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 '^i)e ^abnxixxlon ^ibrarn 
 
 OF 
 
 SPORTS AND PASTIMES 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF BEAUFORT, K.G. 
 ASSISTED BV ALFRED E. T. WATSON 
 
 ATHLETICS and FOOTBALL
 
 BIBLIOGRATHICAL NOTE. 
 
 First Edition, April 1887 ; Reprinted September 
 1 888, November 1889 ; New Edition, revised, 7vilh 
 numerous Additions, July 1894.
 
 ATHLETICS and FOOTBALL 
 
 MONTAGUE SHEARMAN 
 
 WITH A CONTRIBUTION ON PAPER-CHASING BY W. RYE 
 AND AN INTRODUCTION BY SIR RICHARD WEBSTER, Q.C., M.P. 
 
 9 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVI.XGS AFTER STANLEY BERKELEY 
 AND INSTANTANEOUS PHOTOGRAPHS BY G. MITCHELL 
 
 WITH THE ADDITION OF CHAPTERS ON 
 
 FOOTBALL IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 BY WALTER CAMP, NEW HAVEN, CONN. 
 
 AND 
 
 AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL 
 
 BY A. SUTHERLAND, DROMANA, VICTORIA 
 
 LONDON 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 1894 
 
 ■A,l!, riskis reserved'
 
 7 03 
 
 DEDICA TION 
 
 TO 
 
 H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 Badminton : Marxh, 1887. 
 
 Having received permission to dedicate these volumes, 
 the Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes, 
 to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, 
 I do so feeling that I am dedicating them to one of the 
 best and keenest sportsmen of our time. I can say, from 
 personal observation, that there is no man who can 
 extricate himself from a bustling and pushing crowd of 
 horsemen, when a fox breaks covert, more dexterously 
 and quickly than His Royal Highness ; and that when 
 hounds run hard over a big country, no man can take a 
 line of his own and live with them better. Also, when 
 the wind has been blowing hard, often have I seen 
 His Royal Highness knocking over driven grouse and 
 partridges and high-rocketing pheasants in first-rate 
 
 297665
 
 v\ DEDICA TION. 
 
 workmanlike style. He is held to be a good yachtsman, 
 and as Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron is 
 looked up to by those who love that pleasant and 
 exhilarating pastime. His encouragement of racing is 
 well known, and his attendance at the University, Public 
 School, and other important Matches testifies to his 
 being, like most English gentlemen, fond of all manly 
 sports. I consider it a great privilege to be allowed to 
 dedicate these volumes to so eminent a sportsman as 
 His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and I do 
 so with sincere feelings of respect and esteem and loyal 
 devotion. 
 
 BEAUFORT.
 
 '^J<y^J"- 
 
 BADMINTON. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 A FEW LINES only are necessary to explain the object 
 with which these volumes are put forth. There is no 
 modern encyclopaedia to which the inexperienced man, 
 who seeks guidance in the practice of the various British 
 Sports and Pastimes, can turn for information. Some 
 books there are on Hunting, some on Racing, some 
 on Lawn Tennis, some on Fishing, and so on ; but one 
 Library, or succession of volumes, which treats of the 
 Sports and Pastimes indulged in by Englishmen — and 
 women — is wanting. The Badminton Library is offered 
 to supply the want. Of the imperfections which must 
 be found in the execution of such a design we are
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 conscious. Experts often differ. But this we may say, 
 that those who are seeking for knowledge on any of the 
 subjects dealt with will find the results of niany years' 
 experience written by men who are in every case adepts 
 at the Sport or Pastime of which they write. It is to 
 point the way to success to those who are ignorant of 
 the sciences they aspire to master, and who have no 
 friend to help or coach them, that these volumes are 
 written. 
 
 To those who have worked hard to place simply and 
 clearly before the reader that which he will find within, 
 the best thanks of the Editor are due. That it has been 
 no slight labour to supervise all that has been written he 
 must acknowledge ; but it has been a labour of love, 
 and very much lightened by the courtesy of the Publisher, 
 by the unflinching, indefatigable assistance of the Sub- 
 Editor, and by the intelligent and able arrangement 
 of each subject by the various writers, who are so 
 thoroughly masters of the subjects of which they treat. 
 The reward we all hope to reap is that our work may 
 prove useful to this and future generations. 
 
 THE EDITOR.
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The Author gratefully acknowledges the assistance 
 of several friends. He is especially indebted to Mr 
 Walter Rye for antiquarian information ; to the 
 Editors of TJie Sporting Life for permitting him access 
 to a file of the Sporting Magazine and of old BeWs ; 
 to Messrs C. W. FOLEY, J. H. Farmer, and J. E. 
 Vincent, from whom he derives his accounts of Eton, 
 Harrow, and Winchester football respectively , and to 
 his brother, Mr JOHN SHEARMAN, for much help. 
 
 A word must be added about the illustrations to 
 this volume. Many are engraved from instantaneous 
 photographs, taken by Mr. G. Mitchell, who attended 
 some of the chief football matches and athletic gather- 
 ings of the season. The veritable attitude and action 
 of the men have thus been obtained. So far as the author 
 is aware, the present is the first occasion in which the 
 newest development of photography has been utilised 
 for illustrating a work upon athletic sports. 
 
 Thf Temple: October \%%t.
 
 C O X T E N T S. 
 
 ATHLETICS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 1. The History of Athletic Sports in England 3 
 
 II. A Modern Championship Meeting ... 54 
 
 III. Running and Runners 68 
 
 IV. Walking and Walkers 126 
 
 V. Jumping, Weight-putting, etc 143 
 
 VI. Training 170 
 
 VII. Athletic Meetings 186 
 
 \TII. Athletic Government 224 
 
 Paper-Chasing and Cross-Country Running 
 
 03 
 
 FOOTBALL. 
 
 I. History 269 
 
 II. The School Games 303 
 
 III. The Rugby Union Game 318 
 
 IV. The Association Game 358 
 
 V. Football as a Sport 3S8 
 
 AT. Football in the United States . . . . 395 
 
 \TI. Australian Football 414 
 
 Appendix 437 
 
 Index 
 
 451
 
 ILLUSTRA TIONS. 
 
 (Engraved on wood by J. Cooper and G. Pearson.) 
 
 FULL-PAGE 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ARTIST 
 
 
 The Dribbling Game , 
 
 From a photot^raph . 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 A Hurdle Race 
 
 5) J) 
 
 To face p. 120 
 
 A Grass Course . 
 
 >» >> 
 
 1S6 
 
 The Hounds 
 
 Stanley Berkeley 
 
 ,, 262 
 
 The Rugby Union Game 
 
 From a photograph . 
 
 „ 318 
 
 The Association Game . 
 
 )> 11 • 
 
 „ 35S 
 
 ILLUSTRATIOxXS IX TEXT. 
 
 A Race ( Vignette on Title Page) . 
 A Steeplechase ..... 
 Harry VHL Throwing the Hammer 
 Sports in time of Queen Elizabeih 
 Cripples' Race ..... 
 A Bootless Effort .... 
 Race between Elderly Fat Man) 
 AND Man with Jockey on Back ) 
 Man on Stilts v. Man Running . 
 
 Dead Beat 
 
 Ready to Start .... 
 Starting— Old Style .... 
 Starting— New Siyi.e 
 Started 
 
 ARTIST 
 
 From a photogi-aph 
 Stanley Berkeley 
 
 From a photograph 
 I From photographs \ 
 I by R. Cocks, Esq. [ 
 From a photograph . 
 
 14 
 17 
 
 29 
 
 37 
 69 
 
 75 
 
 76 
 
 77
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Sprinting ok To-day 
 
 A Very Fast Sprinter 
 
 In Condition . 
 
 Out ok Condition 
 
 Steeplechase — Water-ju m i 
 
 Walking Race 
 
 Short Stride . 
 
 A Fine Free Stride . 
 
 High Jump 
 
 Long Jump . 
 
 Putting the Shot— First Position 
 
 Putting the Shot— Second Position 
 
 Throwing Hammer .... 
 
 Halk Over . 
 
 Well Over 
 
 Dropping 
 
 Tug ok War 
 
 ' No Smoking ' 
 
 Veterans' Race 
 
 The Hares . 
 
 'Collared' 
 
 Rugby Footbai.i 
 
 'A Fast Forward Game' 
 
 'A Loose Scrummage'. 
 
 Three-Quarter Back: 'an anxiou; 
 
 Moment' 
 
 Partisanship .... 
 
 A Forward 
 
 A Nasty Jar .... 
 
 Heading 
 
 'To keep an Eve upon the Prowi.eu 
 
 Back 
 
 A Halk-back .... 
 
 Defending the (Ioal 
 
 'The Field at each Kick chanc.ks 
 
 like a Kaleidoscope" 
 An American Player 
 Plan of American Football Fieid. 
 A Good Scrimmac^e .... 
 Snap-back and Quarter-back . 
 Plan of Australian Football Fikid 
 
 ARTIST 
 
 From a photograph 
 
 Stanley Berkeley 
 
 )> >j 
 
 From a photograph 
 
 Stanley Berkeley 
 
 From a photograph 
 
 From a photograph
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 T may seem 
 
 strange that I 
 
 should be asked 
 
 to turn aside from 
 
 the studies and 
 
 occupations which 
 
 have so closely 
 
 engaged my time 
 
 during the 
 
 f ■* *"^ last twenty 
 
 '., years, to 
 
 ■!%iV write 
 
 V ^ r 
 
 ■^ ^i^ a few 
 
 A steeplechase, 
 
 ''te 
 
 
 lines upon a subject in which, 
 
 during that period, and for years before, I have taken 
 
 the greatest interest, namely, athletics ; and yet it is not
 
 xvi I NT ROD UC TION 
 
 altogether unfitting, inasmuch as I am probably as well 
 qualified as any to speak from personal experience of 
 the advantages which are gained in a sedentary life from 
 the power of practising active exercises. Except cycling 
 and lawn-tennis, both of which have been practically 
 invented during the last fifteen years, no pursuit has 
 seen so great an advance or revival as athletic sports. 
 It may be, and it probably is, th6 case (as those who read 
 the pages of this book will learn), that for a great many 
 years prior to the year 1850 athletic sports had been 
 from time to time pursued by both amateurs and pro- 
 fessionals, who had with more or less assiduity, accord- 
 ing to the particular ability or powers of the competitor, 
 performed before the public ; there had been, no doubt, 
 remarkable instances of individual men who possibly 
 had been as great at running, walking, jumping, and 
 swimming as those who have excelled in modern times ; 
 but it is perfectly certain that prior to the date last men- 
 tioned — I mean the year 1850 — athletics were not prac- 
 tised as a recognised system of muscular education, nor 
 was there any authentic record of individual perform- 
 ances. I doubt, moreover, whether either times or dis- 
 tances were taken and measured with sufficient accuracy 
 to make the earlier records in any way trustworthy. 
 
 Speaking of our Universities, I have seen the founda- 
 tion of the present prosperous clubs at both Cambridge 
 and Oxford, and, with the exception of the Crick-run 
 at Rugby and the steeplechase at Eton, prior to 1850 no 
 public school had any established athletic contest. I do 
 not, however, propose in the few lines which I intend to
 
 INTRODUCTION xvii 
 
 pen to attempt any history of athletic sports ; the follow- 
 ing pages will, I am sure, contain records attractive both 
 to the athlete and the public, of those who, in years gone 
 by and down to the present time, have excelled on the 
 road, the turf, and the running-path. I wish for a few 
 moments to regard the subject from the point of view 
 of the consideration of the advantages to be gained in 
 the practice of athletics, and, secondly, to make a {q.v^ 
 suggestions as to the best mode in which these advan- 
 tages may be increased so as to be of still greater utility 
 and benefit. » 
 
 We are brought face to face in England, and other 
 populous countries, with the difficult problem which is 
 called into existence by over-population, and the utter 
 absence of space and opportunity for the youth of the 
 present day to find sufficient scope for his energies. 
 The tendency to crowd into the curriculum of both school 
 and college a large and ever-increasing number of subjects 
 has rendered the strain of education far heavier than in 
 times gone by, and this tension will certainly increase. 
 
 In old days, when a fair grounding in Greek and 
 Latin, or a moderate knowledge in mathematics, was a 
 sufficient preparation for almost any profession (the bril- 
 liant few being left to excel in those subjects by the sheer 
 force of their natural abilities), the culture of the body and 
 the simultaneous development of physical and mental 
 strength were of less importance, or at any rate their 
 value was less recognised. I need scarcely remind those 
 who read these pages that, thirty years ago, it was the 
 exception for a senior wrangler or a senior classic to 
 
 a
 
 xviii INTRODUCTION 
 
 figure in the University boat or the eleven. The names of 
 those few who did excel stand out among their contempo- 
 raries, and it was by no means an uncommon experience 
 to find that those who had surpassed in intellectual 
 contests in school and college utterly broke down in 
 their professions in after life. I attribute this in no small 
 degree to the fact that for many boys and men there 
 was scarcely any inducement to develop or use their 
 physical strength, nothing which led them to those pur- 
 suits which, without engrossing the mind too much, de- 
 velop the body gradually and contemporaneously with 
 mental growth. How many a first class man at Oxford, 
 or wrangler or first class classic at Cambridge, could only 
 find exercise in the daily and monotonous grind of an 
 hour or an hour and a halfs walk ; cricket and boating 
 both taking up too much time, and not unfrequently 
 leading many to expenses which they could ill afford ? 
 
 I maintain that one great good which has arisen from 
 the stimulus given from the years i860 to 1870 to athletic 
 sports is the facility which those pursuits afford for the 
 development of physical strength, and the inducement 
 to active exercise offered to men who, either from want 
 of inclination or want of means, would otherwise never 
 have taken any. I have known intimately a great many 
 reading men,who have told me how deeply they regretted 
 that there was nothing of the kind in their time, and 
 many others have assured me of the advantages which 
 they have derived from the interest which these pursuits 
 have given to them, and the inducement to take exercises 
 which otherwise they would have wholly neglected. It
 
 INTRODUCTION xix 
 
 must not be forgotten that more genuine exercise can 
 be got in a shorter space of time from running than 
 probably from any other pursuit, except boxing and 
 gymnastics, with the great advantage of the former over 
 the two latter that the exercise is taken in the open air. 
 
 There is, moreover, the great interest which attaches 
 to the contests in other colleges, universities, and clubs, 
 affording an object of attraction at times when it is not 
 necessary for men themselves to compete, and bringing 
 together men who otherwise would remain unknown to 
 one another, whereby acquaintanceships and friendships 
 are formed which are of the greatest value. A very dis- 
 tinguished judge who joined the Inns of Court rifle corps 
 in the earliest days of its existence told me that h<3 
 much regretted that there was no rifle corps when he 
 was called to the bar, as he was satisfied that many 
 young men reading for the bar were by such means 
 brought into contact with older members of the pro- 
 fession, whom under ordinary circumstances they would 
 have had no opportunity of meeting. 
 
 It is unnecessary here for me to enlarge upon the 
 immense advantage to be gained from the simultaneous 
 development of physical and mental power ; that subject 
 has been so fully treated, and the beneficial results so 
 conclusively demonstrated, by those who have studied 
 the matter from a scientific and medical point of view, 
 particularly in connection with the Swedish system, that 
 any argument of mine would be out of place. I can 
 (,)nly say that I am firmly convinced that the brain is 
 better developed, and is more capable of sustained effort,
 
 XX INTRODUCTION 
 
 if its growth be accompanied by a proportionate physical 
 development than in the case of the brain over-developed 
 without any corresponding bodily improvement. 
 
 I desire here to say a few words upon the subject of 
 the best method of athletic training in schools. I am of 
 course aware that superlative excellence and cases of 
 remarkable prowess are to a great extent inborn — or to 
 put the converse, that some boys and men, however much 
 they practise, will never succeed in reaching the standard 
 readily attained by born athletes. But superlative ex- 
 cellence in special cases is by no means that which is 
 most to be aimed at. Innate talent for any pursuit will 
 as a rule develop itself whatever be its surroundings, 
 but I think at all public schools boys should be taught 
 to run properly. There is as much difference between 
 good running and bad running as there is between good 
 rowing and bad rowing, and the standard of excellence 
 will be certainly increased by a high normal standard 
 among the average boys. 
 
 To mention one other point, it will be admitted that 
 no boy is more likely to do harm in a school than the 
 loafer. Ask the masters of any public school what class 
 of boys cause them the most anxiety, or bring the least 
 credit on a school ; they will tell you the boys who loaf, 
 and have no zest for play or work. 
 
 Numbers of boys are not strong enough to play foot- 
 ball, or are not successful at cricket, and cannot afford 
 the expense of racquets. To many of these the incentive 
 to exercise by the prospect of being able to compete in 
 races and other athletic tests is an incalculable benefit,
 
 INTRODUCTION xxi 
 
 particularly if one or more of the masters, who have 
 often themselves been distinguished in muscular pursuits, 
 superintend and take an interest in their training and 
 practice. 
 
 All boys should, in my opinion, be made to take some 
 regular exercise of the kind best suited to them, and in 
 the first instance under regular and careful supervision. 
 
 Attention to such a matter as this will prevent boys 
 from being made to play games for which they are not 
 adapted ; for instance, very little practice or tuition in 
 running would find out the boys who are unfitted for 
 football or incapable of extreme exertion ; and, again, 
 the boys who show a turn of speed in advance of their 
 age will develop more rapidly into high-class performers. 
 I am, however, altogether opposed to any boys being 
 made to race too long distances, particularly game and 
 plucky boys who do not know when they are beaten. 
 I think no boy under fourteen should run a race of greater 
 length than half a mile ; he may trot longer distances so 
 as to strengthen the muscles of the feet, legs, and back, 
 care being taken that he runs throughout as much as 
 possible in good form. 
 
 Only those who have had personal experience of 
 results have the slightest idea of the improvement made 
 by a few lessons in the proper style of running, getting 
 well on to the toes with a springy tread, the hips working 
 freely, the "chest out and arms well carried. I am satisfied 
 that the growth of boys is improved, and that their lungs 
 are strengthened, by moderate and judicious coaching. 
 
 In strong corroboration of this I would call attention
 
 xxii INTRODUCTION 
 
 to the extraordinary improvement in times and per- 
 formances which has taken place during the last twenty 
 years. This has, no doubt, been to a certain extent due to 
 a circumstance to which I have already referred — namely, 
 the inaccuracy of the old records both as to distances and 
 times ; but, allowing for unwarranted conclusions based 
 on comparison, there can be little doubt that five-and- 
 twenty years ago the number of men who in ordinary con - 
 dition could run a mile in five minutes was exceedingly 
 few, so much so that anything under five minutes was 
 supposed to be good time for amateurs, whereas at the 
 present time 4 min. 30 sec. may be taken to be below the 
 standard of first-class performances, and, as the follow- 
 ing pages will show, the mile has been run by undoubted 
 amateurs under 4 min. 25 sec. The iniprovement in the 
 quarter-mile is quite as remarkable, although it was more 
 speedily attained, being due to improvement in style. 
 Between 1865 and 1872 the standard time was reduced 
 from 55 seconds to 50 and 51 ; the time of the other 
 distances — as, for instance, half-mile and three miles — 
 has correspondingly improved. In the hurdles it is ex- 
 ceedingly difficult to make out any comparison ; nor do 
 1 think there has been the same improvement in pace, 
 although the number of first-class performers has in- 
 creased enormously. 
 
 Probably the most remarkable instance is the im • 
 provement in jumping, both in height and length. It is 
 \\(A many years ago that to clear six feet was considered 
 beycjnd human powers, and to cover 22 ft. 6 in. and 23 ft. 
 little short of an impossibility, and yet both these feats
 
 INTRODUCTION xxiii 
 
 have been performed by more than one athlete. I do 
 not wish to close these observations without some refer- 
 ence to such contests as throwing the hammer and 
 putting the weight: in my opinion they are contests 
 which should be encouraged, as they afford scope to 
 those who are unable to compete in running and jump- 
 ing, and are very valuable for the development of the 
 chest and arms. 
 
 The same arguments may also with justice be em- 
 ployed in favour of walking ; and while on the subject of 
 walking, I wish to call particular attention to the extra- 
 ordinary feats of long-distance walking which have been 
 performed in late years, by which I mean distances of 
 40 and 50 miles and upwards, which are, in my opinion, 
 of far greater value than the so-called performances of 
 walking eight or more miles in the hour by a mode of 
 progression so nearly resembling a shamble or trot as to 
 defy the most watchful of judges. I have known many 
 instances of development of chest, lungs, and great 
 improvement of general stamina, resulting in a vastly 
 improved constitution, from steady walking of long dis- 
 tances. 
 
 I gladly take this opportunity of paying a tribute 
 to the great services rendered to athletic pursuits by 
 the late J. G. Chambers. Esq., of Eton and Cambridge, 
 who tor years devoted himself to initiating and main- 
 taining contests of all kinds, and by his untiring energy 
 and foresight did probably more than any one in modern 
 times to maintain and improve the standard of athletics 
 among both amateurs and professionals.
 
 xxfv INTRODUCTION 
 
 Before concluding, it is right that I should say one 
 word upon that which may be called the moral aspect of 
 athletics. That their practice tends to encourage self-con- 
 trol, self-reliance, without undue confidence, and a proper 
 appreciation of other men's merits, there can be no doubt ; 
 moreover, they promote that spirit of good-fellowship 
 which enables the beaten man to go up and honestly 
 congratulate the victor who has conquered him ; but, 
 beyond this, as I have already said, the contests and 
 gatherings offer the opportunity of making lasting 
 friendships and connections which are often of the 
 greatest value in after life. A reputation once earned 
 by the boy or man in such pursuits follows him to other 
 professions, and has more than once contributed in no 
 small degree to early success in the work of life. To 
 those who in the past or in the present have taken 
 interest in athletic sports, or wish to know their history, 
 or who feel, as I do, that they afford the opportunity 
 of innocent and healthy pleasure, as well as of bodily 
 development, I commend the study of these pages, com- 
 piled by one who has ample means of knowledge, and 
 a ripe judgment with which to gauge the accuracy and 
 authenticity of any records of the performances which 
 he describes. 
 
 RICHARD E. WEliSTER 
 Temple: October i<SS7.
 
 ATHLETICS
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Hanc olim veteres vitam coluere Sabini, 
 
 .... sic fortis Etruria crevit 
 
 Scilicet et rerum facta est pulcherrima Roma. 
 
 Running and jumping are so 
 natural and so easy to the 
 young, that in one sense 
 it may be said they no 
 more have a his- 
 tory than laugh- 
 mg or weeping. 
 As long as there 
 have been men 
 on the earth 
 it may 
 safely 
 
 Harry VI IL 
 ihrowing the hammer 
 
 STANUI 
 
 B 2 
 
 ^t^*-
 
 4 A THLETICS 
 
 be asserted that there have been running matches ; and in 
 every warlike nation feats of strength, speed, and endurance 
 of the body have excited admiration. With but few nations, 
 however, have athletic exercises formed an art and become a 
 feature of national life ; and where this has been the case 
 there is a history, and an interesting history, of the practice 
 of feats of strength and speed. To write such a history of 
 English athletic sport is no easy task ; for, as far as this writer 
 is aware, it has never been seriously attempted before. The 
 learned Strutt, whose work is such a mine of wealth to sport- 
 ing antiquarians, contents himself with informing his readers 
 that * it is needless to assert the antiquity of foot-racing, 
 because it will readily occur to everyone that occasions con- 
 tinually present themselves which call forth the exertions 
 of running. . . . Originally, perhaps, foot-races had no other 
 incitement than emulation, or at best the prospect of a small 
 reward, but in process of time the rewards were magnified, 
 and contests of this kind were instituted as public amuse- 
 ments — the ground marked out and judges appointed to 
 decide upon the fairness of the race and to bestow the re- 
 ward.' Such an ct priori method of writing history will hardly 
 account satisfactorily for the present form of athletic sport in 
 England. The only other writer, as far as we are aware, who 
 has attempted to explain the origin of English athletics to 
 modern readers has given an excellent essay upon Greek 
 athletics, and has then assured us that 'in one respect our 
 position is like that of the Romans. Athletics are not indi- 
 genous with us.' It is our object in the present chapter to 
 show with what success we can that competitions in running, 
 jumping, and hurling of heavy weights are not only indigenous 
 to the land, but have been one of the chief characteristics of 
 both town and country life in England as far back as chronicles 
 will reach ; and that athletic sports, though they have had their 
 days of waxing and waning, have always been a feature of life 
 in ' Merrie England.' 
 
 It is difficult to obtain much information of the sports of
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 5 
 
 the people in the middle ages as distinguished from the sports 
 of the nobles. Just as the Roman historian expresses his 
 opinion that the ancient Greeks were no better than the 
 ancient Romans, the latter only suffering from the lack of 
 eloquent chroniclers, so it is probable that the populace pro- 
 duced as good runners as Henry V. and his Court ; but in the 
 days of chivalry the bards only chronicled the feats of persons 
 of quality. The monarch in question ' was so swift a runner 
 that he and two of his lords, without bow or other engine, would 
 take a wild buck in a large park.' Long before his time we 
 know that the youth of London had their summer as well as 
 their winter sports. FitzStephen, the monk of Canterbury, born 
 in London, writes in the reign of Llenry 11. that the young 
 Londoners had open spaces allotted to them near the City, 
 where they practised, amongst other exercises, ' leaping, wrest- 
 ling, casting of the stone, and playing with the ball.' No 
 mention is made of running, but we can hardly imagine that 
 leaping matches would be known and not running matches. 
 FitzStephen is no mean observer of sport, and his description of 
 * sliding ' on the ice in winter is almost as minute as that of 
 Dickens in ' Pickwick.' The knightly youths, however, were 
 taught to run, jump, and wrestle in the days of chivalry, as well 
 as the citizens ; but this was, of course, chiefly as a military 
 training, the feats by which they earned the greatest glory, as 
 well as the smiles of the fair, being performed on horseback, as 
 befitted persons of equestrian rank. In the romance quoted 
 by Strutt, called ' The Knight of the Swan,' a certain duchess, 
 Ydain by name, brought up her sons in * all maner of good 
 operacyons, vertues and maners : and when in their adolescence 
 they were somewhat comen to the age of strength they were 
 taught to runne, to just, and to wrestle.' Again, in the poem 
 entitled ' Knyghthode and Batayle,' written early in the fifteenth 
 century, we find : 
 
 In rennynge the exercise is good also 
 To smyte, first in fight and also whenne 
 To take a place our foemen will forerenne.
 
 6 ATHLETICS 
 
 And for to lepe a dike is also good, 
 
 For mightily what man may renne and lepe 
 
 May well devict and safe 'is party kepe. 
 
 In another romance also quoted by Strutt, that of ' The 
 Three Kings' Sons,' it is said of a certain knight, ' The king 
 for to assaie him made justes and turnies, and no man did so 
 well as he in runnyng, playing at the pame, shotyng, and cast- 
 yng of the barre, ne found he his maister.' 
 
 The running and weight-putting, to which the townsmen of 
 London were so much addicted, were not always favoured by the 
 kings of England, who were afraid that the practice of archery 
 might fall into disuse ; and we find Edward III. especially pro- 
 hibiting weight-putting by statute; but the statute, although never 
 repealed, appears to have been more honoured in the breach 
 than in the observance, for at the time of the decline of chivalry 
 ' casting of the barre ' was still a common pursuit. Henry VIII. 
 certainly in one respect chose his amusements better than 
 some of his predecessors; while Edward II. found his favourite 
 amusement in ' cross and pile ' (or, as it is now known, ' pitch 
 and toss '), the much-married monarch, in his early days, was 
 greatly devoted to this ' casting of the barre.' Even after his ac- 
 cession to the throne, his daily amusements embraced weight- 
 putting, dancing, tilting, leaping, and running. The example 
 of a monarch has, it is well known, a most persuasive effect, 
 and hence it is not astonishing to find from a contemporary 
 writer (Wilson) that all active sports, both on horseback and 
 on foot, including leaping, running, and bar-tlirowing, became 
 fashionable amusements. 
 
 In the succeeding age, however, we begin to find foot ex- 
 ercises less thought of by the upper classes. Richard Pace, 
 the secretary to King Henry VIII., could advise noblemen's 
 sons to pursue their sports, ' and leave study and learning to 
 the children of meaner people ; ' but although his advice was, no 
 doubt, followed by many of his readers, the 'new learning' 
 gradually took hold of the upper classes, and cultivated minds 
 began to be rather contemptuous of rough bodily exercises.
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 7 
 
 Still, throughout the reign of Henry VIII. gentlemen were 
 accustomed to write in favour of pedestrian as well as of 
 equestrian exercises. Sir William Forest, in his ' Poesye of 
 Princelye Practice,' holds that a prince should 
 
 In featis of maistries bestowe some diligence. 
 Too ryde, runne, lepe, or caste by violence 
 Stone, barre or plummett, or such other thinge, 
 It not refuseth any prince or kynge. 
 
 About the same time that worthy knight. Sir Thomas Elyot, 
 wrote the manual of education for a gentleman, ' The Boke 
 called the Governour,' from which many succeeding writers 
 borrowed largely without any acknowledgment. Sir Thomas, 
 who was in many senses before his time, expresses himself strongly 
 against the system of unnecessary flogging and in favour of a 
 judicious mixture of athletics and learning for a boy. 'A 
 discrete master,' he says, ' may with as much or more ease both 
 to himself and his scholler lead him to play at tennis or 
 shoote.' In the sixteenth chapter of his work he speaks of 
 ' Sundrye fourmes of exercise necessarye for a gentilman,' 
 and there are, he says, ' some exercises which with health join 
 commoditie : ' * Touching such exercises as may be used within 
 the house or in the shadowe, such as deambulations, labouryng 
 with poyses made of ledde, lifting and throwing the heavy 
 stone or barre, playing at tennis and diverse semblable exer- 
 cises I will for this time pass over,' and he exhorts his readers 
 to study Galen De Sanitate tuenda upon the subject. What 
 follows about running and jumping is curious, as it makes it 
 plain that Sir Thomas knew that there were some people who 
 decried these sports as being vulgar. He says, ' Rennyng is 
 bothe a good exercise and a laudable solace ' (we presume by 
 solace he means pastime, and not consolation in the sense 
 in which a certain well-known athlete of modern times stated 
 that, whenever he was suffering from disappointed love, he 
 took a walking tour to work it off). He defends running by 
 the argunientu77i ad ho??nnem, showing that Achilles, Alexander,
 
 8" ATHLETICS 
 
 and others were famous runners, and that Epaminondas not 
 only ran but jumped every morning before breakfast for health 
 and amusement. He goes on : ' Nedes must rennynge be 
 taken for a laudable exercise sens one of the mooste noble 
 capitaynes of all the Romans took his name from it ' (meaning 
 Papirius Cursor). In this argument he seems to us to be meet- 
 ing the scholars of the ' new learning,' who, while they studied 
 the classics and classical models, were irreverent enough to 
 decry athletics. That they did so there is no doubt from other 
 sources. Roger Ascham, in his great book, * Toxophilus,' says 
 roundly that ' running, leaping, and quoiting be too vile for 
 scholars.' 
 
 However, although in the sixteenth century opinions were 
 divided as to whether running, leaping, and bar-casting were 
 genteel or not, there is no doubt whatever that the commory 
 people were little affected by this, and went on with their 
 amusements as before. A very few years after 'The Boke 
 called the Governour ' was published, we learn from one of 
 the Harleian MSS. that as the great football match which was 
 usually played upon the Roodee at Chester became productive 
 of much inconvenience, it was decided to substitute a foot- 
 race ; and accordingly, instead of the shoemakers presenting 
 the drapers, ' in the presence of the Mayor at the Cross on the 
 Rodehee,' with a football of the ' value of three shillings and 
 fourpence or above, by consent of all parties concerned the 
 ball was changed into six glayves of silver of the like value, as 
 a reward for the best runner that day upon the aforesaid 
 Rodehee.' This affords a curious picture of sixteenth-century 
 manners. Instead of the annual football match, ' Shoemakers 
 V. Drapers,' the ' Championship of Chester ' footrace is sub- 
 stituted. 
 
 Shakespeare, no doubt, saw some running matches both 
 amongst gentle and simple folk. His own experiences of all 
 kinds are reproduced in his pages, and ' private matches ' and 
 public competitions are alike mentioned by him. In the First 
 Part of ' Henry IV.,' Act II., Scene 4, we have Falstaff offering
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 9 
 
 to run Poins: 'I could give a thousand pounds I could run 
 as fast as thou canst,' says the stout knight. In the Third 
 Part of ' Henry VI.,' Act II., Scene 3, we have another allusion 
 to foot-racing: 
 
 Forspent with toil as runners with a race, 
 I lay me down a little while to breathe. 
 
 We are, however, anticipating, for there is evidence nearly 
 a century before Shakespeare of the fondness of the common 
 people for athletic sports. Strutt quotes the following lines 
 from Barclay's ' Eclogues,' first published in 1508. A shepherd 
 
 says : 
 
 I can both hurle and sling, 
 I runne, I wrestle, I can well throwe the barre, 
 No shepherd throweth the axeltree so farre ; 
 If I were merry, I could well leape and spring, 
 I were a man mete to serve a prince or king. 
 
 A very curious piece of information given in Russell's ' His- 
 tory of Guildford ' has a bearing on the sports of the sixteenth 
 century. In a certain law case to decide in 1597 the title to a 
 field near the town, one John Durich, gentleman, figuring as 
 ' the most ancient inhabitant,' who is common in such trials, 
 said that he had known the ground for fifty years, and when a 
 scholar at the Free School did ' runne there and play at cricket.' 
 The most admirable description, however, of the popular sports 
 of the sixteenth century is that often quoted from, the work of 
 the younger Randel Holme or Holmes, one of the wandering 
 minstrels and merry-makers of the North country. Speaking, 
 it is believed, of the men of Lancashire, in lines which show 
 him to be better as a sportsman than as a poet, he says : 
 
 Any they dare challenge for to throw the sledge. 
 To jump or leape over a ditch or hedge. 
 To wrastle, play at stoole-ball or to runne. 
 To pitche the barre or to shoote of a gunne, 
 5 To play at loggets, nine holes or ten pinnes. 
 To trie it out at football by the shinnes ; 
 At ticke-tacke, saw nody, maw and ruffe. 
 At hot cockles, leap frogge and blind man's buffe,
 
 to ATHLETICS 
 
 To drink the halfer pottes or deale at the whole canne, 
 
 lo To play at chesse or pue or inkehorne, 
 
 To daunce the morris, play at barley breake, 
 At al exploites a man can think or speake, 
 At shove-gToate, venter point and cross and pile, 
 At • beshrew him that's the last at any stile,' 
 
 15 At leapinge over a Christmas bonfire, 
 Or at the drawing dame out of the myre, 
 At shoote-cocke, Gregory, stoolball and what not. 
 Pick point, toppe and scourge to make him holt. 
 
 It would require the length of an essay to explain all the above 
 sports, many of which are still familiar under different names. 
 ' Stool-ball ' is the rudimentary form of cricket, the one player 
 defending the stool while the other threw the ball at it. Prob- 
 ably, however, in one of the two lines in which ' stool-ball ' is 
 mentioned, it is a mistake for ' stow-ball ' or golf It is evident, 
 therefore, that in the sixteenth century football and many other 
 well-known pastimes were common. But for our purposes the 
 verses are more useful as showing how the different forms of 
 athletic sport were beginning to be systematised. In line i 
 we have Throwing the Hammer, in line 2 the Long Jump and 
 the High Jump, in line 3 running, and in line 4 ' pitching ' or 
 * putting ' the weight, as distinct from * throwing ' the hammer 
 with a sling round the head. Line 14 also describes a very 
 curious kind of sprint-racing, which, we believe, was also 
 practised by Roman schoolboys (' occupet extremum scabies'). 
 A party of lads are together, and one suddenly starts off without 
 any warning to run to a mark, which he names; the others join 
 in and race to the mark. The last in pays a forfeit or gets a 
 kick, as the case may be. It is one of the best tests of speed 
 and quickness in starting, and is much like the common practice 
 of modern sprinters of ' taking each other on at starts,' one 
 starting when he likes and the other following him as best 
 he can. 
 
 It is clear enough, then, that the common people had their 
 regular athletic sports in the Elizabethan age, but that at this
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND ii 
 
 time people of fashion took little part in them. Pageants, pro- 
 cessions, and masques were the amusements of Elizabeth's 
 court, or bear-baitings or bull-baitings, and last, but not 
 least, dramatic exhibitions. Nowhere in Robert Laneham's 
 long account of the revels at Kenilworth, nor in Nichol's ac- 
 count of the ' Progresses of Queen Elizabeth,' are there, as far 
 as we are aware, any allusions to pedestrian sports. In the ' 
 succeeding reign the fashion turned again, as we shall pre- 
 sently see. Curiously enough, however, our best notion of 
 the universal popularity amongst the lower classes of differ- 
 ent forms of athletic sport is gathered from the Puritan writers, 
 who were the bitter opponents of such pastimes. The Puri- 
 tans, however, at the first did not oppose the sports themselves 
 so much as the occasions upon which they were practised. 
 What these occasions were is abundantly clear. The ordinary 
 times for running, leaping, football and such like pastimes 
 were Sundays and Church festivals, and the usual arena the 
 churchyard ; the greater and more uproarious festivities took 
 place on the last days of the country fairs. The fairs, as being 
 the more important, perhaps deserve attention first. The 
 greater part of the trading of the country in the Elizabethan 
 age was conducted by means of the fairs ; horses, cattle, and 
 all necessaries for the season were bought at them. In Harri- 
 son's ' Description of England,' published at this time, a list 
 is given of the 'more important' fairs, which mentions three 
 or four hundred of these gatherings. It is scarcely to be 
 wondered at, by those who know the peculiar faculty of the 
 Enghshman to combine business with sport, that when the 
 business was over, or even before, sporting competitions should 
 follow, the whole affair concluding, as the Puritan writers assert 
 {and probably with some truth), with general orgies of intoxica- 
 tion and riot. Of the nature of the sports at these fairs, which, 
 doubtless, continued in much the same form as long as the 
 fairs themselves were held, we shall have to give some further 
 account afterwards, but running, jumping, and weight-putting 
 seem to have been invariable features of the programme. The
 
 12 ATHLETICS 
 
 Puritans, however, did their best to suppress all these sports en- 
 tirely. John Northbrooke, writing as early as 1 5 7 7, and demand- 
 ing a Government supervision of fairs, alludes to the festivals 
 in the following complimentary terms : 'There would not be sa 
 many loytering idle persons, ruffians, blasphemers, swingebuck- 
 lers, tossepottes, etc. etc. ' (there is a rr^i'^rw^c of abuse, and the 
 extract must of necessity be Bowdlerised) ' if these dunghills and 
 filth in commonweales were removed.' Stubbs, another Puri- 
 tan writer, the author of the ' Anatomic of Abuses,' expresses 
 himself against the fairs in equally strong terms. His attitude 
 to sport in general may be gathered from the fact of his speak- 
 ing of ' tennise, bowles, and such like fooleries.' If the fairs, 
 however, were ' dunghills,' the practice of sports at the wakes, 
 or Church festivals, and on ordinary Sundays, was still more 
 shocking to the reformers. In 1570 one of them paraphrased 
 into English, and dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, the foreign 
 work of one Kirchmaier, who, as he wrote in Latin, adopted 
 the name of Naogeorgus. The translator, Barnabe Googe, says 
 of the people on Sundays ; 
 
 Now when their dinner once is done, and that they well have fed. 
 To play they go, to casting of the stone, to runne or shoote, 
 To toss the light and windy ball aloft with hande or foote. 
 Some others trie their skill in gonnes, some wrastell all the day 
 And some to schoole of fence do goe to gaze upon the play. 
 
 About the same time Thomas Cartwright, m his admonition 
 to Parliament, asserts that the parson is as bad as his flock. 
 'He pusheth it over (the service) as fast as he can galloppe: 
 for either he hath two places to serve, or there are some games 
 to be playde in the afternoon.' However, we need say no more 
 as to the Puritan efforts to suppress athletic sports. The merits 
 of the Puritans can hardly obtain a fair hearing in a history 
 of sport ; they, no doubt, succeeded for a time in discount- 
 enancing it, and in putting down its practice very effectually 
 upon Sundays, but when the Puritan government fell, its fall, | 
 to paraphrase Ridley's words, ' lighted such a fire ' of sporting 1 
 enthusiasm as has never yet been extinguished in England.
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 13 
 
 However, under the first two Stuart kings both the upper 
 classes and such of the lower classes as were not converted to 
 Puritanism showed an undiminished vigour for athletic sports. 
 Peacham, who published his 'Compleat Gentleman' in 1622, 
 gives a list of the sports which a gentleman should practise. 
 First of all comes, of course, riding. It is the ' great and most 
 noble ' sport, for ' kings have always delighted to ride.' 
 Throwing the hammer and wrestling are low-class sports, * not 
 so well beseeming nobility but rather soldiers in a camp ; ' 
 * neither,' he goes on, ' have I read or heard of any prince or 
 general commended for wrestling save Epaminondas and 
 Achmat, the last emperor of Turkey.' This worthy, it appears, 
 made a ' record ' for hammer-throwing, and ' there was reared 
 in Constantinople, for one extraordinary cast which none could 
 come near, two great pillars of marble.' Our modern * record- 
 breakers ' receive a medal sometimes, but the event is not re- 
 corded upon marble pillars, because, perhaps, the record- 
 breakers are not emperors. Peacham, however, thinks highly 
 of running, and in its praise he gives a shameful plagiarism 
 from the book of Sir Thomas Elyot, to which we have referred 
 before. Running is good because Achilles and Alexander 
 tvere runners, and jumping is good because Eparhinondas and 
 Alexander jumped before breakfast. However, he gives his 
 own opinion that these exercises are ' commendable.' What- 
 ever may have been the merits or demerits of the Stuarts, there 
 can be no question that sportsmen owe a debt of gratitude to 
 them. James I., though he was not an athlete himself, and 
 though he objected to football, yet gave a general encourage- 
 ment to sports, both by precept in his work, ' Basilikon Doron,' 
 and by practice in frequently acting as referee or judge. The 
 following extract from the ' Basilikon Doron,' which was a work 
 of precepts to his son, is interesting: ' And amongst all un- 
 necessaire things which are lawful and expedient I think 
 exercises of the body most commendable to be used by a 
 young prince. For albeit I grant it to be most requisite for a 
 king to exercise his engine, which surely with idleness will
 
 14 
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 rouste and become blunt, yet certainly bodily exercises are very 
 commendable as well for baunishing idleness as for making the 
 body able and durable for travell.' ' The exercises that I would 
 have you use, although but moderately, not making a craft of 
 them ' (which means, we suppose, that a prince should be an 
 amateur, not a ' pro '), ' are running, leaping, wrestling, fencing, 
 dancing, and playing at the caitch, or tennise, archerie, palle- 
 malle, and such like other fair and pleasant field games.' Both 
 Peacham and his Majesty seem to despise hammer-throwing, 
 the former expressing his dislike, and the latter saying nothing 
 
 Sports in time of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 of it, from which it appears that fashion had clianged since the 
 time of Henry VIII. 
 
 Although we can hardly fancy James I. running or jumping, 
 there is little doubt that athletic skill was honoured in his 
 Court. In Arthur Wilson's life of James I., published in 1653, 
 we hear of the royal favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, that 
 ' no man dances better; no man runs or jumps better.' ' Indeed,' 
 remarks the sarcastic chronicler, ' he jumps higher than ever 
 Englishman did in so short a time, from a private gentleman to
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 15 
 
 a dukedom.' Another chronicler mentions the duke's fame as 
 a ' leper,' which may or may not be another jest. What, how- 
 ever, is more interesting is the knowledge that not only the 
 Court but the people at this time went on with their athletic 
 matches in spite of Puritan opposition. From the ' Annals of 
 King James and King Charles,' published in 1681, we glean the 
 following. As in the case of some of the preceding extracts, 
 the sense is more obvious than the grammar is correct. * The 
 Reformers,' says the annalist, 'took exception against the 
 people's lawful pleasures and holidays ; and at last against all 
 sports and publick pastimes, exercises innocent and harmless, 
 such were leaping, dancing, running, or any mastery for to 
 goal or prize. May-poles or Church ales as deboshed idle 
 persons. In some of these pastimes several counties excelled, 
 and to entertain community with their mirth the Court pro- 
 gresses took delight to judge of their wagers on their journeys 
 to Scotland, which the people observing took occasion them- 
 selves to petition the King for leave to be merry,' The result 
 of this petition was the issue by James I. of the well-known 
 ' Book of Sports ' in 16 17, by which the people were permitted 
 to have certain sports upon Sundays after church. The edict 
 provoked little opposition at this date, but when it was repub- 
 lished by Charles I., in the eighth year of his reign, it formed 
 one of the chief causes of complaint brought against him by 
 the Puritan party. All the world knows that not long after- 
 wards the Puritans proved stronger in the field; but we have 
 something more than a suspicion that Cromwell's Ironsides 
 must have been brought up in the national athletic sports, 
 or they would not have displayed such skill and endurance. 
 Indeed, their complicity in such criminal sports is rendered 
 highly suspicious from the fact that a round cropped head 
 is to this day the outward and visible sign of a pugilist or a 
 pedestrian. 
 
 Before we deal with the sporting period of the Restoration, 
 however, we must not omit to mention the account given of 
 the common sports of the earlier part of the sixteenth century
 
 1 5 ATHLETICS 
 
 by Burton, the author of the 'Anatomy of Melancholy.' Bur- 
 ton's book was not published until 1660 ; but he had then been 
 dead twenty years, and had spent the twenty years or so previous 
 to his death in compiling the work. If report be true, during 
 the composition of the celebrated work he became so melan- 
 choly himself that nothing could extort a smile from him but 
 listening to the ribaldry of the bargemen at Folly Lock, at 
 Oxford ; this specific never failed, it is said, to clear away his 
 sadness for some time. His disposition, however, did not pre- 
 vent his being a very keen observer of the country sports. He 
 points out clearly the pastimes both of the gentry and of the 
 people : ' Ringing, bowling, shooting, playing with keel-pins, 
 tronks, coits, pitching of bars, hurling, wrestling, leaping, 
 running, fencing, mustering, swimming, playing with wasters, 
 foils, footballs, balowns, running at the quintain, and the like, 
 are common recreations of the country folks ; riding of great 
 horses, running at rings, tilts and tournaments, horse-races and 
 wild-goose chases, are disports of greater men, and good in 
 themselves, though many gentlemen by such means gallop 
 quite out of their fortunes.' He goes on to say that the country 
 recreations take place at May-games, feasts, fairs, and wakes. 
 This extract, backed by those we have already given, shows 
 conclusively the universal prevalence of athletic sports in the 
 early part of the seventeenth century. 
 
 That athletic feats were performed even under the Puritan 
 government would seem to be the case if any reliance can be 
 placed on the following piece of information, which is stated, in 
 the 'Gentleman's Magazine' of 1797, to be taken from a con- 
 temporary record. The whole account, however, is so obviously 
 absurd, that were it not amusing it could hardly deserve for 
 any other reason to find a place in an historical chapter. ' A 
 butcher of Croydon' (says No. 147 of the 'Weekly Intelli- 
 gencer'), 'on December i, 1653, ran twenty miles, from St. 
 Albans to London, in less than an hour and a half, and the last 
 four miles so gently that he seemed to meditate, and not to 
 ensult on the conquest, but did make it rather a recreation than
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 
 
 17 
 
 a race.' At the present the best known record for twenty 
 miles on a cinder path is i hour 52 min. 51 1 sec. 
 
 With the Restoration, and the revulsion against Puritanism 
 which led to the Restoration, came a great burst of athletic 
 enthusiasm. Not only were the May-poles set up again, as 
 every schoolboy knows, but the footballs were brought out once 
 
 Cripples' race. 
 
 more into the streets and fields ; the decision of pedestrian con- 
 tests also became frequent, and attracted much popular favour. 
 Indeed, one may almost say that from the reign of Charles II. 
 to the present time a complete and continuous history of 
 pedestrianism could be obtained. So great was the relief in 
 being able to resume the popular sports that even cripples took to 
 foot-races. In the second series of the 'Loyal Protestant' we 
 
 c
 
 1 8 ATHLETICS 
 
 hear of a foot-race between two lame men, on Newmarket Heath, 
 in the presence of the king himself. * At 3 of the clock in the 
 afternoon there was a foot-race between 2 cripples, each having 
 a wooden leg. They started fair' (a fact which even then 
 seems to have deserved chronicling amongst pedestrians) ' and 
 hobbled a good pace, which caused great admiration and 
 laughter among the beholders ; but the tallest of the two Avon 
 by 2 or 3 yards.' However, there were plenty of contests more 
 interesting than this, and Pepys makes frequent reference to 
 them. On August 10, 1660, the diarist makes an entry : 'With 
 Mr. Moore and Creed to Hide Park by coach, and saw a fine 
 foot-race three times round the Park between an Irishman and 
 Crew, that was once my Lord Claypoole's footman.' On July 30, 
 1663, there is another entry which is even more significant 
 of the popularity of foot-racing : ' The towne talk this day is 
 of nothing but the great foot-race run this day on Banstead 
 Downes, between Lee, the Duke of Richmond's footman, and 
 a tyler, a famous runner. And Lee hath beat him ; though 
 the king and Duke of York, and all men almost, did bet three 
 to four to one upon the tyler's head.' One cannot suppress 
 the thought when hearing of such an ' upsetting of a pot,' and 
 knowing of the wiles of professional sportsmen, that the ' tyler ' 
 upon this occasion found it more lucrative to lose than to win. 
 Not only, however, were the ' professionals ' busy with running at 
 this time, but the amateurs were also to the fore. Two noble- 
 men, my lords of Castlehaven and Arran (a son of my lord of 
 Ormond's), rivalled the exploit of Henry V., and 'they two 
 alone did run down and kill a stoute bucke in St. James's 
 Parke.' This was for a wager, and came off in the presence 
 of the king. These two, however, were not the only athletic 
 noblemen. Pepys says of the Duke of Monmouth that ' he is 
 the most skittish leaping gallant that ever I saw ; always in 
 action, vaulting or leaping or clambering.' Macaulay, in the 
 second chapter of his ' History,' has given the same picture of 
 him : * He mingled in, every rustic sport, wrestled, played 
 at quarter-staff, and won foot-races in his boots against fleet
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 
 
 19 
 
 runnerij in shoes.' Again one is tempted to make the reflection 
 that in those days it was not ' good form ' to beat a royal 
 duke ; for it is hardly credible that a man in jack-boots should 
 be able to beat a 'crack' suitably attired. We know from 
 Pepys that the courtiers played in this way at tennis with their 
 monarch ; and the old diarist, who says Charles was but a 
 moderate player, calls their conduct ' beastlie.' This rough-and- 
 ready way of handicapping by the weight of the boots seems 
 long to have been popular. Most readers will recollect the 
 
 
 A bootless effort. 
 
 foot-race in ' Humphry Clinker ' between the lean author and 
 the fat publisher for a bowl of punch. The former, as a handi- 
 cap, borrows a great pair of riding-boots from his antagonist, 
 and after a close race, when the publisher (running in his 
 stockings) is getting ' blown,' the impecunious author runs off 
 with the boots on his feet, leaving only a pair of ragged shoes 
 behind, and is seen no more. Monmouth, at any rate, never 
 risked such a catastrophe. 
 
 No doubt it was about this time that the growth of a regular 
 
 c 2
 
 20 ATHLETICS 
 
 professional class of pedestrians was encouraged by the general 
 custom of the fashionable gentlemen of the period who kept 
 ' footmen ' or ' running footmen ' in their service. When gentle- 
 men took to having towMi and countr}' houses as well, and travelled 
 about the abominable roads of the period, a running footman 
 could travel much faster than the family coach, and could even 
 go further in a day than a man on horseback. It is small 
 wonder that, in an age given up to betting, matches should have 
 been made by gentlemen between their footmen, and the foot- 
 man of the period was often a professional pedestrian kept 
 for the purpose. In any case a strong runner would easily find 
 a footman's place, and his regular business of carrying messages 
 on foot, or travelling in front of the family coach to make 
 arrangements for the journey, would keep him in good fettle for 
 such matches as his master might make for him. The good 
 roads of the end of last century began to put an end to the 
 running footman, and the railway system has completed his 
 downfall; as a rule there is little in the footman of the present 
 day to suggest that the original ancestor of the type performed 
 marvellous pedestrian feats. A curious story which is told of 
 the celebrated ' Old Q. ' shows how a good runner could find 
 his running powers available for procuring him service in a 
 family. ' Old Q. ' used to engage his footmen by a species of 
 competitive examination. Every candidate for a vacancy was 
 rigged out in the footman's uniform and given the regular staff 
 to carr)', and then had to ' show his paces ' by running up and 
 down in front of the house. One abominably hot day ' Old Q.' 
 reclined on a balcony, and & candidate was running so well that 
 the nobleman made him go on running and running in the heat 
 for the pleasure of looking at him. Finally he shouted to him 
 from the balcony, 'You will do for me.' 'Yes,' said the man, 
 who had by this time resolved not to take service with such a 
 master, 'and these things' (pointing to the gold-laced uniform) 
 ' will do for me,' whereupon he ran off with them, and was quite 
 a good enough runner to outstrip pursuit. 
 
 From the time, therefore, of the rise of running footmen
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 21 
 
 \ve find a regular line of professional runners, some in and some 
 out of service; and accounts of the most important matches 
 between the more famous of them are to be gathered from 
 many contemporary records, while more occasionally one hears 
 of the amateurs — that is, of gentlemen who back themselves 
 to run against time or against each other for a wager. From 
 the 'Luttrell Papers' it appears that in 1690 'Mr. Peregrine 
 Bertie, son to the late Earl of Lindsey, upon a wager, ran the 
 Mall in St. James's Park eleven times in less than an hour.' 
 In the same records for the year 1699 there are several curious 
 entries. Mention is made of William Joyce, the Kentish strong 
 man, who pulled over a dray-horse in a tug-of-war, and could 
 lift 20 cwt. He performed at the playhouse in Dorset Garden, 
 the price of admission being, boxes 10^. and pit 55., from 
 which he must have amassed something considerable. Another 
 entry is also remarkable : a ' sporting man ' was fined 9/. 4^. 
 for swearing in the space of five hours. This the writer seems 
 to consider a ' record ' in the way of swearing. 
 
 One of the most graphic descriptions of a foot-race between 
 two pedestrians, who were also ' running footmen,' is given in 
 the diary of Sir Erasmus Phillips, who was an undergraduate at 
 Oxford in the year 1720. The extract (which we gather from 
 a correspondent to ' Notes and Queries ') is as follows : ' Rode 
 out to Woodstock : dined at the Bear (2^. dd.). In the evening 
 rode to Woodstock Park, where saw a foot-race between Groves 
 (Duke of Wharton's running footman) and Phillips (Mr. 
 Diston's). My namesake ran the four miles round the course 
 in 18 min. and won the race, and thereby his master 1000/., 
 the sum Groves and he started for. On this occasion there 
 was a most prodigious concourse of people.' The alleged time 
 is, of course, absurd, and shows that the distance cannot have 
 been the full four miles, or that there was some other error in 
 calculation \ but the concourse of people to such an exceedingly 
 ' out of the way ' place as Woodstock is remarkable as showing 
 the popular interest taken in the race. 
 
 But before we settle down to give any chronological sketch
 
 22 ATHLETICS 
 
 of the sport of pedestrianism and its regular paid exponents, it 
 may be advisable to turn aside for the present, to show how far 
 the nation still continued to indulge in running, jumping, and 
 weight-throwing at country fairs and festivals. The Puritans 
 had apparently succeeded in putting a stop to Sunday athletic 
 meetings, but at the fairs and wakes the same sports went on 
 as long as these fairs had any existence ; while many of them, 
 indeed, continued in one shape or another until they were re- 
 placed by the athletic meeting which is now almost invariably 
 an annual affair in every country town. We have seen that, 
 up to the time of Burton, the old country sports flourished with 
 undiminished vigour. It is abundantly clear that they survived 
 the Rebellion both in town and country. Stow, in his ' Survey 
 of London,' published in 1690, after quoting FitzStephen, says 
 that the exercises mentioned by him have ' lasted to our time.' 
 Strj'pe, who published in 1720 another edition of Stow's Survey, 
 iffientions ' pitching the bar ' amongst the pursuits of the lower 
 classes of his day in London ; while a later writer, JMaitland, in 
 his ' History of London,' published in 1739, also describes foot- 
 races and leaping matches amongst the amusements of the lower 
 classes. A paper in the ' Spectator ' tells the same tale as 
 Strype and Maitland — that by the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century athletic pastimes were considered low-class sports. 
 In No. 161 of the second volume of the 'Spectator,' Addison 
 wrote a paper, professing to come from a country correspondent 
 in the West of England, describing a ' Country Wake, which in 
 most parts of England is the eve-feast of the Dedication of our 
 Churches.' As a matter of fact, Addison is known to have been 
 describing a festival which he had seen at Bath. The green, he 
 says, was covered with a promiscuous multitude of all ages and 
 both sexes. 'The whole company were in their holiday clothes, 
 and divided into several parties, all of them endeavouring 
 to show themselves in those exercises wherein they excelled.' 
 There was in one place a ring of cudgel-players, in another a 
 football match, in another a ring of wrestlers. The prize for 
 the winners of these competitions was a hat, ' which is always
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 23 
 
 hung up by the person who gets it in one of the most conspicu- 
 ous parts of the house, and looked upon by the whole family 
 as something redounding nauch more to their honour than a 
 coat-of-arms.' One young fellow, who 'carried an Air of Im- 
 portance in his looks,' appeared to have a reason for his pride, 
 for ' he and his ancestors had won so many hats that his par- 
 lour looked like a haberdasher's shop.' The young maids 
 also, it seems, took part in the diversions, foj a farmer's son 
 being asked what he was gazing at, says ' that he was seeing 
 Betty Welch, his sweetheart, pitch a bar,' That running 
 matches were also common at these wakes is clear from the 
 comment of the ' Spectator ' upon the letter. He says that a 
 country fellow who wins a competition is usually likely to win 
 a mistress at the same time, and ' nothing is more usual than 
 for a nimble-footed wench to get a husband at the same time 
 she wins a smock.' A smock, or, as another writer says, ' a she- 
 shirt,' was the regular prize for women at these rustic sports, 
 and a hat for men, so that the pot-hunters and pot-huntresses 
 of the day had less temptation to turn their prizes into money 
 than comes to the winners of the silver and plated trophies of 
 the present day. 
 
 Bath, however, was not the chief place in the West of 
 England remarkable for its athletic meetings. Strutt, who 
 wrote in 1801, gives an account of two important annual 
 gatherings in the West Country, one on the Cotswold Hills in 
 Gloucestershire, and the other upon Holgaver Moor, near 
 Bodmin in Cornwall. To the first he says that ' prodigious 
 multitudes constantly resorted. Robert Dover, an attorney of 
 Barton-on-the-Heath, in the county of Worcester, was forty years 
 the chief director of these pastimes. They consisted of wrest- 
 ling, cudgel-playing, leaping, pitching the bar, throwing the 
 sledge, tossing the pike, with various other feats of strength 
 and activity. Captain Dovej received permission from James I. 
 to hold these sports, and he appeared at their celebration in 
 the very clothes which that monarch had formerly worn, but 
 with much more dignity in his air and aspect.' ' I do not
 
 24 A THLETICS 
 
 mean to say,' he goes on, 'that the Cotswold games were 
 invented or even first estabhshed by Captain Dover : on the 
 contrary, they seem to be of much higher origin.' Strutt then 
 shows by a quotation from Heath's description of Cornwall, 
 published in 1750, that a meeting of a similar nature was held 
 near Bodmin. ' The sports and pastimes here held,' says Heath, 
 ' were so well liked by Charles 11. when he touched here on his 
 way to Sicily, that he became a brother of the jovial society. 
 The custom of keeping this carnival is said to be as old as the 
 Saxons.' 
 
 There can be no question that the connection between 
 fair and wakes and athletic sports was kept up well into the 
 present century, and indeed in some out-of-the-way corners of 
 England has lasted almost to the present time. But as the 
 fairs decayed in importance, owing to improved facilities for 
 travelling and trading, so did the glory of these popular athletic 
 meetings depart with them. Still, side by side with the growing 
 and flourishing profession of pedestrianism in the towns, these 
 rustic sports kept their place, until finally, when the great 
 athletic movement of recent years swept over the country, 
 it renovated and rehabilitated these annual gatherings. The 
 paper from which we have just quoted in the ' Spectator' gives 
 a very minute account of the one at Bath at the beginning of 
 the eighteenth century. There is abundant evidence that their 
 character did not substantially alter, although they undoubtedly 
 diminished in number and importance. In the first volume 
 of Hone's 'Everyday Book ' there is a communication from 'Mr. 
 Carter, the antiquary,' describing the great ' May fair ' held in 
 the fields near Piccadilly at the end of the eighteenth century. 
 The builder has covered the fields of Mayfair long since, and 
 only the name survives to show what vulgar sports were held in 
 that now fashionable quarter. There were shows of jugglers, a 
 booth for boxers, another booth for cudgel-])layers, a ring for 
 fire-eaters, &c. ' The sports not under cover,' says Mr. Carter, 
 who had been an eyewitness, ' were ass-racing, grinning for a 
 hat, running for a shift, and an infinite variety of other similar
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 25 
 
 pastimes.' Another correspondent of Hone's gives a similar 
 account of Avingham fair in the North Country. After the 
 dancing was over, the sports began in the presence of the mayor. 
 Amongst the contests were ' foot-racing for hats, handkerchiefs, 
 and she-shirts. The several races run, and the prizes distri- 
 buted, they return to the last and gayest of their mirthful 
 scenes, viz. evening dancing and drinking, finally departing 
 *' fu' blythe that night." ' In the same book there is a long 
 •account of ' Hungerford revel ' in Wiltshire. The chief amuse- 
 ment at this festival was, of course, the cudgel-play which 
 ' Tom Brown ' has so well described for us. Besides this, how- 
 ever, the festival included in 1826 the following programme : 
 {i) Girls running for smocks ; (2) Climbing the greasy pole 
 for bacon ; (3) Old women drinking hot tea for snuff ; 
 (4) Grinning through horse-collars ; (5) Racing between old 
 women for a pound of tea ; (6) Hunting a pig with a soaped 
 tail j (7) Jumping in sacks for a cheese ; (8) Donkey racing. 
 There was another revel, called the ' Peppard revel,' earlier in 
 the year, and the ' Reading Mercury' of May 24, 181 9, has an 
 advertisement of the sports, promising eighteenpence to every 
 man who breaks a head at cudgel-play, and a shilling to every 
 man who has his head broke. One of the most interesting 
 communications in the ' Everyday Book ' has reference to the 
 North. A writer in 1826 regrets that in most of the great 
 Northern towns the ' wakes ' are dying out, ' although still held 
 annually in nearly all the parochial villages of the North and 
 Midlands.' The writer says, however, that in Sheffield (as we 
 should naturally expect of this great home of pedestrianism) the 
 ' wake ' was still kept up. ' At Little Sheffield and in Broad- 
 lane the zest of the annual festivity is heightened by ass-races, 
 foot-races (masculine) for a hat, foot-races (feminine) for a 
 chemise, and grinning matches.' Perhaps the most interesting 
 extract from Hone to an athlete is his account of the ' Necton 
 Guild ' in Norfolk, which was undoubtedly the first English 
 athletic club. In 181 7, Major Mason, of Necton, in Norfolk, 
 <ietermined to organise the local ' wake ' into a regular athletic
 
 26 ATHLETICS 
 
 meeting. He allowed no stalls, stands, or booths for variety 
 entertainments. Proceedings commenced with a procession 
 headed by the ' Mayor of the Guild,' and a circle was formed 
 round a maypole. Then began the sports, which were as- 
 foUows : — (i) Wrestling; (2) Foot-races; (3) Tingling matches ;. 
 (4) Jumping in sacks ; (5) Wheelbarrow-races blindfold ; 
 (6) Spinning matches ; (7) Whisthng matches ; (8) Grinning 
 matches ; (9) Jumping matches. After the presentation of the 
 prizes, the nature of which is not described, the dancing began, 
 the strictest order and decorum being preserved by the beadles 
 and other officers of the guild. This annual meeting, which 
 commenced in 181 9, was still being held in 1826, but we can 
 find no further trace of its history. ' Numerous, respectable,. 
 and fashionable companies ' generally attended the meetings- 
 of the Necton Guild, which appear to have been universally 
 approved. Major Mason, of Necton, certainly deserves a niche 
 in the temple of athletic fame for his institution of the guild. 
 
 These wakes were not confined to England alone. Hone 
 tells us also of an Easter gathermg at Belfast (which is to the 
 present time the scene of an excellent athletic meeting), where 
 running and jumping matches were the chief features of the 
 day, and of another meeting at Portaferry, in County Down, 
 where these amusements were diversified with ' kissing games.' 
 ' The men kissed the females without reserve, whether married 
 or single.' To clear the men, however, from the charge of 
 rudeness, it should be said that the ' kissing is taken quite as a 
 matter of course, without any coyness.' The author sagely re- 
 marks that 'tradition is silent as to the origin of this custom.' 
 
 We have, however, said enough of these fairs and the rustic 
 athletic gatherings which took place at them. They doubtless 
 grew rarer and rarer during the present century, but it is equally 
 doubtless that some of them have survived quite up to the- 
 present day, although most of them have been replaced by 
 regular athletic meetings held under modern and organised 
 rules. The present writer, however, in the year 1885, witnessed 
 a wake in a small Cornish town, where, besides the round-
 
 A THLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 27 
 
 abouts, &c., there was in the evening an athletic meeting. The 
 events were, running, jumping, a wheelbarrow race (blindfold), 
 a sack race, and a greasy pole, and the prizes were either hats 
 or garments, or of an edible or potable nature. From inquiry 
 it appeared that the annual meeting was ' older than anybody 
 could recollect.' We have little doubt that it was as old as 
 the foundation of the town itself, as all the wakes were origin- 
 ally festivals of the foundation of the churches. 
 
 We have thus far followed the history of rustic sports up to 
 the present tune, because there is no doubt that these meetings 
 kept alive the athletic spirit throughout England, and each of 
 them served as a nucleus for an athletic club and helped to 
 create a centre when the modern revival of athletic sports came 
 about. We have also been obliged, in a certain way, to anti- 
 cipate matters, because through the eighteenth and earlier part 
 of the nineteenth centuries there were two distinct streams of 
 athleticism, the country wakes and the professional pedes- 
 trianism which began in time to rank as a branch of legitimate 
 sport, in the same manner as the prize ring. 
 
 We have seen that there has been a regular history of pro- 
 fessional pedestrianism ever since the Restoration, but it must 
 not be supposed that both under the Merry Monarch and in 
 the eighteenth century, given up, as it was, to wagering and 
 betting of all kinds, there were no matches between amateurs. 
 Thackeray, who knew the period he was writing about in the 
 ' Virginians,' and also understood something of the capacities 
 of the human body for athletic purposes, tells of a match between 
 Harry Warrington and Lord March and Ruglen, who jumped 
 for a wager. The Virginian wins with 21 ft. 3 in., beating his 
 lordship, who could only cover 18 ft. 6 in.; and Harry goes on 
 in his letter to Virginia to state that he knew there was another 
 in Virginia (Col. G. Washington) who could jump a foot more. 
 Thackeray's correctness contrasts favourably with that of other 
 writers of this century, some of whom, hke Wilkie Collins in 
 his ' Man and Wife,' undertake to write of athletic feats without 
 taking the trouble to acquire any knowledge of them. Such
 
 28 ATHLETICS 
 
 faults are possibly venial with writers who simply introduce 
 them incidentally, though these latter sometimes make strange 
 blunders. Scott, in his ' Lady of the Lake ' (Canto V. Stanza 
 23), makes Douglas perform a ridiculous feat of weight-putting : 
 
 Tlieir arms the brawny yeomen bare 
 To hurl the massive bar in air. 
 When each his utmost strength had shown. 
 The Douglas rent an earth-fast stone 
 From its deep bed, then heaved it high, 
 And sent the fragment through the sky 
 A rood beyond the farthest mark. 
 
 We have some suspicion that Thackeray was thinking of this 
 when, in his ' Rebecca and Rowena,' he makes Coeur de 
 Lion ' fling a culverin from him as though it had been a reed. 
 It lighted three hundred yards off on the foot of Hugo de 
 Bunyon, who was smoking a cigar at the door of his tent, and 
 caused that redoubted warrior to limp for some days after.' 
 There is another absurd feat, in the way of jumping, in the 
 * Lady of the Lake' (Canto IIL Stanza 12): 
 
 And from the silver beach's side 
 Still was the prow three fathom wide, 
 When lightly bounded to the land 
 The messenger of blood and brand. 
 
 Eighteen feet for a ' standing long jump ' is a ' record ' 
 which is hardly likely to be beaten (10 ft. 9J in. is the best 
 known at present at an athletic meeting). A list of such mis- 
 takes might be indefinitely multiplied, but we will only givd 
 one other here. Henry Kingsley, in ' Geoffrey Hamlin,' makes 
 his 'muscular Christian' curate run four miles in twenty 
 minutes, then vault over a gate, take off his hat to a lady, and 
 draw his watch out of his pocket to time himself ; after which, 
 being apparently not in the least out of breath, he enters upon 
 a conversation about the benefits of athletics. No wonder this 
 curate became a dignitary of the colonial church. He deserved 
 the honour.
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 
 
 29 
 
 The annals of the eighteenth century are full of accounts 
 of wagers for the performance of athletic feats, both sublime 
 as well as ridiculous. The majority of the genuine athletic 
 performances are those of professional pedestrians, amateurs 
 only figuring occasionally in these wagers, and often in prepos- 
 
 ^^^ ^^ 
 
 Race between elderly fat man and man with jockey on back. 
 
 terous ones. Luttrell's * Diary ' tells us of a wager made by a 
 German of sixty-four years old to walk 300 miles in ' Hide 
 Park ' in six days, which he did * within the time, and a mile 
 over.' In 1780 the 'Gentleman's Magazine' tells us that a 
 man of seventy-five years old ran four miles and a half round
 
 -50 A THLETICS 
 
 Queen Square in 58 minutes. Eight years later a young gen- 
 tleman, with a jockey booted and spurred on his back, ran 
 a match against an elderly fat man (of the name of Bullock) 
 running without a rider. The more extraordinary the wager 
 the more excitement it often caused amongst the public. A 
 fish-hawker is reported to have for a wager run seven miles, 
 from Hyde Park Corner to Brentford, with 56 lbs. weight of 
 fish on his head, in 45 minutes ! Another man trundled a 
 coach-wheel eight miles in an hour round a platform erected 
 in St. Giles's Fields. Another extraordinary match was one 
 between a man on stilts against a man on foot, the former re- 
 ceiving twenty j'ards start in a hundred and twenty yards. 
 What is more astounding is that the man upon the stilts won 
 the match. 
 
 A few examples may also be given of the many genuinely 
 interesting matches which were brought off. As regards the 
 alleged times, however, many of them are as obviously absurd 
 as that supposed to have been done in the four-mile race in 
 Woodstock Park, of which we have already spoken. An Italian 
 is said to have run from Hyde Park Corner to Windsor in an 
 hour and three-quarters. Another man walked from Bishops- 
 gate to Colchester and back (102 miles) in twelve hours ! In 
 1750 two well-known 'peds,' Abron and Temple, ran a four- 
 mile match for 100 guineas a side, the former winning. In 
 1762 another man, for a wager of thirty guineas, walked seven 
 miles just within an hour and five minutes on the Kingsland 
 Road. Many of the matches (and these were the most popu- 
 lar ones) consisted of feats of endurance and long-distance 
 matches against time. One Mr. John Hague, in 1762, walked 
 100 miles in 23 hrs. 15 min. How little notion the public 
 had of the speed at which a good man could travel is evident 
 from the nature of many of the matches which were made. A 
 clerk, for instance, won a wager of fifty guineas by walking four 
 miles in less than fifty minutes. This bet was made in 1766, 
 and four years afterwards we hear of another man winning a 
 wager by running a mile through the streets between Charter-
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 
 
 3' 
 
 house Wall and Shoreditch Church gates in 4 minutes. In 
 1777 we hear of a performance in Yorkshire which is possibly 
 correct in time : Joseph Headley, a pedestrian, running two 
 miles in 9 min. 45 sec. on the Knavesmire. The racecourse 
 or the high road appears 
 to have been about this 
 period the usual arena 
 of genuine pedestrian 
 matches. In 1780 a 
 pedestrian of Penrith 
 walked fifty miles in 13 
 hours on the Newcastle 
 racecourse. In 1785 one 
 Woolfit, another pedes- 
 trian, walked forty miles 
 a day for six consecutive 
 days, between 6 a.m. and 
 6 P.M., on the high road. 
 Soon afterwards a man 
 named York ran four 
 miles on the Egham 
 racecourse in 24^ 
 minutes. In 1787 
 Walpole, a butcher 
 from Newgate Mar- 
 ket, ran a mile with n__ 
 a well-known pedes- '"'•' 
 trian of the name of Pope, 
 along the City Road, and 
 beat him in the time of 4 
 min. 30 sec. — a good per- 
 formance if true. In 178S 
 there was enormous excite- 
 ment over a race between a pedestrian named Evans and Father 
 Time at Newmarket, Evans being backed to run his ten miles 
 within the hour. He is credited with covering the distance in 
 
 Man on stilts 
 V. man running
 
 32 ATHLETICS 
 
 55 min. iS sec, thereby putting 10,000/. or thereabouts into the 
 pockets of those who backed him. In the same year another 
 pedestrian, named Wild, ran four miles in 21 min. 15 sec. on 
 the Knutsford racecourse. The next year witnessed a remark- 
 able feat of endurance, one Savagar, a labourer, walking 404 
 miles in 6 days along the road between Hereford and Ludlow, 
 and going over a hill two miles long three times every day. All 
 the stipulated reward for this feat was a sum of ten guineas, 
 and he would, doubtless, have preferred to have lived in the 
 time when Rowell, and some other pedestrians, a few years 
 ago, netted many thousands by their long ' go-as-you-please ' 
 contests. 
 
 In 1 79 1 we hear of some aristocratic amateurs on the 
 path. Lord Paget, Lord Barrymore, Captain Grosvenor, and 
 the Hon. Mr. Lamb ran a race across Kensington Gardens 
 for a sweepstake of 100 guineas. The spectators appear to 
 have been numerous, and Lord Paget after a close race beat 
 Mr. Lamb, Captain Grosvenor being third. In 1793 another 
 amateur. Colonel the Hon. Cosmo Gordon, appears to have 
 assisted his friends to a good thing, as he undertook for a 
 wager to walk five miles along the Uxbridge Road in an hour. 
 He, however, was himself a true amateur, as he engaged, if he 
 won, to devote the stakes to a fund for the relief of the widows 
 and children of soldiers and sailors. The gallant colonel 
 walked his five miles from Tyburn to Ealing easily within the 
 hour — as well he might. 
 
 The greatest interest which was excited over pedestrian 
 feats at this time always arose from long-distance competi- 
 tions, in which endurance rather than speed or skill was 
 exhibited. The most eminent athlete of all in this line (at 
 any rate until the appearance of Captain Barclay Allardice) 
 was Mr. Foster PonvcII, a lawyer's clerk of New Inn, who may 
 almost be said to have been the long-distance champion for a 
 quarter of a century. He was born at Horseforth, near Leeds, 
 in 1734, and was thirty years old before he performed his first 
 celebrated feat, which consisted of running fifty miles on the
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 33 
 
 Bath Road in seven hours, doing his first ten miles within the 
 hour. After this he travelled abroad, exhibiting his feats of 
 pedestrianism in Switzerland and France, and it was not until 
 1773 that for a heavy wager he performed the feat of going on 
 foot from London to York and back in less than six days — to 
 wit, in 5 days 18 hours — the distance being 402 miles. In 
 1777 he went from London to Canterbury and back (112 
 miles) in less than twenty-four hours, thousands of spectators 
 watching him on the road and greeting his return. Eleven 
 years afterwards, being then fifty-five years of age, he ran a mile 
 match against a Mr. Smith of Canterbury, who was too speedy 
 for the elderly pedestrian, and beat him. At the age of fifty- 
 seven Powell again went from London to York and back in 
 5 days 18 hours, and two years afterwards beat his own 
 'record' again by doing the same distance in 5 days 15A 
 hours. It is hardly strange that so great a performer should 
 have excited enormous interest, and the number of his re- 
 corded feats (the genuineness of which there seems no reason 
 to doubt) would almost fill a book by themselves. ' Absurd 
 as it may appear,' says an encyclopaedist in 1823, 'so desirous 
 were people to have a sight of him that he was engaged at 
 Astley's Amphitheatre for twelve nights, where he exhibited his 
 pace in a small circle.' He died, however, soon after this, 
 never having recovered from the effects of his last and most 
 severe journey to York, and lies buried in the east corner of 
 St. Paul's Churchyard. From the contemporary accounts of 
 his appearance he seems to have been of medium height and 
 spare of person. 
 
 Probably the performances of Foster Powell did much to 
 spread the popularity of pedestrianism as a sport, for we in- 
 variably find that one great performer brings a host of inferior 
 imitators. In Powell's time pedestrianism ' boomed ' again, 
 and the waning popularity of the sport was again revived by 
 the performances of Barclay AUardice. The feats of the latter 
 pedestrian, indeed, called into existence a product which had 
 never been known before — a book on pedestrianism. In 181 3 
 
 D
 
 34' ATHLETICS 
 
 a fellow-countryman of Allardice (who always ran under the 
 name of Barclay) compiled a work, ' Pedestrianism, or An 
 Account of the Performances of Celebrated Pedestrians 
 during the last and present Century, with a Full Narrative of 
 Captain Barclay's public and private Matches, and an Essay on 
 Training.' It is from this work, published in Aberdeen by Mr. 
 Walter Thom in 1813, that we derive our account of many of 
 the eighteenth-century feats which we have mentioned above. 
 We can hardly blame Mr. Thom for following the prevailing 
 fashion of the age in his advice on training. The diet he 
 recommends is beef, mutton, stale bread, strong beer, and 
 Glauber salts ; the exercise, constant morning walking and 
 sweating. ' The patient,' he says, ' should be purged with 
 constant medicines, sweated by walking under a load of clothes 
 and by lying between feather-beds.' Fish, vegetables, cheese, 
 butter, eggs, are strongly forbidden, and the use of an occa- 
 sional emetic is suggested. Let modern athletes be thankful 
 that they are trained upon a different system. 
 
 Mr. Thom begins by stating that he had originally only 
 intended to make an account of Captain Barclay, but then 
 thought it advisable to add preliminary chapters upon the 
 captain's more eminent predecessors in athletic fame. This 
 preliminary part he divides into four heads — (i) matches of 
 several days' continuance ; (2) one day matches ; (3) those 
 which were performed in one or more hours, and required 
 good wind and great agility ; (4) those completed in seconds 
 or minutes, which showed great swiftness. From this some- 
 what crude division it could only be expected that he would 
 swallow a number of marvellous stories as to distance and time ; 
 but, in spite of these defects, the book is genuinely interesting. 
 
 It would be tedious to give a list of the long-distance per- 
 formances recorded by Mr. Thom and the ' Sporting Magazine,' 
 the best of them being those of Foster Powell; but it is worth 
 notice that the performers are from every class of society — 
 officers in the army, country gentlemen, farmers, labourers, 
 butchers many of them being professional pedestrians and
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 35 
 
 having no other occupation. Some of the more marvellous 
 deeds are as follows: — Levi Whitehead, of Bramham, four 
 miles on Bramham Moor in 19 minutes; Mr. Haselden, of 
 Milton, a private gentleman, ten miles on the Canterbury road 
 in 53 minutes 'with ease.' This last performance was in the 
 year 1809. In February 1808 Mr. WaUis, a gentleman of 
 Jermyn Street, two miles in 9 minutes ' in two starts,' with a 
 minute's interval between each start. 
 
 Though it is understood that the times are to be regarded 
 sceptically, Thom's work gives a very vivid picture of the 
 popularity of athletic sports during the twenty years preceding 
 the publication of his work in 1813. Three pedestrians, Howe, 
 Smith, and Grey, appear frequently to have competed in 
 twenty-mile and ten-mile races. In 1793 two pedestrians, 
 Barrett and Wilkman, ran a ten-mile match on Kersal Moor, 
 the former winning in 57 minutes. In 1805 Lieutenant 
 Warren and Mr. Bindall, an artist, ran a match of seven miles on 
 the Uxbridge road, the artist winning by a quarter of a mile. 
 Time given as 35 minutes. In 1805, James Farrer, for a wager 
 of 200 guineas, ran against time on Knutsford racecourse, doing 
 four miles in 20 min. 57 sec. One of the best-known 'pads ' of 
 this time was Abraham Wood, a Lancashire man, who, however, 
 had his colours lowered in a four-mile race by Joseph Beal, a 
 Yorkshire lad of nineteen, who beat the champion in 2 1 min, 
 1 8 sec. Beal is also credited with two miles in 9 min. 48 sec. 
 on York racecourse in a match with another 'ped,' Isaac 
 Hemsworth, of Bolton, Lancashire. 
 
 In 1809 Captain Dane and Mr. Davies ran a mile match in 
 Bayswater fields, the captain winning by ' about 2 lengths,' in 
 4 min. 56 sec. Two other amateurs. Lord F. Bentinck and 
 the Hon. Edward Harbord, also ran a mile in 1S04 for 100 
 guineas, the latter winning easily, and his lordship was shortly 
 afterwards beaten by a Mr. Mellish in another match over 
 the Beacon course. In 1805 Mr. Harbord tried sprinting in 
 a match with Lord F. Beauclerk at 100 yards ; the latter 
 won by two yards. The winner afterwards met at the same 
 
 D 2
 
 36 ATHLETICS 
 
 distance the Hon. Mr. Brand, and won easily, 'the latter gen- 
 tleman becoming quite winded before he had run fifty paces.' 
 Both these matches were brought off at Lord's Cricket Ground. 
 Besides these, Thom gives the names of Colonel Douglas, Mr. 
 Lambert, Lieutenant Hankey, Captain Aiken, Lieutenant Fair- 
 man, and Captain Agar as being prominent amateurs about his 
 time; and, indeed, it appears that the amateur pedestrians were 
 chiefly officers in the army. This inclines us to believe the 
 story which is often repeated, but for which wc can find no 
 sufficient verification, that about 1812 there was a regular annual 
 athletic meeting at Sandhurst, which was afterwards discon- 
 tinued. 
 
 Thom is of opinion that next after his pet hero. Captain 
 Barclay, Abraham Wood, of Mildrew, in Lancashire, was the 
 best runner of his time. His best reported performances were 
 20 min. 21 sec. for four miles over the York course, against one 
 John Brown, who had previously beaten Wood over a similar 
 distance on the Knavesmire. Wood, however, seems to have 
 been a fair performer at shorter distances as well, as in 1809 he 
 beat Shipley, of Nottingham, at a quarter mile on the well-known 
 Knutsford course in 56 seconds. Sprinting ap]Dears to have been 
 less popular than racing at longer distances at this time; but such 
 sprinters as there were must have been marvellous men if the 
 times recorded are accurate. Curley, the Brighton shepherd, 
 ran a match against Grinley, a 'ped,' in 1805, 'on the walk 
 leading to the gate of Kensington Garden,' Grinley winning 
 by a head in \2\ seconds. Next year Grinley again beat his 
 antagonist on Hampton Court Green over 120 yards, upon 
 this occasion doing ' level time.' Curley, however, beat another 
 'ped,' Cooke, a soldier, over a sprint; but Cooke, for a wager 
 of fifty guineas, beat Mr. Williams, a gentleman, by a yard 
 and a half. In 1808, however, Skewball, the famous Lanca- 
 shire shepherd, ran 140 yards in 12 seconds at Hackney ! 
 This is perhaps the best specimen of the incapacity of the 
 writers of that day to distinguish between possible and impos- 
 sible times.
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 
 
 37 
 
 Captain Barclay Allardice is, of course, best known by his 
 feat of walking i,ooo miles in i,ooo hours at Newmarket. The 
 performance, no doubt, startled everybody at the time, although 
 it has frequently been since surpassed. He was, however, a 
 fine all-round performer. He was born in 1779, and had such 
 an unextinguishable love for athletic sports, that when he was 
 only 15 he won a wager by walking six miles in an hour on 
 the Croydon road. When twenty-one he made a match of 
 5,000 guineas to walk ninety miles in 2\\ hours, and won it 
 with ease, amidst the plaudits of thousands of spectators. He 
 
 soon afterwards beat a Mr. Ward 
 a quarter of a mile in 
 56 seconds. In 1806 
 he again was 
 matched 
 
 Dead beat. 
 
 at that distance against Mr. Goulbourne, of the Royal Horse 
 Guards, at Lord's Cricket Ground, and won easily in i min. 
 12 sec. He also won two mile races in matches with amateurs 
 in 5 min. 7 sec. and 4 min. 50 sec, and was for the years 
 J 796-1 808, when he performed the 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours 
 feat, the most prominent runner of the day. Nay, more, in the 
 words of Thom, ' he ever evinced inflexible adherence to strict 
 principles of honour and integrity, and whether as transacting 
 with mankind individually, or as a public character responsible 
 for his opinion and conduct at the shrine of his country, he 
 
 297665
 
 38 ATHLETICS 
 
 always proved his sincere respect for the rights of others and 
 his unfeigned attachment to the British constitution.' 
 
 Be that, however, as it may, he certainly deserves the thanks 
 of modern athletes for his success in rendering athletic sports 
 a popular pastime for gentlemen. There was, as is well known, 
 no distinction in his time between professionals and amateurs, 
 and gentlemen made matches with each other and with pedes- 
 trians as they pleased, and we find the great Barclay entering 
 on a contest of endurance with Abraham Wood, and running 
 him 'off his legs.' But throughout the first five-and-twenty 
 years of the present century the ball which Barclay had started 
 was kept rolling by plenty of successors ; indeed, up to about 
 1825 so many amateurs made matches at Newmarket, or on the 
 Uxbridge Road, or at Lord's Cricket Ground, and so much 
 interest was displayed by spectators in these contests, that it 
 seems wonderful that the system of athletic meetings for 
 amateurs should not have arisen half a century earlier than was 
 actually the case, though, as we have already stated, there is some 
 evidence that there w'ere regular meetings at Sandhurst early in 
 the century. After about 1825, however, the popularity of foot 
 races amongst amateurs appears to have waned, and we hear 
 of few gentlemen engaging in matches. We believe, neverthe 
 less, that of the amateur generation of the early part of this cen- 
 tury there is still a survivor. The present Lord Tollemache,' 
 after running several sprint races, was backed by a friend to run 
 any man in England over 100 yards. The challenge was ac- 
 cepted on behalf of a Mr. MacNamara, and the match came off 
 at the usual venue of Lord's Cricket Ground, Lord Tollemache 
 again proving a winner. The late Mr. Horatio Ross, who only 
 died recently, also distinguished himself in his early years as a 
 walker of long-distance matches. However, though there were 
 fewer amateurs in the field, professional pedestrianism con- 
 tinued steadily to increase throughout the century, and we find 
 a regular succession of celebrated short-distance and long-dis- 
 tance runners who challenged and wrested championships from 
 each other in the same manner as the champions of the ring. 
 
 * This was written in 1887 when the late Lord Tollemache was living.
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 39 
 
 As the period to which we are now referring is ahiiost a 
 modern one, and as our business in this work is with athletic 
 sports as a pastime for amateur and not with the business 
 of professional pedestrians, we can hardly give here a history 
 of the pedestrianism of the nineteenth century, for which 
 such ample materials exist in the pages of the 'Sporting 
 IMagazine ' and ' Bell's Life.' Some few memorable perform- 
 ances, however, claim attention as showing the steady progress 
 of athletic ability. In 1825 James Metcalf (champion) gave 
 J. Halton (ex-champion) 20 yards in a mile, for a stake of 
 1,000 guineas, on the Knavesmire, and the champion won in 
 the time of 4 min. 30 sec. ; but it is not for another fifteen 
 or twenty years that we hear of this time being approached, 
 and not until 1849 that we know of its being beaten by ^V. 
 Matthews of Birmingham, who did his mile in 4 min. 27 sec. 
 Between 1825 and 1838 or 1S39 or thereabouts, although 
 pedestrian matches at all distances were common enough, 
 pedestrianism was hardly the popular sport that it became 
 later on. We find that in the columns of ' Bell's Life ' it was 
 the custom for many years to mention the future pedestrian 
 fixtures at the end of that part of the paper which came 
 under the heading of 'The Ring.' About the latter date (1838) 
 ' Bell's Life ' began to give pedestrianism a heading to itself, 
 and every week there is a list of some twenty or thirty events. 
 Between 1840 and 1850 pedestrianism had another 'boom,' and 
 as usual when the sport was popular, the amateurs began to 
 turn out again and make matches with each other or with the 
 pedestrians. A curious instance of the difference of fashion 
 may be seen from the varying practice of amateurs as to giving 
 their real names in these contests. In 1838 ' Bell's Life' gives 
 an account of a cross-country steeplechase match got up by 
 six medical students of Birmingham, who ' for several reasons ' 
 concealed their real names, and the account describes them 
 under the pseudonyms of ' Sprightly,' ' Rustic,' ' Chit-chat,' 
 • Neversweat,' ' Vulcan,' ' The Spouter.' The umpires selected 
 a mile course, and, after an eventful race, ' The Spouter ' won
 
 40 A THLETICS 
 
 and ' Neversweat ' was second. Five years afterwards the ama- 
 teurs were running in their own names again, and the public 
 were looking on at their matches with applause. Captain 
 Hargraves and Mr. Fenton attracted a large crowd to a mile 
 match which they ran in 1 843. It was not long after this that 
 we find professional pedestrianism in what were almost its 
 palmiest days. ' Billy ' Jackson (the American Deer), J, Davies 
 (the Lame Chicken), and Tom Maxfield (the North Star) ran a 
 mile match upon the Slough Road, over what is still known as 
 'Maxfield's mile,' amidst an enormous concourse of people 
 and ' immense enthusiasm.' About this date ' Bell's Life ' had 
 every week a list of nearly fifty fixtures of matches to come off, 
 and pedestrianism as an institution was an accomplished fact. 
 In 1850 ' the major portion of the sporting population of Liver- 
 pool, Manchester, Newcastle, and the other great towns ' turned 
 out to see ' Tommy ' Hayes beat ' Johnny ' Tetlow, over four 
 miles on the Aintree racecourse; and in 1852, when George 
 Frost (the Suffolk Stag) won the championship belt at the old 
 Copenhagen Grounds by a ten miles race, lithographs of the 
 contest were published and sold by the thousand. Such was 
 the popularity of pedestrianism at this period that it is hardly 
 to be wondered that it should have aided other causes in setting 
 the amateur movement going. 
 
