The pitch ever since 1700 has always been 22 yards in length a quantity doubtless chosen as agreeing with the standard of English land measure. The wickets themselves have, it is true, been slightly altered. Originally consisting of “ two stumps with a stump laid across” (as a bail), their height above the ground was one foot, while their width was about the same, possibly a little more. There seems some doubt as to what the exact width of these pre- historic stumps was. The statement that the two outside stumps were two feet apart can be accepted with some caution, on Nyren’s authority. Cer- - 126 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST tainly, an examination of such old prints as are available lead one to suppose that the width of the stumps was about equal to the height ; but perhaps the distance below the ground had to be reckoned in addition to that above the ground, when calcu- lating the length of the “stump laid across ’’— forming the “ bail ’’—assuming for a moment that this bail stump was similar to the other pair, a point about which there is also uncertainty. The bowling was under-hand, and all along the ground; “good length’? bowling was a later in- novation introduced by Harris; whilst the bat was shaped like a hockey stick, in order to meet such daisy cutting assaults on something like equal terms. It is easy to understand that under such conditions, and with the ground of the roughest, scoring must have been very slow ; although these bats were essentially hitting weapons. Again, im between the two upright stumps at either end, was the block-hole. The object of this hole was two- fold. Firstly, in running, the batsmen had to make use of these two holes as “ block-holes” for the “notching”? of runs; secondly, in attempting to run a batsman out, the ball had to be placed in this hole in the ground by some fieldsman, before the batsman could get his bat there. It was the injury done to the hands of players, when trying to run a batsman out in this way, which was finally responsible for the introduction of the bowling and the popping crease, and the substitution of the knocking down of the wicket with the ball in the hand, for the popping of the ball into the original “block-hole,’ when attempting to run out—or stump out, as it used to be called—a player. The a CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL 127 word “ popping,” by the way, as a name must have been the source of wonder to many a schoolboy cricketer. It is supposed to have been derived from the fact that the ball was popped into the hole between the stumps when an attempt was made to run the batsman out ; thus, when the popping hole was abolished, the popping crease was retained— a curious instance of the survival of a name in the altered form of the game. The word “crease” has . no exclusive cricket connection ; whilst “ bail,” like billet, merely means a small piece of wood. The alteration from the “two stump with one stump laid across” to the “ three stump with bail ” wicket took place about the year 1780, at the height of the fame of the Hambledon Club. At a game played in 1775, between five of the Hambledon Club and five of All England at single wicket, Small was the last man to go in and fourteen runs were wanted to win—a large number in those days of small scores and especially at single wicket. The renowned “Lumpy,” otherwise known as Edward Stevens, one of the greatest of all the old-time bowlers, was handling the ball. Three several times did the ball pass between the stumps without oversetting them and, as a direct consequence, Small was able to knock up the runs without losing his wicket. But this episode was the prime cause of the addition of the third stump to the existing two. It must be remembered that at this time “breaks ” and “ googlies’? were unknown additions to the bowler’s art. The bowling was swift under-hand, firstly mere fast grubs, then “length” balls, and— if we are to believe the old historians of the game —nhot even the round-arm bowlers of the early part 128 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST | of the last century could beat in swiftness or in accuracy of pitch, these under-hand deliveries, when the ball was sent spinning by such experts as “Lumpy,” Lord F. Beauclerk, Nyren, or Harris. It was thought, at first, that the alteration to the three stumps would make the bowler’s task too easy ; but Nyren, when asked his opinion by the committee in charge of the rules, said that he did not think that the game would be shortened by the contemplated change; since it would merely tend to make batsmen play more. carefully. Nyren’s opinion was adopted ; and in this case his reasoning, unlike his denunciation of round-arm bowling, was found to be correct on the test of experience. In 1814, the dimensions of the wicket were altered to 26 inches by 8 inches from the 22 inches by 6 inches, which were the previous dimensions. Again, in 1827, they were altered to 27 inches by 8 inches. It was in 1777 that a player, Aylward, made the record score of 167, when playing for Hambledon against All England. ‘This achieve- ment was looked upon as being a really marvel- lous performance. When the lack of boundaries, - the rough turf of the old-time grounds, the keen fielding and the good bowling are remembered, such a score, even in these days of lightning cen- turies, must be considered as quite out of the ordinary. The bats, too, were bats but in name, according to present-day accepted phraseology. Curved at the end like an old-fashioned dinner knife, they must have been all for hitting; blocking, except absolute grubs, or good play with such implements, must have been very difficult. It was only when Sale gs oe GR EAG Cricket in the 14th Century. OF THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS — 4 - 7 i re . i + © My ‘ ‘ > Pi 4 al q » ‘ ~ « Eo R ae 5 bee + ‘ , 7 is, 2 : ‘ f * A ed # t or f i o . : 5 * es [ - “e x , . =- G ” bi : . z . 4 - a “ a 5 < . = ha) t ¢t i = 5 . . - + ¢ & ¢ a f CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL 129 the change in bowling came about, the change which substituted good-length, well-pitched balls for fast daisy-cutters, that a change in the shape of the bat was also rendered necessary. The bat was then made “‘ straight in the pod ”—a delightful phrase— in order to allow the batsman a better chance of , defending his wicket. This would be about 1770 ; and Small, who has been previously mentioned, was the player who introduced the innovation. An interesting anecdote is told of a player, named White, of Ryegate, who brought a bat to a match of the same width as the stumps, six inches, and successfully defended his wicket from the bowler with it. As a result, a law was passed limiting the future width of any bat to four-and-a-quarter inches ; while another law was passed at the same time, saying that every ball must weigh between five-and-a-half and five-and-three-quarter ounces. Nyren tells us that he remembers this occurrence of the alteration of the rule, restricting the width of the bat, quite well; and adds the interesting note that an iron frame of the proper width was kept for many years at the Hambledon Club, against which any suspected bat might be tested, and accepted or rejected, according as the bat passed through the frame or failed to do so. Few of the old bats still survive ; being of wood they would be easily de- stroyed; but the Marylebone Cricket Club possesses one or two of these old veterans. One in particular, is mentioned as being strengthened with iron in the handle, where a groove had been cut to fit a missing finger of the original wielder. Balls, in weight, were much as they are now, though in manufacture it has taken many a year 9 130 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST to reach the treble-sewn excellence of the twentieth century. Even in those days, professionalism involved the making and selling of the various cricket requisites; whilst some names acquired a high reputation. Sawdust as an auxiliary to the bowler on a wet day, was introduced by Lord F. Beauclerk about the year 1806; but what would his ghost say to Australian resin? Mr. Pycroft writes that a notable single wicket match was being played at Lord’s on June 27, 1806. Lord Frederick’s last innings was winning the game, and there seemed no chance of getting him out. Beldham, who was bowling, “ took up a lump of wet mud and sawdust, which had lately been introduced by Lord Frederick, and stuck the mass on the ball, unseen. This ball, when bowled, chanced to pitch exactly on the lump and, making a most extraordinary twist, took Lord Frederick’s wicket.” This tale sounds like one of those in which old soldiers delight to revel ; but as, in this case it is backed by no fewer than three inde- pendent witnesses, the tale can be taken as true, and as exemplifying the old legal maxim of “an act of God.” ‘The laws of cricket, revised in 1830 by the Maryle- bone Cricket Club, make an interesting study, and do not greatly differ from those in force at the present day. The bat might be any height, but the width was limited as already explained ; while the stumps were to stand 27 inches above the ground. The bails, when united, were not to exceed 8 inches in length. The two creases were, to use an Euclidian phrase, to be similar and similarly situated to those of the present day; whilst the wicket-keeper was bound by the same rules as to-day, against annoying _ CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL 131 the batsman. But the day of the Longstop, with a handkerchief bound round his knee, so that when stooping to stop the fast bowling, his trousers should not suffer, is quite gone—lost in the glorious past, together with wide-brimmed top hats, the tight trouserings, the knee breeches and silk stockings of the dawn of cricket. Very severe, too, was the rule against throwing or jerking. ‘The ball shall be bowled,” we read, ‘if it be thrown or jerked, or if any part of the arm or hand be above the elbow at the time of delivery, the umpire shall call ‘No Ball.” Round-arm bowling did not come into fashion until later, though sporadic efforts had been made to introduce it previously, even as early as 1780 or thereabouts. The modern over-hand is an “innovation”? when speaking of these early times. Round-arm bowl- ing, it would seem came in—not so much on account of its own intrinsic worth, as because the best of the old under-hand bowlers were “used up.” Con- stant and unswerving practice was then, as now, necessary in order to arrive at any pitch of excel- lence in this department of the game. Then, as the old men became too old to play, round-arm gradually ousted the old under-hand, in spite of the strictures cast upon this style, by all the old players; and of the law, passed against this method of bowling, which gradually became a dead letter. Four balls constituted an over, though this number could be varied by mutual consent. ‘In single wicket three notches were to be scored for a lost ball, and the same number if a ball were stopped by a hat.” It was customary in earliest days to score by notches cut on a piece of stick ; whilst the 132. PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST hat, as an additional, though nerveless hand, was strictly taboo. ‘‘ No substitute in the field shall be allowed to bowl, keep wicket, stand at the point or middle wicket, or stop behind (long-stop) to a fast bowler, unless by the consent of the opposite party.” Again, at double wicket, “‘if any person stop the ball with his hat, the ball shall be considered dead, and five runs shall be added to the score of the opposite party.” The pitching of wickets was a matter of great account. ‘‘ The wickets must be pitched—by the visiting team—within thirty yards of a centre previously selected by the opposing party... .” This rule led to the exercise of much cunning on the part of those, whose duty it was, to fix the exact position of the stumps. Both sides, ie. in alter- nate matches, home and away, fixed the wickets with the avowed object of favouring their own bowlers; but as each side, in turn, had this advantage, perhaps no great harm was done. Nyren, in giving his ‘‘ Advice to Young Cricketers,’’ counsels the tyro to take the greatest care in the selection of the wicket, so as to favour the bowlers of his own side ; not forgetting, at the same time, to hinder the bowl- ing of the opposite party by the selection of suitable ground. But the choice of the exact spot for the pitching of a wicket soon passed into neutral hands, and one wonders what public opinion would say at the present day, should any county be found guilty of wilfully favouring itself in this way. The bowler, too, had to act as wicket-keep at his own end, though with the assistance of a very necessary long-stop. The professional wicket-keep, padded and gloved, very early made his presence a CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL 133 necessity on account of the damage done to the hands of the bowler-wicket-keep, in attempting to stop fast deliveries. Frequent mention is made of the damaged or battered condition of the hands of his contemporaries, by Nyren and other early writers. The first pads were in the form of a couple of pieces of match-boarding, hinged at the centre. It is amusing to record that the first exponent of these now universal protectors was obliged to abandon them on account ‘of the ‘“ barracking ”’ of the crowd ! There seems to be some doubt as to when the law with regard to “‘ leg before wicket ”’ was passed. Beldham, speaking through the Cricket Field, tells us that it was not until two players named Ring and Taylor were batting together, that this law was brought into being. He tells us also that one or both of these batsmen wilfully or “‘ shabbily ” put a leg in front of the wicket, so as to defend the stumps, and so obstructed the bowling that the l.b.w. rule was passed by the Hambledon Club committee. Unfortunately for the narrator, the “rules of cricket’ issued previous to this date give the lb.w. rule; so that, unless some fresh evidence shall appear in the future, we are at a loss to know exactly at what period the 1.b.w. rule came into existence. But the simplicity of the early game, coupled with Beldham’s direct tale, leaves little room for doubt, that it was an episode of this description, which caused the introduction of the original rule against defending one’s stumps with anything but the bat. Beldham was speaking of occurrences, a great many years previously; and it is easy to understand that, though the main 134 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST fact might be correct, yet the dates would be imperfect. An interesting sidelight on an unfortunate occur- rence in the county cricket of last year is cast by Nyren in some of his proffered advice. It will be remembered that a famous county gentleman, who shall be nameless, was batting one evening, and after playing a delivery of the opponent bowler, went forward and complained that the bowler was deliberately pitching his balls into the eye of the sun—the sun at that time being about to set. A good deal of discussion ensued on the subject in various periodicals, the general verdict being that such a course of action, if proved against any bowler — which in this case it was not—was not permissible. But Nyren and the old school had no such qualms. Their business was to get their opponents out by every legitimate means, against which there was no legislation—the American spirit in fact. His advice reads as follows: “If the opposite party hold in and are getting runs too fast, change your worst bowler, being careful at the same time to bring forward one as opposite to him as possible in speed and delivery. If you bring forward a fast bowler as a change, contrive, if fortune so favour you, that he shall bowl his first ball when a cloud is passing over; because as this trifling circumstance fre- quently affects the sight of the striker, you may thereby stand a good chance of getting him out.” ‘Another piece of advice is also worthy of record, as showing that every means was considered fair by early players, provided that the rules of the game were not broken: ‘‘ Endeavour by every means in your power . . . or by any excuse you can invent, CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL 135 to delay the time, so that the striker may become cold and inactive.” The unwritten rules of cricket do not allow of such subtleties at the present day, and the reply of an All England captain to the individual who dared to suggest some such course to him would be, we can be sure, sufficiently forcible, but unfortunately quite unprintable. The positions of the field have varied but slightly since the game of cricket became established. Point, so called because balls cut at the point of the bat travelled in this fieldsman’s direction, occupied the place he sometimes does now. “ Sometimes,” because “point,” like the old “long-stop,” would seem to be a fast vanishing field position. Four yards from the bat was the position assigned to him, or even closer, for ordinary bowling. Old Nyren tells us that, standing so close, he had never taken injury from this propinquity, but even he allowed a distance of seven yards for fast bowling. Then, as now, players had their pet positions in the field, and were famed for occupying them. A story runs of how Lord F. Beauclerk, while playing in a single wicket match, was caught right off his bat by the bowler running up to him ; and another of how, when bowling against one of the Walkers, a noted stone-waller, he hurled his tall hat on the ground after seeing two or three of his best deliveries dropped off the bat, dead, in succession. At the same time he called the batsman ‘a confounded old beast’: an epithet which did not in the least disturb the imperturbable and rustic Walker. Leg, square, short, or long, was known as “‘ to the Hip” ; a phrase which soon became obsolete, but which is quite understandable when -the old illustrations are (136 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST examined—such a one for instance as Beldham at the wicket, which shows this famous batsman with his body facing the bowler fair and square from the hips, no mere casual turning of the head. ‘‘ Long field straight off” and ‘Long field straight on” were situated then, as now; but in these days of hustle, the two intermediate words have been dropped. Very keen fielders were these old-time cricketers; nor does it appear that the modern exponents of this art could teach many lessons to their century-old forbears. Rather the other way about, because slackness in the field is by no means an uncommon occurrence at the present day. The Marylebone Ground—a word derived prob- ably from Mary la Bonne — Mary the Good—and universally known as Lord’s, is so-called after one of the old players, Thomas Lord by name, a Middle- sex man who, at first, kept the old ground at Dorset Square at the commencement of the last century. Later, he opened a ground at North Bank, Regent’s Park, where the Paddington Canal now runs, and finally, in 1813 or 1814, he transferred his ground— and his turf—to the site which now bears his name. It was Mr. Ward, a famous gentleman player, who in 1825 purchased the lease of the ground for £5,000 from Lord, who was retiring. Lord was probably not a man to abate his prices. It is recorded of him that he boasted no one would be able to hit out of his new ground (Lord’s) when he first moved into it ; and it is said that he offered twenty guineas to the first person who succeeded in doing so. Shortly afterwards, this was done, but Lord refused to pay the money. And so they pass. The old players and the old CRICKET OR STOOL-BALL 137. style slowly gave place to the round-arm bowling, abhorred of Nyren and his peers; but the change had to come, only in its turn to be replaced by the swift over-hand of Spofforth and Cotter ; and again by the googlies of Littlejohn and Hordearn. Where does it all lead? We do not know, we merely pride ourselves—perhaps somewhat unduly— that the county cricket of to-day with its leaven of test matches and other superlative cricket delights, is superior in every way to the cricket of a century ago. But do the barracking crowds of to-day really repre- sent a greater keenness and intelligence in the national game, than the rings of “‘ homely yeomen ” which used to represent the “ gate ”’ of former years ? It would almost seem as though old times were to be revived. No cricket is now more popular than country house cricket—which is indeed something of the same nature as the “‘ village” cricket of long ago, in that it was the Squire who formed the club, and supported it with his person, his patrimony, and his purse. But this is what the cricket of old time used to be. All these cricketers of the past were gamekeepers, farmers, and the like; employed by the country squires as much for their skill with bat and ball as for their cunning in the extermination of vermin, or the growing of chry- santhemums. Professionals in the potting shed are not a modern institution; although the old-time punishment of a professional—boycott from all employment—for having wilfully sold a game, is no longer to be found in the columns of the daily press. To the modern democracy of the industrial towns, the country squire is supposed to be anathema maranatha; but this idea, though widespread, is a4 138 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST more a political fallacy, whose root is jealousy, than any real feeling. It was the squirearchy in the middle of the eighteenth century, who fostered the game of cricket. It was the squirearchy at the end of the last century who brought cricket to the fore- front as a national pastime. It is to the squire- archy of the future that England must look, if her national pastime is to be rescued from the turgid, muddy quicksand of ‘gates’? and false profes- sionalism. The history of sport tells us nothing more clearly than that when once money con- siderations are allowed to outweigh the purity of the game itself, that game is foredoomed to an ignoble end. | For those who desire to read much interesting lore on the subject of cricket, Mr. E. V. Lucas’ edition of Nyren’s ‘‘ Advice to Young Cricketers ” can be recommended. A short essay can never give, and is not expected to give, a lengthy résumé of the history of such a sport, about which so much has been written as cricket. The barest outline is purposely only here attempted; but enough has been said, it is hoped, to satisfy the curiosity of many who desire to glean some small knowledge of the early history of cricket, but have neither the time nor, possibly, the inclination to read whole volumes on the subject. Vill GOLF Gor, with its multitudinous variety of spellings— goff and goffe, gauf and goufe, gaoff and gaulf— is a game, whose origin is so ancient as to be lost to us. Fitzstephen does not mention the pastime in his twelfth century “Survey of London ”’—a volume to which reference is always made when the social customs and environment of early Britain are in question. It would, perhaps, be more correct to say that he does not mention any game which, by any reasonable stretch of the imagination, could be construed into meaning “‘ golf.”” Whatever the phrase “ludum pile celebrem” may be construed into meaning (the ‘“‘celebrated game of ball,’ which was played by parties of boys on Shrove Tuesday, each party bringing its own ball) no allusion to the game of golf can be read into it. All we can say is that the origin of this game is obscure. It is probable that it came into promi- nence about the end of the fourteenth century or the . beginning of the fifteenth; but, for reasons which will now appear, this statement must be accepted with some caution. The first actual mention of the game of golf occurs in an Act of the Scotch Parlia- » ment of March 1457, in which it is “ decreeted and ordained that wapin-schawingis (= meetings, lit. weapon-showings) be holden by the Lordis and 139 140 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST. Barronnis spirituale and temporale, foure times in the zeir (year), and that the Fateball and Goff (not ‘the Goff,’ note) be utterly cryit doune and not usit, and that the bowe-markis be made up at ilk paroche kirk and pair of buttes and schutting be usit ilk Sunday.” Here we have that same old story, strong in Scotland as in England. Golf was to be utterly “cryit doune,” as it prevented the practice of “ archerie ’’ and for opposing ‘‘ oure old ennemies of England ”—the very phrase used by the statute. This was in the reign of James IT _ of Scotland, corresponding to the latter part of Henry VI’s reign in England. It is remarkable that -a similar Scotch Act was promulgated in 1424, only some thirty years previously, in which the game of ‘ fute-balle”’ was ‘“‘ discouraged” as was soft by the Act of 1457; but the fact that goff was not mentioned in this earlier Act, can perhaps be taken as a proof of the rise in popularity of this latter game at the end of the fourteenth, and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries. At any rate it fixes for us two main facts. Firstly, the time at which the game became a popular one—popular in a sense that even the twentieth-century use of the word hardly renders adequate ; and secondly, that the game was essentially a Scotch one, because the numerous repressive statutes passed by the English Parliament at a similar period of history, with a view to the upholding of the practice of archery, make no mention of “ golf”? as one of the games to be “utterly decryit and abusit in time cuming.”’ These English repressive statutes definitely made their appearance in Edward II’s reign, and were then endowed with parliamentary sanction: al- GOLF : pay though there is some possibility that the playing of various kinds of games had become popular in the previous reign, if not earlier. It has been supposed that the word “ cambuca ”’ or ‘‘cambuta,’” meaning a “crooked staff” or ‘ crozier,” and used as such in Edward III’s reign, may have had reference to golf. It is also known that certain games with clubs and balls were in use in those days: but if the illuminations in old MSS. have any value as pictorial representations of these old games, it is almost certain that they were much , more like modern shinty or hockey, than modern golf. Strutt, in his ‘‘ Sports and Pastimes,” thinks that the old Roman game “ Paganica’”’ finds its modern descendant in golf, for the reason that both games were played with balls made of leather and stuffed hard with feathers: but it is much more probable that this was the only form of manufacture which lent itself cheaply to the making of small, hard, round balls. It is very curious that, in this game as in many others, we are driven to the volumes of the statutes, and not to any private MSS., for our earliest know- ledge of this Royal and Ancient game—Royal because King William IV (of England) gave his patronage to it, and Ancient because even in 1457 the game was “‘popular.”