 The ' Volunteer movement ' is usually put forward as the ex- 
 planation of the outburst of athletic spirit throughout the king- 
 dom about this period. The more probable, and perhaps more 
 philosophical explanation, of the impulse which undoubtedly 
 began in the towns is that it was the natural product of the 
 over-pressure of modern commercial and professional life. 
 Hours of work being long, there comes a craving amongst 
 adults for violent exercise, and that craving has led to the 
 popularity of various athletic games, which are now so univer- 
 sally practised. Whatever may be the cause, however, of the 
 'athletic movement,' there can be little doubt that the first 
 amateur athletic sports were suggested by the performance of 
 professional ' peds,' and that wlienever there was an unusual
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 41 
 
 galaxy of pedestrian ability the amateurs began to imitate them. 
 \Ve have seen that, between 1845 and 1852, there was great 
 pubHc interest shown in pedestrianism, and it is accordingly not 
 surprising to find that the first regular athletic meetings begin 
 to be heard of about this time. In 1849 there was a regular 
 organised athletic meeting at the Royal Military Academy, 
 Woolwich, which was continued till 1853, when it was aban- 
 doned. In 1850 Exeter College, Oxford, started a meeting, 
 which has been continued annually down to the present day. 
 The following account of the first of these, which has been 
 sent to us by one of the competitors himself, can hardly fail to 
 be interesting to modern athletes ; and the programme, which 
 is probably the sole extant specimen, is in itself interesting 
 enough to justify its reproduction in these pages. 
 
 ' Exeter College, Oxford, was one of the first institutions to 
 start an athletic gathering, and it may not be uninteresting to 
 give a narrative, collected mainly from the recollection of eye- 
 witnesses, of the first set of sports ever held there, and of the 
 gentlemen who were the originators and first performers. 
 
 'The year was 1850. It was the evening after the College 
 Steeplechase (vulgarly called the " College Grind "). Some four 
 or five congenial spirits, as their manner was, were sipping their 
 wine after " hall " in the " rooms " of one, R. F. Bowles (brother 
 to John Bowles, the well-known coursing squire, of Milton 
 Hill). Besides the host there were James Aitken, Geo. Russell, 
 Marcus Southwell, and Halifax Wyatt. The topic was the 
 event of the day, and the unsatisfactory process of ' negotiating ' 
 a country on Oxford hacks. " Sooner than ride such a brute 
 again," said Wyatt, whose horse had landed into a road on his 
 head instead of his legs, " I'd run across two miles of country 
 on foot." " Well, why not ? " said the others ; " let's have a 
 College foot grind," and so it was agreed. 
 
 ' Bowles, who always had a sneaking love for racing — born 
 and bred as he was near the training grounds on the Berkshire 
 Downs — suggested a race or tv/o on the flat as well. Again
 
 42 ATHLETICS 
 
 the party agreed. The conditions were drawn up, stakes named, 
 officials appointed, and the first meeting lor " Athletic Sports " 
 inaugurated. 
 
 'On the first afternoon there \\tis to be a "chase," two miles 
 across country, 24 jumps, i/. entry, \os. forfeit ; and on a subse- 
 quent afternoon, a quarter of a mile on the flat, 300 yards, 100 
 yards, 140 yards over 10 flights of hurdles 10 yards apart, one 
 mile, and some other stakes for " beaten horses," open to 
 members of Exeter College only. The stewards of the " Exeter 
 Autumn Meeting " were R. F. Bowles and John Broughton ; 
 Secretary, H. C. Glanville ; Clerk of the course, E. Ranken ; 
 and a well-known sporting tradesman in Oxford, Mr. Randall, 
 was asked to be Judge. Mr. Randall is still alive, and though 
 over 80 years of age, is a regular attendant at Henley, Putney, 
 or Lord's, whenever there is a University contest. 
 
 ' Notice of the meeting, with a list of the stakes, was posted 
 in the usual place — a black board in the porter's lodge. Plenty 
 of entries were made, in no stake less than 10 : for the steeple- 
 chase there were 24 who started. 
 
 'Among the competitors were Jas. Aitken, J, Scott, Geo. 
 Russell, Jno. Broughton, R. F. Bowles, D. Giles, H. J. Cheales, 
 H. Wyatt, Jas. Woodhouse, C. J. Parker, P. AVilson, M. South- 
 well, H. C. Glanville, H. Collins, E. Knight, and some nine 
 others. 
 
 'The betting was — 2 to i v. Aitken, 2 to i t/. Cheales, 8 to i 
 V. Giles, 9 to I t;. Wyatt, 10 to i v. Parker, 10 to i v. Scott, 
 12 to I z'. Broughton, 15 to i z/. Woodhouse. 
 
 ' The course chosen was on a flat marshy farm at Binsey, 
 near the Seven Bridge Road : it was very wet, some fields 
 "swimming" in water, the brooks bank high, and a soft take-off, 
 which meant certain immersion for most, if not all, the com- 
 petitors. Twenty-four went to the post, not 24 hard-conditioned 
 athletes in running " toggery," but 24 strong active youngsters 
 in cricket shoes and flannels, some in fair condition, some very 
 much the reverse, but all determined to " do or die." Plenty of 
 folk, on horse and foot, came to see this novelty (for in Modern,
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 43 
 
 as in Ancient Athens, men were always on the look out for 
 " some new thing "), and in this instance, judging from the ex- 
 citement, and the encouragement given to the competitors, the 
 novelty was much appreciated. 
 
 ' As about half of the 24 starters left the post as if they were 
 only going to run a few hundred yards, they were necessarily 
 soon done with. Aitken, gradually coming through all these, 
 had the best of the race until one field from home, when Wyatt 
 and Scott, who had been gradually creeping up, ran level. 
 They jumped the last fence together. Wyatt, who landed on 
 firmer ground, was quickest on his legs, and ran in a compara- 
 tively easy winner ; there was a tremendous struggle for the 
 second place, which was just obtained by Aitken. 
 
 ' The time, according to the present notion of running, must 
 no doubt have been slow, but the ground was deep, the fences 
 big and all the competitors were heavily handicapped by wet 
 flannels bedraggling their legs. 
 
 ' Of the flat races, which were held in Port Meadow, on un- 
 levelled turf, no authentic record has been preserved of the 
 winners of all the events. The hurdle-race was won by E. 
 Knight, R. F. Bowles being second. The 100 yards by ^V^yatt, 
 and he also won one or two of the other shorter races ; but for 
 the mile he had to carry some pounds of shot in an old- 
 fashioned shot-belt round his loins, and ran second to Aitken, 
 who won. Listen to this, ye handicappers of the present day ! 
 
 ' Such is the history of the first set of athletic sports. But 
 now a word or two as to the original patrons and performers, 
 for we would not have the athletes of the present day think that 
 the last generation were altogether "unprofitable servants." 
 
 ' Marcus Southwell, R. F. Bowles, and Geo. Russell (now 
 Sir Geo. Russell, Bart., of Swallowfield), were perhaps more 
 patrons than performers. But Southwell was a fine horseman, 
 and could walk six miles in the hour without training : he, 
 alas ! was killed when on a tour in America by a horse falling 
 on him. Bowles and Russell could both row, play cricket, and 
 run a bit, and they perhaps were the most energetic in getting
 
 44 ATHLETICS 
 
 up the first edition of sports. There is a longer record of 
 services against the name of James Aitken, beyond winnmg the 
 mile race, and being second for the two miles. As a cricketer 
 he played in the Eton eleven, at Oxford in the University 
 eleven against Cambridge in 1848, 1849, ^^d 1850, and was 
 captain of the eleven in 1850. As an oarsman he rowed 
 against Cambridge at Putney in 1849, was one of the Oxford 
 eight and four that rowed over for the Grand and Stewards at 
 Henley in 1850, rowed in the Oxford eight that beat Cambridge 
 at Henley in 1851, and won the Goblets together with the 
 present Mr. Justice Chitty. He was ordained soon after 
 leaving the University, and has had neither time nor oppor- 
 tunity for following up rowing or cricket to any great extent, 
 but he has worked as hard and conscientiously in his parish as 
 he did at No. 5 thwart in the University boat, and they say that 
 even now, at lawn tennis, few of the young ones can hold their 
 own against the Rev. James Aitken, vicar of Chorleywood, in 
 Hertfordshire. 
 
 * Halifax Wyatt, another of the performers, was born in the 
 " Duke's Country " — no doubt a point in his favour — and in his 
 younger days was known to the noble editor of the Badminton 
 Library, both in the hunting-field and on the tented sward, 
 when I.Z. used to play at Badminton. At Oxford he won, as 
 stated, the two miles and some of the shorter races in the sports. 
 He played against Cambridge in the University eleven 1850, 
 1 85 1, and in his college eleven in 1849, 1850, 1851. He 
 rowed in the O.U.B.C. eight-oared races in 1849, 1850, 1851, 
 in the O.U.B.C. fours 1849, and O.U.B.C. sculls 1850. Since 
 leaving Oxford he has played a great deal of county cricket, 
 in Gloucestershire, Devonshire, and Cheshire, and is an I.Z., 
 M.C.C., Harlequin, &c. He did but little afterwards in run- 
 ning, but when quartered with the 4th Battalion Devonshire 
 Regiment, at Limerick, he ran a 100 yards match for 50/. 
 against a Canadian in the 89th Regiment, and beat him. 
 H. Wyatt retired from the I)c^■on Regiment as Lt. Colonel, 
 and has now for some years past managed the Earl of Sefton's
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 
 
 45 
 
 EXETER AUTDMN MEETING. 
 
 Stewards.— R. F. BOWLES, ESQ., J. A RROUGHTON, ESQ. 
 
 Secretary.— H. C. GLANVILLE, ESQ. 
 
 Clerk of the Course.— H. RANKEN, ESQ. Judge.— MR. RANDALL. 
 
 The Welcome Sweepstakes, of a quarter of a mile : — 
 
 Mr. Page 
 
 , , Broughton 
 
 ,, Collins 
 
 , , Glanville 
 
 , , Bowles 
 
 ,, Cole 
 
 ,, Johnstone 
 
 Mr. Wyatt 
 Winwood 
 Marshall 
 Cheales 
 Knight 
 Nicholls 
 Aitken 
 
 The Bancalari Sweepstakes, 300 yards and a distance. Heats : — 
 
 Mr. Broughton Mr. Winwood 
 
 ,, Page ,, Aitken 
 
 ,, Glanville ,, Marshall 
 
 ,, Howies ,, Manley 
 
 ,, Wyatt „ Terry 
 
 The Jonathan Sweepstakes, 100 yards : — 
 
 Mr. Broughton Mr. Paul Mr. Stubbs 
 
 ,, Bowles ,, Todd ,, Aitken 2 
 
 ,, Chapman ,, Medley ,, Venables 
 
 ,, Collins ,, Wyatt ,, Stent 
 
 ,, North ,, Knight ,, Gresson 
 
 ,, Johnstone >, Yonge ,, Wingfield 
 ,, Cheales 
 
 A Hurdle Race, over 10 flights, at 10 yards apart, 140 yards : — 
 
 Mr. Chapman 
 
 Bowles 
 
 Knight 
 
 Broughton 
 
 Wyatt 
 
 Cheales 
 
 Mr. Venables 
 ,, Stent 
 ,, Wilson 
 J , Norman 
 ,, Aitken 
 
 The Scurry Stakes, 150 yards, to name and close on the day of 
 the races. 
 
 The Aristocratic Stakes, of 60 yards, to name and close on the day 
 
 of the races. 
 The Consolation Stakes, for beaten horses, 100 yards.
 
 46 ATHLETICS 
 
 extensive estates in Lancashire, and is a first-rate hand ii\ 
 " looking on " at all those sports in which formerly he took such 
 an active part. 
 
 ' This is a slight sketch of the men who " set the ball rolling," 
 but though their first meeting was evidently popular, the thing 
 went slowly for a time. In 185 1, Exeter College followed up 
 the autumn meeting of 1850 with a summer meeting on 
 BuUingdon, and we think that both a high and broad jump 
 were introduced in the programme. In these sports both C. A. 
 North and J. Hodges distinguished themselves, the latter, by 
 the way, not long after for a wager riding 50, driving 50, and 
 walking 50 miles in 24 consecutive hours. Lincoln College, 
 Oxford, was the next to take up the idea and held some sports. 
 Then a college in Cambridge. After this the thing went like 
 wildfire, spreading simultaneously on every side ; and after 
 Colleges and Schools, first in London and then in the pro- 
 vinces clubs were formed for the promotion of athletic sports. 
 
 Kensington Grammar School began their regular sports in 
 1 85 2, and we believe there are several other private schools 
 round London which have had annual foot races and jumping 
 matches since about the same time, which we have little doubt 
 were suggested,- or at any rate encouraged, by the interest taken 
 by the boys' parents in 'The American Deer,' 'The Suffolk 
 Stag,' * The Greenwich Cowboy,' and other pedestrian worthies 
 of the same kidney. In 1853 Harrow and Cheltenham both 
 started athletic meetings; and Durham University also had a 
 gathering which however, appears to have died a natural death. 
 
 Undoubtedly there were races at several of the public schools 
 before this date, but they can hardly be called athletic meetings. 
 The pastime of ' hare and hounds,' as an amusement for 
 schoolboys, is quite as old as any other English athletic pastime, 
 Strutt gives a quotation from an old comedy, written towards 
 the close of the sixteenth century, in which an ' idle boy ' says: 
 
 'And also when we play and hunt the fox 
 I outrun all the boys in the schoole.'
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 47 
 
 This is no doubt an allusion to 'hare and hounds,' and Strutt 
 himself, writing in 1801, gives the following account of the pas- 
 time which he calls ' hunt the fox ' or ' hunt the hare ' : ' One of 
 the boys is permitted to run out, and having law given him — that 
 is, being permitted to go to a certain distance from his comrades 
 before they can pursue him — their object is to take him, if pos- 
 sible, before he can return home.' The Crick Run at Rugby 
 appears to have been founded in 1837, and at Shrewsbury there is 
 known to have been a school steeplechase a very few years after- 
 wards, while in 1845 Eton started an annual steeplechase, sprint 
 races and hurdle races, which came off on the road all on different 
 days. Curiously enough, this is the first mention that we can 
 find anywhere of short hurdle races.^ Hurdle racing, now so 
 popular amongst amateurs, is almost entirely an amateur sport. 
 In 1853 ' Bell's Life ' has an account of two amateurs competing 
 in an 'all round' competition, which included the following 
 events : A mile race, walking backwards a mile, running a coach 
 wheel a mile, leaping over fifty hurdles, each 3 ft. 6 in. high 
 (the present regulation height), stone picking, and weight put- 
 ting; and in the same year the ' Times ' contains an account of a 
 match between Lieut. Sayers and ' Captain Astley ' in a flat race 
 and a hurdle race. All the school meetings, which began about 
 1852 and 1 85 3, as we have seen, included hurdle racing in 
 their programmes, and even up to the present day the chief 
 homes of hurdle racing are the public schools and universities. 
 The pastime of hurdle racing, however, can hardly be entirely 
 modern, as Professor Wilson (' Christopher North ') appears to 
 have been an adept at something of a similar nature early in 
 the century. The Professor of Moral Philosophy had so dis- 
 tinguished a reputation as an athlete that his name should 
 not be omitted from a chapter on athletic history. Hone 
 has an anecdote of his ' taking down ' a brother private in the 
 
 1 In 1837 and 1838 we had hurdle races at most of the tutors' and dames' 
 houses at Eton, as I know from the fact of having run in and won races of the 
 sort there in those years. One hundred yards over ten hurdles was the usual 
 course. — B.
 
 48 ATHLETICS 
 
 militia at Kendal. The latter boasted that he had never been 
 beaten in a jumping competition, and Wilson accordingly chal- 
 lenged him to jump for a guinea. The unbeaten champion 
 could only cover 15 feet, Wilson clearing 21 feet, to his oppo- 
 nent's amazement. 
 
 About 1852, then, it came to be considered a recognised 
 and reasonable form of sport for a school or college to devote 
 a day or an afternoon to a meeting for competitions in the old 
 English sports of running, jumping, and throwing of weights ; 
 but the notion of open competitions, championships, or contests 
 between the Universities in athletic sports, in the same way that 
 they were already competing in cricket and boat-racing, was 
 still far from dawning on the English mind. Races and jump- 
 ing matches were still considered school pastimes like ' tag ' or 
 ' prisoner's base,' and even at the Universities their progress 
 towards popularity was very slow. The following is the infor- 
 mation given as to this progi-ess by the writer of ' Modern 
 Athletics ' : 'At the two Universities there were no athletic 
 sports of any description until 1850, when Exeter College, 
 Oxford, took the initiative and held a meeting, which has since 
 been repeated annually. In 1856, and even in 1858, "Bell's Life," 
 in its report of these sports, styles them "rural and interesting 
 revels," and again, " a revival of good old English sports." . 
 Exeter College was alone until 1855, when mention is first made 
 of any sports at Cambridge, St. John's College and Emmanuel 
 taking the lead. At Oxford, Balliol, Wadham, Pembroke and 
 Worcester followed the example of Exeter in 1856 ; Oriel in 
 1857, Merton in 1858, Christchurch in 1859, and in 1861 
 separate college meetings had become general. At the close of 
 i860, the Oxford University sports, open to all undergraduates, 
 owed their foundation to the exertions of the Rev. E. Arkwright, 
 of Merton College. At Cambridge the University sports had 
 already been founded in 1857, but annual meetings of the 
 separate colleges were not frequent as at the sister University 
 until 1863.' How suddenly the importance of athletics in- 
 creased at the Universities in 1864, the first year of the Inter-
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 49 
 
 Varsity meeting, may be gathered from some remarks of Sir 
 Richard Webster made at the annual dinner of the London 
 Athletic Club in 1886, when he said that for wmning half-a- 
 dozen strangers' races in one year he had received a few 
 pounds in coin, while the next year a friend whose performances 
 had been of the same order received about 40/. worth of prizes 
 from the silversmiths. 
 
 Soon after i860 these athletic meetings had become a 
 regular feature of school and college life. Trinity College, 
 Dublin, instituted a meeting in 1857, which has since had a 
 continuous existence and undiminished popularity. In England, 
 Rugby School held its first regular meeting in 1856, Winchester 
 in 1857, and Westminster and Charterhouse in 1861, By this 
 latter year all the public schools, as well as the Universities, 
 were holding sports, and there is little doubt that the growth 
 and popularity of the public school system has done much 
 not only to foster but to spread the spirit of athletic competi- 
 tion throughout the kingdom. Lads who have gained health, 
 pleasure, and reputation from athletic pursuits at school are 
 hardly likely to drop their tastes as soon as school is left behind, 
 and it is certain that the athletic movement was largely aided 
 by the impetus it received from the return of the old public 
 school boys to their homes throughout the country. 
 
 While, however, the schools were beginning to take up 
 athletic sports in a tentative way soon after 1850, it is not until 
 more than ten years afterwards that we begin to hear of a class 
 of amateur athletes, as distinguished from professional ' peds,' 
 holding meetings of their own. The pages of 'Bell's Life' 
 during this period occasionally show us that amateurs were 
 matching themselves against the professionals, and we find not 
 only records of amateur matches where the contestants are 
 described as amateurs (as in 1853 one between Mr. Green and 
 Air. Martin at 150 yards), but also cases of amateur meeting 
 ' ped ' (as in the preceding year the match between Green, ' the 
 amateur,' and Michael Turner). The time, however, was get- 
 ting ripe for amateurs, as we find even the highly respectable 
 
 E
 
 i;o A THLETICS 
 
 ' rimes ' newspaper recording matches like the one mentioned 
 above between Lieut. Sayers and Captain Astley, and another 
 between ]\Ir. Whaley and the Hon. Arthur Wellesley, who ran 
 a match for 150 guineas on the Donnybrook Road in 1854. 
 Something was, however, wanting to set athletic meetings going 
 outside schools, colleges, and bodies such as the Honourable 
 Artillerj' Company, which held its first fixture for its own 
 members in 1858, and the required impetus was probably given 
 by a renewed burst of public excitement over professional 
 pedestrianism in 1S60 and the following years. In i860 L. 
 Bennett, better known as ' Deerfoot,' a Canadian Indian, ap- 
 peared on the scene in England, and there began a series of 
 matches between him and the best English pedestrians, which 
 excited the public interest even more than the great period of 
 ten years or so before. The performances of Bennett, Lang, 
 Siah Albison, Teddy Mills, Jack White, and a score of other 
 celebrities of this period set the public talking again about 
 foot-racing, and in the winter of 1861 the West London Rowing 
 Club held an athletic meeting, thinking that their rowing men 
 might like some hard work and exercise to keep them in train- 
 ing during the winter season. As far as we can discover, the 
 first 'open race' for amateurs was held in the summer of 1862, 
 when Mr. W. Price, a promoter of pedestrian handicaps, decided 
 to offer at the Hackney Wick grounds a ' handsome silver cup ' 
 to be competed for by 'amateurs only,' thinking doubtless that 
 this would prove a new attraction to sightseers. The report of 
 this open amateur handicap, which took place on July 26, 1862, 
 shows that as a means of provoking speculation in the betting 
 way it was rather a failure ; but to amateurs the race is interesting 
 for other reasons. In the first heat the reporter says that the 
 betting was 6 to 4 in favour of Mr. Green, who beat Mr, 
 Johnson, but that ' not much was done.' In another heat Mr. 
 Spicer (who belonged, by the way, to the Honourable Artillery 
 Company) started off at mark with Mr. Chinnery, who was after- 
 wards to make so great a name as a holder of many champion 
 ships. On this occasion, however, Mr. Spicer outlasted Mr. 
 Chinnery, and beat him.
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 5! 
 
 On August 30 in the same year Mr. Price offered prizes 
 for two more open races at a quarter and three-quarters of a 
 mile. In the former, ' Mr. Martin,' whom athletes will perhaps 
 be surprised to hear was no other than the veteran Civil 
 Service walker, Mr. C. M. Callow, was one of the competitors, 
 as also was Mr. Walter Rye, afterwards champion walker, who, 
 however, appeared in his own name. Another of the com- 
 petitors was Mr. C. H. Prest (afterwards a celebrated amateur, 
 but of somewhat doubtful * amateurity '), who ran under the 
 name of Baker. There was at the time a prevalent idea that 
 an amateur athlete should conceal from the world his taste 
 for athletics, as the report of this meeting in a sporting paper 
 mentions the runners who had appeared in the mysterious 
 
 style as Mr. R e, Mr. N m, and so forth. Possibly, 
 
 however, the reporter, acting on the principle ' omne ignotum 
 pro magnifico,' thought to lend importance to the budding 
 amateurs by thus throwing an air of mystery over their names. 
 At this second meeting at Hackney AVick, Mr. Chinnery, in the 
 three-quarter mile race, had again to succumb to the redoubt- 
 able Mr. Spicer, although receiving ten yards' start from him 
 
 It is not until the next year that the stray London amateurs 
 made any effort to form themselves into a club. In June of the 
 year 1863 certain gentlemen, including in their numbers some 
 of those who had figured at the West London Rowing Club 
 meetings and Price's handicaps, founded the Mincing Lane 
 Athletic Club, calling the club after that well-known trade 
 centre, in which the majority of the founders were engaged 
 in business. In 1864 they held their first meeting at the 
 West London grounds at Brompton on April 9, but so little 
 attention was paid to it that we cannot find that a report of 
 the meeting appeared in any paper. Another meeting was 
 held on May 2 1 of the same year, in which Mr, Chinnery won 
 the mile race, and on that occasion a full report of the pro- 
 ceedings was published in all the sporting journals. During the 
 year two challenge cups for 220 yards and 10 miles walking 
 races were presented to the club, which has ever since been 
 
 E 2
 
 52 ATHLETICS 
 
 a flourishing institution. In the spring of iS66 the club 
 changed its name, and became, as it now is, the London 
 Athletic Club. 
 
 It is from the year 1864, indeed, that amateur athletic sports 
 as an institution may be said to date. Not only did a regularly 
 constituted athletic club begin in that year to hold open races, 
 but the same season witnessed the institution of the Inter-Uni- 
 versity sports. Negotiations were carried on in 1863 between 
 the two Universities as to the holding of an Inter-'Varsity 
 contest; but before anything could be arranged, the summer 
 term with its cricket and boating arrived, and it was found 
 impossible to get the athletes together. However, on March 3, 
 1864, the Cambridge men came over and met their Oxford 
 brethren on the Christchurch Cricket Ground. On this occa- 
 sion neither side won the ' odd event,' for the excellent reason 
 that there was no ' odd event ' to win. The programme con- 
 sisted of eight contests, and four were won by each University. 
 Since then it is hardly necessary to say that the meeting has 
 been annual, although the University athletes did not come 
 to London until 1867. 
 
 The same year, 1864, saw the Civil Servants hold their 
 first meeting— a meeting which still is an annual and important 
 event ; but it wanted yet a year or two before amateur athletics 
 became general throughout the provinces as well as in London. 
 In 1865 several football and cricket- clubs promoted meetings, 
 but it is not until 1866 that we hear of athletics being generally 
 practised throughout the kingdom. By this time the amateurs 
 had decided to have nothing to do with the professional 'peds' 
 of the day, owing to the ' roping ' and ' squaring ' tactics of somft 
 of them which were notorious. At the beginning of 1866, when 
 the Amateur Athletic Club was formed by some old University 
 and London athletes, the prospectus announced that the club 
 was formed to * supply the want of an established ground upon 
 which competitions in amateur athletic sports might take place, 
 and to afford as completely as possible to all classes of gentle- 
 men amateurs the means of practising and competing against
 
 ATHLETIC SPORTS IN ENGLAND 53 
 
 cne another, without being compelled to mix with professional 
 runners.' The newly formed Amateur Athletic Club held a 
 championship meeting in the spring of 1866, which was a 
 conspicuous success, and this was the first of the long series 
 which are still being continued under the management of the 
 Amateur Athletic Association. The intention of the founders 
 of the Amateur Athletic Club was no doubt to place their club 
 in the same position with athletes as the M.C.C. stood to 
 cricketers, and the design at first seemed to promise well, for 
 the championship meetings were very successful, and in two 
 years' time the club opened a splendid running ground for 
 amateurs at Lillie Bridge, which immediately became the head- 
 quarters of amateur athletics. The active athletes, however, 
 continued to ally themselves more with the L.A.C. than the 
 A.A.C., and the latter club soon ceased to hold any meetings 
 but the championship. 
 
 It is hardly necessary, however, to pursue the history of 
 athletics since the year 1866. By that year sports had been 
 instituted in most of the large provincial towns as well as in 
 many rural districts, 'The Athlete,' a record published in 
 1867, gives an account of nearly a hundred meetings held in 
 England, and the same publication for the ensuing year shows 
 that the number had then swelled to nearly a hundred and 
 fifty. The progress of amateur athletics has since been rapid 
 and continuous, and there is now hardly a single town through- 
 out the country which does not have its annual athletic meeting. 
 But by the year 1866 amateur athletics had definitely taken 
 their present form, and though clubs have waxed and waned, 
 and popular favour has ebbed and flowed at intervals, a genera- 
 tion of Englishmen has recreated itself with athletic sports in 
 the same shape. The system of sports which had its growth in 
 England has been successfully transplanted not only to Canada, 
 Australia, and other British colonies, but to the United States ; 
 and it is now no rare event to find Englishmen, Irishmen, 
 Scotchmen, Americans, and colonists competing together in the 
 championship meetings of the Old Country.
 
 54 ATHLETICS 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A MODERN CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING. 
 
 In the foregoing chapter we have shown how the pastimes 
 of running, leaping, and hurhng of weights, which have 
 ahvays been followed by Englishmen as a means of amusement 
 and for the display of rivalry, began rather more than a quarter 
 of a century ago to be developed into a systematic sport, and 
 have come at the present time to be considered, like racing and 
 cricket, as national institutions. As regards social attention, 
 athletic sports were probably at their zenith from 1870 to 1875, 
 for at that time the ' masses ' had not begun to appear as 
 amateur athletes upon the running-path. So far as wide-spread 
 popularity amongst all classes is concerned, athletics have 
 reached a height at the present time, from which they may 
 possibly fall, but which they can hardly exceed. As every 
 pastime has its day, and it is possible that another age may know 
 no more of athletic sports than the present age knows of cam- 
 buc or the quintain, it may not be out of place at the present 
 time to try to present to the uninitiated reader such a meeting 
 as may be witnessed to-day, so far as the pen can avail to de- 
 scribe a stirring scene of life and moveip.ent. Every pursuit 
 has its classic days— days which are vividly impressed upon the 
 memory of those who study the sport. One of these was the 
 Oxford and Cambridge meeting of 1876, when M. J. Brooks, 
 the Dark Blue President, jumped 6 ft. 2 ^ in. in height, when there 
 was scarcely a foot of standing room at Lillie Bridge, and over 
 1,100/. was taken from the fashionable crowd that thronged to 
 see Young Oxford compete against Young Cambridge. Another 
 classic day was the championship meeting of 1881, when 12,000 
 people went to the Amateur Championship meeting at the Aston
 
 A MODERN CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING 55 
 
 Lower Grounds, Birmingham, to see the pick of the English. 
 Irish, and Scotch athletes meet the Americans, Myers and 
 Merrill, for the English championship titles. Yet another such 
 was the championship meeting of 1886, held on July 3, at the 
 London Athletic Club grounds at Stamford Bridge — a gather- 
 ing which for more reasons than one deserves to be preserved 
 in accurate recollection. 
 
 The first event upon the programme is fixed for three 
 o'clock, and by that time some two thousand spectators have 
 assembled. About five or six hundred of these are at the lower 
 end of the ground in the open walk reserved for the ' shilling 
 public ' ; the remainder are near the stands and on the gravel 
 at the head of the ground. They have paid two shillings for 
 admission, and by a glance at them you can see that many 
 hail from the country, and that all have come for pure sport. 
 There may be, perhajDS, a hundred ladies on the ground, but 
 not more. The championship is a ' business ' meeting, and the 
 majority of the spectators know thoroughly the form of the men 
 competing, and are already discussing the chances. All open 
 betting is forbidden by the rules of the Amateur Athletic 
 Association ; but where there are sporting men, some will have 
 their fancy, and betting there will be, but for small and often 
 trifling amounts, and almost entirely between friend and friend. 
 The day is a perfect day for athletics, very warm, so that men's 
 muscles are supple and without a trace of stiffness, and with a 
 slight breeze blowing up towards the stands, so that the times of 
 the runners in the sprint races and hurdles are sure to be fast. 
 
 And now, before the runners come out, let us take a 
 glance at the centre of the ground. On a large table facing 
 the grand stand, but within the railings, are set out the hand- 
 some silver challenge cups, which each winner holds for the 
 year of his championship only, but of which he can never 
 obtain the absolute possession. Between the cups as they 
 stand on the table are spread the gold, silver, and bronze 
 medals of the Association. Each winner is to receive a small 
 gold championship medal, which, let us hope, will remain an 
 heirloom in his family. The second man in each race has a
 
 S6 ATHLETICS 
 
 silver medal to keep. The bronze medals are for a different 
 purpose, and may be regarded more as certificates of merit 
 than as prizes. In most of the competitions, when a man is 
 placed neither first nor second, but has done a performance 
 which is of championship merit — for instance, has finished 
 his half-mile under 2 min. 2 sec, or his mile under 4 min. 
 30 sec. — he is awarded the 'standard' medal.' No standard 
 medals are given for the hundred yards or hurdle races, from 
 the difficulty of satisfactorily fixing a standard and timing men 
 to see whether they are within the standard time. Close by 
 the winning post are gathered the reporters and the ofificials, 
 while the rest of the greensward enclosed by the railings and 
 cinder track is bare ; for the orders are strict that none but the 
 recognised representatives of leading papers and the ofificials 
 are to be allowed inside the enclosure. There are about a 
 dozen reporters, therefore, inside the track with the officials. 
 The judges, who have in athletics, as well as in all other work, 
 arduous and delicate work, are all tried men. The first on the 
 list is A. J. Puttick, an old runner of the London Athletic 
 Club, whose gigantic form is always to be seen at a gathering 
 at Stamford Bridge, sometimes, as now, in a frock coat and 
 glossy hat, and at others in that quaint sesthetico-athletic garb 
 which marks his double character of amateur athlete and 
 amateur violoncellist. Close by him is ' Jack ' Reay, who a few 
 years ago was champion hurdler, and the best flat race runner 
 in the Civil Service. These two, together with G. P. Rogers, 
 the Secretary of the London Athletic Club, and C. H. Mason, 
 of the same club, once amateur champion at a mile and ten 
 miles, are four of the men who have led the athletic movement 
 in the metropolis for the last dozen years, and are, perhaps, 
 the four best judges in London. The two last named are both 
 on the ground to-day as members of the committee, but are 
 not judging. The two other judges are E. B. Holmes, one of 
 
 ' The stnndards are not the same for every year. They are fi.ved by the 
 championship committee of the A. A. A. for each year, and the general tendency 
 has been to raise them to accord with the gradual improvement in times and 
 performances.
 
 A MODERN CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING 57 
 
 the best of the well-tried officials of the Midland district, and 
 H. Beardsell, of the Huddersfield Athletic and Cricket Club, 
 whose sound sense and judgment make him as able a judge as 
 he is a debater on the councils of the Amateur Athletic Asso- 
 ciation. Besides the judges there is a referee, who has absolute 
 discretion to decide when judges differ ; but when the judges 
 are up to their work, as on this occasion, the referee's position 
 is an honourable sinecure. Then there is the starter, R. 
 Cameron, of Liverpool, well known to stand no trifling from 
 the runners. For some years the starter at these meetings 
 has been the professional ' Tom ' Wilkinson, of Sheffield, but 
 Wilkinson being otherwise engaged on this afternoon, the 
 popular voice pointed out Cameron as the best starter amongst 
 amateurs. The starter is helped by a ' marksman,' who places 
 the men on the scratch, so that the starter may not have to 
 move from the position he has once taken up, and may fire 
 his pistol when he likes. The marksman of to-day is C. V. 
 Hunter, one of the leading spirits of the Blackheath Harriers' 
 Club, who is to be seen upon every Saturday afternoon officiat- 
 ing in some capacity at an athletic meeting. The remaining 
 officials are the timekeepers — three in number— for in these 
 days of ' record-breaking ' there must be no doubt about times. 
 After each race the three are to compare their watches and 
 then announce the official times. All have ' fly-back ' stop 
 watches marking the division of the second into fifths. If all 
 agree upon one time that is the official time ; if all three differ, 
 the middle time is given ; if one watch differ from the other 
 two, the ' verdict of the majority ' stands as the official time. 
 Besides the official timekeepers, there is another timekeeper, 
 who, with the assistance of a ' standard judge,' decides who 
 have got within the standard times. The 'standard time- 
 keeper ' stands at the elbow of the ' standard judge,' and when, 
 as for instance, in the first race, the half-mile, 2 min. 2 sec. has 
 been reached, the timekeeper, keeping his eye upon the watch, 
 says ' Now,' and the judge, with his eyes fixed on the line, sees 
 what runners have got within the standard, and will win the
 
 58 ATHLETICS 
 
 ' standard medal.' Last, but not least, are the two ' clerks of 
 the course,' whose business it is to call out the names of the 
 runners in the dressing-rooms, and see that they come out 
 upon the course up to time. In a club meeting, where there 
 are many handicaps with large entries, the 'clerks of the 
 course ' have the hardest, as well as the most responsible, part 
 of the day's work, as if they fail, or get behindhand, the whole 
 meeting becomes demoralised. Here, there, everywhere, now on 
 the track, now in the dressing-room, now soothing the feelings 
 of this or that grumbler (for an athletic meeting is seldom 
 without some competitor or spectator with an imaginary 
 grievance), is Mr. Herbert, the energetic and courteous secre- 
 tary of the A.A.A., who has had all the burden of preparing 
 for the meeting upon his shoulders. 
 
 The first race upon the programme is the half-mile, for 
 which there were ten entries ; but five of these fail to turn up 
 at the post, Bryden and Nalder keeping themselves for the mile 
 and the others making no appearance at the meeting. And 
 here let us say that the championship meeting has since 1880 
 been absolutely open to any competitor of any station in life 
 provided he has not run for money or run against a professional 
 in public ; so that the old ' gentleman-amateur ' who enters for 
 a championship knows that he may have to run a mile against 
 a postman or put the weight against a blacksmith. The five 
 starters for the half-mile are Haines, a countryman from 
 Faringdon, in Berkshire, who runs gamely, but with a stiff, awk- 
 ward action at the hips, which must waste his strength. Then 
 there are the two crack Londoners, both members of the South 
 London Harriers' Club, E. D. Robinson and Stuart Howard, 
 of whom the latter was for some time thought the coming 
 champion until he w-as beaten by Robinson in a level half-mile 
 at the Croydon sports. Robinson is a tall bony-looking athlete, 
 with a tremendous and rather slouching stride, which always in- 
 duces the spectator to think that he is going more slowly than is 
 actually the case. Stuart Howard has decidedly a more taking 
 style than his club-mate, as he runs with his chest thrown back
 
 A MODERX CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING 59 
 
 and erect, and his legs shooting straight out ; but a high action 
 is often more taking than successful. The field is made up with 
 two other Londoners, J. A. P. Clarke and Bessell, neither of 
 whom is much in the hunt to-day, though Clarke has done 
 some fine times at a mile. When the pistol fires Haines dashes 
 off with the lead at a hot pace but with laboured action ; 
 Robinson hanging close behind him. The first lap (half the 
 distance) is completed in 55?- sec, Haines moving by this 
 time with greater effort than ever. When another hundred yards 
 are passed, however, Robinson spurts by him, and going up the 
 back stretch seems to have the race at his mercy. Meanwhile 
 Howard is creeping up, gets to Haines' shoulder at the top of 
 the ground, and when the three enter the straight, 120 yards 
 from home, Robinson is half a dozen yards in front of the 
 other pair. Howard shoots away from Haines in pursuit of 
 the leader and gains slowly upon him, but Robinson, who is 
 clearly tiring, can still keep his long stride, which brings him 
 home a couple of yards in front of Howard in i min. 59 sec. 
 A fine race and a fine performance is the opinion, for both 
 men are clean run out, and to beat 2 min. is what only some 
 eight or ten amateurs have ever been able to do. Next 
 come the heats of the 100 yards race. Ever since 1868 at the 
 championship meeting the track has been roped off with iron 
 posts and cords, so that each runner may have a clear course 
 to himself. Just now sprinting is watched with peculiar in- 
 terest, as there are four runners on the path, Cowie, Ritchie,. 
 Wood, and the new celebrity Wharton, of each of whom his 
 friends aver that he is ' the fastest man who ever put on a 
 shoe.' Cowie, for the three last years champion at this dis- 
 tance, has unfortunately broken down in training by a sinew 
 giving way, to the intense disappointment of the public, who, 
 however, are looking forward to seeing Wharton, of Darling- 
 ton, who is a ' coloured gentleman.' The first heat, with 
 Cowie absent, attracts little attention, and is won by Shaw, of 
 Hereford. In the next heat Ritchie, the Bradford crack ; Wood, 
 who trains on his farm in Norfolk ; Levick, a speedy little
 
 6o ATHLETICS 
 
 Londoner, and Peter James, from Sydney, New South Wales, 
 are the competitors. Ritchie gets away a trifle sharper than 
 Wood, and when both are moving the Yorkshireman is half a 
 yard ahead. With this distance between them they rush over the 
 hundred, and Ritchie wins by a short head in lo^ sec, Levick 
 being outpaced, and the colonial nowhere. Both Ritchie and 
 Wood are well built for sprinting : the former is of middle height, 
 has a tremendous chest, bull-head and large thighs. Wood is 
 almost a giant, being heavily built all over, has a 40-inch chest 
 and scales over twelve stone. The third heat is known to be 
 a moral for Wharton, but there is intense curiosity to see him 
 move. When at the post with Bassett, of Norwood, Nicholas, 
 •of Monmouth, and a IvOndoner, C. S. Colman, he is seen to 
 shape well, standing hke a rock with his feet close together. 
 At the crack of the pistol he is off like lightning, running in a 
 wondrous fashion. Sprinting of many kinds has been seen : 
 •some sprint bent forward, some with the head and shoulders 
 thrown back, but here is a man running away from his field 
 with body bent forward and running almost on the flat of his 
 foot. There is short time for wonder, however, as Wharton is 
 half a dozen yards in front of Bassett when he bursts the 
 worsted— for a worsted stretched between the posts breast-high 
 has long since replaced the old-fashioned tape at athletic 
 •meetings. There is a hush in the crowd, while the three time- 
 keepers put their heads together ; for it is seen that the winner 
 has done a fine performance. All three watches agree in 
 •marking 10 sec. or 'level-time,' and when the telegraph 
 board shows the figures a cheer bursts from the crowd, for at 
 last after years of struggling and disputing a genuine ' level- 
 time ' performance has been accomplished. Half an hour 
 later Wharton comes out for the final to meet Shaw, Ritchie, 
 ^Vood, and Bassett (the last two of whom as * seconds' in the 
 two fastest heats run again), and he is once more greeted with 
 a cheer. In the final Wharton is not off so fast, and at ten yards 
 Wood and Ritchie are in front of him ; then the foreigner 
 •rushes ahead and is leading by two yards twenty yards from 
 home. This time, however, he appears to tire a little — and no
 
 A MODERN CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING 6r 
 
 wonder, for sprinting is a violent effort and leaves the bones and 
 muscles aching ; Wood and Ritchie close on him a little, and 
 Wharton wins by a good yard, with Wood this time a foot in 
 front of Ritchie. The time again is lo sec, ' level time ' twice 
 in an afternoon — a marvel indeed ! 
 
 Meanwhile between the heats and final of the hundred a 
 gigantic Irishman, J. S. Mitchell, of the Gaelic Athletic Club, 
 from Emly, County Limerick, has won the hammer throwing (a 
 1 6 lb. hammer, four feet long, thrown from a 7 ft. circle), with a 
 throw of no ft. 4 in., his opponent, J. D. Gruer, of the London 
 Scottish R.V., making but a poor show this year; and the two 
 heats of the 120 yards hurdle race have been run off. In the 
 first, C. F. Daft, of the Notts Forest Football Club, and S. Joyce, 
 of the Cambridge U.A.C., are first and second, while in the 
 other heat (from which Croome, the Oxonian, who won the 
 Inter-'Varsity Hurdles, is an absentee), G. B. Shaw,' of the 
 Ealing Harriers, and S. O. Purves, another Cantab, fill the 
 first two places. Then comes the pole jump, in which F. G. F. 
 Thompson, of the L.A.C., fails at ro ft., and Tom Ray, of 
 Ulversion (who so far has never been beaten at this sport, 
 and holds the present record of 11 ft. 4^- in.),- wins his fifth 
 championship with a leap of 1 1 ft. A marvellous jumper is Ray. 
 He is a tall, rather heavy man, of fine proportions. Grasping 
 the pole about its middle, he takes his leap, and when the 
 pole is perpendicular, poises it almost at a standstill, raises 
 himself clear up it by sheer force of arm, and shoots himself 
 over the bar. Sometimes he poises the pole too long, and the 
 present writer can once recollect, when he was acting as one 
 of the judges at the Northern Counties Championship, seeing 
 
 ' Shaw left England for New Zealand, where he won the championship, and 
 returned to England again, and during the years 1891, 1892 and 1893 was the 
 best English hurdler. In the latter year he once covered the usual distance 
 well inside 16 sec. In 1891 and 1892 he was beaten in the championship by 
 D. D. Bulger, a very speedy Irishman. In 1892 he was only beaten by a few 
 inches in 16 sec, the third man, Batger, the New- Zealand champion, being only 
 a foot behind Shaw. Never did three such good hurdlers meet in one race 
 before, and of the three I think Godfrey Shaw was the best upon his best day. 
 
 ^ Ray was beaten at Southport on June 2, 1888, by E. L. Stones, who 
 jumped n ft. 7 in. The pair tied for the championship in 1888, but in 1889 
 Stones beat Ray.
 
 62 ATHLETICS 
 
 the pole and jumper, after a moment of suspense, fall (to his 
 great relief) upon the other judge. Then comes the final heat 
 of the hurdle race. Daft, last year's champion, and Joyce, 
 the Cantab, have another rattling race. For the first eight 
 hurdles they rise together ; at the ninth Daft has the slightest 
 possible advantage, and as neither man is rising an inch too high, 
 or thus wasting an ounce of strength, it is evident that the 'run 
 in ' will decide the race. Over the tenth hurdle Daft again has 
 a shade of advantage, and, running on faster, wins by a yard 
 in sixteen seconds, another ' record '—the second during the 
 afternoon. Next comes the quarter-rnile race— won last year 
 by Myers, the flying American, but by this time Myers, like 
 W. G. George, another amateur champion, has joined the pro- 
 fessional ranks. There is little chance of another record being 
 done in this event, for since first Myers in America cut into the 
 old record of 505- (done both by Colbeck in 1868 and J, Shear- 
 man in 1877), he has more than once beaten 49 seconds, and 
 done times which probably no man, either professional or 
 amateur, has ever touched. The race this year is set down for 
 two heats, but as Cowie is hors de combat^ and four others do 
 not put in an appearance, the six runners are sent off in one 
 heat. This is lucky for Wood, as he has two 'hundreds' 
 •out of him, while Lyle Smith, the Civil Service ' crack,' comes 
 up fresh for this race. The other four starters are Wharton, 
 whose phenomenal performance in the sprint makes people 
 wonder what he is going to do in the quarter ; E. D. Robinson, 
 who is nearly as good at this distance as at a half-mile ; ^V. 
 Lock, of Windsor, and Norman Jones, who are good men, but 
 hardly good enough for their company. When the pistol fired 
 for a moment everyone held his breath, for Wharton was seen 
 to be flying off almost at top speed with the same extraordinary 
 flat-footed action. Wood, who knew by experience how fast 
 his opponent could travel, was determined not to let him get 
 away, and so the pair ran away from their field down the 
 long straight of nearly 300 yards, upon which the first part of 
 the quarter is run at Stamford Bridge. But when a little more
 
 A MODERN CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING 63 
 
 than 300 yards had been run it was evident that Wharton had 
 shot his bolt ; he died away and stopped, and Wood was left 
 a hundred yards from home with a ten-yard lead ; but upon him, 
 100, it was evident that the pace had told, and it seemed doubt- 
 ful whether he could last to the end. Slowly but surely Lyle 
 Smith and Robinson, who were coming up behind, gained on 
 the leader, and nothing but pluck and condition brought Wood 
 in two yards in front of Smith, a yard behind whom was 
 Robinson, the winner's time being 49I sec. — a great time, for 
 there are but few men like Myers, and no one until he showed 
 the way ever got within 50 seconds. Here, as is always the 
 case, the fast time was due to the pace-maker, as, besides the 
 first three, Jones and Lock finished within the standard of 
 52 sec. ; and five men in one race finishing within 52 sec. is 
 almost a phenomenon. 
 
 The quarter being over, the mile, which is usually considered 
 ihe race of the day, succeeded. For this there are eight entries, 
 of whom seven are going to the post, and certainly they are a good 
 representative lot. T. R. Bryden, of the Clapham Rovers F.C., 
 was looked upon early in the season as a probable champion as 
 soon as last year's champion. Snook, of Shrewsbury, was adjudged 
 by the Amateur Athletic Association to have forfeited his claim 
 to rank as an amateur. Then there is F. J. Cross, the Inter- 
 'Varsity runner, who in the spring showed himself good for 
 4 min. 27 sec. on any day. Haines, of Faringdon, is also 
 having another try for a championship at another distance, 
 and there is the dark horse from the West Country, T. B. 
 Nalder, of Bristol ; it is rumoured, indeed, that a good many 
 West countrymen have come up to put their money upon him. 
 Besides these, Mabey, of the South London Harriers, has 
 shown some good form of late, and Hill and Leaver, of the 
 same club, are also starters. The race itself, however, is hardly 
 in doubt from the start. Nalder gets off briskly with a lead, 
 and is followed by Haines, Cross, and Bryden. The West 
 countryman is a small thick-set man, with a fine free action 
 and a good workmanlike style, running without effort, and
 
 64 ATHLETICS 
 
 with a long springy stride. For half a mile the positions are 
 unaltered, but in the third lap Cross, who looks a bit heavier 
 and rather less fit than he was at Lillie Bridge in the spring, 
 takes the lead and keeps it until three laps have been com- 
 pleted. Beginning the last lap Nalder spurts to the front 
 again in easy fashion, evidently having the race at his mercy ; 
 and, although Cross,' who is a tall and strong youngster, chivies 
 him gamely up the back stretch, Nalder gradually gets further 
 away from his taller rival, and, coming down the straight 
 looking very fresh, wins easily by twelve yards in 4 min. 
 25I sec. — a fine performance, as it is evident that he had a bit 
 in hand if wanted. Cross, finishing gamely, just stalls off Bryden 
 at the end, and beats him by two yards for second place, both 
 Bryden and Mabey, who finishes fourth, beating 4 min. 30 sec, 
 and gaining the standard medal. Four men inside ' four-thirty ' 
 is rarely to be seen, and when it was done ten years ago by 
 Slade, H. A. Bryden, L. U. Burt, and T. R. Hewitt, it was 
 thought that such a feat would never be repeated. However, 
 that was at the time when 4 min. 26|- sec. was the record, and 
 not 4 min. i8| sec, as it is now. Then the next hour is taken 
 up witii the Seven Miles Walking Race. Walking races are 
 hardly so satisfactory now as ten years ago, for judges are 
 lenient and walkers aspire to fast times ; consequently most 
 of the walking seen on the running-path is of shifty character, 
 and, if not absolutely a run, is more like a shuffle than a fair 
 heel-and-toe walk. The walking race to-day is also to be marked 
 with an unfortunate incident. C. W V. Clarke, of Reading, 
 starts at a great pace, when he unfortunately loses a shoe, and 
 Jervis, of Liverpool, a very doubtful goer, leads at the end of a 
 mile, which is finished in 7 min. 15 sec. At two miles Clarke 
 has caught Jervis again (14 min. 57:^ sec), and at three miles 
 (22 min. 59 1 sec.) the pair are still together. Before the fourth 
 
 1 Cross afterwards developed into the best niiler of his day, and was, when 
 fit, the best half-iniler 1 ever saw run. He won the Inter-'Varsity mile four 
 >cars ninning.was champion both at the Mile and Half-mile in 1887, and at 
 Oxford, in March 1S88, covered the half-mile in i min. 543 sec, still the best 
 OH recoid.
 
 A MODERN CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING 65 
 
 inile is reached, however, Clarke has shaken off Jervis, and as 
 the latter has been cautioned by the judges for moving unfairly, 
 he decides to leave the course. Clarke, however, begins to go 
 very queerly, and finally, just before the fifth mile, staggers 
 and falls from sunstroke, and has to be carried off the course. 
 As most of the other competitors have by this time retired, 
 J. H. Jullie, who is still plodding along in the rear, is left, 
 by the retirement of Clarke and Jervis, with the lead, and he 
 •eventually carries off the race in the poor time of 58 min. 
 5oi sec. For the High Jump, which followed, Ray, the pole 
 jumper, E. J. Walsh, Nuttall and Purves, two old Cambridge 
 blues, and Rowdon, from Teignmouth, in Devonshire, are the 
 competitors. They jump off turf over a lath placed between 
 upright posts, and not off cinders, as is sometimes done at 
 sports, and as is better on wet days when the grass is slippery. 
 The Devonshire man, a slim, boyish-looking athlete, takes but 
 -a short run and then goes straight over the bar. He easily 
 beats his opponents, and wins with 5 ft. 11^ in., the exact 
 height being afterwards measured from the centre of the lath 
 to the ground. The Weight Putting takes but a short time, 
 There are two competitors, and Mitchell, who won the Hammer 
 Throwing, wins the other heavy weight competition with a 
 'put' of 38 ft. 2 in. The weight (16 lbs.) is 'put' from the 
 shoulder, the men being placed in a seven-feet square of cinder, 
 marked off by boards projecting an inch from the ground. 
 Within that square they can swing their bodies as they 
 like, but if they ' follow ' their throw outside the charmed 
 square the judge cries 'No throw,' and no measurement is 
 taken. The Long Jump is also a moral for one jumper — 
 J. Purcell, of Dublin, last year's champion. The men have a 
 long run of fifty yards or so (if they like to run so far) over 
 cinder, and the 'take off' is from a board about an inch wide 
 fixed level in the ground. Beyond the board the ground is 
 hollowed out, so that if they over-run the mark the jump is 
 sure to be abortive. It requires, however, much skill and 
 practice not to ' take off' before the mark. Purcell, who in 
 
 F
 
 66 ATHLETICS 
 
 his six tries four times gets over 22 ft., wins with 22 ft. 4 in.^ 
 E. Horwood, of Brackley, being second with 21 ft. 7^ in. 
 
 These last three events have been going on in the centre 
 of the ground, while the long walking race is being held on 
 the track. Next comes the Steeplechase, an event which did 
 not appear in the championship programme until 1879. Two 
 countrymen — Harrison from Reading, and Dudman from 
 Basingstoke— oppose Painter, the best representative of the 
 metropolis. There are four circuits, over hurdles, mounds, and 
 a water-jump, to complete the two miles. This contest also 
 introduced a surprise, as Dudman and Painter, making a race be- 
 tween them, ran each other off their legs 600 yards from home ; 
 and Harrison, who had seemed out of it, sailed by them as if 
 standing still, and won anyhow. The last race of the day, how- 
 ever, produced another fine performance. Six of the best metro- 
 politan cross-country runners had to meet E. D. Rogers, of 
 Portsmouth, a runner who was little known until he made a good 
 show in the Southern Counties Cross-Country Championship 
 at Sandown Park in the early spring. Rogers is a stiff, ungainly 
 runner, but apparently with tremendous strength ; and, taking 
 the lead from the start, he lurched over the ground at a great 
 pace, completing his first mile in 4 min. 50^ sec. and the second 
 in 9 min. 50^ sec, in itself a very fine performance. By this 
 time he had the race at his mercy, having run W. H. Coad — the 
 best Londoner — off his legs. In the third mile, in 15 min. 
 25-I sec, Rogers did httle more than keep his lead, and he 
 finally won with great ease in 21 min. li sec, not in itself a 
 first-class performance, but the winner's two miles showed of 
 what stuff he was made. So ended a great day's racing ; and 
 as the winners came up to receive their prizes it was only 
 natural that most of them should have received a hearty 
 welcome from the crowd. 
 
 The day's sport was remarkable in itself for more than one 
 reason. For one thing, the average of merit shown by the winners 
 was greater than had ever been seen before at a single meeting. 
 The Hundred in 10 seconds : the Hurdles in 16 seconds : the
 
 A MODERN CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING 67 
 
 Quarter in 49|- seconds ; the Half in i min. 59 sec. ; the Mile 
 in 4 min. 25^ sec. : no such performances had ever before been 
 done together upon one day by amateurs. But the meeting was 
 also significant for another reason, though whether for good or evil 
 to the sport it is hard to say. In the early days of the champion- 
 ship sports, from 1866 onwards, the majority of the events were 
 carried off by the University athletes ; and for the first ten 
 years the struggle was between the 'Varsity runners and the old 
 Public School men, the gentlemen amateurs from London and 
 elsewhere who came forward to try conclusions with the Inter- 
 'Varsity runners. Of later years, since the championship in 
 1880 was altered from the spring to the summer, fewer of 
 the 'Varsity runners have competed, partly, no doubt, because 
 it is awkward to train in the summer terms at Oxford or Cam- 
 bridge, but partly, too, from the fact that the 'Varsity cracks 
 are often not good enough to meet the highly trained and 
 seasoned athletes who are the pick ol the amateurs of the 
 present day. At the championship of 1886 it became clear 
 that the supremacy of the path had passed away for the present 
 from the metropohtan to the provincial runners. The difference 
 between the old style of London athlete, or the 'Varsity athlete, 
 and the modern athlete from the provinces is not one of locality 
 nor yet of degree ; it is a difference of class, of which we shall 
 have to speak again ; but the Stamford Bridge championship 
 of 1886 shows that, until another development takes place, 
 three-quarters of our amateur champions will be drawn from 
 the masses.
 
 68 ATHLETICS 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS. 
 
 All must agree that running, walking, and leaping are the most 
 simple and genuine of all competitions. When a Derby is 
 won it is always a point for argument whether the greater credit 
 is due to the horse or to the jockey ; and when Cambridge is 
 badly beaten over the Putney course there is always the critic 
 to say that the Oxford weights were better arranged, that erratic 
 steering threw away the race, or that the losers were under- 
 boated. The athlete who wins a big race owes nothing to his 
 apparatus, and his success can only be due to his own excellence 
 or his opponent's shortcomings. And even if running be more 
 unsociable than rowing, it has the counterbalancing advantage 
 for the individual that his success cannot possibly be ascribed 
 to others. In every eight on the river there is said to be one 
 duffer, and every one of the eight can be certain that someone 
 considers him to be the man. In athletics a 'duffer' can only 
 win by the help of a handicap ; the cause of his success is 
 then evident, and if he gets the prize he takes little credit with 
 it. When the athlete has got a pair of the best shoes, a zephyr, 
 and a pair of silk or merino drawers (called by courtesy 
 knickerbockers) just 7iot coming down to the knee, so as to 
 leave that useful portion of the leg free, he has got all the stock- 
 in-trade required to win half-a-dozen championships. The 
 science of athletics, then, consists in the scientific use of the 
 limbs ; the tools of the athlete's trade are the thews and muscles 
 of his own body, which God has made and man cannot re- 
 fashion. Of the athlete, therefore, it can be said, more than of
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 
 
 69 
 
 any other sportsman, nascitur non Jit. Much, no doubt, can 
 be done by training and practice, but no amount of either 
 can make a man with small thighs a sprinter, or a man with 
 a short ' fore leg,' that is leg between knee and ankle, a high 
 jumper. To acquire excellence in these branches of sport 
 demands knowledge of how to utilise the natural advantages of 
 the body. Many men possessed of great natural excellences 
 have, by a careful system of self-exhaustion, neutralised their 
 
 Ready 10 start. 
 
 gifts ; some others have also within our knowledge appeared 
 almost to have acquired fine form from mere practice ; but 
 these latter are very rare examples. Of runners and the art 
 of running — in so far as there is an art in running — we propose 
 in the ensuing pages to offer some reflections and reminiscences, 
 without actually going so far as to elaborate an actual manual 
 of training. Of books on training there are already numbers, 
 more or less valuable and more or less harmful, but books on
 
 ^O ATHLETICS 
 
 training must always tend to fail in proportion as they are 
 elaborate, because the end to be acquired is perfectly simple — 
 to become hard and muscular, and at the same time to be in 
 perfect and robust health, and sound in every organ, and no 
 rigid rules can possibly suit all persons alike. Just as every 
 man over thirty should, it is said, be his own doctor, so every 
 man who has been a couple of seasons ' on the path ' should 
 be able to train himself. At the same time there are certain 
 general rules which help a man to attain his best form, and 
 these we shall not fail to enumerate. 
 
 First of all, then, before a man begins to train for any 
 event of any kind he should have a good substratum of health 
 and strength to start upon. If the would-be athlete is very 
 badly out of condition, and fat and flabby from laziness and 
 high living, it will do him no harm to take a Turkish bath to 
 start with. Some smart five-mile walks followed by a good 
 rubbing down with a rough towel on returning will soon make 
 him fit to begin his training, if he has in the meantime kept 
 regular hours and lived on a modicum of good healthy food of 
 the kind to which he is usually accustomed. Without this 
 preliminary care, not only will the runner get stiff and jaded by 
 beginning violent exercise too quickly, but he will incur the 
 greatest possible chance of straining or snapping a muscle, and 
 thus placing himself hors de combat for a season. Granting, 
 however, that our novice is, from the effects of football, walk- 
 ing, tennis, or cricket, in fair ordinary condition, we w'ill follow 
 his course through the different branches of athletics. And 
 first as to sprinting. 
 
 Sprinting, or Spkint-running, is the technical name given 
 to the running of those short distances over which a man can 
 spurt or ' sprint ' at top speed without a break. The rough- 
 and-ready experience of the last generation, which almost 
 stereotyped the distances and conditions of racing, decided 
 that 300 yards was the limit of sprinting distance, and that the 
 next distance for racing purposes — the quarter of a mile — was 
 something sui generis, and distinct from sprinting. Probably
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 71 
 
 for the generality of runners the old and popular division of 
 distance was right, but those who saw Myers and Phillips race 
 for the English championship at Aston in 1S81, or saw the 
 American crack win his quarter-mile handicap at Lillie Bridge 
 in 1884, when he ran round his field and came in a winner in 
 48 1 seconds, can hardly help arriving at the conclusion that 
 witli some phenomenal runners a quarter is only a sprint ' long 
 ■drawn out' But whatever be the limit of sprinting powers, 
 sprint-running, which is always the most popular of all kinds 
 of athletic sports with the public, is certainly something entirely 
 different both in the action and in the essentials of success 
 to the running over longer distances. In sprinting, the front 
 muscles of the thigh, which bring the leg forward, are the most 
 important factors for speed, as it is on the rapid repetition of 
 the stride that the main result depends ; in running of longer 
 distances the back muscles of the thigh, which effect the pro- 
 pulsion, bear the chief strain. Both sets of muscles are of 
 course used in every race, but the longer the distance the less 
 important the front muscles become. And here we may per- 
 haps give vent to a reflection which must often occur to those 
 who consider a meeting of foot-races far superior in point of 
 interest to a set of cycling matches. At a cycling meeting the 
 same man who wins the mile race will probably win the five 
 or ten mile races, and may even, like H. L. Cortis during his 
 time, hold all the records from one to fifty miles. The reason 
 is simply that, although there are differences of degree in stay- 
 ing powers with cyclists, the same muscles are used for every 
 race, while between the sprinter and the miler there is a differ- 
 ence not of degree but of kind. At a meeting of foot-races 
 there is an infinite variety of different kinds of excellence. It 
 is common for a runner to manage two distances well ; he may 
 be able, like F. T. Elborough or Colbeck, to run any distance 
 between 100 yards and half-a-mile, but the man who can beat 
 his compeers at every distance has not yet been found, and is not 
 likely to be. 
 
 But to return to our subject of sprinting. The rapidity of
 
 ?i A THLETICS 
 
 motion, we have said, is derived from the front muscles of the 
 thigh. The push comes from the back muscles of the thigh 
 and from the small of the back. To convey to an uninitiated 
 reader a notion of what real sprinting includes, he may be 
 reminded that in longer races a man who wishes to pass an. 
 antagonist makes a rush or spurt for a few strides. Sprinting con- 
 sists in a continued rush or effort at high pressure, and as such 
 is far more exhausting than it seems. The foregoing reflections- 
 may serve to explain in some measure the many surprises and 
 anomalies that a consideration of sprinters and sprinting sug- 
 gests. Sprinting ability consists in the capacity to make a 
 violent effort in the way of speed. It is therefore not a paradox 
 to say that it requires as much cultivation as a capacity for any 
 other kind of athletic sport. You may find the capacity in 
 men who appear of all shapes and sizes to a superficial observer. 
 Certainly your sprinter may be tall or short, may be of any 
 weight up to thirteen stone, though he is rarely a feather weight. 
 He is more often inclined to be fleshy than to be thin, and may 
 be of any height, though he rarely is over six feet. Of some 
 famous sprinters the unspoken reflection of many a spectator 
 must have been, ' Well, you are the last man I should ever 
 have thought could run fast.' When Junker, the Russian, who- 
 won the Hundred Yards Championship in 1878, first appeared 
 at an athletic meeting, a patriotic and jocose journalist described 
 him as a ' bulky foreigner.' Another well-known sprinter, also 
 a champion at the same distance, was advised by a competent 
 authority to try some other distance, as he was too fat to run 
 fast. Another curious thing about sprinting is the varieties of 
 action in which good performers indulge. Junker sprinted as 
 if he were badly bandy-legged, although we never knew that 
 he was so. Lockton, of the L.A.C., who in his day was, we 
 think, even faster than Junker, ran in the style most affected 
 by professional pedestrians, with his body low and well for- 
 ward. W. P. Phillips, who managed to beat Lockton for the 
 chami)ion.shiii in 1880, ran almost erect, looking even more 
 than his full height of six feet. Trepplin, one of the fastest of 
 the many fast sprinters who have hailed from the Universities,
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 12, 
 
 was a vision of whirling arms and legs. Junker was flat- 
 footed and erect ; Wharton, the champion of 1886, is flat- 
 footed, yet manages somehow to bend his body far forward as 
 well. Yet many and various as are the forms which sprinting 
 ability takes, there are one or two signs by which a sprinter can 
 be recognised. Whether his legs be short or long, he has large 
 muscular thighs and a broad back. A sprinter, too, to use a 
 cant phrase of pedestrianism, ' strips big ' — i.e. looks bigger 
 stripped than he does in his clothes ; or, in other words, is 
 a heavier man than he appears to be in his ordinary life. 
 
 But, before we discuss the best forms of sprinting and its ex- 
 ponents, we must say something of the practice and exercise 
 which a sprinter should take in order to reach his best form. 
 The best practice for a 100 or 120 yards race is to have con- 
 tinual bursts of thirty yards or so with another man, who is about 
 as good or rather better than yourself. If practising with a 
 man who is inferior, you should give him a short start in these 
 ' spins ' and catch him as soon as you can. Such practice both 
 helps a man to get into his running quickly and ' pulls him out,' 
 to use a trainer's expression; that is, the striving to keep pace 
 with a better man, or to catch a man in front whom you can catch, 
 involuntarily forces a man to do a little better than his previous 
 best if he is capable of it. A man should never practise 
 sprinting alone; he becomes sluggish, and can never really tell 
 whether he is doing well or ill. If he is simply training for a 
 100 or a 120 yards race, after half-a-dozen of these spins he 
 should take a few minutes' rest and then run the full distance, or 
 at any rate a burst of seventy or eighty yards, before he goes 
 in to have a rub down and resume his clothes. If he is training 
 for 220, 250, or 300 yards he must, of course, accustom him- 
 self to longer trials; but in general, even for the longest 
 of these distances, it is quite enough to run 200 yards at full 
 speed. In fact, as a general rule, for all practice it may be laid 
 down that a man should very rarely run a trial for more than 
 two thirds of the distance for which he is training. In writing 
 this we know that to many trainers such an opinion will be con- 
 sidered a rank heresy ; but that it is a sound rule, at any rate
 
 74 ATHLETICS 
 
 to amateurs who have other daily avocations to attend to, which 
 must occasion more or less fatigue, is our firm conviction. The 
 great point in every race, and especially in a sprint or in a 
 quarter of a mile, is to come to the scratch fresh. Our experi- 
 ence of amateurs is that two out of three of them come to the 
 scratch in a big race a little bit overdrawn; but of this we shall 
 have something more to say anon. 
 
 In the short sprints the start is, of course, almost half the 
 battle, and a man should be continually practising a start and 
 a ten-yards run — and very trying to the back the performance 
 is. It is, of course, advisable to get accustomed to start from a 
 pistol, but if there is no friend handy to fire a pistol or say * Go ' 
 without any warning, it is not a bad device to fling a stone over 
 one's head in the air and start as soon as it is heard to fall to the 
 ground. Some men we have known to improve a yard or even 
 two by frequent practising at starts, and most hundred-yard 
 races are lost or won by less than a yard. We need, perhaps, 
 hardly describe the right attitude of the body for a start in these 
 days when everyone has seen an athletic meeting. The runner 
 should be on his toes, with the right foot seven or eight inches 
 behind the left foot, which is on the line, and so that the chest 
 is almost parallel to the line and bent slightly forward. Some 
 in starting stretch their right arm forward so as to bring the 
 chest completely straight to the line, but this is not adopted by 
 all, and if overdone is, we think, a great mistake. The body 
 should be balanced on the toes with the weight pressing slightly 
 upon the right or rear foot, so that a good kick may be obtained 
 from it with the slightest possible delay when the pistol-shot is 
 heard. 
 
 A large number of the best runners now start bending 
 forward with their fingers resting upon the ground. When the 
 pistol is fired they begin to run and raise themselves 
 .simultaneously. An additional impetus is said to be gained 
 from the push from the fingers and the recovery to the 
 perpendicular. There can be no doubt of the success of the 
 method with many of its exponents. The new method of 
 starting originated, we believe, in .■\mer:ca, and the first amateur
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 
 
 75 
 
 \\\\o practised it with any success in England was T. L. Nicholas 
 of Monmouth, the amateur champion quarter-miler of 1890. 
 He soon found many imitators, and at first the exponents of the 
 new style were allowed to start with their front foot upon the 
 starting line and their hands touching the ground in front of it, 
 but as this was found to give a very great advantage over those 
 
 Starting— Old Style 
 who started erect with their foot upon the line, the rule was 
 changed, and the starters of the new style have now to put 
 their fingers upon the starting line and have their feet and 
 body entirely behind it. There can be little question that those 
 who can really master the new style profit by it, but there can 
 be equally little doubt that the style is less suitable to tall and
 
 76 
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 heavy men than to those who are shorter and more lissom. 
 In the two illustrations which are given in this volume the 
 exponent of the old style is E. C. Bredin, whose performances 
 are given elsewhere, who has found, after trial, that the new 
 style is not suitable to him. The second picture represents 
 H. T. Bell of the London Athletic Club, who ran second in the 
 
 Starting — New Style 
 
 Hundred Yards Championship of 1893. Bell is a shorter and 
 slighter man, and scrambles off his mark with great rapidity 
 from the new position. 
 
 Little more need be said of practising on the path for 
 sprints. It must not be forgotten, however, that the sprinter 
 wants to keep himself hard and fit during the time that all his
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 
 
 77 
 
 tacing practice consists of hard bursts for very short distances. 
 A few miles' walking during the day is always good for health, 
 but great care must be taken by the sprinter never to get stiff, 
 for he has no time during his race to run off even the slightest 
 stiffness. A trot once round the track at a moderate pace with 
 a springy action to stretch the legs is also a good thing ; but in 
 these trots the sprinter should never let himself 'get off his 
 
 .--^^^^ 
 
 i If 
 
 
 Started. 
 
 toes ' — i.e. run so that his heel touches the ground; when his heel 
 begins to come down on the ground it is a sure sign that he is 
 getting jaded, and he had better leave off and walk back to the 
 dressing-room. 
 
 The problem, therefore, which a sprinter has to solve, is how 
 to get strong and muscular without getting stiff or slow from too 
 much exercise. One aid to the solution of the problem is of a
 
 7^ A THLETICS 
 
 kind which would hardly be suspected by the uninitiated. It 
 is to have a rubber. We do not mean that the sprinter should 
 cultivate the study of whist (although we are sure that, if he is 
 sensible, he will do so), nor do we mean that he should wear a 
 golosh and use the American name for that article. A rubber is 
 a man, occasionally a friend, usually a hireling, generally one's 
 trainer, who sometimes w'ith a glove or towel, but mostly with 
 his horny hand, rubs you all over the body, but chiefly over the 
 legs and back, until you are as muscular as a gymnast and as 
 smoothed-skinned as an infant. Well can we recollect the 
 vigorous rubbings of Bob Rogers and the cast-iron hand of old 
 Harry Andrews at Lillie Bridge and the delicious glow and 
 feeling of * jumpiness ' with which we used to stride out of the 
 dressing-room after the operation was over. Well also can we 
 recollect how a kindly fellow-undergraduate, now a muscular 
 Christian, and himself, we hope, in training for a bishopric, 
 essayed to keep the present writer in training when laid up for a 
 fortnight by a sprain, by vigorous vespertinal rubbings. But 
 your amateur rubber is too perfunctory in his ministrations, and 
 cannot vie with the professional exponent of the art. 
 
 The old professional trainers were strongly prejudiced 
 against the use of cold water applied externally. A bath they 
 thought weakening and relaxing, but though we cannot alto- 
 gether agree with them in this dogma, we thoroughly concur in 
 their belief in the efficacy of the ' dry rub.' It prevents any 
 chance of stiffness, minimises the liability to catch colds, and 
 its effect in hardening the muscles can only be known by those 
 who have tried it. IMost well-advised athletes now take their 
 shower-bath first and have their rub afterwards. Some men 
 we have seen combining the maximum of rub with the minimum 
 of wash in the following manner : The rubber fills his mouth 
 with water from a glass, blows it in fine rain over a portion of 
 the victim, and then proceeds to polish that portion first with a 
 towel and then with his hand. The process may be efficacious, 
 but we never felt inclined to try it. 
 
 Although a hundred yards takes a very short time in run- 
 ning, a good many amateurs have earned a long and lasting
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 79 
 
 reputation by their performances over the distance. We have 
 heard many speak of W. M. Tennant, of Liverpool, who won the 
 championship in 1868, but to this generation of runners he is 
 but a name. A contemporary of his was E. J. Colbeck, un- 
 doubtedly the best amateur of his time, but scarcely so good at 
 100 yards as at 300 yards or a quarter of a mile. We can recol-. 
 lect Colbeck running a dead heat at Lillie Bridge in a hundred 
 yards with A. J. Baker, who won the championship in 1870, 
 and who was probably the fastest Londoner over the distance 
 until quite recent times. Colbeck was a very tall, heavy man, 
 who sprinted with his chest thrown back, and he owed his speed, 
 we think, more to his tremendous stride than to any true sprint- 
 ing capacity to make a rush. Baker was a sprinter pure and 
 simple, and, as far as we recollect, ' ran low,' in what is to our 
 mind the best and most workmanlike sprinting style, with his 
 body bent well forward. Whether a man can change his sprint- 
 ing style is, we think, rather doubtful; but it is obvious that, if the 
 chest be not thrown well forward, the stride must be shortened 
 by the drag which the weight of the trunk will put upon the 
 legs. This, we think, the pedestrian trainers must well know, as 
 nearly all, and even the mediocre, pedestrians ' run low ' when 
 sprinting. The trainers also, we think, believe in the efficacy of 
 their craft and of coaching to completely alter a man's style, for 
 we know on good authority that a Sheffield trainer came up and 
 accosted one of the London heavy-weight sprinters, whom he 
 had seen running at a Northern meeting, and told him if he 
 would learn to run a bit more forward he would beat ten seconds 
 in a month. We have, however, seen so many men get over 
 sprinting distances with all sorts of actions that we feel doubt- 
 ful about the wisdom of interfering with a man's natural action 
 as far as sprinting is concerned. As a rule, when the sprinter 
 has settled down to his practice and is improving in pace, his 
 style involuntarily begins to approximate in a greater or less 
 degree to the best model. 
 
 From the year 1869, when J. G. Wilson, Worcester Col- 
 lege, Oxford, scored his first win in the Inter-University 
 Hundred Yards, to the year 1879, when E. C. Trepplin, of
 
 8o ATHLETICS 
 
 B.N.C., Oxford, scored his last win at the same meeting, it 
 is hardly too much to say that the pick of the best amateur 
 sprinters came from Oxford and Cambridge. With Trepplin 
 the race of University sprinters seems unaccountably to have 
 reached an end, for from 1880 to the present there has been 
 no really fine sprinter at the Universities, although there have 
 been plenty of fine performers at longer distances. Of these 
 University sprinters, Wilson, who won in 1869, 1870, and 
 187 1, and secured the championship in 1869 and 187 1 (Baker 
 being the winner in 1870), was perhaps the pick of the lot. He 
 was a well-made man of medium height and weight, and ran in 
 irreproachable style with a free stride, his body slightly forward 
 and chest perfectly square. After Wilson's retirement, W. A. 
 Dawson, a Cambridge athlete who won both the Inter-Univer- 
 sity and Championship Hundred Yards, was decidedly the 
 best runner of the next year. Dawson was a shorter man than 
 Wilson, but ran in much the same style, and though a small 
 man was thick-set with a strong-looking chest and back. Of 
 the succeeding University runners, Urmson, of Oxford, a tall 
 thin man with a very long stride, who was a capable performer 
 at any distance from 100 yards to a mile (a rare phenomenon), 
 was better at a quarter-mile than a sprint. As with some others, 
 his speed came from his long stride more than from a rapid 
 repetition of the stride ; and he was an inferior man at a sprint 
 to Trepplin, the last and perhaps the best of the Oxford sprinting 
 celebrities. Trepplin, who won at the Oxford and Cambridge 
 sports in 1877, 1878, and 1879, had a contretemps TsXiho. start of 
 the Hundred Yards race at the championship meeting in 1877, 
 and declined afterwards to compete at the championship meet- 
 ing. He was over six feet in height and weighed close upon 
 thirteen stone, being big and muscular all over. His style was 
 anything but pretty, for, although he bent his body well forward 
 when sprinting, he had a great deal of ungainly arm action, and 
 until fit found it difficult to run as straight as an arrow on his 
 course, as most sprinters do naturally. Strangely also, though 
 possessed of great muscular strength, he was quite incapable of 
 staying any distance, and though he could, when trained, run 1 50
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 8i 
 
 yards in a level 15 seconds, could not rely upon himself to run 
 220 yards, and was unable to stay home in any longer sprint 
 than 150 yards. Had Trepplin competed in the championship 
 of 1878, however, he could hardly have beaten the Russian, 
 L. Junker, who was the Hundred Yards champion of that year. 
 Junker, like Trepplin, never attempted anything but the shorter 
 sprints, and was only once beaten in his brief and brilliant 
 career upon the running-path during the season of 1S77 and 
 
 1878, when in July 1877, in a level Hundred Yards race at 
 Birmingham, he ran third to J. Shearman and H. Macdougall, 
 both of whom, though sprinters of the first class, were lucky 
 enough on that occasion to meet Junker on one of his off days. 
 Junker was 5 ft. 9 in. or 5 ft. 10 in. in height, and had a very 
 stiff action, running almost on the flat of his foot ; but though 
 ungainly he was of great strength in the legs and back, and 
 to these qualities his speed was doubtless due. The story of 
 his introduction to the running-path in England is rather a 
 quaint one. On one occasion he appears to have been 
 ' chaffed ' by some business acquaintances in the City as to his 
 clumsiness and slowness. Upon this he remarked that he was 
 a good runner — a remark which was followed by a roar of 
 laughter. The Russian thereupon waxed warm and volunteered 
 lo run one of the mockers for a bottle of champagne. The 
 match was made and came off at Stamford Bridge, when 
 Junker beat his opponent, who was a fair athlete, by the 
 ' length of the street.' The result was that he joined the 
 L.A.C. After winning a few handicaps he soon found himself 
 at scratch, and able to win from that position ; and, as was 
 noticed above, was only once beaten. Unfortunately he did 
 not meet Trepplin during his year of supremacy upon the 
 path, but Bob Rogers, the ground-man of the L.A.C, who 
 trained both athletes at different times, was strongly of opinion 
 that in a match between them there would have only been one 
 in it, and that one Junker. Indeed, the opinion of Rogers was 
 that Junker would have found a more dangerous opponent 
 in C. L. Lockton, who was undoubtedly the best sprinter of 
 
 1879. Lockton had a very long career upon the path, having 
 
 G
 
 82 ATHLETICS 
 
 been something of an ' infant phenomenon.' When a school- 
 boy of fifteen he was quite able to hold his own amongst 
 good company, and was only sixteen when he won the 
 Long Jmnp championship in 1873. He soon seemed to de- 
 teriorate from overwork, but in 1875 again he cleared over 
 twenty-two feet in his school sports at Merchant Taylors', and 
 was then almost the best sprinter and hurdler in England. 
 Some unlucky accidents kept him from the path, and he was 
 not really seen at his best until 1879, when, at one of the rival 
 championship meetings, he won the Hundred Yards, Hurdles 
 and Long Jump in the same day. Lockton was, we think, the 
 most beautifully-proportioned runner we ever saw on the path, 
 and would probably have been first class at any distance he 
 chose to take up. Unfortunately he left behind him, as some 
 others have done, the reputation of being a ' fine runner but a 
 poor racer.' In practice his trainer timed him to do level time 
 over a hundred yards day after day, but on more than one occa- 
 sion he succumbed to his inferiors, notably in the champion- 
 ship of 1880, when he was beaten by a few inches by W. P. 
 Phillips and Massey. Lockton both sprinted and hurdled in a 
 very graceful and taking style, and the contrast between him 
 and Phillips when they ran together was most marked, Lockton 
 running low and Phillips perfecdy erect. For the next three 
 years (1880, 1881 and 1882) the Championship Hundred Yards 
 was won by W. P. Phillips, the best English amateur at a quarter- 
 mile before Tindall's day, whose untimely death from heart 
 disease in 1883 came as a shock to the athletic world. Phillips, 
 who was over six feet, was, like Lockton, a model of manly 
 strength, and was a splendid oar as well as runner. From 220 
 yards to a quarter-mile he was unrivalled, but a hundred yards 
 was hardly long enough for him. His three championships were 
 each won by a few inches, and in each case a lucky start had 
 something to do with his victory. His runner up in 1S81 and 
 18S2 was J. M. Cowie, who afterwards took the championship 
 at this distance for three years, and was possibly superior, and 
 certainly not inferior, to Lockton and Junker and the older 
 cracks. Although only of medium height and calibre, he, like
 
 RUNNING AND RUANERS 
 
 «3 
 
 the other celebrities, was very strong in the back and thighs, 
 and his superlative form was in a great measure due to years 
 of persistent and careful training ; for though he was of first- 
 rate ability as long ago as 1880, it was not until 1884 or 1885 
 that he showed his very best form. The other celebrities of 
 the day at sprinting, Wharton, Ritchie, and Wood, have been 
 previously described. Wharton was undoubtedly the speediest 
 at 100 yards, but Wood excelled him at the longer sprints, and 
 
 >pnntiiig of to-day. 
 
 in 18S7 'cut' all the old records from 150 to 300 yards. 
 Wharton has recently joined the professional ranks. It is al- 
 ways an unsatisfactory task to attempt to compare the athletes 
 of past and present days in any branch of sport, and, although 
 in longer races the time test can be applied satisfactorily, the 
 conditions of wind, weather, and ability of timekeeper prevent 
 timing in short sprints from being an absolutely certain 
 guide. As far, however, as any line can be taken through 
 times, there seems to be but very little difference bctwec.i 
 
 G 2
 
 84 ATHLETICS 
 
 the merits in sprinting of the chief cracks during the last fifteen 
 years. ^ 
 
 The next distance beyond the 300 yards sprint which is regu- 
 larly run is the quarter of a mile, although managers of athletic 
 meetings who desire a novelt}*, or ambitious competitors who 
 flatter themselves that they will obtain some credit by making 
 a record over a distance which no one has ever tried before, 
 occasionally promote a race at some intermediate distance. 
 As a general rule, however, it may safely be said that the ex- 
 perience which decided what distances should be regularly run 
 was not at fault, for of the distances of 220 yards, a quarter- 
 mile, half-mile, and mile, each brings forth a totally distinct class 
 of runner, who may excel at his own single distance and at 
 that alone. Generally the quarter of a mile is a most interest- 
 ing race, as it gives an opportunity both to the man who 
 has real sprinting pace and to the man who has stay and 
 strength. As an example of how much reliance can be placed 
 upon the popular manuals of sport, of which so many are 
 published, we may perhaps quote with advantage the sapient 
 remarks contained in one of these publications which is now 
 before us. ' The quarter-mile race,' says our author, ' is about 
 the severest course that can be run ; it requires both pace and 
 stamina.' So far he is doubtless right, for runners have been 
 known to ' run themselves blind ' before reaching the tape in 
 this race ; that is, have been so exhausted that they could finish 
 and feel the tape, and yet were unable to see anything. After 
 stating, however, how severe the ' course ' is, the practical direc- 
 tions given for preparation for the race are that the athlete 
 'should run the racing distance only once a day.' A moment's 
 reflection should show even the uninitiated how absurd this 
 advice is ; for it practically amounts to this : 'To make a man 
 fresh and strong, to give him both spurt and reserve of energy 
 upon an approaching day, you should make him thoroughly 
 
 ' C. A. Bradley of Huddersfield was the amateur champion of 1892 and 
 1R93. He was a strong thick-set man of moderate height, who ran erect and 
 straight as an arrow. In the championship race of 1893 he ran shghtly up-hill 
 and against a slight wind and reached home in 10 seconds, a record which 
 speaks for itself.
 
 RUNNIXG AND RUNNERS 85 
 
 exhaust himself at least once a day.' It is advice of this sort 
 which sends athletes into the hospitals or to an early grave, while, 
 if they had passed their youth in a sensible and rational course 
 of training and practice, they would have laid in a stock of healtli 
 and strength which would have rendered them independent of 
 a doctor's advice for the rest of their lives. 
 
 It may seem a paradox, but it is, we think, true, neverthe- 
 less, that there are two entirely different ways of preparing fur 
 a quarter-mile race. The reason is this, that the distance is a 
 common ground for two entirely different classes of runners. 
 On the one hand, the best quarter-miler of the day is often the 
 man who is the best sprinter as well, and has found that this 
 distance is not beyond his sprinting powers when he is very 
 fit. On the other hand, the sprinting quarter-milers sometimes 
 find themselves outclassed by a runner who is of nothing more 
 than second-class sprinting ability, but whose stay and strength 
 enable him to keep his stride from shortening up to the very end 
 of a quarter-mile or even farther. To take some examples from 
 the present day. To Cowie and Wood the quarter is really a 
 sprint, and nothing else. But a pair of Cambridge runners, 
 \V. H. Churchill and R. H. Macaulay, occur to our mind 
 who were indifferent sprinters, and yet could beat 51 seconds 
 for a quarter-mile, and could probably have reached 50 seconds 
 if pressed ; while H. R. Ball is another example of the same 
 class. Even Myers, the best quarter-miler by a very long way 
 who ever appeared in the amateur world, was of no particular 
 account at any distance shorter than 200 or 220 yards. The 
 first class of quarter-miler can rarely (if ever) attempt any 
 distances over the quarter, even the 600 yards race being 
 beyond his powers. On the other hand, the second class is 
 often seen at the top of the tree at 600 yards or half a mile as 
 well, as were Colbeck, Elborough, and Myers. ^ With regard, 
 
 J H. C. L. Tindall and E. C. Bredin have since shown themselves runners 
 of this class. At the championship meeting of 1889 Tindall won the Quarter 
 in 48J sec. and the Half in i min. 56^ sec. on the same day. At the 
 championship of 1893 Bredin won the Quarter in 49i and the Half-mile in 
 I min. 554 sec. on the same day. What a race there would have been could 
 the pair have met at 600 yards, both fit and well ! Neither of the men was up 
 to cliampionship form at 100 yards.
 
 86 ATHLETICS 
 
 then, to training for a quarter-mile, it is easy to understand 
 that the two classes of runners should not prepare themselves 
 for a quarter upcn exactly the same system. To lay down a 
 short and comprehensive rule for the first class, we should say 
 that the sprinter who trains for a quarter-mile should train for 
 it in the same way as he does for a sprint. His trial spins 
 should be over longer distances up to 220 or 300 yards, and his 
 stretches round the path or the grass— we mean- the slow stride 
 round upon the toes which we have already described — should 
 be longer ; but, being a sprinter, he should recollect that it is 
 upon his speed and freshness that he must rely to win, and he 
 should on no account let his practice jade or exhaust him. 
 Once and once only (if at all) should he run the full distance 
 of the quarter at full speed, and after that should take a day of 
 almost complete rest. A hard quarter-mile run out is likely to 
 exhaust and impair the energies for a long while, and if once 
 a man in training gets a bit stale, it is a far harder task to bring 
 him back to fitness than to make him fit in the first instance. 
 A personal reminiscence may perhaps avail to point a moral 
 while this subject is under discussion. The writer and his 
 brother were both training for the Amateur Championship in 
 187S. Unfortunately they were ill-advised enough to run two 
 matches before the event to find out for certain which was the 
 better man, but in the second race they were so closely matched 
 that they ran each other to a standstill. This was a week 
 before the race, and the consequence was that on the day of the 
 race both were utterly and hopelessly stale. From the result of 
 the race it became evident that their only two opponents were in 
 an equally 'weary, flat, stale, and unprofitable' condition, for 
 the race was won in the slow time of 52^ seconds. When such 
 a fact occurs as the only four entrants for a championship race 
 coming to the scratch overtrained, it may be gathered that a 
 warning against doing too much work is not unnecessary. 
 
 The sprinter then who trains for a quarter-mile should take 
 his starts and short sprints daily, and finish up two or three 
 times a week with bursts of 200, 220, or occasionally 300 yards, 
 and at the same time should from time to time take his practice
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 87 
 
 strides upon his toes more frequently than if he were merely 
 training for 100 yards ; but he should never forget that he is a 
 sprinter training for a sprint, and that his speed must be re- 
 tained at all cost. The same reflection should be present in 
 his mind when he is in the race. It will be the height of folly 
 to try and make the race slow in the hopes of his sprinting; 
 powers bringing him in at the end. At the end he may be 
 jaded and unable to utilise his speed, and if he be not near 
 the front then his chance of winning is gone. His right course 
 is to use his speed while he has it, and in the first 100 or 150 
 yards he may have made a gap of five yards between himself and 
 his slower opponents, who are relying on their staying powers. 
 Then let him slacken if he likes, but only to go off again when 
 his opponents are again at his heels ; and if he be not over- 
 trained, his speed and reserve of energy will serve to bring him 
 up to the finish first. 
 
 Most of the advice given by books and by trainers as to 
 the practice for a quarter-mile race comes down from the times 
 when it was thought that 300 yards was the limit of a sprinter's 
 powers, and sprinters accordingly did not think of attempt- 
 ing so long a distance. The result is that an amateur training 
 for a quarter of a mile is usually persuaded to overwork himself, 
 and he not only runs himself stale, but may perhaps impair his 
 health. All this evil arises because trainers, and those who rely 
 upon books and precedents more than upon their own common 
 sense, act as if the desideratum must always be the reduction 
 of weight and the acquisition of staying powers. 
 
 The second class who are found competing for quarter-mile 
 races are those who have moderate sprinting abihty, and owing 
 to a naturally long stride and good staying powers never flag over 
 the distance and finish as strong as lions. These runners can, no 
 doubt, stand a good deal more work than the mere sprinter. 
 They can run their quarters without that amount of exhaustion 
 which is felt by the runner the limit of whose tether is the 
 quarter, and they may doubtless run their trials over the whole 
 distance half-a-dozen times during their month of training 
 without doing themselves anything but good by such a large
 
 88 ATHLETICS 
 
 amount of exercise. They must not, however, on any account 
 neglect their speed, and frequent starts and short spins must be 
 practised in addition to their longer trials ; for some time or 
 another during the race, if a quarter-miler of this class is to win, 
 he must spurt past his speedier opponents. Even with these, 
 however, our own experience has shown us that more men come 
 to their rare overdrawn than unfit. As it is with diet, so it is 
 with exercise ; each man must be treated in the preparation 
 for a race with that amotmt and that quality which will suit 
 his individual case, and the mistakes that are made come from 
 following a system with unreasonable subservience without 
 recollecting for what ends the system was originally adopted. 
 
 In considering the performances of celebrated sprinters we 
 have seen that it is hard to say whether those of the present or 
 the past day are better, but in coming to the quarter-mile and 
 longer distances there can be no doubt that the runners of 
 the last few years have done better times over these courses. 
 The reason is not only that the men are better trained, and that 
 out of the larger number of competitors there is more chance 
 of finding a veritable champion, but there is this further con- 
 sideration, that it is only by slow degrees that athletes have 
 discovered of what amount of speed and stay the human body 
 is capable. 
 
 In the early days of athletics a quarter-mile was often treated 
 by good runners as a waiting race, and the times of good 
 races were accordingly very slow. For the first two years after 
 the establishment of the championship in 1866 the quarter-mile 
 race was won by Ridley, an Eton boy, who certainly must have 
 been a phenomenon, as in 1867, while still at school, he won the 
 Hundred Yards and Quarter-mile Championships in the same day. 
 The times, however, can show nothing of his real ability, as they 
 were as follows : in 1866, 55 seconds ; in 1867, 52^ seconds. In 
 the following year, when Kidley was at Cambridge, he showed 
 something of his true powers, for in the Inter-University meeting 
 of that year he won the Quarter-mile in 51 seconds, winning 
 with some ease. That year, however, he was not destined to
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 89 
 
 be champion, for it was tlien that E. J. Colbeck appeared in his 
 best form. Colbeck is one of the first great figures that stand 
 out in the history of amateur athletics. Few could beat him 
 at 100 yards, while from 220 yards to half a mile no one was 
 in the hunt with him. He was a tall, strongly-built man, with 
 a tremendous natural stride, to which and to his strength 
 he owed his remarkable success. Unfortunately, he, too, like 
 W. P. Phillips, whose performances in some sense recall those 
 of Colbeck, was doomed to find an early grave. The tale of 
 Colbeck's celebrated quarter-mile at the championship meeting 
 at the old Beaufort House grounds in 1868 is one that has been 
 often told. Coming along at a great pace, he led all the way 
 round the ground, and was winning easily when a wandering 
 sheep found its way upon the path and stopped still there, 
 being presumably amazed at the remarkable performance which 
 the runner was accomplishing. The athlete cannoned against 
 the sheep, broke its leg, and then went on and finished his 
 quarter in 50I seconds. This time was never equalled until 
 J. Shearman in 1877 covered the distance in exactly the same 
 time at Lillie Bridge, and was never surpassed in England by 
 an amateur until Myers paid his first visit to England in 1S81. 
 Since that time Myers has shown what can be done by running a 
 Quarter-mile handicap at Lillie Bridge in 484 seconds, and since 
 1 88 1 several English amateurs have shown themselves capable 
 of beating 50 seconds. Probably, what might have been learnt 
 from Colbeck, and what was not really learnt by English 
 amateurs until Myers put the Englishmen to shame, was that it 
 is possible for an amateur to make a sprint of a quarter-mile 
 and rush at full speed over the whole distance. However, none 
 of the subsequent times can take away from Colbeck the honour 
 of having made a record (and certainly under unfavourable cir- 
 cumstances) which stood its ground for thirteen years during 
 times when every other record made by Colbeck's contempo- 
 raries had been long since surpassed and forgotten. Further- 
 more, it is evident that Colbeck was by no means rendered 
 hors de combat by his wonderful performance, for upon the same
 
 90 ATHLETICS 
 
 afternoon he won the Half-Mile Championship in 2 niin. :! sec, 
 then a record and at all times a fine performance, and made 
 A. good show in the Hundred Yards against the winner, W. M. 
 Tennant. If there ever was an English amateur able to hold 
 his own with Myers, Colbeck was probably the man.' 
 
 The next pre-eminent performer at a quarter-mile after 
 Colbeck was R. Philpot, of Cambridge. Curiously enough, 
 while Oxford was for so long famous for her sprinters, Cam- 
 bridge produced a long line of famous quarter-milers. Pitman, 
 Ridley, Philpot, Churchill, and Macaulay all came near to 
 Colbeck's time, but could never quite approach it. Of this 
 line, as far as it is possible to judge between men who were 
 not contemporaries, Philpot, by general consent, was the best ; 
 indeed he was credited with having beaten 50 seconds at 
 Cambridge, although the sporting authorities could never be 
 induced to accept the record. At his first appearance at 
 Lillie Bridge he was beaten by R. V. Somers-Smith, of Oxford, 
 as well as by his colleague, A. R. Upcher, the winning time being 
 5ot seconds under exceptionally favourable conditions. How- 
 ever, in the Inter-University meeting of 1871, Philpot, upon a 
 cold and windy day, covered his quarter in 502^ seconds, run- 
 ning Colbeck's time very close, and in 1872 he won the same 
 race again as well as the championship. Philpot, though not 
 so tall as Colbeck, was of the same style, tall and strong, and 
 was a good enough sprinter to run J. G. Wilson to a yard in 
 1 87 1, but he was par excellence a quarter-miler, that distance 
 being his real forte. Philpot, however, at that time would 
 have found no mean opponent in J. C. Clegg, of Sheffield, who 
 during the summer season in the provinces could almost count 
 on sweeping the board at any meeting of all events from 100 
 to 600 yards. Clegg was a very tall man, hardly so thickly 
 built as Colbeck or Philpot, whose pace, as with Colbeck, 
 came from his stride, but as most of his performances were 
 over grass, the times show nothing of his merits. In 1874 
 another of the great figures of athletic history, F. T. Elborough, 
 
 1 In the championship meeting of 1889, H. C. L. Tindall ran the quarter 
 in 487 sees., beating Myers' English record, but we never saw any quaner- 
 iniler so good as Myers at his best.
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS. 91 
 
 appeared upon the scene, and before his appearance another 
 provincial runner, W. L. Clague, of Burslem, somewhat unex- 
 pectedly displayed in London an extraordinary performance at a 
 quarter-mile. Starting in a handicap at Lillie Bridge in 1873, 
 in which he was unable to get nearer than third, he undoubtedly 
 covered his distance, untimed, in something well under 50 
 seconds. Clague originally made his appearance as a hurdler, 
 and, as a rule, in sprints and quarters used to be unable to beat 
 J. C. Clegg, but at the time of which we speak, when he 
 appeared in London, he struck us as one of the finest natural 
 runners we ever saw. He was of medium height and weight, 
 but ran with his body low, and with the smallest possible appear- 
 ance of effort, although his stride was very long for his height, 
 indeed the length of stride seemed in no way due to length 
 of leg. He took long and easy bounds over the ground, and 
 both in build and style of running was not unlike Cowie, 
 although the latter had not that peculiar ease and lightfooted- 
 ness which distinguished Clague. Unfortunately Clague never 
 met Elborough, who was the leading figure amongst amateur 
 runners of short distances, during the three seasons of 1875, 
 1876, and 1877, and who during that time divided with Walter 
 Slade, the miler, the reputation of being the most famous 
 amateur upon the path. 
 
 Elborough was well above the medium height, being quite 
 5 ft. 10 in., and weighing, we believe, about 11 st. in training. 
 Although not so strong physically as Colbeck, who must have 
 been a couple of inches taller and a stone heavier, in his 
 capacities he was a second Colbeck, as his long stride made 
 him a sprinter hard to beat at 100 or 150 yards, and invincible 
 at 220 or 300 yards. As a quarter-miler he had no one to 
 extend him, and as, although he trained assiduously, he was 
 somewhat fitful and fanciful in his appearance on the path, he 
 did no performance at this distance at all worthy of his repu- 
 tation. A line, however, can perhaps be drawn by collateral 
 form which would show his powers. In two quarter-mile races 
 in two successive years at the Civil .Service Sports a handicap of 
 seven yards brought Elborough and J. Shearman together. The
 
 92 ATHLETICS 
 
 latter was doubtless an improved man when in 1S77, in a match 
 with H. H. Sturt, he covered the quarter at LiUie Bridge in 505 
 seconds, but at any time Elborough at his best could, we think, 
 have given five yards to the elder Shearman. Indeed, his trainers 
 and the public never doubted that Elborough, had he been 
 wound up for a quarter, could have got well inside 50 seconds. 
 In those days, however, the feverish desire for making records 
 (which we think the athletes have caught from their cycling 
 brethren) was not raging, and runners like Elborough liked to 
 win their races and their championships without troubling to 
 scamper over so many yards of cinder a shade faster than some 
 predecessor. In style Elborough ran very erect, shooting his 
 legs out in front of him. He was cleanly but not strongly 
 built, and his excellence as a runner must be set down to his 
 perfect proportions. Up to the spring of 1876 we believe he 
 never attempted more than 600 yards, and was in traming for 
 the Hundred Yards and Quarter Championships of 1876, but 
 being dissatisfied with his speed, altered his mind at the last 
 moment, and started for the Half Mile and the Quarter, win- 
 ning both with great ease. Ultimately he proposed to extend 
 his practice to mile running, but being beaten in the provinces 
 in the summer of 1877 at 1,000 yards by C. Hazenwood, he 
 never afterwards made a show upon the path. 
 
 In 18S0, W. P. Phillips, who had been doing some fine 
 performances at 220 yards, turned his attention to quarters, 
 and had he run with a little more judgment in his initial 
 attempt in the championship of that year might have earned 
 the title upon the first occasion he ran a quarter in public. 
 Phillips, however, who was a very fast sprinter, seemed by 
 some fatality bound to make a fiasco of all his attempts to win 
 the Quarter-Mile Championship, and, although undoubtedly 
 capable of a better performance at this distance than any 
 Englishman since Elborough, either from nervousness or bad 
 judgment, invariably spoilt his chances by running too slowly 
 in the early part of the race. Thus he was beaten in 1880 by 
 M. Shearman, in 1882 by H. R. IJall, and in 1S83 by Cowie,
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 
 
 93 
 
 although he was undoubtedly a better man than any of the 
 three over this distance. In 1880, after racing off fast, he 
 slo^Yed in the middle until he had allowed the winner to get 
 seven or eight yards away from him, and then was only beaten by 
 two yards at the finish. In 1881, when he met Myers, who was 
 undoubtedly too good for him, he pushed the American crack 
 along the whole way, was not shaken off until 100 yards from 
 home, and then only finished three yards behind the winner in 
 
 
 I ./ fi»>r. . 
 
 A very last spniuer. 
 
 48j seconds. The Aston track, ujjon which this race was run, 
 is certainly very fast for a quarter, the last 300 yards being 
 downhill ; but whatever the time was, Phillips showed his ex- 
 traordinary excellence by being the only man who could ever 
 make a race with Myers at this distance. In 1882, therefore, 
 with Myers out of England the Quarter Championship seemed 
 a moral for Phillips ] but, to the intense astonishment of ever)'- 
 bcdy, he started as if he were going for a mile race, and never
 
 94 ATHLETICS 
 
 had the least chance of catching H. R. Ball, who sprinted 
 throughout, and won in the fine time of 5oi seconds. Prob- 
 ably Phillips, who was certainly not deficient in pluck, as his 
 race with Myers showed, suffered all along from the ' weak 
 heart ' from which he suddenly died in the next year, and to 
 this must be ascribed the disappointing form he displayed on 
 some occasions. 
 
 During the last few years, Cowie, Wood, Ball, and Tindall, 
 the old Cambridge ' blue,' have all done performances equal 
 to or better than 50 seconds for a quarter. Probably, how- 
 ever, the improvement in quarter times since Myers appeared 
 in England is due to the lesson taught by that runner, that 
 to run a good quarter one must be prepared to ' spin ' all 
 the way, and there will very likely yet be seen some further 
 developments in the way of fast quarters in the next few 
 years. ^ 
 
 Our survey of famous quarter-milers may aptly be con- 
 cluded with some notice of Myers. There is very little doubt 
 that this runner, while in his best form, some years ago, 
 could have approached very near to 48 seconds in his 
 quarters, a performance which it is improbable that any other 
 runner, amateur or professional, could have compassed. Myers, 
 in more senses than one, was a phenomenon ; his physical con- 
 formity was somewhat marvellous, and of a kind not likely to 
 be soon met again. Although about 5 ft. 8 in. in height, his 
 weight was only just 8 stone, and from a glance at a photo- 
 graph which we have before us of the American in running 
 costume one fact strikes the eye at once : that his legs are 
 disproportionately long as compared with his body. According 
 to his own account his mother died young of consumption, 
 jmd Myers himself, although not appearing in the least con- 
 sumptive, certainly was not troubled with an ounce of super- 
 fluous flesh. Being, then, little more than a long pair of wiry 
 legs, with a very small and light body upon the top of them, it 
 is hardly surprising that he should have made a very good 
 
 I Since this was written II. C. L. Tindall lias run a quarter in 48^ sec. at 
 Stamford Bridire.
 
 RUNXIXG AND RUNNERS. 95 
 
 running machine. Certain it is that Myers' extraordinary times 
 over a quarter and a half mile arise from the fact that, as he 
 begins to tire and labour in his running, his stride appears to 
 lengthen instead of shortening. Those who have noticed him 
 running quarters have seen that about the middle of the race, 
 when the English heavy-weight sprinters take their first breather, 
 Myers is enabled to shoot away and place a gap of half-a-dozen 
 yards between himself and the second man without an apparent 
 effort. Having, in fact, no weight to carry, no distance under 
 a mile can tire him, and this it is, we think, which enables him 
 to run right away from any opponent at any distance where 
 staying power is a necessity as well as speed. Certainly Myers 
 is unlike any of his predecessors at this distance ; whether an- 
 other will ever appear like unto him it is hard to say. 
 
 A very favourite distance at athletic meetings is 600 yards ; 
 but, although the race is so common, it can hardly be con- 
 sidered a distance in itself, as it is very rarely that the winner 
 who can manage 600 yards is not capable of doing a half-mile 
 as well. The fine sprinter, who may be able, by a certain 
 amount of staying power, to make a first-class quarter-miler, 
 cannot, as far as ordinary experience goes, manage 600 yards. 
 In fact, at any distance over the quarter, one may say that 
 staying powers are more important than speed. The man who 
 can run 600 yards comfortably can probably do any distance 
 whatever creditably, while many sprinters could hardly cover a 
 mile as fast as a schoolboy. In a 600 yards race, therefore, the 
 sprinting quarter-milers are found conspicuous by their absence. 
 It is a race which cannot be won by the winner rushing off fast 
 and making use of his pace while he has it. In a word, the 
 man who can run 600 yards comfortably may safely train for 
 a half-mile as well, and it is not necessary to consider the 
 runner of 600 yards apart from the half-miler. 
 
 The medium distances, however (600 yards, half-mile, 
 1,000 yards), produce a distinct type of runner, who muse be 
 trained in a distinct way. Many men, hke the Hon. A. L. 
 Pelham, H. W. Hill, of the L.A.C., and T. E. Wells, the 
 Oxonian, were half-milers pure and simple. The half-miler is
 
 ■96 ATHLETICS 
 
 sure to be good at a quarter and good at a mile, for he must 
 have speed and stride, and must have as well good wind and 
 staying powers ; but many and many a runner can only find 
 his true distance at half a mile or i,ooo yards, and until he 
 trains for these distances misses his real vocation upon the 
 cinder-path. The system of taking exercise for races changes 
 completely as soon as sprinting distances are left behind. The 
 man training for medium distances will, of course, do himself 
 all good and no harm by sprinting to improve his speed, but 
 his sprinting is only an accessory, and not the essential, to 
 success. He has got to improve his legs, wind, and all the 
 muscles of his body in strength, and the way to do this is not 
 gradually to lengthen the distances of practice so much as 
 gradually to increase the pace over those distances. As we 
 have said before, the man who is training for half a mile will do 
 enough to take his trials over 600 yards, or thereabouts. As 
 he gets fitter he should accustom himself to go faster over his 
 spin. Once or twice before the race he may have ' a full-dress 
 rehearsal ' — a veritable trial over the whole distance, that he 
 may know exactly what he has to do in the race, and the more 
 walking he can get in the day the better, as there is nothing so 
 healthy, and so httle exhausting, to a man in training as brisk 
 walking in fresh air. 
 
 Suppose, then, the half-miler has got himself into the state 
 of preliminary fitness, and is going to give himself three weeks 
 of training for a race. On the first day he will do with a steady 
 equable 600 yards. On the second day a brisk 600 yards, 
 which will stretch his limbs a bit, and remind him that running 
 is not all pure enjoyment. On the third day he may take it 
 easy again, and do a very slow, steady half-mile, without making 
 any attempt to spurt, or quicken, or push himself along at any 
 part of the course. On the fourth day he can do the brisk 600 
 yards again ; on the fifth a steady and slower 600 ; on the 
 sixth a rather brisker 600 yards than he has done before ; and 
 then, if he takes a good walk on the intervening Sunday, he 
 will feel himself at the end of his week a good deal more like a
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 
 
 97 
 
 runner than he was at the beginning. A similar programme 
 will do for the remaining three weeks of training, but his full 
 trial should be at least a week before the race, and for the last 
 few days before the event he should take no spin at all that can 
 possibly exhaust him. Indeed, on the day before the race a 
 sprint or two will be quite sufficient to maintain him in the 
 state of fitness to which he has arrived. Above all, if on 
 
 In condition. 
 
 commencing practice any day he feels that he has not got over 
 his yesterday's exertions, he should make a point of having a 
 light day's work upon that occasion, as it is always better to do 
 too little work than too much. But the runner, while practis- 
 ing, should never forget that the main object of all his practice 
 is to improve the even pace which he can accomplish over 
 the distance. In medium and long-distance races the runner 
 must accustom himself to run at an even pace, and at as fast 
 
 H
 
 93 ATHLETICS 
 
 an even pace as he can command over the distance, keeping 
 his spurts for when they are wanted, either to pass an antago- 
 nist or to get in front at the finish ; so that, in training for 
 these distances, it is of importance to know how fast one is 
 going. It is wise, therefore, to be timed from day to day by a 
 trainer, who will tell the man what pace he ought to go for the 
 distance he is running for the day, and whether in the actual 
 spin he has got inside it or not. 
 
 A word might here be interposed as to the tactics of a race. 
 In medium or long races an immense deal in the way of success 
 depends upon the judgment with which a race is run. If you 
 decide to pass an antagonist you had better spurt to do 
 so, and not try to pass him slowly, as this may end in his 
 shaking you off again. If you spurt by an antagonist you may 
 possibly take the heart out of him, and he may shut up ' like 
 a telescope ' on the spot. Another reflection which a runner 
 should always bear in mind is, that when the dreadful thought 
 occurs to his mind that he is ' done,' it should be succeeded 
 by the reassuring idea that his opponents are probably equally 
 'done' also. If this latter rule were always borne in mmd 
 we should not see, as we often do, cases in which the race does 
 not fall to the swift but to the plucky. As a corollary to the 
 two practical rules given above we may mention an anecdote 
 which aptly illustrates them. We saw a match at Oxford between 
 two cracks at 600 yards. The distance was rather beyond both 
 runners, who were really quarter-milers. Before the run home 
 was reached both parties had shot their bolt. The one in the 
 rear, feeling himself ' done,' decided that a desperate state of 
 affairs required a desperate remedy, and pulling himself together, 
 rushed clean past his antagonist with a spurt. The antagonist 
 immediately shut up, but the winner was so much done that 
 he could hardly crawl home in very slow time. We have since 
 seen many important races where it has struck us that, had the 
 beaten man made another effort, he could have turned the 
 batde; but he has allowed himself to be defeated by some 
 plucky ' cutting down ' tactics of an inferior opponent. In the
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 
 
 99 
 
 spring championship of 1879, ^^- R- T^ortal, the Oxonian, a 
 beautiful mover and a magnificent runner, was cut down at the 
 end by E. Storey, who won in 5 if seconds at a time when Portal 
 was quite equal to doing time a second better. In justice to 
 Portal however, of whose merits Bob Rogers thought unutter- 
 able things, it must be said that he came to the scratch far from 
 fit on that day. Want of condition is an admirable thing to 
 
 Out of condition. 
 
 breed irresolution in a race, and while it is easy to be game 
 when one is fit, it is far harder for a jaded man to keep his 
 gameness and a good head upon his shoulders. One game 
 little runner, E. A. Sandford, the Oxford miler, certainly won 
 both his Half-mile Championships in 1874 and 1875 from faster 
 men by pluck and judgment. 
 
 Although the half-mile has always been an event at the
 
 loo ATHLETICS 
 
 championship meeting since its foundation in iS66, the half- 
 mile races were usually competed for by the long-distance 
 runners alone, until Colbeck won the Half-mile Championship 
 in i86S; indeed, in 1867 an Oxford runner won the Half- 
 mile Championship with a time of 2 min. 5 sec, which is what 
 any moderate performer can now achieve. Colbeck's successor 
 in the championship for two years was R. V. Somers-Smith, 
 the Oxonian quarter-miler, after which the Hon. A. L. Pelham 
 attained the honour. Pelham was the tallest man whom we ever 
 recollect to have seen figure on the running-path. He made 
 his first appearance in London while, we believe, he was still 
 a schoolboy at Eton, and being as long and leggy as a colt 
 and some three or four inches over six feet, excited great as- 
 tonishment by his prodigious strides. At Cambridge he was 
 a contemporary of G. A. Templer, who was also a fine quarter- 
 miler, and who ran in 1872 a dead heat for the Half-mile 
 Championship with T. Christie, the Oxford miler, in what was 
 then the unbeaten time of 2 min. i sec; but in a race at 
 Cambridge soon afterwards Pelham eclipsed the performance 
 by beating for the first time 2 minutes over Fanner's path, 
 finishing in the race in front of Templer. Pelham, with his 
 prodigious stride, was too tall and leggy to spurt, and accord- 
 ingly was not a first-rate performer at a quarter, and at the 
 same time had not sufficient staying powers for a mile, so that 
 he never made a good show for his University, as there is (more's 
 the pity) no half-mile race in the Oxford and Cambridge pro- 
 gramme. He was purely a half-miler, and undoubtedly the 
 best of his day, and no one until 1876 contrived to repeat his 
 performance of finishing the distance within 2 minutes. A 
 year or two later H. "W. Hill appeared in his best form, and 
 showed himself, when thoroughly fit, to be as good at a half-mile 
 as any of the champions, although he occasionally had to 
 succumb at this distance to Waher Slade, the miler. Slade in 
 1874 was holding undisputed sway over every distance from 
 half a mile to four miles ; but twice in the races for the L.A.C. 
 Challenge Cup was beaten by Hill in the autumn. Hill.
 
 KUXMXG AXD RUNXERS loi 
 
 strangely enough, seemed never to be able to get fit until late 
 in the summer, and, indeed, his running excellence apparently 
 was quite as much due to persistent practice as to natural abilit)'. 
 Still, however Hill's speed and stay were obtained, he was cer- 
 tainly a magnificent performer at half a mile and i,oco yards. 
 He was of about medium height, and weighed, we suppose, less 
 than ID stone, but, although not a sprinter, ran with the greatest 
 dash and determination, and being faster than Slade, when he 
 could beat him, won by sheer pluck in running the mile cham- 
 pion ofi" his legs by forcing the pace. Strangely enough, about 
 this time another famous runner, who, like Hill and Pelham, 
 was a half-miler and nothing more, appeared upon the scene 
 in Ireland — L. H. Courtney. On two occasions Courtney met 
 and beat Slade at this distance in Ireland, although he was by 
 no means Slade's equal at a mile. Courtney was taller than 
 Hill, and ran, Hke Clague and some other fine natural runners, 
 with a springy action, bounding over the ground with a very 
 light foot. However, at the end of 1875 Courtney retired, and 
 early in 1876 Slade appeared to be the best half-miler left upon 
 the path, as he had managed to beat Hill in the spring of 
 that year, while Pelham had also apparently retired. In this 
 year Slade again did some fine performances in Ireland, once 
 beating 2 minutes in Dublin, and at Belfast soon afterwards beat- 
 ing I min. 59 sec. over grass. By this time great things were 
 being whispered about of Elborough's capabihties at this dis- 
 tance, and by a happy thought the committee of the L.A.C. 
 managed to get together all the four cracks of the day — 
 Elborough, Slade, Hill, and Pelham — to compete for the 
 L.A.C. challenge cup at the autumn meeting in 1876. The 
 meeting attracted an immense crowd and produced a race the 
 recollection of which can never be effaced from the memorj'of 
 anyone who ^"itnessed it. Pelham, bounding away in front with 
 his gigantic strides, led by several yards until the first quarter had 
 been completed, when the others began to draw upon him, Slade 
 being in fi-ont of Hill and Elborough acting as whipper-in. 
 Along the top stretch, 250 yards from home, Slade closed upon
 
 I02 ATHLETICS 
 
 Pelham and took the lead into the straight. Once well into 
 the straight Hill made his eifort, however, rushed past the pair, 
 and took a lead of several yards. Then came the shouts for 
 Elborough ; the champion was seen striding up to Hill, and 
 a hundred yards from home he took the lead. Hill, however, 
 ran with the greatest determination, and chased the winner 
 home, being only beaten by about three yards. Half-a-dozen 
 yards or so behind Hill came Slade, and about an equal dis- 
 tance behind Slade came Pelham, all four finishing within 
 2 minutes, Elborough's time being i min. 57^ sec, Hill's i min. 
 58 sec, and Slade's and Pelham's a shade inside i min. 59 sec. 
 and 2 min. respectively. Here, as in other cases when good men 
 meet, they serve to extend each other, and some fine perform- 
 ances are the result. 
 
 In 1877 Elborough was beaten at 1,000 yards by C. Hazen- 
 wood, a Northern runner, who afterwards came to London. The 
 latter, like the others we have mentioned, although a fair miler, 
 was only first class at the medium distances. Of his powers 
 while still a provincial runner many tales are told, and he is 
 freely credited by some of his admirers with having done 
 I min. 56 sec. or thereabouts in practice. He was a small man, 
 with by no means a taking style, and after he came to London 
 certainly never displayed any remarkable performance. We be- 
 lieve that when he defeated Ell)orough he was better trained than 
 any amateur before or since ; for, according to one enthusiastic 
 admirer, he was so fit that his face and skin absolutely shone. 
 
 In 1 88 1 when Myers paid his first visit to England he met 
 the best English cracks at half a mile at Stamford Bridge in 
 June, and after forcing the pace for three-quarters of the distance 
 left the others as if standing still and won at his ease in i min. 
 56 sec. That Myers could have knocked off a second or two 
 from this record if pressed we have very little doubt, and his 
 easy win was hardly wonderful. What is more wonderful was 
 that the second and third men, S. H. Baker and S. K. Holman, 
 both sterling good runners, but who had never got within 2 
 minutes before, were so far 'jnilled out' by having the pace
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 103 
 
 forced by a better man that both, we beheve, finished the dis- 
 tance well within i min. 59 sec. Neither Baker nor Holman, 
 however, was in our opinion so good at half a mile as William 
 Birkett, the champion of 1883, who was a veritable half-miler, 
 being too heavy in build to be as successful at a mile. Birkett 
 was a tall, broad-shouldered man with much stay and strength, 
 and was probably better than any of the half-milers who have 
 run during the last few years, with the possible exception of 
 George, whose semi-professional training even while he was an 
 amateur made him too good even at the shorter distance for 
 any other amateur under ordinary circumstances. Recently, 
 however, the Oxonian, F. J. K. Cross, has surpassed all pre- 
 vious performers by covering a half-mile at Oxford in the 
 spring of 1888 in i min. 54I sees. 
 
 In training for long-distance races, in which category we 
 should place those at a mile and upwards, improvement of speed 
 is of course the object of attainment as in every other race, but 
 the improvement is that entirely which comes from increased 
 staymg powers and wind ; and for the purposes of training it 
 is these latter alone which must be cultivated. The system 
 of training, therefore, is substantially the same in kind as that 
 we have recommended for the half-mile runners ; and as the 
 miler is necessarily one who is possessed of natural stamina, he 
 is able to bear the increased amount of exercise and longer 
 spin, which he must necessarily get through to acquire the 
 requisite strength of muscle and lungs. The system for all 
 training for long distances, to describe it shortly, is to take 
 continual and daily spins of half a mile and upwards, the pace 
 being gradually increased as the man finds he can stand it. 
 If the runner takes a long spin or a very fast spin one day and 
 finds upon turning out the next day that he feels slack from the 
 previous day's exercise, he will do well to take an easier day's 
 work on that occasion. The same system in the main will 
 apply whatever the distance to be run, only if it be a very long 
 distance the daily spins must be lengthened correspondingly. 
 One runner may of course be at his best at one mile, another
 
 I04 ATHLETICS 
 
 at four, and another at ten miles, but all the three are runners 
 of the same class, bring into exercise the same muscles, and re- 
 quire in varying degree the same essentials to success. The 
 exercise they need is such as Nvill get the limbs hard and the 
 wind abnormally good. All will do well to walk as much as 
 they can without making themselves stiff ; when they start their 
 running on the path in earnest they must get over a daily spin 
 of half or two-thirds of the distance, and when they run the full 
 distance should aim not at spurting from time to time, but at 
 discovering what is the best even pace they can maintain over 
 their full journey. It is hardly necessary, therefore, to point 
 out what essential assistance is given by a * watch-holder,' 
 who can tell the runner at what pace he is doing his laps, so 
 that he can know whether he is keeping up the speed he wishes. 
 \'n. these longer distances it is hard to give advice as to the 
 actual daily work which should be undertaken. The follow- 
 mg table is supplied to us by two successful distance runners 
 who used it : 
 
 One Mile. 
 
 First day. — Two-thirds of a mile at steady pace. 
 
 Second day. — Half-mile. 
 
 Third day. — Slow mile. 
 
 Fourth day. — Fast half-mile. 
 
 Fifth day. — Six hundred yards at steady fast pace. 
 
 Sixth day. — A fast three-quarter mile. 
 
 Four Miles. 
 
 First day. — Two miles slowly. 
 
 Second day. — A mile. 
 
 Third day. — Three miles. 
 
 Fourth day. — A mile, faster. 
 
 Fifth day. — Two-thirds of a mile steady fast pace. 
 
 Sixth day. — Two miles steady fast pace. 
 
 On the seventh day, wind and weather permitting, each 
 runner would take a brisk Sunday walk, of from six to ten miles, 
 taking care not to catch a chill, and to be well rubbed down 
 after the walk as well as after the runs.
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 105 
 
 To the statement that the miler and ten-miler are all of 
 the same class, there is one important qualification. The long- 
 distance runner is rarely over middle height or middle weight, 
 and frequently is undersized. Whatever his weight is, the 
 runner has to hft it all at every stride, and consequently all 
 the weight of the body, except that of the muscles which are 
 actually used for travelling over the ground, is simple dead 
 weight which has to be carried. As the distances are lengthened, 
 the heavier man gets more and more handicapped, and at ten 
 miles, or in long cross-country races, the smaller and lighter men 
 come more and more to the fore. The crack long-distance 
 •runner rarely weighs more than ten stone, and a man of the 
 calibre of Walter Slade, six feet high, and weighing over 
 1 1 stone, is rare on the path. There are occasional exceptions ; 
 thus Deerfoot was, we believe, a very heavy man for his height, 
 which was medium. Some of the best professionals, however, 
 were very light men ; Jack White, who at the time of writing 
 still holds the five-mile record (24 min. 40 sec), weighed 
 7 stone 10 lbs. ; Howett, of Norwich, 7 stone 8 lbs. ; while Lang 
 and Cummings were both under 10 stone. Indeed, on com- 
 paring crack amateurs at shorter and longer distances, the 
 difference is striking ; Colbeck, who was a six-foot quarter-miler, 
 weighed over 1 2 stone ; Slade the miler, who was of the same 
 height, was more than a stone less. 
 
 And at this juncture, we feel inclined to offer a respectful 
 suggestion to our brothers, the ' coaches ' on the river. It is a 
 constant occurrence for the newspapers to record how the coach, 
 after taking the crew for a long course, afterwards took out 
 Nos. 5 and 6, the heavy weights, for some tubbing practice. 
 Apparently then the coach believes that Nos. 5 and 6, being 
 the biggest and most muscular of the crew, can stand the 
 greatest amount of work. This may be so : there are no in- 
 variable rules as to physique and stamina ; but it is abundantly 
 proved from military, as well as athletic, experience, that the 
 biggest men are not those who can stand the most work. In 
 average cases, then, the coach had much better give some extra
 
 io6 ATHLETICS 
 
 work to bow and No. 2 than to Nos. 5 and 6. We should not 
 offer the advice if we had not seen so many big men trained 
 stale, and then abused for laziness, in every branch of sport. 
 
 The supremacy of a sprinter is sometimes short-lived, as a 
 ■ man's best pace often leaves him when he is still young and 
 perhaps only a year or two over his majority. The long-distance 
 runner, however, rarely rises to the top of his profession until 
 he has been a season or two upon the path, and then remains 
 the acknowledged champion for years. The first Inter-'Varsity 
 Mile Race was won by C. B. Lawes, then at Cambridge, a 
 magnificent all-round athlete w-ho stroked the Cambridge boat, 
 besides winning the Inter-'Varsity and Championship Miles in 
 different years. In the following year, 1S65, another Cambridge 
 man, R. E. Webster (a gentleman who has since risen to the 
 top of the legal profession, and has been Sir Richard Webster, 
 Attorney-General), was without doubt the best distance runner of 
 that year. Webster's opponent in the Inter-'Varsity Mile of 1 865 
 was the Earl of Jersey, then at Christ Church, Oxford. Both 
 Sir Richard Webster and Lord Jersey are still popular figures 
 in the athletic world, the former being ahvays received with 
 rapture by the 'Varsity athletes of the year when he presides at 
 the annual dinner which follows the sports, while Lord Jersey 
 has been President and Trustee of the Amateur Athletic Asso- 
 ciation and an active worker for its benefit since the foundation 
 of that society in 1880. We never saw either of these athletes 
 run, but are told that Webster was a great man at a spurt, and 
 was very active and bustling, and indeed, we believe that Sir 
 Richard lays claim to having possessed sprinting abilities — 
 a claim, however, which at this lapse of time we have been 
 unable to verify. We have recently seen a very interesting cut, 
 which appeared in the ' Illustrated Sporting News ' of April 18, 
 1865, representing the Inter-'Varsity sports of that year. The 
 explanatory letter-press at the foot of the picture is ' The Mile 
 Race — Mr. Webster putting on a spurt opposite the Grand 
 Stand.' Mr. Webster is represented as spurting gaily away from 
 Lord Jersey, who appears to be in difficulties. The portraits
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 107 
 
 of both seem to be fairly good ones, and the cut certainly does 
 justice to Mr. Webster's freshness and vigour. The Oxford men 
 of that day, however, aver that Webster was not as good a runner 
 as J. W. Laing, of Oxford, who won the Mile and ran a dead- 
 heat with C. H. Long, a Cantab, in the Two Miles Race at 
 the Inter-'Varsity sports in 1S66. Laing did not start in the 
 Championship in 1866, and that race fell to C. B. Lawes, who 
 had been unplaced in the Inter-'Varsity Mile. The third man 
 in the championship of 1S66 was destined to eclipse the fame 
 of all his predecessors. This was W. M. Chinnery, of the 
 I^.A.C, still well known as an active patron of all sorts and 
 conditions of sport. Chinnery won his first championship in 
 1S68, and his last in 187 1, and in '68 and '69 won both the One 
 and Four Miles Races at the championship meeting Although 
 in the latter years of his career he was run very close by 
 J. Scott, of the same club, he managed to beat that athlete in 
 a mile at one of the L.A.C. meetings in 1S70, this being, we 
 believe, the only occasion upon which they met at that distance. 
 During his career, Chinnery was the leading figure at all long 
 races : he was tall, weighed, we should say, over 10 stone, and 
 ran with a long easy stride, but v/ith very little dash. Probably 
 he was so seldom pressed that he got into a monotonous way 
 of running, relying on his stride and stay, and not on any other 
 tactics. His opponent, Scott, was thought to be better at four 
 miles than a mile, although we think that both he and Chinnery 
 were capable of beating 4 min. 30 sec. at the latter distance 
 when put to it ; and at that time 4 min. 30 sec. was considered 
 an almost superhuman performance, as the runners usually went 
 off slowly, and waited upon one another until half-way. Scott 
 was a shorter and slighter man than Chinnery, and ran with a 
 much lighter tread, holding himself more erect than his great 
 rival, and shooting his legs out in front of him. Another sterling 
 good man, who was a contemporary of Chinnery's, was Syden- 
 ham Dixon, of the Civil Service. Dixon, although a lighter 
 weight, had, we think, greater pace than Chinnery, but the 
 latter could outstay the Civil Service runner. From 1868 to
 
 io8 ATHLETICS 
 
 187 1 inclusive, Dixon won the Civil Service Mile, his usual 
 pace-maker being C. J. Michod, the best steeplechaser of the 
 time. Michod, with great regularit}', would make the pace year 
 after year, only to be cut down by Dixon at the end ; but in 1873 
 Dixon found the tables turned upon him by G. F. Congreve, who 
 played him exactly the same trick, and just managed to shoot 
 him upon the post, amidst the wuld indignation of the crowd, 
 who thought Dixon had acquired a vested interest in the race 
 after so many wins from year to year. Scott would, we think, 
 have done a fine performance at ten miles, but in his day four 
 miles was the utmost limit ever run by amateurs, and at this 
 distance he made, in the championship of 1871, a very fine 
 time (20 min. 38 sec), which was never beaten until the famous 
 match in 1875, between Walter Slade and J. Gibb. In the 
 Four Mile Race, Scott was running quite alone, and winning with 
 inconceivable ease, so that it is most likely he was capable of 
 very great things. The same remark applies to the celebrated 
 Oxonian, J. H. Morgan, who (as the historians say) * flourished ' 
 circa 1868-1870. No one could ever get near him in the three 
 miles race at the Inter-'Varsity sports, and in one of his races 
 he trotted in 200 yards in front of the next man, in 15 min. 
 20 sec. Morgan was a short strong man, a light weight with a 
 good deep chest — the best type of runner for long distances. 
 
 When Chinnery had retired from the path Scott was not 
 left for long in undisturbed possession of the field. In the 
 summer of 1872, a tall strong healthy-looking lad who had not 
 long since left Tonbridge School began to astonish the handi- 
 cappers by the number of races he was winning. However 
 far Walter Slade was put back he always managed to win, so 
 rapidly was he improving, until one fine day at some sports of 
 the Thames Hare and Hounds, at Wandsworth, it was dis- 
 covered that Slade, who had fifty yards or thereabouts from 
 Scott in a handicap mile, had come in considerably more than 
 fifty yards in front of him. This a'c once settled Slade's posi- 
 tion as a ' crack.' As Scott soon afterwards left the path we do
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 109 
 
 not think the pair ever met level at a mile, hut from this time 
 onwards imtil he left the path in 1877 Slade was never beaten 
 at the mile. 
 
 Slade, as we have said before, was a tall man, about six feet 
 in height and weighing over eleven stone when in strict training, 
 and he ran heavily, crunching the cinders as he sped over the 
 path. In 1874 he lowered the amateur mile record to 4 min. 26 
 sec. when he won from scratch the Open Mile at the Civil Service 
 Sports in this time. The Strangers' Open Mile at these sports 
 has always, indeed, been one of the classic handicaps of the year. 
 In 1868 Chinnery won this race in 4 min. 29 sec, then a 
 record ; after Slade's time W. G. George, the now famous profes- 
 sional, won the same race from scratch in 4 min. igf sec, and 
 the year afterwards W. Snook won the same race from scratch 
 in 4 min. 20 sec. In 1875 Slade eclipsed his previous per- 
 formance by covering his mile in 4 min. 24^ sec. at a meeting of 
 the L.A.C. at Stamford Bridge in a celebrated race when he met 
 H. A. Bryden and L. U. Burt, both the others being, like him. 
 self, tall men. Bryden, who ran in beautiful style, had, however, 
 little dash, or he might, perhaps, have lowered Slade's colours; 
 while L. U. Burt was too tall and heavy to hold his own in 
 such company, unless very highly trained. On this occasion 
 of lowering the record, all three covered the distance within 
 4 min. 30 sec 
 
 Another contemporary of Slade's deserves notice for his mile 
 performances. This was W. H. Seary, who, at the time of his 
 zenith on the path, was an O.xford scout, and if report be true, 
 used to utilise, for training purposes, his journeys across * Tom ' 
 and ' Peck ' quads, and stride across the gravel in great style. 
 Any way he was a superb runner, with a long stride and light of 
 foot. His entry was, we believe, refused at the championship 
 meetings and in London, but he often figured at the pro- 
 vincial gatherings, and had he met Slade would have had a 
 good deal of money put on him by the Northern enthusiasts. 
 On the only occasion vrhen he and Slade were entered together^
 
 no ATHLETICS 
 
 at Widnes, the meeting was postponed on account of wet 
 weather, and at the adjourned meeting Slade was unable to be 
 present. Another fine miler, in the years 1S76 and 1877, was 
 E. R. J. Nicolls, of Christ Church, Oxford, who won the Inter- 
 'Varsity Mile in 1S76 in 4 min. 28 sec. Nicolls was in even 
 better form in the succeeding year, but a family bereavement 
 prevented his taking part in the Inter- 'Varsity and champion- 
 ship sports of that year. Unlike most runners, Nicolls seemed 
 to delight in running as a pastime, but to have little ambition 
 to take part in a big race, although this was certainly not from 
 nervousness, as his performances were chiefly due to dogged 
 perseverance and pluck and most careful training. 
 
 Slade was beaten in the Four Mile Championship of 1875 
 by James Gibb, a pretty runner with a short stride and of light 
 weight, who was seen at his best in longer distances than 
 a mile. A match was afterwards made at four miles between 
 Slade and Gibb, which came off at Lillie Bridge on the evening 
 of April 26 of that year in presence of a large crowd, nearly 
 the whole of the Stock Exchange (or at any rate the younger 
 members of that institution) turning out to support Slade. After 
 a close and magnificent race, Slade, who hung at his opponent's 
 shoulder all the way, rushed past and won in 20 min. 22 sec, 
 Scott's old record being disposed of by this performance. 
 Besides Gibb, however, Slade had several famous contemporaries 
 at longer distances, chief of whom was James (better known as 
 ' Choppy ') Warburton, a North-countryman of much the same 
 build as Slade, whose weight and style of running made hirn 
 more successful over a grass course than over cinders. War- 
 burton, as the hero of a hundred fights on the running path, 
 reaped a large harvest of prizes, and, after the manner of his 
 kind, became a Boniface, and used to exhibit himself in 
 costume, together with his trophies, for a small fee to an 
 admiring public. He afterwards turned professional runner, 
 an example which has been followed by several of his more 
 famous successors.
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS in 
 
 Another fine performer, who had a very long career on the 
 path, was C. H. Mason, a good hght weight who won the Mile 
 Championship in 1872, before Slade's appearance on the 
 path, and the Ten Mile Championship in 1S79 '^"d 1880, long 
 after Slade's retirement. Mason always ran with consummate 
 judgment, and had a fine turn of speed in the middle or at the 
 end of a race, as well as a great deal of dogged pluck. In one 
 ten-mile handicap, where he started at scratch with W. E. 
 Fuller, he was compelled to stop over and over again from 
 stitch, but with undaunted perseverance he refreshed himself 
 with nips of brandy, and eventually getting rid of his enemy, 
 went off again at a great pace, overhauled Fuller, and passed 
 him with ease. 
 
 In the Four INIile Championship of 1876, however. Mason 
 met another runner of similar staunchness, Albert Good- 
 win, of Oxford. Goodwin had made a great reputation in 
 early life as a sprinter, hurdler, and jumper, and went to 
 Oxford late in life as a married man with a family. His age 
 and matrimonial condition, however, did not prevent his 
 becoming the best three-miler Oxford ever sent to Lillie 
 Bridge up to 1S76. In the Four INIile Championship there was 
 a fine race between Goodwin and Mason, and each, knowing 
 that he could sprint at the finish, waited upon the other ; 
 but the Oxonian was a bit too fast for Mason at the end, and 
 won in slow time. 
 
 In 1879 the Spring Championship was won by B. R. Wise, 
 of Oxford, and the Summer Championship by W. G. George. 
 As George was for many years before the public as amateur 
 and professional, he hardly needs a description. He is a tall, 
 thin man with a prodigious stride, which arises from his bringing 
 his hips into play more than any distance-runner we have ever 
 seen, and years of training and practice have cultivated his stay- 
 ing powers to an extraordinary degree. During his career as an 
 amateur, which lasted from 1879 to the end of 1884, he had 
 only two serious rivals on the path at a mile or upwards. In
 
 112 ATHLETICS 
 
 1S82 he started very unfit for the Mile Championship, having 
 only just recovered from illness, and was beaten by Wise. The 
 latter, not a strong man, was a tall light weight with a springy 
 stride, a successful runner from the fact of his knowing exactly 
 what amount of training would suit his constitution. He took 
 no hard practice at all, going only short spins, and sometimes 
 knocked off work altogether. As a result he came to the post 
 in all his races fresh and confident ; and on the occasion 
 when he beat George ran with wonderful judgment, steadily 
 increasing his pace all round the last lap at Aston, until 
 he had his man settled at the top of the straight, when he 
 came away and won in 4 min. 24* sec. Wise, who was a 
 man of great enthusiasm for aithletics, was the first Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the Athletic Association, and that body lost much by 
 his return to his native country. New South Wales, in 1883. 
 He has since held the post of Attorney-General of that 
 colony. 
 
 George's other great rival vras W. Snook, of Shrewsbury, a 
 runner of very remarkable physique. A short, thick-set man 
 with tremendous legs, shoulders, and chest, he certainly looked 
 most unlike a runner of long distances ; but he, too, like George, 
 trained his strength and staying powers to an extraordinary 
 pitch of excellence, and although most unlike George in build, 
 resembled him in striding straight from the hips, and thus 
 covering more ground in each stride than would have been 
 thought possible from his height and make. When at his best 
 Snook was very little inferior to George at any of his distances, 
 and George's amateur record for a mile of 4 min. iSf sec. 
 was made after a hot race with Snook in the championship 
 of 1884. In one year (18S3), when George was again a bit off 
 colour. Snook was too good for him in the Mile and Four Mile 
 Championships, but on all the other occasions when matches 
 were made between the pair, and both were fit and well, George 
 proved himself the better man. Still Snook, when he won the 
 Civil Service Mile from scratch in 1883 in 4 min. 20 sec, was 
 certainly not pressed at the finish, and a hard race on that day
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 113 
 
 would, we think, have made him do an astonishing performance. 
 Since George has turned professional he has in a match with 
 Cummings completed a mile in 4 min. i23sec., and this seems 
 to set at rest for ever the question which, in spite of George's 
 victories, was always being debated — who was the better man 
 upon his best day. 
 
 Since the days of George and Snook there have been so 
 many fine long-distance runners upon the path that to give a 
 history of them would be difficult. The performances of F. J. 
 K. Cross have already been mentioned. His best performance 
 at a mile was 4 min. 235 sec, made in 18S9. He was a big 
 man who required a lot of training, and was fittest in 1888, 
 when he could have done something wonderful at a mile had 
 he ever been pressed. In the following year W. Pollock Hill 
 covered his mile at the Queen's Club in 4 min. 2 if sec, the 
 best ever done at an Inter-' Varsity gathering.' Pollock Hill 
 was wonderfully fit when he made this record ; he was certainly 
 not such a good miler as Cross. In 1893 W. E. Lutyens, of 
 Cambridge, a light elegant runner, still quite a youngster, 
 covered the mile at Queen's Club in 4 min. 22 sec, winning 
 quite easily. In the Championship of 1 S93 Lutyens was beaten 
 by F, E. Bacon, a Northerner, in 4 min. 22-!- sec ; but Lutyens 
 is still so young and slightly built that he is sure to improve 
 as he gets older. ^ 
 
 The year 1892 was made memorable by the fine perform- 
 ances of Harold Wade of the L.i\.C. Wade had for many 
 years shown good average form, but in 1892 came out won- 
 derfully, and won the Championship Mile in 4 min. 19^ sec, 
 the second best mile time ever done by an amateur. Wade's 
 style is not taking, as he runs with one shoulder higher 
 than the other, but his stride and stamina are wonderful, and 
 he runs with great pluck even when appearing dead-beat. 
 
 Amongst other milers may be mentioned J. Kibblewhite, of 
 
 1 Since these words were put into print, Lutyens covered the mile, at the 
 Oxford and Cambridge Sports of 1894, in 4 min. igi sec, a record for the Inter- 
 University meeting. 
 
 I
 
 114 ATHLETICS 
 
 Swindoiij \vho was good at any distance from one to ten miles. 
 He was very strong, got very fit, and was very plucky, and by 
 these aids won six championships — three at a mile (1889, 1890 
 and 1891), two at four miles (1890 and 1892), and one at ten 
 miles (1890) — a wonderful record. Another fine miler, W. J. 
 Fowler, has in four successive years (1890 to 1893 inclusive) 
 run second for the championship, a piece of ill-luck which so 
 fine a runner ill deserved. 
 
 At longer distances W. H. Morton of the Salford Harriers, 
 Sidney Thomas of the L.A.C., C. E. Willers of the Essex 
 Beagles, and C. Pearce of the Buckfield Harriers, have all 
 done wonderful performances. Morton was a small light- 
 footed runner, who was capable of doing wonderful times at 
 very long distances, and though he never beat W. G. George's 
 ten mile record of 51 min. 20 sec, was by many believed 
 capable of doing this if he tried. The performances of the 
 other trio, Thomas, Willers, and Pearce, were the great fea- 
 ture of the athletic season of 1893. At the beginning of the 
 year Thomas, who runs with a very pretty style but with an 
 action rather too high and springy, commenced the year by 
 cutting many records from one-and-a-half to five miles. How- 
 ever, in June he was beaten by both ^^'illers and Pearce over 
 four miles, the winner, Willers, covering the four miles in 
 19 min. ■T>'h\ sec. — a record. The trio met again at the 
 championship at Northampton, when Pearce had his day, 
 winning the championship title in comparatively slow time. 
 Another long-distance runner of great promise is F. S. Horan, 
 of Cambridge, who covered his three miles in 14 min. 44^ sec. 
 at the Queen's Club in March 1893, this being the best time 
 for that distance at the Inter-'Varsity Sports. As Horan was 
 in his 'freshman'syear ' when he accomplished this performance, 
 his athletic future promises to be brilliant. 
 
 Although steeplechases were popular in the early days of 
 athletics, they fell into disuse at important meetings for many 
 years, and were not included in the championship programme
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 115 
 
 until the summer meeting of 1879. In the very early days of 
 athletics something of the nature of a steeplechase or long 
 hurdle race was always included in a programme, and naturally 
 so, for the impromptu races and matches from which the sport 
 arose were often from point to point over a piece of country. 
 But as athletics began to reach the artificial stage, and the 
 natural runner was unable to keep pace with the trained 
 athlete in his spiked shoes on a cinder-path, steeplechases 
 began to drop out of fashion except where they were retained 
 to please spectators ; for the British public, in the true style of 
 those who rejoice in gladiatorial shows, like to see somebody 
 or something coming to grief or rendered ridiculous. The 
 result was that for many years the steeplechase was considered 
 as forming the comic part of the entertainment at a meeting, 
 and the managers of sports made huge water-jumps which it 
 was impossible for anyone to clear, so that the lookers-on 
 might see runner after runner tumble into a filthy pool and 
 emerge muddy, bleeding, soaked, and groaning. However, not 
 even these silly exhibitions could spoil a sport in itself admir- 
 able ; for nothing can really be a prettier or surer test of a 
 combination of staying power, agility, and pluck than a race 
 of some distance over hurdles or obstacles which are not too 
 high or broad to prevent the runners from having a chance of 
 clearing them. As soon, therefore, as the paperchasing move- 
 ment, which is described elsewhere, had taken firm hold of the 
 athletic public, steeplechases at athletic meetings began to regain 
 popularity, the distances selected being from three-quarters of 
 a mile up to two miles, but seldom over the latter distance. 
 We are sorry, however, to see that the old form of steeple- 
 chase, with impossible water-jumps and prodigious prickly 
 obstacles, is still retained at some meetings, in order that the 
 public may laugh while the miserable performers wallow in the 
 mud or make ugly faces when they may happen to fall back 
 into the brambles or furze, and we must confess to thinking 
 still that the best steeplechases are those across well-selected
 
 ii6 ATHLETICS 
 
 country, and not round an artificially prepared and enclosed 
 course. 
 
 The good steeplechaser must, of course, be a long-distance 
 runner, as no one without staying powers can hope to last the 
 distance ; he must be a good jumper as well, and in addition 
 there is a very great art in clearing the obstacles which can 
 only be learnt by constant practice. The object of the clever 
 steeplechaser is to exhaust himself as little as possible over 
 the jumps. He therefore takes the hurdles of ordinary height 
 according to the regular hurdling manner in his stride, never 
 rising an inch higher than is absolutely necessary. The water- 
 jump has to be taken in a different way. The regular practice 
 is for a high hurdle studded with furze branches to be placed 
 on the edge of the water. If the water is too broad for his 
 powers the runner makes no attempt to clear it, but jumps 
 carefully so far into it that, by leaning well forward, his hands may 
 immediately seize the bank, and he then pulls himself cleverly 
 out without losing time. If, on the contrary, he thinks he can 
 clear it with a kick, he gets one foot on the top of the hurdle 
 and thence gets a kick off, which takes him over the water ; 
 but this is a very clever piece of jumping which requires great 
 practice. Some runners, especially in the shorter steeplechases, 
 come with a rush and a bound clear over the hurdle and water, 
 and this bit of ' gallery ' is always enthusiastically applauded ; 
 but, as a rule, it is a waste of strength in the long run, and 
 the old hands are seldom seen to indulge in such display. As 
 the obstacles may be of all sorts of height and stiffness, however, 
 it is difficult to lay down any general rules to suit all runners 
 and all obstacles, but in no case should the 'chaser alight on 
 both feet from a jump, as he then comes to a dead stop. 
 Most runners take their spring from the right foot, and get 
 over their obstacles a bit sideways with the right leg in the 
 rear. 
 
 A steeplechase of two miles was one of the events in the 
 first Inter-'Varsity gathering on the Christ Church cricket- 
 ground at Oxford in 1864, when R. C. Garnett, of Cambridge,
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 
 
 117 
 
 proved himself too good by six yards for the present Attorney- 
 General, of whom, as a runner, we have already spoken. In 
 the following year, however, the event was changed to a two- 
 mile flat race ; and there have been no more steeplechases at 
 Inter-'Varsity gatherings. For the four or five years before 
 1875 the few steeplechases that were included in meetings 
 round London were nearly all won by C. J. Michod, a Civil 
 
 Steeplechase — Water-jump. 
 
 Service runner, who was very clever over the obstacles and 
 water-jumps, and would have been a fine distance-runner had 
 he been gifted with a little more pace for a spurt. We can 
 recollect on one occasion Slade starting at scratch with Michod 
 in a steeplechase at the Richmond Cricket Club Sports ; but 
 the crack miler blundered so much over the hurdles, banging 
 his shins, and occasionally falling prostrate, that Michod before
 
 ii8 ATHLETICS 
 
 long sailed away from him, and eventually won the race out- 
 right, Slade giving up. In the summer championship of 1879 
 a two-mile steeplechase was included in the programme, and 
 was won by H. M. Oliver, an old London paperchaser, who for 
 some years previous to that date had settled in Birmingham and 
 become the leader of the athletic movement in the midlands, 
 and founder of the famous Moseley Harriers Club. Oliver was 
 only a moderate performer on the flat, but was certainly a very 
 clever jumper, never wasting an ounce of his strength, and he 
 beat, in 1879, C. L. O'Malley and the other Londoners by the 
 clever way in which he got upon the top of the hurdles and 
 jumped from them clean over the water-jump without an effort. 
 Of late years the best steeplechasers have nearly always been the 
 bestpaperchasers of the day, the ordinary flat-race runners having 
 little opportunity to practise jumping without taking part in cross- 
 country runs. The best Londoners have been C. L. O'Malley, 
 who, however, never, we believe, figured as a paperchaser, and 
 J. T, Wills, an old Oxonian, who was good on the flat also. 
 Strangely enough, as the sport is a very genuine and interesting 
 one, steeplechasing is quite unknown at athletic meetings at 
 the Universities ; and what makes this still more strange is that 
 in hurdle-racing — a kindred sport — the 'Varsities uniformly 
 produce some of the best men in every year ; indeed, of the 
 twenty-nine hurdle-racing champions up to the date of writing, 
 seventeen have hailed from Oxford or Cambridge. 
 
 Hurdle-racing. — In the early days of amateur athletics 
 hurdling and steeplechasing were considered as kindred sports, 
 the former being a test of short-distance running plus jump- 
 ing, the latter of long-distance running pbis jumping. So 
 much was thought of this judicious combination that the first 
 Inter-University meeting at Oxford, in 1864, had two hurdle 
 races and a steeplechase out of eight events, the remaining 
 items being three flat races and two jumps. The two hurdle 
 races were at 120 yards and 200 yards, each having ten flights 
 of hurdles. The former distance, however, soon became the 
 more popular ; and the committee who drew up the programme
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 119 
 
 for the first championship meeting settled the future of hurdle- 
 racing by fixing upon 120 yards race with ten flights, the 
 hurdles being 3 ft. 6 in. high, at even distances of ten yards, 
 with fifteen yards between the start and the first hurdle, and a 
 similar distance between the last hurdle and the finish. As 
 soon, however, as the distance between the hurdles became 
 stereotyped the runners were not long in finding out that in the 
 race invented to test running and jumping powers in combina- 
 tion the more running there was, and the less jumping, the 
 faster the time over the distance would be. Experience soon 
 taught that three strides would take a man from hurdle to 
 hurdle, and that he could spring off one leg and alight on the 
 other, taking the hurdle in his stride. The result was that 
 hurdle-racing over the recognised distance soon became a very 
 difficult and pretty but highly artificial performance. The 
 ' crack ' hurdler takes every stride of exactly the same length, 
 rises exactly the same height at every jump, and moves with 
 the regularity and precision of clockwork. Some jump off the 
 right, some off the left, foot ; in either case, when the spring is 
 taken the front leg is jerked up enough to enable the runner to 
 get his shin or knee over the bar ; that leg then is dropped 
 again, so as to enable him to alight on the ball of his toe ; 
 meanwhile the hind leg is lifted in similar style over the bar 
 and stfaightened at once as soon as the bar is cleared, and 
 directly the other toe has alighted the next stride is taken 
 almost without a pause. It will be obvious how slight a delay 
 is caused by clearing the hurdles when it is considered that 
 men who are equal to httle better than 12 J seconds over 120 
 yards on the flat have covered 120 yards over ten hurdles of 3 ft. 
 6 in, high in 16 seconds. The sport is a pretty one, requiring 
 great skill, speed and agility, and a ' light foot,' but we cannot 
 help expressing a wish that in addition there might be seen 
 other short hurdle races at meetings where the runners should 
 not know the exact distance between each hurdle, and the 
 exact height of the jump, and so would be unable to calculate 
 the precise length of the stride and the precise amount, to the
 
 I20 ATHLETICS 
 
 smallest fraction, of the power required to lift them over the 
 hurdle. Running is nothing if not natural, and graceful as 
 hurdling is, in our opinion it has been brought to too high a 
 pitch of artificiality. We have seen H. K. Upcher, one of the 
 best of the Oxford hurdlers, take two spins over hurdles, when 
 in each spin his feet fell in exactly the same track (and we may 
 add the same part of his shin scraped the top of the hurdle 
 in exactly the same spot), so that a Red Indian following him 
 by his tracks would hardly have seen that he had been twice 
 over the same ground. 
 
 The hurdle-racer must, as we have seen, have a light foot, 
 and so he is rarely a heavy man, but he must also have a strong 
 back and thighs, so as to take his spring and his fresh start 
 without any pause. Thus he is always one who runs in a 
 ' springy ' style, but a good high jumper is rarely of any use 
 as hurdler, as he has a natural inclination to jump too high 
 and waste time in his spring into the air. Hurdle-racing and 
 long-jumping ability more often go together. Indeed, the main 
 point in hurdle-racing is not to learn to jump well over the 
 hurdle, but to learn not to jump too high. The best way 
 to attain this is, in our opinion, to practise over hurdles the 
 top bar of which is loose. It may seem a paradox, but we 
 think it is true, that the runner can best learn by having 
 no fear of coming to grief by crashing into the top bar. 
 Upcher, of whom we have spoken, probably took as much 
 care over his practice for hurdling as any man has ever done, 
 and so fearful was he of getting into the habit of rising too 
 high, that when he began, whether the hurdles had a loose 
 top or not, he would crash through half-a-dozen of them, 
 leaving a track of desolation behind him. His shins cer- 
 tainly suffered in the performance, as he was in the habit 
 sometimes of carefully bumping them against each hurdle to 
 see that he was going all right. The hurdles at the Old Marston 
 running-grounds at Oxford, over which so many cracks prac- 
 tised, had loose tops which came off when struck by the leg, but 
 recently the Oxonians have practised over ordinary hurdles.
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 121 
 
 it being thought by some that the ' loose-top ' system encour- 
 aged rashness, and led to catastrophes at Lillie Bridge. 
 
 The beginner always finds himself unable to do the regula- 
 tion ' three stride ' with any success over hurdles of full height, 
 and either has to practise over low ones placed the proper 
 ten yards apart, or to slope the obstacles forward so as to 
 make the height less and the jumping more easy. The secret 
 of success lies more in assiduous practice than in anything else. 
 Probably any athlete with fair abilities at sprinting and long 
 jumping can with practice make himself a good hurdler if he 
 be not too heavy-footed, and so unable to recover from the 
 spring. The really brilliant hurdler, however, is always a clean- 
 built man with little weight at the buttocks to drag him back- 
 ward, and the heavy-weight sprinters who try hurdling are 
 usually failures. Some of the best hurdlers have been small 
 men who have found their natural stride long enough for the 
 three-stride system, while a man with too long a natural stride 
 can hardly reduce it with success. Great strength of back is 
 naturally required for the rise to the hurdle, and the hurdler 
 not only needs assiduous practice, but must come to the 
 post very fit and without a trace of stiffness. As regards the 
 amount of exercise and practice, he must train in much the 
 same style as the sprinter, taking great care over starts and 
 spurts on the flat in addition to his daily spin over the timber. 
 We need scarcely say that it is not in the least necessary to cover 
 the full distance every day in practice. The hurdler probably 
 benefits quite as much as the sprinter by the rubbing process 
 which we have before described. 
 
 Hurdle-racing is undoubtedly more popular at the Univer- 
 sities than anywhere else. The University element in London 
 brought the sport forward in the metropolis very early, but 
 until quite recently it was very rare to find a good hurdler, 
 except from Oxford or Cambridge. It is not too much to say, 
 indeed, that only two first-class hurdlers have hailed from 
 London — Reay and Lockton ^ — and hardly any of note from any 
 
 ' It is difficult to class Godfrey Shaw the best English hurdler between 1891 
 and 1893. He was first at Cambridge, then in New Zealand, finally in London.
 
 122 ATHLETICS 
 
 other part of the country except Nottingham, which of late years 
 has been quite a centre of hurdhng abihty. After all it is hardly 
 surprising that hurdlers should only be found in a few places, for 
 the sport cannot well flourish in any locality where there are 
 not great facilities for its practice. 
 
 The first champion at the 120 yards hurdle race was a 
 Cambridge man, T. Milvain, a gentleman who has since passed 
 the post first in several contested parliamentary elections 
 at Durham. The third man in the race was C. N. Jackson,, 
 the well-known treasurer of the O.U.A.C., and also treasurer of 
 the A.A.A. since its foundation. Of Mr. Jackson's services to 
 the cause of athletic sport at Oxford, as well as elsewhere, it 
 is almost unnecessary to speak, but his reputation as a hurdler 
 while he was still an active athlete may fitly be mentioned. In 
 the year 1867 Jackson was the winner of the Oxford and 
 Cambridge hurdle race, and but for a cofitretemps would, no 
 doubt, have been champion in that year as well. In his heat 
 he disposed of Milvain with great ease, but in the succeeding 
 attempt there was a dead heat between R. Fitzherbert, of Cam- 
 bridge, and J. B. Martin (the present president of the London 
 A.C.). The result was that a fifth hurdle was added in the 
 final heat, upon some ground which, we believe, had not even 
 been mown. In the draw for places Jackson unluckily found 
 the rough ground allotted to him. and was unable to make any 
 show in the race. His great performance, however, had been 
 done previously in the autumn of 1865, when he covered the dis- 
 tance in what is still the record time — 16 seconds. Jackson was 
 a strongly-built light weight of rather over medium height, 
 the most successful type of hurdle-racer. In 186S and 1869 
 the championship went away from the Universities, falling in 
 the former year to W. M. Tcnnant, of Liverpool, the sprinter, 
 and in the latter year to G. R. Nunn, of Guy's Hospital. In 
 1870, however, with J, L. Stirling, of Cambridge, began thelong 
 line of University cracks which has continued almost without 
 interruption until the present time. Stirling made his first and 
 only appearance at the Oxford and Cambridge Sports in 1870,.
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 123. 
 
 when he won with ridiculous ease by half-a-dozen yards, in 
 1 6 2- seconds. In the same year he won the championship, a 
 performance which he repeated in 1872. He was, we believe, 
 never defeated in a hurdle race, and, if our recollection is right, 
 v\-as a taller and heavier man than the successful hurdler usually 
 is. He ran also in a style somewhat different from that of 
 many of his precursors, his right leg not being doubled back 
 at all, but hanging behind him, as he strode clean over the 
 hurdle. The best University hurdler of 1871 and 1872 was 
 E. S. Garnier, who ran with great dash, but was a trifle too 
 heavy to fiy over the sticks. Garnier, who was a thick-set man, 
 also represented his University at hammer-throwing — an un- 
 usual circumstance, hammer-throwing and hurdling being 
 almost the opposite poles of athletic sport. Garnier won the 
 championship in 1871, but in the following year he met StirHng 
 at Lillie Bridge, and the Cambridge runner beat him. In the 
 following year Upcher made his first appearance, and probably 
 he was as good as Stirling. He was a strong muscular man, 
 but not heavy in spite of his strength, and was a fine natural 
 broad jumper, being able to leap over hurdles, hedges, and 
 other obstacles with great agility when in boots and great-coat. 
 He practised hurdling exclusively upon his own system, and 
 was in his time regarded as the best exponent of the art ever 
 known. He won the Inter-'Varsity and Championship Hurdles 
 in 1873 and 1874, and so great was the behef in his powers 
 that the astonishment was unbounded when, at the Inter- 
 'Varsity meeting of 1875, a Cambridge man, A. B. Loder, was 
 seen to be holding Upcher in the hurdle race. Neck and 
 neck the pair raced over the jumps and reached the tape 
 apparently together, but the judge decided that Loder had 
 won by a few inches, amidst the wild cheers of the Cambridge 
 partisans. Three days afterwards the pair met over the 
 same course in the championship, w^hen another neck-and- 
 neck race resulted in a six-inch victory for Upcher. This, we 
 believe, was Upcher's last appearance on the path, and the 
 next year Loder had matters all his own way at both meetings.
 
 124 ATHLETICS 
 
 Loder was a trifle taller than Upcher, and was a trifle faster 
 than his opponent over the flat, but the Oxonian was, we think, 
 a bit cleverer over the hurdles. In 1877 the hurdle race at 
 the Oxford and Cambridge Sports fell to the Oxonian S. F. 
 Jackson, who was yet fresh at the game, and unable to make 2 
 show with J. H. A. Reay, the Londoner, who won the cham- 
 pionship this year. Reay was a fine all-round athlete and excel- 
 lent hurdler, who had for some years been unrivalled in London, 
 but was unlucky in appearing during the days of Upcher and 
 Loder. He ran more in the Stirhng style than the other pair, 
 trailing his leg well behind him, and so jumping slightly higher 
 than was necessary. In the following year S. F. Jackson ran a 
 greatly improved man, being only beaten a foot in 16? seconds 
 by S. Palmer, of Cambridge. Palmer was a ' converted sprinter,' 
 that is to say, a sprinter of first-class merit who took to hurdling 
 after trying sprinting for a year or two first. His success at 
 the latter sport may be gauged from the fact that he won four 
 championships, and was credited with 16 seconds in his cham- 
 pionship of 1878. Palmer left Cambridge in 1878, but was fre- 
 quently seen on the path for the next five years. Wonderful 
 as his success was, he was probably more of a sprinter than a 
 hurdler, being wonderfully fast between the sticks but rather 
 clumsy as a jumper, giving his shoulders a twist as he cleared 
 each obstacle. He was not, we think, quite so good as the 
 Oxonian G. P. C. Lawrence, who was champion in 1880 and 
 1 88 1. Lawrence was a tall slight man, a good all-round 
 jumper and runner, who for some years, until he conquered 
 his inchnation to jump too high over his hurdles, had no great 
 merit. As soon, however, as he had learnt to skim instead of 
 leap over his jumps he became the best hurdler of modern 
 times, having a peculiar nervous power (although not physically 
 strong) of making a prolonged spurt. In the championship of 
 1 88 1 he decisively defeated Palmer, having in the previous 
 year scored an equally decisive victory over Lockton. The 
 latter was undoubtedly the best hurdler the metropolis ever 
 produced. Of his wonderful capacities as a sprinter we have
 
 RUNNING AND RUNNERS 125 
 
 already spoken, and when, as sometimes happened, he took 
 part in hurdle races when the hurdles were a few inches below 
 the regulation height, his speed over the obstacles was some- 
 thing extraordinary. At a hurdle handicap at Catford Bridge, 
 at the meeting of the Private Banks, we saw him start 24 yards 
 behind the scratch man, and clear the 144 yards and ten hurdles 
 (below the regulation height) in 18 seconds. In the champion- 
 ship of 1880, however, I.ockton probably lost his head, and came 
 to grief in the Hurdles, besides failing in the Hundred Yards. 
 Lockton was never in his best form again after 1880, and when 
 Lawrence retired Palmer again won the championship in 1882 
 and 1 883. For the last few years the Universities have not pro- 
 duced a hurdler of the calibre of Lawrence or Palmer, and the 
 centre of hurdling activity for some years shifted to Notting- 
 ham, which has produced in turn three fine performers — F. F. 
 Cleaver, C. W. Gowthorpe, and C. F. Daft, twice champion. 
 Cleaver for some years, in the absence of the 'Varsity cracks, 
 used to sweep the board at the chief provincial meetings, being 
 very fast, although a bit clumsy in his jumps. After his retire- 
 ment and that of Palmer, Gowthorpe, like Cleaver a member 
 of the Notts Forest Football Club, won the championship of 
 1884, and Daft, the champion of 1885 and 1886, also repre- 
 sented the same club. Here, as at the Universities, is seen the 
 value of a ' tradition ' in producing skilful performers. There 
 were good hurdlers in Nottingham long before Cleaver, one of 
 them, S. W. Widdowson, having earned a great reputation in 
 the provinces a dozen years ago. 
 
 Occasionally in the provinces there are hurdle races of 300 
 yards or a quarter of a mile where the runners have the oppor- 
 tunity of showing their natural and not artificially cultivated 
 abilities in contests which combine sprinting and jumping. 
 Such races, however, are unfortunately so few and far between 
 that they can hardly be said to give scope to a special class of 
 runner. Perhaps a new fashion may some day call into exist- 
 ence a class of short-distance steeDlechasers.
 
 J 26 ATHLETICS 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WALKING AND WALKERS. 
 
 Athletic sports, practised as they are now, are often attacked 
 on the utihtarian ground that the skill acquired in sprinting, or 
 hurdling, or running many miles on a cinder path in spiked 
 shoes, is such as can be of no practical advantage in ordinary 
 life. Without discussing the general question at present, it can 
 safely be said that there is one branch of sport to which, if 
 properly practised, the objection cannot possibly apply — we 
 refer to walking. To learn to be a strong and fast walker 
 must be of utility to almost everyone, and for walking matches 
 there is therefore very much to be said. They lack popularity, 
 doubtless partly because they are not exciting, and partly be- 
 cause it is still true, as was remarked by Charles Westhall the 
 pedestrian twenty-five years ago, that ' walking is the most use- 
 ful and at the same time the most abused of the athletic sports 
 of old England.' Now, as then, the public does not care for 
 walking races, because when they go to see an athlete walk 
 the probability is that they will see him shuffle, trot, or run. 
 
 To the uninitiated observer it may seem absurd that men 
 who take part in walking races should, while they run, pass 
 muster as walkers ; because running and walking are perfectly 
 different modes of progression. Running is a succession of 
 leaps, walking a succession of steps ; in running the weight of 
 the body is thrown upon the toe, in walking upon the heel. 
 In running, therefore, the body must be more or less thrown 
 forward ; in walking it must be almost, if not quite, erect. How 
 then, they may well say, can it possibly happen that a man can
 
 WALKING AND V/ALKERS 
 
 127 
 
 run in a walking race without being discovered and disquali- 
 fied ? The question is a pertinent one and requires careful 
 answering, but the real solution of the mystery is in our opinion 
 this — that athletes, professional and amateur, have never yet 
 
 Walking race. 
 
 arrived at a satisfactory definition, founded on a rational basis, 
 of what fair walking is. 
 
 Westhall, writing in 1862 and speaking of professional 
 pedestrians especially, says the unsatisfactory state of walking
 
 128 ATHLETICS 
 
 races arises ' not so much from the fault of the pedestrians as 
 from the inabihty or want of courage of the judge or referee to 
 stop the man who, in his eagerness for fame or determination 
 to gain money anyhow, may trespass upon fair walking and run.' 
 As Westhall was not only a good critic but a fine exponent of 
 the art of fair walking, we can hardly do better than add some 
 further extracts from his little manual. ' The term " fair toe 
 and heel" was meant to infer that as the foot of the back leg 
 left the ground and before the toes had been lifted the heel of 
 the foremost foot should be on the ground.' (We might here 
 observe that the more usual expression now is fair ' heel and 
 toe ' walking, meaning that the walker places his heel to the 
 ground before the toe.) 
 
 'Even this apparently simple rule,' Westhall proceeds, ' is broken 
 almost daily in consequence of the pedestrian performing with a 
 bent and loose knee, in which case the swing of his whole frame 
 when going at any pace will invariably bring both feet off the ground 
 at the same time, and although he is going heel and toe he is not 
 taking the required succession of steps, and he is infringing the 
 great and principal rule of 07ie foot being continually on the ground. 
 The same fault will be brought on by the pedestrian leaning forward 
 with his body, and thereby leaning his weight on the front foot, 
 which, when any great pace is intended or the performer begins to 
 be fatigued, first merges into a very short stride and then into a 
 most undignified trot. . . . To be a good and fair walker the atti- 
 tude should be upright or nearly so, with the shoulders well back, 
 and the arms when in motion held well up in a bent position, and 
 at every stride swinging with the movement of the legs well across 
 the chest, which should be well tlirown out. The loins should be 
 slack to give plenty of freedom to the hips, and the leg perfectly 
 straight^ thrown out from the hip boldly and directly in front of the 
 body, and allowed to reach the ground with the heel, being decidedly 
 the first portion of the foot to meet it. The movement of the arms 
 will keep the balance of the body and bring the other leg from the 
 ground.' 
 
 To these practical directions should be added another, which 
 is implied in Westhall's description, but not explicitly stated, that 
 at each stride the hip should be twisted well round, the right
 
 WALKING AND WALKERS 129 
 
 leg being stretched out a little to the left, and the left leg in 
 the next stride to the right, so that the walker's feet step almost 
 in a direct straight line. By this twist round, each stride is 
 lengthened a few inches and a corresponding increase of pace 
 acquired. 
 
 Probably no one will disagree with the foregoing descrip- 
 tion of what the style of a fair walker should be. He should 
 walk with a perfectly straight leg, he should step not spring, 
 and he must never have both feet off the ground for an instant 
 at the same time. Unfortunately, however, the judges of 
 walking for a great many years have seized upon the last 
 essential, that of one foot being always on the ground, as 
 if that, and that only, were the only characteristic of fair 
 walking. As long as a man can get over the ground in such a 
 way that daylight cannot be seen under both his feet at once, 
 the judge of walking is willing to ' pass ' him, and he goes on 
 his way to the end of the race in whatever style he likes. The 
 evil, which has now grown to a great height, can hardly be 
 ascribed to the fault of any one or more particular judges, and 
 certainly to none of the judges of the present day, who have 
 had to take the system as they found it ; and if ever they have 
 boldly interfered to disqualify a shifty walker, have seen their 
 action criticised for weeks in the columns of the sporting papers, 
 and the whole question of their sentence debated in acri- 
 monious controversy. At the present day it will want a 
 very Daniel to inaugurate a new system of judging in walking 
 races. 
 
 The results of the loose practice of allowing ' shifty ' walkers 
 to remain on the path are serious. The many naturally fair 
 walkers who take up the pastime, when they find in races 
 that more unscrupulous opponents ' trot ' past them with 
 impunity, soon arrive at the conclusion that honesty is not 
 the best policy, and upon the principle that co7-riiptio optimi 
 pessima become the worst offenders themselves. We believe 
 that H. Webster the Northerner was a fair and fast walker in 
 his early days, but in the championship of 1877 he simply 
 
 K
 
 I30 ATHLETICS 
 
 trotted away as he liked from H. Venn, the London repre- 
 sentative. The next year Venn had learnt a lesson, and 
 although when he had first appeared on the path his fair 
 form had been unmistakable, in the championship of 1878, 
 when he met Webster again, the pair both ran more or less 
 the whole way, Venn running rather faster than A\'ebster and 
 winning in the time of 52 min. 25 sec., which is in some 
 quarters accepted as a best on record. Another result of the 
 system is that novices learning to walk imitate their betters 
 and so soon break into a run, leaning their body forward 
 to trot as soon as they begin to tire. The result is what 
 Westhall calls an ' undignified ' trot. The attitude is not 
 only undignified, but is in most cases hideously ugly, which 
 no fair running or fair walking is. In an ordinary walking 
 handicap the public is thus treated to an exhil)ition in which 
 more than half the competitors are in ridiculous and con- 
 torted attitudes. Naturally spectators are more inclined to 
 laugh than to admire, and neither treat the affair as serious, 
 nor take any interest in the result except upon the occasions 
 when that rarest of specimens, the fast fair upright walker, is 
 in the contest, when the interest immediately becomes genuine 
 and unbounded. Once therefore let the walking be so re- 
 formed as to be unexceptionable in style, and walking matches 
 will suffer from no lack of popularity. Then probably we shall 
 see a new and improved class of fair walkers arise. 
 
 So much as to the evils in vogue at present ; it remains to 
 suggest a means of remedying them. To put it shortly, the 
 judges must all see that each man is walking fairly, and not 
 that he is not walking unfairly, by which dark saying we mean 
 this : the three characteristics of walking which distinguish 
 the exercise from running are these : (i) The weight of the 
 body is on the heels when the step forward is taken ; (2) One 
 foot is always on the ground ; (3) The knee is perfectly 
 straight as the foremost foot reaches the ground. The judges 
 should see that each of the three essentials is rigidly adhered 
 to, and promptly disqualify the man who either gets on to his
 
 WALKING AND WALKERS 131 
 
 toes, bends his knees, or has both feet off the ground together. 
 I'hen, and not till then, we shall see none but fair walkers 
 upon the path. 
 
 From what we have said it will be seen that there is an art 
 of walking fairly and another art of walking unfairly, but not so 
 unfairly as to involve certain disqualification. About the latter 
 art, the art of shuffling or of running on the heels, we do not 
 propose to give any practical directions, although we have seen 
 plenty of examples of it in high places, and will content our- 
 selves with saying that it does not require any particular capa- 
 bilities, but a good deal of staying power, and is certainly easier 
 to acquire than the true art of walking fast. Indeed, any of 
 our readers who likes to try for himself can find how easy it is 
 to do a slow run on the heels, and what a relief it is to change 
 the action to that style of progression when the legs are aching 
 from fast walking. 
 
 All walking races are contests of more or less endurance, 
 and staying powers are thus essential. Before beginning prac- 
 tice for a race the walker should therefore get his muscles as 
 hard as possible with as much walking on the road as he can 
 manage. Once in training for his race, however, he should be 
 very careful not to get into slow walking, but should always 
 go at a brisk pace with a good swing of the arms, and for the 
 last two or three weeks should do all his practice on the racing 
 track. Walking is perhaps the one sport where a man cannot 
 afford to knock off work and trust to natural freshness to get 
 him through. In this of course, as in other phases of athletic 
 sport, if a man has got stale from overwork he must take it 
 eas}^ but in walking it is absolutely necessary to have the 
 muscles so hard all over the body that 'knocking off' for any 
 space of time becomes fatal to all chances of success. It is 
 not necessary, as in other races, to do the full distance at top 
 speed often or even at all before a race, but the walker in his 
 practice must take some laps at top-speed every day for fear of 
 being taken with a ' fit of the slows.' It is almost indispensable, 
 therefore, to have the assistance of a watch-holder, to learn
 
 132 ATHLETICS 
 
 how fast one is travelling; the walker practising should do at 
 least a mile every day at top speed, and, as in training for long- 
 distance races, at a uniform rate of speed, and moreover at the 
 fastest of which he is capable. A week's training for a three-mile 
 race would probably be something such as this : On the first 
 day 2 miles, on the second \\ mile, on the third 2 miles, oa 
 the fourth 3 miles, on the fifth i mile, on the sixth 2 miles, 
 and for a seven-mile race double these distances. A thorough 
 good rubbing after each day's exercise is almost indispensable, 
 as there is nothing like fast walking to bring out aches and 
 pains all over the body, and especially down the shin-bones. 
 The walker is also liable to blisters and sprains, more perhaps 
 even than the long-distance runners; but of the treatment of 
 these we shall have to speak later. 
 
 In the early days of the athletic movement a seven-mile 
 race was considered the proper test of a man's ability in this 
 branch of sport, and a seven-mile race was the walking event 
 included in the original championship programme. At the 
 present day the public find an hour's walking race rather a slow 
 event to watch, and in most club meetings shorter races of 
 three or two miles, and occasionally of one mile, are more 
 usual. The. result is that there has recently been some con- 
 siderable agitation in favour of the championship event being 
 reduced to something less than seven miles, or for the inclusion 
 of a second walking race for a shorter distance in the champion- 
 ship programme. At the American championship meeting 
 there are three walking races, at the Irish and Scotch cham- 
 pionship there is only one race, at three miles, while in Canada 
 the same distance determines the title of champion walker 
 for the year. We think, however, that the Amateur Athletic 
 Association will be right in retaining their present cham- 
 pionship programme unaltered in regard to the walking race. 
 There are already plenty of temptations towards unfair walk- 
 ing and the production of a vicious style of progression, and 
 with a shorter championship race the temptations will be 
 increased. At present the one satisfactory thing about the
 
 WALKING AND WALKERS 
 
 ^7>Z 
 
 championship walking event is that some of the shifty goers 
 find it impossible to conceal the true secret of their mode of 
 progression after the first few miles. The longer the distance 
 is the more likelihood is there that a real walker will prove the 
 winner, for besides the chances of detection we believe it is 
 really very hard to run on the heels for more than a mile or two. 
 The first walking champion was J. G. Chambers, a gentle- 
 man who was one of the pioneers of the athletic movement both 
 at the Universities and in London, 
 and whose name will always be 
 remembered in connection with 
 the Amateur Athletic Club, now 
 extinct. Chambers was not what 
 we should call now a first-class 
 walker, and his only opponents in 
 the championship of iS66 were 
 three other University men, the 
 time being only 28 seconds within 
 the hour ; but as regards Cham- 
 bers' reputation as an athlete, it 
 must be recollected that he could 
 not only walk his seven miles 
 within the hour, but was, if not 
 the very best oarsman and sculler ^^ 
 of his day, at least one of the °3e^ 
 best. It is, perhaps, worthy of 
 note that the work from which we 
 
 have studied the account of Chambers' championship defines 
 * fair walking ' as ' having one leg on the ground at the time,' 
 and adds, ' the straightness of the legs does not prove or alter 
 fair walking.' It is scarcely any wonder, therefore, that walk- 
 ing should have begun very early to be open to abuse. The 
 account we have seen of the championship of 1S67 is rather 
 curious. The three men who were really in the hunt were 
 Chambers, T. H. Farnworth, the Northern celebrity, and R. M, 
 Williams, of the Civil Service, a fine walker, who travelled 
 
 Short slridii.
 
 134 ATHLETICS 
 
 perfectly upright, but with a very short niggHng stride. WilHams 
 and Farnworth disputed the lead for nearly five miles, when 
 Chambers, who was well in the rear, began to gain. Half a 
 mile from home Chambers caught the leaders, and the three 
 began to race together. At the end of the last lap but one 
 Williams retired, finding himself unable to keep pace with the 
 others, and Farnworth and Chambers began to have a ' ding 
 dong ' race. ' At the last corner,' says our reporter, ' the two 
 were level : the shouts were tremendous : each of the two 
 became very suspicious in their style {sic) ; neck and neck they 
 came down the straight, Farnworth winning by a foot.' Eye- 
 witnesses have declared that the style of both first and second 
 men was by no means suspicious, being an open undisguised 
 run for the last lap and a half, and that if the judges had been 
 up to their work both would have been disqualified, and 
 Williams, who was walking fairly, would have become champion 
 of the year. After this year we hear nothing more of walkers 
 from the Universities, and from that day to this it is a curious 
 fact that no walker of any merit whatever has appeared on the 
 path from Oxford or Cambridge. Indeed, some ten years ago 
 walking races were dropped out of the programme at both the 
 Universities, owing to the paucity and inferiority of the per- 
 formers, and, we believe, the only walking race in which 
 undergraduates now figure is that for the valuable silver cup 
 given yearly by Sir Edward Joddrell, Bart., to the students 
 of Queen's College, Oxford. This prize usually brings out 
 a performer who can do his three miles well inside half an 
 hour, and the utmost that can be said for the performers is that 
 they all walk with strict fairness if not with speed. It appears 
 that at the Universities no competition which does not give the 
 athlete a chance of winning his ' blue ' will be followed with 
 much zest. 
 
 About the time that Chambers retired from the path, some 
 new walkers began to appear on the scene in the metropolis, 
 the best of these being Walter Rye, S. P. Smith, and T. Griffith. 
 All of these were tall men. Smith, however, being the tallest of
 
 WALKING AND WALKERS 135 
 
 the three, and, if we recollect rightly, over six feet. Rye walked 
 with a perfectly straight leg, very erect, and was certainly a 
 better walker than any who had preceded him. He held the 
 L.A.C. Challenge Cup for the seven-mile walking race through 
 the year 1S67. Towards the end of that year, however. Smith 
 and Griffith had begun to make their mark, and in the last 
 L.A.C. meeting of that year Smith, Griffith, Rye, and Williams 
 all met in a two-mile handicap, the two last named being at 
 scratch and Smith and Griffith with 25 sec. start. In the result 
 Smith astonished the spectators, gaining 2 sec. upon Rye, and 
 finishing in 15 min. 15 sec, the best time on record at that 
 period. Smith, though then only a lad of nineteen or there- 
 abouts, is said to have walked in splendid style and with great 
 fairness, and would probably have done something notable had 
 he persevered on the path ; but in the spring of the next year 
 he abandoned the pursuit as suddenly as he had taken it up. In 
 the race to which we are alluding Griffith finished second, after 
 being once cautioned, his time being 15 min. 32 sec. ; Rye third, 
 in the time of 1 5 min. 1 7 sec. ; and Williams fourth, in 1 5 min. 
 35 sec. In the succeeding year Rye won the championship 
 easily enough ; but in the two following years Griffith was the 
 winner. Rye not being a competitor. Griffith, who has long been 
 a familiar figure as the representative of ' Bell's Life,' certainly 
 disputed with Rye the reputation of being the best walker of his 
 time, but although, in 1870, he beat his rival's times when he 
 won the championship from R. H. Nunn in 55 min. 30 sec, we 
 beheve he never beat Rye when the pair met in a race. R. H. 
 Nunn, who made so fine a race with Griffith in 1870, was beaten 
 by Rye, who took the L.A.C. Cup again in the autumn of 
 1869, this being the last time he competed for it. Rye, Griffith, 
 Nunn, and Williams retired about the same time, and their 
 places were taken by inferior men. The next celebrity in the 
 walking line was W. J. Morgan of the Atalanta R. C, who was 
 champion for the three years from 1873-75 inclusive. Morgan 
 was a short man, hard and thick-set, and was, we ])elieve, about 
 five-and- twenty when he took to the path. His first appear-
 
 136 ATHLETICS 
 
 ance was at the spring sports on the Richmond cricket ground 
 in 1872, when he was immediately spotted by the connoisseurs 
 as the coming man. He walked perfectly erect and with a fair 
 heel and toe action, but with a springy stride, and we always 
 used to think that when he spurted his style was by no means 
 irreproachable. Undoubtedly he could and often did walk with 
 great fairness, but his springy style and quick stride rendered 
 the passage from walking into trotting very easy for the walker 
 and very puzzling for the judges. Morgan, in his third cham- 
 pionship win, covered his seven miles in 53 min. 47 sec, then 
 a record, and was also the maker of athletic history in another 
 sense. It was about this time that the ring-fence of gentleman- 
 amateurism was being broken down in London. Morgan, who 
 was an employ^ in Shoolbred's establishment, had his entry ac- 
 cepted at many meetings, and finally the officers of the London 
 Athletic Club accepted his entry for a London Athletic Club 
 meeting. The result was a strong cabal amongst some of the 
 older members of the club, who threatened to resign if the entry 
 were not refused. Eventually, when the meeting came off, about 
 half the entrants declined to run on finding Morgan's name in 
 the programme, but eventually the malcontents yielded to a 
 compromise and returned to the club, most of them follow- 
 ing the lead of Walter Slade, who declined to persevere in his 
 oppositiop. The point, however, was practically settled, 
 and in a year or two both the club and its entries gained in 
 number what they had lost in social standing. Before leaving 
 the subject it is only fair to state that no personal objection 
 to Morgan was ever expressed, the opposition to him being 
 simply to the representative of a class. The incident, though 
 apparently trivial, had important results, as after this one pro- 
 test no further objection was ever raised to the system of popu- 
 larisation of the London Athletic Club meetings, which was 
 carried out by the managers of the L.A.C. in a most thorough 
 manner. 
 
 While Morgan was unrivalled in his career of success in the 
 South, another celebrity was arising in the North, H. Webster
 
 WALKING AND WALKERS 
 
 137 
 
 of Knotty Ash, a representative of yet another class of the ath- 
 letic community. Webster, like the greater part of the Northern 
 amateurs of the past and present day, was of the artisan class, 
 and before he was seen in the South, rumours of his fame as a 
 walker reached the metropolitan athletes ; but in those days 
 Southerners who ran on carefully measured cinder-tracks used 
 to be very sceptical of the fast times alleged to have been done 
 by provincial runners upon grass tracks, or at unimportant meet- 
 ings. However, in the summer 
 of 1874, Morgan had practical 
 proof of the ability of the North- 
 ern walkers at the meeting held at 
 Lurgan in the North of Ireland. 
 Lurgan then had one of the most 
 interesting meetings of the year, 
 as the Northerners, Southerners, 
 and Irishmen often met there for 
 the first time. In the walking 
 race in 1874 Morgan only finished 
 third, Webster being the winner, 
 and Hughes of Liverpool second, ^ 
 and an acrimonious controversy % 
 followed as to whether the judge j 
 had not been too lenient. Web- , 
 ster, however, made no appear- 
 ance in the South till after Morgan 
 had retired and his place as 
 
 champion had been taken by H. Venn, jun., who was the best 
 walker that the L.A.C. had produced since Rye's retirement. 
 Venn first appeared on the path in 1875, ^'^d, although quite 
 young, walked in irreproachable style, and with a fine free stride. 
 Although slightly built and only of medium height, his staying 
 powers seemed very great, and he walked very erect, and 
 without a suspicion of a ' lift ' when he first came out. He 
 won the championship very early in 1876, and whenever he 
 was in training was indulged with a walk over for the L.A.C. 
 