? This lack of description is largely due to the wholesale and wanton destruction of valuable MSS. which took place at the dissolu- tion of the Monasteries in Henry VIII’s reign—a period when hundreds of valuable libraries were | ruthlessly destroyed. Some might argue that, since football and golf are constantly bracketed together in this way by statute, they can both boast an 142 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST equal antiquity ; but there seems little doubt that, of the two, football is the older. Assuming for the moment that golf came into existence some time about the thirteenth century, which appears to be ~ a reasonable assumption, it is interesting to note that the old French game of Paille-Maille was intro- duced into the British Isles from Languedoc in France, at about this period of history. Now Paille-Maille was a game which required an expensively prepared ground for its proper per- formance. Pall Mall, S.W. (as I have already mentioned *) derives its name from the fact that Charles IT laid out a Paille-Maille ground on the spot. Pepys, in his diary, tells us that it was here that he saw the Duke of York playing Paille- Maille. Incidentally, we know from other sources that the Duke of York was also a golfer. Now the game of Paille-Maille consisted essentially in lofting a boxwoed ball through an iron ring at either end of a ground, some 400 yards long. This game is almost certainly the forerunner of modern croquet, and possibly also of billiards. The mallet, ’ with which the game was played, was like a light croquet mallet, and one of these implements used to adorn—perhaps does so still—the St. Andrews Golf Club Museum. It was a game which, from its very nature, could only have been played by the wealthy nobles and gentry: and it may be that the common people, in their natural wish to emulate the doings of their feudal lords, evolved the game which, in its modern form, is known as golf; but which, in ancient times, consisted in the smiting a feather-ball over hill and- dale, with * Chapter IIT. GOLF 143 implements more like shinty sticks than any other weapon in a modern sportsman’s games outfit. | Perhaps it was of golf, that the old Scotch monastic poet, Wintoun, was thinking when his heavy heart drove him to write the mournful lines * from St. Andrews—a truly proper locality for the production of any golfing history: but against this it must be admitted that any national game would have been almost certain of specific mention in some part of the MSS. The poet was writing in 1395, of those troublous times between 1250 and his own time—a period as dark and gloomy as any in Scottish History, only lightened, from the Scotch point of view, by their victory at Bannockburn. But the statutes of 1422 and 1457 showed that a quieter age was then setting in ; and consequently it is to the century pre- ceding these dates that the writer would like to assign the invention of golf. All we can definitely say about the exact origin of golf is—that, like the origin of every other ball game, it is uncertain. Golf is almost certainly a derivative from one of these early ball games, of which the “ludum pile celebrem” of Fitzstephen was a precursor: but to give the game any greater antiquity than the fourteenth century would be to err on the extreme side of improbability, in spite of the feather nature of the ball. Doubtless the ancient Britons, like all savages, amused themselves with various rude sports—but golf was not amongst them. Organised sport is a modern institution, comparatively speaking, which had no counterpart in early and mediaeval history. * See p. 66. 4 144 +~‘PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST It is fairly safe to assume that the game is of Scotch origin. Apart from the known intimate connection between the Scotch and French Courts in early medieval history (which in itself would go a long way towards the introduction of French ball games, such as Paille-Maille, into Scotland), no account has come down to us of any ball game, as” played on the continent of Europe, which in any way can be said to resemble golf. Mr. Andrew Lang, in the first chapter of the Badminton volume of the game, shows conclusively by a long account of the Dutch game of “ Kolf ”—taken from the “‘ Statis- tical account of Scotland ’ 1795—that Kolf was no more like Golf than chalk is like cheese. The only point of resemblance lay in the fact that both games —golf and kol{—were played with wooden clubs, of somewhat similar characteristics. It is interesting to note, however, that the court in which kolf used to be played, was 60 feet long by 25 feet wide— the length agreeing with that of the original tennis or Patime court, from which the method of scoring by multiples of fifteen, was almost certainly derived. But we are not here concerned with possible con- nections between Kolfi and Patime. Etymologically, “ golf” and ‘‘kolf’” have no connection, much as they appear phonetically to re- semble one another. The word “golf” is probably Celtic, coming down to us through the Gothic ‘“kulban,” meaning a crooked or knobbed_ stick, and having a connection with the Belgian word ‘choule”? or “chole,” with the same meaning. M. Charles Michel, Professor of Sanscrit at the University of Gant, wrote to Mr. Lang on the subject of this etymology and, in doing so, made (Sate LNOO@ Ja Orient. oN eel Oe) ~ GOLF 145 the highly probable conjecture that none but Scotch Te es were troubled by the origin of the word “ golf.” It is true that a game called “choule” was played in Belgium as early as 1353. This game consisted essentially in the hitting of balls with iron clubs towards fixed marks, such as a church door or market cross, straight across country, by parties of players—one party trying to hit the chosen — mark in the fewest number of strokes; whilst the other party attempted to hit the ball into all kinds of impossible hazards. Only one person addressed the ball at the same time—it was not a scrimmage— but the attacking party was allowed three strokes, consecutively, to the one of the defending party. By the attacking party is meant the party who were endeavouring to hit the fixed mark. From this short description it will be seen that the ancient game of “ choule”’ can hardly be com- pared with golf—although. both club and ball are present. It is hard to believe that such a game can ever have become very popular, because it can only have been played in the autumn, when the crops were down; and again, each player, par- ticularly on the defending side, would only have had about one stroke each during the after- noon’s play. A church door is not, after all, a hole in the ground, nor is the method of play in any way similar to golf. It might be added that the two parties at ‘‘ choule ’—after agreeing on some fixed mark, say five miles distant, put this distance up to “ auction ’”’—i.e. the side which offered to cover the distance, and hit the fixed mark in the least number of strokes, became the attacking side. As 10 66 146 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST — the number of strokes made by the attacking and defending parties respectively were in the ratio of 3: 1, it is easy to understand that the attacking _ party would be the more popular. It can thus be said that the dissimilarities of golf and choule are more marked than their similarities. © We know that Paille-Maille was introduced into Great Britain, and probably into Scotland, at about this period of history: and as “‘ choule ’— a word which, according to Du Cange, means “a wooden ball to be struck by a club ’’—was being played on the Continent, it is fairly safe to assume that “‘ choule ” suffered a like transportation to the shores of England. ‘‘Choule” would have suited neither the mountainous nature of Scotland nor the dour characteristics of the native Scotch character: but given choule, it is not a far cry to golf with its fiwed links, its smooth greens and its pairs of keen competi- tors. It is unfortunate that the science of etymology cannot come to our assistance to any great extent in dealing with the golf past. The nomenclature of the game teems with words such as mashie, bogie, niblick, and the like, which must have some history, could this history but be discovered. We may start with the word “ Links.”” Why should a golf course be called a “ Links’? This word means, literally, a ' “bend by the river bank,” and is Scotch. It is closely connected with the English word “lynch,” meaning a “ ridge of land,’’ still to be found in many old place names, particularly, high land bordering on a river bank, a connection which is amplified by the fact that in old legal documents the word is GOLF 147 spelt Lynkes. A caddie is merely another name for a cad; in fact, if the word “cad ”’ be regarded as an adjective, then ‘“‘caddie’’ would be the comparative and “‘cadet’’ the superlative. ‘“‘Cad”’ is a word whose meaning has changed, strangely, in the past centuries, and originally never possessed the mean- ing now universally assigned to it. ‘* Niblick,” ““mashie,’’ and “‘dormy” are three words whose origins are unfortunately lost to us, though various conjectures have been made as to their first signi- ficance. A ‘cleek”’ appears to be the same word as “clutch,” equalling a claw or talon—something with which it was possible to get a grip of the ball, an apt comparison enough, remembering the deadly ironmongery of the days of old: a baffy, the old- fashioned wooden “spoon,” may have derived its name from the fact that the player only took this club, with its short stock and lofted face, when ‘“baffled.”” There is also the verb ‘to baffle,” meaning to “hit the ground when striking at the ball.” This word may be connected with the old French verb “ baffle,” meaning to “give a blow with the back of the hand ’’—to which the underface of a golf club would be a very natural comparison: a term, which indicates also the possibility of a French connection with the game. Again, a “tee” is a “‘mark on the ground,” a nomenclature common to other ball games besides ‘goli—bowls and quoits for instance, both games with an equal claim to antiquity. The word may have been borrowed from one of these, but how the term originated cannot be traced. ‘‘ Stymie” is another quaint word of probable Scotch origin. -_ 148 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST It comes from an old Scoteh word “ stime,”” meaning a “glimpse” of anything—so that if a player is laid a dead stymie, it is not possible to get a glimpse of the hole, on account of the opponent’s ball being in the way. Of foozle, it is sufficient to say that this word is only another name for “ fuzzle”’; and other names, such as putter, driver, iron, and the like have obvious derivations. But of Bogie—Colonel Bogie—what of him? for presumably the gentleman is masculine. Can it be that the terror of the links inspired some pre- historic Scot to name, in this way, the least number of strokes in which each hole ought to be played? Or may it be that the name derives its origin from a gentleman of the name of Bogie, who in the year 1608, so history tells us, with his companions, John Henrie, James Kid, George Robertsoune and James Watsoune, were “‘accusit for playing of the Gowff on the Links of Leith everie Sabboth, the tyme of the sermounes, notwithstanding of admonitioun past befoir ; were convict of xx lib. (can shillings be in- tended ?) ilk ane of them, and ordainit to be wardet (put in prison) until the same were payit, and to find cautioun not to do the lyke again at na tyme heirefter—under the paine of c. lib?” Poor Bogie, he lived three centuries, at least, before his time ! If every golfer on the Sabbath were to be fined twenty pounds—Scottish pounds though they might be—for playing golf the “‘ tyme of the sermounes”’ —the church would e’en be a wealthy body to-day. Perhaps this was the bogie—clerical interference— from which in time past, boon golfers were so an- xious to escape, and perhaps it was Mr. Pat Bogie— one wonders vainly whether Paterson or Patrick GOLF 149 conceals his Christian patronymic—who first con- ceived the idea of a limiting score for a golf course. Nor were Henrie and Bogie the only sufferers in the cause of golf in these early times. Much interesting information has been collected on the subject by Mr. R. Clark in his “ Golf, a Royal and Ancient Game.’ It would appear that at the end of the fifteenth century, it was a common practice for the youth of the town to try and escape the long- winded sermons of Puritan zealots, by playing golf on the breezy links of Leith—and elsewhere. We read how in 1604, Robert Robertson and others were convicted of profaning the Lord’s Sabbath, by absenting themselves from the hearing of the word, and playing at the Gowf at the North Inch, Perth— in time of preaching—and Robertson was fined “ane merk for the poor,’’ and with the others “‘ had to compear the next Sabbath into the place of public repentance, in presence of the whole congregation ”’ —the seat of repentance being a special pew, re- served for those who had committed some error in their mode of living, and so would form a convenient and visible text for the parson on the next occasion. In 1651 we have, at the Kirk sessions of Humbie, Berwickshire, James Rodger, Johne Howdan, and others, “to mak their publick repentance, having confessed their prophaning of the Lord’s Day by playing at the Golf”—and Howden being, if you please, ‘‘ane Deacon,” is deposed from his office: and this, in spite of an edict of James VI (James I of England) in 1618 that, ‘“‘after the end of divine service our good people be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged from any lawfull recreation—such as dauncing, either for men or women (why the dis- 150 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST tinction ?) archerie for men, leaping . . . or other such harmless recreation,” but prohibiting such recreations to any that are not present in the church at the services of God, before their going to the said recreations.’ Nor did King James forget to give a rap on the knuckles to those “ precise people,” who refused to allow work-a-day folk a reasonable degree of latitude in the realm of amuse- ment on the Sabbath day—an attitude which King Charles I saw wisdom to confirm in 1633, provided the people ‘‘ having first done their duetie to God.” But the Puritan element of the commonwealth refused to sanction this most wise ordinance, and the elders of the Scotch kirk were equally lax in obeying their liege lord. Such were the conditions under which the game of golf was played by the populace in the seventeenth — century ; nor do we find that, as a game, there was any difference in the golf played by King Charles I, when confined at Newcastle, shortly before his execu- tion, and in the game played by the lowliest cobbler which the Land of Cakes has produced. Caddies were in evidence then as now. Twosomes and foursomes were the common method of playing matches. There is no trace whatever of any game like “ choule,” in which one party played against another party, Le. games with more than twoa side. The clubs were - the usual collection of wooden and occasionally iron implements, with which old-fashioned prints have made us familiar, whilst the balls were—as is well known—merely made of leather stuffed hard with feathers. And very hard they must have been stuffed, if the strong breezes of the Scotch seaside links were to be a negligible quantity when playing GOLF 151 this royal and ancient game. Even as early as 1503 we find that the King played golf with the ~ Earl of Bothwell and betted on the result of the match. James I, imbued with the Tariff Reform principles of the Elizabethan period, was not slow to make one William Mayne, “bower burgess of Edinburgh during all the dayis of his lyif-tyme, clubmaker to his Hieness”’ ; and subsequently the monopoly of ball-making was given to James Melville, for a period of twenty-one years, upon the condition that each ball should not be sold for a greater price than four shillings Scotch ; additionally, each ball was to bear a special mark, so that if any balls were found. without this mark, they might be “ escheated.” History does not relate whether good James Mel- ville’s balls were found to be any better than those imported from Holland, whose place they were in- tended to take; but let us trust that in lite and lasting power they were equal, at least, to the rubber-core of to-day. Many are the tales, which are told of old-time incidents, political and otherwise, relating to golf. Mary Queen of Scots was found playing at Golf and Paille-Maille in the fields outside Seton, a few days after the murder of Darnley—an incident which was taken as a proof of her indifference to his fate. Charles I was playing golf on the Links at Leith, when intelligence was brought to him, in the middle of a round, of the breaking out of the Irish Rebellion in 1642. This bad news had such an effect upon him, that he immediately gave up his game and, leaning on the arm of an attendant, got into his coach, and was driven straight batk to Holyrood 152 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST ‘Palace, from which he departed in the course of a few days for London. ‘ Prince Henry, the ill-fated son of James I, was an ardent golfer, and of him an amusing story is told, showing his quickness of tongue. This is the Prince whose loss was mourned by contemporary poets. The story is taken from an anonymous MS. in the Harleian Library. ‘‘ At another time, playing at Goff, a game not unlike that of Paille- Maille, whilst his schoolmaster stood talking to another, and marked not his highness waving him to stand further off, thinking he had gone aside, lifted up his golf-club to strike the ball: meantyme one standing. by said to him: ‘ Beware that you strike not Master Newton.’ Wherewith the Prince, drawing back his hand, said: ‘ Had I done so, I had but paid my debts.’”’ And so we must pass, leaving behind us the names of many, whose fame has lasted in history, although they have not endured as names_pro- minent in the field of golf. John, Fourth Earl of Montrose, who died in 1626, and who was the father of the great marquis, was very much addicted to the game, as was also his more famous son. His factors’ books show that he paid as much as three pounds for a dozen balls— a price not out of accord with the four shillings each, the monopoly price, to which reference has already been made. Sir John Foulis, Bart., of Edinburgh, was also one of those deeply smitten with the golf fever. This gentleman was one of the greatest of the aristocrats in Edinburgh society, about the year 1672. His diary makes amusing reading, consisting chiefly of GOLF 153 sums of money lost at golf, which varied in amount from 13s. up to £5 and more. He was accustomed to play at the “‘ goffe ’ with the highest in the land, including the Chancellor, Master of Saltoun, Duke of Hamilton, and other notabilities. From the continuous run of losses in his diary, it is to be feared that Sir John was an indifferent performer with his clubs; but the diary gives us a pleasant insight into the social customs of his time. From it, we learn that betting did not run very high, even amongst the highest members of the nobility ; also that golf clubs cost about 6s. each—the same price then as now. In 1724 a newspaper of the day speaks of a | ‘solemn match at golf ”’—a truly dourly flavoured phrase—on the Links of Leith, between Alexander Elphinstone, younger brother of the Elphinstone who was beheaded on Tower Hill in 1746, for his share in the °45 rebellion, and Captain Porteous of, the Edinburgh City Guard. This match was for the sum of twenty guineas—a sum considered so large, that the match was “attended by the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Morton and a vast mob of the great and little besides”’; Elphinstone, it may be added, won his bet. Duncan Forbes, of Culloden, Lord President of the Court of Session in Scotland, was a great lover of the game of golfi—to such an extent, it is said, that when the Links of Leith were covered with snow, he was wont to play on the sands. He also played occa- sionally on the Links of Musselburgh, with his son ; and the following story is narrated in his Diary: “This day (Nov. 1, 1728) I got the better of my. son at the gouf, after a very hard pull. If he was as — 154 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST good at any other thing, as he is at that, there might be some hopes for him.” This great Scotch- man, in one of the last matches he played, competed in 1745 for the “Silver Club,” which, after much endeavour, the Gentleman Golfers of Leith induced the Town Council of Edinburgh to give to them, to be played for, annually. This is the same President Forbes, who in 1745 set off to the gathering of the clans, to use his utmost influence to prevent the tribesmen from joining the standard of the young Pretender ; but, unfortunately, he died soon after. The history of associateship of the “ Gentlemen ‘Golfers ’’ of Leith, as they were usually called, is the oldest that has come down to us in the realm of golf. This club must not be confused with the Golf Club of St. Andrews, which came into being in the year 1754, as opposed to the certain date, 1744, of the former club. It is very probable that the ‘““Gentlemen Golfers of Leith’? were a corporate body some years before this date, but the minutes of the club are only available up to the year 1744; whilst the charter of incorporation given to them by the magistrates of Edinburgh, dates from 1800. In 1744 the magistrates of Edinburgh did cause to be made a Silver Club—not to exceed the value of fifteen pounds sterling—to be played for annually by the members of the company of gentlemen golfers—the winner of the Club becoming the captain for the ensuing year. These minutes make most interesting reading at the present day. The club was presented to the golfers conditionally, amongst other things, that ‘upon no pretence whatever the city of Edinburgh shall be put to any sort of expense upon account GOLF | 155 of playing for the said club annually—except to intimate by Tuck of Drum, through the city, upon the day upon which it is to be annually played for 1 and to send the “Silver Club to Leith upon the morning appointed for the match.” Twelve sturdy Scotsmen contended for this club for the first time on April 2, 1744, at the Links of Leith, with the result that Mr. John Rattray, surgeon, of Edinburgh, was declared the winner and, as a consequence, the Captain of the Golf for the year. Upon his shoulders devolved the task of regulating the royal and ancient game for this ensuing period. In 1753 we find Mr. David Lyon, “‘ane eminent golfer,” and a member of this worshipful company, indicted before the captain and the committee, in that he did “engage to play for the Silver Club ” and then failed to turn up: and to add further heinousness to the offence, he dined in another house, after having bespoke a particular dish for himself at Luckie Chapman’s—the inn most favoured by the worshipful company. History records that Mr. Lyon was duly tried for his offence five days after- wards, and ‘‘ punished according to his deserts ’’— but as to what the punishment was, we are left in comparative ignorance. Comparative because, if the further minutes can be taken as any criterion of the usual methods of punishment, it is tolerably certain that this took the form of a fine of so many bottles of claret for the benefit of the general com- pany. The council appointed their own ball-maker, club-maker, and tailor—and then, feeling the want of spiritual guidance, even went so far as to appoint their own chaplain! But in spite of this vaunted holiness, they proved a jovial set of golfers—to 156 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST whom a-bet and a glass never came amiss—indeed it might seem as though the club, as a corporate body, can seldom have got home sober in the morn- ing. Claret, rum, whisky, were all consumed with freedom and vigour; and it is on record that one Lieutenant James Dalrymple, being convicted of playing five several times at golf, without his uni- form, “‘ was fined only in six pints, having confessed the heinousness of his crime.’ The minute is then signed “ James Cheap,” who, as a kind of postscript, adds: “At his own request, he was fined three pints more!!”’ Again, in 1782 it was ordained that “Port and Punch shall be the ordinary drink of the Society, except upon those days when the Silver Club and cups are played for. At these meetings, claret, or any other liquor more agreeable, may be permitted.”” Nor does it appear that the depth of their potations in any way interfered with the skill of the players. The St. Andrews course was holed regularly in about one hundred strokes during the eighteenth century—a number which has been steadily decreasing ever since, due to our advance in golf civilisation. Passing on now to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the shrine at which all true golfers worship, we find that this company subscribed in 1754 to buy themselves a Silver Club to be com- peted for, annually, on very much the same lines as the Gentleman Golfers had done ten years pre- viously : and, be it noted, the ‘‘ Gentlemen Golfers ” were invited to join in the competition for this second Silver Club. They did so, with the result that Baillie William Laudale, merchant, of St. Andrews, was declared the winner. GOLF 157 The tenor of the way of this Club was a cheerful one, like that of its compeer the ‘“ Gentlemen Golfers.”” Funds did occasionally run low, as for instance in 1827, when the allowance of two guineas, usually given to the Leith club-maker, who annually attended the general meeting of the Club, was dis- continued. But it was in 1834 that the great honour of Royal Patronage was bestowed upon the St. Andrews Club by King William IV ; and, in doing so, the sailor King presented the well-known medal still called after his name, to be played for annually. The Royal Adelaide Medal, presented by the Queen Dowager in 1838, and worn by the Captain on all public occasions, also denotes the “ Royal” nature of the Club, not to mention the fact that in 1863, the Prince of Wales was elected Captain by acclama- tion. The minutes of this club also throw interesting sidelights on the manners and customs of past golfing generations. In 1771 it was agreed that no person shall be allowed to play for the Silver Club, except members either of this or of the Leith Society; a note, which reads as though outside members of the golfing world had been attempting to force them- selves upon the Club, in order to obtain possession of this coveted trophy. Again, September 16, 1825: ‘‘ Which day the present Captain, having imposed on himself a fine of a magnum of claret, - for a failure of public duty” (the nature of this ‘‘ failure’’ is not stated), ‘imposed a similar fine on all the old captains present!’ An entry, which shows clearly the heartiness of these old golfers in their convivial meetings. In September 1855 we read : ** As David Anderson, the present keeper of the golf 158 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST course, has resigned his office, the meeting resolve to appoint Walter Alexander and Alexander Herd, caddies, in his place—at a salary of six pounds a year betwixt them.” - One more entry must suffice : sMay 4, 1864—‘“That Tom Morris of Prestwick, formerly of St. Andrews, be brought here as a pro- fessional golfer at a salary of £50 per year, on the understanding that he shall have the entire charge of the Golf Course under the Green Committee.” Thus it came about that Old Tom returned to his original home of St. Andrews, after an absence of some twelve years at Prestwick, and never again left the Club in whose service he started his golfing career. Musselburgh as a golfers’ paradise did not come into existence until 1774, but unfortunately the minutes of the Society are not available until 1784, having been inadvertently lost or destroyed. It seems to have been a practice of this Club to make a present of a certain number of golf balls every year to one or more schools in the neighbourhood—as the folowing extract shows: ‘‘The Secretary was jena authorised to give the boys at Mr. Taylor’s two dozen of golf balls, and to those of Mr. Grierson’s school one dozen.” It is a pity that the authorities, responsible for the carrying on of the Royal and Ancient Game do not make a rule of this sort more universal. It would certainly have the effect of making the game more popular amongst the rising generation, This was in 1808. Again in 1810, we ve read that the club resolve to present by -subscrip- tion a new creel and shawl to the best female golfer—will no one coin a term? ‘“ golferess” is too unwieldy and “ golferette”’ might not be ap- GOLF 159 preciated by all female devotees in this present year of grace—on the annual occasion of January 1 next, Old Style (January 12, New Style; but this entry shows the conservative nature of these old Bohemian golfers. The Old Style had been abolished by law quite fifty years previously), to be intimated to the Fish Ladies—what delightful Billingsgate !— by the officer of the Club. Two of the best Barcelona silk handkerchiefs were to be added to the above premium of the creel. Thus it is that we find the game of golf is one of the greatest of social levellers. All are equal on the links, provided they behave themselves ; but one cannot help wondering how many of these good, pawky, Scotch fishwives availed themselves of this chance of winning a brand new creel, not to mention the other beauteous headgear, when golf- balls cost some four shillings each. Another interesting entry for October 31, 1828, reads as follows: Captain Hope challenges Mr. Saunderson ... ‘‘the Captain to shoot with a bow and arrow, and Mr. Saunderson to use a club and ball, he being allowed to see the ball at every stroke.” History records, as might be expected, that Captain Hope gained this match “ with great ease.” Mr. Saunderson must have been suffering from a swelled head on the day, or perhaps the night, that he made this bet. An arrow can be, and hasbeen, shot in modern times a distance of about a quarter of a mile: but the longest golf drive on record, with rubber cored ball, ground, wind, and indeed everything in favour of the driver, does not exceed this distance. Matches with other clubs, as we have already seen in the case of the Gentlemen Golfers and of St. f 160 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST Andrews, began early in the history of this Club. They were usually played about six a side, although the number varied; whilst the evenings of these match days were duly passed in wassail, wine, and song. It is very interesting to note in several cases, how certain members of these ancient golfing frater- nities were as favoured for their genial social qualities as for their prowess with club and ball. Incidentally, the history of the ball at golf can be told in a very few words. From the very earliest days until about the year 1850, the balls for use at golf were made with a leather casing, stuffed hard with feathers. This work of stuffing was quite an art and confined almost exclusively to pro- fessional golfers, who in turn passed on their skill to their descendants and apprentices. Bobson and Gourlay were names in the feather ball-making world of equal import to that of Wisden or Lillywhite in the realm of cricket. The feathers were first boiled, then gradually stuffed into their casing through one small hole, by means of a thin, pointed rod. The seams were sewn in very much the same kidney- shaped way as a modern lawn-tennis ball. Nor is it difficult to appreciate the high degree of skill, necessary to get a mathematical ‘“ homogeneous sphere ’’ under these circumstances, and with such crude implements. As a consequence, good balls were expensive, nor can they have had a very long life, because history tells us that “hackers” and ‘‘ swipers ’? were common then, as now. It was in ‘1848 that gutta percha was first used, experimentally, for golf balls ; and, though as then made, they had an absolutely smooth surface, the notion of “ ham- mering”’ them was quickly adopted. Somebody GOLF 161 noticed, that a gutty golf ball behaved better in a wind, after it had been hacked by the iron play of some smiter. The natural sequence of events was to “hammer” the balls when new—a course which was immediately followed, and which soon gave way to the system of impressing the necessary corrugations into the balls, while they were in a plastic state in the mould. It is very curious that this was no new discovery. At least two centuries previously, an old writer on the subject of “ Paille- Maille”’ advises his readers that an old rough ball— they were of boxwood—would fly better than a new one: thus history repeated itself. The price of feather balls was about 2s. 6d. each in the middle of the last century; and dourly did contemporary Scotch poets bewail the price they were called upon to pay for these moulting efforts of their pro- fessionals’ skill. As early as 1852 we find the Mussel- burgh Club giving “gutty ” balls as prizes, in lots of 6, 4 and 2, in lieu of the feather ones, which, initiated as prizes centuries before, had done duty ever since. It might even seem as though the days of the solid gutta percha, or something akin to it, are about to return. The newspapers have lately been full of correspondence, pro and con, on the subject of a standard ball at golf—a highly desirable matter from many points of view, in these mercenary days ; though it is to be feared that, now the joys of the rubber core have been tasted by the golfing public, it would be very difficult to induce them to revert to any approximation to such an unyielding lump as the old gutty. The days of feather and leather have passed, never to return; but the public is 1] 162 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST still undecided as to what shall take the place of these substances, which, for four centuries at least, were found good enough by our forefathers—not that the writer desires to see modern golf courses turned into.dilapidated chicken-runs, with mad whirls of feathers flying in all directions; but that he regrets the spirit of contentment is so entirely lacking amongst all classes in the present age. But golf, as a game, has changed scarcely at all since the time when it first came into existence. Its rules have been practically unaltered through- out the centuries: ‘Play the ball where it lies or give up the hole,” is the summary of most of them. The game has suffered no revolutionary changes, like cricket or football; but it can, in- deed, be said to have had an organised history to an extent equal to, or greater than, that of any other game which has survived a like period © of time. This comes about from the very nature of golf itseli—because, unless some definite rules as to priority of play on any of the old Links, had been authoritatively promulgated, “‘ popular ” play, i. play by any large number of people, would have been quite impossible. In this sense, ‘the game must have been an organised one, for many centuries; ancient football made no such demands upon its votaries, whilst neither bowls, Patime, nor any other medisval sport required any such personal organisation amongst large numbers of people, because so few would play on any particular ground at the same, time. As might be expected, parish records have yielded their quota to the sum total of golfing history, available to the twentieth century. Not that they GOLF 163 throw much light on the game, as a game, per se; but rather on the personal amenities with which the early enthusiasts used to follow their favourite pursuit. It was in 1553 that ‘“Jhone, Archebischop of Sanctandros ”’ (originally the seat of the Primate of Scotland), acknowledged the licence from the City of St. Andrews to plant cuniggies (conies and rabbits) on the links of St. Andrews, which also gives the ratification by him of the city’s right to the Links. The parchment is too long to quote at length, but leave was given to “plant and planis”’ cuniggies “within the northe part of their commond Linkis nixt adjacent to the watter of Edden”’; but right was retained “in the pastoring of gudis (donkeys), casting and leding of dovettis and _ scherettis, playing at golff, futeball, schutting at all games .’ The phrase “ casting and leding . . .”’ means the cutting and taking away of divots of turf. In passing, it is curious to notice how the word “divot”’ has now come to be used, almost exclusively, for sods of turf, cut up, whilst playing at the “golff.”” The whole of this freedom of the Links was to be granted ‘without any dykin or closing of any pairt thairof fra thame or impediment to be maid to thame thair intill, in ony tyme cumming. In witnessing .. .” Thus were the Links of St. Andrews dedicated to the “planting of cuniggies”—a joyous phrase—the playing of golf and of all like manly sports. Fights on a golf course also took place, in which, no doubt, the heavy iron or wooden clubs proved handy weapons of offence. ‘“ Upon ‘Tuisday 13 Februar, 1593, Mr. Johne Graham went... towards Leith, being charged to depart (from a 164 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST Edinburgh). The Duke and Sir James Sandilands, following, as it were, with clubs in their hands, making towards their sport in the sands, and coming downe Leith Wynde, one of Mr. Johne’s compaine looking backe and seeing them, they turned to make resistance. The Duke (Lennox) sent and willed them to go forward, ... yitt Mr. Johne’s company shoit.” Therefore a general fight took place between the two parties. Mr. Johne was shot, and his company scattered. Sir Alexander Stewart’s page, a French boy, seeing his master shot, and knowing that Mr. Johne had been carried into a house, wounded, followed after him and “dowped a whinger”’ into him, and so despatched him. Mr. Johne, we are told, was accompanied by a party of “3 or 4 score,” so the skirmish must have been one of some size. We need not repeat instances of youths and men (women are not mentioned) who were caught ‘prophaning the Sabboth” and made to sit in the seat of repentance in the presence of the congrega- tion. Their number is legion. But one further instance is worthy of note. In 1637, the Borrow or Justice Court of Banff had before them, one Franceis Browne, who was caught in the act of thieving, and kept—wretched man—in the stocks until tried by the justices. When duly arraigned, he was charged with stealing by night, from the booth of one Patrick Schand, certain goods... including two gowff balls .. . and carrying them away on “ gudis.” He afterwards sold these balls to a servant, Thomas Urquhart. .As a result, the said Franceis was convicted by a jury of fifteen, ‘as a leud liver and boy of an evill lyiff an conver- GOLF . 165 satioun, and as ane daylie remainer from the kirk in tyme of dyvyne worship.”” The judges ordained that the ‘said Franceis should presentlie be tackin and cariet to the Gallowhill and hangit on the Gallows thereof to the death, whereof William Wat, Dempster of the said assyis (assize) gawe doome.”’ But we must cease pondering on the times which have gone and turn for a moment to history as she is now being writ. The names of Alan Robertson and Tom Morris stand out pre-eminently as cham- pions of the former generation; and how shall we compare them with Braid and Vardon, Taylor and Sayers, or the score of others, amateur and pro- fessional, whose names are household words to-day ? Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in tlis. Types of clubs, of ball, of bunkers, and of all the other paraphernalia, which go to make up the game of golf, come and go, more quickly now, even than they did a score of years ago. Comparisons are never more odious than in attempting to judge the skill of those of one generation alongside those of another. But it is very curious that, though golf has spread throughout the length and breadth of the world from the land of its birth, it is only recently that any history worthy of record can be said to have been made over any struggle about the kind of game that golf is. The history of the Schenectady putter will be in the memories of all, and the fact that the governing body of the game felt themselves obliged to legislate against the adoption of a particular type of club, in great favour with our cousins over the seas, is a matter very greatly to be deplored from the point of view of continuity in golfing history : leading as it may, to the evolution of another type sie x 166 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST of game, which would be related to golf, modern, in something of the same way that “choule” was related to golf, ancient; but not necessarily a superior edition. The work of a prophet is always difficult—nay dangerous—and after all, let us hope that all true golfers, whatsoever their nationality, may be content to coo in the same dovecote, which for nearly two centuries, has been the Ts home of golf. . The great delight of this snaat game of the “oowff,” is that it was, and always will be, a game in which old and young can join on an equal footing. Unlike such strenuous pastimes as football or hockey, a good wind and some training are not essentialsto the enjoyment of a game, although doubt- less such attributes do add to the potential skill of any possible club wielder. This is the reason why golf has endured, and will endure, throughout the ' ages: it is more than probable that this was the reason, which made golf so popular in early and medieval Scotch and English history., Neither the physical giant nor the multi-millionaire, nor king, nor prince, lord, nor commoner, can hope to woo and win the elusive delights of the game of golf at the first, or the second, or even the nth time of asking. She is a coy damsel, to be won only by enthusiastic devotees, who worship at her shrine: and there is no doubt that her fascinations are such as are possessed by no other game. IX THE IDENTITY OF CHESS AND PLAYING CARDS 7 Very few individuals dream, even in the most silent of the midnight watches, and after the most successful termination of a series of rubbers at “ Bridge,” that a strong supposition exists of the original identity of chess and cards; or rather that the game of chess may have suggested the idea of playing cards, to the fertile imagination of some born gambler, who found his luck a more valuable asset than his skill. No one doubts that chess is the older game; a game, whose hoary antiquity carries us back to pre-Roman times, and whose very name denotes an Eastern origin. Although the passage of many centuries of time has rendered this problem incapable of any definite or com- plete solution, yet once the attention has been drawn to the matter, the most casual of chess and card players—individuals who scarcely know one piece from another at chess or who trump their partner’s best card, and then pride themselves on having made certain of the trick—cannot fail to be struck by the general resemblance between the two games. In the past, it has been generally claimed that the differences between chess and cards are more 167 168 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST notable than their resemblances ; and no doubt, as at present existing, the two games are widely variant, but more so in a comparison of their methods of play, than in the general appearance and nature of the implements with which the respective games are played. It is the latter which is the truer criterion, because past historians have dwelt more on the general appearance of these various imple- ments, than on the evolution of the games themselves and it is for this very reason that the early history of many pastimes is so largely conjectural. One of the earliest manuscripts which contain any record of the game of chess, is the “‘ Bhawishya Purana,” a Sanscrit MS., a tenth-century copy of which exists in the British Museum. It speaks of a game, obviously a kind of chess, which was to be played with dice; and when it is remembered that the king is common to both chess and cards, and also the knight or knave; that the queen is there as well, metamorphosed almost out of all recognition by the various phases through which she has passed in the course of her fifteen centuries or more of existence; then, if the simile be pressed along general as opposed to particular lines, in spite of the reflex nature of the two contending hosts on the modern chess-board (each king has two knights, and so on), a very general resemblance between the two games is, at once apparent, especially if the chess pieces are imagined to be held in the hand. | | The fact that the climate of India is very detri- mental to the preservation of ancient parchments is greatly to be deplored when any attempts are made to delve into the dark recesses of past ages THE IDENTITY OF CHESS AND CARDS 169 in a search into the question of the original form of playing cards. The invention of printing was probably brought into Europe, from Asia, about the fourteenth century ; nor is it possible to suppose that the spread of card-playing could have attained any great proportions before this invention had reached some workable stage, although some early stencilled packs are known to be in existence. But it is almost certain that printing, more particularly on muslins and other stuffs, was practised in the East, before ever the knowledge of the art was known on the European continent. It is, however, equally sure that the earliest cards would have been illuminated by hand on slips of fine parchment —or perhaps ivory—and even wood might have been employed. But the work would have been expensive, and, necessarily, possession would have been confined to the few wealthy ; while no induce- ment would have been held out to the learned pundits to duplicate existing packs, for the reason that they offered no such record of history as that of a written manuscript. As a consequence they would have become perished and been thrown away. In this ancient Sanscrit record—itself perhaps the copy of an older, and thus subject to the errors to which the making of copies is always open—a game is described called ‘“‘ chatauranga,” a word which has been variously translated into meaning the ‘‘ Four Rajahs,” the “Four Divisions of an Army,” and the ‘Four Colours” or ‘“ Castes.” All these translations are equally applicable. ‘The description goes on to say that four sets of men, chessmen, are to be placed round the four sides of 170 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST a chequered board, red to the east, white to the south, yellow to the west, black to the north, and that the different pieces and pawns should be set out in much the same way as they are to-day. But the most curious part about this game is the fact that it was to be played with dice; if cirique were thrown a king or pawn had to be moved, and so on. Strong reasons exist for supposing that the original chess cannot have been a game of chance, yet here a game is described, which partakes strongly of the nature of chess, and the conclusion is obvious that some form of corrupt chess is intended, in which the wheel of the Goddess of Fortune rules supreme. No modern chess player would be found willing to admit that the one point in which chess is king of all games was originally lacking. Chess is the only pastime in which the element of chance is totally wanting, the one attribute which has given it the position amongst games which it now holds ; and the fact that an undoubted historical record, whose veracity has never been impugned, exists, describing some form of chess as a game of chance, forms one of the strongest links in the chain of evidence which may connect chess with cards. The strict Buddhist commandment forbade the playing of all games of chance. This is strong evidence that the original chess can never have been a game of such description; but that the game, described in this old MS, is some debased form, which had gradually crept in, due to outside, as opposed to the original priestly, influences. . If, however, each army consisted of eight pieces and eight pawns as at present, the men could not THE IDENTITY OF CHESS AND CARDS 171 possibly have been arranged and played in a board of only sixty-four squares, since every space would have been occupied ; but the possibility that in the original game, only one “‘reflex’’ was allotted to each of the four kings, a conjecture which is in accord with the experience of everyday life, would materially reduce the number of pieces on the board. Also some early boards were of peculiar shape, and consisted of many more than sixty-four squares. No doubt it was the ineradicable con- fusion arising out of the considered attempt to play a game of all against all, which finally reduced the number of contending hosts from four to two. These were allotted reflexes, and so the number of colours was reduced in proportion. Thus, originally, each fighting force would have consisted of a king; a councillor (the original form of queen, another most important link) ; the knight, or horse- man; the bishop, or elephant; and the rook, or chariot. The whole history of chess, obscured as it is by multitudes of improbable fables, stories, and legends, unites in saying that these five pieces constituted, since time began, the five pieces on the board. The pawns are less important ; since they represent the foot-soldiers—the main point being that, in endeavouring to compare chess with cards, the earliest packs did not contain fifty-two cards, although the number of suits has almost invariably been the same, namely four, a number corre- sponding to the four fighting armies, or the four colours of the debased chatauranga of old. Chess was first introduced into Europe during the time of the crusades, and curiously enough the first reference to cards can be traced to about the same 172 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST period of history ; indeed, an old army order is extant, in which the clergy and officers of the crusading armies, are forbidden to play chess for more than forty shillings per day. But while, through direct written history and the etymology of the terms used in the game, the nature of chess has been traced, without doubt, to an Indian origin, yet with cards we are not so fortunate because the period previous to the fourteenth century contains, so far as is known, no certain record of cards as a separate and definite game. Modern Hindustani affords us no clue to the history of the court, or, as they should be termed, “coat” cards. “Basha,” the name for the king, . is a mere corruption of the ‘ Padisha,’’ meaning an emperor ; the knave is “‘gulam”’ = “‘a prince,”— a word of Arabic source; whereas the queen, or ‘‘ Rani,” is known to be a comparatively modern innovation in both chess and cards, but an innovation which occurred at nearly the same period, during the fifteenth century, a point which should not be forgotten. Cards were sometimes known as a ‘‘ pair of cards,’’ and some supposed that this alluded to two packs, but the probable explanation is to be found in the similar meaning in past time of the words “pair” and “ pack.” Practically nothing is known of the history of cards before the fourteenth century, though with regard to chess we are much more fortunate. During the dark passages of the early middle ages, whose history, such as has come down to us, is writ in blood-red characters throughout all European coun- tries, but few rays of light have been found to illumine these troublous times, and therefore it must not THE IDENTITY OF CHESS AND CARDS 173 cause surprise that the history of a mere game is also hidden from a like cause. We are, therefore, thrown back upon what, for a better name, might be called a process of probable development, and coupling this course with an examination of the known history of both chess and cards, it will be possible to arrive at some conclusion on the com- parative likeness of chess and playing cards. But it must be remembered that no claim has ever been made, or could possibly be substantiated, that cards are similar to chess; only that cards are de- rived from chess, which is quite another matter. One of the most extraordinary facts which strike . the mind of the inquirer into the early history of our pastimes is the remotest possibility that two such essentially dissimilar games as cards and chess, referring to their method of play only, could be derived the one from the other—due, however, to the singular feature, the presence or absence of the element of chance. Remove this element alto- gether from both games, or admit it into both games, and the unlike at once becomes the like. Some of the early playing cards are known as ‘* 'Tarocchi,” or ‘‘ Tarots,’’ and consisted mostly of packs of seventy-eight cards. Of these, fifty-six were ordinary cards, consisting of four suits of fourteen cards each, twenty-one were special emble- matic cards, tarots as they were called, which now no longer exist, and the last, an unnumbered card, was called “‘Fou’’ or La Motte=the Fool, and now known as the Joker. The origin and use of the emblematic cards are not known with any exactitude, nor is it very clear whether the tarot cards or the ordinary cards in any given pack are 174 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST the older, though probably the latter cards may be awarded the prize for greater antiquity. The number and nature of the tarots differ in different packs, while they were numbered consecutively one to twenty-one in any pack. The sun, moon, Faith, Justice, Charity, and a hundred other em- blems were used in the tarot part of the pack— in fact, the universe seems to have been ransacked to find emblems for the decoration of tarots of various countries. But the number of the ordinary cards also varied, especially in those packs which are usually regarded as the oldest—in that they were fewer. The ordinary packs consist of four court cards, King, Queen, Knight, and Knave, followed by ten common cards in each suit ; but all authori- ties agree that the earliest packs lack the Queen, while other early packs lack either the ace or the ten, or both, thus leaving eight pip cards, the same number as there are pawns at chess. Another old pack, of Eastern origin, lacks both Queen and Knave —i.e. has only two court cards. All these points, especially the absence of the Queen and the presence of the ‘‘ Fou,” are of the highest interest in our comparative search. : The history of the Queen at chess reads almost like — a romance at the present day. Original chess never possessed a Queen This piece was called “ Firz ”*— meaning councillor or Prime Minister in the original Indian chess *; and it was not until the fifteenth century, at the very period of history to which we are now referring, that the Firz of Arabia was changed to the English ‘‘ Queen” or the French ‘“‘Dame ’’—a confusion which some authorities say * See ‘‘Chess,”’ p. 30. THE IDENTITY OF CHESS AND CARDS 175 is due to the similarity of the games of chess and draughts, in that a lesser piece, on reaching the eighth square, assumes regal powers. The French ‘‘ Dame” may have been corrupted from the German *‘Damme,” a word corresponding to the Roman “Calculi” or draughtsman—a very curious confusion of origin. The point is that, previous to the fifteenth century, neither chess nor cards pos- sessed a queen; but that, at this period, when both games were coming into vogue in Europe, both are also found with the queen as an essential factor. In addition both games possess the king and knight ; and also another male piece known as the knave. Now the word “ knave’”’ has become de- based through the passage of time. Chaucer uses the word in the sense a “‘ knave child ”—meaning perhaps, a “‘male child,” or more likely a “notable male child,’’ but not in the present accepted sense of the word. The knave at cards is undoubtedly the servant of the king; and resuming the comparison, would represent the grand vizier, bishop, or rook; whilst the terms knave and knight would easily have become confused, both in chess and cards. The probable explanation is to be found in the representation of the chess knight by the card knave ; and the chess ‘“‘firz’’ (or councillor) by the modern queen. It is improbable that either the bishop, originally an elephant, or the rook, the ancient war chariot, would be meant by either knight or knave. Both the elephant and the war-chariot owed their existence in the line of battle as much to the damage which they themselves were able to per- form, as to the damage which the warriors in howdah 176 © PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST or on chariot floor were able to bring about. Both these pieces lack the essential singular personal element which the “firz”.and “ knight” possess. An Australian correspondent sent the writer some details of a Burmese set of chessmen, which his father had seen in Burmah some time towards the com- mencement of the last century, and of which he had made notes. In this case the great point of interest lay in the rooks (or castles), which were called “‘ carriages,” though in outward appearance they were as different from any conceivable kind of vehicle as the proverbial chalk from cheese. These curious pieces were like miniature Chinese pagodas, with regular rows of battlementation all the way round the delicate tapering towers at equal inter- vals; whilst the latter were quadrangular in form. This was somewhat curious, as the Burmese pagodas are usually circular, moulded with beautiful in- curved lines, and the whole surface of this conical tower is, as often as not, cased in pure gold leaf. Unfortunately, the writer’s correspondent did not mention the native word by which these pieces were known; but as they were termed “carriages,” whilst their appearance obviously suggested a tower, it seems certain that the old chariot form had become displaced in Burmah by the more solid and more national pagoda. This might be due to the ease with which chariot wheels would become broken in the course of play, thus leaving the body of the vehicle alone, to act as the fighting unit—a form which would readily become debased into some tower- shaped object. Lacking as the bishop and rook may seem to be from the card pack by direct representation, there po LLLIS BO. ta aw 16S aaa er Abd cae MS ii Pe ae OF JHE: eg Berg ee? yy aNIVERST TY (OF) ILEING Iss * * a < >= 4 re ‘ue at z: > ~ * ey A . \ . ty, " ry ite ‘ 4 + RS fe ae f 7 oh 4 fs ea ie : THE IDENTITY OF CHESS AND CARDS 177 are further strong points yet to be considered.. What is the “fou”? It has been almost universally’ assumed that the “‘ fou ’’ is the representation of the “fool”? or “jester,” who formed part of every house of importance in medieval times, and cer- tainly his appearance on a tarot suggests this origin. Amid the variety of changes, which the games of chess and cards underwent during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (not so much in the method of play as in the emblems, chosen to repre- sent the different pieces, suits, and the various tarot cards), it was natural to assume that the king, queen, and knave represented a family party ; and since a fool was the appurtenance, proper to every regal household, it was equally natural to add the fool or ‘“‘fou.” But let us delve a little deeper into the history of the bishop at chess. The corresponding Arabic piece in chess is the “ pil,” otherwise “‘alfil,”” a word meaning an elephant. This word is also written ‘fil’? and is known . to have become corrupted into “fol” and “fou ” when used in chess, and to this day a bishop at chess is called “fou” in France. Is it not possible that the fou of chess and of cards may have had some common origin ? And what of the chariot ? some may ask, and ’tis but a faint echo, it must be admitted, which answers the cry. On the back of one of the tarots of the pack, figured in Singer’s scarce work on playing cards, there is the picture of a chariot. Chariots had ceased to be used in war at least six centuries before the period at which this pack was made. There must have been some reason which induced the card-maker to adopt this particular symbol. 12 -V78 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST In every research into the records of playing cards it is by the study of these old tarot cards, that every expert has attempted to unravel the tangled, broken web of the early history of cards. Perhaps this particular’ symbol may have other signifi- cance than the interpretation, namely astro- logical divination, which it is customary to attach to it. We must here refer to a phrase, used in the wording of the Statutes of the Abbey of St. Victor of Mar- seilles in 1337. The passage runs: ‘ Quod nulla persona audeat nec presumat ludere ad_ taxillos (dice) nec ad Paginas nec ad eyssucchum (chess) ; ”’ and the question arises what does “ Paginas” mean? It is presumed to mean “ pages” or thin pieces of parchment—a form in which the earliest cards are certain to have been used. Thus it would seem that some time before the reign of Charles VI, the mad king of France, a game was played (prob- ably by the wealthy barons or other high dignitaries), of the nature of cards, which was forbidden to the clergy and which would be of earlier date than the tarots. The strong religious element underlying the emblematic ornamentation of the tarot cards suggests that they must have been designed to counteract the heretical influences of some imported game. Should this supposition be at all correct, — it is quite easy to see how various Eastern symbols would become combined with Western emblems. Some indeed suppose that ‘‘ Paginas’ should read ‘‘Paganas”? = ‘‘ images of Pagans,” but this seems hardly probable, although the appearance of many tarots certainly does involve the mythology of the older nations, such as Rome and Greece ; THE IDENTITY OF CHESS AND CARDS 179 and it must be admitted that chariots are common in the representations of these heathen deities. Turning now again to the description of the four-handed game of chess, ‘ chatauranga,” the likeness between the four sets of men as here described, and the four suits of a pack of cards is very apparent. The wildest conjectures have been made as to what the four kings and their martial following were originally intended to represent, for if there is one thing more certain than another, it is that they have some allegorical connection. The whole nature of the East is to clothe its teaching in the form of a parable. As a result, everything with which the number four can possibly be associated has been dragged into use in search of a possible solution. The mythology of the Hindus allots four ages to the world, the four greater planets, the four seasons ; all these and many others have been hazarded, but perhaps the closest guess may be considered to be that in which the four orders or castes of society are supposed to be represented by the four armies on the board of chance. These great sections of the people were the Brahminical, or Priestly caste; the Kshatryias, or Warrior caste ; the Vaisyas, or Agricul- turist and Merchant caste; and finally the Toilers, Husbandmen, and the like, “‘ Sudras.”’ For the moment we are thrown back into that remote period of time, when the inner history of all the nations is a matter of much surmise, and more particularly the history of India, with which country the caste system has been bound up from time im- memorial. Manu, the mortal lawgiver, expounded the Brahmin faith at some unknown period of history ; but all authorities unite in saying that the 180 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST three great lighter - coloured castes (or colours) are represented by the white Brahmins, the red Kshatryias, and the yellow Vaisyas—while the fourth great caste, Sudras, now known as the depressed castes, represents the original inhabitants of the soil, whose colour is black. Although this generally accepted notion of an original supreme white race in India may cause a flood of furious thought to pass through the mind of the modern radical politician, and incidentally be regarded, at first sight, as being as far removed from the subject under discussion as it is possible to get, yet the known association of the game of chess with the East, connected as it undoubtedly is, with some allegorical teaching, is of the utmost importance. It is natural for the inquiring mind to ask why black and white came to be selected as the two re- presentative colours on a chess-board in view of the strong passion of all Eastern dwellers for picturesque and vivid colouring ; why black and red form the colouring of the cards of to-day ; and, above all, was it, and is it, only the magic influence of chance which separates chess from cards ? Comparing the colours of the four castes with that of the colours of the four mimic armies, mentioned at the beginning of this essay, we might also assume that the particular orientation of the pieces had some historical allusion. Is it only fancy which makes black be driven to the mountains of the north, where most of the aboriginal inhabitants of India, like the Abors, are now to be found: that red, the warrior caste, goes east to conquer the fertile Ganges plain, the district which, time out of mind, has formed the battle ground of India ; as a consequence, THE IDENTITY OF CHESS AND CARDS 181. the yellow agriculturists migrate westwards ; while white, the priestly caste, continue their career of influence to the south? Unfortunately we do not know how red and white came to be combined on the one side and black and yellow on the other —the north and west against the south and east— in the old time chess ; but it may be something more than surmise, which tells us that the two higher castes, white and red, combined against the two lower castes, black and yellow. Now compare this with the earliest suits of cards. These were “swords,” “cups,” “money,” and “clubs ’’—or giving them their original names ‘“‘spada,”’ “‘coppe,’” ‘“‘denari,’” and “ bastoni.” These names are in their Italian and Spanish form, Spain and Italy being the countries into which cards were first introduced, in all probability, by the Moorish influx during the period of history now in question. It must be admitted that the names of the German suits, ‘‘acorns’’ (or glands), ‘‘ hearts,” “bells,” and “leaves,” found in packs of cards of a date only slightly, if at all, posterior to the Spanish and Italian cards do not seem to bear, at first sight, any connection with the four suits previously mentioned. It is very generally admitted that cards are a foreign importation from somewhere, and therefore it is more likely that Italy or Spain— sea-bound peninsulas—would be found in possession of the original card suits than Germany. We are not now primarily concerned with the connections which may exist between the four German and the four Italian suits ; it may be said, however, that different as the suits appear to be, when dealing with their nomenclature, explanations of a more or less 182 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST credible character can be put forward for the purpose of bringing into alignment the history of cards in the different Kuropean countries, as portrayed by the designation of the suits, which are found in each of these countries. | The connection between the Italian emblem for the four suits and the four great castes of Hindu mythology are not so fantastic as would appear probable. The merchant class corresponds accur- ately with the “‘denari’’ or money suit of cards. The world-wide influence of the Roman Empire, no doubt, induced the selection of the denarius as a symbol for the moneyed class as opposed to any other. ‘The word is obviously an importation, and, as the history of chess has already been shown to bear the imprint of the vast extent of the Roman Empire, so cards in their earliest form bear witness to the universal denarii coinage. The variety of emblems, which, at different times, have been used to designate the numerous tarot cards, makes any history, as derived from this source, a matter of con- siderable doubt. Ranging from the sun and moon, no doubt suggested by the silver and gold coinage, which in turn would assist in suggesting the use of cards for purposes of divination—these cards have figured on them many objects, none of which un- fortunately, except in the case of the chariot and fou, appears to have any possible reference to chess. Now take the suit of “cups.” It is again with the game of chess that comparison must be made to obtain any inkling of the origin of the suit of cups. The origin of the bishop on the modern chess-board must have puzzled many an erstwhile player on the board, until he remembers the prowess of the THE IDENTITY OF CHESS AND CARDS 183 church militant in the armies of old time, and of the supreme military importance of the ancient religious fighting orders. He would be a bold man who dare claim that the quaint cap of the split-headed bishop at chess is due to the confusion with the game of cards in the representation of le fou or the fool. Bishops, then, as now, prided themselves on speaking their mind on occasions ; but they would hardly wish that the clothing of motley should take the form of a fool’s cap on the modern chess-board. The old suit of “ coppes,”’ cups, represents a drinking-vessel ; in shape more like an ancient chalice than a common drinking vessel. It has been supposed with some reason that the chalice was chosen as the emblem for this body of religious fighters—since it forms the concrete embodiment of the most sacred rite of their faith, and would thus act as an instrument of cohesion in preaching the Christian J ehad. Nor is this the only religious symbol to be found in a pack of cards, indeed it is somewhat remarkable to find so many religious indications on tarots : the Maltese cross is also present on some of the clothing, even to this day, an emblem which is a favourite decora- tion for the two ends of a clerical stole or book marker. Turning next to the suit of “ swords,” the connec- tion between this suit and the ‘‘ Kshatryias,” or warrior caste, needs no great stretch of the imagina- tion ; it is an obvious deduction. Since time began, the sword has been the chief implement of warfare, and it is sufficient to leave the analogy at that. But the last suit, ‘‘ clubs,”’ is not so clear, nor does the Italian word ‘“ bastoni,” of which club is the literal translation, assist us in our search for the 184 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAgT original form of this suit. No analogy can be seen in the present trefoil form. Any one, however, who has a first-hand acquaintance with the customs of the changeless Hast is acquainted with the “lathi”’ or heavy male (solid) bamboo walking-stick—ag often as not loaded with lead at its business end— whose polish, silver rings, and general appearance denote the worldly status of the owner. It is the common object found in the hands of all castes and creeds from one end of India to another, especially of the lower strata of Hindu society. It is a club and nothing else; nor could any more suitable emblem for the weapon of offence and defence of the lower castes throughout the land of Hind be found than the ubiquitous bamboo. | There is no doubt that chess is, and ever was, a military game, and in searching for any pos- sible connection between the various games which have come down to us, it is quite natural to assume that all such military games as chegs, draughts, and cards may have had some common origin; and that, at any rate, the history of these various military games would be intimately bound up, one with another. As a result, we turn to the wars, the weapons of war, and all the paraphernalia of war, which the history of every nation under the sun has handed down to us, in our attempts to dis- cover the original form of the mimic warfare of to-day. After all, illustrations drawn from history, no matter from what source, unite in telling us that we are not as our fathers were. As we become more civilised, our political leaders hope, like the Buddh- ists of old time, to banish the art and craft of war THE IDENTITY OF CHESS AND CARDS 185 and to substitute arbitration treaties. But evolu- tion is a slow process, and no man knows even the age of the world which gives us the means of living. The ancient Bhuddist priests strove to overcome man’s innate tendency to fight, by the invention of the game of chess; but unfortunately there is no great reason to suppose that man, in his nature, has greatly altered in a mere fifteen centuries of time. Mentally and physically, we are fighters and gamblers both, born to that end; but where is the genius who will produce a game, political or otherwise, com- bining chance and craft, by skill at which mankind as a whole will agree that the arbitrament of national fate shall be decided ? xX PAME OR LAWN TENNIS T—Tue History OF THE GAME On reading the title of this chapter, very few will recognise the word, sometimes spelt Paume, by which the game of tennis was known in early medizeval times. The word signifies the “ palm of the hand ’—the Latin “ palma ’”—which tells us that tennis in its earliest form was played in a manner very similar to the modern game of fives ; and was indeed sometimes known by the early English name of “ palmplay.”’ The origin of the word “ tennis ”’ is itself doubtful. The game was imported into England from France in very early times, though theexactdate isnot known nor, probably, ever will be. But whether the French nation invented the game, or whether, as some have supposed, it is an adaptation of a ball game intro- duced from the East after the Crusades, perhaps from the Byzantines, is a matter for surmise. The Romans and Greeks were wont to play games under the names of “ Harpastum,” ‘‘ dawivda” and “ devs” ; also, words are used which, in the original, clearly indicate that a ball was driven to and fro between two contending parties. Given a ball and two op- posing sides of players, it does not need much origin- ality in order to devise a game in which a net, or its ‘ 186 PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 187 early mud-wall equivalent, would form a feature, while boundaries would follow of swift necessity. The Latin name for the game was “ teniludium ”’— the ‘‘ play of tennis.”’ This disposes of the theory that the word may have originated from the cry of “tenez,’’ which one player would make to his oppo- nent in the course of the game, to know if he were ready to receive the ball; apart, altogether, from the fact that, etymologically, old Engiish nouns were not formed from old French imperatives. In addition, as the game was introduced from France, it is tolerably certain that the proper nomenclature would have been introduced at the same time. Professor Skeat has suggested that the word may be derived from the roeva or fillet, of the ancient Greeks, a form which, perhaps, the earliest nets might have suggested. Whether any of these suggestions may be correct, whether the word meant that one early type of game was originally played ten a side (which is known to have been the case), or whether derived from the French Province of Tennois or Sennois, where the game was very popular, an innately im- probable supposition, one cannot help thinking that a Latin or Greek origin is much more likely to be correct, for the simple reason that balls have formed playthings for all the races of mankind since time out of mind. Tennis was well known in Chaucer’s time, though the game was probably played only amongst the - circle of people, who would come in contact with this writer’s works. It is very curious, however, that the game is not mentioned in any of those prohibitory edicts, enacted in successive reigns, which forbade the playing of all sorts of games by the artisan and 188 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST agricultural classes. Cloish, a game like skittles, hand-in, hand-out, and keyles (skittles) were all forbidden, as we know, mainly, because the practice of archery suffered, and the kingdom was placed in jeopardy.* The real reason of the omission of tennis is to be found in the fact that it was only the upper classes, who could afford to play the game at all, since both racquets and balls were dear ; not to mention any question of the scarcity of tennis courts. But as the years rolled by, courts became much more common ; though the various hazards, such as the grille, tambour, and chases, did not exert their sway over the game all at once. Maitre Perlin, a distinguished French ecclesiastic, writing in 1558 a ‘‘ Description of England and Scotland ”’ says: “Whilst I remained in England, there were gar- risons all over the country ; the people make good cheer and dearly love junketing ; and you will see many rich taverns ... for here you may commonly see artisans, such as hatters and joiners, playing tennis for a crown, which is not often seen elsewhere, particularly on a working day.” England was a wealthy country even before the days of Drake and Frobisher. It is curious to note in passing that the custom of sanctuary appears to have been attached to certain of the royal palaces, as well as to various churches and cathedrals—a custom which has been lately elucidated by Dr. Cox’s great work on the subject. We read that, in 1541, Sir E. Knevett, Knight, was arraigned before the officers of the Board of Green Cloth for striking one Master Cleer, of Norfolk, within the tennis court of the king’s * See ‘‘ Bowls,” p. 111. PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 189 house. Being found guilty, he was sentenced to lose his right hand and to forfeit all his lands and goods. But after making suitable submission, the good knight was pardoned by the king and restored to his estates. Not long afterwards, however, the game began to fall into disrepute, mainly on account of the large amount of betting and cheating, which used to take place in these public courts; to such an extent, indeed, that the name “‘ Nacquet ’’—-the French word for a marker—became synonymous with the word “cheat.”? It was the old, old story of the evils of betting and gambling—the same evils which, at the commencement of the eighteenth century led to the suppression of the good old English game of bowls. But markers, or professional players, were not always of the male sex. One lady, if we may call her such, has been termed the Joan of Arc of tennis, because of her skill and because she was a contem- porary of the Maid of Orleans. This Jean Margot, who flourished about 1427, came to Paris from the Province of Hainault. “She was twenty-eight to thirty years of age, and played better at hand ball than any man had seen; and with that, she played both fore-handed and back-handed very powerfully, very cleverly, and very cunningly, as any man could, and there were few men she could not beat except the very best players. ...”’ We are not told what became of this medieval amazon of the tennis court ; but as she is described as being both young and pretty, and with no recorded political views, no doubt she came to an end more fortunate than the stake of her namesake. The well-known reference to “bord and cord” 190 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST in Nichols’ “ Progresses of Queen Elizabeth ” must here be mentioned. We are told that “ten of my Lord of Hertford servants, all Somersetshire men, in @ square green courte before Her Majesty’s window did square out line in the form of a tennys court and making a cross lines in the middle. In this square they played, five to five, at bord and cord, as they termed it, to the so great liking of Her Highness.” This game is reminiscent of an old game called Long Fives, in French “ Restes,”’ whose name is, perhaps, derived (Strutt thinks, in his “‘ Sports and Pastimes ’’) from the number of people playing the game. The exact meaning of the term “bord and cord,” itself perhaps a Somerset- shire colloquialism, is not at all clear. If cord is the net, then what is bord ? Marshall thinks it may be the French bord = boundary; but on the other hand, the description assumes some kind of a racquet. Marshall also suggests that “‘ cord ’’ and “ caitche ”’ are synonymous, and quotes an extract from James I, “ Basilicon Doron” in which “ playing at the caitches or Tennice’’ is mentioned as a manly sport. The phrase would then mean “a game of catch within fixed boundaries.”’ But information is lacking as to what ‘bord’ is. It is true that a game called “ quick-borde ”’ was forbidden by an edict of Edward IV, but what this game was, is dubious. The phrase “bord and cord” has a distinct rhythmical flavour about it and, perhaps, Marshall’s guess may be right after all. This guess, by the way, includes the surmise that the words ““caitche ’’ and ‘‘ chase’ may be derived from the same source, because chases were first introduced into tennis history at about this time. PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 191 One old author tells a fine tale of the degeneracy of the game of tennis: . . . ‘As to the game itself, a person that has never seen it before, can make little on it, except it be any curiosity or diversion to him to see three or four persons furiously running after a few little balls and laboriously bandying and tossing them about from one to another... . Hf he goes into the Dan (Dedans), among the gentry that come there to bet, and has the Misfortune to ask any questions or declare his ignorance, they presently give out the word that ‘ Here is a Squire come’; and then two or three of the sharpest of the gang come up with him presently, in order to give him some little Insight and Directions into the game that they may prepare him against an oppor- tunity to take him in. Here they tell him, ’tis all even and odd—a perfect lottery and that he may venture his money on either side for ’tis all equal. And so, in some sets it is; for the Noblemen and Gentlemen that are acquainted with the game and play it upon the Square, and more for the reputation of good gamesters than for interest, commonly make their matches so very nicely, that the best sharper and judge amongst them can hardly, before the sets begin, tell which way to bet his money. .. .” The victim is, however, soon entrapped into betting upon a set played by the sharpers themselves. “And so they draw him from one set to another and from little Bets to great ones, ’till they have stuck him as they call it; and then to keep up their own dialect, they seldom part with him until they have sent him away sweet and clean.” A truly pretty picture of pigeon plucking, unfortun- ately not unknown at the present day. 192 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST The exact period at which the game of Lawn Tennis was first “invented”? is again a matter of uncertainty. A passage in the sporting magazine of 1793 reads as follows: ‘‘ Field Tennis threatens ere long, to bowl out cricket. The former game is now patronised by Sir Peter Burrel; the latter has for some time back, been given up by Sir Horace Mann.” It was therefore no new invention, but a mere revival, which about the year 1874 came into existence in England under the name of Sphairisticke, and under the egis of a Major Wingfield. The un- believing quickly corrupted the word into “‘ sticky,” and under this name covered courts are still to be found in Indian Hill stations, and also no doubt elsewhere. But previous to this date, for almost a century, the pastime was in complete abeyance, though the occasional mention of a game, somewhat similar to long fives, can be found in private archives. Since 1875, however, Lawn Tennis has steadily looked upwards. The Marylebone Cricket Club gave the game of lawn tennis its first code of rules in 1875. Subsequently general powers over the game were delegated to the Wimbledon Club and the All-England Lawn Tennis Association, where they now remain. With the final evolution of lawn tennis we need not concern ourselves; it is too well known for description ; but, in closing, let us express our thanks to Major Wingfield for having evolved, from the history of the past, a game which the present generation unites in saying is the king of games, and was, and is, the game of kings, PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 193 IT.—RacQuEtT AND Baty Whether the proper spelling of the first word with which this section is headed be “Racquet ”’ or ‘ Racket,” it certainly is not ‘Raquet’’; and the writer, for one, would wish to protest emphatically, against a form of spelling which he has occasionally observed in the press and elsewhere. The word may be derived from the Latin “retis”’ a net—or, as is more probable, from the Low German “ racken ”— a word meaning originally ‘‘to stretch,” but which, we do not certainly know; nor can we say at what period the racquet—to adopt the usual form of spelling—superseded the palm of the hand in playing tennis. ‘Tradition assigns the invention to the Italians, and, as tradition has some value after every other search has failed, we must be content to leave the matter at that. Chaucer, the date of some of whose poems is doubtful, mentions the game in his “ Troylus and Crysede,” a work written about 1380 :— But canstow playen racket to and fro, Nettle in, dokke out; now this, now that, Pandare ? The first line shows, definitely, that the racquet was in use at the day when this poem was written ; while the phrase in the second line, ‘“‘ nettle in, dokke out,” refers to the well-known remedy for nettle-stings, which had come to be a regular pro- verbial saying. Chaucer, however, has inverted the old saw, no doubt purposely, because the phrase used to run ‘“‘ dokke in, nettle out.”” The higgledy- piggledy would be suggested to his mind by the quick passage of the ball to and fro over the net. 18 194 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST This reference of Chaucer’s is one of the earliest known on the subject of Tennis; while the whole sentence refers to the kind of fickleness suggested to Pandare by Troylus. ic But racquets were not suddenly brought into being. Any one who has attempted to play the modern game of fives, knows the extreme pain, caused to the neophyte, by his first efforts at driving a hard fives ball. Early balls, about which more will be said, were hard stuffed with wool or hair ; it is much more likely to have been sheer physical necessity, rather than any exact knowledge of the principles of the lever, or of dynamics, which caused tennis devotees to devise a substitute for the bare palm. Players began by using gloves ; and then passed on to the art of stretching gut strings, similar to those which were used on their zebecs or violins, over the face of the glove ; when in action, the hand would stretch these strings tightly, so as to form a racquet face. This is the reason why the word ‘‘racken,” meaning “tc stretch,” is considered to be such a likely derivation. The handle was quickly added, possibly with some idea of extra leverage, and as gut strings were somewhat expensive, a light framework of wood came to be used, with parchment stretched tightly over the surface. The use of these parchment battledores caused such a demand to arise for this commodity that, as might have been foreseen, the price went up by leaps and bounds. But the result to posterity was disastrous. It must be remembered, in passing, that tennis became so popular in France, especially in Paris, about the end of the fifteenth century and onwards, that it is on record that over 1,800 courts were to be found PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 195 in the city of Paris only—a number, which must be received with some little caution. Be this as it may, disaster came, in that priceless manuscripts, whose owners did not recognise their true value, were sold for the purpose of making racquet heads. Historic records have it, in the memoirs of a M. Chatelain, that one of his friends, a man of letters, had played La Longue Patime with a battoir (battledore) on which were legible some fragments of the lost decades of Livy; and that these fragments came from an apothecary, who had obtained several volumes of the same author on vellum from certain religieuses, nuns presumably, of Fontrevault, who, in turn, had ignorantly sold them to a battoir-maker. A truly stinging indictment for wilful negligence, which not even this play-loving age can surpass. As the game improved, gut, usually strung diagon- ally and knotted, was again substituted for the vellum. Cut and twist, essentials in real tennis, would be almost impossible with a mere drum as the surface for the working implement. It is amusing to note that ladies did not. des- pise the popular game of tennis as a fashion mode, from which lessons in hair-dressing might be drawn. Even the notorious Catharine de’ Medici, not to mention the ladies of her court, was wont to arrange her hair in crossed and pleated bands after the manner of a racquet face. This style of coiffure was known as “en raquettes”’ ; and perhaps—who knows ¢—umilitant suffragettes may be compelled to follow the example of the illustrious dead and dress ‘en Rugbie,” when they come out on the “ scrum.”’ From this period, the progress of the racquet is so well known as to need no further description ; 196 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST and we will now turn our attention to the ancient balls. Whatever material may have been used by the early Greeks and Romans in the manu- facture of their balls, it is certain that, in early medieval times, wool was used. The old French word for a tennis ball is esteuf or éteuf, derived from the Latin stupa meaning “ wool’’ —so that, even if historical research were to fail, etymology would again prove its uses. But owing to the immense demand, wool, like gut, proved an expen- sive commodity, although the leather with which such balls were usually covered ought to have been cheap enough, but doubtless also tended to degener- ate in quality. Bran and rags, especially the former, were the substitutes, which met the approval of the ball-makers of the fifteenth century to the great disgust of all players worthy of the name. What lover of lawn tennis has not experienced that sinking feeling in the nether regions of the body on finding a box of the last year’s balls—perhaps new— placed ready for use at some garden party function ? Indeed to such an extent did this adulteration proceed, that a royal ordinance was passed in the year 1480 by Louis. VI, in which it was definitely laid down that balls were only to be stuffed with good ‘“‘bourre,” ie. stuffing or hair, and to be covered with good leather. French balls were in great demand over Europe; and we find that Tariff Reform principles had greater weight with the powers that were, in those days, than now. In 1591 a petition was presented by Hugh Williams and Richard Kyd, praying for a licence to make hand- balls and tennis balls, on the ground, amongst other things, that the petitioners undertook to make them PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 197 better and cheaper than the excessively priced balls, which were then being imported into the country. They guaranteed at the same time to recoup the revenue with a tax, and also to employ many poor workpeople. Thus does history repeat itself. Curiously enough, the Ironmongers’ Company were largely concerned with the sale of tennis balls, though why this was so has never been very satis- factorily explained. Marshall supposes that a court existed amongst their other buildings in London, a supposition which is not borne out by any direct record, though a strong presumption can be found for this theory. No one has ever supposed that tennis balls were made of any metal, much less iron, at the remotest periods of history, though the prize of a silver tennis ball was the great plum at tennis tourneys, held in the French capital, in early medieval history. It might be mentioned that the value of tennis balls imported into England in 1599 was £1,699, a very large sum for those days. The accounts of the Ironmongers’ Company make interesting reading after a lapse of three centuries of time. Amongst other items we find: Temp. Rich. III. Item. d Willm Bruyth owith for a grosse of ballys Xvj Or again: Henry VIII. Item. 8 Rs more of John Stynt for iiij grosse bawlls, iiij These are two entries, selected at random; but the different spellings of the word “balls”? makes us grateful for the spread of learning after the in- vention of printing. It will be seen that the price 198 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST of a ‘‘grosse of bawlls ” works out at about 1s. per gross—cheap enough one would imagine, even for those days. Other extracts from court rolls are equally inter- esting and amusing. In spite of all his edicts, Bluff King Hal was wonderfully fond of betting on games of chance and skill himself; a pleasure, he attempted to deny to his people. Item for the Kinge’s losse at tenes 8 d Sonday Monday and tewesday at Westmr, xxiij iiij Or again: Item for the Kinge’s losse at tenes Wedenesday, thursday and Friday xij — The curious spelling, and also the quaint mixture of capitals are again noticeable. Stout white cloth seems to have been substituted for leather about the eighteenth century, possibly because a white ball was easier to see against the murky background of a court wall than a leather- covered one, although, in France, black balls were in use in early times: but the two kidney-shaped pieces of flannel, which compose the neat garment of a modern tennis ball, are a more recent invention. They form the closest approach, which is possible, to a mathematical impossibility—namely, the de- velopment of the surface of a sphere upon a plane. A curious custom seems to have prevailed in some parts of England, which shows how common ball- playing was, and the skill which certain individuals —not necessarily of the male sex—acquired in this direction. ‘‘In some parts of England,” we are told by Blount in his Glossographie 1681, “‘ when a maid is married in a parish, her associates require PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 199 ball-money of the Bride towards the support of their future ball-playing, and for reparation of the loss of one of their play-fellows.” Strutt, in his “Sports and Pastimes” 1810, also repeats this curious story, which obviously had some foundation unfortunately lost to us. The game and play of tennis formed much sub- ject for gibe amongst early English writers ; nor did Shakespeare neglect to draw metaphor and simile from this most popular amusement. In Much Ado about Nothing, we get the following conversation : Don Pedro. Hath any man seen him at the Barber’s ? Claudio. No; but the Barber’s man hath been seen with him, and the old ornament of his cheek hath already stuffed tennis balls. Again in an old play—dated 1611—called Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks, we get: ““Thy beard shall serve to stuff those tennis balls by which I get me heat at tennis,” an apt, though rude, rejoinder, with which this short account of racquet and ball must close. TIl.—EtTyMoOLOGY There must be thousands of lawn tennis players, who have marvelled at the curious system of scoring which has been adopted for this game and which has been in use from time immemorial, without receiving any reply to their vain imaginings ; for the accepted text-books are none too clear. Why is the word “ love ” used in the sense of * nothing” ? Tf modern novels are to be believed, love is the supreme ruling influence in the affairs of this world. 200 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST How then can this word ever have come to have this negative meaning assigned to it 2 Again, what is the meaning of the term “ Deuce,” or the origin of scoring by multiples of 15? No doubt after some extra-wild shot “ His Satanic Majesty ” is often, but vainly, called upon for an explanation: but such occasional outbursts are hardly sufficient to account for the fact that a particular score in the game of tennis should be in any way associated with the pet name by which His Highness is commonly known. Many interesting problems of a similar nature will be apparent to any lover of the game, which, if we would wish to solve them, must be studied in out-of-the-way records. Let us start by saying that lawn tennis can be considered as a kind of illegitimate offspring from tennis—real tennis as it is often called, to distinguish it from its more plebeian but less expensive brother. Lawn tennis is known to have been played in some form at least one hundred and fifty years ago, and owes its origin, perhaps, to the difficulty of procuring and the expense of building, real tennis courts. On the other hand, real tennis is so old that up to the present time no historical research has succeeded in solving the mystery of its birth. All we can say is that it is a lineal descendant of one of those numerous ball games, in which all classes of society, in all countries of the world, loved to disport themselves in distant _ periods of history. The very earliest writers on the subject of tennis themselves admit the difficulty of accounting for the method of scoring adopted at tennis. Why should the first point be fifteen, the next thirty, the next forty—(forty-five in France)—and so on ? Apart PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 201 from their own conjectures, all they could tell us was that “time out of mind” this system had been in use and still so remains. Some speculators have supposed, seeing that four strokes went nominally to the game, that sixty was the winning number, and so have tried to connect the sextant, an astro- nomical instrument, with the matter in dispute ; but what the game of tennis could have to do with the stars in the sky surpassed even their compre- hension, after having had the audacity to make the suggestion. It is quite clear that the number sixty does hold the key to the secret; but it seems im- probable that this secret will ever be definitely laid bare, owing to the great length of time which has elapsed since this method of scoring came into existence. The solution probably lies in the original length of the court, which was about 60 feet ; and to examine this point, the ancient writers have been ransacked in order to discover what the usual methods of measurement were. The lineal and square measure of the ancients ran something as follows : 4 Fingers = 1 Palm 4 Palms eet Moot 1 Clima = 60 Feet Square 1 Actus 2 Climata in length and breadth 1 Jugerum = 2 Actus in length and one in breadth | Readers will remember Macaulay’s lines in ‘“* Horatius”’: They gave him of the corn land Which was of public right, As much as two strong oxen Could plough from morn till night. 202 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST This is a part of the old Roman long measure, and represents the ancient system of land measurement. We see at once that the “Clima” was 60 feet square, and as early courts were approximately of this shape it has been conjectured, with a good deal of reason, that the measure of the Clima, which itself forms four squares of 15 feet each—a distance which some suppose to have been the original length of the plough pole—was responsible for the system of scoring. Whatever the system of play may have been, it is now lost to us, and is likely to remain so. It is quite easy to imagine a game, played possibly without any net, or at best, with some early equiva- lent, in which a ball had to be thrown from square to square around the court ; but interesting as this may be as an intellectual exercise, it will unfortun- ately have nothing but probable surmise for its somewhat insecure foundation. Others have sup- posed that the fact, in French tennis, that there are fourteen ‘‘ chases,” i.e. fifteen spaces (a term which will be presently derived), each almost exactly a foot long, was sufficient to account for the method of scoring; but unfortunately for these theorists, it is known, with certainty, that chases were not in use in the sixteenth century, whilst scoring by fifteen was long anterior to this date; all we do know is, that chases came into being some time between the years 1632 and 1767. In this long period of time, however, no evidence is available to trace even the approximate date at which they emanated from some inventive brain. — The word “‘chase”’ is derived from the Italian *‘ caccia ’’ and French “‘ chasse ”’—a word equivalent PAME. OR LAWN TENNIS 203 to a mark on the floor, or the marking of a ball that is sent or pursued (cacciate). Marshall thinks the word may be the equivalent, perhaps a corruption of some kind, of the English ‘“‘ catch,” spelt “ caitche ”’ in early days but this is improbable. The word “sette? or “set,” Professor Skeat tells us, meant a collection or number of persons or things belonging together. It is thus easy to see how the word came to be used for a collection of games. “Sect,” and perhaps “sept’’—a set of tennis originally consisted of seven games by the way— are varieties of the same word. To understand the word “deuce” a little explanation is necessary. The score mounted from fifteen, through the thirties, to forty-five. When the score of one opponent reached this latter figure, the phrase (now lost to us), ‘a una,” used to be called. ‘This meant that one stroke more would give the game to the side, who were at forty-five. Should, however, the other opponent bring up the score to “ forty-five all,” the cry was “a due ”’—" at two.” Then, as now, one side, or other, had to make two strokes in succession before winning the game. This term got corrupted into the French “‘ deux ” and the English “ deuce ”’ ; but few people realise that the origin of the word is due to the vantage strokes which must be played. The word vantage explains itself, coming as it does from the Latin, through the Italian vantaggio and the French avauntage. Some have supposed that the word © court,” used in a tennis sense, is derived from the latter of the two phrases “La Longue Patme » and “ La Courte Patme ”—Loug Patime and Short Paume. Long Patime and Short Patime were two varieties 204 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST ~— of this game in the early middle ages ; although the word “courte,” used in the phrase ‘‘ La Courte Patme,” may have originated in this manner, yet the ordinary word, a Court of a castle or house, is coeval with it, and, considering that tennis was always played in a “court,” the latter derivation would seem to be quite as likely. The fosses or moats of the old chateaux were commonly turned into use for playing Patime in medieval Europe. The word volley = a la volée, “‘on the fly,” is very simple and expressive; while “rest” in the sense of a rally may have been a term transferred from a game of cards. In Primero, one of the — earliest card games known, if a player held a high hand. with many pips, he was said to have a good “reste.”” The more the pips, the higher the “‘ reste.”’ In the history of games it is of the commonest oc- currence to find words, used in one game, transferred to another; with consequential turmoil to the minds of those, who, coming after, seek to unravel the tangled knot of historical research. But how the word “‘reste’’ came to be used in the sense of a big hand at cards, the writer does not know. Another derivation has it that the word may have come from the French “ Restes,” or Long Fives—a game similar to real tennis, but without the chases. The origin of “ Bisque ’—“ Bisk,” or ‘“‘ Basque ” as sometimes spelt—is doubtful. Some have it that the word comes from the Latin “‘ Biscapis”? = twice taken, because a bisque when taken is usually, but not always, taken after another successful stroke. This derivation is very dubious however; it is much more likely to be derived from the French ** Basque ” provinces, which from time immemorial, PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 205 have been devoted to this form of sport, and whose inhabitants, probably, originated this useful form of odds. “Pelota,” the national game of the Basque, ss derived from the Latin “ Pila” =a ball. But the two most interesting terms, “ love ”’ and “racquet,” like good wine, have been left to the last; if “let” be excepted, which merely means a “hindrance.” It is very commonly sup- posed that the word “racquet” is derived from the Latin for net, because racquets were made of gut, a doubtful point, as it is by no means certain that the earliest racquets were gut strung ; almost certainly they were not so. Through the various forms “reticulum,” “ reticus,”’ ‘“‘ reticu- lata,” ‘‘retiquetta,’” and ‘‘rachetta ’’? the word is supposed to have come down to its present mean- ing and spelling. The other and more probable derivation is from the Dutch and Low German “racken” or “recken,” “to stretch.” Again, “pachette ” and “rasquetta” are words meaning the “palm of the hand” and the “sole of the foot.” These words are the diminutive of the Low Latin “ vacha,” meaning “a wrist,” and knowing the game to have been of Continental, as opposed to English origin, and also to have been played with the palm of the hand, it does seem reasonable that the word, meaning a palm, should be substituted for the implement itself. This derivation, if correct, forms an excellent example of the uses of etymology in settling disputed points of history ; although, generally, too much reliance must not be placed upon this source of information. Finally we come to “love.” Singer, in a note to his scarce work on “ Playing Cards”’ says that there 206 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST is an old Scotch word “ luff’? meaning “ nothing ” ; and, should this derivation be unacceptable, then the word, he says, may have reference to a slang phrase in connection with the rise and fall of the barometer, then in use—the latter being an im- possible explanation. Out in the East, a similar word, bearing the same sense, has been in constant use for ages; and as tennis may have come from the Kast, this origin is as likely as any other. If not, then the meaning of the term may be con- sidered as another of those mysteries whose solution adds so much to the joys of present-day existence : though it may have no further significance than is to be found in the old phrase—‘‘ I would not do it for love or money.”’ IV.