 A fine fiee stride.
 
 I3S ATHLETICS 
 
 Challenge Cups, no opponent being able to hold him. In 1877, 
 however, he met Webster in the championship and suffered 
 defeat ; Webster finishing the seven miles in 53 min. 59? sec. 
 Both men certainly walked fairly enough at the start, but 
 Webster, who could undoubtedly walk both fast and fairly upon 
 occasions, was in the habit when tiring of getting into a very 
 jumpy action, although it was hard to say at any time that he 
 had both feet off the ground at once. On this occasion, when 
 he beat Venn, he was in our opinion by no means walking 
 fairly ; but, on the other hand, Venn, who was making great 
 efforts not to be outpaced, was also not going in the best of 
 styles j indeed, Venn's style was by this time rapidly deterio- 
 rating, and we have already stated our opinion that in the suc- 
 ceeding year, when he turned the tables on his opponent, both 
 men were running under the nose of the referee of walking. 
 The succeeding year (1879) did not see the pair meet, the 
 L.A.C. men showing their opposition to a spring fixture by 
 refraining from entering at Lillie Bridge, and Webster, who 
 came up for the event, finished the full distance in 52 min. 
 34 sec, only 9 seconds slower than the time in which Venn 
 had won in the preceding year. At the summer championship 
 at Lillie Bridge Venn walked over, and as he soon afterwards 
 retired from the path the pair never met again. In 1880 
 Webster again competed for the championship, and finished 
 an easy first, but after passing the post the judges told him he 
 was disqualified for unfair going, and awarded the race to the 
 second man, G. P. Bccklcy. The decision naturally gave rise 
 to some unpleasantness, and when the prizes were given away 
 there was a noisy demonstration. A month or so later we saw 
 Webster win unchallenged the Three Mile Championship of the 
 Northern counties at Southport, and took occasion to watch his 
 style narrowly. His gait was certainly not that of a walker, if 
 the upper part of his body and hips only were looked at, as 
 each step was undoubtedly a spring : but as long as walking 
 is to be judged solely by the criterion of there being always 
 one foot on the ground, it must be admitted that when not
 
 WALKING AND WALKERS 139 
 
 turning round a sharp corner Webster was within the defi- 
 nition. The present writer, on the occasion in question, upon 
 which Webster completed his three miles in 21 min. 28 sec, 
 lay flat on the ground at different places to watch Webster's 
 feet, and it certainly could not be said that in the straights he 
 had both feet off the ground at once. To this day controversy 
 rages about the fairness of Webster's walking, some averring that 
 he never walked a yard in his life, and others that he never 
 should have been disqualified. Our own opinion is that his 
 gait was not the gait of a true walker in the sense iu which it is 
 understood by the public, although he probably knew how to 
 keep upon the right side of the line drawn by judges, who only 
 look to the requirement of both feet not being off the ground at 
 the same time. 
 
 The next year saw Merrill, the famous American walker, in 
 England, he and Myers visiting the country together as the 
 guests of the L.A.C. Merrill was a watchmaker from Boston, 
 and was, we think, the fastest fair walker at any distance up to 
 three miles who ever appeared at amateur sports in England. 
 Although he was a bit springy in his stride, he walked erect, 
 with a straight leg, and with his weight fairly on his heels, and 
 no exception could be taken to his style. He was over the 
 medium height, and strongly built about the hips, although 
 not a very heavy man, and was very carefully trained and in 
 admirable condition. The championship of 1881 seemed a 
 moral for him, as Webster was by this time falling into the 
 * sere and yellow ' stage, and going more shiftily than ever. 
 The race, which was won for England by a novice, J. AV. Raby, 
 of Elland, Yorks, was a memorable one. Merrill went off very 
 fast, and Webster, trying to keep pace with him, soon became 
 so shifty that he was disqualified by the judges. In the mean- 
 time, Raby, who was a tall, gaunt lad of the class which has 
 recently received the franchise, stuck doggedly to the Ameri- 
 can, wore him down before five miles had been covered, and 
 finished alone, Merrill giving up from exhaustion. The enthu- 
 siasm of the crowd — the largest that ever attended a champion-
 
 I40 ATHLETICS 
 
 ship meeting, being over 10,000 in number — was extreme, for the 
 English sportsman is ahvays intensely patriotic, and especially 
 so when he has put his money upon the native product against 
 the foreigner. In that year, too (1881), the public had lost a 
 lot of its coin to Americans upon the turf, and an unexpected 
 British victory on the cinder-path was refreshing. Raby, at the 
 time, walked in wonderfully fair style, with exactly the same 
 action, in spite of his great speed, as an ordinary pedestrian on 
 the road. He was not allowed long to remain an amateur, 
 and soon joined the professional ranks. As has been the case 
 with many another fine, natural walker, a little artificial cultiva- 
 tion soon made him walk as shiftily as the rest. 
 
 The champion of the next two years was H. Whyatt, of the 
 Notts Forest F.C., who is also credited with having walked a 
 mile at Birmingham, in 1883, in 6 min. 34|- sec. Whyatt was a 
 tall, wiry man, who progressed with a very short stride ; and we 
 can only express an opinion of him that he never walked at 
 all, but merely trotted on his heels, taking care upon such 
 occasions never to have both feet off the ground at once. His 
 action was very like that of "Webster in his later days, only 
 ' very much more so ' ; but as long as a man was considered to be 
 walking because one foot reached the ground before the other 
 quite left it, it became impossible to disquahfy him. 
 
 In 1884 two Americans were in this country, F. P. Murray 
 and W. H. Meek. The former arrived here as the guest of 
 some English clubs, and under some mysterious arrangements, 
 in which ' gate money ' played an important part, he was 
 unable to ai)pear at the championship meeting. Meek, how- 
 ever, who came over independently, and with a desire, as we are 
 informed, of showing that the invited guest was not the best 
 American walker, reached England a day or two before the 
 championship meeting, and won the walking race with great 
 ease, in most excellent style. Like his compatriot Myers, he 
 had a most remarkable physique. He was a very little man, 
 with a large pair of thick, strong legs. His stride was long, 
 and his walking of a perfectly fair road-going style. At Stam-
 
 WALKING AND WALKERS 141 
 
 lord Bridge, a little later on in the same year, he covered his- 
 four miles in 29 min. 10 sec, going perfectly fairly, a really 
 remarkable performance ; and there is very little doubt that if 
 put to it he could have beaten the record for seven miles, as he 
 was a fine stayer, having so little weight to carry upon his great 
 legs. During his visit he met Murray, and was beaten by him, 
 but there was some suspicion that Meek was not trying to do 
 his best. Of Murray's style we feel great difficulty in speaking. 
 We do not consider him to have been a fair walker in the sense 
 that Merrill and Meek were fair walkers, but, at the same time, 
 we must admit that he never had both feet off the ground 
 together in a race. We watched him at one meeting, as we 
 had before watched Webster, and could see that the toe of his 
 hind foot left the ground at exactly the same instant that the 
 heel of his front foot touched it. Upon anything but a per- 
 fectly level cinder-track he must have broken into a trot, but 
 did not do so when we saw him walking. He had rather a 
 short stride, with a very great deal of arm action, and to look 
 at his body he seemed to be trotting, not walking. Perhaps 
 we may say that he was not a genuinely fair walker, but was 
 within the received definition. He is credited in America with 
 having covered a mile in 6 min. 29-I sec. ; two miles in 13 min. 
 48f sec. ; and three miles in 21 min. Qi sec. No doubt at these 
 shorter distances he was faster than, if not so fair as, Meek ; 
 but, like so many of the doubtful goers, he was better at short 
 than at long distances. Since Meek's departure we have seen 
 little fast and genuinely fair walking in England, and at the 
 short distances, which are those in vogue at all athletic meet- 
 ings, there is a great deal of that doubtful style of wh'ch Murray 
 was the most able exponent.^ 
 
 We must confess to noting with pleasure a revival at the 
 
 1 These words were written before the appearance upon the path of H. 
 Curtis, the amateur champion of 1890, 1891, 1892, and 1893. Curtis was at 
 his best in 1890, when he walked erect, with a fine stride and with irreproach- 
 able fairness. On July 12, 1890, at the championship meeting at Birmingham, 
 he walked in perfect form and covered his five miles in 37 min. 17 sec; six 
 miles in 44 min. 57 sec, and seven miles in 52 min. 28* sec. — all 'records' 
 for the distances.
 
 142 ATHLETICS 
 
 present day of walking races along the roads for considerable 
 distances. In such races the doubtful goers are conspicuous 
 by their absence, as nothing but genuine road-walking will pay 
 in a road-race, and such contests afford fine exhibitions of power 
 and endurance. In i8S6 a really remarkable performance was 
 done i;i the great road-race to Brighton by the winner Mackin- 
 tosh, who covered the distance from Westminster Bridge to 
 Brighton Aquarium (about 52 miles) in 9 hours 25 min. 8 sec. 
 The success of the winner has, we believe, been taken to show 
 that the old race of running-footmen has not died out without 
 leaving a worthy exponent amongst the profession of the equally 
 fine pastime of walking.
 
 143 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 
 
 In no branch of athletics have practice and cultivation led 
 to such an extraordinary improvement as in high and broad 
 jumping. At the first Oxford and Cambridge meeting in 
 1S64, the High Jump was won with 5 ft. 6 in., the Long Jump 
 with 18 ft., and even at the present day foreigners hear with 
 incredulity that men can jump more than 6 ft. in height, and 
 clear more than 23 ft. on the flat. The improvement is per- 
 haps more marked in long jumping than in high jumping, but 
 even in the latter, careful training and assiduous practice has 
 shown that the human body is capable of greater feats than 
 were thought possible before jumping became an organised 
 sport. Probably ' Christopher North ' would have found it as 
 hard to believe that M. J. Brooks jumped 6 ft. 2^ in. high in 
 1876, as did Donald Dinnie, the S'.-.otch 'professional,' who, on 
 seeing an account of Brooks' jump, promptly wrote to the papers 
 to show that, upon a priori grounds, such a feat was impossible. 
 Perhaps nothing is so pretty and interesting as a High 
 Jump, and a light-weight jumper who leaps straight over his 
 obstacle and alights on the balls of his feet is almost certain to 
 be graceful in his movements. Still there are a variety of dif- 
 ferent styles of high-jumping, and some successful performers 
 get over the bar sideways with a crab-like motion which is more 
 effective than beautiful. The muscles used for the spring are 
 those in front of the thigh which pass down to the knee-cap. 
 The knee is bent when preparing for the spring, the muscles 
 are contracted, and from the sudden and violent straightening 
 of the leg with a jerk, the impetus is given. A high-jumper, 
 therefore, must have these muscles not only strong but naturally
 
 144 ATHLETICS 
 
 springy and elastic, and from this it follows that in a certain 
 sense the high-jumper, like the sprinter, is born, not made ; 
 foi though muscles can be hardened and strengthened by 
 practice, nothing but nature can make them elastic. As a 
 matter of fact the high-jumper is nearly always short-thighed, 
 with a well-shaped knee, a rather long leg from knee to ankle, 
 and with an ankle, like the knee, cleanly and delicately shaped. 
 
 It is always said, and with some show of truth, that a high- 
 jumper is fanciful and uncertain. The reason is easy to see, 
 for not only will a touch of cold or stiffness in the joints spoil 
 a man's form, but the greatest possible difference is made by 
 inability to take off at exactly the right distance from the bar. 
 Thus, if the 'take off' is a little up-hill, a little down-hill, or 
 so slippery as to make the jumper nervous of falling, he may 
 rise from the wrong place, and jump into the bar instead of 
 over it. It is sometimes amusing to act as judge in a high- 
 jumping contest. One man wants to jump with the sun on his 
 right, another with the sun on his left, one likes to alight upon 
 the mattress which is always kept for the purpose, another is 
 ' put off if he sees the mattress in front of him ; another sticks 
 a bit of paper into the ground to guide him as to his take-off, 
 while yet another hangs a blue handkerchief on the bar to show 
 him where he is to jump to. To all this a courteous judge can 
 raise no reasonable objection, but the competition in conse- 
 quence becomes unduly prolonged and wearisome to the public, 
 as each competitor has three tries at each height, and the mat- 
 tress, handkerchief, and paper have to be shifted about at each 
 jump. Luckily, even the most obliging officials cannot be asked 
 to put a curtain over the sun for the jumpers' convenience. 
 
 The jumper has to get himself fit in the same way as the 
 sprinter. He must become strong, light, and hardy without 
 becoming stiff. As a bye-play, then, he will do no harm if he 
 indulges in a bit of sprinting and takes exercise canters, being 
 careful to keep upon his toes ; and the more he avails himself of 
 the services of a rubber the better. For his main practice he 
 must jump over the bar daily, being cautious not to overdo him- 
 self any day, and if he be wise he should learn to take off both
 
 JUMPING WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 145 
 
 against the wind and with it and under all sorts of atmospheric 
 conditions, as he will then be less likely to be ' put off' when he 
 appears upon a strange ground to take part in a competition. 
 
 Of late years it has been the practice to put the posts upon 
 the cinder-path or to have a ' take off' of cinders for the jumpers. 
 Some of the performers, however, prefer taking off from grass 
 under any circumstances, and no doubt they are right in think- 
 ing that good dry springy turf is better than cinders. At the 
 same time we have plenty of rain in England; the grass is 
 sometimes too slippery for fair jumping, and in such a state 
 that even a sprinkling of cinders or sawdust is insufficient to 
 get it into condition. The managers of a meeting should be 
 careful, if they intend their jumps to be upon the grass, to cover 
 up their ' take off' for a day or two beforehand. At the same 
 time the jumper will be wise if he can get the opportunity to 
 practise both upon cinders and turf, and he will thus be pre- 
 pared for all emergencies. 
 
 The usual practice in competition is for the bar to be raised 
 one inch each time, and not more, when the jumpers are begin- 
 ning to approach the end of their tether; but they are usually 
 given a few jumps at lower heights to start with to get their legs 
 into form. In the championship the bar is usually placed at 
 first at 5 ft., then raised to 5 ft. 2 in., then to 5 ft. 4 in., and then 
 to 5 ft. 6. in. if all the competitors agree, but if any object, after 
 5 ft. 4 in. the bar is raised an inch each time. 
 
 Although the jumping was very poor at the first two Inter- 
 'Varsity competitions, the first championship meeting in 1866 
 brought out two fine performers, both Cantabs, T. G. Little and 
 J. H. T. Roupell, who tied at 5 ft. 9 in., a height which remained 
 the ' record ' for the next five years. In the next year Little 
 again won the championship with a tie, his partner on this 
 occasion being another Cantab, C. E. Green. In 1868, how- 
 ever, the 'Varsity men were no longer in sole possession of the 
 field, for in this year that wonderful athlete R. J. C. Mitchell, 
 of Manchester, made his first appearance on the scene in 
 London, winning the high jump with 5 ft. 8 in., the long jump 
 with 19 ft. Z\ in., and the pole jump with 10 ft. 6^ in. Two
 
 146 ATHLETICS 
 
 years later Mitchell won all these three events again with the 
 weight-putting into the bargain, and in 1871 he again was 
 champion in these four competitions, his high jump on this, 
 occasion being 5 ft. 9^ in., half an inch better than the old 
 record. Mitchell's performances in 187 1 certainly show him 
 to have been a fine all-round athlete, his high jump being, as 
 we have said, 5 ft. 9 2 in., his long jump (in which he tied with 
 E. J. Davies) 20 ft. 4 in., his pole jump 10 ft., and his weight- 
 putting 38 ft. 8^ in. In these later days the competition is so 
 keen that would-be champions have to become specialists, and 
 we thus hear less than we used to of 'all round champions.' 
 
 Mitchell's performance was never eclipsed until M. J. Brooks, 
 a freshman from Rugby, came up to Oxford. Brooks in his 
 first year jumped 5 ft. 10 in. at the Inter-'Varsity sports, and a 
 few days later eclipsed this by a performance of 5 ft. 11 in. at 
 the championship meeting. He was a tall, cleanly built, and 
 rather thin man, with a good deal of strength as well as spring, 
 and his manner of jumping was very striking, although not very 
 graceful when he got over great heights. He took very little 
 run, and in fact almost walked up to the bar, springing straight 
 over it with his legs tucked up high and well in front of him, 
 and invariably looked, when his legs were once over, as if his 
 body would fall crashing on to the bar; but he nearly always 
 managed to jerk his body forward again and to alight upon his 
 toes. When he did knock down the bar he did so with his 
 elbows or body, being apparently able to get his feet over almost 
 any height. The year after his first appearance Brooks was in 
 no sort of form, and was beaten by M. G. Glazebrook, another 
 Oxonian, who did 5 ft. 9^ in. at the Inter-'Varsity gathering, 
 and was credited with 5 ft. 11 in. at the championship meeting. 
 We can recollect, however, that Glazebrook's 5 ft. 11 m. was 
 rather a doubtful record, as he knocked the bar pretty heavily, 
 but without bringing it to the ground. In 1876 Brooks dis- 
 posed of his own and Glazebrook's joint record by jumping 
 6 ft. at the University sports at Oxford. For so many years it 
 had been considered an impossible feat to jump 6 ft. that the 
 excitement at the performance was very great, and the Honorary
 
 JUMPING, IVEIGHT.PUTTING, ETC. 147 
 
 Treasurer of the O.U.C.A., then as now an enthusiastic admirer 
 of ' records,' threw his hat into the air, oblivious of the fact 
 that the old Marston Ground was covered with puddles, in 
 one of which the hat ahghted. On this occasion the take-off 
 was from cinders, but at the meeting at Lillie Bridge a fortnight 
 later the competitors, who had a very fine warm day, took off 
 from the grass, and Brooks cleared on this occasion 6 ft. 2^ in. 
 We have heard from ' Bob Rogers,' who was on the ground 
 as official time-keeper and was standing close by, that Brooks' 
 feet went two or three inches above the bar when he cleared 
 this remarkable height. At the championship meeting three 
 days later Brooks again cleared 6 feet, another magnificent 
 performance, as he took off from very wet spongy grass. This 
 was his last performance in public. 
 
 The next few years produced one or two good jumpers, but 
 Brooks' record still seemed quite unapproachable. In 1878 a 
 Northerner, G. Tomlinson, who in face and figure seemed a 
 smaller edition of F. T. Elborough, won the championship with 
 5 ft. 10^ in., and we believe on other occasions cleared 6 feet. 
 He was a very pretty jumper, but took his leap a bit sideways. 
 Another fine performer was the Cantab, R. H. Macaulay, 
 another all-round performer, who, when he became after some 
 seasons of football a bit too heavy and stiff for jumping, de- 
 veloped into a fine quarter-mile runner. Macaulay when 
 m his first year at Cambridge was able to clear nearly 6 feet, 
 and in 1879 he won the championship with 5 ft. 9 J, in. He 
 was a very strong, loosely built man, and his style of jumping 
 was to take off a long way from the bar and go over with a 
 great bound and with his head and shoulders well up, so that 
 at the moment of the clearing the bar the body was almost 
 perpendicular, not leaning back as was the case with Brooks. 
 
 One of the few jumpers who up to the present have 
 rivalled the reputation of Brooks is the Irish athlete P. Davin, 
 a member of a very well-known athletic family, his elder 
 brother, M. Davin, having made a great reputation as a 
 ■weight-putter, and another brother, T. Davin, having won 
 several Irish championships at high and long jumping. In 
 
 L 2
 
 148 ATHLETICS 
 
 1880 P. Davin is reported to have beaten Brooks' record by 
 clearing 6 ft. 2| in. at his native place at Carrick-on-Suir, and 
 in proof of the record we believe that the certificates of two 
 local justices of the peace as to the correctness of the measure- 
 ment were lodged with the Field. There is indeed not the 
 least reason to doubt the bona fides of the performance, but it 
 is perhaps natural that a good many Englishmen should have 
 suspicions that Irish patriotism might manage to elongate a 
 measurement by a quarter of an inch when the downfall of 
 Saxon supremacy could be secured thereby. In 18S1 Davin 
 came over for the English championship and won with a 
 leap of 6 ft. o\ in. His appearance was watched with great 
 interest, and he certainly showed magnificent power on that 
 day, winning the long jump as well with a leap of 22 ft. 11 in. 
 Davin was a tall strong man of quite 6 feet in height, and might 
 almost be described as a young giant, being, although very 
 well-shaped, a strong, heavy man. His style of leaping was 
 quite different from that of Brooks, as he trotted up towards 
 the posts and with one prodigious bound in the air went clean 
 over the bar. In one of his leaps, when he was clearing about 
 5 ft. 9 in. height, we saw him take off six feet before the bar 
 and alight six feet on the other side, and when over the bar his 
 body was almost perpendicular. In fact he took a downright 
 honest leap at the bar in much the same way as a man would 
 leap over a hedge and ditch from a road. In 18S7, however, 
 those two giants. Brooks and Davin, were surpassed by a 
 diminutive American, W. B. Page, who, though only about 
 5 ft. 6 in. in height, cleared 6 ft. 3} in. at Stourbridge.^ 
 
 Of late years Ireland has certainly produced many fine 
 jumpers, and there can be little doubt that it is an amusement 
 for which the Celtic race has a natural aptitude. For the half 
 dozen years preceding 1886, both the high and long jump 
 championships have fallen more often to Irish and Scotch 
 competitors than to native Englishmen. 
 
 ' At the championship meeting of 1887 Page tied with G. W . Rowdon of 
 Devonshire. Rowdon is said to have jumped 6 ft. 5 J in. at some volunteer regi- 
 mental sports at Haytor camp in August 1890, but the record is a doubtful one. 
 Rowdon afterwards e.\hibitcd his wonderful leaping powers at the music halls.
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTIXG, ETC. 
 
 149 
 
 The Scotchman J- ^ • Parsons, who was EngHsh champion 
 in iSSo and 1883, deserves a word of notice. Compared with 
 Erooks and Davin, he may be ranked as a small man, and, if 
 our recollection serves us aright, stands about 5 ft. 9 in. ; yet 
 in 1883 he cleared 6 ft. 0} in., which, when compared with his 
 height, shows him to be a performer almost of the calibre of the 
 other two. The champion of 1885 — Kelly, an Irishman — cleared 
 5 ft. II in., and it may probably be said with truth that the 
 
 High jump. 
 
 average of high jumping at country sports is better in Ireland 
 than in England. Except, however, in jumping and weight- 
 putting, the average performer at English sports is better than 
 the average Irishman. 
 
 The improvement made of late years in long jumping is even 
 more marked than it has been with high jumping, and it seems 
 almost absurd to us nowadays, when almost every fair sprinter 
 can clear 20 ft., to know that up to 1870 every championship
 
 I50 
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 was won with a leap of less than 20 ft. The truth is that it was 
 not till some years after sports had been instituted that the value 
 of speed as a factor in long jumping was discovered. The 
 old jumper took a short run and a big spring ; the modern long- 
 jumper starts fifty yards from the take-off, sprints up as hard as 
 he can, and is going his hardest when he takes his leap. The 
 result is that the mere impetus takes him the extra foot or two 
 over the ground by which the moderns excel their predecessors. 
 
 In practising, therefore, for the long jump the athlete must 
 prepare himself in much the same way as the high-jumper and 
 sprinter, taking care not to get stiff. There must also be a 
 constant and assiduous practice in jumping, as the main ele- 
 ment of success is to get a good take-off at full speed from the 
 right spot, and this is much easier said than done. Indeed, it 
 is the commonest thing, even in championship and other first- 
 class competitions, to see the competitors ' muff' their take-off, 
 or sometimes take off a foot before the line, and so be credited 
 with having jumped a foot less than they have actually covered. 
 
 The theory upon which the rules of long jumping appears 
 to be founded is that the jumper is clearing a river or a pit. 
 Thus a board is placed flat with the ground, or a line marked, 
 and the jump is measured from the starting line. The ground 
 after the line should be hollowed out, so as to make it im- 
 possible for the jumper, if he over-run the line, to get a jump 
 at all. If he fall back after alighting from his jump, the jump 
 is lost ; and the distance is, of course, measured from the 
 taking-off Hne to the first part where the hindmost heel touches 
 the ground upon alighting. 
 
 We have said before that it is no uncommon matter to find 
 a sprinter clearing his 19 or 20 feet, not really because he is a 
 born jumper, but simply from his pace, and from his having 
 learnt to take-off when going at full speed ; but out of the 
 scores of men who can cover 20 feet, only very few can reach 
 21 feet, and the man who can jump that e.xtra foot is a good 
 performer. Nearly all these good jumpers seem to attain the 
 extra foot or more by the kick or jerk which they get from 
 the back either at the moment of taking-off or in mid-air. We
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 151 
 
 have seen many jumpers in mid-air throw out their legs well 
 in front of them with a jerk of the back, and alight a foot 
 farther than the place where they seem bound to touch the 
 ground. There is a good deal of art in knowing exactly how 
 far the legs can be safely shot out, for if this be overdone the 
 jumper will fall backwards and lose his jump. In fact, there 
 is a great deal more skill in long jumping than is generally 
 believed, and it is one of the competitions in which men show 
 most uncertain form, for the slightest attack of the nerves may 
 prevent a man getting anything like a decent take-off, or may 
 make him forget his usual trick of throwing out his legs, caus- 
 ing him to skim along the ground, or jump too high in the air. 
 Year after year sees men who have jumped 21^ or 22 feet at 
 Oxford or Cambridge, fail to reach much more than 20 feet at 
 Lillie Bridge ; and there is little time to recoup a bad begin- 
 ning, as at most each jumper does not have more than six tries. 
 
 The long-jumper, like the sprinter, may be a man of almost 
 any size or weight. He may be a giant like Baddeley or Davin, 
 or a little light-weight like E. J. Davies, a short middle-weight 
 like the Irishman Lane, or a tall middle-weight like Lockton. 
 All these, together with J. W. Parsons, of whom we have spoken 
 before as a high-jumper, have probably been capable of clearing 
 23 feet upon a good day, and yet it would be hard to say that 
 as regards phisique they presented any one quality in common. 
 
 We have said that it was not until 187 1, when Davies and 
 R. J. C. Mitchell tied for the championship with 20 ft. 4 in., 
 that 20 feet was cleared at a championship meeting, and 
 before Davies appeared on the scene only one Inter-'Varsity 
 winner had cleared 21 feet, this being in 1868 ; and at that time 
 A. C. Tosswill, the hero of the performance, was considered 
 an absolute phenomenon. In 1882, however, Davies, who had 
 by this time developed into his true form, threw all the pre- 
 conceived notions of jumping ability into the shade by show- 
 ing himself capable of clearing 22 feet almost any day he 
 liked. He won the Inter-'Varsity jump, in 1872, with 21 ft. 
 5 in., and the championship of the same year with 22 ft. 7 in. 
 In the championship of 1873 he did not compete ; but in 1874
 
 152 ATHLETICS 
 
 he again covered 22 ft. 5 in., having in the Inter-'Varsity 
 jump of that year, a few days before, cleared 22 ft. 10^ in., 
 then the record of the sport. Up to that time, indeed, Davies 
 was as much the superior of the jumpers who had preceded 
 him as was Brooks a few years later in the kindred sport of 
 high jumping, and his case was like that of Brooks in another 
 point, that the first man who rivalled his great reputation 
 came from Ireland. In the Irish Civil Service sports of 1874 
 Davies was beaten by J. Lane, who cleared 23 ft. i^ in We 
 never saw Lane jump, but gather from a sporting annual that 
 he was 5 ft. 8 in. in height, and weighed ii st. 2 lb., a good 
 weight for a man of that height. It is still somewhat a moot 
 point whether Lane's jump ought to be received as a genuine 
 performance, as it has been averred with vehemence, and de- 
 nied with equal vehemence, that there was a fall in the ground. 
 In truth, however, it is very difficult indeed, when it comes to 
 an inch or two, to judge between one jump and another, as a 
 little wind more or less behind the jumper, or a slight drop in 
 the ground, may make a good deal of difference. It is seldom, 
 also, that the run for the jump is on perfectly level ground, as it 
 is impossible to place the jumping ground, with its prepared 
 surface and hollowed pit, in the middle of the levelled run- 
 ning path. For several years, therefore, and we might almost 
 say up to the present day, the question must remain unde- 
 cided as to which of the pair was the best of all jumpers. 
 Their performance was never even approached for several years. 
 In 1878 the Universities turned out simultaneously a pair 
 of fine jumpers, C. W. M. Kemp of Oxford, one of a very well- 
 known athletic family, and E. Baddeley of Cambridge. At the 
 Oxford and Cambridge meeting, Kemp, who was a light-weight, 
 wiry, and of more than medium height, beat Baddeley by a few 
 inches, winning with 22 ft. 2\ in. Kemp was, we think, not quite 
 so good, but more certain than his opponent, and always jumped 
 with great coolness and judgment, never failing when fit to get 
 a good jerk in mid-air and fling his legs well out in front of him. 
 At the championship meeting, in the same year, Baddeley 
 turned the tables on his opponent, winning with the fine jump of
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 
 
 153 
 
 22 ft. 8 in. on perfectly level ground. Baddeley was a very tall, 
 heavy man, weighing over 13 stone, strongly and loosely built, 
 and was also the hammer-throwing champion in 1878 and 1S82. 
 He occasionally made a poor show at long jumping, through fail- 
 ing to jump sufficiently high and skimming too near the ground. 
 As he had a great natural spring in his muscles, it suited him 
 better to leap a trifle higher than his lighter opponent Kemp. 
 Lockton, who made his mark also as a sprinter and hurdler, 
 
 Long jump. 
 
 was another magnificent long-jumper, having time after time 
 done over 22 feet in public. When a lad of seventeen at school 
 he entered for the long-jump championship, and as Davies, who 
 was also entered, did not put in an appearance, Lockton was in- 
 dulged with a walk over. In 1875, 1879, and 1880 he also won 
 this championship, on the two latter occasions clearing over 
 22 feet. Indeed, Lockton, from the time he was eighteen, was 
 always good for 22 feet; and cleared within an inch or two of 
 this distance at his school sports, when still at school.
 
 IS4 ATHLETICS 
 
 Locktondid not figure prominently at sports after iSSo, atid 
 since his time it is hardly too much to say that most of the 
 best long-jumpers havebeen Irishmen or Scotchmen. Parsons, 
 of Edinburgh University, who was, as we have described, a 
 light-weight of medium height, not only cleared 6 ft. q\ in. at 
 the championship at Lillie Bridge in 1883, but on the same 
 day won the long-jump championship with 23 ft. o^ in. The 
 weather was fine and warm, but as he was neither aided by 
 wind nor drop in the ground, the double performance on the 
 same day marks him as a marvellous jumper. Parsons, like 
 Kemp, jumped always with great judgment, never taking off 
 short of the line, and throwing his legs well out in front of him. 
 
 In 1 88 1 P. Davin won the English championship at the 
 Aston Grounds, Birmingham, with a jump of 22 ft. 11 in., but 
 was aided by a decided drop in the ground. Davin's long 
 jumping was like his high jumping ; he had a remarkable 
 natural spring in his muscles and jumped well into the air with 
 perfect grace and no twisting of the back or jerk of the body. 
 Two years later he is credited with having, at Portarlington, in 
 Ireland, covered 23 ft. 2 in., just half an inch more than Lane's 
 jump of 1874, and there does not seem to be any fair reason 
 for disputing the record. In 1882 the championship again fell to 
 an Irishman, T. M. Malone, who was a slighter man than Davin, 
 but jumped in exactly the same style. Malone, who was also a 
 fine sprinter, has since earned a great reputation as a professional 
 runner in Australia. Since then an Irishman, J. Purcell, has 
 won our championship, jumping in exactly the same style, being 
 able to clear over 22 feet. In fact there is no doubt that there 
 is an Irish style of long jumping which most of the English 
 jumpers are physically unable to imitate. Experience may 
 almost be said to show that in natural ' springiness ' the Celtic 
 muscle is superior to the English. 
 
 Quite recently all previous performances at long jumping 
 have been eclipsed by those of the Oxonian, C. B. Fry. Fry^ 
 who is a marvellous all-round athlete, obtained a ' triple blue,' 
 that is to say, represented his University at cricket, football, 
 and athletics. He has several times jumped over 23 feet either
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 155^ 
 
 at the Iffley Road Ground at Oxford, or at the Queen's Club. 
 His best performances are 23 ft. 6| in. (a world's record), made 
 at Oxford in March 1893, and 23 ft 5 in., made at the Queen's 
 Club at the Inter-'Varsity gathering of 1892. Both the places 
 upon which these performances have been made have admir- 
 ably prepared jumping-grounds, and in each of them the ground 
 is ' banked up ' very slightly just before the ' take-ofif.' A dis- 
 tinguished ex-champion jumper has expressed his opinion that 
 the slight rise in the approach to the 'take-off' gives a material 
 assistance to the jumper, but even if this be so (and I consider 
 it doubtful), Fry's superiority to his predecessors can hardly be 
 questioned. 
 
 WEIGHT PUTTING. 
 
 At first sight it would seem that jumping and heavy-weight 
 throwing were the very opposite poles of athletic sport, but ex- 
 perience shows this to be very far from the truth, and in many 
 cases the champion at weight-putting or hammer-throwing will be 
 found to be either an active or a retired jumper. The truth is 
 that both strength and elasticity of muscle are required for weight- 
 putting and hammer-throwing, and it is therefore not hard to 
 understand why both these latter competitions are more natural 
 to, and are more practised by, the Celts of Scotland and Ireland 
 than by the Enghsh. Both competitions, however, form part 
 of the regular programme of an English athletic fixture, and are 
 included at the Championship and Inter-'Varsity meetings. 
 
 The rough-and-ready experiences of the pioneers of the 
 athletic movement decided that a i6-lb. weight and a i6-lb. 
 hammer would give the best test of an athlete's ability to mani- 
 pulate a heavy weight ; at the present day, therefore, in England 
 nearly all the weight-putting competitions are with a i6-lb. 
 weight, which is put 'without follow' from a 7-foot square. In 
 Ireland, Scotland, and America, however, the putting, hurling, 
 or slinging of heavier weights is often practised. In the present 
 work we think it better to confine ourselves to noticing the 
 English practice of the sport alone. 
 
 The English rule for the sport of weight-putting as formu-
 
 .156 
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 lated by the Athletic Association runs as follows : ' The weight 
 shall be put from the shoulder with one hand only, and without 
 follow, from a 7 -foot square. The weight shall be of iron, and 
 spherical, and shall weigh 16 lb. All puts shall be measured 
 perpendicularly from the first pitch of the weight to the front 
 line of the square or to that line produced.' The definition 
 requires perhaps a few words of explanation. The weight 
 must first be 'put' from the shoulder, not 'bowled.' There 
 have been cases where men with fine muscles of the arm and 
 
 chest have been able to ' bowl ' 
 a i6-lb. weight like a cricket- 
 ball farther than it can be put 
 in the legitimate style. In a 
 legitimate ' put ' the elbow is 
 directly below the hand and 
 close to the side where the 
 weight is dehvered. Secondly, 
 there must be no ' follow, ' that 
 is, after the weight is delivered 
 the 'putter' must draw back 
 and not allow the impetus 
 given to his body to carry 
 either foot over the front line, 
 or he will be ' no-balled,' to 
 borrow a phrase from cricket. 
 Thirdly, the weight must be 
 of iron. There really seems 
 to be very little reason for this restriction, which, as a matter 
 of fact, gives an advantage to men with large hands. A leaden 
 weight is smaller and more handy, and a man with a small hand 
 has better command over a leaden ball, and can certainly put 
 further with it. The restriction of the nature of the metal has 
 probably been instituted for the purpose of getting one fixed 
 standard for estimating the relative value of performances at 
 different places. 
 
 The main point to learn in weight-putting is to 'get one's 
 
 Putting the shot — first position.
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 
 
 157 
 
 weight on ' — to use a rowing phrase — that is to say, to employ 
 mere arm-work as little as possible, and to get the impetus for 
 propulsion from a rapid spring and turn of the body. The 
 method adopted for securing this by all good weight-putters is 
 the following. The putter balances his body on the right leg 
 (supposing him to be right-handed and putting with the right 
 arm), with his right shoulder thrown back and the weight on 
 his right hand close to the shoulder ; he then raises the weight 
 up to the full stretch of his arm two or three times to stretch 
 the muscles, the left arm and leg 
 usually being thrown forward to 
 balance the body. A quick hop 
 is then taken about three feet 
 towards the mark ; at the end of 
 the hop the left leg touches the 
 ground, but the right shoulder is 
 kept back, and the weight of the 
 body is still on the right leg. A 
 sharp spring is then taken to- 
 wards the scratch line and the 
 body swung rapidly round a half- 
 turn, so that when the weight 
 leaves the hand the right shoul- 
 der and leg are forward, and the 
 left shoulder and leg behmd. 
 The weight is thus propelled 
 more by the swing of the body 
 than by the jerk of the arm. The best weight-putter, therefore,, 
 is not necessarily the tallest, heaviest, or strongest man, but 
 he who can bring, roughly speaking, the greatest momentum by 
 the turn of his body to the delivery of the iron ball. It thus 
 gives a scope for agile strength ; youth has its opportunity to 
 compete with the matured power of riper age, and often a 
 quite small light man is able to put really great distances ; of 
 course, however, height and weight have great advantages. An. 
 attempt was, indeed, we believe, once made to induce Chang, 
 
 Putting the shot — second position.
 
 »58 ATHLETICS 
 
 the Chinese giant, to enter for one of the championship meet' 
 ings, it being thought that he must necessarily be able to put a 
 .great distance, as he would have been like an ordinary mar 
 throwing the weight out of a first-floor window. We fancy, 
 however, that had the Celestial competed he would not have 
 •been in the hunt with the more skilful Britons. 
 
 For many years the weight-putting record was held by 
 E. J. Bor, a gigantic member of the L.A.C., who put 42 ft. 5 in 
 -at the championship of 1872. This was never surpassed until 
 1885, although there were plenty of fine weight-putters in the 
 interval. R. J. C. Mitchell, the high and long jumper, twice 
 won the championship with puts of over 38 feet, and the two 
 brothers J. and T. Stone, of Newton-le-Willows, also figure in 
 the list of champions, the elder brother having won in 1867 and 
 1868, and the younger in 1875, 1876, and 1877. The latter 
 was a fine specimen of manhood, weighing 14 stone and being 
 over six feet, but beautifully proportioned, and no mean per- 
 former at a sprint. He was, however, beaten in Ireland in 
 1876 by M. Davin, an elder brother of the two famous jumpers; 
 although, in 1877, Stone in England beat the Irishman, putting 
 over 41 feet with a leaden weight. In 1878, 1879 (summer 
 championship), and 1880 the champion was W. Y. Winthrop, an 
 ex-Cantab and popular member of the L. A.C., whose prodigious 
 feats of strength in other matters would require a volume to 
 record them adequately, the most famous being, if report be 
 true, the upheaval of a flagstaff by his own unaided efforts at a 
 well-known watering-place in the North. In 1882 the cham- 
 pionship fell to a Northerner, G. Ross of Patricroft, who was, we 
 believe, a policeman. Ross ' put ' in a most unusual style, and 
 was rather a puzzle to judges and referees. He commenced 
 as if about to bowl the weight, but straightened his arm with a 
 jerk, which brought the elbow into the side just before the 
 weight left the hand. In the championship of 1882 he put 
 42 ft. 4 in., only one inch less than Bor's record. Ross was not 
 a very big man, nor yet very agile, but had enormous strength 
 •of arm, and his remarkable ability was, we think, due to his
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 159 
 
 style of putting, of which he was, as far as we know, the first 
 and last exponent. The next two years' championships fell to 
 Owen Harte, a giant from the Irish constabulary. In 1885 
 Scotland had her turn, the champion being D. J. Mackinnon, 
 •of the London Scottish Football Club, the best weight-putter 
 we ever saw. He was quite a young man, about 6 ft. 6 in. in 
 height, and broad in proportion, although not fleshy. He was 
 always a conspicuous object in the football field, where his 
 gigantic form towered over the scrimmages. He put in his 
 championship win 43 ft. \ in., thus finally disposing of the 
 old record. A few days afterwards, however, this performance 
 was beaten at the Irish championship of 1885 by J. O'Brien, 
 another member of the Irish constabulary, whose performance 
 was 43 ft. 9 in. This has since been surpassed by the ' put ' 
 of a Canadian, G. R. Gray, who accomplished 44 ft. 9 in. at 
 Dublin in July, 1888. Gray was only of medium height and 
 size, which makes the performance still more wonderful. 
 
 It is hardly to be expected that the youthful undergraduates 
 of Oxford and Cambridge should produce weight-putters of 
 such excellence as their runners and jumpers. The best ex- 
 ponent of the art at the Universities, J. H. Ware, who won the 
 €ventfour years in succession from 1882 to 1885, was, however, 
 a really first-class performer, having on occasions put over 39 
 feet, and it was unfortunate that he was unable to compete at 
 the championship in 1886. Ware, like most of the other fine 
 weight-putters, was a giant in height and build. 
 
 HAMMER-THROWING. 
 
 Hammer-throwing is a sport which in its present form has 
 come to us from over the Border, although the ' hurling of the 
 bar or sledge ' was, as we have already seen, one of the sports 
 of merry England. Since the introduction of the sport into 
 modern athletic meetings, the weight of the hammer has always 
 been the same as that of the weight used in weight-putting, viz.
 
 i6o ATHLETICS 
 
 i6 lb. ; but the rules as to length of handle, the length of run 
 allowed, and measurement still vary. The original rules, fol- 
 lowed both at the championship meeting and the Oxford and 
 Cambridge sports, allowed the hammer- thrower to use a 
 hammer of any length, to take as much run as he liked, and 
 throw from any place he liked, the judge marking the place 
 where the thrower had his front foot at the moment when the 
 hammer left his hands. The measurement was then taken in 
 a straight line from the thrower's foot to the pitch of the 
 hammer. At the championship meeting after 1875 a 3-ft. 6-in. 
 hammer and a 7 -foot run without follow alone were allowed, 
 although at the Oxford and Cambridge sports the old rules 
 went on until 1881, and even now the Oxford and Cambridge 
 rule is different to that used at the championship meeting. 
 In America, and at some Scottish meetings, the hammer is 
 thrown standing, without a run at all. The rule of the Ath- 
 letic Association, however, which was used at the champion- 
 ships until 1886, and followed at nearly all the places in 
 England where the sport is practised at all, ran as follows : 
 'The hammer shall be thrown from within a circle of 7 feet in 
 diameter. The head of the hammer shall be of iron, and 
 spherical, and the handle shall be of wood. The head and 
 handle shall weigh together 16 lb. The total length of the 
 hammer shall not be more than 4 feet.' In 1887 the circle 
 was enlarged from 7 feet to 9 feet. We must confess to thinking 
 that the limited run, short hammer, and no follow make hammer- 
 throwing a fairer, prettier, and more skilful sport than the original 
 form of the competition. 
 
 The main point to learn in throwing the hammer is to get 
 as much impetus as is possible upon the body by rapidly spin- 
 ning round, the arms being held perfectly rigid with the 
 hammer grasped in the hands. At the moment when the 
 greatest impetus is obtained, the hammer is let go, an extra 
 push being given at the last moment by a jerk of the whole 
 body. 'No actual arm-work is used at all, the strain falling 
 mainly upon the back and loins ; indeed, one or two famous
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 
 
 i6i 
 
 hammer-throwers, like W. Lawrence of the O.U.A.C., have only 
 used one arm to hold the hammer. The hammer is swung 
 round, when once the thrower has begun his spin, at right angles 
 to the body in its vertical position, and the arm and handle 
 thus act as one and the same lever. A very slight grasp of 
 mechanical principles will show that the hammer-head is, as it 
 were, attached to the circumference of a revolving circle, the 
 motive power being supplied by the spinning human body at the 
 centre. At the moment of leaving go, the centrifugal force 
 
 Throwing hammer. 
 
 causes the hammer to fly off in a straight line. It follows that 
 the hammer will fly farthest when the greatest inofnentum, i.e. 
 weight and speed combined, can be produced. It is therefore 
 obvious that, where an unlimited run is allowed, the heaviest 
 man, provided he can acquire enough skill to spin round fast 
 tvithout falling over, must inevitably be able to throw the 
 hammer farthest. Height also will be a great advantage, as it 
 will enable a larger handle to be used, and the weight starting 
 from a higher point, will travel farther before touching the 
 ground. Under the old system, when the art had been brought
 
 i62 ATHLETICS 
 
 to the highest degree of perfection, the spectator could hardly 
 help arriving at the conclusion that one athletic sport at least 
 had passed the line which divides the sublime from the ridicu- 
 lous. Three or four heavy men would come out, wielding what 
 looked like a poker of 5 feet in length, and would spin round five 
 or six times hke teetotums with almost inconceivable rapidity, 
 after which the missile would hurtle forth north, south, east, or 
 west, no man knowing in which direction it would be likely to fly 
 off. As a result, not only was the sport dangerous to spectators, 
 but it came with many of them to be considered as the comical 
 element of the meeting. Dangerous we say it was to spectators. 
 On one occasion an Oxford athlete neatly picked off a college 
 scout, who, however, escaped with a broken arm ; but the un- 
 fortunate judges were almost in peril of their lives at each 
 throw, being somewhat in the same enviable position as we 
 have recently been told is the engineer who fires a big gun 
 on one of her Majesty's ironclads. With unskilful performers 
 also there was even more comedy and more chance of a 
 tragedy, as they had absolutely no control over their weapon, 
 and in their efforts to spin round rapidly found often that, 
 instead of having thrown the hammer, the hammer had thrown 
 them. 
 
 Hammer-throwing was introduced into the Oxford and 
 Cambridge programme in ib66, and has always since been 
 cultivated both at Oxford and Cambridge. It has, however, 
 never taken root at any other athletic centre in England, and 
 the championships have, with one exception (when a Londoner 
 beat the Cambridge winner by 6 inches, with a very poor 
 throw), been won either by University men or by Scotchmen 
 or Irishmen. The sport is very popular in Scotland, and has 
 also taken firm root in Ireland. 
 
 In 1873 an Oxford man, S. S. Brown (known as 'Hammer 
 Brown,' to distinguish him from numerous other Browns of 
 the same college), eclipsed all previous performances by 
 throwing over 120 feet ; but in the succeeding year another 
 and a greater hammer-thrower appeared at Cambridge in the
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 163 
 
 person of G. H. Hales. Hales was an immensely tall man, 
 6 ft. 4 in. or so, we should say, and practised hammer-throwing 
 more assiduously probably than any one has ever done before 
 or since. For some years he was continually making records 
 and then eclipsing them with better ones, his final perform- 
 ance being 13S ft. 3 in. in 1S76. He used a handle of very 
 great length with a leaden head, and certainly was a magnifi- 
 cent exponent of the science, spinning round many times 
 with great rapidity, and being able on nearly every occasion 
 to throw the hammer where he wished, which was not the 
 case with some of the preceding champions, who threw very 
 •erratically. 
 
 Under the rule of the A. A. A. the thrower has only room 
 for a couple of turns in his circle of 9 feet, and is bound 
 to keep himself and his weapon under proper control, as 
 if he ' follow ' his hammer outside the circle he loses his 
 throw. For the last ten )ears most of the championships 
 have been won by Irishmen. One of these, Dr. W. J. M. Barry, 
 is credited with the record under these rules, having thrown 
 134 feet 7 inches, a magnificent performance. The received 
 record for a standing throw is 99 ft. 7 in., which was thrown 
 by C. A. J. Queckberner at New York, though I have been 
 informed that a Scotchman, K. Whitton, has covered over 
 100 feet with a standing throw. It is difficult to settle records 
 with so many varying rules. 
 
 Another pastime which is very popular in Scotland, but has 
 never found favour in England, is that of ' tossing the caber.' 
 It is an interesting sport which combines both strength and 
 skill. The caber is a beam or small tree, or trunk of a tree, 
 heavier at one end than the other. The athlete holds this 
 perpendicularly, with the small end downwards, balancing it 
 in his hand^ against his chest. He then ' tosses ' it so as to 
 make it fall on the big end. The usual performance at show 
 meetings is to bring out a caber so big that none of the 
 competitors can toss it clean over. A piece is then sawn off, 
 iind another round is tried. If more than one of the men 
 
 M 2
 
 1 64 ATHLETICS 
 
 toss it dean over, the farthest toss and the straightest fall 
 mark the winner. 
 
 Another sport which is less frequent at athletic meetings than 
 was the case a dozen years ago is that of throwing the cricket ball. 
 The secret of a good throw is, as all cricketers are aware, to 
 keep all the joints of the arm loose until the throw is taken, 
 and then to stiffen at once with a simultaneous jerk the muscles- 
 of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist. The Oxford cricketer, 
 W. H. Game, has we believe thrown the farthest distance on 
 record, something over 127 yards with a good strong wind 
 behind him ; and the Etonian, W. F. Forbes, is credited with 
 having done some magnificent throws while he was still a 
 schoolboy. It is a pity that so fine a sport, which ought to- 
 attract the entries of many cricketers, is being allowed to fall 
 out of the programme at open meetings. 
 
 Yet another sport, not often practised, but very popular 
 with spectators, is pole jumping. A pole of from 10 to \2 
 feet in height, shod with one or in some cases three iron 
 spikes, is used, and is grasped with palms facing each other, 
 one hand above the other, that hand being uppermost which 
 is on the opposite side to the foot from which the spring is 
 taken. As a rule, the lower hand is placed upon the pole a 
 little below the height of the bar which the jumper is about 
 to clear. A short run is then taken, the pole planted firmly 
 in the ground, and the holder makes his spring. When the 
 pole reaches the perpendicular, the jumper, who holds his 
 body perfectly rigid, by strength of back, arms, and wrist swings 
 himself horizontally over the bar, throwing the pole back 
 behind him so as not to knock down the bar with it. The 
 skilful jumper often raises his body some way above his 
 hands, and so clears a height which at first seems impos- 
 sible. Of course the high -jumper has a great advantage at 
 this sport, as his first spring is a great deal higher than that 
 of any ordinary novice attempting the sport, and it is an 
 almost invariable rule that the good pole-jumper is a fine
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 
 
 165 
 
 performer at a high jump, as is the case with Ray, the ex- 
 champion. 
 
 A friend has told .us that he once saw a small acrobat at 
 a circus clear far greater heights by the simple process of 
 clambering up the pole like a monkey as soon as it was 
 poised, and then dropping over the bar ; but we have always 
 
 — =& — ^ t 
 
 Half over. 
 
 felt inclined to believe that this story was on a par with that 
 other, of an Indian juggler who threw a rope up in the 
 air and then climbed up it and disappeared. Something, 
 however, of the trick suggested is employed by Ray, who 
 shifts his hands up the bar when his pole is poised in the 
 air. The sport certainly gives scope to fine athletic qualities, 
 as the pole-jumper must be a high-jumper, and also agile
 
 i66 
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 enough to raise his body by help of the pole over the bar. 
 The pole-jumper is thus usually a light-weight, but this is not 
 the case with Ray, who is a well-shaped man of decidedly 
 heavy build. His success is no doubt partly due to the 
 effect of an athletic tradition, as he comes from Ulverston, 
 a place which has produced many fine pole-jumpers, one 
 
 ??- 'iJu^ ,^i.-:^-^^-; *r-^^^i^ii^- 
 
 S^^^^^^S^^^^vP?^^ 
 
 Well over. 
 
 of whom was E. Woodburn, the champion of 1S74, who pro- 
 bably ranks next in order of merit after Ray and Stones. 
 We believe that the Ulverston lads are often to be seen after 
 their day's work practising pole-jumping on the cinder heaps 
 which are so conspicuous an ornament of that flourishing 
 town. 
 
 Broad jumping with poles, which has been practised for
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 
 
 167 
 
 centuries in the fen countries for reasons of utility, has never 
 been adopted at athletic meetings, which is somewhat strange, 
 as it would be a fine branch of legitimate sport. There 
 are one or two other games or sports which occasionally find a 
 place in an athletic programme. In country meetings especially 
 the spectators often like the introduction of the comic element, 
 
 Dropping 
 
 and this taste is provided for in different ways. 'Three-legged 
 races,' or as they are sometimes called, 'Siamese Twin' races, 
 are competitions between pairs of men running stride by stride 
 with the left leg of one runner tied to the right leg of the other. 
 If they fail to keep in stride the pair necessarily tumble over. 
 Then there is the ' sack race,' in which every competitor gets 
 inside a sack, which is tied round his neck, and some shuffle
 
 i68 
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 while others bound towards the winning-post. Of late years, 
 however, the place of these two old-fashioned sports has been 
 taken by what is known as the ' tug of war,' which is the dignified 
 title given to a pulling match, in which teams of equal numbers 
 pull against each other. This is really one of the oldest of 
 English sports, and long before it was cultivated as a regular 
 sport was played at schools under the title of ' French and 
 
 Tucr of Wr.r. 
 
 English,' and even, we believe, forms part of a nursery game 
 known as ' Oranges and Lemons,' a somewhat mysterious title, 
 of which we have been unable to discover the origin. Quite 
 tecently the Athletic Association, at the urgent request of many 
 club committees, have framed a special rule for the tug of war, 
 as disputes were frequently arising as to the right of competitors 
 to dig holes in the ground, or to sit down during the pull to 
 prevent themselves being pulled over. The present rule, which
 
 JUMPING, WEIGHT-PUTTING, ETC. 169 
 
 is printed later on amongst the other competition rules of the 
 A. A. A., obliges the competitors to keep on their feet and pre- 
 vents them making holes in the ground before the start. There 
 is no doubt that the sport is a highly popular one, and there is 
 equally little doubt that combination is most important for 
 success. The experienced team does not attempt to shift 
 ground, but pulls in the rope by a series of tugs, taking the 
 time from the leader. One of the strangest of the athletic 
 competitions we have ever seen is the tug of war as practised 
 in the United States. There the opposing teams sit down, 
 facing each other, in two pits filled with soft earth, and pull 
 sitting, getting into a dreadful mess during the process. The 
 hindmost man of each team wears a broad belt with iron bars 
 on it, and, directly an inch of rope is pulled away from the 
 other side, this hind-man (called ' the anchor ') whips the rope 
 round the bars to prevent its being pulled away again. After 
 five minutes or so the miry opponents are told to desist, and 
 usually one side is found to have won by a few inches. We 
 must confess to thinking the English tug of war a better test of 
 skill and pluck than the American game.' 
 
 ' I believe that the ' pit of soft earth ' has now been dispensed with, and 
 that the combatants sit facing each other on a board, their heels pushing 
 against a 'cross-piece' or ' stretcher.' The principle is the same : the men 
 never move from their positions ; they strive to pull the rope away from their 
 antagonists.
 
 I70 ATHLETICS 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TRAINING. 
 
 AVhen the great athletic movement first became popular in 
 England there was much strenuous opposition to it, not only 
 from timid parents but also from the medical profession. Upon 
 whatever ground this latter opposition was based, there is no 
 doubt that the parental prejudice was not so much to the 
 athletics as to the ' training.' To the athlete of early times as 
 well as to his friends and relations the essential part and chief 
 characteristic of training was not the taking of proper prepara- 
 tory exercise, but the sudden and violent change of diet. 
 'Going into training' was taken to mean the commencement of 
 a peculiar diet of half-cooked beefsteaks and dry bread and 
 the reduction of the daily drink to a minimum, and not to 
 imply the beginning of the proper training or cultivation of 
 the muscles required for a race. Even to the present day the 
 word ' training ' is applied in its popular connotation to the 
 choice of diet alone. It is scarcely to be wondered that, in an 
 age which considered that eating and drinking would do more 
 to make a runner than the practice of running, the system of 
 training adopted would be a mistaken one, and that the mistake 
 should be glaring. Men going into training adopted a course 
 of diet which did not agree with them, and accordingly became 
 ill in body and ill in mind. 
 
 Of the very oldest system of training, which is now 
 thoroughly obsolete, little need be said, as no amateur of recent 
 years has thought of following it. It was a method which may 
 almost be called pre-athletic, as it was m fact nothing but that
 
 TRAJXIXG 171 
 
 adopted for training for the prize ring. The weight was to be 
 reduced to its minimum at all hazards ; the liquid consumed 
 was to be a maximum of two pints a day, the edibles were almost 
 entirely meat and bread, and the natural physical result of such 
 a diet was counteracted by daily purging medicines. Sweating, 
 meat-eating, and purging constituted the old system of training, 
 and those who wonder how such a custom could ever have been 
 adopted must recollect that it was chiefly applied to men of the 
 lower classes, used to coarse food, and with no highly-organised 
 nervous system. It needs no argument to show that such a 
 method could not be beneficial, or even practicable, to an 
 amateur, who takes up athletic sports as a recreation, and not as 
 a business. 
 
 However, while from the first amateurs admitted that the 
 old plan was wrong, a movement happened which is well 
 known to historans. The old creed was overthrown, but some 
 of its principal errors were admitted in a modified form into the 
 new system. Although common sense and practical experience 
 are beginning at last to convince the athletic public that the 
 less alteration a man makes ni his ordinary diet when he goes 
 mto training the better he will fare, yet there are many who still 
 start training for races handicapped by the traditional belief in 
 the efficacy of a meat diet, daily ' sweating ' runs for the sole 
 purpose of reducing the weight, and the rigid abstinence from 
 every drop of liquid which can possibly be dispensed with. 
 The present writer, who has practised the opposite method, 
 although according to the old canons of training he is by build 
 and habit of body the very man to whom the rigid rules 
 should have been applied, steadfastly declines to believe in any 
 system of diet whatsoever which leads to eruptions of the skin 
 or of the temper. 
 
 There is certainly this apparent justification for the tradi- 
 tional course, that, as a rule, people in modern times do not 
 adopt as frugal and temperate a habit of diet as they should, 
 and a great many of them are either without the inclination or 
 without the opportunity of taking sufficient exercise. There is
 
 172 ATHLETICS 
 
 no reason why an athlete who desires to get fit should lead 
 other than a natural life, or alter an ordinary natural diet more 
 than is rendered necessary by the increased amount of exercise 
 which he has to take. The ideal diet for a man who is engaged 
 in active training of his body for a race is, and should be, that 
 which under ordinary circumstances would be best for a healthy 
 man who is obliged to take a very large amount of active exer- 
 cise. What that diet is, is a matter for scientists to decide (or 
 to differ upon, as they usually do in such matters), and a prac- 
 tical athlete can only speak of it empirically ; but, happily, 
 scientists and practical athletes are of one opinion at the present 
 day in thinking that no diet which obliges a daily course of 
 physic can be a healthy one. Physic may be, and often is, neces- 
 sary during training, to remedy any mistake which has been 
 made in diet ; but it should be used as a remedy, and not as a 
 part of the diet. 
 
 A further difficulty which arises in laying down any regimen 
 for training is the indubitable physical fact that no two men 
 are alike in their internal economy any more than they are in 
 their outward features ; and when proverbial philosophy in- 
 forms us that ' one man's food is another man's poison,' it 
 becomes impossible to speak merely from practical experience 
 with any absolute confidence. When, however, it is under- 
 stood that the problem ' What should an athlete eat and drink 
 when in training ? ' resolves itself into nothing more than this, 
 ' What is a healthy diet for a young Englishman who wants to 
 get his muscles hard and keep his wind good?' it will be 
 seen that it should not be difficult to give some short and 
 simple rules for guidance. 
 
 Plain cooked meats, and a reasonable quantity of fresh fruit 
 and vegetables, should form the staple articles of diet. Beef, 
 mutton, and chicken are, no doubt, more digestible than veal 
 and pork, and therefore should be more frequently eaten, as 
 indeed is the usual custom in ordinary life ; but to treat veal 
 and pork as so much poison, as some trainers do, is simply 
 silly. Taken occasionally by a man who is accustomed to
 
 TRAINING 173 
 
 them, they form a pleasing change, and, where a healthy man 
 has an appetite for any food, one can pretty safely say that he 
 is able to digest it. Fish is light and nutritious, and may judici- 
 ously be taken at any meal in the day. Soup is, doubtless, not so 
 strengthening as meat, and not so good for the wind ; but if a 
 man is fond of soup, he is much better with it than he would 
 be in vainly attempting to relish the mutton of which he is sick. 
 In fact, as long as the food is plain and simple, and neither too 
 much of it is taken nor too little, the athlete is not likely to go 
 far wrong. Eggs, when not hard-boiled, are both light and 
 wholesome, but to take them upon the top of a heavy meal of 
 other things is usually a mistake, and leads to the usual result 
 of over-feeding — biliousness. 
 
 The most rigid of the trainers of the present day give chops 
 or steaks and eggs for breakfast ; beef or mutton again, with 
 watercress, (Src, and vegetables for lunch ; and beef or mutton 
 again in the evening, together with stewed fruit or rhubarb, 
 and blancmange or rice-pudding. This is a good sample of 
 diet, we have no doubt ; but variety is pleasing, and as soon as 
 any food, however healthy, begins to pall, it should be changed 
 for something which, although less digestible, will please, and 
 therefore reinvigorate the trainee. 
 
 As regards eatables, ordinary common sense can tell a man 
 that heavy pastry, or ' stodgy ' sweet puddings, or highly spiced 
 dishes, are not healthy food, and that the less that is taken of 
 them the better for the athlete ; but, at the same time, one 
 requisite for a healthy diet is that a man should like it. Por- 
 ridge makes an admirable dish for breakfast, but not to a man 
 who doesn't hke it. Pepper and mustard may possibly be 
 deleterious (as we have heard) to the coats of the stomach, and 
 tea without sugar may possibly be healthier than tea with sugar ; 
 but if a man dislikes his beef without mustard, or his tea with- 
 out sugar, he had much better use these condiments than go 
 without them, and he will do well to have kidneys and bacon 
 (which after all are not poisonous) for breakfast, rather than to 
 force down his throat the admirable porridge which he may not
 
 174 ATHLETICS - 
 
 happen to like. Nothing which is unpalatable should be eaten 
 as a duty. 
 
 Another point to which an athlete in training should attend 
 is the quantity of his food. The youthful aspirant to athletic 
 honours usually begins by gorging himself, thus falling a victim 
 to the same old error that for feats of strength the one thing 
 needful is to eat strengthening food. The old system, as we 
 have before said, was applied chiefly to pugilists of the lower 
 classes, who, when not in training, probably got less and worse 
 food than they really required ; accordingly it suited them to 
 eat more when they went into training. At the present day 
 the well-to-do classes, with their three meat meals a day, eat 
 more than they need. Doubtless their natural powers of diges- 
 tion increase when they begin to take the increased amount of 
 exercise which training for a race involves ; but if, as soon 
 as fresh air and exercise increase their digestive powers, they 
 immediately increase the amount of food they take, they will 
 end their training as they began it — short-winded and overfed. 
 In this, as in other matters of diet, it is difficult to give exact 
 advice, but our strongly expressed opinion is that it is better to 
 run the risk of eating too little in training than to run the risk 
 of eating too much. A strong and healthy man may easily 
 weaken himself by over-feeding, but he will not be at all likely 
 to reduce his strength by taking less food than he absolutely 
 requires. 
 
 Many men in training have their chief meal in the middle 
 of the day, and a great many doctors recommend this as more 
 healthy, saying that the digestion is stronger in the earlier part 
 of the day, and that when the body is jaded after the day's 
 work it is not fair to put a strain upon the digestion in its 
 weakened state. Whether this view be right we do not pretend 
 to say, and content ourselves with offering the practical advice 
 that the athlete should dine at that hour when he feels most 
 hungry. Men who are accustomed to dine in the evening may, 
 we think, advantageously stick to their old practice when in 
 training, and take their chief meal after their day's work. Of
 
 TRAINING 175 
 
 one thing only we feel convinced, that a man in training ^unless 
 his consumptive powers be as abnormal as those of Milo of 
 Crotona) does not want a heavy lunch and a heavy dinner as 
 well. If he dine in the middle of the day, his breakfast and 
 supper should be lighter in proportion, and if he dine late he 
 will want only a light lunch of a chop, or a plate of cold beef and 
 vegetables, with little or nothing else. On the whole we prefer 
 the system of a good breakfast, light lunch, and a moderate 
 dinner after the day's work. 
 
 Of recent years trainers of crews or athletes have come 
 round to a sensible view of what should be eaten. In our 
 opinion, however, their views on the question of what should 
 be drunk are not equally sound. For one thing it is obviously 
 unreasonable to prescribe exactly the same amount of liquid 
 for a small man and a big man, and to say that this quantity, 
 and no more, must be taken whatever the amount of the day's 
 work has been, and whether the day has been cold or warm. 
 Yet this is a course which we have constantly seen adopted. 
 The old theory was, as we have said, that a man, to get down 
 his weight and make his body hard, should take the smallest 
 quantity of liquid that he could possibly get on with. That 
 theory is practically extinct, but it has left its legacy behind in 
 the fixed notion of the trainer that there must be a definite 
 amount of liquid fixed for each man and each meal. In speak- 
 ing on this point we necessarily have to follow the same line 
 of argument which we have adopted with regard to eating. It 
 stands to reason that a man taking violent exercise and per- 
 spiring freely requires more liquid than he does during his 
 ordinary life. But — and it is a very important ' but ' — the 
 majority of men drink a great deal more than they want, by 
 which we do not mean that they take too much alcoholic 
 stimulant, but that they take too much liquid, to the great harm 
 of their digestions ; and in this kind of over-drinking we believe 
 teetotallers are the worst offenders. It is also a well-known 
 fact that taking too much liquid does more to make the body 
 fat and heavy than taking too much solid food. The conclu-
 
 176 ATHLETICS 
 
 sion we arrive at is, therefore, that a man who goes into training 
 needs more drink than he does at other times, but should take 
 less than he is in the habit of taking, unless he is more tempe- 
 rate than the majority of his fellow-creatures are. The athlete 
 in training should never drink between meals unless he is 
 absolutely thirsty, in which case he should drink to assuage his 
 thirst and not for enjoyment ; and at meal times he should 
 drink as much as he reasonably feels a craving for. If the 
 drink be unnaturally stinted, the man will soon break down, 
 his skin will get unhealthy, and his sleep and digestion will be 
 impaired. Doubtless it is quite true that a couple of good-sized 
 cups of tea at breakfast, half a pint of liquid for lunch, and a 
 pint at dinner is enough for most men in training ; but to hold 
 that a man who finds himself parched after his exercise at four 
 o'clock is to wait until his dinner at seven before he can touch 
 a drop of liquid is to turn a useful generalisation into a ridicu- 
 lous rule. Rigid rules as to the quantity and quality of diet 
 and exercise are not to be relied upon, and the effect of 
 giving a man so much beer for dinner, and telling him he must 
 under no circumstances have any more, leads to most absurd 
 scenes and unsatisfactory results. Some great brawny fellow — 
 perhaps the strong man of the crew — eyes his pint of beer with 
 a wistful gaze, and does not take anything more than just a sip 
 when he cannot possibly get his food down without it, in the 
 vain hope that at the end of dinner he will have enough left to 
 have a really good drink, and cease to feel thirsty for the first 
 time during the day. It needs no doctor to say that the man 
 who eats his dinner under such circumstances will fail to get the 
 full benefit out of it, notwithstanding that he has fulfilled the 
 requirement so dear to dyspeptics of eating his food dry. 
 
 It is often urged in reply to the argument that rigid rules 
 of diet are a mistake, that if you give a man carte blanche to 
 eat and drink whatever he thinks good for him, his wishes will 
 be fathers to the thought that everything for which he has 
 contracted an unhealthy fondness will be beneficial. To this 
 we answer that a man knows perfectly well when he has eaten
 
 TRAINING 177 
 
 enough, and, in fact, cannot eat too much when in active exer- 
 cise without finding it out ; that the same rule apphes to drink, 
 and that if a man is unable to keep himself from taking solids 
 and liquids which he does not require he will never be of any 
 account as an athlete. The absurdity of the old system is 
 shown from the fact that it was the frequent custom of the 
 * owners ' of professional pugilists and pedestrians to put a 
 watchman in attendance to see that their particular ' pet ' in 
 training did not sneak surreptitiously into public-houses or 
 carry little bottles of liquid about with' him in his pocket. 
 
 So much must be said as to the quantity of liquor. In the 
 meantime there are other vexed questions as to the drink of 
 the athlete. Until quite recently a man who trained upon 
 teetotal principles was considered a rai-a avis, and the old 
 English trainers believed in English beer as much as they 
 believed in English beef and mutton. Of recent years, however, 
 not only have temperance principles been widely preached, but 
 the larger number of the oarsmen and athletes from America 
 and Canada have adopted the system of training upon water 
 alone, and taking no alcohol in any shape during training. 
 From the views we have expressed above it will be seen that 
 we are not likely to take one side or the other with great 
 ardour, as we believe that there should be no violent change in 
 the manner of living when a young and healthy man goes 
 into training. We must confess, however, to have a strong 
 leaning towards the Transatlantic or teetotal method of training. 
 Whether alcohol be good or not we leave doctors to decide, 
 but of all people in the world the athlete who is not over- 
 trained least requires its stimulus. We believe doctors still 
 differ upon the question as to whether it is nutritious to any 
 degree, but all agree that it is very hard to digest, and this 
 alone should be a strong argument against its use. Of one 
 thing we feel confident, that if a man drinks water at his meals 
 as a natural habit he will be very unwise to leave it off for beer 
 or claret. If, however, he is accustomed to drink beer or wine, 
 it is a hard thing to say that the athlete should give either up 
 
 N
 
 178 ATHLETICS 
 
 and take to water if he doesn't like it. We have seen men 
 Jveil trained upon beer, upon claret, and upon weak whisky- 
 and-water, and are quite willing to admit that these beverages 
 have done no harm. Any other wines, however, for a man in 
 robust health are, we think, bad in training, as they excite the 
 nerves and interfere with sound and quiet sleep. Of course, 
 if a man is getting stale, good strengthening wine may do him a 
 world of good ; but as long as the athlete is not in this state, 
 the glass or two of port, which he is often recommended to take, 
 is exceedingly likely to dt) harm, and can hardly do any good. 
 While, however, advocating training upon temperance principles, 
 we wish to make it clear that circumstances and idiosyncrasies 
 alter cases. A man with a naturally weak nervous organisation 
 may find that old ale or a glass of port after dinner may 
 prevent his training off through the work he has to undergo, 
 and if such men take to the practice of athletic sports they 
 must train on principles that suit their particular cases. With 
 strong healthy men, however — the only men who in the present 
 age of keen rivalry can indulge with perfect safety in athletic 
 sports — we think that upon general principles the less alcohol 
 they take the better. 
 
 So far it will be seen we have not suggested that a man 
 in training should undergo any very serious trials and privations. 
 There is one thing, however, which he must learn to do without, 
 and that is smoking. While we are quite ready to admit that 
 a moderate use of the comforting weed is not injurious to the 
 health, there can be very little question that it tends to shorten 
 the wind, and does so more especially when tobacco is indulged 
 in between meals and not after them. Very probably many 
 men, and especially sprinters training for short races, have 
 smoked during training and done themselves no appreciable 
 harm, as their smoking has been confined to a cigar or a pipe 
 immediately after dinner ; but even these cases, we should think^ 
 are rare. The uses and functions of tobacco may almost be 
 described as totally incompatible with the cultivation of athletic 
 excellence. Tobacco is a narcotic ; it is no doubt not only
 
 rRAINING 
 
 179 
 
 pleasant, but may be wholesome, to men whose nerves require 
 soothing after hard brain-work and worry, but, except under 
 abnormal conditions, an athlete in training can hardly want a 
 narcotic ; he wants to be brisk, vigorous, and robust, and 
 
 ""luitiH 
 
 ' No smoking.' 
 
 anything which tends to make him lazy must do him harm for 
 athletic purposes. In fact, to take a broad view of the uses 
 of tobacco-smoking, it appears obvious that the men of the 
 present day are almost universally adopting it, not because 
 they are a degenerate and dissolute lot, but because the high
 
 iSo ATHLETICS 
 
 pressure and forced mental activity of modern life have rendered 
 a craving for it as a sedative only natural. But a man who 
 requires a sedative to maintain his nervous balance is hardly 
 likely to be a fit subject for the trainer's hands. By all means, 
 then, let the man in training avoid smoking, and if from 
 suddenly giving up the habit he finds he is unable to sleep, let 
 him wean himself from smoking as quickly as possible. 
 
 Another mistake which a young lad just taking to training 
 often falls into is to take too much sleep. With the old maxim 
 that ' six hours' sleep is enough for a man, seven for a woman, 
 and eight for a fool,' we do not altogether agree, but experience 
 shows that in ordinary cases seven hours of sleep are quite 
 enough for a man who has not been taking any enormous 
 amount of exercise during the previous day, and that eight 
 hours is the maximum which can under any circumstances be 
 beneficial to a man who is living a regular and temperate life. 
 A young lad of eighteen or nineteen probably requires more 
 sleep than an athlete who has passed out of his nonage and is 
 fully developed, but at the outside more than eight hours' sleep 
 should never be taken. Too much sleep engenders fat and 
 makes the athlete slack, listless, and disinclined for his day's 
 work. We have always wondered how the University fresh- 
 men, when they are just sent into training for the spring races, 
 manage to survive the ordeal. They are gorged on meat, eggs, 
 etc., three times a day. They have port wine and figs in the 
 evening, and are sent to bed at ten to sleep until they rise in 
 the morning again at eight o'clock to commence a fresh attack 
 upon mountains of steaks and chops. Even quite apart from 
 the food they take, the men would be slack and torpid from 
 the amount of lazy sleep to which they are condemned. 
 
 Another point which is often disputed is the advantage of 
 early morning work. All are, we think, agreed that a man 
 should get into the open air and clear his lungs before breakfast- 
 By these means he gives himself an appetite for his food, and 
 the improvement in the wind which comes from thus getting 
 out must soon be obvious. But it is a far more difticult matter
 
 TRAIXLYG i8i 
 
 to decide whether a man should do anything more before 
 breakfast than get air into his lungs. Some men we have 
 known actually to go hard spins before breakfast, others have 
 taken walks of a mile or two, others merely stroll out and walk 
 a quarter of a mile or so just for an 'airing.' Which of these 
 courses should suit any particular individual depends both 
 upon his constitution and his previous habits. Our own 
 opinion is that as a general rule a man should never neglect 
 to get out before breakfast, be it wet or fine, but should re- 
 frain from anything like work. We have seen so many men 
 collapse in their training as soon as they tried work before 
 breakfast, that wc are sceptical of its good results. But a 
 walk of not more than a mile before breakfast is sure to do 
 good to a healthy man. We need also scarcely say that, wet 
 or fine, warm or cold, he should sleep with his window partly 
 open. There can be no quiet sleep for a man in a confined 
 atmosphere. 
 
 There is no reason why an athlete who makes his training 
 consist of a sound and healthy system of living should break 
 down in health, but without doing that he may nevertheless find 
 himself Iwrs de combat from some minor evils. Before a runner 
 puts on his first pair of running-shoes he should pare his toe- 
 nails close down to the flesh, or the pounding on the toes will 
 result in the nail being pushed up at each stride. In a few 
 days after this the nails will probably turn black, and in a week 
 or two the runner may find himself minus one or two of them. 
 All danger of this, however, is obviated by not allowing the 
 nail to protrude in the slightest degree beyond the end of the 
 toe. Occasionally the feet get tender from the exercise, and 
 when this happens the athlete will do well to give up the cinder- 
 track for the grass for a day or two. Soaking the feet in alum 
 and water is also much recommended as a cure for tender 
 feet. Prevention, however, is better than cure, and the best 
 preventative is a soft washleather sock coming over the ball of 
 the foot. This is also comfortable, and acts as a safeguard 
 against blisters. With blisters the best thing is to prick them
 
 1 82 ATHLETICS 
 
 with a needle as soon as the water has collected in them ; after 
 this has been squeezed out, the old skin should be left on to 
 protect the new skin growing underneath. If there are blisters 
 on the foot half-formed, and the athlete is hable to them, 
 the skin is best toughened and rendered least liable to them 
 by taking a salt-and-water footbath in the evening. The tight 
 shoes which are necessarily used by runners are also apt to 
 create corns, which must be treated by the usual remedies which 
 are known to housewives or to practitioners for the removal of 
 these unwelcome visitors. The best means, however, to avoid 
 bhsters, corns, and such like ailments is to take a great deal of 
 care in selecting a perfectly fitting pair of shoes ; but of this we 
 shall speak anon. 
 
 Strains of the muscles are more serious matters, and are 
 sometimes very hard to cure ; there is always, too, a danger 
 that a shght strain of a muscle may get worse if rest be not taken. 
 Experience shows that there is very little risk of the muscles 
 giving way from anything but overwork in warm weather, but 
 in cold weather muscles strain or snap without any warning ; 
 indeed, so many accidents of this kind happened at Oxford that 
 notices were posted m the dressing-room at the old Marston 
 ground warning runners not to go out into the cold without 
 first rubbing their legs with a horsehair glove or with the hands, 
 and not to undergo any violent exercise without taking a short 
 trot to warm the muscles. 
 
 This precaution should certainly never be neglected at any 
 time when the weather is at all chilly, and in the winter espe- 
 cially it is foolhardy to dispense with it. Slight strains of 
 muscles are best treated by partial rest and the use of opodeldoc, 
 or a mixture of arnica and opodeldoc as an embrocation. Of 
 late years, too, the runners have frequently taken to using 
 Elliman's embrocation, a mixture which was originally used by 
 trainers of horses alone. A composition still frequently used 
 by pedestrians is that which was recommended by Charles 
 Westhall in his little book to which we ha\e referred before in 
 terms of praise. Wcsthall's recipe is as follows : * Spirits of
 
 TRAINING 183 
 
 wine, \ pint ; spirits of turpentine, \ pint ; white vinegar, \ 
 pint. Mix these with a fresh egg beaten up, and give the 
 bottle a good shake before using the mixture.' 
 
 If the strain of the muscle be very severe, something else 
 besides an embrocation is required. Complete rest must be 
 the rule, and if there is a swelling from injury to a joint this 
 should be reduced by bathing in hot water. People frequently 
 make the mistake of putting a sprained ankle immediately 
 under a stream of cold water ; cold water is invaluable to 
 strengthen the muscle after the inflammation has gone down, 
 but a hot fomentation is w^hat is required to reduce the swelling. 
 When the swelling has gone down, the ' cold tap ' and embro- 
 cations are useful. Upon the same principle, too, that horses 
 are ' fired,' the outside of the ankle is often painted with 
 iodine. 
 
 We have said before that one of the most satisfactory 
 features about athletic sports, both to competitors and spec- 
 tators, is that the winner wins on his own merits, and not from 
 any superiority he may have obtained in equipment or appa- 
 ratus. The oarsman may be helped to victory by a good boat, 
 and the cyclist by a good machine, but the athlete can hardly 
 win a race by having better shoes or knickerbockers than his 
 opponent, though he often does win a race with worse legs 
 than his rival, but with a better head. The apparatus of an 
 athlete is simple and requires little description. His shoe 
 should be of thin, good leather, which cannot possibly stretch, 
 so that when once it fits the foot it may never wear loose. A 
 shoe which slips on the foot in the slightest degree may not 
 only impede the runner, but will assuredly blister the foot. 
 The athlete, therefore, should get a pair of shoes to fit him- 
 like gloves, and then he will have all that mechanical skill can 
 do for him. As we have said before, he will probably find it 
 wise to wear a thin chamois-leather sock over the ball of the 
 foot and toes. The ordinary running-shoe has only a single 
 thickness of leather over the heel, and of course no spike there. 
 The hurdler and jumper, however, who have to take every pre-
 
 1 84 ATHLETICS 
 
 caution against slipping, have two spikes in the heel of their shoes 
 in addition to those in the toe, while the walker has a similar 
 shoe with double thickness at heel and toe, and without any 
 spikes. One other point only has to be attended to, and that 
 is the length of the spikes. Obviously the harder the track is 
 the shorter the spikes should be, so that upon a grass-track 
 longer spikes are needed than upon cinders. For the tracks at 
 Oxford, Cambridge, or Lillie Bridge, spikes of less than \ inch 
 in length will probably suffice if they be sharp; but the hurdler or a 
 sprinter, who may be called upon to run over heavy grass, wants 
 a shoe with at least |-inch or f -inch spikes. Most 'cracks,' there- 
 fore, have several pairs of shoes with spikes of different length, and 
 make their choice according to the state of the track over which 
 they have to travel. In races over very long distances, shoes 
 with very short spikes, and sometimes without spikes at all, are 
 used, as the jar and concussion of travelling so far with a thin 
 spiked sole may make the feet so blistered or tender as to 
 drive the runner off the path or knock him to pieces before the 
 end of the race. 
 
 Of the rest of the athlete's stock-in-trade there is little to 
 be said. The knickerbockers or drawers, whether they be made 
 of silk, merino, or thin flannel, are just knickerbockers and 
 nothing more. They should be roomy enough not to inter- 
 fere with the movement of the thighs, and should be short 
 enough not to hamper the knee. A primrose to some people 
 is a primrose and nothing more, and even to an athletic author 
 a jersey is only a jersey. A word may perhaps be said, how- 
 ever, about the practice which some men have recently tried 
 to introduce from America of wearing sleeveless jerseys, which 
 display the whole of the shoulder and the armpit. There is 
 nothing to be urged in favour of the practice. A light sleeve 
 over the shoulder cannot possibly impede a runner any more 
 than a cobweb would, and the appearance of a runner with 
 his shoulders and armpits uncovered is far from picturesque. 
 Happily, when a runner appears so clad, his usual fate is to 
 he marched off the track, and told that he will be allowed
 
 TRAINING 
 
 185 
 
 to come on again as soon as he is properly dressed, so we 
 are little likely to be troubled with sleeveless jerseys in the 
 future. 
 
 As regards the athlete's dress, it is very curious to notice 
 the difference of custom in and out of the Universities. In 
 London and the provinces the different competitors appear in 
 different colours of knickerbocker and jersey, and, in addition, 
 many clubs have a club-badge or emblem which each runner of 
 that club sports upon his jersey. The result is that a big handi- 
 cap shows a pretty variety of different hues. At Oxford or 
 Cambridge every runner appears in virginal white, save the 
 selected few who have represented their University at Lillie 
 Bridge, and are therefore privileged to wear their white knicker- 
 bockers and jerseys trimmed with the blue ribbon of their 
 club.
 
 1 86 ATHLETICS 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS. 
 
 If there be little to say of the individual athlete's requisites^ 
 there is much that is interesting to note in the requisites for 
 the meeting at which the athlete figures. The days are now 
 gone when the champions of each neighbourhood met upon, 
 the village-green, and took off their boots to run upon the 
 nearest level piece of turf which was handy. A club which 
 undertakes to hold a meeting has now to find a ground, prizes,. 
 officials, and a variety of implements and conveniences, which 
 render the undertaking anything but a simple one. The first 
 requisite of all is of course to get a ground, and it is of grounds^ 
 therefore, that we first propose to speak. 
 
 In London, Birmingham, Oxford, Cambridge, and other 
 great centres of amateur athletics there are regular running 
 grounds, which can be engaged by a club which requires them. 
 Nearly all the regular paths are ' cinder tracks,' although of late 
 years one or two have been made (chiefly for cycling purposes)' 
 not with cinders, but with burnt ballast or red brickdust. The 
 making of a good path is a difficult and expensive undertaking, 
 including as it does levelling, draining, and laying down of the 
 cinders or brickdust. Excavation is made to the depth of from' 
 12 to 1 8 inches, 12 inches being generally considered sufficient 
 with a dry gravelly soil, while in a clay soil the full 18 inches 
 is required. If the excavations be of 12 inches, about 5 or 6 
 inches of this is filled up with large brick rubbish, or what is- 
 known as ballast gravel — i.e. large stones which allow the water 
 to drain through. Over the top of this, 3 or 4 inches of rough
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 1S7 
 
 cinders are placed, so as to leave room for a layer of 3 inches- 
 of fine sifted cinders or brickdust upon the top. These 3 inches 
 of fine stuff have to be put on in thin layers, to be watered from 
 time to time and continually rolled. For the purpose of assist- 
 ing the drainage, the centre of the path is usually raised slightly 
 higher (not more than an inch) than the sides, and gulHes are- 
 made at the side leading down to cesspools to carry off water 
 which may collect after a sudden shower. When a good path is 
 once made it wants little but rolling in wet weather and watering 
 and rolling in dry weather to keep it in good condition. After 
 many years, when the fine stuff off the top has been blown or 
 carried away, and the coarser stuff below is working up, the top 
 dressing may have to be renewed. Perhaps the better course is- 
 after each season to sprinkle a thin layer of cinders over the top 
 of the path to keep it fresh. 
 
 Just at the present it would seem that fashion is changing 
 round from black cinders to red brickdust as a top dressing 
 for running tracks. The brickdust was, as we have said, 
 originally used for cycling, but upon the inner path made 
 at Lillie Bridge for wheels many foot-races were held with 
 great success. No doubt the brickdust which has a slight 
 mixture of loam is harder, and thus better suited for wheeling, 
 and the fact that both Myers' 48I sec. for a quarter and George's 
 4 min. \2% sec. for a mile were accompHshed upon the red track 
 at Lillie Bridge seems to show that it is hardly less fitted for 
 pedestrian contests. Probably, however, Myers and George 
 both chose the inner track at Lillie Bridge, well knowing that 
 the old cinder track upon the outside was getting worn out and 
 in poor condition. The drawback of the red paths is that they 
 get very hard and dead in wet weather, while a really well- 
 drained cinder path like that at Oxford or Stamford Bridge 
 keeps its lightness, in spite of the ram, in a wonderful manner. 
 We should not be surprised if the cinder track of the future for 
 running purposes were to be a mixture of cinders and burnt 
 brick ballast in equal proportions. 
 
 Until 1866 the Oxford and Cambridge sports were held
 
 iS8 ATHLETICS 
 
 upon grass courses either at the Christchurch cricket ground at 
 Oxford or at Fenner's cricket ground at Cambridge. In 1S67, 
 however, the Universities moved up to London to the cinder 
 track at the old Beaufort House at Walham Green, upon which 
 the championship meeting of the previous year had taken place. 
 The Beaufort House track was certainly not a good one, being 
 loose and ill-drained, nor was its oval shape well suited for fair 
 racing ; however, it sufficed for championship and Inter-Uni- 
 versity meetings until 1S69, when both meetings were shifted 
 to the newly opened ground of -the A.A.C. at Lillie Bridge. 
 After it was got into working order the Lillie Bridge ground 
 was certainly a very good one, perhaps as good and as fair a 
 track as has ever been made. Like most other good paths, it 
 was a third of a mile in circumference, but its chief merit in 
 our opinion lay in the fact that the turns were well graduated. 
 Although the corners were apparently sharp, by making the path 
 slope downwards to the corner, the runners were prevented 
 from running wide, and were given four straight stretches, one 
 on each side of the ground. This, we think, is the right shape 
 of path for every race under a mile, and especially for handicap 
 races. The Cambridge ground at Fenner's is also constructed 
 on this principle, there being no long gentle curves as there 
 are at both ends of the ground at Oxford and at Stamford 
 Bridge. Until 1876 the London Athletic Club used Lillie 
 Bridge for their meetings, but the following year they took pos- 
 session of their own private ground at Stamford Bridge. After 
 that the Lillie Bridge track was undoubtedly left neglected, and 
 in its latest years the old outer track was not good, the gravel 
 underneath having worked up. In many places also the path 
 was treacherous, the new cinders which had been placed at the 
 top giving way under the feet of the runners. The Stamford 
 Bridge track is, we think, about as badly shaped as a ground can 
 be for any short races, but the track itself underfoot is almost as 
 good as possible. The path is only a quarter of a mile in cir- 
 cumference, the lap consisting of two straight stretches of 120 
 yards each at the sides and two gradual curves of 100 yards
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 189 
 
 each at the ends, and the quarter-mile races, as they were origin- 
 ally run upon the ground, were run over 200 yards out of 440 
 upon a curve. The ground was soon improved by a very long 
 'straight' of 250 yards extending up one side. The 250 yards 
 and 220 yards races were run off on this long straight, and the 
 first 250 yards of the quarter-mile races were also contested 
 over this ground, which accounts, in a great measure, for the 
 fast times done some years ago in short races at Stamford 
 Bridge. In long races, where the pace is not so great, probably 
 the long slight curves do not interfere with the times. Recently 
 the long straight has been built over, and the ground is again 
 left with the old defects. We are strongly of opinion that in 
 every path there should be as much straight and as little corner 
 as possible, or, in other words, that the path should be quad- 
 rangular with rounded corners, and not an oval with the two 
 sides flattened. The fault of long curved stretches is also con- 
 spicuous at Oxford, though not to such a degree as at Stamford 
 Bridge ; but, on the other hand, there is no long straight at 
 Oxford, and in a 300 yards' race on the Oxford ground half 
 the distance has to be run round a curve. The long curves 
 are most unfair in handicaps, and also in any race where there 
 is a large field, as one runner passing another may have to 
 come right out from the inside of the track and then have to 
 come in again at once so as not to lose ground ; besides this, 
 the continual running in a curve must necessarily shorten the 
 stride, and more ground is lost thereby than upon a short but 
 sharper turn. The old Marston ground, although laid in a 
 swamp and rightly deserted by the O.U.A.C. in 1877, was, we 
 think, made in a better shape than the Ififley Road ground, 
 although the cinder track at the latter place is certainly very 
 fast and dry. The Cambridge track at Fenner's is both well- 
 laid and well-shaped, the only drawback to it being that the 
 levels are not true. The starting-points of the quarter-mile, 
 300 or 220 yards races are higher than the finish, so that many 
 of the fast times made over these distances at Fenner's are really 
 untrustworthy. The Fenner's track, too, was built with the
 
 I90 ATHLETICS 
 
 intention of making competitors run with their left hand to the 
 inside of the track, the contrary being the practice at most 
 other running grounds. Of recent years, we believe, the Cam- 
 bridge runners have accommodated themselves to the general 
 system, and run the other way round the ground, so that any 
 times made by Cantabs running up-hill can scarcely be disre- 
 garded. Another well-known track, which has been remark- 
 able for several fast times — that of the Aston Lower Grounds at 
 Birmingham — was open to the same objection as Fenner's, on 
 the ground of levels. In the Aston ground there was a drop of 
 over 6 feet in the 300 yards course, and rather more, we think, 
 in the quarter-mile course, the part between the finish and the 
 beginning of the quarter being a stiff up-hill. As a result, the 
 Records Committee of the A.A.A. has declined to take any 
 notice of any performance done over less than a lap of a track 
 which is not properly levelled; but it accepts performances where 
 •competitors have covered more than the full lap, and so run 
 both up-hill and down-hill. Even this, however, can hardly be 
 considered strictly fair, as experience shows that more time is 
 gained running down a long and steady decline than is lost 
 by coming up a short stiff incline. The Aston records can 
 hardly, therefore, be considered satisfactory under any circum- 
 stances. 
 
 In considering the famous running grounds upon which so 
 many cracks have toiled and ' spun,' we have rather wandered 
 from our main subject, that of athletic meetings. All the classical 
 events of the year are held over regular running paths, but for 
 an immense number of country and provincial gatherings there 
 is no cinder track at hand. The committee arranging for the 
 sports have therefore to procure the best field obtainable, 
 which is usually the local cricket ground, and this has to be 
 staked out with flags and ropes, so as to obtain as long a lap 
 and as good turf as is possible. We are by no means so certain 
 that where a well-shaped lap of really good dry level turf is ob- 
 tained there is much difference in point of speed between cinders 
 and turf ; but it is very difficult indeed to get a piece of turf
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 191 
 
 which will satisfy the requirements of a good running path in 
 point of level and dryness. The majority of the fields used for 
 local sports are cricket grounds of which the 'pitch' in the 
 middle is perhaps beautifully level and in good condition, 
 while the outside parts of the ground, upon which the races 
 ■must necessarily be run, have probably been neglected. The 
 majority of grass courses, therefore, are considerably inferior in 
 every way to the regular running paths. Athletic * cracks ' of 
 London and the Universities have got into the habit of thinking 
 that no good thing can possibly come from grass courses, and 
 are inclined to scout reports of any records having been made 
 upon them. Still we would remind critics that there are grass 
 •courses and grass courses, and that a country cricket field mowed 
 for the occasion round its edges is very different from the 
 Private Banks cricket ground at Catford Bridge, Kennington 
 Oval, or the Trent Bridge ground at Nottingham. The first 
 and last of these are, we think, when the weather is favourable, 
 little, if at all, inferior to the best cinder tracks that have ever 
 been made, and we can quite understand how in longer races 
 a grass course may suit some athletes better than cinders, there 
 being less concussion at each stride. For a proof of our 
 opinion we may point to the facts that H. R. Ball did his best 
 and fastest quarter at Catford Bridge, Slade his fastest two 
 miles at the Oval, Scott his fastest mile and Myers his fastest 
 1,000 yards at Trent Bridge. At the same time it is perfectly 
 reasonable to feel doubtful about 'records' made over turf. 
 The ground may not be level, the measurements may not have 
 been accurately taken, and may be incapable of subsequent 
 verification, the only boundaries being posts and ropes which 
 are usually removed as soon as the day's sport is over. 
 
 When the ground is secured, the next thing for the secretary 
 (to whom, as a rule, all preliminary arrangements are entrusted) 
 is to get the entries. This for club meetings is often not so easy 
 as it would appear. For the purpose of attracting a good 
 ' gate,' a Saturday afternoon or a public holiday is the favourite 
 day for sports, and in the season the athlete has so many
 
 192 ATHLETICS 
 
 meetings to pick and choose from that something attractive is 
 required to entice him. The usual enticement, we regret to 
 say, is the best and most valuable prize which the finances of 
 the club can stand and which the rules of the A.A.A. allow. 
 Some years ago the A.A.A. stepped in to try and put a stop to 
 pot-hunting, and limited the value of prizes which can be given 
 in handicaps to lo/. \os., a sum which in our opinion is much 
 more than is sufficient. At the present day, however, prize- 
 getting is so much a business with the amateur athlete that the 
 charge of ' pot-hunting,' which a dozen years ago was considered 
 discreditable, has now practically ceased to be a reproach at all 
 with the sporting community, which reads with avidity notices 
 in the paper that Mr. A. or ]\Ir. B. has won 60/. worth of prizes 
 ' during the past week.' At the present day secretaries are glad 
 enough to get the entries of men who really keep the prizes they 
 win and do not, under the mask of amateurism, earn a living 
 by selling their winnings. But our business at present is with 
 the competitors as they are, and not with competitors as they 
 should be, and we hasten to admit that there are still a few just 
 men in Gomorrah. 
 
 Partly, however, to keep out the semi-amateur class, and 
 partly to give the handicappers every opportunity of adjusting 
 the starts fairly, every competitor is compelled to send in 
 his entry for a meeting upon a regulation 'entry form.' By 
 filling up and signing this he pledges himself to the assertion 
 that he is an amateur within the meaning of the A.A.A. 
 definition, which is printed on the paper, and he also gives an 
 account of his last three performances in pubhc, stating the 
 amount of his start and the result in each race. If any wilful 
 misstatement is found on these entry forms, the committee 
 of the A.A.A. punishes the offender by suspension or disqualifi- 
 cation. 
 
 Entries are usually made to close a week before the day of 
 the meeting, to allow the handicappers (for at a club meet- 
 ing the majority of events are handicaps) a few days' leisure to 
 allot the starts. As a rule, however, when the meeting is on a
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 195 
 
 Saturday, entries are frequently received on Monday morning, 
 a very reasonable practice, as men who have run well on 
 one Saturday are often inclined to enter for a meeting on 
 the next Saturday, and might be unable to do this if their 
 entries for the next meeting were bound to be in by the Satur- 
 day evening. The regulation entrance fee for a handicap is 
 half-a-crown, and one of the most useful regulations of the 
 A.A.A. enjoins that no entry shall be accepted unless accom- 
 panied by the fee. Secretaries of sports being anxious, how- 
 ever, to get as good fields and as many half-crowns as possible, 
 to help to defray the cost of the prizes, are continually infringing 
 this regulation, and in consequence unpleasantness frequently 
 results. Secretaries of clubs enter their members, or friends 
 enter their friends, and now and again the man whose name is 
 entered fails to put in an appearance, being dissatisfied with 
 his start, or is wrongly handicapped with too great a start, 
 owing to the handicapper not having sufficient information with 
 the entry to be able to identify the runner or gauge his abilities. 
 In the first case, the absent runner now and then repudiates his 
 liability for the fee; in the second case, if the runner turns up 
 and wins the race the other competitors are loud in expressing 
 their dissatisfaction. All this would be obviated if the secre- 
 taries would only do their duty and decline to take any notice 
 of an entry not made upon a proper form and accompanied by 
 the proper fee. In the long run we think this honest course 
 would be the best policy, for if there is unpleasantness at a 
 meeting one year the entries are sure to fall off at the next 
 meeting promoted by the same club. 
 
 The secretary's duties before the meeting are by no means 
 h'ght; every competitor expects to see the starts published in 
 the sporting papers a few days before the meeting, to have a 
 programme and ticket of admission sent to him in due course, 
 and the interests of the press have also to be studied. The 
 press men expect interleaved programmes which will enable 
 them to make their notes with more convenience, and a free 
 right of admission to every part of the ground. With the old 
 
 o
 
 194 ATHLETICS 
 
 and capable representatives of the recognised papers this 
 claim is no doubt a perfectly proper one, and clubs which 
 ■want their meetings properly reported have no right to expect 
 that this should be done unless they are willing themselves to 
 afford facilities for the report. Sometimes, however, the repre- 
 sentatives of papers which have very little concern with athletic 
 meetings act in a way that is not above reproach. Knowing 
 perhaps little or nothing of athletics, they freely criticise the 
 decisions and proceedings of competent officials and stir up 
 ill-feeling amongst athletes ; and if by any chance they are not 
 allowed in the centre of the ground, or are not treated with the 
 amount of respect to which they deem themselves entitled, the 
 readers of their paper are informed that the mismanagement 
 of the meeting and the incompetence of the officials were out- 
 rageous. Happily, we think, of later years this nuisance has 
 somewhat abated, and another practice which threatened to 
 become a greater nuisance, the providing of reporters with 
 liberal refreshments, has also been pretty well discontinued. 
 The ' chicken and champagne ' method of dealing with critics 
 cannot fail to be pernicious, in however humble a manner it is 
 employed. 
 
 Another and most important duty of the secretary before 
 the meeting commences is to provide proper accommodation 
 for the competitors. If the sports be on a running ground 
 which has regular dressing-rooms upon it this is easy enough ; 
 but at country meetings tents have to be erected, and a liberal 
 supply of towels, baths, water, chairs, &c., provided, as nothing 
 is more disagreeable for competitors than insufficient accom- 
 modation. Care must also be taken to see that all the imple- 
 ments and apparatus required for the meeting are ready. Upon 
 one occasion an important meeting had to be put off for half 
 an hour because there was no pistol upon the ground to start 
 the race with ; and often have we seen a similar pause in the 
 programme because there was no worsted or tape for the winning- 
 post, starts were not marked out, and no measure was handy, no 
 bar for the jumping-posts, no ground set apart for the weight-
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 
 
 195 
 
 putting, and so forth. It need also scarcely be said that it is a 
 grave offence for judges and officials to neglect their business, 
 or to arrive late upon the ground. We have already given in 
 a previous chapter a sketch of an athletic meeting and its 
 officials, and, whether the meeting be a championship or a small 
 local affair, the same requisites and the same method of con- 
 ducting it apply. It is rare nowadays to see an ill-conducted 
 meeting, and the rapidity and smoothness with which a big 
 fixture is got through in a few hours is often highly creditable 
 to the organising and administrative ability of voluntary sporting 
 associations. It is no uncommon thing for heats of sprinting 
 handicaps to be run off with only three minutes between each 
 heat, the clerks of the course getting their men out upon the 
 ground to the very minute. One thing we can say with confi- 
 dence is, that the rule — always rigidly enforced — for putting 
 back a competitor who oversteps his mark before the pistol is 
 fired has not only reduced sprint racing from chaos to order, 
 but has rendered the work of starters and officials easier, and 
 has largely tended to improve the management of meetings. 
 It would be, perhaps, unnecessary, after what we have written, 
 to enlarge upon the right method of getting through a meeting, 
 and we had better, perhaps, leave the following laws and rules 
 for competitions to speak for themselves. 
 
 LAWS. 
 
 These Laws must be observed at every Athletic Meeting held tinder 
 the sanction of the A. A. A. 
 
 Qualification of Competitors. 
 
 I. All competitions must be limited to amateurs. This Law 
 does not interfere with the right of any Club to refuse an entry to 
 its own Sports. 
 
 ' An amateur is one who has never competed for a money prize 
 or staked bet, or with or against a professional for any prize, or who 
 has never taught, pursued, or assisted in the practice of atliletic 
 exercises as a means of obtaining a hvelihood.' 
 
 o 2
 
 196 ATHLETICS 
 
 (a.) The following exceptions shall be made to this Law, viz. : — 
 Amateur athletes shall not lose their amateur status by competing 
 with or against professional football players in ordinary Club 
 matches for which no prizes are given, or in Cup competitions 
 permitted by the National Football Associations or Rugby Unions 
 of England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales, providing that such com- 
 petitions or matches form no part of, nor have connection with any 
 Athletic Meeting. 
 
 (^.) ' Competitions at arms between Volunteers and Regulars 
 shall not be considered as coming within the scope of the A.A.A. 
 Laws.' 
 
 (c.) ' Competitors in Officers' Races at Naval and Militaiy 
 Athletic Meetings (such races being for officers only, and for 
 which money prizes are not given) shall be exempt from any of the 
 laws of the A.A.A. disqualifying runners for competing at mixed 
 meetings.' 
 
 (d.) That the ' Championship of the Army' Race at the Alder- 
 shot Sports be exempt from the etiect of this Law. 
 
 (e.) No person must be allowed to compete while under a 
 sentence of suspension passed by the A.A,A., National Cyclists' 
 Union, Amateur Swimming Association, Scottish A.A.A., or 
 Irish A.A.A. 
 
 (/.) No one shall be allowed to compete at any meeting held 
 under the Laws of the A.A.A. as 'unattached' for more than one 
 season. 
 
 (g-.) The names of all persons who have been expelled from 
 Clubs affiliated to the A.A.A. for non-payment of subscription and 
 other liability shall be placed in a book to be kept by the Secretary 
 of the A.A.A., and such persons shall neither be allowed to join 
 another Club nor compete at meetings held under A.A.A. Laws 
 until such liability be discharged and the name erased from the 
 book. 
 
 Prizes. 
 
 2. No 'value' prize (i.e., a cheque on a tradesman) must l5c 
 offered. 
 
 3. No prize must be offered in a handicap of greater value 
 than 10/. los.
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 197 
 
 4. Every prize of the value of 5/. or upwards must be engraved 
 (when practicable) with the name and date of the meeting. 
 
 5. All prizes shall be of the full advertised value, that is, with- 
 out discount, and must be publicly presented on the grounds on 
 the day of the Sports. 
 
 6. In no case must a prize and money be offered as alterna- 
 tives. 
 
 Betting. 
 
 7. All open betting must be suppressed. 
 
 Advertisements. 
 
 8. All Clubs must hold their Sports ' under the Laws of the 
 Amateur Athletic Association,' and so advertise them on all pro- 
 spectuses, entry forms, programmes, &o., and must have printed 
 on their entry forms 'the definition of an amateur.' {See Laws i 
 ■and 12.) 
 
 9. All Clubs affiliated to the A.A.A., Northern Counties A.A.A., 
 or Midland Counties A.A.A., must state that fact on their adver- 
 tisements, entry forms, prospectuses, &c. (This Law 9 does not 
 apply to Clubs or meetings merely registered as approved.) 
 
 Entries. 
 
 10. Sports Committees may reserve to themselves the right to 
 refuse any entry, without being bound to assign a reason, or to 
 ■disqualify a competitor at any time, if his conversation or conduct 
 is unbecoming, or if it is shown that his entry was made under 
 false pretences. 
 
 11. Entries shall not be received unless accompanied by 
 the entrance fee. Any competitor winning a first prize in an 
 open handicap shall be penalised for all handicaps in which 
 he may compete during the four days following such wins, Sun- 
 days not included. No person, other than the Handicapper, shall 
 be permitted to alter the starts or to accept additional entries 
 after the starts have been published. The penalties to apply to 
 the scratch mark as well. Competitors must notify to the Judges 
 before the race is run that they have incurred a penalty, 
 •otherwise they will be disqualified and render themselves liable
 
 1 98 ATHLETICS 
 
 to suspension. Handicappers to state on their handicaps up to 
 what date they are made, which must be pubhshed en the pro- 
 gramme. 
 
 12. Competitors in Handicap Competitions shall be required to 
 send with their entries full and definite particulars as to their last 
 three performances (if any). No Club shall be affiliated to the 
 Association or registered as ' approved ' unless it agrees to adopt 
 the A.A.A, entry form. 
 
 13. All entries shall be made in the real name of the competitor, 
 and this name shall appear on the programme. 
 
 Youths and Novices. 
 
 14. Competitors in youths' races must state their age and pre- 
 vious performances, and, if required, must furnish certificates of 
 birth. In Open Races for Boys and Scholars under sixteen no 
 entry shall be accepted from a competitor residing more than three 
 miles from the ground at which the races are held, unless the age 
 of the competitor be certified by his schoolmaster or a clergyman. 
 For novices' races a novice is held to be one who, at the time of 
 competing, has never won a prize in a similar class of competition 
 ■ — i.e., winning a prize for walking would not disqualify for running, 
 or vice versa ; but winning a prize for running any distance would 
 disqualify for running. (N.B. — This rule does not apply to School 
 and Boys' races.) 
 
 Protests. 
 
 15. All protests against a competitor or against a competitor's 
 qualification to compete shall be made to the Secretary of the 
 Club, in writing, before the prizes are distributed ; and if the pro- 
 test shall not be made good within one calendar month the prizes 
 shall be awarded. Every protest must be accompanied with a 
 dcjiosit of five shillings, which shall be forfeited in case the same 
 shall appear upon investigation to have been made on no reasonable 
 ground. 
 
 St.-vtions. 
 
 16. In handicaps, stations shall be awarded according to the 
 number on the programme.
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 199 
 
 Attendants. 
 
 17. No attendant shall accompany any competitor on the scratch 
 (except in cycle races), nor in the race ; nor shall a competitor be 
 allowed, without the permission of the Judges, to receive assistance 
 or refreshment from anyone during the progress of a race. In 
 cycle races attendants will be allowed for the sole purpose of lend- 
 ing assistance in starting. Any attendant who steps or follows the 
 machine over the mark of the competitor whom he is assisting to 
 start will cause such competitor to be disqualified. 
 
 Fouling. 
 
 18. Wilfully jostling or running across or obstructing another 
 so as to impede his progress shall disqualify the offender. 
 
 Starting. 
 
 19. All questions as to starts shall be in the absolute discretion 
 of the starter. All races (except time handicaps) shall be started 
 by the report of a pistol. A start shall only be made to the actual 
 report of the pistol. The starter shall place the competitors on 
 their allotted marks, and shall, if necessary, have the assistance of 
 marksmen for this duty. No competitor shall touch the ground in 
 front of his mark with any part of his body. If any one competitor 
 overstep his mark before the pistol has been fired the starter shall 
 put him back one yard for distances up to and including 220 yards, 
 two yards up to and including 440 yaids, three yards up to and 
 including 880 yards, and five yards up to one mile or more. These 
 penalties to be doubled for a second offence, and disqualification 
 to follow a repetition of the same offence. (Committees of Sports 
 are specially desired to print this rule in cxtcnso on their Sports 
 programme.) 
 
 Walking Races. 
 
 20. In Walking Races cautions and disqualifications shall be 
 left to the decision of the judges of walking, who may appoint 
 assistants if necessary. A disqualified competitor shall at once 
 leave the track.
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 The High Jump and Pole Jump. 
 
 21. Each competitor shall be allowed three jumps at each 
 height. Crossing the scratch without displacing the bar shall not 
 count as one jump. All measurements shall be made from the 
 ground to the centre of the bar. In the High Jump neither 
 diving nor somersaulting shall be permitted. « 
 
 The Broad Jump. 
 
 Each competitor shall be allowed three jumps, and the best 
 three competitors of the first trial shall be allowed three more tries 
 each for the final. The farthest jump of the six attempts shall win. 
 If any competitor fall back or step back after jumping, or crosses 
 the taking-off line with either foot, or so swerves aside that he pass 
 beyond the taking-offline, such jump shall not be measured, but it 
 shall be counted against the competitor as one jump. All jumps 
 shall be measured to the taking-off line, from the edge to the heel- 
 mark nearest that line, along a line perpendicular to that line. 
 
 Steeple Chasing. 
 
 22. For Steeplechases the hurdles thall not be higher than 3 ft. 
 Every competitor must go over or through the water ; and anyone 
 who jumps to one side or the other of the water 'ump shall be 
 disqualified. 
 
 Throwing the Cricket Ball. 
 
 23. In Throwing the Cricket Ball the distance thrown shall be 
 calculated from the centre of a scratch line ; and the thrower, in 
 delivering the ball, shall not cross such scratch line. Three tries 
 only shall be allowed, and crossing the scratch shall count as one 
 try. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing, the following Rules for Com- 
 petitions and the Management of Athletic Sports, adopted 
 by the Amateur Athletic Association, are recommended to Clubs 
 holding Sports under the Laws of the A.A.A. :—
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 
 
 Officials. 
 
 The officials of a meeting shall consist of — 
 
 24. A Committee, in whose hands shall be placed all matters 
 Avhich do not relate to the actual conduct of the meeting itself, and 
 who shall have a final decision in all cases not provided for in the 
 rules of the meeting. 
 
 Two or more Judges, whose joint decision shall be final in every 
 competition, and with whom shall rest the power to disqualify any 
 •competitor. 
 
 A Referee, who shall decide in the event of a difference of 
 opinion between the Judges. The decision of the Referee shall be 
 final in all cases. 
 
 Two or more Stewards, or Clerks of the Course, whose business 
 shall be to call out the competitors for each event, and to assign to 
 each his distinctive badge. 
 
 One or more special Judges of Walking, a Timekeeper, a 
 Starter, and one or more Marksmen. 
 
 Stations. 
 
 25. Competitors in level races shall draw lots for their re- 
 spective places on the post before leaving the dressing-room. Each 
 competitor shall be supplied with and wear during each contest a 
 distinctive number corresponding to his number in the programme. 
 
 26. Only the winners of the trial heats (first round) in spring 
 handicaps run over a stringed track shall be eligible for further 
 competitions. In cases where the track is not stringed and in 
 distance races the first and second, or first, second, and third, may 
 compete in second round or final heats, at the option of the Judges. 
 
 Track Measurements. 
 
 27. All tracks shall be measured twelve inches from the inner 
 side of the path. 
 
 Clothing. 
 
 28. Every competitor must wear complete clothing from the 
 shoulders to the knees (e.g., sleeved jersey and loose drawers). 
 
 Any competitor may be excluded from taking part in the sports 
 'Unless properly attired.
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 Straight Spkint Races. 
 
 29. Straight Sprint Races shall be run on a part of the cinder 
 path or grass so staked and stringed that each competitor may 
 have a separate course. The width between the strings shall not 
 be less than four feet, and the stakes shall not be less than thirty 
 feet apart. 
 
 Hurdle Races. 
 
 '^o. The Hurdle Race shall be over ten flights of hurdles on a. 
 level grass course of 120 yards straight. The hurdles shall stand 
 3 ft. 6 in. from the ground, and shall have level top-rails and shall 
 be placed 10 yards apart. The first flight of hurdles shall be 
 1 5 yards from scratch. Each competitor shall have his own line 
 of hurdles, and shall keep to that line throughout the race. 
 
 Throwing the Hammer and Putting the 
 Weight. 
 
 31. The hammer shall be thrown from within a circle of 9 ft. in^ 
 diameter. The head of the hammer shall be of iron and spherical,, 
 and the handle shall be of wood. The head and handle shall 
 weigh together 16 lbs. The total length of the hammer shall be 
 not more than 4 ft. Each competitor shall be allowed three 
 throws, and the best three competitors of the first trial shall be 
 allowed three more throws each. The farthest throw of the six 
 shall win. All distances shall be measured from the circumference 
 of the circle to the first pitch of the hammer, along a line drawn, 
 from that pitch to the centre of the circle. 
 
 32. The weight shall be put from the shoulder with one hand 
 only and without follow, from a 7 ft. square. The weight shall be 
 of iron and spherical, and shall weigh 16 lbs. All puts shall be 
 measured perpendicularly from the first pitch of the weight to the 
 front line of the scjuare, or to that line produced. Each competitor 
 shall be allowed three puts, and the best three competitors of the 
 first trial shall be allowed three more puts each. The farthest 
 put of the six shall win. 
 
 })2)- In Throwing the Hammer and Puttnig the Weight crossing 
 the scratch shall count as a try.
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 203. 
 
 Tug of War. 
 
 34. The teams shall consist of equal numbers of competitors. 
 The rope shall be of sufficient length to allow for a ' pull' of twelve 
 feet, and for twelve feet slack at each end, together with four feet 
 for each competitor ; it shall not be less than four inches in circum- 
 ference, and shall be without knots or other holdings for the hands. 
 A centre tape shall be affixed to the centre of the rope, and six feet 
 on each side of the centre tape two side tapes shall be affixed to the 
 rope. A centre line shall be marked on the ground, and six feet 
 on either side of the centre line two side lines parallel thereto. At 
 the start the rope shall be taut, and the centre tape shall be over 
 the centre line, and the competitors shall be outside the side lines. 
 
 The start shall be by word of mouth. During no part of the 
 pull shall the foot of any competitor go beyond the centre line. 
 The pull shall be won when one team shall have pulled the side 
 tape of the opposing side over their own side line. No competitor 
 shall wear boots or shoes with any projecting nails, springs, or 
 points of any kind. No competitor shall make any hole in the 
 ground with his feet, or in any other way before the start. Na 
 competitor shall wilfully touch the ground with any part of his 
 person but his feet. If the competition is for teams limited in 
 weight, each competitor shall be weighed before the start. The 
 final heat shall be won by two pulls out of three. 
 
 Programmes, etc. 
 
 35. The A.A.A. recommend that a programme of any proposed 
 meeting (showing the entrants for, and the starts allotted in, each 
 event) shall be forwarded by post to each entrant, to the address 
 given in his entry form, and shall be posted not later than the 
 day before the day appointed for the meeting, or that such a pro- 
 gramme as aforesaid shall be advertised the day next before the 
 day appointed for the meeting in one of the public papers circu- 
 lating in the district of the proposed meeting. 
 
 36. It is recommended that all Athletic Clubs and Sports 
 Committees have the following notice conspicuously printed on 
 their entry forms and programmes : — 
 
 ' The prizes offered at this meeting will be awarded, 
 subject to the statements of previous performances given on 
 the entry forms being strictly accurate.'
 
 204 A THLETICS 
 
 The rules are, we think, so plain and straightforward that 
 they require but little comment as to their practical working. 
 One or two remarks, however, naturally suggest themselves. 
 As regards officials, it is a truism to observe that the best laws 
 in the world are no good unless they can find capable adminis- 
 trators ; and the first and most important thing to make an 
 athletic gathering successfirl is to get officials who are up to 
 their work. In London and large athletic centres this is now 
 by no means difficult, as every year there is an increasing num- 
 ber of old athletes who retain sufficient love for the sport to 
 give their aid. At country meetings, however, the difficulty is 
 much greater, not only from there probably being no men with 
 great experience in the neighbourhood, but sometimes also be- 
 cause there are local interests to be conciliated, and some of the 
 subscribers to the meeting have to be asked to officiate in order 
 that no offence may be given. The presence of these willing 
 but incapable officials sometimes leads to most remarkable 
 results. We have seen a country J. P. (and a staunch old 
 sportsman too) officiating as starter with a blunderbuss. His 
 method of starting was as follows. He told the competitors 
 that when he turned his back upon them they were to get ready, 
 and were to start when they heard the gun. He no doubt 
 thought, with great artfulness, that he must turn his back lest 
 the competitors should see his finger tighten on the trigger. 
 But as soon as this sapient starter's back was turned, off went all 
 the competitors, and usually when they had gone about twenty 
 yards the gun blazed. Another starter whom we saw (the 
 local rector) rolled up his handkerchief in his hand, and pre- 
 pared to start his men with the following successive formulas : 
 'Get ready. Are you ready? One, two, three — off,' dropping 
 his handkerchief at the ' off.' Early in the day his men found 
 that he never called them back for starting before the word, so 
 they first started about the word ' One,' then at * Are you 
 ready?' and finally at ' Get ready.' The starter did not like to 
 confess himself beaten, and, like a conductor who when he 
 finds his orchestra will not follow him decides to follow his
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 205 
 
 orchestra, as soon as his men started he gabbled out the re- 
 mainder of his sentences and dropped the handkerchief as 
 speedily as possible ; by the time he had well settled down 
 to something like ' Ge-ready — aready — wun-to-throff,' the com- 
 petitors were never more than five yards in front of him. The 
 judges, too, have to be no less competent than the starter, 
 for many sprint races are won by a few inches. The judge of 
 sprinting contests should stand some yards away from the win- 
 ning post, and directly opposite the tape or worsted. When he 
 has watched whose chest breaks the line first, he should let his 
 eye follow that man, and immediately discover his name. At 
 all well-managed sports every competitor is now obliged to 
 carry a large number pinned upon his breast, so that the judges 
 may identify him at once, and the clerks of the course take 
 care that no man shall be without his number. Real dead- 
 heats are very rare, many races being won by an inch, and 
 even an inch is unmistakable to the experienced eye of a tried 
 judge ; but a man who has had little practice is often inclined 
 to give a ' dead-heat ' when there has been nearly a foot be- 
 tween the two runners. An untried judge, too, is often misled 
 by a man who has been gaining on his opponent shooting past 
 him after the post has been passed, and this is a mistake into 
 which spectators very often fall. We have seen very bad de- 
 cisions given by untried judges ; at one meeting there was no 
 tape, the only line being a chalk line marked on the ground 
 between the winning posts, and the judgmg, which would in 
 any case have been thus rendered difficult, became almost a 
 farce, for whenever there was a close finish each man rushed 
 up to the judges and claimed the race, and a general muddle 
 and wrangle ensued. There is no more odious practice for 3 
 competitor than to claim the race from the judges by flinging 
 up his arm or going up to speak to them, and it is with great 
 regret that we have seen athletes who are good enough sports- 
 men to know better mdulging in it. This, however, is by no 
 means the worst offence we have seen perpetrated at a meeting, 
 where the officials have been weak. In such a case the motley
 
 2o6 ATHLETICS 
 
 team of competitors of all classes is very liable to get out of 
 hand, although a little display of timely firmness might have 
 kept everything in order. If, as soon as a man misbehaves 
 himself by jostling a competitor on purpose, or by declining to 
 obey the judges' decision, he is promptly sent to the rightabout 
 and disqualified for the rest of the meeting, the probabihty is 
 that there will be no further trouble of any sort. An instance 
 in point — rather a ridiculous instance certainly — was furnished 
 at a Northern meeting, where a number of professional pedes- 
 trians entered themselves as amateurs, not desiring to take 
 prizes, but merely to win money by betting about the heats for 
 which they had been handicapped with a moderate start as 
 ' unknowns.' Shortly before the racing came on the committee 
 discovered the fraud, but were in a difficulty, as the ' pros ' were 
 attended by a number of backers, and stated that they would 
 come out on the ground and run at all hazards. When the 
 ■first offender appeared, as he had threatened, nothing was said 
 until the men got upon their marks, when tw^o stout officials 
 quietly went up to the man, and without more ado seized him 
 by the head and legs and sai^ upon him until the race was over. 
 The man was then released and retired threatening vengeance, 
 a threat which he never executed, and none of his companions 
 appeared for the subsequent heats. The local committees of 
 the A.A.A. give a very short shrift to a man who has declined 
 to obey the judges, and the nuisance of disorderly meetings is 
 being rapidly abated. 
 
 It will be noticed that the A.A.A. give a very free hand to 
 the officials in the conduct of a meeting. The judges' decision 
 is final, when they agree as to the result of any race, or as to the 
 necessity of disqualifying a competitor on the ground. If the 
 judges differ, the referee's decision is final. It has been found in 
 practice that if there is a right of appeal even to the committee 
 from the officials' decision there is much time wasted, and a great 
 deal of friction ; as in a loose body like the general committee of 
 management, opinions may difler, and there may be conflicting 
 "interests, rival committee-men having x\\2^ proteges towards whom
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 207 
 
 they may be apt to lean, although perfectly honest in their 
 opinions. The committee, however, have left in their hands 
 everything which does not relate to the racing itself and the 
 declaration of the winners. Just as the judges' decision is final 
 as to who are the winners of the races, the starter has an absolute 
 discretion to call back the men even after he has fired the pistol, 
 and either to declare a start or ' no start.' On one point only 
 — a point which was only settled after much anxious discussion, 
 and some considerable opposition — has the starter no discretion 
 at all. If a competitor oversteps his mark before the pistol is 
 fired, the starter is bound to put him back a yard in a sprint 
 race, 2 yards in a quarter, and so on. It is contended by many 
 that such a rule should not apply to a championship meeting ; 
 by others, that it is wanted more at a championship than at any 
 other, as the temptation to get a flying start is stronger. A 
 compromise between the conflicting views, that in a champion- 
 ship meeting the starter should be allowed a discretion to ])ut 
 back men or not as he thought fit, was finally rejected by the 
 committee which framed the rules, it being thought, and in our 
 opinion wisely, that a rigid and inflexible rule was better, as the 
 starter could only judge of acts, and not of intentions, and 
 would be unable to decide whether the overstepping of the 
 mark was accidental or intentional. As it is, experience has 
 justified the framing of the rule in its present shape, and under 
 the present rigid laws there has been no attempt at a repetition 
 of the fiascos of some old championship meetings, where men 
 running in the hundred yards race were kept five minutes at the 
 post making false starts, while there was every opportunity 
 for the worst man to win by wearing out the patience of the 
 starter. 
 
 The judges of walking have a similar discretion in deciding 
 as to the fairness or unfairness of the walkers' gait, and this, too, 
 is a decided improvement upon an old rule often employed, 
 which obliged a certain number of ' cautions' before disqualifica- 
 tion, although there was a special exception that there should 
 be no ' cautions ' in the last lap. The maxim upon which the
 
 2o8 ATHLETICS 
 
 A. A. A. rules were founded, was to give the officials a free 
 exercise of their discretion ; but it is obvious that for the rules 
 to work well the officials must be men whose discretion is 
 guided by experience and knowledge of the sport. A dispensing 
 and discretionary power in the hands of a novice is apt to lead 
 to blunders, but, as we have said before, there is seldom any 
 difficulty, now that athletics have been in full swing for a genera- 
 tion, in finding judges who are both willing and able to act when 
 asked, and the occasions therefore upon which the rules of the 
 A.A. A. do not work well are very rare. 
 
 One of the officials, upon whom in a great measure success 
 depends, although he is often not present at the meeting itself, 
 is the handicapper. At most gatherings nowadays, there are 
 more handicaps than level races ; often indeed, especially in 
 London, there are no level races at all. In fact, the ordinary 
 programme for a club meeting near London is something of this 
 kind : a hundred and twenty yards handicap (open), a quarter- 
 mile handicap (open), a mile handicap (open), a three-quarter 
 of a mile steeplechase (open), a two miles walking race (open), 
 a hundred and fifty yards, half a mile, and two miles handicaps 
 (confined to members of the club giving the race). Perhajis 
 also there is a level race at some special distance arranged on 
 purpose to bring two or three ' cracks ' together, or perhaps a 
 handicap with a short limit (say a quarter of a mile, with a limit 
 of 25 yards from the best runner of the day), this last race 
 being designed to produce a field where there are no 'platers,* 
 but only good class runners. As meetings of this descrip- 
 tion take place by scores in every part of the country, it 
 is obvious that none but trained handicappers, who regularly 
 study the art, can be trusted to bring the men together. Before 
 competitors became so numerous, handicappers could be found 
 to do the work without reward, but first one and then another of 
 the well-known handicappers began to demand payment for their 
 services, and at the present day at least a score of men in one 
 or another part of the kingdom are making a comfortable 
 addition to their income by the exercise of their talents in this
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 
 
 2og 
 
 direction/ The system in shorter races is to handicap by giving 
 so many yards start, but in the longer races, whether of walking 
 or running, the competitors often have so many seconds start of 
 the scratch man allotted to them. A novelty in the way of 
 handicapping was introduced in a cross-country race by the 
 Thames Hare and Hounds Club some years ago, the runners all 
 starting together, but being handicapped, in horse-racing style, 
 by the apportionment of different amounts of weight, each runner 
 being allowed to carry his weight in any way he chose. The 
 novelty, however, was hardly a success, the runners who were 
 heavily weighted (the top weight carried, we believe, 28 lbs.) 
 making most ungainly efforts, and the result would seem to show 
 that man, as a running animal, is not able to carry anything more 
 than his own weight with ease and elegance. We do not anti- 
 cipate any change, therefore, in the old and received system of 
 handicapping for man-racing. 
 
 The advantages of giving up a club meeting to the handicap- 
 runners have been much questioned, and there can be httle 
 doubt that the rapid increase of handicaps was a necessary step 
 towards the popularisation of athletic sports with the runners 
 themselves. To make all open races level no doubt not only 
 encouraged ' pot-hunting,' but prevented those who were not 
 really first class from taking part in races at all, as they would 
 naturally object to form part of a procession at every meeting. 
 Undoubtedly, also, there are many ' cracks ' who were first 
 encouraged to come upon the path by handicap prizes, and 
 who have gone gradually down in the handicap scale until they 
 have found themselves good enough to compete in level races 
 or championships. The club treasurer, too, often feels that he 
 cannot do without the handicaps, for while a level spnnt might 
 only produce four entries, i.e. four half-crowns, a sprint handi- 
 cap might well produce eighty entries, i.e. eighty half-crowns, 
 and there is a vast deal of difference between ten shilhngs and 
 ten pounds of entrance fees. In the days, too, when there was 
 
 ' No handicapper is now allowed to act for an open race unless he holds 
 a liccLse from the A. A. A.
 
 2IO ATHLETICS 
 
 something of a novelty and a pleasing surprise for any man to find 
 himself a runner at all, the friends, sisters, cousins, and aunts of 
 the handicap runners come to see their heroes run, and athletic 
 clubs flourished and waxed rich ; while many a cricket, rowing, 
 or football club netted a nice httle sum out of its annual sports, 
 which came in as a handy addition to the club's revenues. At 
 the present day there is rather a plethora of athletic meetings, and 
 while the handicaps still draw large entries from competitors, 
 who expect there will be at least three valuable prizes, we have 
 something more than a suspicion that the public has been 
 driven away from attending sports by being bored with a 
 succession of these dreary competitions. In sprmt races one 
 lieat is very much like another, and, as a rule, the really good 
 runners are unplaced, or give up against the unequal odds ; 
 while in a mile race, where there is a cloud of runners, none 
 but the experienced eye can see who is making his way to the 
 front, or really running above his form, and so doing well. 
 The effect of this is that the public is beginning to get tired of 
 the monotony of athletics, and of late years the attendance, of 
 ladies especially, has become less and less frequent. In London 
 the waning of the popularity of athletic sports with the paying 
 public has been very marked of recent years, much more 
 so than in the provinces, but generally it is admitted with 
 perfect frankness by the promoters of athletic meetings in all 
 large towns that there is ' very little money in athletics now.' 
 At Birmingham there have been very few athletic meetings 
 recently, and in London, Liverpool, Manchester, etc., the clubs 
 are not so flourishing as they were formerly, owing to the 
 falling off of 'gate money.' As we have hinted before, we 
 beheve one cause of this decadence is the mistake made by 
 the managing committees of meetings in giving so few level 
 open races. Certainly the big provincial meetings of the North, 
 w'here there are plenty of level races, and where, even in the 
 handicaps, the ' cracks ' are leniently treated and encouraged 
 to enter, command bigger ' gates ' and better fields ; and even 
 Londoners are at last beginning to learn that one 'crack' will 
 do more to make a success of a meeting than fifty ' crocks,'
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 211 
 
 At every meeting, however, there must be a certain number 
 of handicaps, and for this it is indispensable that the handi- 
 cappers chosen should be men up to their work. For the 
 ' short hmit ' handicaps (which are such a success at the Civi] 
 Service meeting, and which we should like to see at every 
 fixture, as they bring ' cracks ' together, and yet prevent the 
 same men from always winning) the handicapping has to be 
 equally a matter of care and study, as a yard more or less may 
 make or mar a good race ; and there is little danger, when there 
 are none but well-known men competing, of all calculations 
 being upset by the appearance of a 'dark horse.' So far, 
 indeed, has specialism proceeded in the athletic art that at 
 many meetings there are different handicappers for the long and 
 short races. The professed handicappers keep a book in which 
 every man's performances are recorded, and their duties are 
 certainly arduous, as to be exact in their calculations they have 
 to get the best accounts of every event that has taken place in 
 the country. It is not at all unusual for the athletes of one district 
 to take journeys mto other districts, while some of the semi- 
 professional amateurs flit about all over the kingdom picking 
 up prizes. As soon as any athlete wins or is placed in a race his 
 scale of start has to be reconsidered. 
 
 About a decade ago the amateurs thought they could borrow 
 with advantage a system employed by handicappers of pro- 
 fessional pedestrians of framing all the starts with reference to 
 a fixed standard, and not with reference to the pace of the man 
 who is the best of the entrants. Under this, which is known as 
 the ' Sheffield system,' the standard fixed by the handicapper 
 for 100 yards would be, say 10 sec, or for the quarter 50 sec, 
 and each competitor would be handicapped according to the 
 number of yards he would be outside 10 sec. or 50 sec, as 
 the case might be. The result necessarily was that in nearly 
 every case the best man in the handicap was not at ' scratch,' 
 but at some yards start. The system, no doubt, had its ad- 
 vantages, for it saved the handicapper a good deal of trouble 
 in readjusting all the starts for each race according to the 
 varying ability of the man at ' scratch.' There was also this 
 
 r 2
 
 212 ATHLETICS 
 
 further advantage, that the handicappers throughout the country- 
 all adopted the same standards of merit for the imaginary 
 scratch men, and it thus became very easy to handicap a stranger 
 from another district, by simply finding out upon what mark 
 his own local handicapper considered this stranger should be 
 placed. The Sheffield system, however, was swept away by 
 the growing desire, both of the public and of the men them 
 selves, to see ' bests on record ' accomplished at meetings. 
 Several instances occurred of the real scratch man in a handicap 
 starting, under the 'Sheffield system,' with some yards from 
 'scratch' and winning the race with a performance which 
 would have been a record had the whole distance been covered. 
 The 'crack' who had done a record performance was thus 
 deprived of the credit of it, as it was obviously impossible to> 
 establish a 'record' for 148^ yards, 436 yards, or 596 yards, 
 in cases where the scratch man had had a few yards start from the 
 imaginary ' Sheffielder.' The Sheffield system was soon given 
 up at Oxford — we believe it was never tried at Cambridge — 
 and it was abandoned by the L.A.C. in 1877. At the present 
 day it is entirely unknown in the South, though sometimes 
 employed elsewhere. 
 
 No meeting now is without an official time-keeper, and at 
 some important gatherings, as we have seen, there are three 
 such functionaries, all of whom time each race. There are, 
 of course, many advantages in having each contest timed. The 
 athletes themselves and the spectators like to know whether 
 the races have been fast or slow ; and for purposes of future 
 handicapping, or of comparing the worthies of one period with 
 those of another, timing is indispensable. Indispensable, 
 however, though it may be for certain ends, timing is merely a 
 means, and not in any way an end in itself: a fact the present 
 generation of athletes — which has simply gone mad upon 
 'times' and ' records '—appears to have forgotten. By saying 
 that the athlete of to-day considers timing an ' end ' and not a 
 means, we mean that he thinks it is a fine display of skill on his 
 part to cover so much ground in so little time, without taking.
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 213 
 
 any ether fact into consideration — an opinion upon which we 
 venture to differ with him. 
 
 There can be no question about the public fondness for a 
 ' record.' A club which owns a ground of its own is rather 
 inclined to give races at distances where there is a particularly 
 good chance of lowering the existing record ; and committees 
 of clubs givmg sports frequently advertise in the sporting papers 
 that such and such runners will compete, and that it is confidently 
 expected that ' the record will be lowered,' &c. To such an 
 appeal spectators never fail to respond by attending in large 
 numbers. For the manufacturers of bicycles or the owners of 
 running-grounds which are let to the public, we can quite see 
 the advantages of promoting records with a view to bold adver- 
 tisement ; but amongst athletes and others, the present writer is 
 heretical enough to believe that the worshipping of records is 
 ■idolatrous, and inconsistent with the creed of the true sportsman. 
 
 But before we go into this question at any length there is 
 something more to be said as to the practice and difficulties of 
 timing. 
 
 'Timing' in foot-races requires even more care than 
 ■•timing' in other sporting contests, for a mistake of a fifth of 
 a second may make all the difference between a good or an 
 ordinary performance. To ensure accuracy of timing there 
 must not only be a good watch, but a person who knows how 
 to hold it. In most stop-watches the watch is started by a 
 simple pressure of the thumb or forefinger upon a knob or pin 
 which removes the catch and puts the works in motion again. 
 To drop for the moment the fact that some watches start quicker 
 than others, the apparently simple process by which the man 
 who holds the watch sets it going is not so simple as it 
 seems, and there are plenty of opportunities for differences to 
 arise between one timekeeper and another. If, say in a hundred 
 yards race, the timekeeper waits for the sound of the pistol to 
 start his watch, he himself standing at the winning-post, about 
 -f\j- of a second elapses before the sound reaches him. If 
 he takes the start from the motions of the body, it is a most
 
 214 ATHLETICS 
 
 difficult question, when the men are upon tip-toe at the mark, to 
 know which motion of any one of them is a motion made after 
 the pistol is fired. In either case when the sound of the pistol 
 is heard or the first motion noticed, the timekeeper has to arrive 
 at a determination to start the watch from the sensations of his 
 eye or ear ; he has then by will to convey that determination tO' 
 the muscles of his finger, and the watch is then started by him. 
 Recent experiments in physiology have shown not only that the 
 process of thinking and volition takes an appreciable time, but 
 that there is also an appreciable difference between the rapidity 
 of thought and volition in different individuals. Practice and 
 experience, as in everything else, tend to quicken the rapidity 
 of the action of the will or thought, which travels quicker over 
 beaten tracks. We of course wish to stesr clear of physio- 
 logical discussion as far as possible, and to confine ourselves 
 to practical experience of timekeeping ; but it is necessary to 
 point out that the individual qualities of timekeepers may make 
 the results they arrive at untrustworthy. As a general proof of 
 the truth of what we say, we may call attention to the fact that 
 novices who try to time races invariably make the times ' fast,' 
 i.e. they are very slow in starting the watch, although they are 
 not so slow in stopping it at the moment the tape is reached, 
 as by watching the runner up to the tape they know almost 
 the exact moment when the pressure of the finger to stop the 
 watch will be required. Bef(/re quitting the subject of the 
 liability of the timekeeper to error, we would suggest that there 
 should be a definite rule laid down by the A.A.A. for the 
 guidance of starters as to what point should be taken for the 
 start — the flash of the pistol, the repoit, or the first motion ot 
 the runner. Most timekeepers profess to start from the motion 
 of the runner's body, but we are inclmed to think with some 
 of them this is a mere profession. Obviously they must only 
 look at one runner, and if he were left upon the mark they 
 would be ' out ' altogether, a fact which we never yet heard an 
 ofiicial timekeeper admit. In any case the starting from the
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 215 
 
 motion of the body is fallacious, as one runner usually begins 
 to move perceptibly before the others. 
 
 Besides these complications, there is the further set of diffi- 
 culties created by the watch itself, though with the splendid 
 pieces of mechanism which are now made expressly for this 
 purpose the uncertainty is minimised. The dial of the stop- 
 watch is usually marked into fifths, and with some of the older 
 watches there was this fact to be considered : the hand 
 'jumped' from fifth to fifth round the dial, there being of 
 course a fifth of a second between each jump. Obviously, 
 therefore, there might be almost a whole fifth of difference 
 between two occasions when the same time was registered on 
 the dial. For instance, upon one occasion when loi was 
 registered on the dial, the hand might, just at the instant 
 before the watch stopped, have made its jump to the fifth, 
 while upon the other occasion the hand might have stopped 
 at an infinitesimal period before it took its jump to the two- 
 fifths mark upon the dial. It is clear, therefore, that, as a 
 good sprinter travels a shade over two yards in a fifth of a 
 second at the end of a hundred yards race, two men might 
 each have been fairly timed at loi seconds in a r:ice, although 
 the one was two yards in front of the other. As for a very 
 long time there were nothing but watches which jumped fifths 
 ^ven at first-class meetings, it is obvious that as regards the 
 times made at these meetings, they are quite untrustworthy as 
 to one-fifth of a second's variation. At the present day there 
 are some watches (although there are not many belonging 
 to pnvate individuals, their cost being large) which, at any 
 rate as far as the human eye can distinguish, travel evenly 
 over the dial. As a matter of fact, the wheel which regulates 
 the motion has such small cogs that the jumps are divided 
 into twenty or thirty per second. The hand, therefore, can 
 really be stopped at any place on the dial between the fifths, 
 and the dial then has to be surveyed through a magnifying- 
 glass, and a conclusion arrived at how far it has travelled 
 between one fifth and another.
 
 2i6 ATHLETICS 
 
 All this process, however, though exceedingly wonderful and 
 the result of admirable workmanship, is also liable to error. 
 The slightest warp of the straightness of the hand between the 
 fifths may lead to doubt, and even supposing the mechanism per- 
 fect the human eye can and does make mistakes in deciphering 
 the result which the machine has registered. The watches of 
 which we speak are of course so made that the ' seconds ' hand 
 travels round the whole of the dial; but the watch is made to be 
 carried in the pocket, so that there is very little space between 
 the fifths of seconds on the dial, as each fifth occupies -^^ of the 
 circumference of the dial. It is thus obvious that the human 
 eye can easily be deceived in reading the dial, and it must 
 be recollected that as soon as the next race comes on the 
 watch has to be got ready again for this, so that it becomes im- 
 possible to verify afterwards the result registered on the dial. 
 On account of the difficulty of reading the results on the watch 
 many timekeepers carry a magnifying glass with them, and 
 although this makes the reading easier and perhaps more 
 accurate, the whole process becomes still more complex. 
 On the whole, therefore, it appears that tliere is every possi- 
 bility of a mistake being made to the extent of a fifth of a 
 second, or even rather more, in the timing of races ; and some 
 years ago when timekeepers had less experience and timing 
 instruments were inferior, there was even a greater possi- 
 bility of error than there is now. We cannot help thinking 
 how strange it is that in these days of science no more satis- 
 factory method of timing races has been invented than that of 
 a watch started by a man who observes the start from some 
 distance off. In these days of electric science it seems to the 
 unscientific mind of the present writer that it ought not to be 
 difficult to time by an apparatus, which could be fixed on every 
 recognised running-ground, set in motion by the firing of the 
 pistol, and stopped by the breaking of the thread at the winning- 
 post. In such an apparatus the difficulty of deciphering the 
 result marked on a small dial need not occur, as the hand or 
 hammer registering the result might work upon a dial of any
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 217 
 
 size. There need be no difficulty in the size of a dial in a fixed 
 apparatus, and the consideration of expense hardly ought to 
 arise when it is considered that sixty, eighty, or a hundred 
 guineas are often given for the best timing watches. 
 
 Closely connected with the subject of ' timing ' is that of 
 * records.' We have already given our opinion that in short 
 races it is somewhat unsatisfactory at present to place reliance 
 upon a ' fifth ' of a second, and it is well known that in any race 
 up to 220 yards the difference of a fifth of a second may make 
 a ' record.' But quite apart from questions of timing, the state 
 of the path, or of the weather, and especially the direction and 
 force of the wind, may make a difference of two- or three-fifths 
 of a second in a sprint, or of the same number of seconds in 
 longer races. The inference would seem to be obvious that 
 the fact of a man having covered a certain space of gi'ound in 
 a. shorter time than any other runner, does not by any means 
 necessarily prove that the man who has performed the feat is 
 the best man who has ever run that distance. If this result is 
 borne in mind, we can see no reason for placing the acquisition 
 ■of a ' record ' as the summit of an athlete's ambition. Yet this 
 is exactly what is done by both athletes and the public at the 
 present day, who consider the possessor of a 'record' a man 
 far more to be envied or admired than his companion who has 
 met one by one his best opponents and beaten them. The 
 popular opinion, too, having once laid down a record as the 
 "highest possible distinction, has encouraged athletes to the most 
 absurd limits in honouring the record. Records are gravely 
 •chronicled at distances which are never run as races, and we 
 hear that Myers has made a record at 130, 360, or 1,100 yards, 
 or that George has shifted the record for three miles and 
 three-quarters, these record times having been taken by a man 
 stationed at a particular post to note the time as the runner 
 went by. Another practice which in our opinion is illegitimate 
 is that followed by the cyclists who allow a record to be secured 
 at any time whether in a race or not provided they are satisfied 
 of the * timing ' ; and an aspiring amateur accordingly may go
 
 2i8 ATHLETICS 
 
 down accompanied by a time-keeping friend, and may try day 
 after day to lower the record for six or seven miles, which he 
 at last does when he is favoured by exceptional conditions. 
 After this he retires happy in the possession of a record, and 
 his satisfaction remains undiminished until his bosom friend 
 comes down the next week and after another set of futile efforts 
 at last ' cuts ' the record by a second. However, our concern 
 at present is not with cycling records, and we only state our 
 grievance against their system because we think that the 'record 
 nuisance ' has in a great measure been promoted by enterpris- 
 ing manufacturers of bicycles, and first forced upon the cyclists 
 by the ' makers' amateurs,' while from the cyclists the infection 
 has spread again in its most virulent form back amongst the 
 athletes. Recently the Amateur Athletic Association has been 
 engaged in revising and settling the athletic records, and in 
 arriving at the results (which are printed elsewhere) they were 
 guided by the following principles, which, as it will be seen, 
 carefully exclude all 'times 'not made in legitimate competitions. 
 
 It is decided that the running records to be dealt with shall 
 be the ' loo, 120, 150, 200, 220, and 300 yards, quarter-mile, 600 
 yards, half-mile, 1,000 yards, three-quarters of a mile, one mile, one 
 mile and a half, and then each mile up to ten, after which the only 
 distances to be examined and authenticated shall be the fifteen, 
 twenty, twenty-five, thirty, forty, fifty, seventy-five, and 100 miles.' 
 
 The walking records to be dealt with shall be only the mile 
 records as above mentioned, but the one, three, and twelve hours 
 walking record shall also be examined and settled. 
 
 The other competitions to be investigated shall be the 12a 
 yards hurdles, long, high, and pole jumps, putting the (16 lb.) weight, 
 and throwing the (16 lb.) hammer. 
 
 The only records to be accepted shall be those made in public 
 competitions, and held under A.A.A. Rules and by a recognised club. 
 
 Questions of gradients, wind or other favourable conditions, 
 shall be taken into consideration when deciding any individual 
 record. 
 
 A record shall include any performance in the United Kingdom. 
 
 The record of a foreigner or colonial done anywhere in the 
 United Kingdom shall be considered an English record.
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 219 
 
 It will thus be seen that in future the A.A.A. propose to 
 restrict the making of records within reasonable limits by only 
 recognising those which are authenticated and made upon fair 
 grounds under fair conditions, in legitimate competitions and 
 at recognised distances. These regulations will prevent any 
 second-rate runner from securing a record, and will make 
 it more hkely than of yore that the 'record-holder' will be 
 the best man over the distance. In spite, however, of these 
 reforms in the system — reforms which it is as yet doubtful 
 whether the public or the press will be content to accept — we 
 are still inclined to object to record-worship upon wider and 
 deeper grounds than that the system is inconclusive and carried 
 to absurd limits. 
 
 Our general indictment against the system of paying rever- 
 ence to a record because it is a ' record,' is that the system is 
 unsportsmanlike, and has demoralised the whole of the present 
 generation of runners. The essential merit of every athletic 
 contest, as of every other contest of skill or endurance, is for 
 one man to be pitted against another man. The rivalry and the 
 desire to win and not to lose bring out the pluck, the skill, and 
 the endurance of all the competitors. It is in a contest with 
 his equals or his betters that a man becomes, as the Greeks 
 would have said, 'better than himself,' and our own poets have 
 expressed in many different ways the joyous exultation of the 
 brave warrior when he knows he will meet a foeman worthy 
 of his steel. From the days of chivalry up to modern times 
 one of the things which has made the English nation brave 
 has been the praise bestowed upon the knight, swordsman, 
 boxer, or runner who was ready to encounter any one who 
 challenged him. At the present day that part of the nation 
 which patronises the athletic ground awards more praise 
 to the man who has scampered past a field of inferior 
 runners quickly than to the man who has pluckily met and 
 beaten other 'cracks' in a level race. Had this view pre- 
 vailed in the Middle Ages the champion knight would not 
 have been he who kept the ring against all comers, but he
 
 220 ATHLETICS 
 
 who knocked down with his lance twenty 'dummies' in the 
 quickest time. ■ 
 
 Our complaint against the athletes and the public is that 
 they do not see that it is the competition of equally matched 
 antagonists which brings out all the manly qualities of the 
 Englishman, and that this alone is the true raison d'etre of 
 athletic sports. They did not come into vogue to show the 
 capacities of the human body as a running or jumping machine, 
 but to teach young Englishmen to train themselves in coolness, 
 courage, endurance, and good temper, by pitting themselves 
 against their equals in fair contest. When a man makes a re- 
 cord (as in bicycling) with several pace-makers and no opponent, 
 or when (as often occurs on the running path) a crack starts 
 at scratch in a handicap especially made (as freely stated in 
 advertisements) to give him an opportunity of beating the 
 record, he has everything to win and nothing to lose ; he wants 
 no pluck nor skill to defeat his antagonists, as there are none 
 who start level with him. All he has to do is to lay his feet to 
 the ground as fast as nature will permit him, and if he accom- 
 plish the task set him, one feels inclined to parody the familiar 
 sentence and sa}', 'it is magnificent — but it is not sport.' 
 
 It would, however, make little difference to the welfare of 
 the sport whether the public liked level races or record-handi- 
 caps best, if the taint had not spread to the athletes themselves. 
 A suspicion of bias always attaches to the laudator iemporis 
 acti, but at the risk of incurring that suspicion we feel com- 
 pelled to express an opinion that the great ' cracks ' of the 
 present day are not over-fond of meeting each other. The 
 desire of winning the title of champion is still strong enough to 
 bring most of them together once a year, but upon any other 
 occasion it is the greatest difficulty in the world to induce two 
 ' ciacks ' at the same distance to meet in a race. One day one 
 is seeking a record in the South, and on the same day another is 
 running at a country handicap in the West, while a third who 
 is great at the same distance is at a big Birmingham meeting, 
 also trying for records on the Aston track. On a Bank Hoh-
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 221 
 
 day the same phenomenon is also to be observed, ahhough the 
 motive on this occasion is not to make records but to win 
 ' pots.' If there are three good quarter-milers in London in 
 the spring, it may be predicted with great confidence that 
 one of them will be at Woodbridge, another at Colchester, and 
 the third at Newmarket. All this cowardice (to use a plain 
 word) is discreditable to the sport, and it is fostered and en- 
 couraged by the system which takes as the test of a man's 
 merit, not the quality of the opponents whom he has beaten, but 
 the ' time ' in which he has performed. The sooner, therefore, that 
 athletes learn that time is a test of speed but of nothing else,^ 
 the better for the sport. The race is not always to the speediest, 
 and to possess speed without pluck or judgment is to have very 
 little title to genuine merit. To conclude with an old athletic 
 aphorism, * Fast times do not make the runner,' and with this 
 remark we will close our case against timing and records. 
 
 There is one other practice which, in our opinion, has been 
 carried to absurd limits at athletic meetings. At a great many 
 meetings boys' races are included in the programmes. That a 
 good, strong, lusty schoolboy, who is continually playing cricket 
 or football, should come out and race in public is sensible enough. 
 Athletic sports have now been in full swing for a generation, and 
 many of the runners of the past are bringing up possible young 
 champions of their own. At first sight, therefore, it seems a 
 genial and sportsmanlike notion for races to be given at meet- 
 ings for the sons or young brothers or nephews of the members 
 of clubs. But this idea, like some other good ideas, has led 
 to cruel absurdities. At the Civil Service and Private Banks 
 and other meetings, little boys of six years old, and even less, 
 are to be seen racing in boys' handicaps, having, of course, pro- 
 digious starts from the scratch markers, who are much bigger 
 lads. For our own part, we think it is neither good for the 
 minds or bodies of little boys to run hard races at public meet- 
 ings at all, and w^e should like to see boys' races restricted to 
 those over twelve. But even of races for elder boys there are 
 far too many. There are so many, in fact, that a regular class-
 
 .^22 ATHLETICS 
 
 of boy-champions is springing up, and certain boys run at 
 twenty or thirty meetings during a summer, and bring home as 
 many prizes. This early ' forcing ' of juvenile talent can hardly 
 be considered a healthy system, and yet the practice is yearly 
 extending rather than decreasing. Every school, great or 
 small, has its athletic meeting now, and we think that school- 
 boys had much better confine themselves to their own school 
 races, and their own games and paper-chases, until they are 
 good enough to compete at men's meetings in men's races. 
 Another drawback about these boys' races is the immense 
 amount of squabbling to which they give rise at country meetings. 
 The only way for the handicapper to get his boys together at 
 the finish is to find out the age of each, and a very large num- 
 ber of frauds are perpetrated by boys who either themselves 
 understate their ages or whose friends do the cheating for them. 
 So many of these ' mistakes ' have there been that the Athletic 
 Association has been obliged to pass a very stringent rule 
 which confines boys' races in most parts of the country to purely 
 local events. Only a short time ago a case came before the 
 Southern Committee of the A.A.A. of a boy who had been 
 entered at different sports under four different names, his ages 
 being variously given from ii^ years to 14 years, and his 
 height from 4 ft. 2 in. to 4 ft. 8 in. His real age was 16, and his 
 real height 5 feet. This is no doubt an exceptional case, but the 
 number of instances in which a boy's age has been understated 
 a year, ' quite by accident,' is large enough, A system is not 
 bad in itself because bad people abuse it, but apart from these 
 abuses we think the practice of encouraging boys' races at open 
 meetings a pernicious one. If there are to be boys' races at all, 
 let them be confined to those introduced by members of the 
 club holding the meeting, and to competitors who are over 
 twelve years of age. 
 
 Having dealt with the boys, we will end our criticism of 
 athletic meetings with the veterans. Some clubs give races to 
 * veterans ' — a ' veteran ' in the athletic sense being usually a
 
 ATHLETIC MEETINGS 223 
 
 man over thirty-five years old. We do not see that there is 
 anything wrong in giving those who are '■rude donaW an oppor- 
 tunity of coming out again to exhibit themselves to the rising 
 generation of runners, but in practice the veterans' race is 
 usually rather an absurd sight than otherwise. At one of these 
 competitions, which is an annual affair, an old gentleman, who 
 must by this time have passed his allotted span of three score 
 years and ten, comes out regularly to exhibit himself, many 
 
 :^ -^'^ 
 
 
 ^-J. 
 
 Veterans' Race. 
 
 Others who are well over fifty appear in the race, while a good 
 many younger men compete whose bodies from disuse have so 
 far thickened about the middle as to render their movements 
 anything but graceful. On the whole, we think that the veteran 
 who is too slow to take part in the ordinary races ' lags super- 
 fluous on the stage ' of athletic sports.
 
 22^ 
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT. 
 
 One of the most remarkable features about modern English 
 athletic life is the capacity of the athlete for self-government. 
 As soon as any game or sport becomes popular in any district, 
 or throughout the country, clubs are formed ; the clubs con- 
 glomerate into district associations ; and the latter finally be- 
 come gathered together into a national governing body. All 
 these bodies, from the smallest club to the largest association, 
 are the outcome of voluntary effort ; they are worked, as a rule, 
 in a sensible and businesslike manner, and the officers, in 
 almost every case, are unpaid. Football, cricket, cycling, 
 athletics, paper-chasing, have all their governing bodies ; and at 
 a week's notice the best team at any sport can be picked from 
 the whole country, or the popular opinion as to any change 
 or innovation in the sport ascertained. All this discipline and 
 organisation is so well known nowadays as to excite little 
 notice ; but when fairly considered, it is really marvellous, and 
 most creditable to the capacity and sound sense of the English 
 sportsman. 
 
 The 'Jockey Club' of athletics, the Amateur Athletic 
 Association, did not take its rise until comparatively late in 
 athletic history. For a great many years the Amateur Athletic 
 Club, which was formed in London from the chief University 
 and London athletes of the day, and which instituted the 
 championship meeting in iS66, assumed a position in athletics 
 like that of the M.C C. in cricket, and no other governing body 
 was needed. From various causes, however, the chief of which
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 225 
 
 was the rising strength and popularity of the other great metro- 
 poHtan club, the L.A.C., the A.A.C. gradually began to decay. 
 The original members of the A.A.C. ceased to take any active 
 part in its welfare, and the few new members who joined became 
 members simply for the purpose of training upon the club- 
 ground at Lillie Bridge, the club holding no other sports except 
 the championship meeting. To such a stage of apathy had 
 the club sunk in 1876 that an unfriendly critic declared it had 
 only three active members — the secretary, the pony, and the 
 roller. Up to this time the L.A.C. meetings — the most im- 
 portant in London — were held on the A.A.C. ground at Lillie 
 Bridge ; but in 1876 a final rupture occurred between the 
 A.A.C. and L.A.C. over ' gate-money ' arrangements, and in 
 
 1877 the L.A.C. departed to its own ground at Stamford Bridge. 
 In 1877 and 1878 the championship meeting still was held 
 without objection under the management of the A.A.C. at 
 Lillie Bridge, upon the Monday following the Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge sports, although a strong feeling was growing up in 
 London and the provinces that the date of the fixture gave an 
 unfair advantage to University men. The real truth of the 
 matter was that in the twelve years that had passed since the 
 foundation of the championship meeting, the state of athletic 
 society had undergone a vital change, and the A.A.C. had failed 
 to 'move with the times.' In 1866 and the next few years the 
 University runners were by far the most important section of 
 the athletic community, both in number and merit, and pro- 
 vided about two-thirds of the entries to the sports, while the 
 few Londoners and provincials who were athletes were in a 
 social position which enabled them to find leisure enough to 
 train in the spring to meet the University runners. Before 
 
 1878 a new class of runners had sprung up both in London 
 and the provinces. The provincial runners were (as they still 
 are) for the most part drawn from the ' mechanic, artizan, and 
 labourer' class of the community. In the North they were 
 accepted as amateurs ; at Lillie Bridge, where the Henley de- 
 finition of an amateur held good, they were, according to the 
 
 Q
 
 226 ATHLETICS 
 
 rule, excluded ; although, as a matter of fact, either from acci- 
 dent or from design, their entries were often accepted. The 
 bulk of the London runners, although of quite a different class 
 from the provincials, were clerks or business men who were tied 
 to their desks during the day, and were unable to train except 
 in the evening. The only chance, therefore, that many of them 
 had of getting fit for a spring championship in March or the 
 beginning of April necessitated their practising in the dark. 
 From different reasons, therefore, in London and the provinces 
 athletics had become a summer pastime, while at Oxford and 
 Cambridge they were pursued mainly in the winter months. 
 The three University terms are short, and the various sports 
 have all to be accommodated ; so the arrangement both at 
 Oxford and Cambridge is, that athletics and football are culti- 
 vated in the two winter terms, the summer term being reserved 
 for cricket and boating (and examinations). It became obvious, 
 therefore, that a summer championship would place the Uni- 
 versity men at a disadvantage, while a spring fixture would 
 give them a decided 'pull.' Soon after the opening of the 
 Stamford Bridge grounds, the L.A.C., then under the manage- 
 ment of Messrs. James and William Waddell, placed itself at 
 the head of the agitation for the summer championship ; and, 
 after much fruitless negotiation and discussion, the L.A.C. 
 runners in a body 'boycotted' the spring championship at 
 LiUie Bridge in the spring of 1879, and it was accordingly con- 
 fined to the University men and a few provincial athletes, in- 
 cluding Webster, the walker, and Warburton, the long distance 
 runner. In the summer of 1S79 an opposition championship 
 was held on the Stamford Bridge ground, under the manage- 
 ment of a committee consisting almost entirely of London 
 runners, together with some few secretaries of clubs from the 
 Midlands ; but the Northerners, who had by that time formed 
 themselves into a Northern Counties Athletic Association, held 
 aloof, as they were standing out for the contention that a 
 championship meeting should be open to any amateur, of what- 
 ever social position, provided he had never run for money.
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 227 
 
 The summer championship was a decided failure, in spite of 
 the presence of W. G. George, who won both the mile and 
 five-mile races, two-thirds of the winners being from the L.A.C 
 alone. Early in the spring of 1880 the Lillie Bridge champion- 
 ship was again advertised for the usual date, and again notices 
 were given by the London runners that they should decline to 
 ■compete. The dispute also with regard to the amateur definition 
 was still unsettled, the provincials maintaining in a body that 
 the 'mechanic, artizan, or labourer' class should be admitted 
 as amateurs, provided they had never run for money. The 
 wide definition had already been accepted by the Northern 
 ■Counties Association — a body then consisting of some sixteen 
 strong clubs — while in the Midlands a similar body, consisting 
 ■of some eight or nine clubs, was already in process of forma- 
 tion. Under the circumstances, it occurred to some of the 
 leading athletes at Oxford, early in the spring of 1880, that the 
 best way to settle both burning questions was by a general 
 conference of representatives of leading clubs ; and it was 
 further thought that the invitations to such a conference should 
 be issued in the joint names of the Oxford and Cambridge 
 •clubs. A notice was accordingly issued in March by the 
 presidents of the two University Clubs, inviting secretaries of 
 all recognised athletic clubs to meet at Oxford on April 24. 
 As soon as the notice was circulated the advertisements of the 
 usual Lillie Bridge championship were withdrawn, and it was 
 tacitly agreed between the disputants to settle the question of 
 spring or summer championships at the Oxford meeting. 
 
 It is probably no breach of confidence after so long an inter- 
 val to say that the ' Oxford Conference ' had several narrow es- 
 capes of falling to the ground. Each different party was anxious 
 to keep away from the meeting unless some guarantee for the 
 preservation of its interests was given, and this was of course 
 impossible. Even at Cambridge some opposition was got up in 
 the University club against the holding of the meeting, and early 
 in April the guiding spirits of the movement at Oxford were at 
 their wits' end for an expedient to realise their cherished project 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 ATHLETICS 
 
 of founding a general governing body for amateur athletics. 
 Finally the well-known tastes of Englishmen were recollected, 
 and it was decided to invite every delegate to attend a meeting 
 in the afternoon and a dinner in the evening. How far the 
 latter part of the suggestion availed to overcome scruples it is, of 
 course, impossible to conjecture; but in the result the meeting 
 came offon April 24, 1880. A set of resolutions to submit to the 
 assembly was drafted by Messrs. Wise, Jackson, and Shearman 
 of the O.U.A.C., and on the evening before the meeting they 
 were further discussed in conjunction with Mr. Walter Rye, who 
 had come down from London for the purpose. The gathering 
 was attended by twenty-seven delegates representing fifteen 
 clubs, the Northern Association (sixteen clubs), and the Mid- 
 land Association (nine clubs), and at that meeting was founded 
 the Amateur Athletic Association, which, at the end of six 
 years, consisted of 154 clubs representing about 20,000 athletes. 
 As the foundation of the A, A. A. represents a new and im- 
 portant era in the history of athletic sport in this country, it may 
 perhaps not be amiss to give a it\^ further particulars of the 
 men present at this first meeting at Oxford and of the resolu- 
 tions there come to. The representatives present were J. G. 
 Chambers and A. G. Payne (of the A.A.C.); E. Storey, L. 
 Knowles, and R. H. Macaulay (of the C.U.A.C); C.Herbert and 
 H. Tomlinson(of the C.S.A.A.); J. W. Macqueen (of the German 
 Gymnastic Society); J. Waddell (of the L.A.C.); J. Anderton and 
 Frank Smith (of the Midland Counties Association); R. Mullock 
 (of the Newport, Monmouth, A.C.); C. E. Barlow, T. G. Sharpe, 
 H. C. Faram, and T. M. Abraham (of the Northern Counties 
 Association); J. Ingman (of the Northampton A.C.); C. F. 
 Turner and J. E. Dixon (of the North of the Thames Cross 
 Country Union); C. N. Jackson, W. N. Bruce, and M. Shearman 
 (of the O.U.A.C); J. Suddaby (of the Reading A.C.); J. Gibb 
 (of the South London Harriers); W. Rye (of the Thames Hare 
 and Hounds); W. Waddell (representing the United Hospitals 
 A.C.); E. R. Wood (of the Woodbridge A.C.); and B. R. Wise, 
 who, as President of the O.U.A.C, took the chair. At this
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 229 
 
 meeting it was decided that the Championship Meeting should 
 take place in the summer, and be held in rotation in London, 
 the Midlands, and the North, and that it should be open to all 
 persons who had never competed for money ; that the clubs 
 present should associate themselves into a body, to be known 
 as the Amateur Athletic Association; and that the objects of 
 the body should be: (i) To improve the management of athletic 
 meetings, and to promote uniformity of rules for the guidance 
 of local committees; (2) to deal repressively with any abuses of 
 athletic sports; (3) to hold an annual championship meeting. 
 It was also decided that ' all races held under the sanction of 
 the Association be confined to amateurs, and that the following 
 be the definition of an amateur: "Any person who has never 
 competed for money, with or against a professional for any 
 prize, and who has never taught, pursued, or assisted in the 
 practice of athletic exercises as a means of obtaining a liveli- 
 hood." ' In order, however, to guarantee the independence of 
 individual clubs it was understood that this rule should not 
 interfere with the right of any club to refuse the entry of any 
 person to its own sports whenever it thought fit. As regards 
 prizes it was arranged that in no handicap should a prize of 
 greater value than 10/. los. be allowed, and that every prize of 
 a greater value than 5/. should be engraved with the name and 
 date of the meeting. The execution of these provisions was 
 to be entrusted to a committee, consisting of certain ex-officio 
 members, the representatives of a few leading clubs, and of 
 elected members. A large number of names were proposed 
 for election, but the following ten were chosen for the first 
 year : The Earl of Jersey, and Messrs. Anderton, Barlow, 
 Herbert, Jackson, Lockton, Macaulay, Rye, Shearman, and 
 Waddell. Probably it was in recognition of the services of the 
 Oxford men in setting the Association on foot that in the choice 
 of the ofificers for the first year Lord Jersey was elected President, 
 and Messrs. Wise, Jackson, and Shearman, Vice-President, 
 Treasurer, and Secretary of the new body. 
 
 Since its institution the Amateur Athletic Association has
 
 230 A THLETICS 
 
 had a career of even success. Although it proceeded cautiously 
 at first, as there was a good deal of opposition to be met, it has 
 of recent years assumed a wholesome arbitrary power over all 
 athletic meetings held in England ; and it insists that the main 
 provisions which are necessary for the maintenance of fair play 
 and genuine amateurism shall be respected. The body occupies 
 in fact the same position as the Jockey Club in the sport of flat 
 racing on the turf, insisting that all meetings shall be held under 
 its laws, proclaiming meetings at which such laws are not 
 followed, and punishing athletes for any unfair practice in con- 
 nection with athletics. Rule XVIII. of its present code pro- 
 vides for the suspension of any athlete who wilfully competes 
 at a meeting held by any club or managing body which is not 
 either, (i) affiliated to the Association, or (2) registered as an 
 ' approved ' club after application to the local officer of the 
 Association, and both the affiliated and the registered clubs are 
 bound to advertise their sports as being held ' under A.A.A. 
 laws.' Such advertisement does not necessitate the adoption of 
 the ' competition rules ' given before, which are merely recom- 
 mended, although as a matter of fact they are now almost uni- 
 versally adopted ; nor, as we have seen above, is the club giving 
 sports ' under A.A.A. laws ' obliged to accept any entry of which 
 it may for its own reasons disapprove. The only compulsory 
 laws of the A.A.A. which must be observed at every meeting 
 are the following, and it will be admitted that they are not such 
 as to interfere unduly with the freedom of any club which is 
 desirous of giving sports : 
 
 1. All competitions must be limited to amateurs. 
 
 ' An amateur is one who has never competed for a money 
 prize or staked bet, or with or against a professional for 
 any prize, or who has never taught, pursued, or assisted in 
 the practice of athletic exercises as a means of obtaining a 
 livelihood.' 
 
 2. No person must be allowed to compete while under a sen- 
 tence of suspension passed by either the A.A.A., National Cyclists' 
 Union, Swimming Association ot Great Britain, Scottish AA.A., 
 or Irish AAA
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 231 
 
 3. No ' value ' prize {i.e. a cheque on a tradesman) must be 
 offered. 
 
 4. No prize must be offered in a handicap of greater value than 
 
 10/. \05. 
 
 5. Every prize of the value of 5/. or upwards must be engraved 
 with the name and date of the meeting. 
 
 6. In no case must a prize and money be offered as alterna- 
 tives. 
 
 7. All prizes shall be publicly presented on the grounds on the 
 day of the sports. 
 
 8. All open betting must be put down. 
 
 9. All clubs holding and advertising their sports 'under the 
 laws of the Amateur Athletic Association ' must have printed on 
 their entry forms 'the definition of an Amateur ' as adopted by the 
 Amateur Athletic Association. 
 
 It will be seen that it has throughout been the main prin- 
 ciple of policy of the A. A. A. to insist upon the orderly manage- 
 ment of meetings and the suppression of unfair practice, but 
 yet not to interfere with the free right of any club, whether 
 alililiated or ' approved/ to appoint its own ofificers and manage 
 its own meetings, provided they respected the essential laws of 
 amateurism. Unfortunately, during the whole of the year 
 1885 the amateur world was thrown into disorganisation by a 
 vehement dispute between the A. A. A. and the National Cyclists' 
 Union, a body which occupies a similar position as the recognised 
 governing body of amateur cyclists. Like many other party con- 
 flicts, this arose out of a very small matter and grew into serious 
 proportions, rather through misunderstandings than through ill- 
 will, on both sides. The point in dispute was the management 
 of cycling races given by athletic clubs, and generally of all 
 meetings where there were both foot-races and cycling races, 
 the cyclists claiming to have absolute control over every cycling 
 race, wherever held, and the A.A.A. resisting the claim of the 
 Cyclists' Union to interfere with the management of meetings 
 of the affiliated clubs of the A.A.A. Happily, at the end of 
 the year 1885, terms of arrangement were concluded between 
 the belligerent associations, which we think were, to use a well-
 
 232 ATHLETICS 
 
 worn phrase, ' honourable to both parties concerned,' and have 
 certainly made the interests of both bodies so far identical as 
 to strengthen the position of each with the amateur public. 
 All mixed meetings since the arrangement are advertised under 
 both rules, the foot-races and other athletic sports being under 
 the A.A.A. rules, and the cycle races under the N.C.U. rules, 
 the N.C.U. undertaking, in the case of meetings held by the 
 clubs affiliated to the A.A.A., not to make any order (except 
 at the invitation of the A.A.A. club) upon the committee of 
 that A.A.A. club to alter its decision. 
 
 We have probably said enough of the A.A.A. and its objects 
 and principles to convey some idea of the work it performs. ' 
 Soon after its foundation it was found necessary to put the 
 greatest possible administrative power into the hands of the 
 local associations in the North and Midlands, and the A.A.A. 
 may now practically be said to consist of three bodies in the 
 North, South, and Midlands, the general committee only sit- 
 ting as a court of appeal from the decisions of the local 
 committees, and the general body of clubs rarely meeting more 
 than once a year, to effect alterations in the rules, and to super- 
 vise the management and expenditure. It has naturally been 
 a matter of time and trouble to get the Association known and 
 its power felt throughout the kingdom, and for its present 
 strong position the A.A.A. owes a great debt of gratitude to its 
 present honorary secretary, Mr. Herbert, of the Civil Service 
 Athletic Association, in whose hands the management of the 
 body has been since 1883. In the early days of the Association 
 also, it owed much of its success to the support of the Press, 
 most of the sporting papers of influence giving assistance and 
 encouragement to the movement for the organisation and puri- 
 fication of amateur athletics. 
 
 So far, however, we have presented the bright side of the 
 picture in sketching the history of a body which has undoubt- 
 edly by its influence brought all classes of athletes and all 
 districts into communion, and has also done much to remedy 
 some of the grosser abuses of the sport. On the other hand,
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 233 
 
 those who are familiar with the working of athletic meetings 
 •and athletic clubs know that outside the Universities, and a 
 few other similar places, the state of amateurism has never 
 been so bad as it is at the present day. When open races 
 were first thought of, nearly all the competitors were ' gentleman 
 amateurs.' It was soon found that, hard as it was to define an 
 amateur, it was still harder to define a ' gentleman ' for athletic 
 purposes. The 'gentleman amateur ' was replaced by the ' ama- 
 teur,' who was what his name represented, a man who com- 
 peted for love of the sport, and respected the rules of honour and 
 fair play. Then came the time when athletics were at the height 
 -of their popularity, when the 'gate-money' taken at the meetings 
 was enough to support a club without paying much attention 
 to subscriptions of members, and when meetings began to 
 spring up throughout the country. This prosperity has led 
 perhaps almost inevitably to decay. Thousands of men of 
 every class of the community, but, for obvious reasons, chiefly 
 those of the lower class, found that by taking up amateur 
 ■athletics there were prizes to be won, which were readily ex- 
 changeable for cash, and opportunities also could be provided 
 for making money by betting in those mysterious ways which 
 had long been so familiar upon the turf and with the professional 
 .pedestrians. The result is that the last state of amateurism 
 is worse than the first, and that the ranks of so-called amateurs 
 are crowded with athletes who have absolutely no further 
 thought in entering for races than the amount of money they 
 can, by fair means or foul, extract from them. Probably not 
 one tithe of the malpractices that are committed are so obvious 
 in their nature as to render it possible that they can be brought 
 before the notice of the Athletic Association ; but we imagine 
 that an evening spent with any of the committees of that body 
 would astonish an uninitiated patron of athletic sports, for he 
 would discover the existence of an amount of petty swindling, 
 deceit, and unfair play, which would give him but a poor 
 opinion of the modern amateur. Men who have belonged to 
 -clubs and have run under their club-names refuse to pay sub-
 
 234 ATHLETICS 
 
 scriptions ; they enter for races, and when unsuccessful decline- 
 to pay their entrance fees ; they attempt by every conceivable 
 kind of trick, such as making omissions or ambiguous state- 
 ments in their entry forms, to induce the handicapper to give 
 them longer starts than they would obtain if they made a full 
 and fair disclosure of their last three performances ; and lastly, 
 there is over and over again grave suspicion of 'roping,' men 
 who ought to win suddenly losing in a way which is unaccount- 
 able, except upon the hypothesis that they are paid to lose. 
 All this has tended in a great many districts to drive gentlemen' 
 out of the field, as they do not care to associate with the semi- 
 professional amateur, or take part in a sport where such prac- 
 tices are rife. The existence of these abuses, too, has even led 
 to the corruption of the genuine amateur. Knowing well that 
 many of those with whom he may find himself competing are 
 dishonest, and being too honourable himself ever to indulge in 
 malpractices, he fancies he has discharged his duty to the com- 
 munity by always running to win, and respectmg the laws of 
 the meeting, and that when this is done nothing further is to be 
 expected from him. Thus, of late years, many amateurs, against 
 whom no suspicion of dishonesty can possibly arise, are ready 
 to go. off to any meeting where they can pick up a 'pot,' and 
 when they lose to raise protests against the winner. It is sad 
 to find that the 'win, tie, or wrangle' policy has increased a good' 
 deal upon the running-path within the last few years. 
 
 Upon the whole, therefore, the state of amateur athletics 
 throughout the country can hardly be considered satisfactory. 
 A great many athletes who pass as amateurs are not only pro- 
 fessionals in truth and fact, who make a living out of the sport,, 
 but, what is worse, many of them are making a living out of it 
 by dishonest means. It is difficult, however, to see how, in the 
 turn which the movement has taken, things could have happened 
 otherwise. The athletic movement which commenced with 
 the ' classes,' and first drew its strength from the Universities 
 and public schools, has finally, like most other movements 
 and fashions, good or bad, spread downwards to the ' masses.'
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 
 
 ^35- 
 
 The encouragement and interest given to the amateur con- 
 tests by the non-athletic public caused the popularisation of 
 the sport to be very rapid, and when the taste caught the 
 'masses/ it became easier for them to take part in amateur 
 sports than in professional pedestrianism. Without casting 
 any reflection upon the conduct of the masses as a whole, it i& 
 obviously impossible to expect that with many of them the 
 money to be gained by betting or ' squaring ' races will not offer 
 irresistible temptations. Nor, again, is it to be expected that the 
 ' mechanic, artisan, and labourer ' ranks will always have, when 
 a valuable prize is at stake, as much sportsmanlike feehng and 
 nice sense of fair play as one could rely upon finding in the 
 much-ridiculed * gentleman amateur ' of past days. As soon a& 
 any sport has become so popular that money is to be made out 
 of it, and men engage in it upon whom the loss of reputation 
 has httle effect, it may be prophesied with certainty that abuses- 
 will arise. Such abuses have arisen in athletics ; but it is of 
 more importance to find a remedy for them than to discuss- 
 their origin. 
 
 The foregoing will, however, serve to explain in some 
 manner the true position of the Athletic Association. The 
 objection has often been brought against this body, as well as 
 against other similar bodies, that it has been productive of no 
 good because it has failed to purify the sport which it governs. 
 All that a governing body of sport can be expected to do is to- 
 keep order and punish open offences against its laws, and it 
 can no more render its subjects good sportsmen and amateurs 
 than an Act of Parliament can render citizens virtuous. What 
 the A.A.A. does for the true amateur is this : it assures him 
 that wherever he goes to run under A.A.A. laws he will find 
 competent management and fair play — a fair field and no 
 favour — but it cannot prevent the genuine amateur from rub- 
 bing his shoulders against many a false amateur whose motives 
 in running as an amateur are obvious, though no complaint can 
 be made of his public behaviour. 
 
 Before discussing the possible remedies for the present state
 
 236 ATHLETICS 
 
 of amateur athletics, a few words may be said as to some of the 
 leading athletic clubs. We have already pointed out that in 
 some respects the runner has an advantage over the oarsman or 
 the cricketer in being independent of his fellows, able to choose 
 any time for training which may suit him, and that in competi- 
 tions he wins or loses upon his own individual merit. This 
 independence of the athlete, however (employing the term to 
 include the walker, runner, hurdler, and so forth), is rather a 
 serious drawback to the success of athletic clubs. Rowing, 
 cricket, football, cycling, tennis, and gymnastics, are pastimes 
 as well as competitions, and the members of clubs devoted to 
 pastimes have plenty of reason to bring them together at other 
 times than the days of competition. A club devoted to athletics 
 alone had, until paper-chasing came into vogue, httle social 
 attraction, as compared with other clubs. The popularity of 
 paper-chasing during the last few years has caused a large num- 
 ber of clubs to spring up throughout the country, which exist 
 to promote paper-chasing and cross-country racing during the 
 winter, although they hold athletic meetings during the summer 
 season. However, with paper-chasing clubs it is not our busi- 
 ness to deal in the present chapter, although it is worth 
 mentioning that quite a fourth part of the clubs affiliated to the 
 A.A.A. are Harriers or Hare and Hounds clubs. But if the 
 paper-chasing clubs are put out of the question, it may almost 
 be said that there are no clubs in the true sense of the word 
 which exist purely and solely for the cultivation of running, 
 jumping, and throwing of weights, with the exception of those 
 which are fortunate in possessing running grounds with a 
 cinder-track of their own. Of these the number is very limited, 
 but their work in collecting, promoting, and forming athletic 
 talent is wide and far-reaching. Ever since the time when 
 athletics became part of the regular University life, the Oxford 
 and Cambridge University Athletic Clubs have brought out 
 and brought together all the men with athletic capabilities in 
 their different colleges. The management of the two clubs, 
 and the system pursued for the cultivation of athletic skill at
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 237 
 
 the two Universities, is so identical, that it can hardly be of 
 any advantage to give separate sketches of both ; the writer will, 
 therefore, in the main give an account of his Oxford reminis- 
 cences. 
 
 The Cambridge athletes formed themselves into a club in. 
 1863, and their home has always been the cricket-ground at 
 Fenner's, which they share in common with the University^ 
 Cricket Club, the latter using the ground and pavilion in the 
 summer term, and the athletes in the autumn and spring terms, 
 the cinder-path of course running round the cricket pitch. 
 Until the end of 1876 the Oxonian cinder-track was out in the 
 fields at Marston, quite a mile from the centre of Oxford, and 
 in some very low-lying meadows, which made the track and grass 
 decidedly swampy. In the next year, however, the Oxonians 
 removed to their present ground in the Iffley Road. The 
 University athletic clubs are open to every member of the 
 University without any formalities of proposing and seconding, 
 but every one who wishes to train upon the club grounds, or 
 run in the Freshmen's or University Sports, must pay his 
 subscription to the University club and become a member. 
 There is, however, at Oxford, and we believe also at Cam- 
 bridge, an exception. For a limited time before any college 
 gives its sports a member of that college, who is not a member 
 of the University club but wishes to have a few days' practice 
 upon the ground, can obtain permission through an arrangement 
 between his college and the University club. As a general rule, 
 however, those members of the colleges w-ho run at their 
 college sports are members of the club. At Oxford, in the 
 writer's time, the only formality necessary for membership was 
 to go to Rowell's, the silversmith's, in ' The High,' and pay the 
 subscription over the counter. 
 
 The athletic season begins immediately after the commence- 
 ment of the October term, and at Oxford after luncheon the 
 athletes in twos and threes may be observed wending their way 
 over Magdalen Bridge to the ground. Before long they may 
 be seen scampering also in twos and threes over the path or
 
 ^38 ATHLETICS 
 
 over the hurdles, or essaying the hurhng of weight and hammer. 
 At Oxford athletics are an eminently sociable sport. You run 
 * spins ' with your friends, or take the long-distance runner a 
 lap upon his way ; then, perhaps, a try at the long jump or the 
 weight, or you hold the watch for the practising half-miler ; 
 then the final breather, and the return to the pavilion ; then a 
 warm at the fire, and the walk back in the dusk of the short 
 winter day with the friend, when the form of the ' coming ' 
 Balliql man is discussed, or the chance of the London stranger 
 winning the ' Exeter Half.' Oh, glorious days of youth and 
 training, before the race of life has begun, and some com- 
 panions have shot to the front and others have fallen to the 
 rear, while some have dropped out of the running, and will 
 never more meet an antagonist in any field ! 
 
 A man whose soul delights in running can get as much as 
 he wants at Oxford. The season begins in the autumn with 
 'the ' Freshers ' alias the Freshmen's Sports, open to all who 
 are in their first year at the university, and from these it is soon 
 ■seen what new men will have a chance of their ' blue ' in the 
 spring. Then come the series of college meetings, some score 
 in number, about half of which are in the autumn term and 
 half in the spring. Every college meeting has its strangers' 
 race, open not only to strangers from Cambridge, London, and 
 elsewhere, but to all those of colleges other than the one hold- 
 ing the meeting. To enter for the race all that is needed is to 
 write one's name in the book at Rowell's, entrance fees to 
 college strangers' races being things unknown, and you will be 
 handicapped by two members of the O.U.A.C. committee, to 
 whom the particular distance is allotted. A college meeting 
 {■tself is always a festive scene. It is not promoted for the 
 benefit of the few cracks in each college. Men turn out for 
 the handicaps who have never put on a shoe before, and in the 
 'level races the winners of previous years are penalised. Every 
 one has a chance of a prize, the value of the prize is happily 
 small, and no one is aggrieved at losing. As a rule, too, a 
 •man who is a ' blue ' — that is, has run for his university at any
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 239 
 
 ^particular event — stands out of the races at his own distance in 
 his college sports to give the other men a chance. All is good 
 sport, even though the winners' times are sometimes so slow 
 as to promote the mirth of the London ' crack.' 
 
 When the * college grinds ' are over the 'Varsity sports come 
 to finish up the season. They always take place about a week 
 before the end of the Lent term, and it is from the result of the 
 different races at the 'Varsity sports that the representatives for 
 the Inter-'Varsity gathering are selected by the committee of 
 the Club. From the very earliest time the Oxford men took 
 a sensible course with regard to the prizes at the University 
 meeting, and for the last fifteen years the winner and second 
 man in each race get exactly the same prize — a silver medal. 
 To have earned the * O.U.A.C. medal ' is honour enough for the 
 Oxford athlete, and it is better far to give the winner a trophy 
 which shows upon the face of it in what sports it was earned 
 than to give valuable prizes to a class of amateurs who ought 
 to be above coveting them. There is something, however, 
 which the University athlete covets more than his medal, and 
 that is the 'blue.' The system of 'Varsity 'colours' certainly has 
 its amusing side, and a stranger may well be bewildered at the 
 number of coats and caps of gaudy hue which are in the pos- 
 session of an Oxford or Cambridge athlete. Every college has 
 its colours ; then there is something distinctive for each club 
 of every college from which the initiated observer can gather 
 whether the wearer of the coat and cap he sees is a cricketer, or 
 an oarsman, or something else. Then with the cricket coats 
 there must be a fresh difference, to mark the man in the college 
 eleven and the man who is not in it ; and similarly with the 
 votaries of the river, a man gets a different cap when he reaches 
 his college ' torpid,' and yet another when he is promoted to 
 the ' eight.' The outward and visible sign, then, of the 'Varsity 
 man's upward progress in an athletic career is the donning of a 
 fresh coat or cap, or a piece of ribbon which he wears proudly 
 as a badge of merit. Mere college colours, however, are con- 
 -sidered to count for but little as compared with the dark or
 
 240 ATHLETICS 
 
 light blue colours which show that the wearer has represented 
 his University in a contest against the rival University. The 
 Oxford eight each year is clad in dark blue flannel coats and 
 caps ; and the Oxford eleven who meet Cambridge at Lord's,, 
 and the nine athletes who are sent up to London as the ' first 
 strings ' to compete against Cambridge, have a like honour, al- 
 though there is of course a slight difference which distinguishes 
 the rowing, cricket, and athletic coats and caps, the oarsman 
 wearing a white badge of crossed cars, the cricketer a white 
 crest, and the athlete a white laurel wreath upon the cap and 
 the breast pocket of his coat. This hierarchy of coat-wearers 
 doubtless causes wonderment to the astonished stranger, but 
 those who, from experience in other parts of the kingdom, 
 know how soon a genuine sport can be corrupted by greed and 
 money-making considerations, cannot see anything but good in 
 a system which makes the chief distinction something which 
 cannot possibly foster any undesirable quality except perhaps a 
 little harmless vanity. 
 