—ANECDOTES OF TENNIS It is natural to presume that a ball, made of hair, wool, or even bran, and covered with leather, would form a fairly harmless kind of missile; but there are well-authenticated instances of the death of tennis players, and even spectators, who have been killed whilst watching the game. Montaigne’s brother was killed by a tennis-ball which hit him just above the right ear while at play, but which made no wound or mark at the time. Five or six hours afterwards, however, the unfortunate man was smitten with a fit of apoplexy, caused by the impact of the ball on such a sensitive spot, and he died very shortly after the blow. Nor have kings and princes escaped the death- roll of the tennis court. Comines tells us that Charles VIII, of France, a monarch who was devoted PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 207 to tennis and all outdoor pursuits, was staying at his chateau at Amboise in April 1498. He had come forth from the chamber of Queen Anne de Bretagne, his wife, whom he thereupon conducted to see the game of hand-ball (La Patime) played in the ditch of the chateau, whither ‘“‘ he had never taken her but this time, and they entered together the gallery called La Galerie Haquelebac . . . and the king there struck his forehead against the lintel, so low was the door, and then looked on for some time at the game and conversed with everybody. The last thing that he said, while alive, was that he hoped he might never commit a sin neither mortal nor venial if it were possible ; and as he uttered these words he fell backwards and became speechless, and so he died.” The French kings of this period were devoted to the game and passed on this devotion to their followers. In 1399 Charles VI, as he was about to set out from Le Mans to make war on the Duke of Brittany, went mad. He was conveyed to Paris, where he recovered his reason somewhat, and thence to his chateau of Creil sur Oise. Outside his window a balcony was erected, fenced in with bars of iron, from which he used to look down on to the ditch of his castle, where hand-ball was played for his amuse- ment. English princes have not escaped the toll. Horace Walpole, writing of the death of Frederick, Prince of Wales in March 1751, says that he had had a blow upon his stomach in the summer by a fall, “from which he had often felt great pain . . . he was dead! An inposthume had broken, which, on his body being opened, the physicians were of the 208 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST opinion had not been occasioned by the fall, but from the blow of a tennis-ball, three years before.” Another story has it that the prince was killed by the blow of a cricket-ball, which caused the forma- tion of an abscess—a story which is not so probable, as it was written many years after the event. The prince expired in the arms of the well-known dancing master and violin player, Desnoyéres, who had come to play for his amusement; but that he did not die beloved, is proved by an epitaph written on him, which begins: Here lies Fred, Who was alive and is dead ; Had it been his father I had much rather... and after much unpleasing reference to the whole royal family : But since ’tis only Fred, Who was alive and is dead, There’s no more to be said. Tennis courts were used for other purposes, such as theatricals and menagerie shows, on occasions, as the following incident, which occurred about 1630, goes to show. A little boy, aged ten, Jean le Camus, who afterwards became a famous Maitre de Requestres—as professional tennis markers were called—had gone into a tennis court to see a lion, which was on view upon a stage in this kind of amateur auditorium. The lion not being much to the boy’s liking, he wished to reach the end of the “theatre” and get up a ladder, when the lion, who was at the other end, leapt at him, and knocked him down the ladder with his tail, the boy’s head er Eee Or mes Vi Nes 15th Century Playing Cards. ye Aa ees mie 2 UNIVERSITY oR . 4 . ‘ yi > - ina th , - : \ ‘ > 4 * * : ; ; me is > ‘ F " ry = i LUA at. ; 7 % ee a ise” Sr ts . ~ > 5 = fe f 2 ‘ < s j ; : a wit ~ 7 . Fa os i *~ « . : ~ ~ j = . v =i ar 7 ~ . “ a : “ies = ~ = m 4 _ 5 ° a --S - : ¥ 33 ‘ ¢ ae fr - 2 7 4 ‘ aS . * a z + y m -”~ . . - ss ‘% * = ‘ mn eee ’ Nie \ et $ * : ie sacks +," ae . PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 209 becoming wrapped up in his mantle. The lion was about to maul him when a page boy, who had come in from below, rather to play tricks on the lion than to rescue the boy, gave the beast a blow with a pole, which drew the lion’s attention upon himself, and enabled the boy to save his neck. He got off finally with some scratches. This story makes curious reading at the present day. | But tennis is not, nor ever was, a game involving battle, murder, or sudden death, so we may now turn our attention to a few other interesting facts in its history. The name “Covent Garden ” must have struck a few by its odd’ sound. Marshall supposes that the name may be due to the words ‘Le jeu de patime, commun jardin ”__pnresumably a kind of public tennis court, where all could play, who were able to afford the means to do so; cer- tainly such public courts were common enough in London in medizval times, and, for want of a better derivation, perhaps “commun jardin” may be ’ considered the prototype of this open-air space. Doubtless the phrase was used to distinguish public courts from those privately owned. An amusing anecdote is told of a certain monk, who was a noted tennis player, and who, during the reign of Francois I, of France, used to play tennis with the king and his nobles. One day, while playing, the monk made a brilliant stroke, which decided the set in the king’s favour, since the king and the monk were partnered, as against two of the French nobility, whose names are not recorded. The king exclaimed: “Ah! That is the stroke of a monk.” ‘Sire,’ replied the monk, “ it shall be the stroke of an abbot, whenever it may please you.’’ 14 210 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST An abbey happened to be vacant at the moment ; which the monk received as a reward for his stroke and his wit. But such rewards only lie with the Great Ones of the Earth. As an instance of the devotion with which the game was regarded by the kings of France, it may be added that Henri of Navarre, subsequently Henri IV, even after all the horrors of the night of St. Bartholomew—and at a time when not only had the lives of hundreds of his best friends been sacri- ficed, but his own head was also in danger—could not refrain from getting up at daylight next morning, in order to finish a game of tennis before the rising of the king. Another most interesting royal story is recorded by Pierre l’Estoille, a French court official, who wrote about the. year 1600. He tells us that on September 16, the king, Henri IV, played La Patime the whole of the afternoon in the Jeu de la Sphere. He was stripped to his shirt, which was torn all down his back, and he wore grey breeches (chausses) called ‘“‘ jambes de chien,” and was so tired that he could not get to the ball; and he said that he was ‘‘like an ass, because he failed in the feet.” After- wards, at the instigation of an advocate named “ Duret,” who told his majesty that, if he would like some fun, he should cause a nacquet (or professional marker), who was seen skulking in the gallery, to be searched; when there would be found upon him under his cloak a gross of balls, which he had stolen. The king had this done, and when it was found as M. Duret had said, the king laughed loud and long ; and having sent for the nacquet, lectured him for some time, and derived much pleasure from the PAME OR LAWN TENNIS 211 affair.’ L’Estoille goes on to tell us that, on October 27 of the same year, the king, having won 400 crowns at La Patime, which were below the “ cord” (or net, the place where wagered money was always put in old times), caused them to be collected, and put in his hat by the nacquettiers, and then said: ‘“‘I have these safe; no one will rob me of them, for they will not pass through the hands of my treasurers”—a jest, which perhaps the treasurers would hardly have appreciated. The corporation of Paumier-nacquettiers, however, did their best to prevent the word ‘“ nacquet”’ from acquiring the sinister meaning of “cheat ”’ or “dun,” which soon after it did. By the favour and advice of the king, they obtained a charter by virtue of which markers were obliged, before they could perform their functions, to pass through the stages of ‘“apprentis” and ‘‘compagnon.” This was first registered on November 13, 1610, and. re- newed under Louis XV in 1727. Excellent institu- tions these old trade guilds were, and an infinity of good was done by them for the protection of par- ticular trades and of those who gained livelihoods by working at them. It is a curious comment on modern civilisation, that no institutions have been created, which can be said to have replaced them in any way, more particularly in their system of apprenticeship, a crying need at the present moment. A story of the great French marker, Masson, who flourished about the year 1770, is worth repeating. He undertook to win matches against amateurs under the most stringent conditions. One of these was that he should deliver the services seated in a barrel, in which he remained after serving, and from 212 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST which he leapt continually, in order to return each stroke to the amateur. On the hazard side, again, he awaited the service seated in his barrel near the grille, which he had to leave hurriedly to take the first stroke, and then was compelled by the terms ~ of his match to jump into the barrel again, and so on after each stroke made by him. History records that he won his match. One more royal story must suffice. The Comte d’Artois was playing Paime one day with the young Prince of Condé. The prince soon became irritated at his own want of success, and the continued ap- plause which came from the gallery for his opponent’s strokes; and finally, using the coarsest expressions, he ordered every one out of the gallery. A single officer remained, to whom the prince cried: “Did you not hear what I said?” “ Yes, indeed, mon- seigneur,” the officer replied, ‘but, as I am neither the 1— nor the d— f— that you mentioned, I have remained here.” The prince bit his lips in silence. XI THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS TuE study of humanity in its most elemental forms teaches us that fighting and gambling are the two prime instincts, with which the course of man’s evolution has been most intimately associated. Many will probably claim that love and religion assume priority of place as the two foundation stones upon which all great national structures have been raised. It must be remembered, however, that, in the earliest forms of society which are known to us, man’s very existence depended upon his fighting prowess, not only to secure his place in the system of the universe against his natural foes, but also to set up his home; for failing these two, his race perished. Again, it is the unknown, and very often the fear of the unknown, future, which constitutes the rock upon which all ancient superstitious edifices were built. As a consequence we must admit that fighting and gambling, which latter term from its very nature involves the unknown, are two of the most deeply rooted instincts of mankind. Modern civilisation owes much to the indirect influence of the older Eastern religions and social 213 214 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST systems. The invention of chess was probably an attempt, as I have shown in a previous chapter, to overcome man’s innate tendency to fight, by the substitution of some mimic warfare, which fighting instincts would gratify, whilst avoiding all those horrors with which actual combat is necessarily associated. In the same way that the invention of chess is presumed, with some reason, to have been designed for the betterment of mankind in one direction, so the invention of playing cards, which in their nature are very similar to, and even derived from, chess, can be perhaps attributed to man’s innate love of gambling—a means by which he could easily satisfy this natural craving, without involving all those mystic rites, which are the natural corollary of the second of these great instincts—gambling. Modern authorities unite in thinking that cards are not a European invention; but that they were imported into Europe at a time, probably about the twelfth century, and in a manner, which we cannot trace: and considering the ubiquity of playing cards at the present day, it is somewhat curious, not only that this origin should be un- known, but also that considerable doubt exists as to whether playing cards can be said to have had any definite source of origin—so widely variant are the earliest types of playing cards from each other, as found in different countries at approximately similar periods of history. Various writers have laid claim to the invention on behalf of Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and even Eng- land, and with the usual object of claiming for their THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 215 own country, the honour of creation. France has been particularly fortunate in this respect, and, if asked, most schoolboys will glibly say, that cards were invented by an ingenious courtier for the amusement of the mad King Charles VI of France. As a matter of fact research shows that, of all the European countries mentioned above, France pos- sesses least right to make prior claim, either for ‘nvention or first use. It will be at once admitted that until quite recent times, France could lay claim to the first written reference to cards there being no doubt whatsoever that cards were intended; but M. d’Allemagne in his great work on “Playing Cards” has shown that Belgium could produce an earlier reference, and one which he describes as ‘‘des preuves absolument irré- futables.” Again, India, China, and even Egypt would wish to be acknowledged as the inventors of playing cards : Egypt, on account of the nature and general appearance of “ Tarocchi” or “ Tarots ”— to give them their abbreviated name—a word with which the English “trump” and the French “atout” are clearly associated, because the “Tarocchi” cards corresponded more or less to the trump cards in any pack. China lays claim to the exact date, 1120, of the invention, and assigns it to a courtier of the Emperor Kao-Tsong ; but as the Encyclopedia in which this claim is made was written in the year 1628—some five centuries alter the event—the statement can be accepted only with doubt. Finally tradition assigns the invention to the Brahmins of India—a country which is generally acknowledged to be the original home of chess. 216 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST Strong reasons exist for supposing that our playing cards are derived from chess.* Apart from this question, which after such a lapse of time cannot be definitely proved either one way or the other, it must be remembered that Eastern tradition is not a matter which can be lightly set aside, knowing, aS we do, the extreme influence which custom exercises upon the inhabitants of the changeless Kast. As a consequence it would seem right to treat this tradition with some respect, a courtly attribute, of which the rising generation in all countries appears to be somewhat neglectful. __._ The earliest English mention of any game which, by a stretch of the imagination, could be con- strued into an allusion to playing cards is to be found in the report of the Council of Worcester, .._1240, in which the poorer classes are forbidden to play at certain games, and amongst others at a certain game ‘“‘de ludis regis et regine.” This prohibition was enacted as a deterrent to gambling, and not because the games themselves were vicious or demoralising : for, to such an extent did betting prevail, that the legislature was constantly being called to aid, in order to prevent “large numbers of persons from being despoiled of all their goods.” It is improbable, however, that this reference alludes to cards, because it is generally admitted that the earliest packs possessed no queens, and also because a series of country sports were being enumerated ; and it is scarcely probable that a game like cards would be included in any such category. Again cards cannot have become common before the in- troduction of printing into Europe, probably from * See connection between Cards and Chess, pp. 167 et seq. THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 217 the East, an innovation which had not occurred at the date in question. It is thus somewhat idle to suppose that the legislature, in passing a law which was intended to benefit the common people, would have banned a game, such as cards, which could only have been possessed by the wealthy. It is certain that the earliest playing cards were hand- painted on ivory, wood, or parchment, and some- times even embossed on metal plates; as a con- sequence, playing cards must have been expensive. Some may-pole dance is a likely explanation. Another interesting reference, also of English origin, occurs in one of the wardrobe rolls of Edward I, where money is allotted to the king and his eldest son for playing a game “ad ludendum quattuor reges.” There is a good deal to be said on both sides as to whether this phrase refers to playing cards or to chess. Chess advocates claim that the word ‘“chatauranga,’’ which is the original word for chess and means, it is supposed, ‘‘ the four kings,” or “the four colours,” is accurately represented by this phrase, and moreover that chess is known to have been extant in Europe at this time ; also that a kind of four-handed chess is known to have been played at about this period in Germany. Against this reasoning, however, the card advocates claim that cards were introduced into Europe at or about the period of the crusades, and at the same time as chess, and again that the phrase used is much more suitable to cards than to chess. It is curious also that the phrase “ad quattuor reges ”’ should be used, and not “ludus scaccorum OF ‘“eyssucchum,” if chess was intended. The word by which cards were known in Italy and Spain 218 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST when first introduced was “naibs” or “ naipes.”’ ; and aS a consequence it is natural to assume that the scribe would have used this word, had he known it; for scribes in those days were the learned in the land. | The result seems to be that the reference is too uncertain to admit of a decision as to which of the two games is meant, though the writer hazards the opinion that it was the ancient four-handed chess which was intended. The word “ naibs,”’ or ‘“‘naipes,’ is of unknown origin. Various writers have ascribed the word to the Arabic ‘ nabaa,” a word meaning witchcraft or sorcery, which has a Hebrew root equivalent, on the ground that sorcery is so intimately associated with card playing that the two ideas are concomitant. ‘The writer thinks it may be the equivalent of the Arabic word ‘“‘ naib,” from which the Hindustani words “ Nabob ”’ and ‘“‘ Nawab’”’—a prince—are derived; and when it igs remembered that some early packs possess only the king and the knave as court cards, it is reasonable to suppose that a pack of cards would be called after the most prominent feature in it. Moreover, Italy and Spain, more particularly Spain, were overrun by the Moors, and, as a consequence, the latter would seem a more probable source than the former: and the Moors of course had some Hastern origin. A contributor to the papers of the sndlaumeas Society in the last century gives a curious account of what may be one of the connecting links between cards and fortune-telling. He points out that there are four suits with thirteen cards in each suit, and then proceeds to make a calculation, which in its THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 219 nature reminds one more of the Shakespeare- Baconian cyphers than anything else. He calculates as follows: Number of pips in the 10 common cards =55 55 xX 4 3 : : : (eS Sew Number of pips in court cards, remembering that early court cards had only 1 pip each : : E Z p Mies ES Add 10 for each honour in the pack . = 120 Number of cards in a suit . ; eg hint 365 ——— which is the number of days in a year. Unfortun- ately, however, for this ingenious calculator, the early history of playing cards tells us that the number of court cards was not three, nor was the number of common cards always ten. Consequently this “ discovery ”’ can only be classed as fortuitous, confirmed as it is by the figure of the wheel of Fortune, upon some of the earliest fifteenth century tarot cards—not to mention the presence of the sun, moon, and stars on others—which tell us, only too clearly, that cards must have been linked with the Goddess of Fortune before ever the number of cards in a pack was rigidly fixed at fifty-two. . About the year 1360 an edict of Paris was issued, similar in type to that of Worcester, the object of which was the prevention of gambling amongst the populace. Cards, however, are not specifically men- tioned, but they find a place in a second edict published in 1397. These dates coincide approxi- mately with the advent of printing and, as it is idle 220 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST to suppose that the game of cards can have obtained any great vogue before the art of printing had reached a workable stage, it is presumed with some reason that cards became common in France towards the end of the fourteenth century. It must not be thought, however, that this assertion gives to France any claim to the invention of the game. Again the presence of the fleur-de-lis on most packs of cards is sometimes taken as proof that France was the originator; but the fleur-de-lis is not a French emblem, it is only a copy of an older armorial bearing of the East, and so forms but another link to the chain of evidence, connecting the origin of cards with the Orient. It is curious that neither Petrarch, Chaucer, nor Boccaccio, all of whom were contemporary writers, makes mention of any game which can be fairly construed into meaning cards in any of their works. Petrarch, while writing on the subject of gaming, would have surely mentioned them in his essay, if they had been in common use ; and the only reason for omitting mention of them, which will bear any examination, is to be found in the theory that cards must have been very scarce at the time he compiled his work—a theory which agrees with the known fact that the earliest cards were painted. Printing, in its crudest form, did not come into use in Europe until about the fourteenth century, being intro- duced from the East, where the art was practised, in its nature more like stencilling, and for the pur- pose of ornamenting women’s garments, long before Europe made acquaintance with it. No doubt it is possible that the rapid advance in the art of printing, which took place immediately after this period, THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 221 might be due to man’s innate love of gambling, a love which induced playing-card makers to devise a cheap and rapid means of duplicating playing cards. But stencilled packs are in existence of an undoubted earlier date than other packs, which experts declare are printed from wood-blocks ; and, after all, it would seem a little hard on mankind, to attempt to trace the early development of one of the greatest of human inventions to such an unworthy cause as the love of gambling. The old town book of Nuremburg, 1380, affords the first mention of cards in Germany, a date which closely coincides with the spread of cards over France, and generally speaking, over the continent of Europe. The reference to ‘“ Das Guilden spiel ” is the first which has been discovered in this country. “Spiel” is a word meaning “a game ”’ of any kind, and can be seen in the “bon spiel” of the Scotch game of curling.* The German word in use for cards was “‘ Brief,’’ and a card-maker was a “‘ Brief- maker.”? Germany and North Italy appear to have been the sources from which cards were distributed ever the Continent. They were packed in small casks, and distributed broad-cast over the land. The word ‘“‘ Brief ” is probably the same word as the ‘brief’ of the barrister—the card, upon which notes were written. Chatto has surmised that cards were first introduced into England through the influence of Hawkwood and other noted free captains, who during those troublous days found employment for themselves and their following, by selling their services to the various Continental princes, who were constantly at war with each other at about this * See ‘* Kuting,”’ p. 60. 222 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST period of history. These men would be certain to bring back with them to England any games which they had picked up during their stay in foreign parts, and the fact that the earliest known English packs bear marks denoting Spanish origin is a presumption that cards were introduced into England from Spain, at a time when they were becoming common on the Continent. There is, however, no reason to assume that cards were un- known in England before this period ; it can be said with some confidence that they were known, on the Continent at any rate, at least a century previously. As a result, no country can claim priority, as of right, to the invention. Covelluzzo, writing in the fifteenth century, tells us definitely that they were imported into Spain in 1379, and were of Arabic origin ; but he does not seem to be backed up by other early writers. The Arabic origin can therefore only be called a strong presumption. It is certain, however, that they quickly became exceed- ingly popular, and spread rapidly over the whole of the European continent, particularly amongst the poorer classes, the very classes to whom at the present day the spirit of gambling appeals most strongly, as a temporary relief from their dull, drab lives. : In the past, it has generally been supposed that the first authentic mention of cards occurs in the ward- robe rolls of Charles VI, the mad King of France, in 1392. Here, a sum of 56 sols Parisi is found charged for the painting of three packs of cards for the amusement of the king and “pour son esbatte- ment.’’ As worded, the reference clearly reads that the relatively small sum of 56 sols, equivalent to THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 223 about £1, was charged for painting, and not for making, three packs of cards; and the undoubted authenticity of the record makes it plain that a kind of stencilling must have been intended, as otherwise a far larger sum than 56 sols would have been charged for the purpose. It is equally pos- sible to suppose that the king must have been mad indeed to be content with such poor cards, whilst contemporary history tells us that an Italian duke paid the vast sum of 500 golden crowns for the emblazoning of a single pack. This well-known reference to the mad French King is the foundation upon which the statement is often and_ falsely made, that France can claim to be the home and birthplace of modern playing cards; but now Belgium can advance an undoubted prior record, for M. Pinchart points out a passage in a wardrobe roll of the reigning Prince of Brabant that a sum of ‘““4 peters an 2 florins, worth 8} moutons d’or” was paid for one pack of cards on May 14, 1379. It thus seems that, at the present moment, Belgium, not France, can claim the first absolutely authentic written reference to cards. From this time onwards, references to cards and card games are frequent in historical narrative ; while in England and also on the Continent, guilds of playing-card makers were formed for the manu- facture of cards, and for the protection of the in- dustry in the sixteenth century. Cards were for- bidden to be imported into England from the Con- tinent, and particularly from Spain, because this importation interfered with home production ; while in Elizabethan times, the making of playing cards formed a monopoly. James I was the first 224 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST monarch to levy a duty on playing cards, which has varied from as much as half-a-crown in Georgian days to the present duty of threepence. This heavy duty of 2s. 6d. induced smugglers to make foreign playing cards an object of illicit import, but the reduction of the duty to threepence makes it probable that there is hardly a pack of cards in the British Isles which has not paid its proper quota towards the revenue. With this short historical sketch, we are now at liberty to turn to the history of the cards them- selves, as depicted by the various designs which playing cards have been made to bear in different countries, and at various periods. The earliest known Italian packs consisted of seventy-eight cards, generally divided into four suits of fourteen cards each; then followed the twenty-one emblematic cards numbered consecutively, which corresponded to a great extent to the trumps in the pack, while the last unnumbered card was called ** Le Fou ” or ‘La Motte’? = the “Jester,” or “Joker.” These tarocchi have entirely disappeared from modern English packs with the exception of the jester.* It will be thus seen that early packs of cards can be divided into two parts—the “ tarots”’ and the ‘suits’; while opinions differ as to whether the ‘“‘tarots”’ or the “suits”? are the older cards, and also as to whether this combined pack of seventy- eight cards was not formed by mixing the “ suit ae game of one country with the “tarot” game of another. The presence of the tarots seems to indicate that, previous to the fourteenth century, some emblematic game, possibly of a religious * See p. 173. THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 225 character, was in existence, perhaps for the purpose of negativing the heathen teaching of some pagan game ; but at any rate, in searching into the origin of playing cards, it is to the tarot portion of the pack that experts look. The emblems which appear on the faces of the tarot cards are of the most varied character. While figures of Justice, Mercy, Faith, Charity, Fortune and her wheel, mingle with those of the sun, moon, stars, and planets, a strong religious undercurrent is apparent in almost all of them: later on animals, flowers, and human forms, suggested by the ‘“‘tarocchi”’ are found figured on cards; indeed, as I have said,* there was no end to the variety of forms, allegorical or otherwise, on the faces of these cards. It must not be supposed, however, that all early packs are alike in the number and nature of their “tarots”’ and “‘suits.”” Some would believe that the jester ‘““La Motte” originated, at cards, from the universal presence of this privileged individual in the presence of every regal household. All that can be said definitely on the subject of the “ tarots” is that we have no means of ascertaining what they were intended to represent, nor is it probable that future generations will be any more successful than present or past ages in elucidating the mystery of their origin. The earliest packs were painted on thin vellum, a substance which the destructive hand of time, not to mention hard usage, would quickly ruin, since no object would seem to have been served in those early days by the preservation of the old packs. But one doubtful point remains, the settlement of er Ye 15 226 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST which might elucidate the mystery of the origin of playing cards. In the statutes of the Abbey of St. Victor of Marseilles, is the passage already quoted *: “nec presumat ludere ad taxillos (dice) nec ad Paginas (leaves) nec ad eyssucchum (chess).”’ The word Paginas justifies the assumption that some game of cards was here intended. It was not until three or four thicknesses of card were put together, that the name of the game was changed from “Pagina” to “carta,” a Latin word from which the English “card ”’ is derived. Again it can be assumed that cards of some kind must have been known in the monasteries, and amongst the great barons—that is to say, amongst the wealthy classes—before ever they became common over Europe; but the religious element which survives in these early card packs, suggests the idea that tarot cards were designed as a set-off against some foreign game which had been intro- duced into Europe, and which portrayed, emblemati- cally, an Eastern religion, a subject which would have been considered heretical, and been dealt with accordingly. This would account for the presence of the pope and popess, of emperor and knight, and of - all the virtues of the Christian religion on the tarot cards; but at the same time some of the symbolical inferences would have been certain to be transcribed from one set of cards to the other, and thus a con- fusion would result, which, at this distance of time it is not possible to elucidate. These “tarots *? form the foundation upon which the whole mass of emblematical, satirical, and calligraphical cards and card games were subsequently built up, not * See p. 178. THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 227 only in Italy, but over the whole continent of Europe. We are now at liberty to turn to the “ suit’ part of the original tarot packs, the part, which pos- sesses the greatest amount of interest to card players at the present day. We find that although four- teen cards were usually present in each suit, this was not always the case. The number of both court and pip cards varied in different countries, and even in the same country. Some packs lack the ace, others the ten, whilst the king, queen, knave, and knight in their several combinations, formed the court cards. The queen is almost certainly of French origin, but the exact manner in which she came to be introduced into the pack is quite con- jectural. Would it be too presumptuous to guess that it was the well-known gallantry of the French nation which brought about this alteration? The absence of any feminine influence in the regal party, which forms the most evident feature in any pack of cards, would certainly have struck this susceptible nation as a grievous wrong—a wrong which it was their prompt business to correct and whose counter- part can be seen in the contemporary substitution of the queen for the “firz’’ or “councillor” at chess. The Italian.and Spanish names of the earliest suits of cards were ‘‘ Swords,’ ‘‘ Cups,” ‘“‘ Clubs,” and ‘‘Money,” or, to give them their correct rendering, “Spada,” “‘Coppes,” ‘“ Bastoni,” and ‘Denari.” These names sound strange to English ears, accustomed to the “‘ Heart,” “‘ Spade,” ‘‘ Club,” and ‘“‘ Diamond’ convention, and appear all the stranger when it is mentioned that the early German 228 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST suits were ‘ Hearts,” ‘‘ Bells,’ ‘‘ Leaves,’ and “Glands” or ‘ Acorns.” ~In seeking to trace the history of the names, appearance, and sym- bolical inference of these different suits, the widest opening is offered to speculative minds, not only in attempting to make the different names and symbols agree amongst themselves, and amongst their co-suits in other countries, but also in endeavour- ing to trace which of the different sets of names is the earlier. Of all the theories which have been set up as to the origin of cards, perhaps the story of an Eastern birth, is that which has received most credence, if we accept the notion that all card games had some common origin. As a consequence we look to the Hindoo mythology to give us some clue on the subject of the number four. The original caste system seems to offer one explanation, and an explanation which is sometimes derided, of the names and number of the four suits at cards; but this state- ment must be safeguarded by mentioning that it is by no means certain that the Italian, as opposed to the German, are the oldest cards which we possess. Although it is natural to assume that the date of the oldest pack now extant would give us, as a matter of course, the country which was responsible for the birth of cards, yet the connection of cards with the East makes us pause before accepting the nomenclature of the German suits as the earlier: it rather leaves us wondering whether it would not be possible to trace a definite connection between the two sets of names, at the same time admitting that it is not definitely known which is the older. THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 229 The suit of “Swords” = ‘Spada,’ a name from which our English suit of spades is derived— but not the symbol, which many children must suppose is intended to represent a kind of de- graded shovel—would obviously be the correct allegorical representation of the great warrior caste of India. ‘““Coppes,” or cups, may be taken to represent the priestly caste in this wise. The symbol for the cup in some of these old packs is more like a sacred chalice than a common drinking cup and, re- membering the military nature of both chess and cards, the supreme influence of the religious fighting element in the old-time armies, and the fact that the Pope found it necessary to preach a Christian Jehad, in order successfully to oppose the on- slaughts of his Mahomedan Saracen foes, it would be natural to find that an emblem would be selected which would appeal to the very fundamentals upon which the Christian religion rests. Thus it may be that the Hindu and Christian religions have come to be mixed under the guise of one of the suits— probably the modern hearts—in a pack of playing cards. The Bastoni, or clubs, still survive in name, but not in symbol, in the modern pack. The origin of this suit is very obscure, but it is possible to connect it in a reasonable manner with the “ Sudra ”’ caste. Again remembering that the game of cards is of military origin, we look round to find what was the common weapon of offence or defence of the every-day Hindoo. To this day it would be im- possible to choose a more representative emblem than the ‘“lathi’”’—the male bamboo, which is 230 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST nothing else than a club—the natural weapon of these classes. No doubt after a lapse of many centuries of time, this connection may seem far- fetched—but the changelessness of the East is proverbial. As an additional point, an early pack of Chinese cards is extant, which, allowing for the national temperament of the artist in depict- ing his emblem, can be supposed to represent a bamboo. The fourth suit, ‘‘ Denari,’”’ or money, is sup- posed to represent the traders and agriculturists ; and, no doubt, the influence of the Roman Empire can be held responsible for the symbol chosen. It was perhaps this symbol which suggested the sun, moon, and stars, by a comparison with the gold, silver, and copper of the money suit—and so led the early astrologers to the use of playing cards as an instrument of divination. It must not be supposed that the caste theory, as explained above, is the only one in the field. Some think that. the leaves of the various trees formed the symbols of the earliest playing cards, on the assumption that the German packs are the oldest. This solution of the problem, however, does not coincide with the military nature of cards; nor does it offer any satisfactory origin for the absolute invention of the game. The wildest stretch of the most fertile imagination of the greatest gambling genius that ever breathed could surely never have connected the leaves of the trees with a pack of cards. | Another origin connects the tarot cards with the Egyptian mythology, on account of the em- blematic figures found in these cards. Thus the THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 231 figures of “‘ Justice,” “ Charity,” “ Faith,” “* Forti- tude,” have been supposed to be the original suits: but it would seem more likely that these emblems represented the supposed virtues of the fighting faith of the early crusaders, as opposed to those of the Saracens, from whom many think the original game was probably derived. The word “tarot” is probably a corruption of an Italian word meaning that the tarot cards were tarotted —ije. marked with plain or dotted lines on their backs. | We must now turn to see if it is not possible to find the links which connect together the names and symbols of these different suits. We have already seen the origin of the suit of ‘‘ swords” in the name “ spada,” but have yet to find the reason for the particular shape of its symbol. This shape is probably derived from the German symbol “Teaves’’—otherwise ‘“Griin’? = the leaf of the wild plum. Again this suit at a later period is called ‘‘ Pique ”—perhaps a pike head, and a word from which one of the very earliest games of cards, piquet, is derived. Thus the kingly ‘“‘spada,” or sword, may have suggested the commoner pike to some maker, who preferred quantity to quality in output. One early writer (Singer, 1816) refers to the “Aspen Suar” of chess, in comparing the game of cards with chess, but proceeds to look at the word “aspen” instead of “suar,” which means a “native horseman” or the “knight” at chess, in Arabic; and is equivalent to the modern Hindustani “* sowar.”’ The suit of clubs is again somewhat confusing. This suit is the German suit of “acorns” or 239 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST “ Hicheln.” The trefoil shape connects this suit with the medieval French suit of “'Tréfle ””__mean- ing trefoil or clover—whose shape some consider to be a mere pictorial corruption of an acorn with its cup-like shell. Thus are we indebted to some imaginative scribe for the presence of the German symbol with the literal English translation of the original ‘“ bastoni”—a word meaning a club— whatever the original significance may have been. But the connection between the other two suits is very dim and clouded. It is probable, however, that the present suit of hearts takes its name from the German suit, and its symbol from the name ; also that it represents the ancient suit of “cups,” or “ Coppes.” The gallant French may have gathered a corrupt “‘cceur” from the Italian “coppe”’; what is, perhaps, more likely, the heart or bleeding heart is some religious emblem, used symbolically, for stirring up the fighting prowess of the Christian hosts. Some have tried to con- nect the abstract virtue, ‘“ courage,” with the emblem of the heart, and so derive a proof for the theory of the “ four-virtue ” origin of the four suits— but this would seem improbable. After all, if colour goes for anything, and can be conceived to be connected with the castes (otherwise colours) of the Land of Ind, red is the more suitable for the united priestly and fighting castes—as well as for the bleeding heart—and is also diametrically opposite to the black, the colour of the original inhabitants of India. Finally we come to diamonds, which corresponds to the original suit of Denari or the “Schellen ? = THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 233 bells, of coeval Germany. Some suppose that the ‘“schellen’’ represent the bells on hawks and falcons for purposes of venery; and, as hunting would only have been the pastime of the wealthy, they claim that “‘ bells ’’ came to represent ““money.” Others say that the circular coinage was altered to the present diamond-shaped emblem, simply through love of change and for no other cause— but both these suggestions seem improbable, the connection, or want of it, in either case is too remote. This suit was also called Ladrillos—a word meaning a soldier—and ‘ carreaux’”’ = quarrel, or cross-bow bolt, or indeed a missile of any sort, but a missile, which had a diamond-shaped head. Hence ‘‘ quarrel’ came to be used for any diamond-shaped object, such as old English window panes. ‘Thus, it might be possible that the diamond-shaped symbol of the present-day pack represents the business end of a quarrel-bolt. But the connection which may have existed between the “schellen” and the ‘“‘ Denari”’ seems lost to us—perhaps in these very Paginas of which mention has already been made. In this case, all that can be said is that we do not know, and although some subsequent investigator may prove more fortunate in his research, or some old book may reveal in its decay, as in times past, the presence of old packs of cards in the worn-out built-up cardboard cover, the question of whether, or no, the origin of the “bell” suit will ever be discovered must be left to the same goddess, who rules over the fate of all games of chance. One guess is as good as another and, after all, there must be some reason why leaves of various kinds are found in, at least three of the German suits. 234 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST An old Flemish author, who travelled in Spain in 1540, tells us that the accommodation to be found in the small villages was of the very scantiest description, worse even than to-day; but goes on to say that, although bread was not to be procured at any price, yet playing cards could be bought anywhere—a terrible indictment of human folly— and also that leaves and even bits of leather were pressed into service for purposes of play. ‘This grumbling narrative leaves us wondering whether the leaves of the different trees were used at one time to represent actually the various pip cards by | their number, strung perhaps on a stick, or even represented a method of scoring. We know that cards, before the invention of printing or stencilling, —and even parchment—must have been very ex- pensive. We know that the soldiery first used them, and also that they rapidly became popular. ‘The common soldiers would be quick to imitate their superiors in the matter of play and, finding cards beyond the power of their purse, it is possible that they took the first emblems which came to hand— the leaves of the trees—and strung them together to make the various cards of the pack. Again even modern cards show the king, queen, and knave holding a small conventional flower in the hand. In the old cards, the emblem grasped in the hand, denotes the suit, and in this way confusion may have arisen. But whatever the early cards may be able to tell us, yet the earliest card games known all denote a military origin. Lansquenet =a _ freebooter, L’Ombre = the man, Piquet=a pike, have all a military significance: and although the exact THE HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS 235 origin of playing cards may be hidden from us, yet such part of their history as has come down, leaves us in no doubt that their birth and development were essentially military ; and that, until the mystery of the “ Paginas’”’ is solved, the origin of playing cards will never be revealed. m XIT BILLIARDS AND CROQUET OF all the games, ancient and modern, whose history has puzzled the sportsmen of this, or any other century, there is little doubt that the game of billiards—and of croquet, which appears to have been intimately connected with billiards in the distant past—is the most obscure. The meta- morphosis, by which the rural billiards of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries changed, chame- leon-like, into the modern game of green baize cloth and india-rubber cushions, is hidden from us by a veil as dense as, if not denser than that which hides the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask, or any other of history’s most cherished secrets. Although some have tried to trace the history of these games back to early Roman and Grecian times, and to connect them by a linkwork of direct genealogy with such early pastimes at ball, with which it is known these ancients were wont to dis- port themselves, there does not seem much doubt that such attempts are too far-fetched to be believed by any, except the credulous. The huge gulf, which separates the fourth from the thirteenth century, can only be bridged by guesswork; because such accounts of the early life of Ancient Britain as have 236 BILLIARDS AND CROQUET 237 come down to us, make, unfortunately, practically no mention of the milder forms of sport with which our ancestors were wont to amuse themselves. So little is known about any of these ancient games of ball, that it is quite impossible to consider any one of them as the definite parent of a particular modern game. Again, even in the nineteenth century, when it might have been supposed that our various field sports would have assumed some settled nature, we find that the exact contrary was the case—as witness, for instance, the complete alteration which the games of football and lawn tennis have under- gone in the last fifty years; nor have these changes been confined to the present or to the last century. The game of Pattme—the lineal ancestor of! tennis—went through greater changes during the fifteenth century than lawn tennis has done during the nineteenth, and it is quite as likely that other games suffered equal, if not greater, changes during the dark and troublous periods of early and mediaeval history. The earliest game of which any mention has come to us, and which can reasonably be supposed to refer to billiards or croquet, is found in Strutt’s work. Referring to an illustration, Strutt says: ‘Supposed origin of billiards. Here the bowls instead of being cast by the hand, are driven with a battoon or mace, through an arch at a distance from it; and hence I make no doubt originated the game of billiards, which was formerly played with a similar kind of arch and a mark called the ‘King,’ but placed upon the table instead of upon the ground. The improvement of adding the table answered 238 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST two good purposes, it precluded the necessity of the player to kneel or stoop exceedingly, when he struck the bowl, and accommodated the game-to the limits of a chamber.” Unfortunately the author does not give the name of the MS. or the date of the picture from which the plate, which illustrates his work, was taken. This plate shows two youths, one standing, the other on one knee, and each holding a ‘“‘battoon’? in his hand. This battoon appears to be a stick about the same size as a policeman’s truncheon, but slightly fan-shaped at one end—the fan having flat sides and being slightly curved. The kneeling youth is quite close to the hoop, forming the ‘“ pass ” or “ port,” his ball being in the centre of the ‘“‘ pass”? and himself in the act of striking it with a horizontal sweep of his battoon ; the hand holding the battoon being almost on the ground. The “king ”’ is some little distance away—perhaps twenty-five yards if the perspective of the illustration is correct, which is doubtful—and consists of a cone of wood, with a wide base, taper- ing to a point, perhaps eighteen inches high. The other ball is near the “king.’’ From the clothing of these two youths, it is possible that this illustration was taken from some fourteenth-century MS. The whole appearance of the stooping youth be- tokens a cramped attitude; the game is obviously being played out of doors and the fact that both the “ pass”’ and the “king” are present does not leave much reason to doubt that, whatever this ancient game may have been called in early days, as depicted by this illustration, it is the forerunner of billiards as that term is now understood, BILLIARDS AND CROQUET 239 Illustrations of seventeenth - century billiards, whose accuracy cannot be doubted, also show us a game in which the “port”’ or “pass”? and the “king” exist. But we shall describe this game later. Another ancient game to which reference must here be made is that of “La Courte Patme.” Whether “‘La Courte Patime ’’ had any connection with “La Longue Patme” there is nothing to show.* Presumably it had, but what this connection was is not very clear. ‘La Courte Patme” was a game played by rustics, in which a wooden ball, about four inches in diameter, a circular iron ring rather larger than the ball, anda small “battoon”’ formed the principal implements. The iron ring was stuck, vertically, into the ground; and the players, usually two a side, retired to a distance of about fifteen yards. Sometimes the ring was made to swivel at the junction of the shank with the ring: but when about to be used, the ring was set, so that its whole circumference faced the player. Stooping down with the “ battoon ” onthe ground, and with the ball resting on the top of it (the battoon in this case was more like a large wooden kitchen spoon than anything else), each player, alternately, tried to cast the ball through the ring, and he that succeeded most frequently, won the game. The position assumed by the player, who is about to throw, is a very curious one, since his “battoon ” must rest on the ground ; incidentally, it must have required a deal of skill to cast the ball through the circular hoop, especially when the latter * See pp. 195, 203, 204. 240 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST was made to swivel. This is the game which was known as “rural billiards,” and is more likely to be the progenitor of modern billiards than any other. Shakespeare and Spencer both mention billiards, and as the former is rightly regarded as the greatest authority extant, on the social customs of his age, it is safe to look at his references to the game as exact. In Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra, in Antony’s temporary absence, says to an attendant : ‘‘Let us to billiards: Come, Charmian.”’ Shakespeare, in thus writing, infers that billiards was at that time (the beginning of the seventeenth century) a fairly common game, but confined per- haps to the houses of the nobility and gentry, since Cleopatra herself is made to play the game. It is also to be noted that billiards is not men- tioned in the series of repressive statutes, which, starting in Edward II’s reign, interdicted with regular frequency all such games as dice, quoits, bowls, and kailes (skittles). The omission can only strike the student as curious. Was there no risk in this connection of tradesmen being “ despoiled of all their goods ”’ ? Now billiards is a game which lends itself to betting, to quite as great an extent as bowls or skittles. Cotton, in his ‘Compleat Gamester,” speaks of the “‘ spunging caterpillars who make the billiard-room their shop, kitchen, and bed-chamber .;' so that during the latter part of the seven- teenth century at any rate, billiards was in a de- cadent state, although, as we have seen from Shakespeare’s reference, the game had not sunk to BILLIARDS AND CROQUET 241 a low ebb, but rather the reverse, at the beginning of that century. We are thus led to the conclusion that the founda- tion of modern billiards was laid some time between the middle and end of the sixteenth century, al- though it is probable that the game existed in a rude state even two centuries previously. In the well-known “Académie des Jeux” billiards is put down as English: it being there recorded that the game was brought into France by the physician of Louis XIV, who recommended the exercise—a statement of very doubtful authenticity. Various writers and at different times have laid claim to all the countries of Europe, as being the birthplace of billiards; but there does not seem much reason to doubt that the game originated in England, and was transformed and improved out of all knowledge, either in France or elsewhere on the Continent. Both Italy and Spain have been spoken of as the fatherland of billiards; but a close search in the British Museum has failed to reveal from the Italian and Spanish archives, any authoritative reason for saying that either of these two countries was responsible for the birth of billiards. The “ Diccionario Encyclopedico Hispano-Americano de Literatura, Ciencias y Artes, Barcelona, 1888 ”—says “‘ The date of its invention is not certainly known, though it may safely be affirmed that it is very old, and is a transformation of the primitive game of ‘bowls’ or ‘trucos.’ There is a complete agreement upon one point, which is that it was invented by the English, and perfected in France.” This game of “‘ trucos ”—trucks—as it was called 16 249 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST in English, is mentioned by Cotton in his “ Com- pleat Gamester,” 1678, and subsequent reference will be made to it. It was a kind of rough billiards. we The words “trucks”? and “truco” are derived from the Italian “‘trucchiare”’ or ‘ truccare ”— meaning ‘“‘to drive away the adversary ’—a word connected very probably with the Latin “ trudo,” ‘to drive away.” As we shall see the whole art in seventeenth-century billiards consisted in “ driv- ing away the adversary,’ and thus the derivation is a fairly safe one. Both Italian and Spanish dictionaries and encyclopedias agree in describing “trucos,” as a kind of billiards played with wooden cues and ivory balls—a word whose further deriva- tion may go as far back as the Anglo-Saxon ‘“thryccan ”? and the ancient Scandinavian “ thryc- kia ’’—words with the same fundamental idea— meaning a “‘ blow.” Although Spain has been described in some quarters as the country of origin, Italy seems to be the more likely quarter, if the English origin is not accepted. The ‘‘ Grande Encyclopédie” says that a billiard table is mentioned in an inventory, con- cerning Charlotte d’Albret, Duchess of Valentinois, as early as 1514; also, that a chronicler records that Charles IX was playing billiards on the night of the massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1587, which is quite likely true. It thus seems possible that the game was introduced from Florence into France by the mother of Charles IX, Catharine de’ Medici, though no mention to this effect is to be found in the ten volumes of the “‘ Lettres de Caterine de’ Medici.” There is a good deal of controversy over the point, « BILLIARDS AND CROQUET 243 —whether the d’Albret family was a branch of the Albertis of Florence—but as the arms of the two families are the same, it is safe to assume that they were connected. Billiards can thus be traced back with some certainty to the beginning of the sixteenth century ; though it is not possible to say how billiards was introduced into Italy. Remembering that Genoa was far-famed at this period of history for her seamen, it is quite possible that the game was introduced into the peninsula by some sporting sea captain, who had played the game. else- where ; and the fact that an early MS., depicting a game being played with a “battoon,” “ king” and ‘‘ pass,” exists in England, points to England as the country, from which Italy derived her game. It is true that this early game is shown as being played on the ground, and not ona table; but it is very generally admitted that the game was per- fected on the Continent, though not necessarily invented there. Unfortunately etymology does not assist us in our search, either in croquet or billiards. The latter word is derived, almost certainly, from billet =a cue, a diminutive form of the word “ bille”’ meaning a block of wood—merely another name for a battoon. It is probably also connected with the old Frenchword “billard =a stick with a curved end,’ such as the old billiard cues were. This word “bill” is very ancient, and is still seen in use in such words as “bill-hook.” Bil- liards, etymologically, has not, so far as is known, any connection with the words “ball,” “ bowl,” or their equivalent, although on the surface, a _ 244 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST connection between “bowls” and “billiards ”’ does not seem intrinsically improbable. Apart from this single word—the name of the game itself—the etymology of billiards is of no interest. And with ‘croquet,’ also, it is the same, since the only words needing explanation are “ croquet ”’ and ‘‘roquet.” ‘‘ Croquet ”’ is probably a diminutive of the word “croc,” meaning a crook. Du Cange in his ‘‘ Dictionary ”’ (1668) notes the word as being used in the fourteenth century in the sense of “a shep- herd’s crook”? or ‘‘ staff”? ; and the word is probably closely akin to the ‘“‘ crocket ” of architectural lan- guage, as Dr. Pryor has pointed out in his “ Notes on Croquet.” A crochet-hook also, in needlework, or a crotchet, in music, will be terms familiar to all— derived, again, from the same source. The same gentleman also tells us that a kind of hockey is still played to this day, in France, with sticks, which the natives call ‘‘ croquets.” Consequently there does not seem much doubt that ‘“ croquet” in its literal interpretation simply means the implement with which some ancient game was played. Nor does the mediaeval use of this term, as the name of any English game, seem probable, since Strutt in ‘his ‘“‘ Sports and Pastimes,’ 1802, makes no men- tion of ‘croquet.’ Perhaps a game of this name may have been played in France in early times, called after the club with which it was played; but the writer has been unable to come across any reference to it. In passing it might be mentioned that the word ‘‘ hockey ” is derived from the old French “ hoquet ” r “ hocquet,”’ meaning a “ crooked stick ’”’—in fact, very much the same meaning as “croquet.” It BILLIARDS AND CROQUET 245 is more than likely that the good old phrase, ‘* by hook or by crook,”’ has a connection with both these two old words. ‘“ Roquet’”’ has quite another meaning—being merely the diminutive of “ roc,” meaning a ‘‘coat’’ according to Dr. Pryor. Chaucer makes use of the word ‘‘rokette’’ in his ** Romaunt of the Rose,” line 1240, in the sense of a lady’s “smock.” But how this word, meaning to “hit and pass on,” ever came to be used in the game of croquet is another of those mysteries with which history delights to puzzle us. With Dr. Pryor, it is only possible to think that the origin must have been “slang ’’—an explanation, which, if accepted, is quite good enough to leave where it is. We are now at liberty to turn and see why it is that the history of croquet and billiards can be thus bracketed together. The game of billiards was not played as it is now until about the eighteenth century. The seventeenth-century billiard table was a table, covered with green cloth, and not quite so large as is a full-sized table at the present day. Where the red spot now is, was fixed an ivory hoop, nearly twice the width of the balls, and let into the table. This was known as the “ pass ’”’ or “port ”; while at the baulk end, a tee was set up in the form of a vertical ivory rod, called the “ king,” about half-an-inch in diameter, and situated at the centre of the baulk circle. 'Troumain’s seventeenth- century engraving, showing Louis XIV playing a game of billiards with some courtier, does not depict any pockets, with their net-work cords, upon . the table; but it appears that such pockets were not unknown at the period. The game was thus 246 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST played: “The first point is who shall first pass the ‘ port’ and this is the subject of very much art or cunning in obstructing your adversary’s way by placing your ball before his. If he passes first, you dare not follow him, lest he should touch the king and so win. ‘The object is to ‘king’ him by hitting his ball with yours, so that his ball and not yours, hits the king and knocks it down.” At this period the butt-end, only, of the cue was used; which was suitably flattened for the purpose and tipped with ivory. Thus, nothing of the nature of a ‘‘ bridge ”’ with the left hand was wanted. In- deed neither the hand nor the sleeve of either player was allowed to touch the table; should a player allow such a thing to happen, even accidentally, he lost the game—a somewhat strenuous rule, con- sidering the fashions of the day when this type of early billiards was played by the nobility and gentry, with their gay cavalier coats and heavy embroidered cuffs. The balls, made of ivory, were smaller than those in use at the present day: but the green cloth and cushions existed. One cannot help wondering why green was chosen as the colour of a billiard cloth, except that the origin of the game was in some way connected with the grass. It was doubtless known to our forefathers that green was the colour most restful to the eye, but surely this was not the reason that the colour of the cloth was so chosen. The “cues”? were about half as long as at present, with their tapering shafts ter- minating in a square head, slightly curved at the bottom, so as to run easily along the cloth. The end of this square part was tipped with ivory, whilst the shaft was held in the right hand, and some- BILLIARDS AND CROQUET 247 times steadied with the left. It was not until the eighteenth century that the method of playing with the “point”? of the cue, as opposed to the butt, came into fashion, and even then was only adopted by professionals for fear of cutting the cloth. It was late in the same century that Jack Carr invented “side”? and ‘screw,’ and made much profit by his invention—not to mention his famous “twisting chalk,” by the use of which only, as he was careful to point out to his customers at Bath, was it possible to attain these two most desired ends. But we are anticipating. To revert to ancient ball games, it is necessary to mention four, which used to be played in France in early and medieval times. These are ‘‘ Chicane,’ ‘“ La Crosse,” ‘‘Paille Maille,’ and ‘“Choule’’ or “Chole.” The last of these, ‘Chole,’ may be dis- missed at once, by saying it was more like golf than any other modern game.* It used to be called sometimes ‘‘ Chole 4 la Crosse,’’ in which case a kind of hockey was intended, played with hooked sticks or bandies—the “pedum”’ of Rome. The “ La Crosse’ of these ancient times had no connection with the game of this name as known at the pre- sent day. It is possible that, originally, ‘Chole ”’ and ‘‘La Crosse’? were identical games, which gradually became differentiated from one another in the process of time; the former retaining its more quiescent character, whilst the latter remained the popular country amusement of rough hockey. ‘*‘Chicane’”’—a word which has come to have quite another meaning in card-games—was also originally a kind of hockey, very similar to La * See pp. 144, 145. 248 | PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST Crosse. It is supposed by some to have derived its name from the Greek révcavietynpvov—the “tz” becoming softened into ‘“‘ ch” as is not uncommon. This Greek game is mentioned by several ancient writers, and was played by the nobles, princes, and other high personages of the Emperor’s Court at Constantinople in very early days. The game ‘was a kind of polo, with implements like small modern lacrosse sticks, as a substitute for the well- known polo stick of to-day. The game ‘‘ Chicane ” is supposed to have arisen from it, by the common people attempting to mimic the customs of their rulers to the best of their ability. Sticks were substituted for the strung weapons and the name of the game abbreviated into ‘‘ Chicane,” instead of the longer Greek word, so as to suit the popular taste. This was the game which gave rise to ‘“ Paille Maille’’ in its four varieties—one of which was known as ‘‘Chicane”—and to which constant reference is made in all attempts at dealing with the early history of ball games. “Chicane,” in its original form, ‘‘ Chole,” ‘“ La Crosse,” and “ Jeu de Maille,” or ‘‘ Paille Maille,” were all ball games of sorts, which flourished in the sixteenth century and even exist in out-of-the-way corners at the present timé; whilst India also boasts a game called ‘‘ Chagan,’’ played both on foot and horseback, in very much the same way that street football still survives in certain parts of England. It is not possible to differentiate accurately between these various games, because so very little is known about them. All we can definitely say is that such games did exist, and that the ‘‘ Jeu de Mail,” or ‘ Paille Maille,” evolved itself from the turmoil, BILLIARDS AND CROQUET 249 and became in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- turies the accepted game for the élite of society; in a rude form, it had existed centuries pre- viously. Mary Queen of Scots played this game and so did many subsequent monarchs of England and Scotland, particularly Charles II, who was devoted to it; whilst one writer in James I’s reign refers to golf as a game “not unlike unto Paille Maille.”” This being so, a short description will be given here of what Paille Maille really was, and how it was played. It was Henry VIII, who, according to ‘‘ Harrison’s History of London,” 1776, originally formed St. James’s Park, from a marshy, desolate, expanse of bog, and who built a palace there enclosing a suitable piece of ground for the purpose. He drained the marsh, and “ brought all the water together ”’ to one spot, probably the site of the present cemented pond. Afterwards the Park was much enlarged and improved by Charles II, who added several fields and planted lime trees and laid out the Mall, *‘ which is the vista, half-a-mile in length, and in that time formed in a hollow smooth walk, enclosed by a border of wood on each side, with an iron hoop at one end for the purpose of playing a game with a ball called Mall.” Thus the description runs, no doubt fairly accurate as an historic narrative. It is however, probable that Paille Maille was more usually played with an iron hoop at each end of the ground, perhaps so that the players need not re- turn to the starting point after each game; also there is no doubt that the ball was never called the “Mall,” this being, as already pointed out, the “mallet”? of the player. 250 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST We are indebted to a professional Paille Maille player, Joseph Lauthier by name, who wrote in 1717, for the best description of this game which has come down to.us. This was the period at which the gare was beginning to go out of fashion, to be replaced in a very few years by cricket. Perhaps Lauthier was attempting to stimulate an interest in this decaying art, by the publication of his work. The ground consisted of a level, well-kept space, at least 400 yards long, by about 50 yards wide. It was bare of turf, and Pepys tells us, in his diary, various items of news then current on the subject of the game. Here, in Pall Mall, it was that he saw the Duke of York playing the game, the first time the famous diarist had seen it played in London, whilst on September 16, 1663, he writes as follows :— ‘“‘T walked in the Park, discoursing with the keeper of the Paille Maille, who was sweeping of it, who told me of what the earth is mixed that do floor the Mall and that over all, there is cockle shells powdered and spread to keep it fast; which however in dry weather turns to dust, and deadens the ball.” This property of the binding effect of seashells may account for their use on the broad paths of Hampton Court in this present year of grace. At each end of the ground was fixed an iron hoop like a large croquet hoop; which was sometimes raised on a pole, above the level of the ground; and at the centre of the ground an upright pin was placed. These hoops were called the ‘“‘ ports’”’ or “ passes ”’ —and hence the supposed connection between billiards and croquet. Both games, for undoubtedly the origin of croquet lies in Paille Maille, possessed their ‘“‘ ports,’ or “‘ passes,” and the fact that the BILLIARDS AND CROQUET 251 earliest billiards was played on a green sward, and not on a green cloth, makes the similar origin of these two games almost a certainty. Cotgrave’s oft- quoted definition of Paille Maille is as follows: “A game, wherein a round box bowle is, with a mallet, struck through a high arch of iron, standing at either end of an ally, which he that can do in the fewest blows or in the number agreed on, winnes.” The ground itself was surrounded by a high hoarding, which served a useful double purpose in preventing the balls from being driven out of the ground, and also as a seat for all and sundry who wished to watch the game. The mallets were very similar to the present croquet mallet, but the hitting faces of the head were cut at an angle of about 45°, so as to raise the ball into the air, when struck. These faces were also bound round with an iron band, to prevent the heads from splitting. Within the last half century, some of these old mallets, together with their balls, were found in an old house, No. 68, Pall Mall, when it was being pulled down. The mallets were 3 feet 10 inches over all, the handle being bound round with white leather, much after the fashion of a modern polo stick. The heads were oval in form, about 64 inches and 23 inches along the major and minor axes. The handles were made of ash, the heads of chestnut; but Dr. Pryor is rather doubtful whether this latter wood can really have been used for the heads. The balls, made from the roots of the box tree, were 2} inches in diameter—the same size as the minor diameter of the mallet head. Lauthier’s work hardly compares favourably, 252 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST with the efforts of modern professionals, as a literary product; in places, his meaning is rather doubtful, but the whole is a most praiseworthy attempt to teach the fundamental ideas of his art to his reader. The fullest particulars are given of how to stand, and how to swing the mallet—which in effect was very similar to a golf swing; and great importance is attached to the swinging round the hips—using as it were, the backbone as a vertical pivot. Hands, feet, and arms, all come in for their share of regard ; whilst particular attention is drawn to the proper choice of a ball to suit weather conditions, and also to the particular type of mallet of which the neophyte has possessed himself. “If we play with a mallet head of 13 to 14 ounces, such as are in most general use,” says Lauthier, ‘‘it is certain that with balls of 5 or 6 ounces we shall make longer strokes. That depends somewhat on the state of the weather, and of the soil on which we are playing. It is well to know that when the wind is favourable or the soil sandy or sloping a little down, however impercep- tibly, we must play with big balls, provided only they do not exceed the capacity of the mallet-head, and we shall make longer strokes. When the weather is damp and the soil heavy . . . we should play with light balls . . .; but when it is fine weather, and the soil dry and even, we should play with voguets or little balls, which should have their full weight always taking as much care as possible to secure the proportion, before observed, between the weight of the mallet head and the ball.” All this is most interesting, not only because it shows that the writer was fully acquainted with all the details of the game as a game; but also, BILLIARDS AND CROQUET 253 because it clearly proves that the dynamics of Paille Maille had received their proper share of attention. The greatest importance was attached to the size of the balls. ‘‘ These balls are made from the roots of box, and are found in the rents and small hollows of rocks, where they form knots. They are cut and allowed to dry . . . then turned in a lathe and beaten. At first they are only played with light strokes of the mallet on gravelly soil, and after- wards with harder. They are always to be rubbed with pellitory before they are put away after being used. At last by dint of blows from a mallet [cf. the making of the earliest golf gutty balls|* and rolling them about, they become hard. We notice those that go best . . . those which ‘do not take the wind’” (ie. which the wind does not affect when they are flying through the air). “ These we must gauge... and store them in a bag, with dirty linen, which is the best place, being neither dry nor damp (!) to keep them sound. We must weigh them also to know exactly the weight of these which go farthest, and which certainly ought to be regarded as the best.” A long story is also told of a certain ball called La Bernarde, which chanced to be absolutely homo- geneous from centre to circumference. The result was that this ball would travel about 50 yards farther than any other. If we can believe this old author, a professional could, at the outside, drive a ball some 400 yards, about the same distance as a record drive at golf at the present day; so, pari passu, we might presume that an ordinary shot would travel about 150 yards or one-third * See pp. 160, 161. 254 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST the length of the ground. The hoops which were placed at each end of the ground, and sometimes elevated above it, in the form of iron rings stuck into poles, formed the two finishing points. The ball had to be lofted through these rings, and a special mallet was used for the purpose called “ la léve’’ or a spoon-mace; whilst some authorities have it that when this point was reached a small steel ball was substituted for the wooden one. There were four kinds of Paille Maille apparently : (1) The “Rouet,” players playing one after another —i.e. singly. (2) “En Partie.” The Match game—when in- dividuals or sides opposed each other. (3) “A Grands Coups” = at long shots—to see who could strike the ball the farthest. A pretty tale is told of the ball La Bernarde, just mentioned. A professional, after testing the powers of this remarkable ball, swore that, with it, he could play at “ Grands Coups ”’ with the Devil himself ! (4) “ Chicane,” is the hockey already mentioned : but it is difficult to understand how any type of hockey can have been played with the customary Paille Maille mallet. Lauthier indicates, however, that different kinds of mallets were used ; and per- haps a special type, resembling a bandy stick, rather than a mallet, was reserved for this branch of the game. : It would seem that playing “en partie ” was the popular amusement; it was certainly the game generally known as ‘“‘ Paille Maille.” The others may have been known at different periods as varieties, but these varieties have a very wide latitude. | BILLIARDS AND CROQUET 255 This was the game, which monopolised the attention of kings and princes for two centuries of time; but dying out as it did at the beginning of the eighteenth century, we find nothing to take its place until the advent of croquet, proper, into Ireland, about sixty years ago. One thing is certain, that croquet was introduced from Ireland into England, and it was on Lord Lonsdale’s lawn that the game was first played in this country. But how it came to be introduced into Ireland is not clearly known. Dr. Pryor says that, over sixty years ago, a Miss Macnaghten brought a game to the notice of a London trades- man which, she said, had lately been introduced into Ireland. She said she had just seen it in its original state in the south of France, or in Italy, where the game was of a most primitive description, with willow withies for hoops; whilst any old piece of hard wood, with a hole in it, served for a mallet head, with the ubiquitous broomstick as a handle. But the game did not “ catch on ”—then, and it was not until some years later that Mr. Jacques brought it into prominence. However, we are not here concerned with its subsequent history and develop- ment, since the game has assumed a position, little, if at all, inferior to that of any other field sport. Turning again to the seventeenth-century bil- liards, it is rather doubtful at what exact period, the “port” and ‘“‘king” disappeared from the game, and the pocket and cannon game took their place. Originally, in addition to the port and king, there was one pocket—a mere hole—in the centre of the rectangular table; though in some pictures of early tables, this single pocket does not appear. 256 PASTIMES IN TIMES PAST _ Gradually holes appeared along the edge of the tables which were turned into pockets, and by a course of eighteenth-century evolution, the king and port disappeared, leaving behind them, in the English game, the well-known oblong in the form of a double square table 12 feet by 6 feet—with its netted pockets and elastic cushions. | One entry must, however, be quoted, dealing with billiards, taken from the British Museum records. In August 1647 an item appears in the household accounts, that one Mr. Powell was to be paid £6 for four billiard tables, two pins, one port, and six balls—provided for His Majesty’s use. Signed by Salisbury and Northumberland, there is no doubt of the authenticity of the document ; but one cannot help thinking that the sum of £6 could not have included the price of the tables themselves. But we must close, and in doing so quote Cotton’s introductory verse in his “‘ Compleat Gamester ” : Billiards from Spain at first derived its name, Both an ingenious and a cleanly game. One gamester leads (the table green as grass) And each like warriors, strive to gain the Pass; But in the contest ere the Pass be won Hazzards are many, into which they run. Thus, whilst we play in this terrestrial stage, Nothing but hazzard doth attend each age. 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