 To return to our athletes then, the Oxford or Cambridge 
 runner looks forward, as the supreme goal of his ambition, to 
 the right to wear a blue coat or cap. Only the winners of the 
 nine events which are included in the programme of the Inter- 
 University meeting are awarded this honour, and those who 
 run as ' second ' or ' third ' strings in London only hold the 
 ' half-blue ' — that is, they can wear blue trimming upon their 
 jerseys and knickerbockers when running, but may not sport 
 the blue coat or cap. With the conclusion of the University 
 sports the athletic season closes at the Universities, and the 
 ground is handed over to cricket until the following October. 
 
 It remains to speak of the organisation and management of 
 the University athletic clubs. Generations of undergraduates 
 come and go, and the President of one year is not in residence 
 the next year. Neither at Oxford nor Cambridge then could 
 the clubs be placed upon a sound and lasting basis without 
 the assistance of some permanent official. Luckily for both 
 Cambridge and Oxford, they have been fortunate in this respect
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 241 
 
 in obtaining permanent treasurers. At Oxford, the old athlete, 
 C. N. Jackson, tutor of Hertford College, has long and ably 
 managed the business concerns of the O.U.A.C., while at Cam- 
 bridge the popular Dean of Jesus, the Rev. E. H. Morgan, 
 has long held a similar position with his club. With the 
 exception, however, of the permanent treasurerships, the re- 
 maining offices of the University clubs are entirely managed 
 by the undergraduates themselves. At the beginning of every 
 October term at Oxford (and we believe at Cambridge a term 
 earlier) a general meeting of the representatives of the college 
 athletic clubs is called. One man attends from each college 
 to give the vote of those he represents. At this general 
 meeting a president, secretarj', and four other committee-men 
 are chosen from amongst the athletes who will not have passed 
 their fourth year of residence before the next Inter-'Varsity 
 sports, and will therefore still be eligible to compete against 
 Cambridge. The president, secretary, treasurer, and committee 
 manage the club affairs, fix the dates of sports, and choose the 
 representatives for the Inter-'Varsity contests. The Oxford 
 and Cambridge meeting in London is managed jointly by the 
 committees of both clubs, each of them deriving a substantial 
 addition to its income from the 'gate money' taken from the 
 large crowd of old University men and others who never fail to 
 attend the ' Inter-'Varsity Sports.' 
 
 To pass from the Universities to London. Here we find 
 one club based almost upon the same lines as the University 
 clubs, and, like them, doing excellent work in promoting the 
 growth of a healthy amateurism in the metropolis, although of 
 late years it has had far greater difficulties to contend wth than 
 are ever likely to befall the University clubs. The London 
 Athletic Club was founded in 1863 under another title, but in 
 1866 took its present name. Like the Oxford and Cambridge 
 dubs it first held its sports at the old Beaufort House Ground, 
 and then moved in 1S69 to the new ground of the A.A.C. at 
 Lillie Bridge, where its meetings were held until 1876, and it 
 has now been for ten years upon its own ground at Stamford 
 
 R
 
 242 ATHLETICS 
 
 Bridge. The Amateur Athletic Club, which started with great 
 prospects and seemed even more permanent than the L.A.C. 
 in 1869, when it opened its ground at Lillie Bridge as the 
 head-quarters of English amateur athletics, gradually died a 
 natural death, and now does not even exist in name. Up to 
 1880 the L.A.C. had an unbroken career of success, and, in 
 fact, really became rather overgrown. The business of a club 
 carried on by unpaid officials naturally must fall into the hands 
 of one or two energetic men who carry it on with little inter- 
 ference from the rest of the committee. It can hardly be dis- 
 puted that the method in which the membership of the L.A.C. 
 was for several years thrown open to many who neither had any 
 connection with nor took an interest in athletic pursuits, tended 
 to dissipate the esprit de corps which is so vital to the well-being 
 and success of a club. The rising generation of athletes began 
 to betake themselves to the less important paper-chasing clubs, 
 and even when they belonged to the L.A.C. as well as to other 
 bodies most frequently ran under the names and colours of 
 the smaller institutions to which they belonged. Such a sign 
 might have warned the committee of the L.A.C. that the club 
 was ceasing to cohere as it should. However, all went pro- 
 sperously until about the year 1880, when that rapid popularisa- 
 tion of sport began which, as we have seen before, has tended 
 in some measure to withdraw the support of the paying classes 
 from athletics to other pastimes. The business of attending to 
 a large ground and pavilions and keeping them in order is ex- 
 pensive, and little assistance can now be obtained from gate- 
 money. The result was that when the L.A.C, in the autumn 
 of 1883, suddenly lost its managing directors there was a 
 debt of 1,000/. to be cleared off, as well as a ground, which 
 was acquired under very onerous conditions, to be carried 
 on. It speaks much for the vitality of the old club that it 
 has stood the shock and still keeps its place at the head of the 
 London athletic organisations. Last year, when the members 
 subscribed a sufficient sum to clear off the greater part of the 
 debt, the club was reorganised and registered (with leave to
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 243 
 
 omit the word ' Limited ') as a company under the Companies 
 Acts, with a hability limited to a small guarantee by each 
 member. It is not too much to say of the L.A.C. that in times 
 gone past it collected, formed, and brought out all the athletic 
 capabilities of the metropolis ; and it would have been a bad 
 day for genuine amateurism had the club failed to weather the 
 storm of 1883. 
 
 Besides the L.A.C. there are many paper-chasing clubs 
 around London which cultivate flat-racing in addition, and may 
 be considered as athletic clubs quite apart from their functions 
 as promoters of cross-country racing. Two of these, the South 
 London Harriers and the Blackheath Harriers, are old-estab- 
 lished clubs, and the former owns a cinder-path of its own at 
 Balham. All the paper-chasing clubs round London have a 
 strong esprit de corps, which occasionally, we regret to observe, 
 manifests itself in the expression of ill-will towards rivals. The 
 L.A.C., however, occupies a different position from them all, 
 having amongst its roll nearly all the leading London athletes 
 of the last twenty years, and affording a centre and a ground for 
 the meetings of most of the others. 
 
 There is little that need be said of the other clubs through- 
 out the country which hold athletic meetings. Few of them 
 are athletic clubs in the same sense of the word as the Univer- 
 sity clubs or the L.A.C. In a country district it is obviously 
 out of the question for a club to exist upon athletics apart from 
 other kinds of manly pastime. Neither Manchester, Liverpool, 
 nor Birmingham has a club which owns a running ground and 
 encourages athletic practice all the year round as does the 
 leading London institution. In purely country districts the 
 athletic meetings are promoted and managed by the local 
 cricket, football, or paper-chasing club, or by a committee 
 which is got together annually for the purpose of holding a 
 meeting, and except for the purposes of that particular meeting 
 has no corporate existence. Many of the large provincial towns, 
 such as Huddersfield, have clubs with a permanent existence 
 jointly devoted to cricket and athletics, as well as other sports,
 
 244 ATHLETICS 
 
 separate committees managing the different branches of sport. 
 One of these clubs — the Huddersfield C. and A.C. — was, long 
 before the London A.C. took a similar course, registered as a 
 limited company with leave to omit the word ' Limited' from 
 its name. These provincial clubs for combined athletic pur- 
 poses are amongst the most flourishing and best-managed 
 organisations in the kingdom, and perform excellent work in the 
 cultivation and development of athletic energy. 
 
 The difficulties, then, which beset the path of a genuine 
 amateur do not arise from want of material, but from the 
 irruption into the amateur circle of men whose money-making 
 propensities have gotten the better of their honesty. Thousands 
 of men come annually from the Universities and public schools 
 as well as from elsewhere, who could do nothing but good to 
 themselves by competing in honest contests in running and 
 jumping matches ; but all present efforts have failed to separate 
 from the genuine amateurs the class of those who take up 
 athletics nominally as amateurs, but really as a means of liveli- 
 hood. There are plenty of sheep and plenty of goats, and the 
 questions which naturally arise are whether it is possible to 
 separate them, and if so by what means ; also, whether, if it be 
 i'mpossible to separate them, there are any means of preventing 
 the decadence of athletic sports. 
 
 The genuine amateurs are all of one kind ; they run 
 because the exercising of their bodies gives them delight, and 
 because, being Englishmen, they find it pleasant to have beaten 
 an honest adversary in an honest competition. The summit 
 of their ambition is to have met all comers and won a cham- 
 pionship, or to have met all opponents from their club or 
 district or from their University, or from the two Universities, 
 and to have borne away the palm. The prizes they win are to 
 be kept as trophies, and not to be parted with ; and whether 
 they care for handsome prizes much or little, their chief 
 pleasure derived from the sport is the honour they have gained 
 in their chosen pursuit. Let no one imagine we are drawing 
 an ideal picture of the English athlete. There is a good deal
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 245 
 
 of human nature in man, and there are very few runners, 
 jumpers, or what not, who are above the temptations of winning 
 a handsome prize. There have been plenty of genuine amateurs 
 who have carried their love of ' pots ' to an illegitimate extent, 
 and have gone touring round the country to meetings at 
 which they could not increase their reputation by winning, 
 and which they have simply attended for pot-hunting purposes. 
 These men, however, have won the prizes with the desire to 
 ornament their homes with them, and not with the object 
 of increasing their weekly stipends with the gains of athletics. 
 Such are the sheep ; but the goats are of various kinds. 
 Some of them are men who run honestly enough on the 
 whole, but as soon as they get a prize dispose of it promptly 
 for what it will fetch ; and we fancy that silversmiths and dealers 
 in fancy articles could, if examined before a Royal Com- 
 mission upon athletics, make some strange disclosures as to 
 the number and importance of this class. Such men soon 
 degenerate into the other class, who find there is more to be 
 made out of betting or ' squaring ' a race than out of the prizes, 
 and who therefore never run honestly if it pays them better 
 to do otherwise. As for a championship with these gentry, it 
 is not worth running for unless the ' market ' can be worked, 
 or unless the competitor meditates taking a public-house and 
 trading upon the reputation of being an ex-champion. The 
 number of these sham-amateurs is large, and it is a serious 
 question whether it is possible to exclude them from the 
 amateur fold. 
 
 At the time when amateurism first came into existence 
 upon the running path, the amateurs, looking at the state of 
 professional pedestrianism, were rather inclined to consider 
 running for money as being a bad thing in itself Whether 
 there is anything degrading in the notion of a man gently bred 
 running, or playing cricket or football, for money, is a wide 
 subject which we do not care to discuss at present, and upon 
 which public opinion would probably adopt more liberal views 
 now than it did a quarter of a century ago. The line taken up
 
 246 ATHLETICS 
 
 by the earliest ' gentleman-amateurs ' was, however, that it was 
 degrading to run for money, and that amateur athletics should 
 be confined to gentlemen. Possibly the eventual solution of 
 the present problem will be a return to the old practice, and 
 the gentlemen who run and jump in matches wnll be able to 
 confine the amateur competitions in which they take part to 
 their own class. Such social distinctions, however, are very 
 hard to preserve anywhere, and particularly hard in sport, and 
 the difficulties of defining an amateur are nothing compared to 
 the difficulties of defining a gentleman. One thing is certain : 
 the attempt to confine open competitions to gentleman-amateurs 
 broke down. In the country especially, where the sports 
 were promoted by the help of subscriptions from the neigh- 
 bourhood, people naturally declined to see the money they 
 subscribed devoted to prizes to be competed for solely by 
 gentlemen, and the gradual stream of public opinion from 1870 
 to 1880 flowed steadily in the direction of allowing any one to 
 compete for a prize, whatever his social position might be, 
 provided he cared to run for prizes in preference to running 
 for money like a professional ' ped.' The result has been as 
 we have seen, that with the rapid extension of the athletic 
 movement throughout the kingdom, a large number of those 
 who in former times would have become professionals have 
 turned amateurs because amateurism is more lucrative. Of 
 this class it may be safely said that they will never abandon the 
 amateur ranks until they find there is more money to be made 
 as professionals. The recognition and encouragement of an 
 honest and open professional athleticism throughout all districts 
 of the country would be the best possible means of purging the 
 amateur ranks of those who have no business to remain in 
 them. As soon as the large number of the mechanic classes, 
 who cannot afford to despise the money which they can make 
 out of their athletic powers, find that it is just as lucrative and 
 just as honourable to compete as professionals, they will cease 
 to call themselves amateurs, and amateurism will be the better 
 for their departure.
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT i^-j 
 
 As regards the lowest class of runners, be they professionals 
 or amateurs, who run to the orders of their bookmakers, and 
 win or lose races just as the monetary arrangements make it 
 advisable, nothing can be done to drive these off the path but 
 a vigilant exercise of power of disqualification, and a rigid sup- 
 pression of all open betting upon the ground. Every sport 
 which comes to the state of merely being a resource for betting 
 will arrive eventually at a condition of rottenness which will 
 make it the despair of a reformer ; and if amateur athletics 
 eventually get into the hands of the bookmakers, the sooner 
 the sport ' goes under ' the better. 
 
 If, therefore, amateur athletics are to be purged of their 
 abuses, one can safely point to the direction which the reform 
 must take. The suppression of betting upon the ground must 
 be rigidly enforced at ever)' meeting great or small, for if the 
 runners are to become simply animals with so much ' money 
 on them,' it cannot matter a straw whether the stake for which 
 they run is money or a cup ; and, indeed, the running is much 
 more likely to be honest with a money prize than with a cup 
 which is not readily converted into money. Unless the runners 
 are all genuine amateurs, running for honour and not for 
 money, it is impossible when betting is rife to keep the sport 
 pure, and the Amateur Athletic Association had better dissolve 
 and cease its labours than try to stem a tide which will be too 
 strong for it. 
 
 Granting, however, that betting can be suppressed or kept 
 within reasonable limits, the movement to purify athletics froro 
 the sham amateurs must be in two directions. The real amateurs 
 must try to encourage professionalism open and undisguised, for 
 the establishment of recognised professional sports throughout 
 the country would draw off from the quasi-amateur ranks those 
 who take it up from interested motives. The other remedy is 
 easier, and rests with the genuine amateurs themselves without 
 requiring any assistance from the public patronage. The bona 
 fide gentleman-amateur must give up the idea of earning valu- 
 able prizes, and must take to the system of running for medals
 
 248 ATHLETICS 
 
 of little value, or to earn his ' colours,' as at the Universities, 
 without any further reward. 
 
 In other sports, gentlemen are willing enough to toil and 
 practise to gain honour alone. The cricketer plays assiduously 
 for seasons, and is sufficiently rewarded by gaining a place in 
 his county eleven, and athletics could be placed upon a sounder 
 footing if there were more representative competitions which it 
 would be recognised as an honour to win, or even to take part 
 in, without any special stimulant. The body athletic has become 
 corrupted by too much prosperity, and the proper method for 
 its recovery is a severe course of ascetic training. When amateur 
 athletics are again confined to men who show by their acts that 
 they run for sport and not for gain, then the tide of pubhc 
 favour will flow back to them with full force, and athletes will 
 have full honour in their own country. 
 
 We have purposely refrained during the writing of these chap- 
 ters from rhapsodising upon the advantages of the cultivation 
 of athletic excellence to the individual and the nation. In these 
 days of endless writing, when many articles are indited which, 
 like bad sermons, consist of a few texts largely diluted, it is 
 usual to found all the possible praises of athletics upon two texts : 
 the one from a classical source alluding to the necessary connec- 
 tion between mental and bodily soundness, and the other from 
 a native source alluding to the connection between military 
 excellence and playing fields. As no book upon athletics is 
 considered complete without some allusion to these time- 
 honoured friends, we have thus cursorily alluded to them at the 
 end of our task, but have before preached no sermon upon 
 these passages, for a very simple reason. We take it that at the 
 present day it is but a waste of labour to demonstrate to English- 
 men the advantages of manly sports, of hard exercise, and 
 friendly competition. For the last five-and-twenty years the 
 )oung men of England have flung themselves into the pursuit 
 of hard bodily exercise and sporting competitions upon foot. 
 The youth of the present day fresh from school, instead of spend-
 
 ATHLETIC GOVERNMENT 249 
 
 ing his leisure time in seeing cocks fight or terriers kill rats, 
 goes off to the football or cricket field, to the river or the run- 
 ning path, and finds his recreation in the exercise of his own 
 body. The result of a generation of athletic sport has made the 
 nation stronger, manlier, cleaner, and more sober than it was 
 before the pursuit of athletics became a national characteristic. 
 When the athletic movement first came into full force it found 
 vigorous opponents. j\Ir. Wilkie Collins in particular wrote a 
 novel in which the wicked brother was an athlete — a heartless 
 villain, without manners or brains, and the sworn companion of 
 swindlers and sharpers ; while the virtuous brother, who detested 
 hard exercise and played the fiddle, had every conceivable 
 virtue of morals and intellect. The public was thrilled by 
 the novel but not convinced by it, and with reason. If any 
 one will take the trouble to study a school, a college, or any 
 large body of men, he will find that the dozen best cricketers, 
 footballers, or oarsmen will provide more clever scholars, and — 
 what is quite as important — more capable and better mannered 
 men than any average dozen of the others ; and, indeed, it may 
 safely be added that a dozen athletes will produce as many violin- 
 players as a dozen non-athletes. There may be, and doubtless 
 are, plenty of strong hulking fellows in whom athletic pro- 
 pensities are joined with rough behaviour ; but the manners 
 of these are none the more rough because they have taken to 
 athletics. Were there no field upon which their strength and 
 spirits could be curbed and disciplined, it may safely be said 
 that they would have been worse. No ; the athletic move- 
 ment has benefited the people at large. The lad or man who 
 is a keen athlete is rarely mean, vicious, or a coward ; the black 
 sheep of the community are the loafers, and from a host of these 
 a love of athletics has delivered England. 
 
 Other and graver objections are sometimes raised to the 
 pursuit of athletics in individual cases. There are, no doubtj 
 many instances of men who have undermined their health by 
 too much training and competition, and there are doctors who 
 shake their heads when they hear that their patient has been an
 
 250 ATHLETICS 
 
 athlete. Most athletes also know of a case here and there of 
 a man breaking down or even dying in his prime under circum- 
 stances which at any rate pomt with some probability to a sport 
 in which he indulged as the cause. We have already expressed 
 our strong opinion that for many years a vicious habit of 
 training was in force, and that even in the present day men 
 are inclined to overwork themselves in their practice. Every 
 system has its victims until it is understood, and the men 
 who have suffered loss of health from an overdose of athletics 
 are men who have abused a blessing, and, in the name of 
 health and exercise, have placed themselves under an absurd 
 and unhealthy diet and have worn out their vigour by persistent 
 overwork. The present writer is hardly one who by his practice 
 and his preaching can be taken for an alarmist, but he feels 
 constrained to end what he has to say upon athletics with an 
 appeal to the votaries of the sport not to abuse a good system. 
 The number of those who have gained health, strength, courage 
 and character from the practice of one form or another of athletic 
 exercise is legion, and to a statistician dealing with averages 
 a victim more or less is of small concern ; but there is really 
 no reason whatever why athletic sport properly conducted 
 should have a single victim. When fervid athletes keep little 
 boys from running in boys' races at public meetings, when school 
 committees will put a stop to 'junior miles ' and 'junior steeple- 
 chases,' and when ' twenty-four hour ' races and go-as you-please 
 competitions are no more heard of, athletics will be purged 
 of some current evils. When going into training means 
 nothing more than living a regular and healthy life, and the 
 daily exercise is taken to increase the strength and skill, and 
 not to see how much the human body can do without failing, 
 then no one except by his own fault can suffer any harm from 
 athletic sports.
 
 251 
 
 LIST OF BEST PERFORMANCES ON RECORD 
 BY AMATEURS 
 
 RUNNING 
 
 Distance 
 
 Yards' 
 loo 
 
 I20 
 
 150 
 200 
 220 
 300 
 440 
 600 
 
 Miles 
 
 I 
 
 li 
 2 
 
 4 
 S 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 i& 
 
 IS 
 
 Name 
 
 Place 
 
 A. Wharton . 
 C. A. Bradley 
 W. P. Phillips 
 C. N. Jackson 
 S. Palmer 
 
 C. F. Daft . 
 
 D. D. Bulger 
 G. B. Shaw . 
 C. G. Wood . 
 
 E. H. Pelling 
 C. G. Wood . 
 
 H. C. L.Tindall 
 
 E. C. Bredin . 
 
 F. J; K. Cross 
 W. Pollock Hill 
 
 W. G. George 
 S. Thomas 
 W. G. George 
 S. Thomas 
 E. C.Willers 
 S. Thomas 
 
 W. G. Georg' 
 
 S. Thomas 
 W. H. Morton 
 G. A. Dunning 
 J. A. Squires 
 G. A. Dunning 
 J. E. Dixon . 
 
 2li 
 
 484 
 
 4 18= 
 
 6 53i; 
 
 9 17I 
 
 14 24 
 
 19 33s 
 
 24 531 
 
 30 17* 
 
 35 36! 
 
 40 57i 
 
 46 12 
 
 51 20 
 
 I 22 15^ 
 
 I 52 51J 
 
 ■■^ 33 44 
 
 3 17 364 
 
 4 50 12 
 6 18 261 
 
 Date 
 
 Stamford Bridge 
 Northampton . 
 Stamford Bridge 
 / Cowley Ground, Oxford 
 
 Lillie Bridge . 
 j Stamford Bridge 
 
 Iffley Road, Oxford . 
 
 Aston Ground, Birmingham 
 Stamford Bridge 
 
 Paddington 
 Romford . 
 Heme Hill - 
 
 Stamford Brids 
 
 Balham 
 
 Stamford Bridge 
 Balham 
 
 July 3, 18S6 
 July I, 1893 
 March 25, 188; 
 Nov. 14, 1865 
 April 15, 1878 
 Julys, 1S86 
 July 2, 1892 
 June 10, 1893 
 July 21, i88'7 
 Sept. 28, 1889 
 June 25, 1887 
 July 21, 1887 
 June 29, i88g 
 June 10, 1893 
 March 9, iSS3 
 March 8, 1880 
 
 June 2r, 1884 
 May 13, 1S93 
 April 26, 1884 
 June 3, 1803 
 June 10, 1893 
 Sept. 24, 1892 
 Oct. 22, 1892 
 
 Julv 28, 1884 
 April 7, 1884 
 
 April II, 1892 
 March 22, 1890 
 Dec. 26, i8St 
 May 2, 1855 
 Dec. 26, 1S79 
 April II, 18S5
 
 252 
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 WALKING 
 
 Distance 
 
 Name 
 
 Time 
 
 Place 
 
 Date 
 
 Miles 
 
 I 
 
 H. Curtis 
 
 
 h. m. s. 
 
 6 36 
 
 Stamford Bridge 
 
 
 July 4, 1891 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 
 I 
 9 
 
 H. Webster 
 W. H. Meel 
 H. Curtis 
 
 
 14 25 
 21 28 
 29 10 
 37 17 
 44 57 
 52 281 
 I I 6i 
 I 11 14! 
 
 Southport . 
 Stamford Bridge 
 Birmingham 
 
 Paddington 
 Tufnell Park . 
 
 
 Aug. 28, 1880 
 July 12, 1884 
 July 12, 1890 
 
 July 18, 1891 
 Dec. 27, 1890 
 
 lo 
 
 15 
 20 
 
 C."\V. V. Clarke '. 
 W E. N. Coston . 
 
 I 19 27i 
 
 2 10 13 
 309 
 
 Balham 
 Stamford Bridge 
 
 
 Dec. 26, 1885 
 Dec. 27, 1880 
 
 25 
 30 
 
 - ( 
 
 so 1 
 
 75 
 
 ' A. W. Sinclair . 
 
 J. A. Mcintosh . 
 » A. W. Sinclair . 
 
 J. A. Mcintosh . 
 ^ A. W. Sinclair . 
 
 3 S3 35 
 
 4 46 52 
 638 3 
 
 7 I 44 
 
 8 25 254 
 8 52 25 
 
 14 10 
 
 Lillie Bridge 
 Richmond, Surrey 
 Lillie Bridge 
 liichmond, Surrey 
 Lillie Bridge 
 
 
 Nov. 14, 1879 
 Oct. 2, 1886 
 Nov. 14, 1879 
 
 Oct. 2, 1886 
 
 Aug. 27, 1881 
 
 100 
 52I 
 
 J. A. Mcintosh . 
 
 19 41 50 
 
 9 25. 8 
 
 Brighton Road . 
 
 
 April 10, 1886 
 
 In a Match against Time. 
 
 ODD EVENTS 
 
 Event 
 
 Name 
 
 Dis- 
 tance 
 
 ft. in. 
 6 3i 
 11 9 
 23 6i 
 44 9 
 134 7 
 
 Place 
 
 Date 
 
 High Jump . 
 Pole Jump 
 Long Jump . 
 Putting the Shot (16 lb.) 
 Throwing the Hammer 
 (16 lb. J from a 9 ft. circle 
 
 W. B. Page 
 R. D. Dickinson 
 C. B. Fry . 
 G. R. Gray 
 W. J. M. Barry 
 
 Stourbridge . 
 Kidderminster 
 Oxford . 
 Dublin . 
 Manchester . 
 
 Aug. 15,1887 
 July 4, 1891 
 March 4, 1893 
 July 7, 1888 
 July 23, 1892
 
 PAPER-CHASING 
 
 AND 
 
 CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER RYE, 
 President, Thames Hare and Hounds
 
 PAPER-CHASING AND CROSS-COUNTRY 
 RUNNING. 
 
 At the end of i &57 a few members 
 (of whom the writer was one) 
 of the Thames Rowing 
 Club at Putney con- 
 ceived the idea 
 of holdmg 
 
 
 Iw-^ 
 
 The hares. 
 
 some cross-country steeplechases during the winter season, 
 with the idea of keeping themselves more or less in con- 
 dition until rowing began again. As may well be imagined, the
 
 256 PAPER-CHASING AND 
 
 arrangements of Thames Handicap Steeplechase No. i, as 
 it was called, were primitive in the extreme, and, indeed, the 
 ft'holc affair was treated more as a joke than anything else. 
 The competitors were taken up to the starting place on 
 Wimbledon Common — the edge of the Beverley Brook by the 
 bridge in a bus, and had to dress how they could, and the race 
 was run in the dark over about 2^ miles of the roughest and 
 boggiest part of the Common, then very different indeed, as to 
 its surface, from what it has now become after recent drainage. 
 Still, there were a dozen starters out of twenty entries, and the 
 affair being the first cross-country steeplechase (not being at a 
 school) that had ever taken place, attracted much attention in 
 the athletic world, which was then getting fairly sure of its 
 foundation after its five years of actual existence. 
 
 The next race was made an open event, and attracted over 
 fifty entries and twenty-four starters, the scratch man being 
 W, M. Chinnery, who did not, however, come to the post, 
 though he afterwards ran regularly with us. Considerable 
 interest was felt in this race, from the fact that two or three old 
 public schoolboys took part in it, and notably Hawtrey of 
 Eton, Rugby and Marlborough also sending representatives ; 
 but, as at most other sports, the native Cockney proved 
 equal to the occasion,' and early training did not have the 
 effect of showing any superiority in the old boys over the 
 Londoners. 
 
 The race was one of the finest ever seen, eight men being 
 together at the cross roads — 300 yards from home — King beat- 
 ing Webster by little over a yard, while Chappell, fifteen yards 
 off, was only half a yard in front of Hawtrey. The fine finish 
 was no doubt due to the men not knowing how fast they could 
 go, and so massing together ; for the winner took 12.55 for 
 2,{ miles of easy country, which will not for a moment bear 
 comparison with the times of to-day. 
 
 ' Foreigners do not seem to take to the game kindly, and Karoniare, the 
 full-blood Indian, who came over with the La Crosse team, was beaten fairly 
 and squarely by C. H. Mason, then our crack runner.
 
 CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING 257 
 
 Next winter (1S68) it was thought that, as a good many men 
 who were fond of cross-country running had been got together 
 by these steeplechases, there was no reason why they should not 
 try whether paper-chasing proper would not succeed as well 
 among men as among boys. The graphic description of the 
 Barby Hill run by Mr. T. Hughes in ' Tom Brown's Schooldays ' 
 had long been before the eyes of paper-chasers, and as he had 
 taken a kindly interest in our movement, and had come down 
 and judged T.H.S. No. 2 for us, there was an additional reason 
 why we should try ; though when the writer started the idea, 
 he never thought that the new sport would spread as it has 
 done (roughly speaking, there are now quite thirty clubs in 
 London alone), nor that we should ever have among our 
 members two old Rugbeians, who had both held the records 
 over the Crick and the Barby Hill run, although, singularly 
 enough, neither of them was able to make a record over either 
 of our courses. 
 
 Our first run took place on October 17, 1868, from the 
 King's Head, Roehampton, then, as it still is, our head- 
 quarters, and the beau ideal in many respects of a paper-chaser's 
 home, being a quaint old wooden-built inn, squatted behind 
 a great wych elm, covered with creepers, and in the middle 
 of real open country. We had secured the written leave of 
 Earl Spencer, who then owned Wimbledon Common, to run 
 over it, and still claim to be the only club who can drop paper 
 over the heath, as having the right before there were such 
 things as conservators and their bye-laws, and all existing rights 
 were saved by the Act. 
 
 x'^mong our first visitors were two well-known Cambridge 
 athletes — G. G. Kennedy, now one of the metropolitan police 
 magistrates, and the late J. G. Chambers. 
 
 We were not long before our success brought imitators, 
 but they were not very successful at first, for the country 
 they chose was not at all adapted for cross-country running, 
 the Peckham A.A.C., which was the second club, not finding 
 much open land round about Peckham Rye, and having 
 
 s
 
 258 PAPER-CHASING AND 
 
 chiefly to confine themselves to path-work. They have now, 
 by circumstances not unhke those which befell the Irishman's 
 knife, come to be known as the Blackheath Harriers, and 
 have a pretty country, a large number of members under a 
 very energetic management, and are by descent the second 
 oldest English paper-chase club. They and the South 
 London Harriers, the next best known club running south of 
 the Thames (between the two a ceaseless feud has always 
 existed), suffered much from the undisciplined zeal of early 
 secretaries, who, not having the faintest knowledge of the 
 ' language of the fields,' used to make themselves supremely 
 ridiculous in the eyes of those who had by the constant 
 use of such words as 'saplings,' while referring to young 
 harriers, and so on, being obviously ignorant of their real 
 meaning. 
 
 In the north of London the Spartan Harriers long reigned 
 supreme, but lost their ablest man both as a runner and 
 a secretary when H. M. Oliver left for Birmingham. His 
 advent there, where he was received with open arms, had 
 the result of starting, or rather greatly pushing forward, paper- 
 chasing in the Midlands. ^Vhether his administrative ability 
 operated for the general benefit of the sport is, however, an 
 open question among those who know anything of the subject, 
 the general impression being that the eagerness with which 
 men are caught up into clubs and imported into crack teams 
 has spoiled the old feeling of bonci fide competition. Still, 
 as trained teams are mostly composed of men in the same 
 social position as professional cricket and football players, 
 there is no doubt that teams such as the Moseley or Birch- 
 field Harriers are not often beaten, especially by gentlemen 
 teams who do not go away to train and who pay their own 
 expenses. 
 
 There had been matches between teams of various clubs 
 before 1S76 (the T. H. and H. had two matches with the 
 Gentlemen of Hampstead in November 1870), but it was not till 
 this year that the first real championship race was started, though
 
 CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING 259 
 
 the attempt to bring it off in the wilds of Epping Forest proved 
 a great failure, everyone losing his way separately on his own 
 account. Next year a carefully laid out course was chosen, 
 from Roehampton over the Common by Merton and Morden, 
 West Barnes and Crooked Billet home, about iif miles. The 
 T. H. and H. won the first time, scoring 35 as against the S. L. 
 H. 58, and the Spartans 94 ; but the last named club turned 
 the tables on the others the next year. P. H. Stenning of the 
 Thames, who finished actually first of all starters in 1877, 1878, 
 1879, ^i^d 1880, has run the course in 68 minutes — consider- 
 ably better than ten miles an hour all the way, up hill and 
 down dale. 
 
 In 1879 the Thames were lucky again, but in 1880 had to 
 go down before a very well trained, if rough, team of the 
 Birchfield Harriers. In 1881 (when no fewer than 105 ran) the 
 Moseley Harriers came up for the first time, and beat the holders 
 easily, and the next year exactly repeated the performance. 
 Since then the affair has degenerated into a gate-money meeting 
 held on enclosed grounds, and forms the medium of heavy 
 betting and little sport, the change having been effected chiefly 
 at the instance of the countrymen and their allies, ostensibly 
 because they wanted a ' rougher, more open country,' but really 
 because they wanted to take the management of the meeting 
 from its original promoters, who would have nothing to do with 
 gate and betting. 
 
 Some day, when the loathsomeness of the roping and betting 
 has disgusted the better class of runners, a championship, in 
 which gentlemen can take part without loss of self-respect, will 
 probably be again instituted on the old hnes. But betting 
 must be literally stamped out, and the prizes made quite 
 nominal before we can see who runs for the sport, and who for 
 the profit. Meanwhile nearly all the clubs (except the oldest) 
 belong either to the Northern, the Midland, or the Southern 
 Counties C.C. Association, which are supposed to govern 
 their members by the A. A. A. rules, but which all are either 
 unwilling or unable to stop the abuses of betting and team
 
 26o PAPER-CHASING AND 
 
 concoction, which have much injured the pastime in the eyes 
 of real sportsmen. 
 
 The system of scoring in matches is, that the order of arrival 
 of the different men is taken, and the club that scores the lowest 
 aggregate wins. This certainly ensures that the best average 
 team has the best chance, but it is possible that a club which 
 scores, say, the ist, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th men in, but whose 
 6th man does not reach home earlier than 40th, may be beaten 
 by a team Avhich has men finish 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, loth and 
 
 nth. Thus 
 
 1 6 
 
 2 7 
 
 3 S 
 
 4 9 
 
 5 TO 
 40 II 
 
 55 5^ 
 
 The only really fair way is that which was suggested six years 
 ago, viz., taking the aggregate times of the first six men of each 
 team. But perhaps this would be too much strain on the obser- 
 vant powers of the judges, who have plenty of room to muddle 
 and mistake in the plain placing of the men without attempting 
 to take each individual man's time as well. 
 
 The stock-in-trade necessary to start a paper-chase club is 
 small. A long sausage-shaped canvas bag slung over each 
 hare's right shoulder, with an open mouth under the left arm 
 where the head and tail of the bag are hooked together (the hare 
 looking as though he had a soldier's rolled greatcoat on his 
 back), holds a quantity of torn or cut paper — the latter (book- 
 binder's cuttings 6 or 8 in. long are best) shakes down to the 
 mouth of the bag as the hare runs. A small handful should be 
 dropped by one or other of the hares every twenty yards or so. 
 Whenever the country gives an opportunity, a ' false ' scent 
 should be laid, e.g. at cross roads. An artful hare will often 
 drop his ' false ' faintly only and lay his real scent strong and
 
 CROSS-COUiWTRY RUNNING 261 
 
 clear, most of the hounds rushing to the conclusion that he 
 is trying to take them in, and that it is very unlikely that he 
 would, when the scents bifurcate, give a good one on the real 
 track. One hare will often take a false straight up a ploughed 
 field over the brow of a hill, so that it is impossible for the hounds 
 to see its cessation without following it to the bitter end. Then 
 they have to retrace it carefully till one, more sharp-sighted 
 than the others, will see a tiny handful behind a tree, and the 
 real scent will be traceable, probably up a dry ditch or on the 
 further side of a hedgerow. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that unless one hare is a vastly 
 better runner than the other (in which case he takes all the 
 falses, thereby giving his slower companion welcome rests) the 
 hares lay the falses alternately, the layer, when he ceases his 
 deception, cutting across to join the real scent at the most 
 convenient angle. In very long runs, two bags of scent will 
 not suffice, and spare bags are sent on by trap or otherwise. 
 The law given varies from ten minutes to a quarter of an hour. 
 When the country is fairly enclosed even less will be enough, 
 but in an open country in which the hares can be seen afar off 
 at least ten minutes should be given, for if the hounds run the 
 hares to sight the recognised rule is that they need no longer 
 keep to the trail. When the hares have got rid of all their 
 scent they should lay their empty bags at the end of the trail 
 and make for home the best way they can, the hounds being 
 at liberty to do the same when they reach and pick up the 
 bags. Sometimes all the pack is not sent off at one time, it being 
 divided into slow and fast divisions started five or ten minutes 
 apart. There are, however, several objections to this, for the 
 slow pack has to puzzle out the falses and do all the hunting 
 for perhaps half the journey, and in the great majority of 
 cases are then caught by the fast pack, who have simply been 
 running them to sight. The real sport of slow paper-chasing 
 used to be the hunting and jumping, but it would be safe to say 
 that there is not a single pack (not even excepting the oldest 
 club) that knows how to hunt in the systematic way of nearly
 
 ;S62 PAPER-CHASING 
 
 twenty years ago. Then, as soon as ' no scent ' was called the 
 hounds spread out ten yards apart in a fanlike form and swept 
 every yard of ground till it was recovered, but now much is 
 left to chance. 
 
 Hares are very seldom caught by the hounds, and never if 
 they know the rudiments of ' false ' laying, for a hound must 
 be lucky indeed if he has not to go a mile or so more than the 
 hares in a moderately long run. 
 
 The distance run varies much, and usually consists of a ring 
 of eight to ten miles from the club-house, which is generally 
 an old-fashioned suburban inn. Some clubs go much less, and 
 there is a standing joke that no member of one well-known 
 club had ever been seen oif an equally well-known common of 
 about two miles square, till one of them was found roaming 
 about disconsolately quite lost three miles from home. The 
 longest run we remember was round Ewell and Epsom and 
 half-a-dozen other villages, about twenty-four miles. J. Scott 
 finished first in a little over three hours. 
 
 Hares and hound alike should run in the colours of their 
 club. Canvas shoes with india-rubber soles, worsted socks, 
 flannel knickerbockers, and white or dark blue watermen's 
 sweaters are the best things to wear in the winter, for if a brook 
 has to be forded or a river swum the warm v/et wool prevents 
 any chill being taken in the coldest weather, and those who 
 have tried it are aware that it is cold after sunset running over 
 two miles of heath, fagged out, in wet things. On no account, 
 however tired, should the runner walk more than a few yards 
 at a time, but go on home at a jog-trot, however slow. We 
 remember a narrow escape from very serious results when a 
 runner, far from home, sat down in a dry ditch to rest. Had 
 he not been picked up and dosed with hot drink, and rubbed 
 till his skin came off, the consequences might have been grave 
 indeed, for his hands and arms were 'dead' up to the armpits. 
 We can, however, speak from an experience now covering 
 nearly twenty years, and can positively say that we know of no 
 man of the hundreds with whom we have been acquainted who
 
 CROSS-COUNTRY RUN AUNG 263 
 
 has been injured by distance running, and the rate of mortahty 
 among running men is singularly small. 
 
 Hounds should be strongly cautioned against 'larking* 
 over unnecessary jumps or doing the least avoidable damage. 
 Farmers are mortal, and are therefore generally fond of sport, 
 and if no great damage is done and if what is done is cheerfully 
 and voluntarily paid for, will generally let a moderately sized 
 pack cross their land ; but near London monster packs of thirty 
 or forty runners become a nuisance. Like hunting the scent, 
 jumping for the sake of jumping is dying out a great deal. We 
 have no fine jumpers nowadays, like the two Burts who learnt 
 the art at Wellington and would take every gate through a long 
 run, or A. P. Smith who would jump at anything, or tricky 
 jumpers like Bentley, who used to land with both feet on the 
 top of a five-barjed gate with a clatter and a rattle, and jump 
 off the top far into the next field. 
 
 In fact, jumping does not pay in the cross-country racing 
 which has to a great extent supplanted the old paper-chasing 
 proper, for it takes too much out of a man. The new class of 
 men get over the ground wonderfully fast and can scramble and 
 'jump up anywhere,' but do not aspire to jump over obstacles. 
 Still they are so handy in a very cramped grass country with 
 plenty of difficult wood-grown banks and thick hedges, that a 
 picked team of runners would take the conceit out of most 
 riders to hounds. 
 
 When the run is over, the tub — lukewarm if it can be had 
 — is in universal request, followed, if possible, by a cold douche 
 by means of a bucketful of water from the hands of a stable- 
 helper. If the run has been extra wet or cold, a steaming 
 glass of port negus may be wisely taken as a precaution ; but 
 it is a singular thing that both before and after the meal which 
 terminates the evening, ' ginger beer and gin ' is the favourite 
 drink, having probably been found by long experience to best 
 carry off the extra heat of the body caused by a long run. While 
 on the subject, we may say that though many of our best shorts 
 distance runners were actually teetotallers, e.g. J. C. Clegg,
 
 264 PAPER-CHASING AND 
 
 J. Shearman, and others, we have only known one abstainer 
 (Coad) who was anywhere in the first flight of cross-country 
 runners. The tea, which is usually followed by a formal meet- 
 ing ^ and a 'sing-song,' used to close the evening very plea- 
 santly. Too often, nowadays, however, the card-playing which 
 has spoiled and ruined so many a young athlete is introduced 
 by a selfish few, who are not satisfied with simple sociability. 
 The round game of spelling-bee, in which the sport is to close 
 a word as soon as possible against your left-hand neighbour, 
 is, however, very popular, and may be said to have originated 
 at Roehampton. With a room full of athletes, friendly chaff 
 often leads to matches, and two or three times we remember 
 offhand races coming off late at night, one especially of sixteen 
 miles (twice round the Thames long course), which resulted 
 in the scratch man coming to the front about 300 yards only 
 from home, and both men reaching the goal smothered with 
 mud and bleeding from innumerable scratches. 
 
 Of the use of paper-chasing and, in moderation, of cross- 
 country steeplechasing and team racing, there can be no doubt. 
 To be a good runner over country, a man must be abstemious, 
 patient, ana good-tempered. A sprinter may indulge up to a 
 certain point both in smoke and drink, but woe betide the 
 ordinary long-distance runner who takes too much of one or 
 the other before a hard race. Stenning was an example to the 
 contrary, for he seldom had a pipe out of his mouth when he 
 finished first for four consecutive years, but he was an 
 exception that proved the rule, and nobody knows what he 
 might have done had he «<?/ smoked. He was also very fond of 
 all sorts of pastry, which cannot be recommended to runners as 
 a rule. That cross-countr}' work has heightened the standard of 
 long-distance running immensely is certain, for not only are all 
 times from two miles up much faster than of yore, but they have 
 all been made by men who are notoriously cross-country runners ; 
 in fact, it would be hard to find a man in the first flight who is 
 not a member of some paper-chase club or another. Of late 
 
 1 For the election of nev/ members, and other business.
 
 CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING 265 
 
 years Gibb, George, Rogers, and Goad are brilliant examples 
 of the truth of this statement. 
 
 It is probably no exaggeration to say, that a hundred men 
 could now be found in paper-chase clubs who could run ten 
 miles in the hour, and a score who could run eleven. How 
 valuable such a body of men would be in time of war for scouts 
 or messengers need hardly be explained, and even when war 
 is not imminent they have their uses. 
 
 The future of paper-chasing is doubtful. The evils of 
 importing members solely to run in match teams, of running 
 matches round enclosed courses for gate-money, and of winking 
 at, if not tolerating, regular betting by lists, have taken firm root, 
 and have injured it greatly as a sport. The mechanic, artisan, 
 or labourer, who used to be barred from competition with 
 gentlemen, is now not only allowed to run, but, if fast, is a 
 welcome member of all country, and many London, clubs, there 
 being only one which insists on all its members being gentlemen 
 by profession and education. If cricket recognises class dis- 
 tinction, why should not paper-chasing? The bricklayer or 
 carpenter who can do ' thirty under ' for a mile, and to whom 
 20/. is a mine of wealth, is too apt to accept that sum from a 
 bookmaker not to try at the ' Championship.' Roping is too 
 often overlooked, and treated more as a joke than anything 
 else. Another feature which has tended to lower the sport, is 
 the ridiculous number of prizes given in steeplechases, and the 
 ' pewters ' and medals presented to the first men in, or first 
 bicyclist in, and so on, in ordinary runs. Men ought to take 
 enough interest in the sport, for the sport's sake, to come 
 down and run without these paltry bribes. If they do not 
 care for sport only, let them stop away. The explanation of 
 all this is, that the management of many of the clubs has got 
 into the hands of men who have had no practical experience of 
 the sport, and v/ho simply run them as athletic rather than 
 cross-country clubs, for the sake of the popularity or prestige 
 which is supposed to attach to the officials of an athletic club, 
 though they may have been outsiders or duffers and be in
 
 266 PAPER-CHASING 
 
 no way in touch with the real wants and feehngs of genuine 
 athletes. The snobbery, too, of touting for the use of the names 
 of local celebrities, M.P's. and so on (who neither know any- 
 thing of, nor care anything for, the sport), as presidents, vice- 
 presidents, and so on, and the degradation of accepting challenge 
 cups from the publicans at whose houses the clubs meet, have 
 greatly tended to bring the sport into disrepute.
 
 FOOTBALL
 
 «S# '&1 
 
 v^<-^ 
 
 
 'GoIIared.' 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 The game of football is undoubtedly the oldest of all the 
 English national sports. For at least six centuries the people 
 have loved the rush and struggle of the rude and manly game, 
 and kings with their edicts, divines with their sermons, scholars 
 with their cultured scorn, and wits with their ridicule have 
 failed to keep the people away from the pastime they enjoyed. 
 Cricket may at times have excited greater interest amongst the 
 leisured classes ; boat-races may have drawn larger crowds of 
 spectators from distant places ; but football, which flourished 
 for centuries before the arts of boatmg or cricketing were ^ 
 known, may fairly claim to be not only the oldest and the most ^ 
 characteristic, but the most essentially popular sport of England. 
 Football has now developed into a variety of highly
 
 2/0 FOOTBALL 
 
 organised games, and the difficulty of finding its actual origin 
 is as great as that of discovering the commencement of athletic 
 contests. If men have run races ever since the creation, it may 
 almost be said that they have played at ball since the same date. 
 Of all the games of ball in which Englishmen are naturally so 
 proficient the original requisites were simply a ball and a club ; 
 from the simple use of the ball alone came the ' caitch,' fives 
 or hand-ball and football, and when to these requisites a club 
 is added we find all the elements for tennis, cricket, hockey, 
 golf, croquet, and the like. As balls and clubs are provided 
 with the slightest exercise of skill and trouble from the resources 
 of nature, we may be certain upon abstract reasoning that ball- 
 play became popular as soon as the aboriginal man had time 
 and leisure to amuse himself. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that the Greeks and Romans 
 both played at ball ; even as early as the days of the Odyssey 
 we find Nausicaa and her maidens ' playing at the caitch,' as 
 King James I. would have termed it. What is perhaps of more 
 importance is that the Greeks had a game in which the kind of 
 ball known as the dpiraa-Tov was employed, and this game bore a 
 rough resemblance to football in England. The players of one 
 side had to carry the ball over a line defended by the other, 
 by any means in their power. The dpTraa-Tov was, as its name 
 betokens, a small ball. The Romans, however, had another 
 pastime with a large inflated ball, the fo//is; with which, as many 
 of our readers will recollect. Martial the epigrammatist advises 
 
 all to play. 
 
 Folle decet pueros ludere, folle senes. 
 
 The /o//is, however, was undoubtedly a handball, and the 
 game was probably the same as the 'balown ball' of the 
 middle ages, which consisted in simply striking into the air and 
 * keeping up ' a large windy ball, a sport which is still to be 
 seen exhibited with great skill in Paris. All this, however, 
 has little concern with football, except that it is pretty clear 
 that the ' follis ' or ' baloon ball ' was the same that is used 
 in the game of football, and it is a matter of some importance
 
 HISTORY 271 
 
 to discover whether football is merely a game brought by Roman 
 civilisation into Britain, 'or a native product. It is hardly to be 
 believed that it should never have occurred to a man playing 
 with the ' follis,' to kick it with his foot when his arms were 
 tired, but be that as it may, we know of no mention of a game 
 played by the Romans where the feet were used to kick the ball, 
 and of the game known from the middle ages to the present time 
 as football no trace can be found in any country but our own. 
 
 Before we come to a definite record relating to football, it 
 may perhaps be worth while to point out that the legends 
 connected with football at some of its chief centres point to its 
 immense antiquity. At Chester, where hundreds of years ago 
 the people played on the Roodee on Shrove Tuesday, the 
 contemporary chroniclers state that the first ball used was 
 the head of a Dane who had been captured and slain and 
 whose head was kicked about for sport. At Derby, where 
 (also on Shrove Tuesday) the celebrated match of which we 
 shall have to speak later on was played for centuries, there 
 was a legend (as stated in Glover's ' History of Derby ') that the 
 game was a memorial of a victory over the Romans in the third 
 century. The free quarrymen of the Isle of Purbeck com- 
 memorate the original grant of their rights at a time beyond 
 that within legal memory by kicking a football over the ground 
 they claim. These and other signs, apart from any written 
 record, would be sufificient to show the antiquity of the sport. 
 
 FitzStephen, who wTote in the twelfth century, and to 
 whom we have referred in the former part of this work, 
 makes an allusion to a game which there is very little 
 doubt must be football. He says that the boys 'annually 
 upon Shrove Tuesday go into the fields and play at the well- 
 known game of ball ' {ludiim pil<z celebrem). The words are of 
 course vague, but they undoubtedly refer to one special game 
 and not to general playing with balls, and no other game of 
 ball is ever known to have been specially connected with 
 Shrove Tuesday, which there is abundant material to show was 
 afterwards the great ' football day ' in England for centuries.
 
 272 FOOTBALL 
 
 There is also ample proof of the fondness of the London boys 
 and 'prentices for football in succeeding centuries, which 
 makes the inference irresistible that by ' ludum piles celebrem,^ 
 the writer refers to football. It is also noticeable that Fitz- 
 Stephen probably refrains from describing the game because 
 it was too well known throughout the country to require a 
 description. 
 
 By the reign of Edward II. we find not only that football 
 was popular in London, but that so many people joined in the 
 game when it was being played in the streets that peaceable 
 merchants had to request the king to put down its practice. 
 Accordingly, in 13 14, Edward IL, on April 13, issued a pro- 
 clamation forbidding the game as leading to a breach of the 
 peace : ' Forasmuch as there is great noise in the city caused 
 by hustling over large balls (ra^^/'/^i'^^o-r(?j-jr^j-/i?/i?/^j') . . . from 
 which many evils might arise which God forbid : we command 
 and forbid on behalf of the king, on pain of imprisonment, such 
 game to be used in the city in future.' We believe the expres- 
 sion ' rageries de grosses pelotes ' has puzzled many antiquarians, 
 possibly because they were not football players, but a foot- 
 baller can hardly help surmising that ' rageries' means 'scrum- 
 mages,' and ' grosses pelotes ' footballs. As football acquired 
 royal animadversion as early as 13 14, it would seem that the 
 early footballers played no less vigorously, if with less courtesy,, 
 than the players of the present day. 
 
 There can be no doubt that from the earliest days football 
 was an obstreperous and disreputable member of the family 
 of British Sports, and indeed almost an 'habitual criminal' 
 in its character, a fact to which we owe most of the earliest 
 references to the game, as many of these records refer to little 
 else but crimes and grievances. In 1349 football is men- 
 tioned by its present name in a statute of Edward III., who 
 objected to the game not so much for itself, but as tending 
 to discourage the practice of shooting, upon which the military 
 strength of England largely depended. The King writing in 
 that year to the Sheriffs of London, says that 'the skill at
 
 HISTORY 273 
 
 shooting with arrows was ahnost totally laid aside for the 
 purpose of various useless and unlawful games,' and the 
 Sheriffs are thereupon commanded to suppress 'such idle 
 practices.' The injunction can hardly have been of much avail, 
 however, for forty years afterwards Richard II. passed a similar 
 statute (12 Rich. II. c. 6. a.d. 1389) forbidding throughout the 
 kingdom ' all playing at tennise, football, and other games called 
 corts, dice, casting of the stone, kailes, and other such importune 
 games.' The same statute had to be re-enacted by Henry IV. 
 in 1 40 1, so that it is tolerably obvious that, like some other 
 statutes still in force and relating to sporting matters, it was more 
 honoured in the breach than in the observance. Football was 
 evidently too strong for the House of Lancaster, and all attempts 
 to coerce the merry Englishman into giving it up were hopeless 
 failures. Similar measures in Scotland in the next century 
 altogether failed to persuade the Scottish sportsmen to give up 
 football and golf In 1457 James III. decreed that four times 
 every year reviews and displays of weapons were to be held, 
 and ' footballe and golfe be utterly cryed down and not to be 
 used ;' but as in 1491 his successor had again to prohibit golf 
 and football by a fresh statute providing that ' in na place of this 
 realme ther be used futeball, golfe, or other sik unprofitable 
 sportes,' it appears that in Scotland as well as in England 
 football was strong enough to defy the law. In the sixteenth 
 century the House of Tudor again tried to do what the House 
 of Lancaster had failed in doing, and Henry VIII. not only re- 
 enacted the old statute against cards, dice, and other ' importune 
 games,' but rendered it a penal offence by statute for anybody 
 to keep a house or ground devoted to these sporting purposes. 
 The English people, however, both in town and country would 
 have their football, and throughout the sixteenth century foot- 
 ball was as popular a pastime amongst the lower orders as it 
 has ever been before or since. The game was fiercely attacked, 
 as some of the succeeding extracts will show, and the same 
 extracts will suggest that the nature of the game played at that 
 period rendered the attacks not altogether unreasonable. In 
 
 T
 
 274 FOOTBALL 
 
 1508, Barclay in his fifth eclogue affords evidence that football 
 was as popular in the country as in the town. Says Barclay 
 
 The sturdie plowman, lustie, strong, and bold, 
 Overcometh the winter with driving the foote-ball, 
 Forgetting labour and many a grievous fall. 
 
 Not long after this. Sir Thomas Elyot in his ' Boke, called 
 the Governour,' inveighs against football, as being unfit for 
 gentlemen owing to the violence with which it was played. Sir 
 Thomas, however, had a courtly hatred of anything energetic : 
 he prefers archery to tennis ; ' boulynge,' ' claishe ' and ' pinnes * 
 (skittles), and ' koyting ' he calls ' furious,' and the following 
 remarks therefore about skittles, quoits and football, are only 
 such as one would expect. ' Verilie,' he says, ' as for two the 
 laste ' (i.e. ' pinnes ' and ' koyting ') ' be to be utterly abjected of 
 all noble men in like wise foote-balle wherein is nothing but 
 beastlie furie and exstreme violence whereof procedeth hurte, and 
 consequently rancour and malice do remain with them that be 
 wounded, wherfore it is to be put in perpetual silence.' Doubt- 
 less ' hurte procedeth ' from football upon occasions, but if there 
 had been ' nothing in ' football but beastly fury, it would hardly 
 have held its own so bravely to the present time. Sir Thomas 
 Elyot had some foundation for his strictures, as the coroner's 
 records of the day show ; but before we proceed to give these, 
 we should describe in some sort the nature of the game as it was 
 played in the sixteenth century. There is no trace in ancient 
 times of anything like the modern ' Association game,' where the 
 players only kick the ball and may not strike it with their hands, 
 throw it or run with it. Probably the name ' football ' was first 
 used to describe the ball itself, and meant a ball which was big 
 enough to be kicked and could be kicked with the foot. The 
 game of football was the game played with this kind of ball, and 
 it was simple to an extreme degree. The goals were two bushes, 
 posts, houses, or any objects fixed upon at any distance apart from 
 a few score yards to a few miles. The ball was placed mid-way 
 between the two goals at starting, the players (of any number)
 
 HISTORY 
 
 275 
 
 divided into two sides, and it was the business of either side to 
 get the ball by force or strategy up to or through the goal of the 
 opposite side. When confined to a street, or field of play, it is 
 obvious that the sport was the original form of what is now known 
 as the Rugby Union game. At the times before any settled rules 
 of play were known, and before football had been civilised, the 
 game must of necessity have been a very rough one, and an un- 
 friendly critic may well have thought that the ball had very little 
 to do with the game, just as the proverbial Frenchman is unable 
 to see what the fox has to do with fox-hunting. Undoubtedly 
 the game of football was until quite recent times a vulgar and 
 unfashionable sport, as indeed were cricket, boat-racing, and 
 most other athletic pastimes. For many centuries in England 
 any pedestrian sport which was not immediately connected 
 with knightly skill was considered unworthy of a gentleman of 
 equestrian rank, and this will account in a great measure for 
 the adverse criticisms of football which proceed from writers of 
 aristocratic position. 
 
 That Elizabethan football was dangerous to life, limb, and 
 property, is made plain by many records. The Middlesex 
 County Records contain several entries which are of interest 
 to the historian of football, and show how rough was the game. 
 In the eighteenth year of the reign of good Queen Bess, the 
 grand jury of the county found a true bill 
 
 That on the said Day at Ruyslippe, Co. Midd., Arthur 
 Reynolds, husbandman [with five others], all of Ruyslippe afsd, 
 Thomas Darcye, of Woxbridge, yeoman [with seven others, four 
 of whom were ' husbandmen,' one a ' taylor,' one a ' harnis-maker,' 
 one a ' yoman '], all seven of Woxbridge afsd, with unknown 
 malefactors to the number of one hundred assembled themselves 
 unlawfully and playd a certain unlawful game called foote-ball, by 
 means of which unlawful game there was amongst them a great 
 affray likely to result in homicides and serious accidents. 
 
 In the 23rd year of Elizabeth, on ]\Iarch 5th, football seems 
 to have led to som.ething more serious than a breach of the 
 peace.
 
 276 FOOTBALL 
 
 Coroner's inquisition — post-mortem taken at Sowthemyms, 
 Co. Midd., in view of tlie body of Roger Ludforde, yoman there 
 lying dead with verdict of jurors that Nicholas Martyn and 
 Richard Turvey, both late of Southemyms, yomen, were on the 
 3rd instant between 3 and 4 P.M. playing with other persons at 
 foote-ball in the field called Evanses field at Southmyms, when the 
 said Roger Ludford and a certain Simon Maltus, of the sd parish, 
 yomen, came to the ground, and that Roger Ludford cried out, ' Cast 
 hym over the hedge,' indicating that he meant Nicholas Martyn, who 
 replied, ' Come thou and do yt.' That thereupon Roger Ludforde ran 
 towards the ball with the intention to kick it, whereupon Nicholas 
 Martyn with the fore-part of his right arm and Richard Turvey 
 with the fore-part of his left arm struck Roger Ludforde on the 
 fore-part of the body under the breast, giving him a mortal blow 
 and concussion of which he died within a quarter of an hour, and 
 that Nicholas and Richard in this manner feloniously slew the said 
 Roger. 
 
 Some years later, the Manchester Lete Roll contains a re- 
 solution, dated October 12, 1608 : — 
 
 That whereas there hath been heretofore great disorder in our 
 towne of Manchester, and the inhabitants thereof greatly wronged 
 and charged with makinge and amendinge of their glasse windows 
 broken yearelye and spoyled by a companye of lewd and disordered 
 psons vsing that unlawfull exercise of playinge with the ffote-ball 
 in ye streets of ye sd toune breakinge many men's windowes and 
 glasse at their plesures and other great enormyties. Therefore, 
 wee of this jurye doe order that no manner of psons hereafter shall 
 play or use the footeball in any street within the said toune of 
 INIanchester, subpoend to evye one that shall so use the same for 
 evye time \\\d. 
 
 These extracts not only show that the number of players 
 was unUmited, but that the game was played in the street and 
 over hedges in the country, although it was still unlawful by 
 statute. It is hardly to be wondered at that the citizens of 
 great towns objected to promiscuous scrimmaging in the streets 
 in front of their windows. The records of the Corporation of 
 the City of London contain two entries in the time of Elizabeth, 
 (November 27, 1572, and November 7, 15S1), of a proclamation 
 having been made that ' no foteballe play be used or suffered
 
 HISTORY 277 
 
 within the City of London and the hberties thereof upon pain 
 of imprisonment.' In spite of this, however, we still hear in 
 later times of football in the streets. 
 
 The great week of sports and pageants at Kenihvorth, in 
 1575, produced no football-playing, for Elizabeth and her court 
 seem to have cared little for the athletic sports of the people ; 
 but there is a casual reference to football in the description of 
 the Kenilworth revels in Robert Laneham's letter. One of the 
 characters who appeared in the ' country brideale,' and ' running 
 at the quintain,' and who took the part of the bridegroom, is 
 described by Laneham as being ' lame of a legge that in his 
 youth was broken at footballe.' 
 
 It was only to be expected that the grave and demure Puri- 
 tans, who objected to all sports not only for themselves, but 
 because they were played on Sundays, should have a particular 
 and violent objection to football, for football even when played 
 on a week-day does not seem to be wholly compatible with a 
 meek and chastened spirit. The strictures passed by Stubbes, 
 the earnest author of the ' Anatomic of Abuses in the Realme of 
 England,' show pretty clearly the Puritan attitude towards foot- 
 ball. Amongst other reasons for concluding that the end of 
 the world was at hand in 15 S3, he gives the convincing reason 
 that ' football playing and other develishe pastimes ' were 
 practised on the Sabbath day. As we have seen before, he 
 speaks of 'cards, dice, tennise, and bowles, and such like 
 fooleries.' Football, however, he must have thought some- 
 thing worse than mere foolery, since he calls it ' develishe.' He 
 goes on : — 
 
 Lord, remove these exercises from the Sabaoth [by which he 
 meant Sunday]. Any exercise (he says) which withdraweth from 
 godliness, either upon the Sabaoth or any other day, is wicked and 
 to be forbiden. Now who is so grosly blinde 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 football playing I protest unto you that it may rather 
 be called a. friendlie kinde of fygJite than a play or recreation — a 
 bloody and muithering practice than a felowly sport or pastime.
 
 278 FOOTBALL 
 
 [' Fiiendlie kinde of fyghte ' is good ; in fact ' develishe ' good.] For 
 dooth not everyone lye in waight for his adversarie, seeking to over- 
 throw him and picke him on his nose, though it be on hard stones, 
 on ditch or dale, on valley or hill, or whatever place soever it be he 
 careth not, so he have him downe ; and he that can serve the most 
 of this fashion he is counted the only felow, and who but he ? 
 
 Thus we see that football was played not only in streets and 
 roads, but across country, and that ' tackling ' was not only allow- 
 able, but that it was an essential feature of the game. In fact 
 from Stubbes' remarks we think it clear that he had frequently 
 played football himself : his remarks therefore are valuable as 
 coming from a ' converted footballer.' He goes on : — 
 
 So that by this means sometimes their necks are broken, some- 
 times their backs, sometimes their legs, sometimes their armes, 
 sometimes their noses gush out with blood, sometimes their eyes 
 start out, and sometimes hurte in one place, sometimes in another. 
 But whosoever scapeth away the best goeth not scot free, but is 
 either forewounded, craised, or bruised, so as he dyeth of it or 
 else scapeth very hardlie ; and no mervaile, for they have the 
 sleights to meet one betwixt two (this reminds one of poor Roger 
 Ludforde), to dash him against the hart with their elbowes, to butt 
 him under the short ribs with their griped fists, and with their knees 
 to catch him on the hip and pick him on his neck, with a hundred 
 such murthering devices. (The writer here shows that he knew 
 all about ' tackling,' and that there were many well-known dodges.) 
 And hereof (he concludes) groweth envy, rancour, and malice, and 
 sometimes brawling, murther, homicide, and great effusion of blood, 
 as experience daily teacheth. Is this murthering play now an 
 exercise for the Sabaoth day? 
 
 One other hostile criticism of football in that age should be 
 mentioned. King James I., in his ' Basilikon Doron, or Manual 
 of Precepts for his Son and Successor,' praises, as we have seen, 
 some other sports as good for the body, but makes a reservation 
 of football. ' From this count,' he says, ' I debar all rough and 
 violent exercise as the football meeter for laming than for 
 making able the users thereof.' King James, however, copied 
 so much of his sentiments from Sir Thomas Elyot that perhaps 
 his views on football were simply borrowed and not original.
 
 HISTORY 279 
 
 Football, however, survived criticism as it had before survived 
 repressive legislation. Throughout the whole of the sixteenth 
 century, and that part of the seventeenth century before Puri- 
 tanism gained the upper hand, it remained one of the favourite 
 sports of the people. We have already seen in the earlier part 
 of this book how in 1540 the annual football match played on 
 Shrove Tuesday at Chester was discontinued and a foot race 
 substituted. The extract, however, from the Harleian MSS. 
 which gives the information is valuable as showing the extreme 
 antiquity of the game. For the chronicler says that ' it hath 
 been the custom time out of mi?id for the shoemakers ' to deliver 
 to the drapers one ball of leather called a football to play at 
 from thence to the Common Hall of the said city. No doubt 
 the football match on Shrove Tuesday was discontinued for a 
 time, but the game continued to flourish upon other occasions. 
 
 About A.D. 1600, football was still in full vigour. Amongst 
 the country sports mentioned by Randel Holme in the lines 
 which we have also quoted before, the Lancashire men challenge 
 anybody to 
 
 Tiy it out at football by the shinnes. 
 
 Some of their talented successors in the county who have 
 figured at the Oval upon the occasion of the ' Football Jubilee 
 Festival ' and elsewhere, are still capable, it appears, of uphold- 
 ing the boast of their bard ; but times are changed, and as their 
 association players wear ' shinguards,' the game is no longer 
 tried out by the shins alone. Other and better bards than 
 Randel Holme have spoken of football. Shakspeare in his 
 ' Comedy of Errors,' Act ii., has : — 
 
 Am I so round with you as you with me 
 
 That like a football you do spurn me thus ? 
 
 You spurn me hence and he will spurn me hither ; 
 
 If I last in this service you must case me m leather. 
 
 Another extract too from ' King Lear ' (Act i. Scene 4) shows 
 that ' tripping ' and ' hacking over ' were then regular parts of 
 the game. 
 
 y
 
 2So FOOTBALL 
 
 Lear. Do you bandy looks with me, you rascal? 
 
 ' Bandy ' was originally another name for hockey, and to 
 ' bandy ' a ball meant to strike it backwards and forwards, 
 which may account for the context. 
 
 Steward. I'll not be strucken, my lord. 
 
 Ke/iL Nor tripped neither, you base football player 
 
 {irtppiHg tcp his heels). 
 Lear. I thank thee, fellow. 
 
 Lear's faithful courtier then is made by Shakspeare to under- 
 stand the art of ' tripping,' which seems significant. 
 
 Burton, in his ' Anatomy of Melancholy,' the greater part 
 of which was written early in the seventeenth century, mentions 
 footballs and ' balouns ' (i.e. handballs of the size of footballs to 
 be kept up in the air like shuttle-cocks) amongst the common 
 recreations of the country folk ; but there is ample evidence 
 that both footballs and baloons were used in the towns as well. 
 In the lines we have referred to before of Neogorgus who was 
 ' Englyshed by Barnabe Googe,' we hear of the universal practice 
 of people to indulge in sports after dinner on Sunday, and 
 amongst the other games of sport we hear that some go 
 
 To toss the light and windy ball aloft with hand and foote. 
 
 Indeed the game of baloon long enjoyed popularity, and 
 Waller speaks of it with enthusiasm as a winter sport : — 
 
 And now in winter when men kill the fat swine C^ 
 
 They get the bladder and blow it great, and then 
 With many beans and peasen put therein 
 Itrattleth, soundeth, and shineth clere and fayre. 
 While it is thrown and caste up in the ayre 
 Each one contendeth and hath a great delite 
 With foot and with hand the bladder for to smite. 
 If it fall to ground they lift it up again, 
 And this way to labour they count it no payne. 
 
 However, this ' baloon play ' is hardly football, although it 
 is just possible that it may have suggested if it did not originate 
 the Association game, where no collaring or catching hold of the
 
 HISTORY 281 
 
 antagonist is allowed. To return however to football. In the 
 earlier part of the seventeenth century it is clear that it was not 
 only a country game as Burton describes it, but was played in 
 town also, and even in the streets. Besides the London and 
 Manchester records which we have already quoted, there is a 
 description of London in 1634, by Sir W. Davenant, quoted by 
 Hone in his ' Table Book ' : — - 
 
 I would now (says the writer) make a safe retreat, but that 
 methinks I am stopped by one of your heroic games called foot- 
 ball ; which I conceive (under your favour) not veiy conveniently 
 civil in the streets, especially in such irregular and narrow roads as 
 Crooked Lane. Yet it argues your courage, much like your mili- 
 tary pastime of throwing at cocks, since you have long allowed 
 these two valiant exercises in the streets. 
 
 This seems to give an absolute proof that the statutory 
 repression of football never was enforced at all, or even recog- 
 nised except in cases where death or at least a riot resulted 
 from the game. In fact, about a.d. 1600 the game must have 
 been played from one end of the kingdom to the other. One 
 of the most sensible and kindly critics of the game is Carew, 
 who mentions it in his ' Survey of Cornwall,' published in 1602, 
 as being popular throughout the West country. We should 
 say that Carew describes the game as 'hurling.' The name 
 ' hurling ' was afterwards generally appropriated to a game more 
 resembling hockey than football, at which a small ball was 
 knocked through the goals with hurlets or hurling-sticks ; but 
 the game of hurling, as described by Carew and others under 
 different names, is simply football with much running and little 
 or no kicking. Carew discusses two games, called ' hurling to 
 goales,' and 'hurling over country.' 
 
 For hurling to goales there are fifteen, twenty or thirty players, 
 more or less, chosen out on each side, who strip themselves to their 
 slightest apparel and then join hands in ranks one against another : 
 out of these ranks they match themselves by payres, one embracing 
 another and so passe away, every of which couple are especially 
 to watch one another during the play. After this they pitch two
 
 282 FOOTBALL 
 
 bushes in the ground some eight or ten feet asunder, and directly 
 against them ten or twelve score paces off other twain in like 
 distance which they term goales, where some indifferent person 
 throweth up a ball the which whomsoever can catch and carry 
 through the adversaries' goals hath won the game. 
 
 The remainder of the description, which is too long to give 
 in full, says that no one was allowed to ' but or handfast under 
 the girdle' (i.e. to charge or collar below the waist) or to 'deal 
 a foreballe' (i.e. to 'pass forward'). From this it is evident 
 that even at this period there were definite rules and tactics 
 of the game. There must also have been care and skill in 
 choosing sides, since before the game began the opponents 
 were selected in pairs, and each player had one of the other 
 side ' marking ' him. Besides, however, this orderly and care- 
 fully managed game, there was also the other (and no doubt 
 the original) game, the ' hurling over country.' The description 
 shows this to have been something like a 'cross-country big- 
 side.' Says Carew, ' Two, three or more parishes agree to hurl 
 against two or three other parishes.' The goals were trees or 
 buildings which could be seen, or were known as landmarks, 
 three or four miles apart, and in Carew's words : — 
 
 That company which can catch or carry the ball by force or 
 slight to the place assigned gaineth the victory. Such as see where 
 the ball is played give notice by crying 'Ware east,' 'Ware west,'] 
 as the same is carried. The hurlers take their way over hilles, dales, 
 hedges, ditches, yea and thorow briars, mires, plashes and rivers 
 whatsoever, so as you shall sometimes see twenty or thirty lie tug- 
 ging together in the water scrambling and scratching for the ball., 
 
 It is a relief to find in this writer some kindly criticism 
 which shows that he was manly enough to see the good points 
 of the rough game. 
 
 The play (he saj's) is vcrilie both rude and rough, yet such 
 as is not destitute of policies in some sort resembling the feats of 
 war ; for you shall have companies laid out before on the one side 
 to encounter them that come with the ball, and of the other party 
 to succour them in the manner of a fore-ward. The ball in this
 
 HISTORY 283 
 
 play may be compared to an infernal spirit, for whosoever catchetb 
 it fareth straightways like a madman struggling and fighting with 
 those that go about to hold him ; no sooner is the ball gone from 
 him than he resigneth this fury to the next receiver and himself 
 becometh peaceable as before. . . I cannot well resolve whether 
 I should the more commend this game for its manhood and exer- 
 cise or condemn it for the boisterousness and harm which it be- 
 getteth ; for as on the one side it makes their bodies strong, hard 
 and nimble, and puts a courage into their hearts to rneet an enemy 
 in the face, so on the other part it is accompanied by many dangers 
 some of which do even fall to the players' share, for the proof 
 whereof when the hurling is ended you shall see them retiring home 
 as from a pitched battle with bloody pates, bones broken and out 
 of joint, and such bruises as serve to shorten their days, j'l?/ all is 
 good play and never attorney or coroner troubled for the matter. 
 
 Staunch Cornishman I Thy opinions are better than those 
 of forty Stubbeses. The game of hurling, however, was by no 
 means confined to the West country. The same, or a similar 
 game, was known throughout the Eastern counties as ' camping,' 
 or ' camp-ball.' An old book of Norfolk antiquities quotes a 
 fifteenth-centur)' couplet : — 
 
 Get campers a ball 
 
 To camp there with-all ; 
 
 and there are frequent references in documents of this century 
 to ' camping closes ' and * camping fields.' In CuUum's ' His- 
 tory of Hawstead' there is also a reference, under the date 
 1466, to the ' camping-fighte,' which serves to justify Stubbes' 
 description of the game as a 'friendlie fyghte.' It is not, 
 however, until 1673 that any actual description of the game is 
 given. A more modern writer, however — Moor, writing in 
 1823 — gives a long description of the game, which evidently 
 had not changed its character for centuries : — 
 
 Each party has two goals, ten or fifteen yards apart. The 
 parties, ten or fifteen on a side, stand in line, facing each other at 
 about ten yards distance midway between their goals and that of 
 their adversaries. An indifferent spectator (' indifferent ' is the 
 very word used by Carew also) throws up a ball ih& size of a cricket
 
 2S4 FOOTBALL 
 
 (^^i// midway between the confronted players and makes his escape. 
 The rush is to catch the falling ball (no doubt the ' indifferent ' 
 person under the circumstances is no longer indifferent to 'making 
 his escape '). He who first can catch or seize it speeds home, making 
 his way through his opponents and aided by his own sidesmen. If 
 caught and held or rather in danger of being held, for if caught 
 with the ball in possession he loses a snotch, he throws the ball 
 (he must in no case give it) to some less beleaguered friend more 
 free and more in breath than himself, who if it be not arrested in 
 its course or he jostled away by the eager and watchful adversaries, 
 catches it ; and he in like manner hastens homeward, in like man- 
 ner pursued, annoyed and aided, winning the notch or snotch if he 
 contrive to carry or throw it within the goals. At a loss and gain 
 of a snotch a recommencement takes place. When the game is 
 decided by snotches seven or nine are the game, and these if the 
 parties be well matched take two or three hours to win. Sometimes 
 a large football was used ; the game was then called ' kicking 
 camp ' ; and if played with the shoes on ' savage camp.' 
 
 These extracts show that in the original game of Rugby 
 football, the football itself was hardly essential to the game. 
 The original game from which both Rugby and Association 
 football have been developed, as well as hockey and lacrosse, 
 \ was simply the getting of a ball to or through a goal in spite 
 of the efforts of the opposite side to prevent it. When a small 
 and hard ball was used kicking was naturally but little good, 
 and either carrying, tossing, or striking it with a stick, was 
 found more useful ; and hence we observe that this variety of 
 games arises from the same source, which was the same as the 
 Roman game with the harpashtin. This consideration also 
 serves, in some measure, to answer the charge which used so 
 frequently to be made against Rugby football in the days of big- 
 sides, that it was not football at all, as there was so little kicking. 
 The game was an old one handed down for centuries, and there 
 is no trace in the original form of it to suggest that nothing 
 but kicking was allowed. The game in which kicking and 
 nothing but kicking was allowed was a subsequent development 
 about which we shall speak later, and, doubtless, the name of 
 * football ' is more suitable to that iiame than to the other.
 
 HISTORY 2Sj 
 
 The foregoing descriptions of hurling ' and ' camp-ball ' also 
 explain the meaning of the extract so frequently quoted from 
 the ' Statistical Account of Scotland ' ; it is given by Hone, 
 and was always considered mysterious by footballers. This 
 is the well-known account of the game of football at Scone, 
 in Perthshire, where 7io person was allowed to kick the ball. 
 The game was the same as that known as ' hurling ' in Corn- 
 wall, as ' camp-ball ' in the eastern counties, and football 
 elsewhere. The ball was 'thrown up' at the market cross 
 at Scone, and ' he who at any time got the ball into his hands 
 ran with it till overtaken by one of the opposite party, and then 
 if he could shake himself loose from those of the opposite 
 party who seized him, he ran on : if not he threw the ball 
 from him, unless it was waested from him by the other party, 
 but no person was allowed to kick it.' The game was an / 
 annual one between the bachelors and the married men, and ^ 
 the object of the married men was to hang it, that is to put it 
 three times into a small hole in the moor which was the ' dool ' 
 or limit on the one hand ; that of the bachelors was to drown 
 it, or dip it three times in a deep place in the river, the limit 
 on the other; the party who could effect either of these objects 
 vron the game ; if neither won the ball was cut into equal parts 
 at sunset. In the course of the day there was usually some 
 violence between the parties ; but it is a proverb in this part of 
 the country that, 'All is fair in the ball at Scone.' The origin 
 of the Scone game, like the origin of the annual game at Chester, 
 Derby, Kingston, Corfe Castle, and elsewhere, is shrouded in 
 obscurity, and is attributed to a victory gained by a parishioner 
 of Scone over a foreigner in ancient times. What is curious 
 about the Scone game is that every man in the parish was com- 
 pelled to turn out and play, so that the ' compulsory football ' 
 of some schools seems to be only a modern revival. The same 
 lx)ok also gives an account of another Shrove Tuesday match 
 between the spinsters and married women of Inverness, in 
 which the married women always won. This seems curious 
 unless, as Addison says of the athletic maidens who performed
 
 286 FOOTBALL 
 
 in his time at country fairs, the women won their husbands on 
 the football field; this might account for their always beating 
 the spinsters, as the married women would be those who had 
 earned their partners by success in games of football, and every 
 year their ranks would be recruited by the best spinster players. 
 However, to return to our history. There is no doubt that 
 hurling, football, and camp-ball were in their origin the same. 
 The name hurling was eventually adopted for a kind of hockey 
 played with sticks, called hurlets. Camp-ball has perished in 
 name, just as stool-ball is dead or dying,- to be recalled, however, 
 by the stumps of cricket which originally represented the legs of 
 the stool at which the ball was thrown : and pall-mall is also 
 gone, leaving as its legacy the green cloth of the billiard table 
 which represents the smooth green on which pall-mall was 
 played. Now that the original game of ' hurling,' ' camp-ball,' or 
 ' football ' has produced three such excellent and entirely dis- 
 tinct games as hockey, Rugby Union football, and Association 
 football, it is only natural that it should itself pass away; but as 
 a matter of fact, it still survives in one or two out-of-the-way 
 corners of England, as we shall point out afterwards. 
 
 To return to the history of football. As far as can be 
 gathered from extracts, taken in their chronological order, it 
 appears certain that the triumph of Puritanism considerably re- 
 duced the popularity of football. The political ascendency of 
 this ascetic creed was short, but the hold that it took upon 
 the manners and feelings of the nation not only put a stop in a 
 great measure to Sunday football, but rendered the game less 
 acceptable upon other days. We have seen that up to the age 
 of the Puritans football was a national sport. From the time of 
 the Restoration and onward for 200 years or thereabouts, until 
 the athletic revival came in, there was a slow but steady decrease 
 in the popularity of the game as a sport for men, although there 
 is also no doubt that during the period football became a 
 regular and customary school sport. Still, from the slight 
 number of references made to football by eighteenth-century 
 writers, it would appear evident that in that century the game
 
 HISTORY 287 
 
 was no longer of national popularity. In London, iiowever, in 
 the reign of Charles II., football still appears to have gone on 
 merrily, and this was only to be expected, for Charles was, as we 
 have seen, a great patron of athletic sport ; indeed, there is 
 a precedent for the royal patronage of football which was seen 
 when the Prince of Wales visited Kennington Oval, in March, 
 1886. One hundred and ninety- five years before this date 
 Charles II. attended a match which was played between his 
 own servants and those of the Duke of Albemarle. Some 
 years before this too (1665) Pepys tells us that on January 2, 
 there being a great frost, the streets were full of footballs. 
 Modern footballers give up their games in frosty weather for 
 fear of accidents upon the hard ground, but the 'prentice lads 
 who played in the streets were probably doing little more than 
 ' punt-about ' to keep themselves warm. Even the 'prentices 
 of the period, however, were occupying their leisure hours with 
 more serious pursuits than football, for as a scornful contem- 
 porary writes : — 
 
 They're mounted high ; contemn the humble play 
 Of trap or football on a holiday 
 In Fines-bury fieldes. No ; 'tis their brave intent 
 Wisely to advise the King and Parliament. 
 
 The Tappertits of this day, however, had not all of them souls 
 too big for football, for the oft-quoted M. Misson, who pub- 
 lished, in Paris in 1698, his ' Memoires et Observations faites 
 par un Voyageur,' apparently saw many games of football 
 during his visit to England. His description shows plainly 
 that the ' street football ' which he saw cannot have been 
 the original * friendly-fight ' game, but must either have been 
 something in the nature of a dribbling game, or, what is more 
 likely, simply boys or men kicking the ball about for amuse- 
 ment. He says : — 
 
 En hiver le Footbal est un exercice utile et charmant. C'est 
 un balon de cuir, gros comme la tete et rempli de vent ; cela se 
 balotte avec le pied dans les rues par celui qui le peut attraper: il 
 n y a point d'autre science.
 
 288 FOOTBALL 
 
 The passage is interesting, although it is evident that M. 
 Misson cannot be describing the same game which evoked the 
 wrath of Stubbes and the disparagement of James I., for 
 surely no Frenchman would describe the old rough-and-tumble 
 game as 'charmant.' 
 
 Whether he saw a real dribbling game, or merely saw men 
 'punting about' a ball for amusement, is perhaps of little im- 
 portance, as there is little doubt that the dribbling game arose 
 out of the practice of kicking about a football without doing 
 damage to limbs or clothes; but the extract is interesting at any 
 rate in showing that the ball itself had by this time assumed its 
 present shape and make. 
 
 The same number of the ' Spectator ' from which we have 
 already quoted in our account of the history of athletics, also 
 makes mention of a football match. The ' Spectator,' while on 
 a visit to Sir Roger de Coverley, visits a country fair, and there 
 sees, besides athletes and cudgel-players, a game of football. 
 
 I was diverted (he says) from a further observation of these 
 combatants (i.e. the cudgel-players) by a football match which was 
 on the other side of the green, where Tom Short behaved himself 
 so well that most people seemed to agree it was impossible that he 
 should remain a bachelor until the next wake. Having played 
 viatiy a match myself^ I could have looked longer on the sport had 
 I not observed a country girl. 
 
 One can hardly fancy the courtly Joseph Addison playing 
 at football, unless he did so when he was a boy at Charter- 
 house, but he certainly writes as if gentlemen played the game 
 as well as rustics, though unluckily he gives no description of 
 the style of play he saw upon the village green. 
 
 Unfortunately also, the great historian of English sports, 
 Joseph Strutt, gives but a short description of the game of 
 football, but from what he says it is evident that at the time he 
 wrote (1801) the game was fast decaying. 'Football,' he says, 
 ' is so called because the ball is driven about with the feet 
 instead of the hands.' It is not likely, however, that he means 
 that kicking alone was allowed, as his paragraph on football
 
 HISTORY 289 
 
 immediately follows that on ' hurling,' which he describes in 
 his day as being played with sticks or bats, with which the ball 
 was struck. The following is the only description he gives of 
 the game : — 
 
 When a match at football is made an equal number of com- 
 petitors take the field and stand between two goals placed at a 
 distance of eighty or an hundred yards the one from the other. 
 The goal is usually made with two sticks driven into the ground 
 about two or three feet apart. The ball, which is commonly made 
 of a blown bladder and cased with leather, is delivered in the midst 
 of the ground, and the object of each party is to drive it through 
 the goal of their antagonists, which being achieved the game is 
 won. The abilities of the performers are best displayed in attack- 
 ing and defending the goals ; and hence the pastime was more 
 frequently called a goal at football than a game at football. When 
 the exercise becomes exceeding violent the players kick each othei"'s 
 shins without the least ceremony, and some of them are overthrown 
 at the hazard of their limbs. 
 
 The last sentence shows pretty clearly that Strutt was 
 describing not the dribbling game, but the old hacking and 
 tripping game which in its civilised form is now known as the 
 Rugby Union game. What is perhaps the most significant part 
 of Strutt's description is that he says ' The game was formerly 
 much in vogue among the common people, though of late years 
 it seems to have fallen into disrepute and is but little practised.^ 
 Indeed, the decline in the popularity of the game which Strutt ^ 
 noticed at the opening of this century seems to have gone 
 steadily on for the next fifty years, in England at any rate. 
 Hone, in his ' Year Book,' ' Every Day Book,' and ' Table Book,' 
 (1838 to 1842) treats of football and football customs more as 
 interesting survivals of past ages than as contemporary pas- 
 limes. Although he says nothing of the celebrated Derby and 
 Corfe Castle games, he quotes from Hutchinson's ' History of 
 Cumberland ' an account of an annual Shrove Tuesday match 
 at Bromfield. By ancient custom the scholars of a certain 
 school at that place were allowed to ' bar out ' their master, 
 and after a sham fight a truce was supposed to be concluded 
 
 u
 
 290 FOOTBALL 
 
 whereby the scholars were allowed to have some cock-fighting 
 and a football match. 
 
 The football was thrown down in the churchyard and the point 
 then contended was, which party should carry it to the house of 
 his respective captain, to Dundraw perhaps or West Newton, a 
 distance of two or three miles. The details of these matches were 
 the general topics of conversation amongst the villagers, and were 
 dwelt on with hardly less satisfaction than their ancestors enjoyed 
 in relating their feats in the border wars. 
 
 A relic of a lay of a local minstrel upon one of these 
 contests is given by the same authority and is decidedly 
 amusing : — 
 
 At Scales great Tom Barwise got the ba' in his hand, 
 And 't wives aw' ran out and shouted and banned, 
 Tom Cowan then pulched and flang him 'mong t' whins, 
 And he bleddered od-white-te tou's broken my shins. 
 
 In another place (' Every Day Book,' vol. i. p. 245) Hone 
 giyes a letter written in 1815, describing 'Football Day' at 
 Kingston-on-Thames at that date. A traveller journeying to 
 Hampton Court by coach ' was not a little amused upon enter- 
 ing Teddington to see all the inhabitants securing the glass of 
 all their front windows from the ground to the roof, some by 
 placing hurdles before them, and some by nailing laths across 
 the frames. At Twickenham, Bushy, and Hampton Wick thej 
 were all engaged the same way.' The game is then described 
 as follows : — 
 
 At about twelve o'clock the ball is turned loose, and those who 
 can kick it. There were several balls in the town of Kingston, and 
 of course several parties. I observed some persons of respecta- 
 bility following the ball ; the game lasts about four hours, when the 
 parties retire to the public-houses. 
 
 Altogether it appears that the Kingston game in 181 5 was not 
 what M. Misson would have called ' utile et charmant.' 
 
 There is another allusion to football in the ' Every Day Book ' 
 (vol. ii. p. 374) Vv-hich is also interesting. A correspondent.
 
 HISTORY 291 
 
 ■* J. R. P.,' writes a letter to say that when he was a boy football 
 was played in his village, in the west country, on Sunday 
 mornings before church-time, the field of play being the 
 
 * church -piece ' ; and the same writer also says that at that date 
 {1841) football was played on Sunday afternoons, in fine 
 weather, in the fields near Copenhagen House, Islington, by 
 Irishmen, who played from about three o'clock until dusk. 
 
 * I believe,' he says, ' as is usual in the sister kingdom, county 
 ■men play against other county men. Some fine specimens of 
 wrestling are occasionally exhibited in order to delay the two 
 ■men who are rivals in pursuit of the ball.' Whatever the last 
 words may mean, it appears certain that the Irishmen played 
 the collaring and not the dribbling game. 
 
 It is obvious from Hone's extracts, therefore, that football 
 as a national pastime was, in the first half of this century, dying 
 out in England. In Scotland, however, it appears to have been 
 more flourishing. Scott v.-ould hardly have written in the ' Lay 
 of the Last Minstrel ' : — 
 
 Some drive the jolly bowl about. 
 
 With dice and draughts some chase the day, 
 
 And some with many a merry shout. 
 
 In riot, revelry, and rout, 
 Pursue the football play — 
 
 if he had not seen plenty of football in his time. Indeed, 
 Hone assists us in another place to an account of a great 
 football match in Scotland with which Sir Walter Scott was 
 personally concerned. In his ' Every Day Book,' vol. i. p. 
 1554, he says: 'On Tuesday, the 5th of December, 1815, 
 a great football match took place at Carterhaugh, Ettrick 
 Forest (a spot classical in minstrelsy) betwixt the Ettrick men 
 and the men of Yarrow, the one party backed by the Earl of 
 Home and the other by Sir Walter Scott, sheriff of the forest, 
 who wrote two songs for the occasion.' One of the songs is given 
 in extenso, but space forbids our quoting more than a couple of 
 verses : — 
 
 u 2
 
 292 FOOTBALL 
 
 From the brown crest of Newark its summons extendin?^ 
 Our signal is waving in smoke and in flame ; 
 
 And each forester blithe from his mountain descending 
 Bounds light o'er the heather to join in the game. 
 
 Then strip lads and to it, though sharp be the weather, 
 And if, by mischance, you should happen to fall, 
 
 There are worse things in life than a tumble on heather, 
 And life is itself but a game at football. 
 
 Luckily, however, though football steadily decreased in popu- 
 larity throughout the first half of this century, it was rather in 
 a state of dormancy than of collapse, and was not long in 
 picking up again when in ' the fifties ' the revival came from 
 the public schools. It is not too much to say that the present 
 football movement can be directly traced to the public schools 
 and to them alone, though, in a great many centres, when the 
 revival came the game was still known not only as a game for 
 boys, but as a pastime for men. In many corners of England, 
 indeed, the old time-honoured game, without rules or limit 
 to the number of players or size of ground, was being carried 
 on, and even is carried on to the present day. The writer cut 
 the following extract from a local paper of 1887 : — 
 
 J B has attained notoriety. In pursuance of a custom 
 
 which has been in vogue for centuries, the tradesmen and countr>-men 
 of the little town of Sedgefield, County Durham, held a week or 
 two ago their annual football carnival on the old plan, the players 
 being without limit and the field of play about half a mile long, 
 the goals at one end a pond and at the other end a spring. Atone 
 o'clock the sexton put the ball through a bull-ring and threw it into 
 the air, and a scrimmage of 400 persons ensued. After a series 
 
 of ' moving incidents by flood and field ' J B collared the 
 
 ball and dropped it into the stream, dived for it, and gained the 
 victory for the tradesmen, who carried him shoulder high. 
 
 The most celebrated, however, of these time-honoured 
 games were those at Derby and Corfe Castle, and both of 
 these deserve some mention before we leave ancient football 
 and turn away to trace the beginnings of modern football in-
 
 HISTORY 293 
 
 the public schools. The following is the account of the Derby 
 game given by Glover in his ' History of Derbyshire/ published 
 in 1829 : — 
 
 The contest lies between the parishes of St. Peter's and All 
 Saints, and the goals to which the ball is taken are ' Nun's Mill ' 
 for the latter and the Gallows balk on the Normanton Road for the 
 former. None of the other parishes in the borough take any direct 
 part in the contest, but the inhabitants of all join in the sport, 
 together with persons from all parts of the adjacent country. The 
 players are young men from eighteen to thirty or upwards, married 
 as well as single, and many veterans who retain a relish for the 
 sport are occasionally seen in the very heat of the conflict. The 
 ^ame commences in the market-place, where the partisans of each 
 parish are drawn up on each side, and about noon a large ball is 
 tossed up in the midst of them. This is seized upon by some of 
 the strongest and most active men of each party. The rest of the 
 players immediately close in upon them and a solid mass is • 
 formed. It then becomes the object of each party to impel the 
 course of the crowd towards their particular goal. The struggle 
 to obtain the ball, which is carried in the arms of those who 
 have possessed themselves of it, is then violent, and the motion 
 of the human tide heaving to and fro without the least regard 
 to consequences is tremendous. Broken shins, broken heads, 
 torn coats, and lost hats are amongst the minor accidents of 
 this fearful contest, and it frequently happens that persons fall 
 owing to the intensity of the pressure, fainting and bleeding 
 beneath the feet of the surrounding mob. But it would be difficult 
 to give an adequate idea of tliis ruthless sport. A Frenchman 
 passing through Derby remarked, that if Englishmen called this 
 playing, it would be impossible to say what they would call fighting. 
 Still the crowd is encouraged by respectable persons attached to each 
 party, who take a surprising interest in the result of the day's sport, 
 urging on the players with shouts, and even handing to those who are 
 exhausted oranges and other refreshment. The object of the St. 
 Peter's party is to get the ball into the water down the Morledge 
 brook into the Derwent as soon as they can, while the All Saints 
 party endeavour to prevent this and to urge the ball westward. 
 The St. Peter players are considered to be equal to the best water 
 spaniels, and it is certainly curious to see two or three hundred 
 men up to their chins in the Derwent continually ducking each 
 other. The numbers engaged on both sides exceed a thousand.
 
 294 FOOTBALL 
 
 and the streets are crowded with lookers-on. The shops are closed, 
 and the town presents the aspect of a place suddenly taken by 
 storm. 
 
 The whole is a good piece of description, and the expression 
 of amusement at respectable persons encouraging the sport 
 is decidedly refreshing. It is very obvious that there could 
 have been no kicking in the Derby game any more than there 
 was in the game at Scone ; and this is made clear by another 
 extract from Glover, who says, ' A desperate game of football in 
 which the ball is struck with the feet of the players is played 
 at Ashover and other wakes.' 
 
 The Corfe Castle game was one of the same nature as those 
 already described, and is still played up to this day, anyone 
 being at liberty to join in the general hustle which takes place 
 on Shrove Tuesday and on Ash Wednesday ; the ball is kicked 
 from Corfe to Owre quay to preserve the ancient right-of-way 
 claimed by the company of Marblers of Purbeck. The freemen 
 marblers, who are a body existing from time immemorial, have 
 always been regulated by articles the earliest extant copy of 
 which bears the date 1553. The seventh article of the regula- 
 tions of this date runs as follows : ' That any man in our com- 
 panie the Shrovtewsdaie after his marriage shall paie unto the 
 wardings for the use and benefit of the companie twelve pence, 
 and the last married man to brynge a footballe according to 
 the custome of our companie.' The game, therefore, was a 
 customary one in 1553 ; it has certainly been an annual affair 
 ever since, and the fact is noteworthy that the game at Corfe 
 has survived in such an out-of-the-way corner of England as 
 the Isle of Purbeck, where athletic sports or Rugby Union or 
 Association matches are seldom even heard of. 
 
 So far we have traced the history of football as it was played 
 by the people at large, and have shown that it had a continued 
 existence for at least six centuries as a recognised manly sport. 
 We have seen also that at the end of the last and beginning of 
 the present century, the game was certainly waning in popularity, 
 and that the writers of the early part of this century are inclined
 
 HISTORY 295 
 
 to treat it as a sort of interesting relic of antiquity. To-day, 
 however, football can be fairly described as once again the 
 most thoroughly popular of all British sports. The game 
 attracts as many spectators, and as many players in the winter, 
 as the national sport of cricket in the summer. All that 
 remains to complete the history of football is to describe the 
 causes and progress of the modern revival of the game. 
 
 The present writer has already, in conjunction with Mr. J. E. 
 Vincent, written a small book upon the history of Football,* 
 which has not only covered a good deal of the ground which 
 has been traced in this chapter, but discusses the origin of the 
 V^arious forms of school football. The conclusion arrived at in 
 that work was that ' in each particular school the rules of the , 
 game were settled by the capacity of the playground ; and that \ 
 as these were infinitely various in character so were the games 
 various.' It might also have been added that the Association 
 game, or at least the various forms of game where kicking 
 alone was allowed, and collaring and therefore running with 
 the ball forbidden, also arose entirely in the schools, where 
 either from the want of a suflficient playground, or from other 
 causes, the old rough game was impracticable. There can be 
 no doubt that the game which we have described in the pre- 
 ceding pages was not only risky to limb (that perhaps was a 
 slight consideration for English schoolboys) when played upon 
 a good grass plot, but when played in a walled-in space such as 
 the cloisters of Charterhouse, or on a very small and confined 
 playground with a flagged pavement, would have been probably 
 dangerous to life. In any case too the collaring game must 
 have been highly destructive to clothing of every description ; 
 and it is therefore small wonder that at the majority of schools 
 the running, collaring and hacking game should have been 
 tabooed, probably by order of the school authorities or the parents. 
 Now at the present day every large school has a good large 
 grass playground either in the grounds of the school itself or 
 within convenient reach ; but in the olden times little or no 
 
 ' Football: Its History for Five Centuries. Field & Tuer, 1885.
 
 296 FOOTBALL 
 
 provision for * playing fields ' appears to have been made by 
 pious or other founders. One school alone seems to have owned 
 almost from its foundation a wide open grass playground of 
 ample dimensions, and that school was Rugby ; hence it 
 happens, as we should have expected, that at Rugby School 
 alone do we find that the original game survived almost in its 
 primitive shape. Nor is it difficult to see how the ' dribbling 
 game' arose at schools where the playground was limited. 
 Given a number of boys with that common vehicle of amuse- 
 ment a football, and no space where they could play the tradi- 
 tional game, they would soon learn to dribble it about with their 
 feet for amusement and soon attain to skill and pace in their 
 pastime ; indeed we have seen from the extract from M. 
 Misson's account of England that something very like the 
 dribbling game was witnessed by him in the streets of London 
 in 1696, played by those who were forbidden or unwilling to 
 break their heads or limbs by pursuing the sport on hard pave- 
 ments. It would require very little ingenuity when the original 
 game was impracticable to borrow the goals and touch-lines 
 from the field game, and simply allow kicking as the only 
 method of propulsion. In proportion therefore as the school 
 was limited in the size of its playground we should expect to 
 trace less of the old ' friendlie fyghte ' and more of the dribbling 
 game. Again, we find the very examples which we should expect 
 to prove our theory in the London schools. The Charterhouse 
 boys had originally no ground but their cloisters to play in ; we 
 believe the Westminster boys were for a long time similarly ill 
 provided with a playground ; and it is from Charterhouse and 
 Westminster that the dribbling game as it is played at present 
 under Association rules came almost in its present form. At 
 Winchester the ancient custom appears to have been to play 
 football upon small strips round the edge of the 'Meads,' the 
 centre being reserved for cricket, and it is from this practice 
 that the peculiar characteristics of the Winchester game arose. 
 There was no danger in shoving upon the Winchester strips of 
 grass, so the shoving of the old game remained in the Winchester
 
 HISTORY 297 
 
 rules ; and dribbling consequently remained at a discount. At 
 Harrow, where there was probably more room, a large amount 
 of catching and free kicking was allowed, but running and 
 collaring found no place in the game. It is thus that we ob- 
 tain the clearest illustrations of the theory that the different 
 schools adapted the old game to the necessities of their own 
 playgrounds. At Eton formerly the only original playground 
 was a small field near the College buildings. Consequently their 
 ' field game ' was chiefly a kicking game, but long-kicking and 
 scrimmages were not barred, as they were of necessity bound 
 to be at Charterhouse and at Westminster. The other Eton 
 game, the well-known ' wall-game,' probably drew its rules and 
 character from the space against the wall upon which it was 
 played. In a subsequent chapter we shall give short descriptions 
 of some of the old school games in their turn, and here we can 
 only make sufficient allusion to them to show that historically 
 they owe their characteristics to the ground on which they were 
 played. 
 
 The different schools, in adopting as a pastime the national 
 game of football in which any and every method of getting the 
 ball through the goal was allowed, included only such parts of 
 the game as were suitable to their ground, or to put the case 
 in another way, eliminated from the game every characteristic 
 whicVi was necessarily unsuitable to the circumstances under 
 which alone the game could be played. As far as we can dis- 
 cover, however, no school but Rugby played the old style of 
 game where every player was allowed to pick up the ball and run 
 with it, and every adversary could stop him by collaring, hacking 
 over and charging or any other means he pleased. No doubt 
 the majority of schoolmasters thought, with Sir Thomas Elyot, 
 that the original football was unworthy of a gentleman's son, 
 and dangerous to limb as well as to clothing, and in the days 
 when butcher's meat was cheap, and cloth was good but dear, 
 the clothing question was a matter of some consideration. 
 What causes led the Rugby authorities to differ from the 
 managers of other schools it is difficult to see, but it is tolerably
 
 298 FOOTBALL 
 
 plain that the * Rugby game ' was originally played at Rugby 
 school alone, while other schools adopted more or less modified 
 forms of the kicking game. That other schools did play foot- 
 ball is clear enough from the annals of Eton, Westminster and 
 Charterhouse, and private schools played the game also without 
 doubt. 
 
 When ' Tom Brown ' arrived at Rugby as a new boy he 
 said to his cicerone East, ' I love football so and have played 
 all my life. Won't Brooke let me play ? ' ' Not he,' replied 
 East, ' it's no joke playing up in a match, I can tell you. Quite 
 another thing from your private school games. Why, there's been 
 two collar-bones broken this half, and a dozen fellows lamed, 
 etc' East's description is of course merely given to impress the 
 new boy with awe, and we need scarcely quote any more ex- 
 tracts from the work, as most of our readers doubtless know it 
 as well as ourselves. Chapter V. of ' Tom Brown,' which gives 
 a kindly and appreciative description of football as it was 
 played at Rugby school in the boyhood of Mr. Thomas Hughes, 
 shows that the Rugby game was essentially the same game which 
 evoked the wrath of Stubbes. The whole school of three 
 hundred played either between or behind the goals on that 
 immense field which is still the scene of the Rugby lads' 
 matches, and which even affords trees whereon to crack the 
 skulls of innocent visitors, and by dodging round which the 
 wily ones can exercise their sleight as well as their violence, and 
 as Mr. Hughes points out often for long spells together the 
 ball was invisible amongst the struggling mass of scrimmaging 
 competitors. The match also, it may be noticed, lasts for two 
 hours or thereabouts on the first day, and is continued on 
 subsequent occasions. Somewhere about the year 1835, there- 
 fore, the original game of football was having a hearty and 
 healthy existence at Rugby School 
 
 At no other public school, however, as far as we are aware, 
 was the running and collaring game kept up. At many of 
 the other chief schools there were games where more or less 
 'scrimmaging' was allowed, but at all of these the only method
 
 HISTORY 
 
 299 
 
 of propulsion allowed was kicking. Some schools allowed 
 'free-kicking' and catching, some allowed while others disallowed 
 the stopping of the ball with the hands, some allowed ' off-side ' 
 play, and some forbade it. But until the revival of football 
 came all the other public schools but Rugby played the game 
 in which running with the ball was not allowed. Now as it 
 was discovered as soon as attempts were made to codify and 
 assimilate rules some quarter of a century ago, the essential 
 distinction between the two entirely distinct games which are 
 now played under the names of ' Rugby Union ' and ' Associa- 
 tion ' football, is that in the former running with the ball, and 
 therefore tackling, is allowed; in the other it is entirely forbidden. 
 As soon as any running with the ball under however stringent 
 conditions was permitted, the running became the important 
 feature of the game, and no compromise between running and 
 non-running games was possible. It is therefore not too much 
 to say that the running game came entirely in its modern form 
 from Rugby, although doubtless before it began to be followed 
 by the public at large, other schools, such as Cheltenham and 
 Marlborough, had adopted with more or less modification the 
 game so lucidly described in ' Tom Brown's School-days.' The 
 Association or ' kicking ' game came before the world from 
 Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Charterhouse, and other schools 
 where something of the same style of game was played. All 
 these schools had rules differing in many essential characteristics 
 from one another, but all agreeing in forbidding any seizing of 
 the ball and running with it. 
 
 It is of course difficult to trace in any detail the steps by 
 which both games gradually spread from the chief schools to the 
 smaller schools, and from both to the public at large. From 
 enquiries we have instituted it appears that between 1850 and 
 i860, the same period in which 'Athletic Sports' were taking 
 root in schools and colleges, all the schools adopted foot- 
 ball as part of the regular athletic curriculum, and as the chief 
 school game for the winter months. Gradually the old public 
 school boys started the game again after they had left school, at
 
 300 FOOTBALL 
 
 the Universities and around the large towns. At Cambridge old 
 members of the schools which played the dribbling game appear 
 to have been indulging in matches as early as 1855 : and about 
 the same time the game was begun again regularly in Sheffield. 
 Two clubs, the Sheffield and Hallam clubs, were founded simul- 
 taneously in 1 85 7. We believe, however, that a club which played 
 the dribbling game under the title of the ' Forest Club,' and 
 existed near Epping Forest, claimed before its untimely decease 
 the honour of being the first football club of modern times. In 
 1858 some old Rugbeians and old boys of the Blackheath 
 Proprietary School started the famous Blackheath Club to play 
 the Rugby game, and in the following year their great rivals 
 in the game, the Richmond Club, came into existence. Soon 
 after 1 860 there was a great football ' boom ' at Sheffield, and 
 several fresh clubs sprang up, and indeed from that time 
 for the next fifteen years the Sheffielders could put an eleven 
 into the field able to meet any other eleven in the kingdom. 
 ]\Ieantime in London several dribbling clubs were being 
 established, the Crystal Palace in 1861 and the Civil Service 
 and Barnes in 1862. So far the dribbling clubs were decidedly 
 in the majority, as besides Richmond and Blackheath and the 
 Harlequins we believe there were no other regularly constituted 
 clubs playing the Rugby rules before 1863. In 1S63 the first 
 move towards football organisation was made, and after much 
 exposition in the columns of the press of the necessity for 
 assimilation of rules, an attempt was made in the autumn of that 
 year by the leading London clubs to settle a uniform code of 
 rules for all players. The suggested compromise between the 
 essentially different games which were being played was to allow 
 running either .vhen the ball was caught on a fair catch, or caught 
 on a bound, and it was even proposed before the committee 
 which met to frame the ' compromise ' rules that hacking and 
 tripping should be allowed when the adversary was running with 
 the ball. Before the discussion of the rules was over in London, 
 however, some of the dribbling players at Cambridge had also 
 ^elected a committee and drawn up a set of rules upon which the
 
 HISTORY 30 r 
 
 old players of Eton, Harrow, Westminster and Charterhouse 
 could agree. The Cambridge rules naturally excluded all 
 running with the ball, and the ' hacking over,' ' tripping ' and 
 ' tackling ' which were the means used by the Rugbeians to stop 
 the runners. The next move was a joint conference of the 
 London and Cambridge committees, and the dribbling players 
 of the metropolis naturally cast their vote against the running 
 and tackling which they reluctantly inserted in their draft of 
 rules in order to conciliate the London players of the Rugby 
 game. The result was that the combined influence of the 
 Cambridge and London dribblers was too strong for the London 
 Rugbeians, who accordingly withdrew from the new combination 
 which started in 1863 under the name of the Football Associa- 
 tion, and has since worthily governed the dribbling game. Even 
 from its formation, however, the question of how to deal with the 
 off-side rule proved a stumbling block in the way of the Associa- 
 tion. The Etonians in playing their field game had a rigorous 
 rule against ' sneaking ' or playing off-side, and the Harrovians 
 also favoured a strict 'off-side' rule. The Westminster and 
 Charterhouse boys, however, always played the game of ' pass- 
 ing forward,' and were not in favour of a strict off-side rule. 
 For the time the Etonians had their way, and it was not until 
 1867 that the Association adopted its present off-side rule, which 
 provides that no man can be ' off-side ' unless there are less than 
 three players of the opposite side in front of him when the ball 
 is passed. The Sheffield Association, a body of associated clubs 
 who played in the Sheffield district, went even further than / 
 the Association in their off-side rule, and only obliged one 
 opponent to be between the players and the goal to prevent off- 
 side play. For the next ten years the Shefifielders played a dif- 
 ferent game from the Londoners, until they at length succumbed 
 to the increasing power of the Association, and adopted the 
 prevalent rule. In the meantime, the clubs playing the Rugby 
 game remained unassociated for nearly another eight years, 
 although between 1863 and 1870 the Rugby Union game was 
 making decidedly more way in the country than the Association
 
 302 FOOTBALL 
 
 game. As, however, all the players of the Rugby game agreed 
 in not allowing off-side play, few causes of dispute arose, 
 and in general disagreements were avoided by a rule that in 
 matches between clubs the rules of the home club were always 
 to be adopted. In 187 1, after some preliminary negotiation 
 between the Richmond and Blackheath clubs, the principal 
 London clubs were summoned together, and in the early part of 
 that year the Rugby Football Union was formed. The more 
 unpleasant features of the hacking and tripping, which were 
 parts of the old Rugby school game, were eliminated, but no 
 other substantial alteration was made in the old method of play, 
 and the main details of the game have ever since remained 
 unaltered, much as the style of play has changed in recent 
 years. 
 
 It is from about this time only that football has really be- 
 come a national game, known throughout the country. Most 
 of the provincial clubs playing under either set of rules have 
 been established since that date. The first international 
 match between England and Scotland under Rugby Union 
 rules was played in 1871, and in the next year the Association 
 players followed suit with a similar fixture ; while it was not 
 until the season of 1873-74 that the Universities of Oxford 
 and Cambridge first tried conclusions with each other, the 
 players of both games starting an Inter-'Varsity match in that 
 winter. For the last dozen years the popularity of the game, 
 both with players and with spectators, has spread marvellously, 
 until at the time of writing football is as much the national 
 game of winter as cricket is of summer. If antiquity of 
 origin is to be considered as constituting an additional 
 claim to honour, the game the history of which we have 
 chronicled in this chapter stands pre-eminent amongst English 
 sports.
 
 303 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE SCHOOL GAMES. 
 
 We have already explained in the preceding chapter how in 
 each public school a game of football was developed which 
 suited the capacities of the school playground ; a few only of 
 these widely varying school games need be described in detail. 
 The schools which like Marlborough and Cheltenham played 
 the running and tackling game drew their ideas from Rugby, 
 and copied with greater or less modification the style of play 
 which we shall afterwards deal with in an account of the ' Rugby 
 Union Game.' Other schools, like Westminster and Charter- 
 house, played games which varied so little from the present 
 Association rules that nothing need be said of them separately. 
 Shrewsbury, where from a very early time compulsory football 
 was played — ' dowling' was the school term — had an indepen- 
 dent game of its own in which catching with the hands was 
 allowed, and after a catch a drop kick or 'hoist' (as the 
 Salopians termed a ' punt ') was permissible. At Shrewsbury, 
 too, the off-side rule was as strict as in the Rugby game, and 
 another peculiarity was that the goal had no crossbar, and pro- 
 vided the ball passed ' through or above ' the space between the 
 posts a goal was counted. No running with the ball or collar- 
 ing was, however, allowed, and the Shrewsbury game has now 
 yielded to centralising influence and has been replaced by the 
 Association game. Three of our great public schools, however, 
 Eton, Harrow, and Winchester, have so far steadily resisted 
 pressure from outside and play their own time-honoured games. 
 When school is left behind the old Etonians, Harrovians,
 
 304 FOOTBALL 
 
 and Wykehamists furnish a full contingent to the ranks of 
 Association players. The ' Eton Wall,' ' Eton Field,' ' Harrow, 
 and ' Winchester ' games are not, however, merely interesting 
 as showing how a host of players are trained for the dribbling 
 game. As healthy and vigorous survivals of the age of football 
 previous to Associations or Unions of every kind, they claim 
 separate attention. The accounts which follow of the Eton and 
 Harrow games are from the pen of a well-known Old Etonian 
 and Old Harrovian respectively, that of the Winchester game 
 is mainly taken from the description in the little book we have 
 referred to before, for which the coadjutor of the present writer 
 in that task was responsible. 
 
 The Eton Wall Game appears to be a species of ' passage 
 football ' played out of doors. ' Passage football ' is common 
 enough in most of the houses at Eton, as doubtless it is at other 
 schools, and is frequently played during the winter evenings 
 with a small ball, the players being shod with slippers, in the 
 passages outside the boys' rooms. Very likely the boys played 
 passage football in former years, and when they wished to 
 renew the game out of doors, having no open fields as now 
 to play in, they went to the most suitable place— viz. along 
 the side of college field, where there is a wall about 120 yards 
 long and about 10 feet high. At right angles to the wall al 
 the one end is another wall, bounding one of the masters' 
 houses, with a door in it about 4 feet wide by 5 feet high, some 
 15 yards from the angle, while at the other end stands a larg^ 
 elm tree ; this door and the trunk of the elm tree are the two 
 goals. Parallel to the wall and along its whole length a small 
 boundary line is cut in the turf about 6 yards from the wall^ 
 and inside this space, i.e. about 120 yards long by 6 yards 
 wide, is the scene of play. Outside the boundary is an open 
 field ; about 10 yards from either end of the wall a white chalk 
 line is drawn on the wall ; the space within this line at the 
 ' door' end is known as 'good calx,' that at the other or 'tree' 
 end as ' bad calx.' It should be noticed that neither goal is 
 exactly at the end of the play, the door and the tree being both
 
 THE SCHOOL GAMES 305 
 
 some little distance outside the boundary line, and that both 
 the goals are very small. 
 
 There are eleven players on either side, 3 called 'walls,' 
 2 'seconds,' i 'third,' i 'fourth,' i 'line,' i 'flying-man,' i 
 'long behind,' and i 'goals.' The 'walls' are clad in heavy 
 sweaters padded on the back and sleeves with rough canvas to 
 protect the players from the surface of the wall ; they also wear 
 caps covering the whole of the top and back of the head and 
 ears and buttoned under the chin. The ' seconds ' also gener- 
 ally wear caps of a similar description. 
 
 The game is begun by a ' bully ' in the centre of the wall. 
 The ' wall ' whose turn it is to ' go in,' forms down with his 
 shoulder against the wall, taking turn and turn about with the 
 opposite side to form under and over ; the two other ' walls ' 
 back him up by supporting him behind, also with their shoulders 
 against the wall. The two ' seconds ' form down alongside the 
 ' walls ' under or over their opponents as the case may be ; 
 under when the walls form over, and vice versa, and act as a 
 kind of prop to the ' walls ' of their side ; ' third ' stands outside 
 the bully about half-way between the wall and the boundary 
 line ; ' fourth ' next to him, and ' line ' next to ' fourth ' and at 
 the boundary line. ' Flying-man ' stands behind the bully and 
 corresponds to ' half-back ' in Association, ' long behind ' be. 
 hind him, and ' goals ' behind him. The players of the oppos- 
 ing side station themselves in the same manner. So much for 
 the formation of the bully. As to the play, the ball is placed 
 against the wall between the feet of the two first opposing 
 'walls,' and the game begins. The players in the 'bully,' i.e. 
 the 'walls' and ' seconds,' begin to shove and push with all their 
 might, their object being to force the ball from the centre of the 
 wall into the opponents' ' calx.' If the ' walls ' and ' seconds ' of 
 the one side are stronger than those of the other, they may be 
 able by crawling along with the ball at their feet and shoving 
 back their opponents, to force their way along the play several 
 yards at a time, i.e. between each bully, for the moment the 
 ball is 'loose,' and is kicked across the boundary line into the 
 
 X
 
 3o6 FOOTBALL 
 
 open field or over the wall, the next bully is formed at a point 
 in a line with the spot where the ball is stopped by a player out 
 in the open field or at the spot where it went over the wall. 
 The ball, it should be stated, is a small round one, little more 
 than half the size of an Association ball. 
 
 If the ' walls ' cannot force their way through their oppo- 
 nents, the ball finds its way out to the ' seconds,' who in their 
 turn try and gain ground, generally by kneeling on the ball, and 
 with hands on the ground or not as they are able, crawling along 
 and often forcing their opponents to retire several yards. On 
 such occasions the ' walls ' back up the ' seconds ' and are ready 
 to take the ball again when the ' seconds ' are obliged to re- 
 linquish it ; all in the bully should, in fact, be ready to assist 
 one another, and when the ball is ' loose ' or one of their number 
 IS down, to get hold of it with their feet and try to move 
 further on. 
 
 If, as is generally the case, the ball comes out from the 
 bully amongst the 'outsides,' i.e. the 'thirds,' 'fourths,' and 
 'lines,' it is their duty to try and charge the ball through their 
 opponents and kick it as far as possible towards the enemy's 
 calx, but always out into the field, so as not to give the oppos- 
 ing ' behinds ' a chance of returning it. And again, if the ball 
 rolls out from the bully to any of the three behinds, it is their 
 duty to kick it as far as possible in the same direction, but as 
 above mentioned, always into the open field and for the same 
 reason. An ' outside,' when the ball is ' loose,' not unfrequently 
 attempts to dribble the ball down the play ; but this rarely 
 pays, the ball being light and the space confined. It is when 
 the ball is amongst the outsides that the most exciting play 
 takes place, the opposing sides kicking at the ball and at one 
 another in the wildest manner, so much so that an inexperienced 
 spectator would probably characterise this part of the play as 
 very rough. These ' loose ' bullies seldom last more than a few 
 moments, one of the kicks soon taking effect and landing the 
 ball out of play. When the ball is kicked over the boundary 
 line, it is the duty of at least two or three of the side and always
 
 THE SCHOOL GAMES 307 
 
 of the 'line,' to run out into the field, the one side to stop it as 
 soon as possible, and the other side to prevent it being stopped. 
 
 It sometimes happens that those in the bully of one side 
 are able to hold the ball for a long time and keep it to them- 
 selves. This is always very tedious for both spectators and the 
 rest of the players, and unless a side is playing for a draw or 
 having scored is afraid of yet being defeated, it is always better 
 and is generally customary to break the bully early, and by 
 a series of charges, 'loose' bullies, and scrimmages to gain 
 ground. 
 
 Anyone who has both feet in front of the ball is said to be 
 'sneaking,' or 'off-side,' as it is termed in other games, and 
 must at once get back amongst his own players. A player may 
 be ' sneaking ' whether in the act of playing the ball or not. 
 The only penalty for this is a fresh bully, but if the ball is being 
 held tight at the time when the offence is committed, no ad- 
 vantage can accrue to the other side, and the penalty is there- 
 fore not demanded ; if, however, the ball is ' loose ' and the 
 offender gains an advantage, the penalty is claimed and allowed 
 or not by the umpire, and the fresh bully formed against the 
 wall at the spot where the offence was committed. It is per- 
 missible also for any player to catch the ball or stop it with his 
 hands and then to kick it in any way he can \ but if the ball 
 hits the hand or wrist accidentally, the penalty if demanded 
 and allowed is a fresh bully. 
 
 A point is scored by either side getting a goal or a shy. A 
 goal can be obtained from any part of the play ; a shy only in 
 calx. A goal outweighs any number of shies, but is very seldom 
 obtained. A shy is obtained in the following manner : When 
 the ball is forced into calx the bully is formed in a slightly 
 different manner. The side who have forced the ball into calx 
 have the advantage of forming down under ; one of their 
 players called a ' getter ' forms down with his head to the wall, 
 and has with his foot to raise the ball when placed in the bully 
 against the wall ; another forms down behind him and has to 
 prevent the opposite side drawing or ' furking ' it out (these two
 
 3o8 FOOTBALL 
 
 are backed up by the heavy weights of the side) ; another called 
 * a toucher ' has to assist the ' getter,' and when the ball is off 
 the ground and against the wall and resting on his own foot oi 
 on that of one of his own side, to touch it and claim a shy. 
 Anyone besides the ' toucher ' can obtain a shy, but he must be 
 behind the ball, i.e. on side. If the shy is allowed the player 
 who touched it throws it at the goal, i.e. the tree or the door 
 according to which calx it is, which he hits or not according to 
 the accuracy of his throw and the quickness of his opponents 
 in running out of the play to the goal and stopping the ball 
 with their hands. The rest of the side except (say) two * be- 
 hinds ' stand outside the bully ready to charge and prevent the 
 ball being forced out of calx. The defending side in calx 
 forms down by one of their number standing against the wall, 
 leaning over the 'getter' ; he is called a 'stopper,' and his duty 
 is to prevent the ball being raised and a shy gained, and also 
 to try and get the ball out of the bully to the ' kicker-out ' be- 
 hind him ; another next to the ' stopper ' to assist him, one or 
 two to back these up, one to ' furk ' the ball back, one to kick 
 the ball out of calx at the door end and to touch it down over 
 the base line at the tree end, and the rest to stop 'running 
 round.' 
 
 The game generally lasts an hour, and ends are changed at 
 half-time. It is peculiar to Eton, and would in all probability 
 die out altogether except for the annual match between the 
 collegers and oppidans on St. Andrew's Day. 
 
 The Eton Field Game is played in an open field about 
 IOC to 1 20 yards long by 80 to 100 yards wide. The boun- 
 daries are defined by a small line cut in the turf; the 
 goals are in the middle of the two base lines, and are about 
 1 2 feet wide by 6 feet high, formed by two upright posts with a 
 slender crossbar at the top. 
 
 There are by rights eleven players on either side, though in 
 ordinary games there is no objection to a larger number, and 
 this is one of the advantages of the game, that with sides of small 
 boys very often far more than the orthodox number can play.
 
 THE SCHOOL GAMES 309 
 
 The ball is a small one of the same size as that used in the wall 
 game, and little more than half the size of the Association ball 
 Taking a side of only eleven players, they arrange themselves as 
 follows : first, the bully, consisting of a ' post,' ' back-up post,' 
 and two or three ' side posts,' four or five in all ; secondly, 
 those outside the bully, viz. a ' corner ' on either side of the 
 bully corresponding exactly in position to the ' half-back ' in 
 the Rugby Union game (occasionally the third 'side post 'is 
 placed to play ' extra corner '), and a ' behind-the-buUy ' or 
 * flying-man,' the first of whose names defines his position, and 
 thirdly, the ' behinds,' three in number, 'short behind,' 'long 
 behind,' and ' goals.' The game is commenced by a bully in 
 the centre of the ground, the players in the bully forming down 
 under and over alternately ; the ball is placed in the centre of 
 the bully by one of the ' corners,' and the play begins. 
 
 The object of the players in the bully is to force the ball 
 through their opponents, the ball being usually held tight and 
 not kept ' loose ' and moving as in the present style of Rugby 
 Union play ; the rest of the players await events in their re- 
 spective positions. The bullies, as a rule, only last a few 
 moments, and directly the ball is ' loose ' and finds its way out 
 at the side, the ' corner,' or if it finds its way out behind, the 
 ' flying-man,' immediately starts off at full speed dribbling* it 
 close in front of his feet towards the opponents' goal. The 
 game noAv becomes essentially a dribbling one, and it is wrong 
 for a forward to let the ball go more than a few paces in front 
 of him. It is also essential to go as straight down the field as 
 possible, though this is extremely difficult, since by so doing the 
 player in possession of the ball has to get straight through the 
 majority of his opponents. 
 
 One player, then, having got possession of the ball and begun 
 dribbling it, the rest of his side follow in his wake, close behind 
 and ready to take his place at the head of the pack the moment 
 he falls, overruns, or loses the ball. The two bullies may be 
 said at such a moment to resemble two packs of hounds, the 
 foremost player sticking to the ball as long as he can, like a
 
 3IO FOOTBALL 
 
 hound to the scent. It rarely happens, however, that one 
 player can keep the ball very long ; for either he kicks it too far 
 in front of him, or loses it in a charge of the other side (and 
 charging when in possession of the ball is a chief characteristic 
 of the game), so that the opposing ' behinds ' are sure to get a 
 kick sooner or later. And as soon as this occurs, it is the duty 
 of a good behind to lift the ball well and almost invariably to 
 kick it as far and as high as possible, the higher the better, 
 since his side has the more time to charge down the opposing 
 behind, who would otherwise return it. And it may here be 
 mentioned that the behind is supposed to take the ball exactly 
 as it comes to him, to volley, half volley, or kick it whilst 
 rolling, and it is this ready resource in taking the ball in any 
 position and exactly as it comes to him wherever he is standing 
 that makes the Etonian excel as a back when he tries his hand 
 at the Association game. The ball remains ' loose ' as a rule 
 for a few minutes or more, the forwards charging the behinds 
 and dribbling the ball when they get possession, and the 
 behinds returning it whenever it comes over or through the 
 bully until by a behind making an inaccurate kick, or the for- 
 wards being prevented from going straight down the field and 
 so forced towards the side, the ball is impelled over the side 
 boundary. A new bully is then formed some twenty yards in 
 the play in. a line with the spot where the ball went out. It is 
 unnecessary to follow the various phases of the game between 
 each bully, as the play is more or less of the same description ; 
 suffice it to say that it is, or should be, remarkably fast, and 
 that the chief characteristics of a good ' forward ' player are that 
 he should be always 'on' the ball, should dribble always, 
 7ie'ver 'pass ' the ball, be constantly ' backing up ' when he is not 
 playing the ball, and always prepared to charge his opponents, 
 going straight at them, while the behinds should be able, as 
 mentioned above, to kick hard and clean, and in any position, 
 and with either foot. There are two misdemeanours a forward 
 can commit : ' sneaking ' or ' cornering.' A player is said to be 
 * sneaking ' or ' off-side ' when he gets in front of the ball, and
 
 THE SCHOOL GAMES 311 
 
 when on the ball being sent forward again either to him or in 
 front of him, he goes on with it or in pursuit of it. He should 
 wait till the majority of his co-forwards have come up level 
 with him and so put him ' on side,' otherwise he is sneaking, 
 and the penalty, if claimed and allowed, is a free kick for 
 the claiming side from the place where the offence was com- 
 mitted. ' Cornering ' is when a player is outside the pack or 
 bully, and on the ball being kicked towards him well to the 
 side of the main body of players, he proceeds to play the ball. 
 The penalty, if claimed and allowed, is a bully where the 
 offence was committed. The * flying-man,' however, is allowed 
 ' to corner,' the reason being that he acts in the double capacity 
 of a forward and a behind. 
 
 A point is scored by the ball being forced down to the 
 opponents' base or goal-line. If the player who is in possession 
 of the ball is tolerably near the goal-posts, it is better play to 
 shoot at once for ' goals,' and if this is done, a point is not un- 
 frequently scored, small though the goal is, for the goal-keeper 
 does not remain immediately in goals as in Association, but 
 follows up the ' long behind ' at a reasonable distance, and he 
 may not use his hands. 
 
 If, however, there is no chance of shooting a goal from mid- 
 field, the player with the ball runs it down to the goal-line and 
 takes it along the line towards the posts, and then makes his 
 shot, or more frequently endeavours to secure a minor point, 
 called a ' rouge.' A 'rouge ' is when an attacking player kicks 
 the ball over the goal-line whilst in the act of charging an 
 opponent, and himself or one of his side touches the ball before 
 any of the other side. A rouge may also be obtained by one 
 of the repelling side miskicking the ball behind the goal-line, 
 or the ball going off one of the repelling side in any way over 
 the goal-line, and one of the attacking side touching it first. 
 It takes four rouges to equal one goal, and a rouge may be 
 converted into a goal ; for when a rouge is claimed and allowed, 
 a bully is formed in front of the goals thus : the defending 
 side form down one yard from the centre of the goals by one
 
 312 FOOTBALL 
 
 of their number, called 'post,' taking up his position in the 
 centre with the ball between his feet, and three or four placing 
 themselves close up behind him, with others called ' sides ' on 
 either side to support him ; the remainder, some two or three, 
 ' look out ' to get the ball away when it becomes ' loose.' On 
 the attacking side, four players, also called ' sides,' form down 
 against the defenders' bully, two on either side, leaving a small 
 gully in front of ' post ' just large enough to admit some four 
 of the attacking side, and these headed by one who is said ' to 
 run in ' charge in a compact body, one close behind the other, 
 against the centre of the opponents' bully, so that when they 
 have closed, the whole is one consolidated mass. 
 
 If the attacking side is stronger, and the ' sides ' do their 
 work properly, the bully of the defenders is sometimes pushed 
 bodily through goals ; if, however, the two bullies are equal in 
 weight or strength, the ball eventually breaks ' loose,' and the 
 play continues as originally begun. 
 
 If no rouge is allowed, or the attacking side kick the ball 
 'cool ' over the line (i.e. while not being charged), it is a 'kick 
 off' from the goal-line for the defending side. If the defending 
 side kick the ball behind their own goal-line, and one of their 
 own number touches it first, a bully is formed where the ball 
 was kicked. 
 
 If the ball hits the hands or forearm below the elbow, a 
 bully can be claimed by and allowed to the other side. The 
 game lasts an hour, and ends are changed at half-time. 
 
 The Harrow Game has been played in substantially its 
 present form for upwards of half a century. Changes in the 
 rules have undoubtedly been made from time to time ; and in 
 recent years the adoption of the Association rules at the 
 principal preparatory schools has affected in some measure the 
 style of play. The distinctive features, however, of the Harrow 
 rules remain unaltered, and being in a sense the natural 
 offspring of local circumstances, it is probable that they will 
 retain their hold on the School for many years to come. Every- 
 body knows that Harrow is on a hill. It follows, therefore.
 
 THE SCHOOL GAMES 313 
 
 that the football fields are at the bottom of a hill, and are 
 difficult to drain, especially as the soil is a stiff clay. The 
 grounds, in fact, are often half under water, and in the height 
 of the football season are generally a mass of trampled mud. 
 This state of things necessitates the use of a heavy ball and 
 rules which compel the players to be continually on the move. 
 
 In matches eleven play on each side, the usual disposition 
 of the players being as follows : a ' whole back ' and a ' half 
 back ' (formerly called 'base' and 'second base' — terms pro- 
 bably unknown to Harrow boys of the present generation) form 
 the rearguard ; two players keep each ' side,' called respec- 
 tively 'top side' and 'bottom side,' and the remaining five 
 ' follow up.' It will be noticed that whereas the Association 
 game has five or at most six 'forwards,' the Harrow game has 
 nine. 
 
 The rules as they at present stand are not hard to master, 
 although they differ in some essential characteristics from those 
 of any other game of football. There is a strict off-side rule 
 as at Eton. A player who is nearer the opponents' base than 
 the kicker of the ball is out of the game until the ball has been 
 touched by one of the opponents' side. As regards the mys- 
 teries connected with the word ' yards,' the Harrow rules may 
 perhaps best explain themselves. Rules 6, 7, and 8 of the 
 Harrow code say : 
 
 Whoever catches the ball is entitled to a free kick if he calls 
 * Yards ' ; but whoever catches the ball, and does not call ' Yards' 
 is liable to have the ball knocked out of his hands. The ball must 
 be kicked without delay ; and the preliminary run must not be 
 longer than three yards (i.e. the utmost length to which three 
 running strides would extend). When a player catches the ball, 
 he may take his three yards, or each of them, in any direction he 
 likes. If a player catch the ball near the opposite base, he may 
 try to carry the ball through by jumping the three yards. If he 
 fail in this attempt, no second try is allowed, but he must return 
 to the spot where he caught the ball, and from there may have a 
 free kick at the base ; none of the opposite side may in this case get 
 in his way nearer than the spot to which his jump brought him.
 
 314 FOOTBALL 
 
 This system of 'free catching' was no doubt originally in- 
 troduced to meet the supposed difficulty of ' shooting ' a base 
 with a heavy ball under a strict off-side rule. In theory the 
 base is unlimited in height, for the ball may be kicked between 
 the poles a solo usqtie ad ckIidii. 
 
 The Harrow player is always at first a ' selfish ' Association 
 player, because he has learnt under the strict ' off-side ' rule to 
 stick to the ball till it is taken away from him by an opponent. 
 
 Another feature of the rules which an Association player 
 can hardly fail to notice is that there is practically no penalty 
 for breaking any of the rules. It has been found after many 
 years' experience quite unnecessary to inflict one. In im^jortant 
 matches two umpires are appointed, who have vested in them 
 the power of sending a ' rule-breaker ' off the field, a power, 
 however, which in practice has very seldom to be exercised. 
 
 To return, however, to the game itself. Although the ball 
 is heavy and of an awkward shape, Harrow boys attain a com- 
 plete mastery over it and learn to dribble it with wonderful 
 accuracy. Evidently it represents the most rudimentary form 
 of football, being a kind of irregular oval in shape, and really, 
 in fact, nothing more than a bladder enclosed in three pieces 
 of thick shoemaker's leather, two being circular and the third 
 a broad strip equal in length to the circumference of the ball. 
 Until quite recently all boys below the first ninety or so, with 
 the exception of those who had been in the school for three 
 \ years and those excused by medical certificates, were compelled 
 /" by the school rules to play football at least twice a week. As 
 late as 1864 those who went down to play were divided into 
 only two games according to age, the result being that scientific 
 play was quite out of the question. In recent years great im- 
 provements have been made in this direction, thirty or forty at 
 the most playing in one of these 'compul.' games as they are 
 called. Harrow football is essentially a game for boys and 
 those who love hard exercise. It has simple rules, is fast and 
 manly, and has no penalties or ceremonies which waste time. 
 It probably takes more out of a player who goes in to win heart 
 and soul than any other form of the game.
 
 THE SCHOOL GAMES 315 
 
 The Winchester Game differs in its general character from 
 every other game of football. The ground upon which it is 
 played is about 80 yards long and 25 yards wide. Thus upon 
 the college 'meads,' which are more or less square with an 
 irregular excrescence upon the side nearest to the college, it 
 was possible for four games to be played simultaneously, while 
 the central portion was reserved for cricket. To keep the ball 
 within the prescribed limits, the ancient custom is generally 
 beheved to have been first to mark out the space with stakes 
 and ropes, then outside the ropes to place a line of shivering 
 fags. In time, humanity and genius combined discovered 
 that hurdles served the purpose as well as small boys ; and 
 in later days the hurdles have given pfece to tarred nets spread 
 out upon an iron framework some ten feet in height. The 
 ropes still remain, and are placed about a yard from the 
 netting, and when the ball (which is round, and heavier than 
 an Association ball) is 'under ropes,' i.e. between the ropes 
 and the netting, it is still in play in a certain sense. The 
 game begins with a 'hot,' which is formed in the following 
 fashion. In ' sixes,' or six-a-side matches, there are two backs 
 or ' behinds,' on each side, and four forwards or 'ups.' Of 
 the ' ups ' one is ' over the ball,' and takes the centre place, 
 and two back him up with their knees behind his, and their 
 arms interlaced round his body. All these keep their heads 
 down, and the fourth with his back and shoulders propels the 
 centre man. In ' sixes,' notwithstanding the closeness of the 
 packing, the duration of a ' hot' is not usually long, but in 
 'fifteens,' where the same principle of packing is observed, 
 ten minutes or more may be occupied with a 'hot.' When 
 it is added that the performance is deliberately repeated every 
 time the ball is kicked over the netting, and that there is no 
 other penalty than a ' hot ' for any infringement of the rules, it 
 may be imagined that ' hots ' occupy the greater part of the hour 
 which is devoted to a match. The ball, however, is not kicked 
 out as often as might be supposed probable, for one of the 
 most stringent rules of the game is, that it may not be kicked
 
 3i6 FOOTBALL 
 
 higher than five feet, which is supposed to be the average 
 height of a man's shoulder, unless, at the time when it is 
 kicked, it is either bounding or rolling at a distinctly fast pace; 
 nor may it be kicked up unless the last person to touch it 
 was an opponent, for, in the contrary case, it is a 'made flier.' 
 This is a rule which causes almost as many hots by being 
 infringed as it saves by preventing the behinds, who alone do 
 much in the way of kicking, from driving the ball over the 
 netting. Still it is a necessary rule, for the goal consists of the 
 whole twenty-five yards or thereabouts, that is to say, of the 
 whole width of the arena, and but for the rule concerning 
 'kicking up,' there would be no end to the number of goals 
 obtained. It should be mentioned, however, that if a ball 
 before passing over the goal-line, or, as it is called, ' worms,' 
 is touched ever so slightly by any opponent, no goal is scored. 
 The distinguishing features of the game, apart from those 
 already mentioned, are, in the first place, that no dribbling is 
 'permitted under any circumstances ; and in the second place,, 
 that the ' off-side ' rule is stricter than in any other game. It 
 is not legitimate for two players on the same side to touch the 
 ball in succession, unless it rolls behind the first kicker ; nor 
 may one player ' back up his partner's kick ' by charging the 
 adversary, unless, at the time when his partner kicked, he was 
 behmd the ball, or, since that time, has returned to the place 
 from which the ball was kicked. When the ball is caught 
 upon a full volley kicked by one of the opposite side, it is 
 ' punted ' and not ' dropped ; ' but if the person catching it is 
 charged, then he who charges is said to be 'running him,' and 
 may ' collar ' hini as in the Rugby game, and the holder of the 
 ball may run until his adversaries cease to ' run him,' but then 
 he must halt and take his punt. 
 
 The only remaining feature of the game which requires 
 notice is the ' under ropes ' play. No ball kicked from ' under 
 ropes,' or which has touched the netting or ropes after being 
 kicked, can score a goal, nor can a fair catch be made when 
 the ball was either kicked from or caught in ' under ropes.'
 
 THE SCHOOL GAMES 317 
 
 It is often, therefore, good generalship for a heavier side which 
 is a goal ahead, when the game is nearing an end, to keep the 
 ball under ropes to prevent any further score being made. 
 
 It will be seen that the Winchester game not only teaches 
 accurate kicking and dashing play, but also gives an oppor- 
 tunity for skill in scrimmaging. Consequently, although the 
 Wykehamist as a rule takes to the Association game in after 
 life, there has been more than one instance of a player bred 
 up to the Winchester game earning the highest honours in 
 the Rugby Union field. The majority of players, however, 
 of the Rugby Union game, which it will be our next duty to 
 describe, come from the public schools, such as Rugby, Clifton, 
 Marlborough, or Cheltenham, where they learn the running, 
 scrimmaging, and tackling game in their school-days.
 
 31 8 FOOTBALL 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME. 
 
 Although the forms of the dribbhng game were many and 
 various, as we have seen, the running and tackhng game has 
 ahvays been played, since it first became an organised sport, sub- 
 stantially in one way, that in which it came from Rugby school 
 to the country at large. That form, it will have been perceived, 
 is historically an adaptation of the original scrummaging game 
 to a field of play when there was plenty of room for a number 
 of boys to overthrow eaph other ' without hazard (or any great 
 hazard) to their limbs.' The ground not being unlimited, like 
 the field of play of 'hurling across country,' boundaries at the 
 end and sides, or ' goal lines ' and ' touch lines,' were established, 
 \ and the ball when beyond these was considered out of play as 
 soon as ' touched down.' Save for this the original features of 
 the game remained only just altered so far as to prevent any 
 actually dangerous violence. As soon as the game came from 
 boys to men, however, further modifications became necessary, 
 as the adult shin and neck could not stand the amount of 
 ' hacking ' or ' scragging ' which used to be seen in matches at 
 the Rugby game before the rules were definitely settled and 
 promulgated by the Rugby Football Union. Now we do not 
 intend in the present work to describe in minute detail the 
 rules either of the Rugby Union or Association games, taking 
 it for granted that those who do not know the games, by actual 
 acquaintance as players or spectators, will care nothing for 
 what we have to say about them ; while those who do so know 
 tliem will not require to be enlightened about the ABC of the 
 sport. We may also at once say that we do not propose in any
 
 --^"c^H •^' /•^yii'jj^- If /Tin A
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 
 
 319 
 
 of our criticisms of the past or present games under either set 
 of rules, to take sides in the old and threadbare controversy as to 
 which is the better game — Rugby or Association football. To 
 start at once with a piece of advice, we recommend both players 
 and spectators to pay their money and take their choice, and for 
 preference to try both, not together but ' singly in quick suc- 
 cession.' At the outset, therefore, we may begin by saying, we 
 hope, without offence, that the early matches at the Rugby 
 
 Rugby football. 
 
 game were very dull affairs, and that it is only very slowiy and 
 tentatively that the Rugby Union rules and style of play have 
 been altered so as to render skill of more avail than force in 
 the settlement of matches. Rather more than a dozen years 
 ago we saw a shoving match between rival teams of Scotch- 
 men and Englishmen which was dignified by the name of 
 an 'international match.' A quarter of a hundred of heavy- 
 weights appeared to be leaning up against each other for 
 periods of five minutes or thereabouts, while occasionally
 
 320 FOOTBALL 
 
 the ball became accidentally disentangled from the solid globe 
 of scrummagers, and the remaining players then had some 
 interesting bursts of play between themselves while the globu- 
 lar mass gradually dissolved. The plain truth of the matter 
 was that the Rugbeian traditions of ' big-sides ' still remained an 
 article of faith with players, and that the main thing which kept 
 big-sides from becoming shoving matches was first the small- 
 ness of many of the boys who could thus move about in 
 the scrum mage, and secondly the hacking which kept the scrum- 
 mage open and the ball moving. For the dozen years or so 
 during which the Rugby game was played before the founda- 
 tion of the Rugby Union the shoving was the great hindrance 
 to its popularity. True it is that the matches as a rule were 
 only between fifteens and not twenties, but the grounds used 
 were often very small, and were described as ' large enough for 
 fifteens ' by the players, who still thought that twenty was the 
 minimum for a model side. So far also did the notion go that 
 scrummaging was the essence of the game, that some clubs 
 played the rule that no man who was tackled was obliged to 
 call ' down ' unless he liked ; and in one match in which the 
 present writer played, the heavier side, when one of their own 
 men was collared, used the tactics of never calling 'down,' 
 but of shoving the whole of the opposite forwards down the 
 ground until the accidental or intentional ' tripping up ' of the 
 whole scrummage by the side losing ground necessarily caused 
 a halt, and the ball was then at last put down. The Rugby 
 Union, immediately after its establishment in 187 1, determined 
 to put a stop to this ' mauling,' before the ball was down, and 
 the 1 8th law was especially framed to deal with this abuse. This 
 law has since been altered, as we shall see later, but as originally 
 framed it ran as follows : ' In the event of any player, holding, 
 or running with the ball being tackled, and the ball/rt/;-/y held, 
 he must at once cry '■'■down" and there put it down.' 
 
 A few words might perhaps here be said with reference to 
 the Union code of laws, which are too long to discuss seriatim, 
 and will therefore, in their present form, be placed in the
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 321 
 
 Appendix to this work. By reading them, one can per- 
 haps obtain as good an idea of what the game is as can 
 be given by any bald scientific description of a moving scene 
 of hfe. The original laws have naturally been altered from 
 time to time as the character of the game changed, and as 
 abuses arose which it became necessary to prevent, but there /'^-a 
 can be no doubt that they were very admirably and carefully -^"^ 
 drafted. 
 
 The original code of laws was the work of three old 
 Rugbeians — L. J. Maton, A. Rutter, and E. C. Holmes, and 
 it is doubtless due to this fact that those who now play the 
 running and tackling game are substantially playing the same 
 game which the founders of the Union played at Rugby School. 
 After twenty years' use the original laws became so overlaid 
 with a mass of amendments and additions that the Union 
 decided upon a new codification. The present code, which is 
 printed in the Appendix, was mainly the work of W. Cail, of 
 Northumberland County. It came into force at the com- 
 mencement of the season 1892-3, and has stood the test of 
 practice well, as very {q.\\ amendments or explanations have 
 been necessary since the game has been played under this set 
 of laws. 
 
 To return, however, to the Rugby Union game during its 
 first or ' shoving ' age. The Union code very properly abo- 
 lished hacking, tripping, and scragging, the last named of which 
 practices consisted in the twisting of an opponent's neck round, 
 vt'ith a gripe of the arm, to make him cry ' down,' if he had any 
 available voice ; but the abolition of all these practices, and 
 especially of the hacking, tended to make the game 'tight,' and 
 to render of little value the best and most skilful forward play, 
 which can be only exhibited in ' loose ' scrummages. But what 
 kept the old system alive was undoubtedly the retention of 
 twenty a side in the international contest with Scotland. The 
 bulk of the ' forwards ' chosen for the twenty-a-side contests were 
 strong, heavy men, and without strength and weight a player had 
 little chance of making his mark amongst the forward brigade. 
 
 Y
 
 323 FOOTBALL 
 
 The result was that under the old regime the typical forward was 
 a man who knew how to ' shove,' and very likely could do very 
 little else. So firmly, indeed, was the traditional notion of the 
 ' big-side ' impressed upon the chief players of the Rugby game, 
 that as late as 1875 the ' Football Annual,' which is what a poli- 
 tical A\Titer would term a ' semi-ofiicial ' publication, was still 
 advising captains, in its ' Hints upon the Two Styles,' to play 
 twenty-a-side if they could get the men to play. By this time, 
 however, twenties had been abandoned in all but tlie classical 
 niatches of the year, and in the winter of 1875 the Oxford and 
 Cambridge authorities agreed to have fifteens instead of twenties 
 for the Inter-'Varsity match. In the following season the ex- 
 ample was followed by the English and Scottish Unions. Up 
 to 1876, however, the first period which we have called the 
 ' shoving ' age, lasted, and during this period the light and 
 speedy forward was seldom heard of. The character of the 
 forward players, too, influenced the arrangement and style of 
 play of the rest of the field, and as the old game is now only 
 recollected by few — for spectators at football matches were 
 scarce in those days, and even international matches were 
 sometimes financial failures — it may be worth while to describe 
 what manner of game was played in the days of 'English 
 twenties.' 
 
 Matches between clubs were played with sides of fifteen as 
 is usual now, but not only was the style of forward play different 
 from the present, but the arrangement of back players in the field 
 was also necessarily different, the greater part of the offensive 
 play falling upon the half-backs and of the defensive upon the 
 full backs alone. The original notion was to have only two 
 classes of players behind the scrummage, half-backs and backs, 
 there being two half-backs, three backs, and the remaining ten 
 players being forwards. The earliest development of the game 
 was to put the ' centre ' back a few yards in front of the two 
 backs at the sides, to enable him occasionally to get away on a 
 run after a drop kick from the back ranks of the other side. 
 Such was the arrangement of the field which the present writer
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 323 
 
 first recollects. Now as to the points which made a good player 
 of the game at that time. We have already said that the forward 
 was expected to do his best to keep the scrummage tight and 
 shove the other side down the ground. The half-backs, standing 
 well away from the compact scrummage, would exhort their 
 forwards to be ' steady with it,' to go ' not too fast,' and to 
 ' keep it together.' The same authority from which we have 
 already quoted as 'semi-official ' (and a very competent autho- 
 rity the writer was) says : — 
 
 Some players are gh-en to putting their heads clown in a scrum- 
 mage so as to look after the ball better, but it is a plan not to be 
 commended as it loosens the mass, a man \\ith his head down 
 taking" up the space of two. A scrummage should be formed as 
 compactly as possible, every man pressing firmly on the man in 
 front of him, bodies and legs close together, so as to form 2ijirinlj 
 packed mass to resist the weight of a like mass of opponents, . . . 
 the great point to be aimed at being to stop the progress of the 
 ball towards one's own quarters. 
 
 A scrummage so formed naturally took so long in breaking 
 up that the behind players of one another's side were off and 
 away with the ball in most cases before the mass of the for- 
 wards could get thoroughly loose. The ' behinds ' then did 
 most if not all of the brilliant play, the running and the tack- 
 ling, while the forwards did the scrummaging, which was their 
 main business during the game. Of course we do not v/ant 
 our readers to think that the course of every game was this 
 invariably ; no doubt the tactics of some clubs differed from 
 those of others, and gradually from year to year the advantages 
 of ' loose play ' came to be more and more recognised. The 
 style of play, however, altered very gradually for the better, 
 and we have known more than one forward to remark in the 
 field after half an hour's play that he had not yet touched the 
 ball. 
 
 One or two things tended to keep up the tight scrummage 
 game longer than it would otherwise have lasted. It was con- 
 sidered ' bad form ' for a man to put down the ball immediately 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 FOOTBALL 
 
 he was collared; for one thing, the runner \Yas nearly always a 
 behind, who had to get back to his position in the field, and 
 there was thus plenty of time for the scrummage to collect and 
 pack itself, and indeed the ball was as a matter of courtesy 
 never put down until the scrummage was well formed. Again, 
 too, for a long time there was a controversy as to when a man 
 was ' fairly held ' within the meaning of the rule, many averring 
 that there must be at least two opponents on the ball before it 
 became obligatory to cry ' down.' This rule of football etiquette 
 was, however, definitely disposed of in 1878, when law 18 of 
 the Union code was altered to its present shape, and the player 
 was obliged, 'when fairly held,' to 'at once cry down, and 
 immediately put it down.' This alteration at once made drib- 
 bling an essential feature of Rugby forward play. Another rule 
 of football etiquette was to consider it more or less of a ' low 
 trick' to 'heel out' the ball to the half-backs, a course which 
 was obviously advantageous to the side when its back division 
 was strong and its forwards weak. Many were the casuistical 
 distinctions drawn as to this piece of etiquette by those who 
 were divided in their desire to do the correct thing and to score 
 a try when the scrummage was near the adversaries' goal-line, 
 and to this day many think it admirable play for the forwards 
 to open their legs to let the ball through, but not good form to 
 heel out, a distinction with about as much difference in moral 
 character as there is between one who steals and one who re- 
 ceives stolen goods — that is to say, supposing that the practice 
 is to be considered wrong at all. 
 
 If the forwards, however, had a dull time of it, these were 
 the palmy days of half-backs. The ' half-backs ' were thcii the 
 heroes of the field, and had pretty well all the 'gallery' play to 
 theuiselves, although the three-quarters-backs gradually and 
 surely rose in importance. The half-backs then stood five or 
 ^\ six yards away from the scrummage, and the chief requirement 
 for the place was a capacity to start quickly and to dodge 
 the opponents' half-back ; for once well past the half-backs 
 the runner had the whole field clear with only three players
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 325 
 
 between himself and the goal, and the forwards already too far 
 behind to have any hope of catching him. His duty was, in 
 the words of our friend the semi-official authority, to ' get away 
 with the ball at full speed directly it makes its appearance through 
 the forest of legs,' and to stand well back from the scrummage, 
 as by going too near men have ' less time to pick up the ball ' 
 (strange words, but true enough in the days of tight scrim- 
 maging) ' and lose sight of the movements of their opponents' 
 half-backs.' It is not difficult, then, to see that the most en- 
 viable position in the field was that of half-back, and that most 
 'tries,' most sensational 'tackles,' and most glory fell to these 
 fortunate players. The best of them, we think, who ever 
 played under the old game was W. C. Hutchinson, of Cooper's 
 Hill. He had a marvellous faculty of dodging without slacking 
 pace just out of reach of the back who awaited his coming, and 
 woe betide the opponent who hesitated for a moment to rush 
 head-down at him and tackle at once. The man who waited 
 for him was lost. 
 
 Three-quarter-back play during this period had some points 
 of similarity with the present style of play in that place, but 
 there w^as less for the 'three-quarter' to do, as most of the 
 attack was carried on by the halves, and passing was much less 
 practised than it is now. The ' Rugby Union Football Annual ' 
 for 1875, ^^ ^'^ article written by an 'Old Rugbeian,' says that 
 for the post of ' three-quarters ' a man ' of good speed and a safe 
 tackle should be chosen ' (good enough advice at all times), 
 ' and like the backs, it is not so imperative that he should be 
 a fast starter as a strong runner when he has got well away.' 
 In the last clause lies the distinction between the old and pre- 
 sent style of three-quarter ; the three-quarter of old times was 
 little troubled by the forwards, and seldom had to fall on 
 the ball to stop its progress under a forward rush. One three- 
 quarter was considered sufficient for the English twenty for 
 several seasons, even although the Scotchmen were playing 
 two or three according to the more modern style. What was 
 mainly expected of a three-quarter was that he should be an
 
 3:^6 
 
 FOOTBALL 
 
 admirable drop and 
 able to score a drop- 
 ped goal when 
 opportunity offered. 
 In H. Freeman, the 
 Marlborough No- 
 mad, the English 
 tv,-enty found just the 
 man it wanted. For 
 two years running, 
 in 1874 and 1875, he 
 won the international 
 match for England 
 by dropping a goal, 
 the magnificent left- 
 foot drop with which 
 he scored upon the 
 first occasion being a 
 traditional theme for 
 discussion amongst 
 football coteries. 
 
 With regard to 
 the full-backs under 
 the old game, little 
 need be said at pre- 
 sent, as the style of 
 back play never has 
 and never can vary 
 in the Rugby game. 
 Your back is a inirely 
 defensive player, and 
 must be able to drop 
 or punt well, and 
 be a deadly tackle. 
 Good backs are the 
 rarest of all rare
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 327 
 
 players to find, as llie place is responsible and uninteresting in 
 a winning game. That the right article was even harder to 
 come across in the early days of big matches than now we can 
 readily believe, and time after time the backs chosen for inter- 
 national matches made wretched shows upon the ground ; but 
 we shall have more to say of backs later on. 
 
 After the substitution of fifteens for twenties in international 
 matches in 1877, the change in the style of play became rapid, 
 and the loose game came into fashion. Many clubs have 
 claimed the honour of introducing the loose game. A Scottish 
 football enthusiast has told us that the Scotchmen at last taught 
 the Englishmen how to play the real game ; in London the great 
 rivals Blackheath and Richmond still dispute as to the honour 
 of instituting the new style. In the present writer's humble and 
 perhaps biassed opinion, the change emanated from Oxford. 
 Certainly he knows that when, after playing in London in the 
 season of 1875-76, he played at Oxford in the spring of that 
 year against the best London clubs, the Oxford forwards play- 
 ing a loose game surprised the Blackheath and Richmond 
 players as to the merits of loose play, and by this time, it must 
 be recollected, the Universities had given up their twenties for 
 fifteens. At any rate, whether any club or county can claim 
 the especial honour of originating loose play, certain it is that 
 it was from about 1876 that the small thick-set forward began 
 to make his appearance upon the field, and the words ' fast 
 forward game ' began to be heard of in connection with Rugby 
 football. Speaking roughly, and in order for the sake of con- 
 venience to divide the description of that game into periods, we 
 say that as from the institution of the Rugby Union the first or 
 ' shoving ' period of the game lasted for half a dozen years, so 
 the next, or ' loose scrummaging ' period, lasted for about a 
 similar time, until the latest development of the game, the age 
 of ' passing,' began. 
 
 One change which was made in the rules of the game and 
 helped to alter its character ought first to be mentioned. Be- 
 fore 1875 a match could only be won by a majority of goals,
 
 328 FOOTBALL 
 
 this having been the original Rugby rule. Amongst men, how- 
 ever, place-kicking is never so good as it is with schoolboys, 
 and the result was that in very many matches no goal was scored 
 from the tries which were gained, and it became a common 
 thing for a match to remain ' drawn/ although one side had 
 secured several tries. As an example of the absurdity of the sys- 
 tem it may be mentioned that the present writer played in one 
 match when nine tries were obtained by one side, and yet it 
 was declared drawn. The rule as altered in 1875 provided 
 that one goal should be better than any number of tries, but 
 that if no goal should be obtained the match should be won by a 
 majority of tries ; and this method of scoring remained for eleven 
 years, although efforts from time to time were made to reduce 
 the importance of the goal. Since then the rule has been fre- 
 quently altered, and at present the game is decided by a majority 
 of points, a try counting three, a penalty goal three, a dropped 
 goal four, and a goal from a try two in addition to the try. 
 
 In the second period the good forward not only had to be 
 a good scrummager and tackier, but was bound also to be a 
 good dribbler, and fast in following up. If nine or ten of the 
 desired players could not be found in a club, it became neces- 
 sary to choose some for their scrummaging, and others for their 
 dribbling and following up ; but it was necessary at any rate 
 for the team as a whole to show a combination of activity and 
 power, and not to rely on strength alone. As soon as this was 
 recognised, and it was seen that games were mainly won by 
 good combined forward play, the object of the forwards on the 
 winning side became not to keep the scrummage tight, but to 
 break it up as soon as i)ossible, and if this could not be done 
 by straight shoving through the middle of the pack, to effect 
 the same object by screwing the scrummage round with the ball 
 still at the feet of that layer of the scrummagers which was borne 
 to the front. With the scrummage once broken down, the ball 
 was away in a moment, and borne down the field by the com- 
 bined rush of the forwards. As soon, then, as the new game 
 came in, every forward had to go into the scrummage head
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 329 
 
 down, for by standing well up and shoving blindly he became 
 of more harm than good. Above all things he had to learn to 
 dribble, and keep the ball close to him, and not to kick the 
 ball right away from him into the hands of the opposing three- 
 quarters. The new forward had to be a sturdy vehement 
 player, but with his feet well under his control. In fact, he is 
 the forward of to-day, save that he was not taught to cultivate 
 'scientific passing.' 
 
 As the system of ' tight scrummaging ' gradually gave waj', 
 the half-backs began to find themselves with less and less of- 
 fensive and more defensive work to do. The half-back could 
 not afford to stand away from the scrummage so as to get well 
 away from the ball, for the loose scrummagers were on the ball 
 the instant it came through the scrummage. The chief business 
 of the half-back then became to snap up the ball like lightning 
 as soon as it came away from the pack, and then to run, punt 
 into touch, or pass back to the three-quarter, as opportunity 
 offered ; but it was seldom in a fast match upon a dry ground 
 that the half-back had a really good chance of himself getting 
 away direct from the scrummage, his best chance of a run 
 being after a pass from one of his own forwards. The imme- 
 diate results, therefore, of the loose scrummaging system were 
 these : the great requisites for a half-back became readiness of 
 resource and nimbleness and deftness in picking up the ball ; 
 speed of running being a comparatively minor consideration. 
 The proper place for the speedy runner was at three-quarter 
 back, and the slow runner did little good at three-quarter unless 
 he happened to be a marvellously good and quick ' drop-kick ' 
 In the later game then we find the three-quarter backs doing 
 the majority of the long runs, sensational drop-kicks and 
 brilliant play, and the half-back having to content himself with 
 being ' useful ' only in all the 'outside scrummage play,' although 
 he often got his opportunities for dodging over the line if he 
 followed up the three-quarter after a run, or got hold of the 
 ball after a loose rush of his own forwards who had overrun 
 the ball.
 
 33° 
 
 FOOTBALL 
 
 The first alteration of tactics when the new game had 
 fairly come in was the experiment of playing three half-backs 
 outside the scrummage. The practice, however, never properly 
 took root, although we believe the Blackheath Club steadily 
 played this way throughout one season ; the three ' halves ' 
 often got in each other's way, and there soon became little 
 doubt that it was a mistake. Two * backs ' were always played 
 at that time, and to play seven men behind the scrummage 
 was considered then a dangerous risk, nor could one three- 
 quarter be reasonably expected to do all the work behind the 
 three halves. The game then settled down for a bit with 
 six players behind the scrummage, two halves, two three- 
 quarters, and two backs, the remaining nine playing forward. 
 The best halves were strong, thick-set men, rather under than 
 over middle height, who could both whip up the ball and 
 tackle unerringly, and were hardy and elastic enough to come 
 up smiling after half a scrummage had fallen plump upon 
 the top of them. In these days also there was more room for a 
 half to be brilliant than there is at present, as he was expected 
 to snap up the ball and run or punt into touch from the melee, 
 and not to ' sweep ' the ball straight back to the three-quarters 
 as soon as he could get his hands upon it. 
 
 The real feature of the loose game, however, was the ad- 
 ditional importance it gave to the three-quarter back. In the 
 old days when most tries were gained by a straight 'run-in,' 
 the main defence rested with the backs, who could be relied 
 upon to tackle the runner before he reached the goal-line ; but 
 now, when the most dangerous assault was a rush of the for- 
 wards in line, the single defensive line of the backs could not 
 be relied upon, and the three-quarters had at all costs to keep 
 the ball in front of them. Thus they came to do the bulk of 
 the really important defensive work ; they also rapidly came to 
 do most of the long brilliant runs. The half-back was too 
 close to the loose scrummage to get round, and thus constantly 
 passed to the three-quarters, who then found a chance of getting 
 away. Often, also, this chance arose through the clumsiness
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 331 
 
 of an opposing forward, who kicked hard when he should 
 have dribbled, and thus sent the ball past the half-backs into 
 the hands of the three-quarters. The three-quarters thus were 
 the only players behind who had much prospect of scoring a 
 dropped goal, or of getting ' well away ' with a hope of running 
 round the opposing field. Thus the three-quarters found most 
 of the brilliant attack fall to their share, and as they formed 
 also the main defence of the field, the ' full-backs ' had little to 
 do. First one and then another club started the new custom 
 of playing one back and three three-quarters. The Scotchmen 
 and the North-country players began the practice before it was 
 regularly adopted in the south ; but by the winter of 1880 both 
 teams in the North and South match played one back, although 
 the Southerners still relied on a couple of three-quarters, while 
 the Northerners played three. Soon after this, however, the 
 second ' back ' was generally dispensed with in first-class 
 teams, and the field for many years was arranged in the follow- 
 ing order : nine forwards, two halves, three three-quarters, and 
 a back. 
 
 During the second stage of the game which we have just 
 been describing, the merits and advantages of passing the ball 
 were always admitted both by players and by writers on the 
 game, and yet it is only in the last few years that the science 
 of passing has been so far cultivated as to make the game of 
 to-day distinctly different from what it was in 1880 or 1881. 
 Again, we may say that it is difficult to fix a precise period 
 at which the game changed, and quick and low passing into 
 the open became the predominant feature of the play as it un- 
 doubtedly is at the present time. The style of playing a game 
 alters so slowly, that probably the players themselves of the 
 last few years have noticed less than the spectators how different 
 the game of Rugby football is, as it is now played by the 
 leading clubs, from the game exhibited before it came to be 
 recognised as a leading principle that a player must 'pass'' 
 before he was in difficulties himself if his pass was to be relied 
 upon to do good to his side. Probably the playing public
 
 332 FOOTBALL 
 
 were converted to the new style by the wonderful play shown 
 by the Oxford University team between 1882 and 1884. 
 Certainly, since that time up to the present day, passing has 
 been one of the most important points of the game, and one 
 that has been practised until a wonderful amount of skill in 
 the new game has been acquired. If one comes on to a field 
 before play has commenced, the men waiting for the game are 
 not taking drop-kick practice, or dribbling the ball about to 
 'keep their feet in,' as was their wont before the passing game 
 came in, but are now to be seen playing at catch-ball, and 
 slinging the ball from hand to hand, not high in the air, but 
 about the level of the hands from the ground. The clever 
 half-back, too, does not pick up the ball and then pass it to 
 his three-quarter, but sweeps it off the ground straight into the 
 hands of its destined recipient in one movement. Forwards, 
 half-backs, and three-quarters, alike, vie with each other in 
 their efforts to make brilliant ' passes,' the ball sometimes 
 passing from hand to hand half a dozen times before it reaches 
 the open, and an attempt is made by a player to have a clear 
 run, and show his pace down the field. That the game fails 
 unless skilfully done is clear, but experience has conclusively 
 shown that wnth good and well-trained teams the best way to 
 score tries is for the players to have thoroughly mastered the 
 modern scientific 'passing' game. 
 
 The introduction of the ' passing ' game and its gradual 
 adoption throughout the country has led to a further change 
 in the arrangement of the field, or, to use the technical phrase, 
 to the institution of the ' four three quarter system.' The 
 system originated in Wales, where some of the leading clubs 
 soon discovered that for a 'pass' to be accurate it must be 
 short, and that four three-quarter backs who had learnt to back 
 each other up and take short passes were almost irresistible in 
 attack, and that they also afforded a formidable wall of defence 
 against the runs of the opposing back players. For some years 
 the Welsh clubs and the Welsh international teams appeared 
 '\\\ the field with four three-quarters, but the rest of the country
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 333 
 
 looked with some scepticism upon the practice, as it was pointed 
 out how materially the forward division was weakened by the 
 abstraction of the ninth forward. Gradually, however, the 
 Welsh system gained favour throughout the country, first the 
 North and then the South succumbing to the innovation. In 
 the winter of 189.? the Northern team in the North j;. South 
 match played with four three-quarters, and, although it was 
 stated at the time by some of the Rugby Union committee that 
 this was merely an experiment, little was then wanted to con- 
 vert the innovation into an established practice. In the winter 
 season of 1892-3 the Welsh international fifteen carried all 
 before them, and administered a decisive beating both to 
 England and Scotland, and this, no doubt, had an important 
 effect upon public opinion ; and the ensuing season of 1893-4 
 saw not only both Universities but all four international teams 
 — England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales — with four three- 
 quarters in the field. The new system is no doubt an inevit- 
 able corollary to the passing game, and is likely to remain an 
 established part of the game, although a good many clubs who 
 play the safer and old-fashioned game and rely mainly upon 
 their forwards, are still content with three three-quarter backs 
 and nine forwards. 
 
 One great charm to spectators about both games of football 
 is the simplicity of the main outlines of the game. Although 
 the actual rules as to small points may be hard to compre- 
 hend, a spectator, seeing the game for the first time, can 
 understand at a glance the object for which each side is 
 striving, and can follow with interest the varying fortunes of 
 the struggle. 
 
 To describe the main features of the Rugby game in a few 
 lines : two parties of fifteen face each other on a rectangular 
 piece of grass, of about 120 yards long, and 70 yards or so wide- 
 In the centre of the boundary line of each end (the goal-line) 
 are placed two upright posts, iS ft. 6 in. apart ; ten feet from the 
 ground these are connected by a cross-bar. The aim of each 
 side is to kick the ball over the cross-bar of the opponent's
 
 334 FOOTBALL 
 
 goal. When the ball crosses the boundary lines of the sides 
 (touch-lines) it is out of play, and has to be brought back into 
 play. When it crosses a goal-line if one of the attacking side 
 can 'touch it down,' i.e. place his hand so as to stop its rolling, 
 he has gained a try, and his own side can take it out again into 
 the field and have a free kick at goal. To gain a goal, either 
 from the field of play or from a try, the ball must be kicked 
 direct from the ground over the cross-bar, and to work the ball 
 towards the opponent's line the player may run with it, kick it, 
 or hand it to another of his own side. The main essential rule 
 of the game, which determines its character, is that no one must 
 kick or throw the ball forward to one of his own side, or the 
 latter is guilty of ' off-side play.' When we add that striking 
 the ball with the hand or arm is not allowed, the reader has 
 before him the skeleton outline of the Rugby Union game. 
 
 We have seen that, as far as experience has shown at pre- 
 sent, the most successful tactics have proved to be the playing 
 of eight or nine men of the fifteen who form the side as ' for- 
 wards ' ; two as 'half-backs,' who staixi close to the 'scrummage,' 
 which is formed whenever the ball is fairly held and put down 
 upon the ground ; three or four behind these, who are styled 
 ' three-quarter backs,' and whose aim is to keep clear and away 
 from the mass of struggling forwards, and one ' back,' who does 
 not guard the goal alone, like the ' goal-keeper ' in the Associa- 
 tion game, but has to defend the whole goal-line of his side. 
 As it would be tedious and unfruitful to discuss the minor rules 
 of the game, which can speak clearly enough for themselves, it 
 remains for us to offer some criticisms and detail some reminis- 
 cences of the brave old game, and those who have played it. 
 And first as to the forwards. 
 
 With football, as well as with other games of skill, it is a 
 much easier task for a man to criticise the play of individual 
 members of a team than it would be for him to make up the 
 team himself. Nothing is more common than to hear an 
 unfriendly or perhaps a disappointed player say that he cannot 
 imagine how So-and-so ever ' got his colours,' or was put into
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 335 
 
 the international team ; and this kind of criticism is especially 
 applied to forwards, for a good deal of their best work is done 
 where its merit can hardly be recognised by any but a careful 
 and intelligent captain. Scrummages are still one of the main 
 features of the game, for even if the play is exceptionally fast 
 and loose, as a rule there is bound to be a scrummage when the 
 ball is thrown in from touch ; and a captain who chooses all 
 the fast and brilliant players he can pick out, will find his side 
 nowhere if he has nobody to ' hold the scrummage.' Time 
 after time we have seen all the efforts of a brilliant team of 
 back players rendered quite useless because their forwards 
 were unable to keep their opponents from breaking down the 
 scrummage. 
 
 One example is within the writer's recollection of a team 
 which won a whole season's matches by carrying the scrummage. 
 A certain college at Oxford for four seasons was undefeated by 
 any other college ; for the first two years of this success it had 
 a good back as well as forward team. For the last two of these 
 seasons the team was almost without competent backs at all, 
 most of the back players being forwards converted into backs 
 by necessity; yet the team could still win its matches, no other 
 college team being able to 'hold the scrummage' against it. 
 The critic, then, has always to recollect that the first and essen- 
 tial requisite to a forward team is that it should be able to 
 * hold,' if not always to ' carry the scrummage.' In the bygone 
 shoving days a scrummage often did not break up at all of itself; 
 the ball was heeled out or oozed out, and the forwards continued 
 to shove until they heard a shout that the ' ball was away.' 
 Nowadays a ball seldom comes out except when the scrummage 
 is carried by one team, either by shoving clean through its 
 opponents or by cleverly ' screwing ' the scrummage and taking 
 the ball out. There is, therefore, a good deal of skill to be 
 shown in the way of scrummaging alone, and it is imperatively 
 necessary, as long as football remains as it is, that a certain 
 number of the forwards should be chosen for their scrummag- 
 ing powers. The modern forwards, then, should be the
 
 336 FOOTBALL 
 
 possessors of three distinct qualities, of scrummaging, passing, 
 and dribbling, but if these rarissimce aves should not be 
 procurable, the team of nine forwards as a whole should dis- 
 play all these qualities amongst their number, and we are not 
 at all certain that a certain football critic said badly when he 
 advised captains to choose three hard shovers, three good 
 dribblers, and three clever passers for his forward team at the 
 beginning of the season, and let them learn each other's game, 
 and the result would be the combination required. No doubt 
 the advice cannot be taken literally, but there is a good deal of 
 truth in the seeming paradox. 
 
 The first thing, then, that the forwards must learn is the 
 art of scrummaging. The man who from laziness or want of 
 training puts his head into the pack and simply shoves straight 
 forward, if he imagines himself to be scrummaging, is as great 
 a self-deceiver as the ostrich who puts his head into the bush 
 and imagines himself invisible. Many things go to make the 
 real scrummager ; first, he must always be ready to push into 
 the fray at once ; much is gained by being in position to shove 
 as soon as the ball is put down, and the side which gets two 
 or three men packed first with their heads underneath has, 
 if the said three men know how to 'work' the ball and keep it 
 with them when the scrummage gives or twists, half won the 
 scrummage for that time already. Then those who are on the 
 ball must gently ' work ' it with their feet, so as to take it with 
 them whenever the scrummage shows signs of screwing, or 
 yields in any quarter, and if perchance the yielding is on their 
 own side, even then by clever manipulation they may let the 
 stream rush past them without taking the ball with it. We 
 have often seen a scrummage scatter past one of the Gurdons 
 or Thomson of Halifax, and lo, when it had gone by there was 
 the old stager speeding away from ihcm with the ball still in 
 front of him. 
 
 These, however, arc rare examples, and there is still plenty 
 of unscientific scrummaging to be seen ; men who are not on 
 the ball keep their place in. the hope of a sudden turn of the
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 
 
 Z17 
 
 scrummage giving them a brilliant opportunity, and many are 
 the lazy players who, having come through the scrummage 
 without the ball, betake their way to the back of the scrummage 
 again with considerable leisure. But there is many a good 
 scrummager who packs quickly, shoves the instant the ball is 
 down, and can steadily keep with the ball and never lose touch 
 of it as the scrummage sways, and to those who play the right 
 game there is plenty of skill as well as force in scrummaging. 
 
 ' A loose scrumma: 
 
 The heroes of these melees often make little reputation with the 
 public, and those alone who have played with them or against 
 them know their merits. But some of these gentry there must 
 be in any conquering team. 
 
 For play in the open two kinds of skill are required, 
 skill with the feet and with the hands. At present it is the 
 novelty of scientific hand-play which excites the most ap- 
 plause, but with forwards it is doubtful whether cleverness 
 in passing should not be considered only a supplementary
 
 338 FOOTBALL 
 
 excellence, and the true merit of a ' brilliant forward ' to lie in 
 fast following up, clever dribbling and rapid tackling. Indeed, 
 wc are old-fashioned enough (and fashions have quickly changed 
 in Rugby football) to think that the forward's business is to let 
 the ball get upon the ground, and keep as close as he can 
 behind it. Before, therefore, we discuss the subject of scientific 
 passing — the favourite subject for the football essay of the pre- 
 sent period — we propose to say a word or two as to the rest of 
 the forward business. 
 
 The chief merit of a forward's play in the open is to be 
 always close to the ball. If he is after it and following it up 
 with a rush, as soon as it is out of the scrummage he is bound 
 to be of service provided he can control the only fatal fault 
 of kicking hard, and so giving the opponents' back players a 
 chance of drop-kicking, or getting well away with a run. His 
 main duties, then, are to know how to dribble, to tackle (and 
 to tackle the ball and not the man only), and to keep close to 
 the ball wherever it be. To dribble the oval ball which is 
 used in the Rugby game is no easy task, as it is seldom likely 
 to roll quite true, and thus in Rugby dribbling it is of even 
 more importance than in the Association game to take short 
 steps, and never part with the ball for even a couple of strides, 
 lest you may overrun it. The natural result is that, with very 
 few exceptions, the best dribblers of the Rugby game are short, 
 thick-set men, as they can get more pace combined with safety 
 than their longer-legged brethren, although of course they must 
 be 'strong on their pins,' or they will be swept off the ball at 
 the first impact. When one gets a whole team of good 
 dribblers who sweep up the ground with a rush, spreading out 
 four or five yards each side of the ball and a few behind it to 
 take on the ball in case it should be overrun, such a rush is 
 not only an inspiriting sight, but is almost irresistible to the 
 opponents. Like a wave the rush bears down the opponents' 
 backs, and carries the game often from one end to another, 
 and if captains would only coach their forwards to back up 
 such a rush, and pass the ball with the feet when the ranks of
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 339 
 
 the opposing three-quarters have to be met, we beheve they 
 would be more dangerous than forwards who play the handing 
 game. A single error in the handing game may be fatal, and 
 on wet days when the ball is greasy these errors are always 
 made now and then in a match ; but with a well-trained for- 
 ward rush there is everything to gain and nothing to lose, 
 for the worst that can happen is for the rush to be brought to a 
 standstill by some opponent pouncing on the ball, when a new 
 scrummage is immediately formed which it is three to one will 
 be again carried by victorious forwards who are already on the 
 spot and ready to pack at once. The good dribbler, if he is 
 to be of any use, must of course be good at following up, and 
 by a forward who plays a good dribbling game, we mean him 
 of whom it can be said that where the ball is there will he 
 be, or thereabouts. A good dribbling forward game we shall 
 always believe to be not only the most useful but the most 
 enjoyable. 
 
 Every forward must also be a good tackier, a remark which 
 can equally be said of every other player on the field. A poor 
 tackier is almost useless anywhere, but luckily it is an art which 
 although it takes time to learn can be learnt by anyone who 
 has pluck and head enough to play football at all. There are 
 usually said to be two rules, and two only, for tackling : to 
 tackle the ball and not the man alone, and to ' tackle low,' 
 both rules being, howe^■er, really directed to the same end, the 
 stopping of the ball ; for it is useless to stop the man who 
 carries it if he can at once pass to a friend. What both rules 
 really come to is this, that one arm at least of the person tack- 
 ling should be thrown over the ball. The advantage of ' tackling 
 low ' is this, that when the tackier stoops to rush at the runner 
 and grasp him tight round the body, it is almost impossible lor 
 the runner to shove him off. The novice who, standing up- 
 right, fumbles at the runner will find himself ' armed off ' with 
 a well-directed shove, he totters, and the runner is away. 
 The tackier, on the contrary, who gets himself together by 
 stooping well as he runs, either gets both arms round the
 
 340 FOOTBALL 
 
 runner's trunk, or one round the trunk near the waist, and one 
 over the shoulder, and the adversary is caught as in a vice. 
 To lay down any absolute rules as to how one man should 
 tackle another running with the ball is in our opinion impossible. 
 A big man may have to collar a little man, or vice versa ; and, 
 granting that the pair are of equal size, the tackier may have to 
 take his man from the front, from the side, or even from the 
 back, or his man may be standing, running, dodging, or stoop- 
 ing, and the tackier himself may have to ' go for his man ' or 
 wait for him. One fact can scarcely be gainsaid, that the 
 tackier on any part of the field should seldom, under any cir- 
 cumstances, absolutely wait for his man ; he should judge 
 when he is the right distance off, and dash in at him. The 
 maxim to ' collar low ' also often cannot apply ; a very tall man 
 sometimes cannot collar a very small man low, and we have a 
 lively recollection, in a match in which we took part, of seeing that 
 smallest of clever half-backs, R. T. Finch, of Cambridge, dodging 
 through the Oxford backs who were too tall to get down below 
 his shoulders, which he could always free by a well-studied 
 wriggle. Indeed, there is a rumour, wliich we cannot verify, that 
 the said R. T. Finch ran between the legs of the very gigantic 
 back whom Oxford played in one year. This, however, we 
 believe to be an undoubted libel on that plucky little Cambridge 
 half-back, who was not nearly so small as he appeared to be 
 in the football field, through ' running low.' To return, how- 
 ever, to the question of the perfect tackle, it is easier to say how 
 a player behind the scrummage should tackle, for he has more 
 time to get into the right position ; it is the forward's business 
 to tackle as quickly as he can, to keep his eye on the ball, and 
 get his grip at it as soon after as possible, and by all means to 
 tackle ' low ' if he can. 
 
 The forward then must be a good ' dribbler, tackier, and 
 follower up ' in the open, and at present is expected to have 
 mastered the science and art of passing ; but before we deal 
 with the last, there are some other points of forward play which 
 we must notice. The forward must always be ready to line up
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 341 
 
 and face one man, and one only, when the ball is thrown into 
 play from touch. When practicable he should mark the same 
 man throughout the game, and when the ball is thrown he 
 should always be on the alert ; if his mind once be off the 
 game and he be a bit unstrung, he may muddle the ball and 
 miss a chance. To add the further advice, that a forward 
 should use his judgment, and neither interfere with his own 
 half-back nor another forward, is somewhat superfluous, as a 
 man who has no judgment cannot have it preached into him, 
 and those who have it require no stimulus to its exercise. 
 The frequent exhortations which we notice in manuals of sport 
 to players of football to play unselfishly and with judgment, 
 always remind us of certain other regulations which we see 
 daily for the precautions to be taken in case of fire, a leading 
 rule being to 'be calm and collected.' We may deal in 
 similar wise with the exhortation to play up hard and not be 
 sluggish. Such exhortations may be admirable in the field but 
 are useless in books. Playing up hard, exercise of judgment, 
 unselfish combination, these are the very elements of success 
 at football ; but men do not learn such necessities from the 
 reading of books. 
 
 Some years ago that well-known theorist of football, Mr. 
 Budd of Blackheath (who, by-the-bye, was not a mere theorist 
 only, but one of the best practical exponents of the art of for- 
 ward play), wrote an essay in a sporting magazine on the theory 
 of passing, and the substance of this is again to be found in a 
 contribution made by the same writer, together with i\Ir. Vassall, 
 the Oxonian, to the ' Football Annual.' * "What is passing, 
 properly understood ? ' say these writers. ' Its final cause is the 
 transmission of the ball from the mass of players to the open. 
 This is the sum and substance of the theory , , . You must 
 not only transmit the ball to your comrade, but he must be ad- 
 vantageously placed to receive it, and in a position in or towards 
 the open and away from the mass.' From this they deduce 
 the conclusion that passing should be made as nearly as possible 
 in a straight line across the ground without offending against
 
 342 1: 00 TB ALL 
 
 the rule which prohibits throwing forward, and that those who 
 back up the runner and wait for the pass should back up on 
 the side nearest the open and almost if not quite level with 
 him. That such is the true theory of passing is indubitable ; 
 but what is doubtful is whether any theory can be worked to 
 perfection by mortal men amidst the hurly-burly of the Rugby 
 game. That a very great deal of skill has been shown by good 
 teams in working out the theory cannot be denied, and this is 
 always done when the passing has been started from the side 
 of the ground. It is when the game has got entirely into the 
 open and there is no scrummage left, that we have seen the 
 game break down, and at present we have never observed any 
 system of passing work successfully when the whole side, for- 
 wards and backs, have tried to join in the passing. Possibly 
 this stage of skill may eventually be reached, but then the 
 grievance that the old footballer will have against the game 
 will be that the pastime will degenerate from the nianly sport 
 of football into the elegant art of catchball. Certain it is that 
 the average forward should not forget that dribbling and tackling 
 are his most important duties. It has appeared to us in more 
 than one crack match of recent days that the forwards were 
 not only inferior in dribbling, but were getting to collar with 
 less precision and accuracy than they used to show through 
 paying too much attention to the flying of the ball from hand 
 to hand. In one of the Richmond v. Blackheath matches a 
 few years ago we saw a back, who after countless successions 
 of passes thought he would try a run, come clean through the 
 Richmond forwards without having a finger laid upon him. 
 However, time alone can show whether there will be still 
 further developments of the handing game, or whether the 
 passing will in future be left mainly to those behind the scrum- 
 mage. 
 
 It remains to give, before we leave the subject of passing, 
 some of the practical rules for the exercise of the art. Firstly, 
 the passer should pass quickly and low ; he should not, as the
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 343 
 
 old players did, toss it into the air, but throw or sling it, just 
 at the height of his hands, straight into the hands of the 
 'passee.' Next he should pass to one definite man, and not 
 attempt to pass to where several of his side are. Thirdly, he 
 should, in order to pass accurately and low, pass before he is 
 collared, i.e. as near before the collaring as possible, but when 
 he is in a position to move his arm without being hampered. 
 A man who attempts to pass when he is being collared may 
 find the ball fly off in another direction through his antagonist 
 pulling him round. Not unless he is quite firm in his position, 
 and quite certain of being able to pass the ball where he likes, 
 should he attempt the manoeuvre. The great aim of a man 
 bringing off a pass is to do it with accuracy, and yet so far 
 monopolise the attention of those seeking to collar him that 
 they will be unable in time to turn their attention to the 'passee.' 
 What this precise moment is has to be left, like many other 
 things, to the judgment of the player. 
 
 One point, however, must not be omitted with reference to 
 the ' passing ' game, that it is always liable to break down upon a 
 wet day, when the ground is so slushy that it is hard for players, 
 and especially for heavy players, to keep their feet. When 
 fingers are numbed, and the ball as slippery and hard to hold 
 as an eel, then the passing game becomes all but impracticable, 
 and as fast running is also difficult the dribbling game 'comes 
 off In all weathers, and under all conditions, the team which 
 can dribble with skill and combination will always do well. 
 The soundest advice then that we can give to forwards, although 
 it has not a moral sound, is not only to play with the feet, but 
 to ' play fast and loose.' 
 
 It is difficult to deal with footballers as with runners, and pick 
 out the best players as easily as the best athletes, for the best 
 player is but one of fifteen, and contributes but little more or 
 less than one-fifteenth of the skill which gains the victory. Even 
 in the historical matches of the year in which time after time 
 we have noticed fine players playing beneath their form, through
 
 344 FOOTBALL 
 
 being associated with strangers, it is almost impossible to form 
 a true estimate of each ' crack's ' abilities. In addition to this, 
 in speaking both of forwards and backs it is difficult to insti- 
 tute trustworthy comparisons, so much has the style of play 
 varied from time to time. Some forwards have earned their 
 places in international matches without possessing any great 
 amount of skill, because strength and weight were required to 
 hold their scrimmages and their men. Other very heavy men, 
 however, have been genuinely clever players, like Fowler and 
 Vassall, of Oxford, and E. T. and C. Gurdon, of Cambridge. 
 The two Gurdons, indeed, were the best pair of forwards whom 
 we have ever seen in the football field, and their excellence 
 is the more remarkable as they have played through almost 
 every stage of the game ; when scrummaging was the chief 
 essential they knew how to scrummage, when the dribbling 
 game came in they proved themselves the best of dribblers, 
 and when the rage for passing arose they adapted themselves to it 
 with as much success as any of the youngsters ; but others, such 
 as Arthur Budd and G. W. Burton, of Blackheath, H. G. Fuller 
 of Cambridge, Harrison of Yorkshire, and many others whom 
 it is impossible to name without being prolix, have owed no 
 part of their reputation to their weight, so that it is no longer a 
 reproach to the Rugby Union game that skill is at a discount 
 as compared with strength. 
 
 To turn now to play behind the scrummage, there is little 
 more to add to what we have said before in our discussions of 
 the tactics of the game, both in the past and in the present, 
 and of the science and methods of passing and tackling. In 
 the earliest days the half was expected to run ; to-day he is 
 expected to pass rather than run, and scarcely ever to run 
 except when the ball is passed back to him from a three-quarter 
 or he has no good chance of passing. If the ball comes out of 
 the scrummage the business of the half-back is, as we have said, 
 to fling to the three-quarter in the open with one motion — in- 
 deed, to sweep the ball clean from the ground into the three-
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 345 
 
 quarter's hands. He must lose no time, or the ' halves ' of the 
 other side will be upon him. If they cannot pass, the best 
 halves more often punt into touch than run, for in most cases 
 it follows that if they cannot pass they are not in a position to 
 do much good by running themselves. So much for the offen- 
 sive part of their work ; the defensive part is to pounce like 
 lightning on the opposing halves or three-quarters before they 
 can get away or pass, and to stop the rushes of forwards by 
 nipping up the ball or falling upon it. In fact, quick picking 
 up is the chief merit of a half in the latter-day style of play, 
 and to be a speedy or dodgy runner is of less use in this place 
 upon the field than it was. Indeed, as we have seen, this new 
 style of play has been forced upon the halves by the increasing 
 looseness of the play amongst the forwards, which gives the 
 half-back little chance of doing much brilliant work by his own 
 u'iiaided efforts. 
 
 Before the importance of passing by the half-back became 
 paramount, the half-back of the day was the strong dodgy runner 
 and deadly tackier of the type of whom H. H. Taylor of Black- 
 heath and R. T. Finch of Cambridge were the best examples. 
 The latter was very hard to collar, and could fasten upon the 
 biggest men like a burr and bring them to the ground, but 
 though, perhaps, more brilliant than Taylor, the strength of the 
 latter made him the safest player we ever recollect upon this 
 place in the field, his strength of arm being so great that even 
 the strongest could never break away from him. For the 
 defensive part of the work of a half-back we have never 
 seen his superior. The best half-back of his day, as far as 
 running was concerned, was the Cambridge captain and Scot- 
 tish international, A. R. Don Wauchope ; but he also was 
 not so strong and hard as Taylor. On the whole, however, 
 we are inclined to class Don Wauchope and the Oxonian 
 A. Rotherham as the two best half-backs of history since 
 loose scrummaging became known. Rotherham more pro- 
 perly figures in a later stage of the sport, after the passing
 
 346 FOOTBALL 
 
 game had fully come in, and therefore, perhaps, it is only to 
 his credit to say that he showed less brilliant form as a runner 
 than Don A\'auchope, but his strength and weight made him a 
 perfect defensive player, and his clever passing and admirable 
 following up entitle him to be considered one of the best half- 
 backs seen in the South since the passing game came in. 
 
 The pick of the play now falls to the three-quarter backs 
 They alone in the field are sure (if the halves are up to their 
 work) to have some opportunities of getting well away with a 
 run. As we have seen before, no club now ever plays with less 
 than three three-quarter-backs, while a very large number, in- 
 cluding most of the leading clubs, put four three-quarters 
 into the field. Of these all do not play quite the same 
 game, although all have equally to learn how to give and to 
 receive those accurate short ' passes ' which are now the 
 feature of the game as it is played in the open. But, apart 
 from this, a different game is played by the three-quarter or the 
 pair of three-quarters placed in the centre, to that played by 
 those who play on the outside. 
 
 The steadiest defensive player who is a good drop-kick and 
 safe in stopping forward rushes should be in the centre, and 
 he must be always on the look-out for passing to whichever of 
 the two outside three-quarters has the clearest field in front 
 of him. But very often, and especially when the game is 
 getting near his own goal, the middle three-quarter should 
 neither pass nor run himself, but take a long drop or punt 
 into touch, and when on the contrary the game is near the 
 opponents' goal, he should be continually on the alert to drop 
 a goal from the field of play. 
 
 It will thus be seen that, in the writer's opinion, the centre 
 three-quarter should cultivate drop-kicking as the first and most 
 important thing of all, and provided he be a safe and smart 
 drop, and steady at stopping forward rushes by snapping up 
 the ball or falling upon it, it does not matter so much whether 
 he has any brilliant pace, great as is the advantage of pace upon 
 any quarter of the field.
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 
 
 347 
 
 Each and all the three-quarters must be good tacklers, and 
 must always tackle low, and hold the ball at all costs, for as 
 only one back is played and passing is understood nowa- 
 days, it is not safe to rely upon the single back. The out- 
 side three-quarters must do the bulk of the running, and 
 get most of the tries, for when a pass is once well begun 
 the outside three-quarter who is on the 
 open side of the play (i.e. where there is 
 the widest portion of field between the 
 scrummage and the touch line) is sure to 
 get the ball either from the half-back or 
 from the centre three-quarter, who will 
 pass after he has made a start himself and 
 given his outside a chance of getting into 
 the right position. It is therefore in the 
 position of outside three-quarters that the 
 very fastest runners should be placed, and 
 many men have made a brilliant show in 
 this position simply and solely owing to 
 their pace. 
 
 However, though fast running alone 
 can never make a footballer, the really fast 
 runner has a great pull at three-quarters, 
 for the best tackier in the world cannot 
 stop a man whom he cannot reach, and 
 there have been many fast runners, especially in the earlier 
 days, who have gained tries simply through their fleetness of 
 foot. Useful therefore as drop-kicking is to every three- 
 quarter, the feature of outside three-quarter play is running, and 
 in selecting the three men for the place in every team different 
 qualities are required for centre and side. Lastly, all the 
 three-quarters must recollect that they have only one back 
 behind them, and if they miss a man or if from any cause a 
 runner has passed them, they must be on his track at full 
 speed without delay. They must in one word recollect that 
 their business is defence as well as attack, and must continually 
 
 Three-quarter back : 
 ' An anxious moment.
 
 348 FOOTBALL 
 
 see that they are covering the field between them and are not 
 all massed together in their greediness to get the ball for a 
 showy run. 
 
 Undoubtedly the best three-quarter of his day was L. Stokes, 
 the Blackheath captain. There have been both before and 
 since more brilliant runners and safer tacklers, but probably 
 no better drop-kick, and none with more judgment and know- 
 ledge of the game. His command over the ball in drop-kicking 
 was marvellous, and his drops at goal and long drops into 
 touch were masterpieces. One great element in his success 
 was the careful eye he kept on his halves and backs to ensure 
 a safe defence of the field. In his time, first one, and then 
 two three-quarters were played, but in the present game his 
 style of play would have fitted him for centre three-quarter. 
 ^^■e are rather inclined to think, however, that Wade, the 
 Oxonian, was the best three-quarter we have seen. He and 
 \V. N. Bolton, of Blackheath, were great rivals and contem- 
 poraries, both being strong, fast men, and very hard to stop, 
 and one day one, on another day the other, pleased their critics 
 best ; Bolton, however, though perhaps faster, occasionally 
 played clumsily and made mistakes, although always a very 
 dangerous player to have on the other side. Lately, Stoddart 
 of Blackheath has eclipsed both in reputation, being a very fast 
 clever runner and a capital drop, and on his day marvellously 
 good ; but as a defensive player he was not in our opinion the 
 equal of Bolton or Wade, and was more uncertain in his play 
 than either of them. For all-round excellence at three-quarters 
 few have ever surpassed R. E. Lockwood, a little Yorkshire- 
 man who was both sturdy and speedy. 
 
 Last but not least comes the full back, and of him it may 
 be said that it is easy to describe him but difficult to find him. 
 Two things only are required of him, that he should be an ad- 
 mirable and accurate drop, and a safe and strong tackier, who 
 neither lets his man pass him nor can be knocked over or 
 brushed aside by a rush. To find those who can answer to
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 349 
 
 this description would not seem to be difficult, but the fact 
 remains that backs are not to be found. The reason after all is 
 plain enough, that most footballers play for the fun and the 
 fun alone, and there is no pleasure at all in playing back unless 
 one's own side is getting much the worst of the game. The 
 goal-keeper in the Association game is sure to have something 
 to do even in a winning game, but the Rugby back when his side 
 is winning often has nothing but one or two drop-kicks through- 
 out the game. The better the side the less work and the less 
 practice the back is likely to have, and that is why even the backs 
 of the best clubs often cannot be depended on simply through 
 lack of practice. The work of the back requires but a short 
 description ; he must on no account come far enough forward 
 to make it possible for a drop-kick of the enemy to go over 
 his head, for otherwise he will have to run back and the rush 
 will be on him before he can take his drop. When he gets the 
 ball he must ' drop ' into touch, as far up the field as he can 
 reach the touch line, but still into touch the ball should go, for 
 if it do not his own men will be off-side, and the drop will 
 simply be returned. The back then must be he who never 
 muffs a catch, and never misses a tackle, and can so far 
 control his natural desire for emulation as to refrain from in- 
 dulging in a run when he thinks he can see an opportunity. 
 Above all things, he must not pass nor attempt to, and if 
 collared with the ball should be glued to it and cry down. One 
 other thing might be said, and that is, that it is often safer 
 to ' punt ' than to drop for a back ; indeed, some of the best 
 backs we have seen have continually punted instead of dropping, 
 both in dry and wet weather. In wet weather a dropped ball 
 rises very slowly, and if perchance the opposing forward can 
 charge it down before it rises all may be lost, and that is why 
 the old hand punts in wet weather. If punting were studied 
 as much as drop-kicking, and made an art of, we are not certain 
 that it would not always be safer for a back to kick this way 
 rather than drop ; but as it is the back so often has played oa
 
 350 FOOTBALL 
 
 other parts of the field and studied dropping, with the view to 
 dropping goals, that he drops rather than punts, the dropping 
 being certainly neater and prettier to look at. Every back 
 player should learn to punt, for with our weather he may be 
 called upon to play upon a sea of mud with a spongy ball, and 
 on such occasions punting is the only safe course. 
 
 Such is, or should be, the back player, but, as we have said; 
 he is and always has been hard to find. Though footballers, 
 like all other English sportsmen, love to earn distinction, of 
 them perhaps more than of any other athletes it may be said, 
 that the motive which draws them to the game is not distinc- 
 tion but purely enjoyment. Hence it is that no one cares to 
 play back regularly if he can help it, and hence also that at 
 schools and colleges on the whole the most capable backs 
 are to be found. Both at schools and colleges the ' back ' of 
 the representative team probably has other matches and 
 ^ames, when he can play three-quarter and have his practice 
 in dropping and collaring ; while in clubs, which only have 
 a match on Saturday afternoons, the regular back has no such 
 opportunity, and thus is often apt to degenerate. It is no 
 secret that in choosing representative teams the Rugby Union 
 is often hard put to it to find a safe back, and old stagers 
 are played again and again because no fresh man can be dis- 
 covered who is known to have had sufificient practice to make 
 him trustworthy. It is said that one of the international backs 
 was elected to his place simply on the strength of one brilliant 
 -drop-kick, which was all he had to do in the North v. South 
 game. Be this as it may, backs have often so little work to do 
 that it is hard to gauge their real merits, and we have often 
 thought that a good sound centre three-quarter might well and 
 safely be placed at ' back ' when a back is wanted in any team 
 whether of a country, county, or club. Usually the backs of 
 one or the other of the Universities can be relied upon, as the 
 ardent footballer can get three or four matches a week at 
 Oxford or Cambridge. The danger of putting a three-quarters 
 at full back is that he may be unable to resist the temptation
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 351 
 
 to run when he ought to drop, and if he be unable to overcome 
 this weakness he is worse than useless. One of the best sound 
 backs we ever saw play was A. N. Hornby, the cricketer, who 
 played with great judgment and knew the value of punting 
 upon a wet day. Most of the English international backs of 
 late years have come from the Universities, H. B. Tristram and 
 A. S. Taylor for example. 
 
 While, however, it is difficult to compare the form of dif- 
 ferent players, it is easier to compare the different clubs and 
 teams. As our own experience has been chiefly of the Southern 
 teams, the provincial fifteens for various reasons appearing less 
 often in the South than do their brethren of the Association 
 game, we cannot speak so well of the balance of power in the 
 North and INIidlands as of the districts nearer London. The 
 feehng amongst Rugby Unionist men is so strongly against cup 
 ties that Yorkshire and the Midlands alone of the great football 
 centres have such a competition. In London, almost since the 
 institution of the game, supremacy has rested mainly between 
 the rival teams of Richmond and Blackheath, and so strong has 
 been the centripetal force which has drawn the chief players of 
 London into one or other of these two clubs, that many of the 
 old and strong clubs such as Ravenscourt Park, the Gipsies, 
 Queen's House, and Walthamstow, first decayed and were then 
 dissolved. Fortunately for sport (for the tendency of all the 
 best players to gravitate towards Richmond or Blackheath can 
 scarcely be considered sound and healthy), the Scottish national 
 feeling has been strong enough to resist the influence, and foi 
 the last few years the London Scottish Club has been able to 
 put a team into the field nearly if not quite equal in strength 
 to the other two. The most interesting matches of the year 
 are those between these three clubs, all of whom meet both the 
 Universities ; and occasional matches between these clubs and 
 some of the best visitmg teams, such as Bradford or Cardifi", 
 evoke immense interest. The club match is the life and 
 soul of the Rugby game : county matches in some parts of 
 the country fail altogether to bring out representative teams or
 
 352 FOOTBALL 
 
 excite but languid interest. Cup ties are little encouraged by 
 the authorities, and the club remains the essential unit of the 
 football community as far as this game is concerned. In the 
 Association game the club that wins the National Cup' can 
 practically be considered the champion club of the year ; but it 
 would scarcely be correct to speak of any championship in the 
 Rugby game. The championship of Yorkshire may perhaps be 
 described as settled by the Yorkshire cup ties, even though several 
 leading clubs hold aloof from this competition. In the Midlands 
 there is also a series of cup ties to decide the local supremacy ; in 
 the South the winner of most matches of the five clubs we have 
 named, Oxford University, Cambridge University, Blackheath, 
 Richmond, and London Scottish, could fairly claim to be 
 the best club of the South, and we are far from sure that it is 
 not a good thing to leave the question thus undecided. It is 
 impossible for these reasons to pick out any one or two clubs 
 as the strongest in England. The most brilliant single team, 
 however, we may say with some safety, was the Oxford Univer- 
 sity team of 1882 to 1884. In 1883 the Oxford team provided 
 seven of the English fifteen which played against Scotland, and 
 in 1884 eight, or more than half the players — an unexampled 
 achievement. 
 
 Each of the four nationalities of England, Scotland, Ireland, 
 and Wales now puts an international fifteen into the field, 
 which is chosen by its own Union, and these international 
 contests are the chief matches of the year, and the chief aim 
 of every player is to win his international colours. The English 
 Union has a very careful and elaborate system of choosing its 
 players. A series of ' selectional matches ' is played throughout 
 the first part of the season. First there are matches between 
 London, the Western Counties and the Midland Counties ;. 
 then a team picked from London, the West and Midlands 
 competes against the combined Universities. From these 
 two teams is chosen the team to represent the South in the 
 match North v. South, from such of the players as are qualified 
 to play for the South. The Northern representatives of the
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 353 
 
 committee choose the team to represent the North, making 
 their selection chiefly from the county matches between the 
 different Northern counties. That the Southern system of 
 trial matches works better is tolerably plain from the fact 
 that the large majority of the North v. South matches has 
 been won by the South. The Southern system of selectional 
 matches is not many years old, and the working out of the 
 idea has owed much to Mr. G. Rowland Hill, the hon. sec. 
 of the English Rugby Union, who is one of the rare examples 
 of a sporting enthusiast who does not allow his enthusiasm 
 to give any bias to his views. Footballers throughout the 
 kingdom owe more to his energy and discretion than they 
 are aware of. The North v. South match takes place early 
 in December, and it is from the form they show in this 
 match that players gain or lose the coveted honour of the 
 international cap. The international matches all take place in 
 the three months after Christmas ; the match between England 
 and Scotland, which is the great event of the season, is played 
 alternately in England and Scotland in March, and with this 
 the season is brought to a close. 
 
 A word may perhaps be said about the strong prejudice 
 which prevails with most Rugby Unionists against the system 
 of cup ties. The objections to these contests are weighty even 
 with respect to the Association game, as there is no doubt that 
 they interfere with the ordinary and pleasant routine of club 
 fixtures, and lead to great expense and trouble, besides ex- 
 citing partisanship to a high degree. But of this we shall have 
 more to say anon, when we come to discuss the Association 
 game. It is something more than this, however, which makes 
 the Rugby Union so strongly discourage cup ties. It is 
 strongly felt that the Rugby Union game, with its collaring and 
 throwing to the ground, its scrummaging and its collisions, is 
 naturally so rough that not the least occasion should be given 
 for allowing warm partisanship to lead to ill-temper, and ill- 
 temper to brutality. Experience has conclusively shown that, 
 whatever be the class of the players, Rugby cup ties give 
 
 A A
 
 354 
 
 FOOTBALL 
 
 an opening for ill-feeling and the exhibitien of unnecessary 
 roughness. The present writer has seen various Rugby Union 
 cup ties, and never left such a match without feeling strongly 
 that they are an abomination. The hospitals have their annual 
 Rugby cup tie in London, and that the roughness is greater 
 than that of any other match in which hospital fifteens engage 
 
 Partisanship. 
 
 seems apparent. As long ago as 1876, the Oxford Rugby Union 
 decided to have a College championship, and the competition 
 was abandoned after two years' trial on account of the roughness 
 of the game. The writer still has a vivid recollection of playing 
 in the final tie in 1877, and can well recollect what a battered 
 appearance was presented by his side when they met to celebrate
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 355 
 
 the occasion in the evening. There seems to be httle doubt 
 that in the excitement of a cup tie the old Adam in the breast 
 of the footballer will have its way, and probably nothing but a 
 team of Neoplatonists could play a Rugby Union cup tie with- 
 out roughness. 
 
 The Committee of the Yorkshire Union can hardly be 
 ignorant of the way in which cup-tie play is liable to de- 
 generation. Their book of rules is significant evidence upon 
 the point : ' 
 
 15. In case of wilful breach of the rules of the game or any 
 foul play, the referee may caution the offending player, or order him 
 to retire from the game, and no substitute shall be allowed to take 
 his place. 
 
 16. In order to prevent a rough style of play in Cup contests, 
 the committee shall have the power (on a unanimous report of the 
 referee and umpires) to disqualify a team for rough play, even if 
 that team win their round. 
 
 No wonder the Captain of the Northern fifteen in 1880 al- 
 luded with his well-known homely eloquence to ' those beastly 
 cup ties.' Association players should understand that we 
 only endorse this sentiment in its Pickwickian sense, and con- 
 fine its application exclusively to the Rugby Union game. 
 
 The system of county matches which is the essential basis 
 of antagonism at cricket seems hitherto to have failed, more or 
 less, at football, and most especially so in the South of 
 England. In the North there has certainly never been any 
 lack of interest over the match between Lancashire and York- 
 shire ; but a few years ago county football had entirely ceased 
 to raise any interest outside of the North of England. The 
 authorities of the Rugby Union tried to remedy this state of 
 affairs by instituting a competition for the county championship, 
 and there can be no question that this competition has inten- 
 sified the interest in county matches in the North, and has done 
 something to quicken the interest in county fixtures in other 
 parts of the country. The counties are divided into four groups^ 
 the North-Western (Lancashire, Cheshire, Cuniberland, and 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 FOOTBALL 
 
 AVestmoreland), Noith-Eastern (Yorkshire, Durham, and North- 
 umberland), South-Eastern (Kent, Middlesex, Surrey, and 
 Midland Counties), and Western (Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, 
 and Gloucestershire). The winners of the respective groups 
 each play one match during the season with the winners of 
 the other groups, and in this way the champion county is 
 picked. 
 
 The new system has certainly been of some use to the 
 authorities in bringing out new talent for the international 
 matches, but can hardly be said to have had the desired effect 
 of stimulating the South to take interest in county matches. 
 The great county of Yorkshire is almost invariably too strong 
 for the other counties, and save in 1890, when Lancashire 
 managed to beat her old opponent, Yorkshire has always been, 
 and seems likely at present to continue, the ' cock county.' 
 At the end of the season it is usual for the champion county 
 to play the ' Rest (jf England,' and Yorkshire has twice 
 succeeded in beating the Rest. The matches in London 
 between Surrey, Kent and Middlesex excite but a very languid 
 interest. 
 
 We have said enough of the time-honoured and boisterous 
 game of Rugby football in the past and in the present. It is 
 perhaps idle to speculate whether it will take any altered shape 
 or be subject to any altered conditions in the future. During 
 the quarter of a century that it has reappeared as a popular 
 sport for gentle and simple, it has gone through several phases. 
 The first movement was to reduce scrummaging to its due pro- 
 portion in the game ; the second movement, to give increased 
 importance to systematic passing. Whether either or both 
 movements will continue and will lead to fresh developments, 
 it would be rash to prophesy. Certainly many of the lay public 
 who do not know the genuine delight nor understand the 
 science of scrummaging, think there is still too much pushing 
 in the game. What such a game as Rugby football with- 
 out scrummaging would be like is hard to conjecture ; the 
 very suggestion would seem a heresy to most players ; but
 
 THE RUGBY UNION GAME 357 
 
 one thing may be said with tolerable certamty, that if any future 
 change is to be made, it will certainly not be in the way of a 
 return to the old scrummaging order of things. From year to 
 year the Rugby Union game has become faster and more 
 skilful, and yet has shown no signs of being less manly than 
 of yore.
 
 ;r8 FOOTBALL 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME. 
 
 The Association game, though it may bear less resemblance 
 than the Rugby Union game to the original sport, certainly 
 finds a more appropriate name in Football, as it is with the 
 foot alone that the ball is urged to victory. Certainly, of late 
 years, men play with their heads in more senses than one, and 
 a goal may be lost or won by ' heading,' but the main outline of 
 the game is simplicity itself, being to propel the ball by kicking 
 with the feet between the posts and under the cross-bar of the 
 opponents' goal, and to prevent the opponents from doing the 
 like ; no player but the goal-keeper being at liberty to use his 
 hands or arms throughout the game. Such is the simple game 
 which has now been brought to such an extraordinary pitch of 
 skill that none but those who have seen can well appreciate, and 
 which is so well appreciated by those who have seen that it is 
 no rare thing for ten or twelve thousand spectators to watch and 
 follow a match with interest. 
 
 The dribbling game, if the theory we have given above be 
 correct, grew up entirely at the schools where running with the 
 ball and tackling the runners was dangerous to clothes and 
 limbs. Each of the old schools had, as we have seen, its own 
 game, differing in almost every point except in the essential 
 feature of the prohibition of tackling and running with the ball, 
 and it was not until the old public-school boys felt drawn to 
 form clubs to play the game again when their school-days were 
 over, that the necessity for assimilation of rules arose. Then
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 359 
 
 the dribblers associated themselves in 1863, more than seven 
 years before the Rugby Unionists, so that nearly a quarter of a 
 century has already passed over the Association rules, which 
 have varied but little, much as the style of play has altered 
 during that time. Almost from its earliest days the Association 
 has provided that ' a goal shall be won when the ball passes 
 between the goal-posts under the tape, not being thrown, 
 knocked on, or carried,' and that ' no player shall carry, or 
 knock on the ball, and handling the ball under any pretence 
 whatever shall be prohibited, except in the case of the goal- 
 keeper,' and further that ' no player shall use his hands to hold 
 or push his adversary ; ' and so, without any substantial variation, 
 has the game remained, and is likely to remain, as long as it is 
 played. 
 
 So few have been the changes of rules and of tactics in the 
 dribbling game that the task of describing the phases of Asso- 
 ciation play is simpler than to follow the changes of Rugby 
 Unionism. From first to last the 'off-side' rule has been a 
 trouble, and it can scarcely be said that the present rule (by 
 which a player can have the ball passed forward to him if there 
 are at least three players between him and the opponents' goal- 
 line) even now gives universal satisfaction, although it has been 
 the rule of the Association for twenty years. The question of 
 throwing in from touch has also from time to time divided 
 Association players, and not long since the whole Association 
 world was convulsed with the agitation that led to the recog- 
 nition of professionalism. On the whole, however, save for one 
 thorough and important change — the abandonment of individual 
 dribbling skill for combined passing from foot to foot amongst 
 the forwards — the game has remained substantially the same, 
 although in our opinion the amount of skill exhibited to-day 
 has quite surpassed the best efforts of the crack players of a 
 dozen years ago. 
 
 The one change, however, the introduction of a combination 
 of passing tactics from forward to forward to the discouragement 
 of brilliant dribbling by individual players, so far revolutionised
 
 36o FOOTBALL 
 
 the game that we may fairly say that tliere have been two ages 
 of Association play, the dribbling and the passing. The dif- 
 ference of play, however, in these periods belongs almost wholly 
 to the forward field, and, although the practice of passing-for- 
 ward has so far weakened the defence of the goal that a larger 
 number of back players has become a necessity, the tactics and 
 tricks of back play have always been the same. But before we 
 come to describe the modern game and its players something 
 must be said of the game of older days. 
 
 When it was founded in 1863, the Association followed the 
 same rule of 'off-side' which was recognised at Rugby, no 
 player being allowed to take the ball on from one of his own 
 side who kicked on to him from behind ; and under such a rule 
 it is obvious that individual dribbling was the only thing that 
 could pay. In 1867, however, the adhesion of the Westminster 
 and Charterhouse players was secured by the introduction of 
 the present rule, and from that time both passing and dribbling 
 became possible as a means to success. Neither the Association 
 nor the Rugby game took a strong hold upon the public until 
 the growing popularity of football led to the establishment of 
 the international matches and the Association Cup Ties in 1872. 
 Sheffield had early taken up the Association game, and had formed 
 a powerful association of its own in 1867, playing its own rules, 
 one of which, declaring no man to be ' off-side ' if the opposing 
 goal-keeper was between him and the goal, was widely different 
 from the Association rule. In spite of the difference of rules, 
 however, the Sheffielders joined the Association in 1870, with 
 special freedom to play their own code, which they continued 
 to do until 1877. But before the institution of a London v. 
 Sheffield match as an annual fixture in 187 1, it may almost be 
 said that football, until that date, was rather a recreation and a 
 means of exercise for a few old public-school boys than a really 
 national sport, and it was not until 'the seventies' that football / 
 began to be an attraction to the general sporting and athletic 
 public. Nor was it until some years later still that captains and 
 teams had discovered that the way to win a match was not to
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 361 
 
 dribble cleverly and to 'back up ' the dribblers, but to pass and 
 to trust to combination alone. 
 
 In the very early stages of the game, it was scientific in the 
 sense that each player exhibited skill rather than brute force, 
 but of scientific arrangement of elevens there was very little. 
 Often there were but two back players besides the ' goals ' or 
 goal-keeper, and all the forwards played together, not having 
 allotted sides, although some teams would have one ' wing ' 
 player on each side, who rather did the duties of ' half-back ' 
 tlian forward, in protecting from attack his own side of the field. 
 Each forward then strove to distinguish himself by making 
 sensational dribbles, getting the ball in front of him and piloting 
 it by clever dodging and twisting clean through the gaps in the 
 opposing ranks, and combination play was thought to consist 
 in backing up the dribbling forward, so as to carry on the 
 ball as soon as he was deprived of it by an opponent. In the 
 Oxford and Cambridge Match of 1874, each side played three 
 ' behinds ' only besides the goal-keeper, and we can well 
 recollect how the winning goal of the match was scored by 
 an Oxonian, who dribbled the ball nearly the whole length 
 of the field, and then himself kicked it through. Very little 
 attempt was made at this period to pass forward from behind, 
 each forward striving, as in the Rugby game, to be always near 
 the ball, so that the backs had much less ticklish work, and a 
 smaller number of them was quite sufficient. By 1S75, how- 
 ever, ' passing on ' as one form of play had begun to be known 
 and recognised as dangerous, and every good team had followed 
 the example already set by the Scottish clubs of playing two 
 half-backs and two backs, and making each forward keep 
 strictly to his own place upon the field. It is from 1875 or 
 1876, therefore, that the game began to be played substantially 
 in its present form; and 'passing on ' completely superseded 
 dribbling about the same time that the great provincial centres 
 suddenly came to the front, about 1878 or 1879. 
 
 As both in the old and new games back, half-back, and 
 goal-keeping play has varied but little, we need not describe
 
 36.2 FOOTBALL 
 
 here the old st}'le of play behind ; but the old style of forward 
 play deserves description, as it was brought to a marvellous 
 degree of skill of a kind which is now almost useless. Doubt- 
 less each forward must still know how to dribble, in the sense 
 in which dribbling means speeding along with the ball close in 
 front of the feet and well under control ; but now, when once 
 hampered by several opponents, he is taught that the presence 
 of several attacking one must leave a gap elsewhere on the 
 field, and he at once passes either to his own wing man, to the 
 middle, or perhaps clear across the field. In the olden times, by 
 dodging and twisting with the ball only a few inches from him, 
 the forward steered it through what appeared to be a close 
 mass of opponents. This special art of steering a ball up and 
 down through opponents (and very pretty play it made) was 
 one learnt in early youth at school, and few of the modern players 
 have either the opportunity or the need for acquiring it. In the 
 older days, however, it was a brilliant piece of play of this kind 
 which brought down the gallery, and was the most highly 
 admired of any kind of skill in the dribbling game. Our old 
 friend the 'Football Annual,' writing of the best form of 
 Association play, in 1873, says : — 'A really good player will 
 never lose sight of the ball, at the same time keeping his atten- 
 tion employed in spying out gaps in the enemy's ranks which 
 may give him a favourable chance of arriving at the coveted 
 goal. To see some players guide and steer a ball through 
 a circle of opposing legs, twisting and turning as occasion 
 requires, is a sight not to be forgotten. And this faculty 
 or aptitude for dribbling or guiding the ball often places a 
 slow runner on an equal footing with one much speedier of 
 foot. Skill in dribbling necessitates something more than a 
 go-ahead, fearless, headlong onslaught on the enemy's citadel : 
 it requires an eye quick at discovering a weak point and "nous" 
 to calculate and decide the chances of a successful passage. 
 One of the greatest eyesores to a first-class player is the toa 
 prevalent habit of " dribbling " the ball down the side of the 
 ground. Unless when absolutely necessary, a forward player
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 363 
 
 ought ever to avoid diverting the game from the centre of the 
 ground. It is an achievement of very rare occurrence to 
 secure a goal with a kick from any remote corner of the 
 ground.' Such was the old game where ' passing on ' was all 
 but unknown, and even the value of ' middhng ' for goal- 
 winnmg purposes was hardly recognised. But such as it was 
 the style of play produced some marvellously agile dribblers 
 like C. J. Ottaway, and Vidal of Oxford, and Hubert Heron, 
 who did great things in the later game but could never throw 
 off the old Adam and play as unselfishly as the modern game 
 requires. 
 
 For the modern game, however, each player keeps to his 
 own allotted place in the field, and plays not for himself but 
 for the whole forward field ; and so far is ' passing on ' the very 
 life and soul of the game, and so universally is it practised, 
 tliat besides the goal-keeper two backs are a necessity, and at 
 least two, if not three, half-backs ; so that only five, or at most 
 six, players form the forward brigade. Indeed, three half-backs 
 are now the rule rather than the exception, and the forwards 
 thus form the minority of the eleven players. The field of 
 eleven players, then, is usually arranged as follows : a goal- 
 keeper who defends the space between the posts, two backs, 
 one for each side of the field, who should never get too far 
 away from the goal to render it possible for the backs of the 
 opposite side to kick over their heads and oblige them to run 
 back and return the ball under difficulties ; three half-backs, who 
 follow up with the game, but always keep their own forwards 
 in front of them (of the half-backs one plays in the centre and 
 one upon each side) ; and five forwards, one playing in the 
 centre and two upon each wing. When, if ever, there are six 
 forwards, the extra forward plays in the centre, and the two 
 half-backs divide the ground between them. So arranged the 
 two elevens face each other on a field which is, or should be, 
 120 yards long by 80 yards wide, and is bounded by goal-lines 
 and touch-lines in the same way as in the Rugby Union game. 
 When the ball crosses either line it is dead and out of play ;
 
 364 FOOTBALL 
 
 but if a player kick the ball over his own goal-line the opposite 
 side have a ' corner kick,' from which they have a fair chance 
 of shortly lowering the goal, ^^^hen the ball crosses the touch- 
 line a player (usually a half-back) of the opposite side to that 
 which kicked it into touch throws it into play again from the 
 point where the ball crossed the line. As the rule now stands,- 
 the player throwing in must face the field of play and hold the 
 ball over his head and throw it with both hands in any direc- 
 tion he pleases into play again. The rule was not always thus; 
 originally it had to be thrown straight into play as in the Rugby 
 game ; then, to prevent scrimmaging and charging, the rule 
 was in 1879 altered to allow the throw in to be in any direction; 
 but such adepts did the players become in hurling the round 
 ball with one arm great distances down the field towards the 
 opponents' goal, that the rule was again altered to permit only 
 a throw with both hands, which is much less effective. The 
 ' Associationists ' play with a round ball proceedings com- 
 mence by a 'kick-off' from the middle of the field, and then 
 the players set to work each to do his respective duty. 
 
 The business of the forwards is to dribble and pass for 
 offensive purposes, and to ' get away ' the ball from opponents 
 by stopping a dribble or intercepting a pass. To describe 
 dribbling in the abstract is hard ; it consists in running fast, 
 giving the ball but slight kicks so as never to allow it to get 
 beyond control ; and further than this, the clever dribbler has 
 to make feints with his legs and body so as to mystify his 
 opponents as to the direction in which he proposes to take the 
 ball. Nearly always it is advisable to slacken pace when the 
 opponent is making for you, and watch his movements ; if he 
 rush down upon you, you may dodge away from him with the 
 ball still in front of you, or if you see him stop you may fly 
 past him in the same direction upon which you were originally 
 bent. Some speedy runners when they have only one opponent 
 near them have succeeded in passing him by kicking the ball 
 out of reach of the opponent on one side and dodging round 
 him upon the other. Experience, however, has shown that it
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 
 
 365 
 
 seldom, if ever, pays for a forward to keep the ball long by 
 himself; if he keep his eyes open he will soon see a companion 
 free, while he himself is being borne down upon by approaching 
 foes ; then he passes, and it is in this passing — the choice of 
 opportunity, the judgment in noticing what friend is in good 
 position, the accuracy and quickness of aim — that the chief 
 science of the forward game lies. Each forward has to keep 
 his own allotted position, 
 and while the centre or 
 centres should pass to :_ 
 
 the wings unless they __^_ 
 
 are within shot of goal, .^^^ ~^'IZ- '^'-"s^'^^- 
 
 the wing players should, 
 as a rule, play to each 
 other in pairs. Although 
 this is the main rule, 
 however, an inside wing 
 player should never for- 
 get to play to the centre, 
 or to ' cross ' to the 
 other wing when a good 
 opportunity occurs. As 
 the ball is taken down 
 ^he ground the forwards 
 follow up with it, not all -" 
 hustling on the ball, but "^l^fi 
 
 placing themselves in 
 favourable position for 
 a pass. As regards the pairs, too — right wing, left wing, or 
 centres — they should more especially back up each other and 
 not get separated, so that they may dribble backwards and 
 forwards to one another like two parts of the same machine. 
 Still, ' crossing ' or wide passing is often very effective, as the 
 opposing backs are always inclined to edge away towards the 
 side of the ground down which the ball appears to be coming; 
 and a clever ' cross ' may give the players upon the other wing 
 
 A forward.
 
 366 FOOTBALL 
 
 a clear field before them. Passing should, as a rule, be low 
 along the ground, as the ' passee ' can then take on the ball 
 with less trouble and with less chance of losing time, while he 
 gets it under control before starting off with it. Upon other 
 occasions, however, a high pass may pay better when a wing 
 kicks to the centre in front of the opponents' goal and wants 
 to give time to his own forwards to rush up and bear down the 
 backs without being ' off-side,' and before the backs can get 
 the ball to kick it away. When nearing the opponents' goal 
 the passing should always take the form of 'middling,' or 
 placing the ball before one's own centres to enable them to 
 shoot at goal. Rarely, if ever, does a long shot at goal pay, 
 for the goal-keeper has time to intercept it coming, and those 
 who are unselfish enough to pass in the very mouth of the 
 goal are rewarded by seeing the frequent success of their 
 side in matches. The centre, whose object at other times is to 
 get the ball away to his wing men, should, when the opponents' 
 goal is near, keep the ball near the middle at all hazards. Then 
 it is that the wings close up with precision until the goal is 
 surrounded like a fortress, and either falls from one of the shots 
 that are peppered away at it, or is cleared by the goal-keeper 
 or backs. Often, however, from one defensive kick the ball 
 gets into the control of the defending side, and the play 
 surges away to the other end of the field before a minute has 
 passed. 
 
 So valuable, it will be seen, is accuracy of aim with the feet 
 in passing, middling, and shooting at goal, that it must be learnt 
 by the brilliant player, and the man who is clumsy with his legs, 
 slow and uncertain in the direction of his passes, and apt to 
 overrun the ball in his dribbling, fails as a player until he can 
 overcome these defects. A player, to learn accuracy of aim, 
 must not only know how to score a goal with a swift low shot 
 from his toes, but must learn to pass, middle, or dribble, with 
 the sides of his feet. When running fast often the best way to 
 make a pass is to use the outside of that foot which is nearest 
 to the proposed recipient of the ball. The best 'middles,' too,
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 
 
 367 
 
 are made by a hard kick with the inside of the foot, and many 
 cf the safest shots at goal have been made with the inside of 
 tlie foot. A greasy ball on a wet day may slip away from the 
 toe, while a side-stroke is much more likely to be accurate. 
 
 To sum up, then, the centre player should play to the wings 
 except when near goal, and then he should play at the goal ; 
 the wings should play together closely, and always middle to 
 
 A nasty jar. 
 
 the centre when near goal, and should not wait too long to bring 
 off their ' middle.' Nothing is more common than to see a 
 wing player work the ball up to the extreme corner of the 
 ground, and then turn and kick back towards the middle. The. 
 result is that not only are the men of his own side now in front 
 of the ball if they have backed up, but even if they are not off- 
 side the defending backs have had time to rally round the goal
 
 368 FOOTBALL 
 
 and defend it. Bis dat qui cito dat should be the motto for the 
 wing player when he nears the opponents' goal. The wing 
 player also should do what dribbling there is to be done, should 
 pass the ball before he is hampered, and should, like every 
 other player, never move from his place on the field or lose 
 touch of his wing companion. The centre should shoot quickly 
 and low, and never shoot until he sees an opening for a goal. 
 
 As regards the defensive part of a forward's work, or the 
 taking of a ball from another, the same rules apply to the 
 forwards of every place in the field. They must not be misled 
 by the movements of the man who has the ball, but should 
 watch where the ball is and so plant themselves that they are 
 bound to intercept it. Judgment alone can tell them whether 
 they are to wait or to bear down for a charge. If a collision is 
 inevitable, let the forward get his shoulder well down and be 
 leaning well forward. If he be underneath in the charge his 
 opponent will be forced up and will fall back, or if he be firmly 
 planted and shoulder and hip are acting well in concert, he is 
 likely to stand like a pillar while his adversary falls prone upon 
 the field. Still, charging when unnecessary is always a waste 
 of power, but the forward should never neglect to hustle, if not 
 to charge, the opponents' half-backs, for by rushing at them he 
 may do much to disconcert their aim. 
 
 Since these are the qualities of the good forward in the 
 Association game, it will readily be seen that there is nothing to 
 prevent the smallest man, if he be thick-set enough to be steady 
 upon his pins, from surpassing his bigger brethren. In the 
 older game, when dribbling and charging were the chief essen- 
 tials, the heavier men scored more than they do at present, 
 although of course even now, as collisions are necessarily fre- 
 quent, v/eight must always tell. But big strong men like R. H. 
 Macaulay, the old Etonian, whose weight, pace, and stamina 
 arc undeniable, are often inclined to play clumsily, and selfishly 
 at times, although upon other occasions they seem unsurpass- 
 able. In one celebrated final tie for the Cup, the gigantic 
 Scottish forward. Dr. Miller, played opposite J. Brown, a clever
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 
 
 369 
 
 little thick-set player in the centre, and to our mind the little 
 man showed all the best of the play, although the doctor had 
 the reputation of being the best centre and goal-getter in 
 Scotland. The best type of forward player, however, is the 
 fast, sturdy man of medium height, like W. N. Cobbold the 
 Cantab. 
 
 There is only one other feature of forward play upon which 
 
 Heading. 
 
 we have not yet touched — the practice of 'heading,' in whicn 
 all players, and especially the provincial teams, display such 
 extraordinary proficiency. Backwards and forwards is the 
 ball often bandied from head to head, each man having com- 
 plete control over the force and direction of his blow. Goals 
 are often ' headed ' through, and for defensive purposes espe- 
 cially head-play is very effective. Upon the whole, however, 
 
 B B
 
 > 
 
 370 FOOTBALL 
 
 spectators while admiring the skill can hardly help forming an 
 opinion that this accurate 'heading' savours more of clowning 
 than of manly play, and many would be glad to see some limit 
 placed upon the exercise. 
 
 The necessity of playing three half-backs has arisen from 
 the wing-forwards of well-trained teams availing themselves to 
 the full of the privilege of receiving a forward pass without 
 being ' off-side ' as long as the two backs and the goal-keeper 
 are between them and the goal. These wings would hang 
 about in front of the rest of their side for the chance of having 
 the ball passed to them while they were standing behind the 
 opposing half-backs ; and this practice of waiting for the ball 
 to turn up became so prevalent and so successful in scoring 
 goals that for self-defence one 'half-back' has now to be told 
 off upon each wing to keep an eye upon the prowlers. The 
 remaining centre half-back bears the brunt of the regular half- 
 back's work, which is to ' feed ' the forwards of his own side. 
 A good half-back must be a versatile player. He is so closely 
 mixed with the forwards that he must know how to dribble upon 
 an occasion, must be especially clever in taking the ball away 
 from an opponent, must be a steady charger, standing as firm 
 as a rock, never allowing himself to be brushed aside or sent 
 sprawling, and above all, must be a steady kicker, kicking not 
 hard and wildly, but lifting the ball when he wrests it from the 
 adversary just over the heads of the surrounding opponents, and 
 dropping it amongst his own forwards and just in front of that 
 forward who is best placed to get away with a run. It will 
 readily be seen, then, that the half-back must, of all players on 
 the field, keep his head cool, and his eye steady, for he should 
 know at once and discern the possibilities of each changing 
 position of the field. Nor can he always, when mixed up with 
 the players, kick from the ground ; he must kick when the ball' 
 is nearing the ground or is high in the air ; he must often kick 
 backwards over his head, and withal, know where to place the 
 ball, though his eyes are for the moment turned the other way. 
 Not only too must his kicking be accurate, it must not be too
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 
 
 371 
 
 strong, for his business is almost entirely to feed his own for- 
 wards and not to kick to the opposing backs, who are strong 
 kickers and will return it over his own head. Often, too, his 
 best tactics are not to kick at all, but to hustle the on-coming 
 forwards and to let his own back thus get a clear kick over his 
 head ; when he does kick, accuracy of aim is of such importance 
 that he must not try to be showy, but must know when to kick 
 \Yith the toe, and when, as is usually safer, with the instep. Such 
 is, or such should be, the half-back, 
 and for choice, the safest kick should 
 occupy the centre, and the best 
 tacklers should play upon the sides. 
 How much coolness and safety are 
 preferable in the long run to brilli- 
 ancy is well known to the authorities 
 of the Football Association, and 
 for ten years in succession the Old 
 Westminster and Clapham Rover, 
 N. C. Bailey, occupied this position 
 in the International team, though, 
 during this decade, several more 
 brilliant players appeared and dis- 
 appeared again. Campbell too, the 
 Scottish International, was another 
 cool and wary player, whose ' head- 
 ing ' was superb in the days before 
 ' heading ' became a universally practised science. Wonderful 
 is the skill that veterans in the Association game display 
 behind the forwards. The Old Etonians have never been in 
 the foremost rank of clubs since the white trousers of ' Old 
 Kinnaird ' ceased to form a feature of their side in the field. 
 
 Before we leave the criticism of half-back play we should 
 mention that there are one or two other points to which the 
 half-backs must attend. They, at least, cannot be blamed for 
 indulging in 'heading,' for heading is often quicker than ' foot- 
 irig ' when the ball is high in the air. The halves at the sides 
 
 1; li 2 
 
 ' To keep an eye upon the 
 prowlers."
 
 372 FOOTBALL 
 
 too must learn to throw in from touch, for this duty as a rule 
 devolves upon them ; and when, as is usual, three half-backs are 
 played, the corner kicks should be taken by one of them, as the 
 whole of the forwards can thus be left free to close round the 
 goal. Sometimes, too, the half-back has, after a corner kick, an 
 opportunity for a shot at goal. Finally, the half must not be 
 lazy in ' falling back ' when the tide of play has rushed past 
 him. By such slackness in aiding the other defenders many 
 a goal which might have been saved has been lost. 
 
 A ' back ' player even more than a half-back must be strong 
 Avith his legs and on his legs. Some years ago, to counteract 
 the sneaking tactics of wing-forwards, several provincial clubs 
 only played one back, as with this arrangement the attacking 
 forward became ' off-side ' as soon as he stood behind the de- 
 fending half-backs, and being off-side could not take the ball 
 when passed on to him. But in spite of the cleverness of this 
 dodge of placing adversaries in the wrong, a single back was 
 found unable to stop combined passing rushes of the forwards, 
 who could always escape one back by judicious middling. The 
 practice, therefore, never took firm root, and each team now 
 plays two backs even although they have three half-backs as 
 well. The chief requisites for the backs are accurate and 
 powerful kicking, and ability to kick not less efficiently, although 
 charging or being charged at the moment. Above all, the two 
 backs must play with each other. When one advances to 
 charge the forward the other must drop back to receive the ball 
 if the kick and charge of his companion are ineffective. Often 
 it is the business of one back to hamper or harass an opponent 
 while his fellow kicks the ball. Each back also must watch the 
 half-backs, who, as we have seen, often adopt similar tactics and 
 hamper the man, leaving the ball for the back. It is, however, 
 the combination play of the two backs with each other which 
 makes the defence really effective. To describe all the varying 
 tactics is almost impossible, but any player knows well how the 
 two regular backs of a club play together as it were by instinct, 
 while perhaps in an International match when two brilliant backs,
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 
 
 yrs 
 
 one say from the North and another from the South, are put 
 together, each kicks splendidly, but the ball is often got past or 
 between them. Perhaps, it is something more than long practice 
 that made the brothers A. M. and P. M. Walters, the Old 
 Carthusians, play such an admirable combination game with 
 one another. It is this combination between backs which 
 should be cultivated even more than it is at present, and we 
 look to seeing in future years still greater excellence in this 
 respect than is shown by 
 the average club team, al- 
 though the cleverness in 
 kicking which can be seen 
 to-day can hardly be sur- 
 passed. But to return to 
 the several duties of each 
 back player. Not only 
 must he ' tackle ' an oppo- 
 nent with precision, but 
 when his companion is 
 tackling a rush, should 
 keep his attention open for 
 the ' middle,' which is likely 
 to be attempted, and which ^ 
 it is his duty to watch. Or 
 again, when the player and 
 ball have been taken past 
 him, he must follow back and hamper and hustle the forward 
 whom he is catching up, never attempting to charge him from 
 behind, but trying to shoulder him round and send him 
 staggering off the ball when the leg wliich is nearest is off the 
 ground and his weight is thus balanced to lean away from the 
 back who is hampering him. When once he has separated the 
 player from the leather the back may turn the ball with a screw 
 kick, or the mere worrying and hustling of the dribbler will at 
 any rate help to spoil his middle or his shot at goal. Never 
 must the back allow an opponent who has passed him to get 
 
 A back.
 
 374 FOOTBALL 
 
 away. He must hustle and worry at him as long as the man 
 retains the ball before him. But it must not be forgotten that 
 as the best of wcrrying tactics cannot always succeed, the back 
 should rarely risk the ball being kicked over his head by ad- 
 vancing too far up the field. 
 
 A back should not dribble ; once or twice, perhaps, in a 
 match when a forward is charging him he may dodge for an 
 instant with the ball to get a freer kick, but his main aim is to 
 send the ball hard back without the slightest loss of time. So 
 he must be continually practising kicking from every position ; 
 straight forward, straight backward, over the head or sideways, 
 with every part of the foot, and with the ball high or low about 
 him ; indeed, long-kicking has now reached the position of an 
 art. The back knows almost as well as a lawn-tennis player 
 when to 'volley' or ' half- volley,' and when to stop the ball 
 before he kicks ; and again, w'hen he should kick with the toe 
 or when with the instep, when he should kick true or when 
 he should ' screw.' Finally, he must be what few lawn-tennis 
 players are — ambidextrous ; in other words, he must kick with 
 equal accuracy with either foot. To describe all the different 
 positions in which a back may have to kick is hardly possible, 
 but a word or two may be said as to 'volleying' or 'punting,' 
 and kicks which screw the ball round. The back who wishes 
 to return the ball before it reaches the ground has usually time 
 to face in the direction he wishes to kick, and he then receives 
 the ball fair on the instep with the leg well raised, so that the 
 thigh is almost horizontal ; occasionally he may have to volley 
 over his head, when the leg must be lifted higher still, while the 
 foot is at least perpendicular with the ground. Seldom, how- 
 ever, will the back kick over his head, as it is impossible to give 
 much force upon such an occasion ; more often, when receiving 
 a ball straight from another back, or when kicking it on the 
 bounce, the back who cannot get behind the ball gets at its 
 side and swings round the outer leg with a sweep, striking the 
 ball either with the toe or with the side of the foot. By such 
 a blow the ball is often 'screwed' round into a curve, a com-
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 
 
 1>1^ 
 
 paratively simple kick which looks wonderful to the spectator. 
 As, however, the back is generally required to make long as 
 well as accurate kicks, it is usually safer, if the field be clear^ 
 to stop the ball and kick hard from the ground. It is obvious 
 that for force of kick a heavy leg and heavy boot give advan- 
 tages ; and, indeed, it is said that the larger his feet are the 
 better it is for the back player. One celebrated back player 
 of the famous Wanderers Club in 
 former days was so well gifted 
 in this last particular that he re- 
 ceived the name of 'Spondee,' 
 his feet recalling that metrical 
 figure to the imaginative. There 
 can be no doubt, at any rate, 
 that a strong, heavy man, both 
 for offensive and defensive play, 
 has a great advantage at back ; 
 but it is difficult to find many 
 heavy men who are active enough 
 to succeed in the tricky kicking 
 which is so often requisite. 
 
 Perhaps the most important 
 position upon the whole field is 
 that of the goal-keeper. He must 
 have a cool head, a quick eye 
 and hand, and the longer reach 
 he has with his arms the better. 
 Although, too, he has only to 
 defend the space between the posts, and all his work has to be 
 done between the posts or within a few yards of them, he must 
 be ready to display the greatest possible activity within his 
 limited circle. In days gone by goal-keepers used to kick far 
 more than they do at present ; they ' dropped ' and ' punted ' 
 often, and it was not unusual to see a Rugby Union back 
 player set to defend the goal in the Association game. One 
 player, indeed, R. H. Birkett, of the Clapham Rovers, achieved 
 
 A half-back.
 
 376 FOOTBALL 
 
 the distinction of earning his International colours in both 
 games, playing back in several years for the Rugby Unionists 
 and in goal for the Association eleven. Several players, like 
 II. Waco and D. B. Roffey of Cambridge, have represented 
 their universities at both games ; but Birkett, we believe, is the 
 only player who earned the double International distinction. 
 Nowadays, however, when the forwards close round the goal 
 and make a combined attack upon it, kicking is at a discount, 
 and the goal-keeper seizes the ball in his hands and throws it 
 away or occasionally 'fists' it out, i.e. strikes it straight back 
 with his fist without losing time in catching it. Some players, 
 too, catch the ball first, and then instead of throwing it away 
 strike it with the fist or fore-arm away from the goal. But as a 
 rule, when a shot is made at goal, the goal-keeper catches the 
 ball and throws it away with both hands almost in one motion. 
 There are occasions when there is not even time to catch the 
 ball, and the player has to kick with whatever foot is nearest to 
 the ball ; and as such emergencies may always occur, a goal- 
 keeper must be selected who can be depended upon to kick 
 well with either foot if required. As a rule he should seize 
 the ball with both hands and then kick if the ground is clear ; 
 but if he is being attacked in the very mouth of the goal, he 
 should throw away to one side or other and not straight in front 
 of him, for the more to the side he throws the more difficult 
 it will be for a foe to score a goal with the return which will 
 inevitably follow if a friend does not get away with the leather. 
 Of course, if time and his position permit, when he ' clears ' 
 the goal he will send the ball to a friend who can get away 
 with it and thus avert the danger ; but this is not always prac- 
 ticable. At all costs, when the shot is coming straight he must 
 stop the ball and divert its course ; sometimes, when the ball 
 is coming high, the only chance of doing this is to knock it 
 up so that it may pass over the goal, though this manoeuvre 
 gives a ' corner-kick ' to the enemy. But whenever he can he 
 should fling out well to the side, and then the goal may be 
 relieved once and for all.
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 
 
 377 
 
 A word should also be said as to the goal-keeper's duties 
 wlien the enemy have a corner kick. First he must see that 
 he is well surrounded by his own side, for if the ball drop well 
 in front of the posts he may be sure that the opponents will try 
 to charge him over and thus hustle the ball through the goal. 
 
 Defending the goal. 
 
 If he be well protected he can then stave off all danger, for by 
 jumping at the ball as it comes within reach and having the 
 advantage of being able to use his hands while the others can- 
 not, he may be able to knock the ball well out of danger. 
 
 Good judgment is also of service to the goal-keeper in help- 
 ing him to decide when he shall run out from the sfoal to take
 
 378 FOOTBALL 
 
 the ball. If he make a mistake in doing this the error is a fatal 
 one, as the goal remains undefended. But there must always 
 be occasions where by running out the 'custodian ' can' seize the 
 ball and get it well away, whereas by waiting he may allow two 
 or three of the enemy to make a combined assault upon the 
 ' fortress.' The goal-keeper must on these occasions see with 
 half a glance when he is perfectly certain to secure the ball if 
 he run out, and then convert his decision into action at once. 
 A goal-keeper has no time to think twice in Association football ; 
 indeed, readiness of resource and agility of action are indis- 
 pensable to success. When the enemy bear down the goal- 
 keeper must be leaning forward with his weight upon the toes 
 and not upon the heels, as he must not only be able to turn in 
 any direction when the ' shot ' is made, but must be ready to 
 turn first in one direction and then in another as shot after shot 
 now high and now low is sent back to him after each return. 
 It is sometimes little short of marvellous to see goal-keepers 
 like Arthur, of the Blackburn Rovers, or Macaulay, the Scottish 
 International, stop shot after shot in rapid succession, turning 
 from side to side without ever losing presence of mind or 
 balance of body. The goal-keepers of to-day have no easy task 
 when the attacking forwards have learnt to pass one to another 
 in the jaws of the goal ; and the best that can be said of the 
 modern goal-keepers is that they have proved themselves equal 
 to the task. Doubtless players in this position were as plucky 
 and resolute in the days when Kirkpatrick kept goal for more 
 than half an hour to the end of a match while one arm was 
 hanging broken from his shoulder ; but the modern players 
 have better tactics to contend against and are equally success- 
 ful in their defence. Perhaps we should add for the benefit of 
 the uninitiated, before we finish our discussion of goal-keepers, 
 that although they can use their hands to stop the ball, they may 
 not do so to stop or hold an antagonist, and that unlike their 
 brethren of the Rugby game, they may not run with the ball 
 more than the step or two which they may require to take their 
 kick.
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 
 
 379 
 
 Such is the Association game, and such are the duties of 
 the various players, but no description can avail to convey a 
 thoroughly accurate idea of the game as a whole. The feature 
 of modern Association play is essentially the conibitiatioii shown 
 by the team. While each player has his own place to keep, 
 the field at each kick changes like a kaleidoscope, each player 
 
 %^\h ^^P- 
 
 
 
 ^^W'r^t^' ^ X 
 
 
 ' The field at each kick changes like a kaleidoscope,' 
 
 shifting his place to help a friend or check an adversary in the 
 new position of the game. Complete appreciation of a sport 
 which has been brought already to an admirable pitch of skill 
 can only come from playing in, or, at any rate, from watching 
 with a knowledge of detail, games in which good men take part. 
 The one generally admitted drawback to the game is the 
 frequency of the disputes which arise over the questions
 
 3So FOOTBALL 
 
 whether this or that player was ' off-side ' when he took the 
 ball on from a friend. Long before that useful official the 
 referee became a regular feature of the Rugby Union game, 
 he was a necessity in Association matches. While it is 
 comparatively easy in Rugby football to judge whether a ball 
 has been thrown forward or not, it may fairly be said to be 
 impossible to judge infallibly at any given moment, while 
 
 ^-i" the ball is dodging to and fro, whether a player has three of 
 his opponents between himself and his adversary's goal. To 
 
 \ prevent disputes, then, as soon as the ' passing on ' game was 
 
 adopted, every match came to be attended by an independent 
 , referee ; but even the ablest official in the world cannot 
 be everywhere upon a football field, and often as the game is 
 stopped by the referee's whistle, often again do the losers or 
 the crowd feel a grievance at a decision or believe that a goal 
 would have been disallowed had a claim been made. Some 
 have suggested an alteration of the off-side rule, but no two 
 critics are satisfied as to what the alteration should be. Some 
 Avish to return to the Rugby Union rule, and to allow no 
 ' passing forward ' at all ; others think that there should be 
 no off-side rule at all, and that passing forward should be 
 allowed anywhere and everywhere ; others, again, would like 
 to return to the old Sheffield rule. It must not be forgotten, 
 however, that it is the legalisation of ' passing on ' which has 
 made the game what it is. If the old Rugby Union rule be 
 again adopted, the game will once more return to the old style, 
 ■when individual dribbling was of greater importance than skill 
 in combination play. Still almost anything would be an im- 
 provement which would put an end to the frequent disputes 
 and to the pauses in the game which occur when a claim is 
 allowed and the whistle sounds. Sit finis liiiian is a maxim 
 as admirable for sportsmen as for jurisjirudents. 
 
 We have not, however, as yet explained how disputes are 
 settled upon the field, both in the Rugby and Association games. 
 Some years ago each side appointed its own umjjire, and both 
 ■agreed upon an independent referee, the latter only interfering
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 381 
 
 when the umpires disagreed. But it was found that not only 
 was this system slow and cumbrous, but that there was a ten- 
 dency with some clubs to appoint umpires who acted as mere 
 partisans and always decided in favour of their own side. The 
 present practice then was adopted by both Rugby Union and 
 Association players, of having only one arbiter of disputes upon 
 the field, an independent referee who has power at any time to 
 stop the game by blowing his whistle. 
 
 From what we have said about Association football the 
 reader will gather that in our opinion its history during the last 
 fifteen years is simply a record of increase of skill both o^ 
 kicking and passing on with the individual players and of com- 
 bination with the team. Experieniia docet, and it does not 
 cast any reflection upon the players of a few years ago to say 
 that when the Corinthians met Queen's Park in 1S94 the 
 form was vastly superior to that of the Wanderers and Old 
 Etonians when they met about twenty years before. Those 
 who can beat all comers in their own day need fear no dis- 
 paragement from subsequent comparisons. The old cham- 
 pions performed when Association football was in its infancy, 
 and the capacities of the game for skilful development were 
 not fully understood. Nowadays the game not only has 
 professional exponents, but keenness of competition has forced 
 up the amateurs to as high a pitch of skill as is shown by the 
 professionals. The old school, however, console themselves 
 with the assertion that even if the skill be greater the enjoy- 
 ment in the pastime is less than it was in days gone by. ' In 
 our time,' says the old stager, ' we played for fun, and we 
 enjoyed the rough and tumble of a manly sport. Now, your 
 footballers go into training for their matches, wear shin-guards 
 to save their legs, and with all their skill have taken all the 
 rough and tumble fun out of the game.' With these sentiments 
 we can so far agree as to say that the pleasure of football-playing 
 certainly does not come from the skill alone, but quite as 
 much from the rough and tumble 'friendly fight' character 
 of the game, which is one of the arguments which the Rugby
 
 382 FOOTBALL 
 
 Unionists use to exalt their game at the expense of the other ; 
 but we can hardly agree that there is not plenty of rough and 
 tumble in the Association game with all its present elaboration 
 of skill and tactics. 
 
 In the early days of Association matches and ' Cup Ties,' 
 ihe famous Wanderers Club was certainly the foremost organi- 
 sation of the time. The 'Cup Ties' were started in 1872, and 
 during the first seven years the Wanderers were declared the 
 winners five times. In 1878 the club, having won the cup 
 three years in succession, became absolutely entitled to it, but 
 they gave the trophy back to the Football Association upon 
 the condition that it should never be won outright. During 
 this period London, Sheffield, and the Universities were the only 
 important centres of activity in the game, although the Royal 
 Engineers, who won the cup in 1S75, could always put a strong 
 eleven into the field, and the Shropshire Wanderers made a 
 brilliant and meteoric appearance for a year or two. From 
 about 1875 to 1883 the Etonians were at their zenith, and 
 during the whole of this period could turn out a very formi- 
 dable team. They were the winners of the cup in 1879 and 
 1882, and the 'runners up' in 1875, 1876, 1881, and 18S3. 
 The Wanderers were never a large club, but their early success 
 attracted many brilliant players from all quarters into their 
 ranks, and they were thus enabled to maintain their supremacy. 
 About 1876 or 1877, however, the ' old school clubs ' began to 
 spring up in great numbers, and it became the prevailing 
 fashion for a player when he left his school or University to 
 devote himself entirely to his ' old boys ' club. This movement 
 undoubtedly led to the downfall of the Wanderers, who after 
 winning the cup for the third time in succession in 1878, sud- 
 denly ceased to be. In the first round of the Cup Ties of 1876 
 they met the Old Etonians, who had been reinforced by the 
 Old Wanderer as well as Old Etonian, the Hon. A. F. Kinnaird 
 (now Lord Kinnaird). The Etonians won, and the Wanderers, 
 who had made their reputation entirely from cup ties, forthwith 
 collapsed. From henceforth the old school clubs occupied the
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 383 
 
 chief position for several years, and the final tie of the cup, in 
 1881, was fought out between the Old Carthusians and the Old 
 Etonians, the former proving the winners. By this time, how- 
 ever, an entirely new movement was overspreading the country. 
 Until about 1875 there was practically no Association football 
 in the provinces except at ShefiEield. About 1875 the provincial 
 movement began, and the game was taken up in Lancashire, 
 Staffordshire, and the whole of the Midlands by all classes of 
 players, but chiefly by the mechanics and artisans. The rapidity 
 with which the movement spread was little short of marvellous. 
 In 1874, only one club played Association football in Birming- 
 ham. In 1876, an association of over twenty clubs was formed 
 in the district. The rapidity with which the new class of players 
 acquired their skill was equally remarkable. In 1877 the new 
 Birmingham Association met London at the Oval, and were 
 beaten by 1 1 goals to ;///. Two years later, at the same place, 
 Birmingham beat London by two goals to nothing. In Lanca- 
 shire the progress was equally rapid. To the unbounded sur- 
 prise of most footballers, in 1878 the Darwen Club played 
 two drawn games with the Old Etonians in a cup tie before 
 they were finally beaten. So many provincial clubs had joined 
 the Association by this year, that in 1879 a new system of play- 
 ing the cup ties was introduced, the clubs being divided into 
 districts for all the preliminary rounds. It was not for some 
 years, however, that the provincial clubs could secure the cup. 
 In 1882, the Blackburn Rovers were only beaten by one goal 
 in the final tie by the Old Etonians ; and in the following 
 year another Blackburn club, the Olympic, beat the Etonians 
 by a similar score. Since then the cup has always fallen 
 to a provincial club. For the next three years the Black- 
 burn Rovers won in succession, twice beating m the final 
 tie the Scottish Queen's Park Club, and once the West 
 Eromwich Albion team. Since then the Association Cup has 
 always been won by one of the numerous professional clubs 
 from the provinces. Indeed, to-day the professional clubs, 
 with their highly paid and highly trained players, are consider-
 
 384 FOOTBALL 
 
 ably superior to the amateur teams of the South. One amateur 
 club, the Corinthians, at times puts a wonderful eleven into the 
 field, but this is rather a picked team than a veritable club, as 
 it has no local habitation, and merely plays matches from time 
 to time with a team selected from the best old school clubs 
 and from the Universities. The club is managed by Mr. N. 
 L. Jackson, who was formerly the secretary of the London 
 Football Association, and the performances of the Corinthians 
 upon their tours are watched with the keenest interest, as the 
 club has upon its roll all the crack players of the South. But 
 with the exception of the Corinthians and the Universities, who 
 never enter for the Association Cup ties, there are now no 
 purely amateur clubs who have a chance in the cup ties with 
 the crack professional teams ; and in consequence of complaints 
 being made that the Football Association existed mainly for 
 the benefit of professionals, the Association determined to start 
 Amateur Cup ties. The first competition for this was played 
 in the season 1893-4, and was won by the Old Carthusians. 
 
 So great is the interest shown in the progress of the cup tie 
 competitions that it may almost be said that every other match 
 is dwarfed in comparison. Certainly there is far less interest 
 in the international matches than in the final tie for the cup, and 
 even North v. South or Gentlemen v. Players excited compara- 
 tively but a languid interest. For better or for worse cups and 
 cup ties are the life and soul of the Association game. However, 
 the gaining of a place in the international eleven is still the 
 highest honour open to the individual player. The English 
 team is selected by that old and able body the Football Asso- 
 ciation, which has always shown itself capable of dealing with 
 every problem of Association football which has arisen, and 
 which has left no step undone to encourage the game in all 
 j)arts of the kingdom. For more than twenty years the Old 
 Harrovian, Mr. C. W. Alcock, has been the secretary of the 
 Football Association, and the spread and ])opularity of the 
 game durmg his term of office is the best testimonial that can 
 be given to his work.
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 385 
 
 As the Association game is in full swing in each of the four 
 countries of the United Kingdom, and as each country has 
 its own governing association, the dribblers, like the Rugby 
 Unionists, have found that the only way to avoid disputes is to 
 have a supreme imperial parliament attended by the delegates 
 of each nation. The course of football history certainly seems 
 to show the futility of an attempt to separate the government 
 of our four nationalities, for the players of both games have 
 discovered that with complete independence mutual difficulties 
 and quarrels inevitably arise. 
 
 Affiliated to the old National Football Association are nearly 
 thirty district or county associations, most of which have 
 their own cup competitions and by these decide their local 
 championships. Indeed, there is no doubt that as far as local 
 organisation is concerned the Association is more advanced than 
 the Rugby Union. In some centres both games are played, 
 in some only one or other of the two, and the reasons for the 
 choice of the one or the other game are difficult if not impos- 
 sible to give. While there is Rugby football round Manchester 
 and Liverpool, in the greater part of the rest of Lancashire the 
 Association game is supreme. While the Lancashire mill-hand 
 as a rule plays Association football, his brother in Yorkshire is 
 devoted to the Rugby Union game. Of late years the matches 
 which excite the keenest interest of all, with the exception of 
 the cup ties, are those of the League competition. The chief 
 professional clubs are banded together in a body called the 
 Football League, and each of them plays an in-and-out match 
 with the others during the season. The clubs are divided into 
 two divisions, in much the same way as the counties at cricket 
 are divided into first and second class counties. The first 
 class clubs play only the first class, and the second class only 
 meet their compeers. From the results of these matches, which 
 go on throughout the whole season, the order of merit is 
 determined, and to the club at the head of the list is awarded 
 the title of the League champions. Strangely enough, it is sel- 
 dom that the League champions also win the Associatio:i Cup 
 
 c c
 
 386 FOOTBALL 
 
 We have said that there are not only the big cup ties, 
 but there are also the minor cup ties of the different local bodies, 
 and that cup ties in one form or another excite the greatest 
 interest amongst spectators, and form the life and soul of the 
 sport as it is carried on at present. \A'hat is harder, however, 
 to say is, whether the system of 'cups' is not overdone. There 
 is no doubt that with first-class clubs, whose teams are neces- 
 sarily engaged in ties from time to time throughout the whole 
 season, the system plays havoc with the genuine club fixtures, 
 which are the foundation of the Rugby Union game. It is of 
 little use for many clubs to arrange a club fixture, as they may 
 always be obliged to send their best team for one or another 
 round of this or that cup tie upon the day fixed. All club 
 fixtures are thus thrown into confusion by the cup ties, and 
 when two good clubs do happen to meet upon an open day 
 for an ordinary club contest, the play is often languid, as each 
 side feels the temptation to say, if beaten, that ' It was not a tie, 
 you see, so it didn't matter.' So far have some leading clubs 
 felt the nuisance and inconvenience of being obliged to travel 
 about to play against all sorts of teams, often at places which 
 are hard to reach, that they do their best to keep aloof from 
 cup ties altogether. For many years past neither University 
 has entered for the National Cup, and many leading London 
 clubs do not enter for the London Cup. It is certainly a rea- 
 sonable cause of complaint that the cup system has turned the 
 game into more of a business than a sport. It is of little use, 
 however, to complain of this, as the same movement seems 
 inevitably to occur with every pastime, and even the comfort- 
 able tricycle and the social game of lawn tennis become the 
 subjects of championship competitions. The time has long 
 since gone by when the rustic population was contented to con- 
 fine its own sports to its own village green. The evils conse- 
 quent upon the prolongation of the National Cup ties were 
 some years ago dealt with and partially remedied by the Foot- 
 ball Association. Under the present rules the chief clubs are 
 spared the necessity of playing in many preliminary rounds by
 
 THE ASSOCIATION GAME 387 
 
 the introduction of a new arrangement. Only 32 clubs take 
 part in the competition, this number being made up of the 
 4 clubs who were left in the ' semi-finals' of the preceding year, 
 18 clubs selected by the Association, and 10 winners of 'quali- 
 fying' competitions in the different districts. When once the 
 'qualifying' matches are over very few rounds are required to 
 finish the competition, and even the last pair left in only have 
 to play five matches. Those clubs, therefore, which desire 
 without losing their prestige to hold aloof from too many 
 cup competitions do not have their ordinary club matches 
 so much interfered with as was the case ten years ago. 
 
 cc 2
 
 388 FOOTBALL 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FOOTBALL AS A SPORT. 
 
 The account which we have given of the reviwil and progress 
 of the game in modern times will perhaps be deemed sufficient 
 to show that football can legitimately claim the position of a 
 national British sport. The accounts also which come to hand 
 of the gradual establishment of the game in Canada, the United 
 States, New Zealand, and Australia, seem to indicate clearly 
 that before many years have passed football will be, like cricket, 
 a common pastime for all the English-speaking nations of the 
 globe. Our review, however, of football and footballers can 
 hardly be considered complete without a short reference to a 
 few of the principal questions which are discussed in connection 
 with the game. 
 
 No words of ours can adequately describe the present 
 popularity of football with the public — a popularity which, 
 though great in the metropolis, is infinitely greater in the large 
 provincial towns. It was estimated that over 40,000 spectators 
 paid to witness the final tie of the Association Cup at Man- 
 chester in 1893. This, however, was upon an exceptional 
 occasion, but it is no rare thing in the North and Midlands for 
 10,000 people to pay money to witness an ordinary club match, 
 or for half as many again to assemble for a 'Cup Tie.' If 
 Aston Villa meet Notts County at Trent I'ridge, special trains 
 have to be run from Birmingham to carry the spectators who go 
 over to see the match. Hundreds of pounds realised from the 
 ' gates ' are devoted to charitable objects, or go into the coffers
 
 FOOTBALL AS A SPORT 389 
 
 of the competing clubs, or into the pockets of the professional 
 players. In 18S6 the Yorkshire County Union gave out of 
 the gate money of three matches the sum of 1,000/. to various 
 Yorkshire hospitals, and similar generous contributions are 
 made each year by local associations and unions throughout 
 the countr}', in spite of the assertions of sarcastic opponents 
 of football that such gifts are really debts due to institutions 
 which the game has previously filled with patients. All classes 
 are ready to put down their money to see the play, while the 
 enthusiasm and excitement which follow each move in the 
 game are unbounded. The writer has heard the roar that fol- 
 lowed the scoring of a goal from a distance of more than half 
 a mile. 
 
 All this popularity and power of making ' gate money ' has 
 naturally led to the institution of professionalism as a feature 
 in the game. Long before professionalism was openly recog- 
 nised by the Football Association, hundreds of fine players 
 who devoted their services throughout a season to one club re- 
 ceived in one form or another, either as ' expenses ' or as ' testi- 
 monials,' or as wages for some nominal employment, a monetary 
 return for their skilful play. At first the movement towards 
 professionalism was strenuously opposed by the majority of the 
 amateurs who attempted to debar any player from taking part 
 in a match if he accepted any remuneration for his services. 
 The only result was to drive professionalism beneath the surface, 
 as the money was paid secretly instead of openly. Eventually, 
 however, open and undisguised professionalism was not only 
 allowed but encouraged by the Association, which made pro- 
 vision for the registration of ' players,' and gave permission for 
 them to play in all club or cup tie matches, if born or resident 
 for two years within six miles of the head-quarters of the club 
 or ground for which they wished to play. We are thoroughly 
 of opinion that these provisions and regulations were not only 
 wise but sportsmanlike. No doubt it is unfair for one club to 
 bribe a man to desert his own district and go to another, but 
 such a system of deportation under the present rule is impossible
 
 390 FOOTBALL 
 
 On tlic Other hand, none but a pedant could contend that there 
 is anythingmore degrading or dishonourable/^ri'd' for a mechanic 
 to earn money by the exhibition of manly skill in a game of 
 football than in a game of cricket. As soon as there was 
 money to be made out of football playing, it became not only 
 natural but inevitable that the mechanic and artisan class of 
 players should desire to share in it, and as undisguised pro- 
 fessionalism is honest and sham amateurism dishonest, the 
 Association wisely recognised facts. 
 
 Far different has been the case with the Rugby Union ; but 
 then, as we have seen, its history and circumstances have been 
 different. The competition of cup ties led first to large 'gates ' 
 and then to professionalism, but it is almost in Yorkshire alone 
 that the ' cup tie enthusiasm ' has taken hold of the spectators 
 of the Rugby game. Consequently, except in this one county, 
 there has been little movement towards professionalism with 
 the Rugby game. The movement, however, is at work, 
 and the Rugby Union is resolved at present, in the words ot 
 one of its spokesmen, to ' throttle the hydra.' That we may 
 not misrepresent Mr. Budd, whose opinion we are criticising, 
 we had better quote in full what he has said about profes- 
 sionalism in the ' Football Annual.' His views are important, 
 as the Rugby Union has adopted them and has now in force a 
 long and stringent set of rules disqualifying any footballer who 
 receives any money or money's worth for playing the game, and 
 further disqualifying any club which plays with or against such 
 an offender. As Mr. Budd is thus the spokesman of the Rugby 
 Union, and as we differ for once from the views of that body, 
 we feel justified in both quoting and criticising the following. 
 Says the advocate for suppression : — 
 
 Very few of us give much thought to the problems of football, 
 but we would ask all who have the welfare of the game at heart to 
 consider what would be the effect of recognised professionalism in 
 the Rugby game. To start then with a simple proposition, it is 
 indisDutable that in no branch of athletics, except cricket, where 
 gentleineu play as much as professionals, do amateurs stand any
 
 FOOTBALL AS A SPORT 391 
 
 chance whatever with professionals. What chance, for instance, 
 would any of our amateur sprinters have with Hutchens? What 
 chance would Pitman have with Beach ? What chance your best 
 amateur billiard player with John Roberts ? 
 
 To take a very close analogy, mark the progress of events in 
 the sister game. The Associationists sanctioned professionalism 
 because they had no alternative. When they took the problem in 
 hand, professionalism was too big a child to be got rid of. 
 
 Note now this most significant and instructive fact. Only six 
 months after the legitimisation of the bastard we see two professional 
 teams left to fight out the final Cup tie. To what does all this tend ? 
 Why this : gentlemen who play football once a week as a pastime 
 will find themselves no match for men who give up their whole time 
 and abilities to it. How should they? One by one, as they find 
 themselves outclassed, they will desert the game, and leave the field 
 to professionals. 
 
 And what sport, we would ask, has thriven when supported by 
 professionals only ? Why, none. 
 
 The Rugby Union Committee finding themselves face to face 
 with the hydra, have determined to throttle it before it is big enough 
 to throttle them. 
 
 We venture to differ from Mr. Budd, because in cricket, the 
 one sport, so far as we know, in which amateurs and profes- 
 sionals have always joined in common, the conjunction has both 
 kept professionalism pure, and has improved the form of the 
 gentlemen without in the least causing them to ' find themselves 
 outclassed,' and so 'desert the game.' It would be strange, 
 indeed, were gentlemen to desert a game as soon as they 
 met with a reverse from the 'players.' But apart from this 
 we think the Rugby Union authorities are wrong for quite 
 different reasons. Were gentlemen forced by any rule to meet 
 opponents whom they disliked, we could well agree with him ; 
 but no club need ever play with any clubs but those it chooses, 
 nor in the Rugby game, where there is no national cup tie, is 
 there any moral obligation for a club of gentlemen to meet any 
 crack club of ' players ' to try conclusions. Surely, on the other 
 hand, if the Yorkshire clubs prefer to play with or against pro- 
 fessional teams, they should be left at liberty to do so. Nor
 
 3Q2 FOOTBALL 
 
 will the edicts of the Union prevent professionals from playing 
 Rugby football if once there is a genuine movement in that 
 direction in the country. The Houses of Lancaster and 
 Tudor in vain tried to suppress football, and the efforts of the 
 Rugby Union will be equally vain to suppress professionalism 
 if it once begins to pay. The effect of such legislation would 
 only be to drive the movement beneath the surface, and we 
 must still confess that we prefer a man who plays for money 
 and says that he does so, to a 'gentleman' who receives liberal 
 sums for 'expenses.' However, at present there are very few 
 who have any opportunity of making money out of Rugby 
 football, and it will doubtless be well for the sport if the case 
 ever remains so. So far we are in sympathy with the Rugby 
 Union ; but if ever more money can be made out of the 
 'gates' of matches than the clubs know what to do with, 
 professionalism either open or secret there will assuredly be. 
 Until that time shall come the Rugby Union regulations against 
 professionalism are bmta fiilmiiia, and will in our opinion 
 remain so. 
 
 We turn to another and more interesting question in con- 
 clusion : Both games of football, and especially the Rugby 
 game, have been attacked by ignorant and prejudiced critics as 
 being brutal, dangerous, and unhealthy. We hope that the 
 description we have already given of the games will convince 
 even a prejudiced critic of the immense amount of skill and 
 judgment for which a scope is given in cither game. A game 
 which is in the highest degree skilful can scarcely consist of 
 nothing but brutality, or deserve to be called brutal. What is 
 true of the game is that it does give a scope to that delight in 
 ' rough and tumble ' which in a greater or less degree is part of 
 every young Englishman's nature, and bred in his very bone. 
 There is no gainsaying the fact that, while the typical English- 
 man is more humane than most foreigners, he does find pleasure 
 more than any foreigner in mere animal roughness. Upon the 
 liighest principles, then, rough sports where a harmless vent 
 may be given to animal spirits are good, not bad, for the race.
 
 FOOTBALL AS A SPORT 393 
 
 Football may be rough, may beat times dangerous ; so is riding 
 across country, so is boxing, so is wrestling. The very functioin 
 and final cause of rough sports is to work off the superfluous 
 animal energy for which there is little vent in the piping times 
 of peace. Since football became popular with all classes there 
 have been less wrenching off of knockers and ' boxing of the 
 watch,' and fewer ' free fights ' in the streets. Football has its 
 national uses quite apart from the cheap enjoyment it has given 
 to thousands. It may be rough, but it need not be brutal. 
 
 Next as to the danger. Doubtless there are accidents, 
 as many in the one game as in the other, and doubtless men 
 have been killed upon the football field. But during a quarter 
 of a century how many thousands of men have played, and 
 how many out of these thousands have lost their lives ? Not 
 half a hundred altogether, we should think. Fewer than 
 those who have been drowned on the river, not a tithe of 
 those who have fallen in the hunting field, are the victims 
 of football. If the outcry against football because of its 
 danger could be justified, not a single outdoor sport could 
 survive. If the game be played by any club with unnecessary 
 roughness the governing bodies can and may be relied on to 
 suppress such practices. 
 
 Next as to the game being unhealthy. This charge is solely 
 based on the fact that men have died of mischief to the lungs 
 from football-playing upon wintry days. Doubtless a winter 
 sport gives greater chance for such misliaps than a summer 
 pastime ; but the mishaps are not due to the game, but to the 
 carelessness that has followed it. A footballer cannot play 
 without getting warm, and if he change his clothes before 
 the warmth has gone he has nothing to fear. Upon such 
 principles walking along a road in the rain would be found 
 more dangerous than playing football upon a rainy day. 
 
 But now let us turn to the other side. For every one who 
 may have been harmed by football, a thousand have benefited 
 by it. Health, endurance, courage, judgment, and above all a 
 sense of fair play, are gained upon the football field. A foot-
 
 394 FOOTBALL 
 
 bailer must learn, and does learn, to play fairly in the thick and 
 heat of a struggle. Such qualities are those which make a 
 nation brave and great. The game is manly and fit for Eng- 
 lishmen ; ' it puts a courage into their hearts to meet an enemy 
 in the face.'
 
 395 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FOOTBALL IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Twenty years ago the sport of football in the United States, 
 though it was known, could hardly be dignified by the name of a 
 game in the ordinary acceptation of the word. In the olden 
 times here and there in New England it was the custom upon 
 Thanksgiving Day, after the dinner had been properly discussed, 
 for the gentlemen of the party to adjourn to the ' yard ' of the 
 old house and there kick an inflated pig's bladder about, amid 
 shouts of merriment from the rest of the party. Looking back 
 upon this time-honoured custom, one can, perhaps, trace a rude 
 justice in the fact that so many New England Thanksgiving 
 dinners are now deprived of the joyous presence of the young 
 men of the family, who swell the crowd and join in the cheering 
 of thirty or forty thousand at some final football match in the 
 metropolis. But the Thanksgiving Day kicking was not the 
 only phase of the sport, for after a number of years a rough 
 game was indulged in, which was evidently derived from what 
 has been known in England as the Association game of foot- 
 ball. No British subject would have felt complimented at being 
 accused of introducing this game could he have seen it played, 
 and certainly he would have had great difficulty in recognising 
 any marked resemblance to the Association rules. The truth 
 was that every team made its own rules and no two teams 
 played under the same code. When a match was brought 
 about it was preceded by a meeting of the captains and a 
 general compromising upon points of difference for the sake of 
 a contest. Then the defeated team could, with a considerable
 
 396 FOOTBALL 
 
 modicum of trutli, say that the game was not played under the 
 rules to which they had been accustomed. 
 
 In these early days football at the colleges was merely a 
 cloak for rough battles between the sophomores and freshmen, 
 amounting to the same thing as the more modern ' rush.' In 
 these football rushes the active classes joined, and there were 
 no rules worth regarding. When the class of 1861 at Yale 
 challenged the sophomores to the usual contest, the class of '60 
 prefaced their reply with the suggestive quotation, 
 
 Come ! 
 And, like sacrifices in their trim, 
 To the fire-eyed maid of smoky war 
 All hot and bleeding will we offer you. 
 
 The faculties final])- took a hand in the matter and prohibited 
 these contests. 
 
 In the early seventies the sport approached more nearly the 
 form of an acknowledged pastime, and several of the colleges 
 played matches, one with another, which led to a greater 
 harmony of rules. They were crude, and dependent largely 
 upon the discretion of the referee, but some of the contests 
 Avere not without interest. The ball that was used was the 
 round black rubber ball, and the common number of players 
 was twenty on a side. The uniform of the players was quite 
 different from that of the present day, many of the men wearing 
 long trousers, and jerseys well pulled down over the top of the 
 trousers. None of the various codes provided for any off or 
 on side, and players stationed themselves at such points along 
 the field as they judged best. The general arrangement 
 liartook more nearly, therefore, of players in a Lacrosse match. 
 No running with the ball was permitted, but it could be struck 
 with the hand or foot. The fact that it could l)e played 
 with the hand eventually led to something quite like running 
 ^with it, however, as a man would knock it from one hand to 
 the other as he ran down the field. This manner of babying 
 the ball became far more developed among these early American
 
 THE AMERICAN GAME 397 
 
 players than did the dribbhng with the feet in which the British 
 Association players are so proficient. The dribbling was at- 
 tempted and practised to no inconsiderable extent, but not 
 with marked success. Nothing scored except goals, and these 
 were made by sending the ball not over but under the bar across 
 the goal-posts. The direct method of attacking an adversary 
 was by butting him in the side with the shoulder, and in this 
 art the American college players became exceedingly expert. 
 The object was to knock the man out of the way or over to 
 the ground, and it was wonderful how some of the most pro- 
 ficient would, by catching the man fairly under the shoulder 
 and at the same time giving a judicious lift with the body, bowl 
 an opponent head over heels. 
 
 In October of 1873 a convention was held in New York, at 
 which Columbia, Princeton, Rutgers and Yale were represented, 
 and a set of rules upon the above lines was drawn up. In the 
 same year a team, composed of Englishmen and captained by 
 an Eton man, played a match at New Haven with a Yale team. 
 This game was played with eleven men a side, and the rules 
 were modified to bring about a measure of harmony. It was 
 more nearly approaching to the English Association than any 
 game played up to that time. All the college games were 
 played by teams of twenty men. In all these games, when a 
 foul occurred, the ball was thrown perpendicularly into the air, 
 and it was not allowable to touch it until it struck the ground. 
 Many were the injuries received from the kicks that were directed 
 at it as it struck. 
 
 In 1874 several games were played, but much dissatisfaction 
 was expressed with the rules, and the contests provoked but 
 little interest even among the collegians. Far from there being 
 any great striving for positions upon the teams, in selecting a 
 captain a man was always sought after whose chief qualification 
 was that of possessing great powers of persuasion or influence^ 
 JO that he might be able to collect enough men to compose a 
 team. 
 
 This v.-as the point reached by American football previous
 
 398 FOOTBALL 
 
 to 1875. Outside the college teams there was but Httle playing 
 and no permanent organisation. Meantime, for a year or two, 
 Harvard had been seeking something new in the line of the 
 sport by taking up the Rugl)y Union game, in which she could 
 have matches with Canadian teams. After a few contests her 
 men became so enamoured of the sport under this code that 
 they looked for contests nearer home, and invited Yale to take 
 up the English game. At first there seemed little likelihood of 
 this, for Yale was playing under the old-fashioned American 
 rules, having as competitors Princeton, Columbia, Rutgers, 
 and, as above mentioned, an occasional contest with others. 
 But between Harvard and Yale there had always been the keenest 
 rivalry in matters of sport, and both base-ball and boating drew 
 them together. It was not to be wondered at, then, that, sooner 
 or later, they should adopt a set of rules for football under which 
 they might have still another vigorous contest. In the fall of 
 1875 they did succeed, after a rather exciting convention of dele- 
 gates, in adopting a most extraordinary compromise between the 
 Rugby Union, which Harvard advocated, and the old American 
 <:ode, which Yale desired, and a match was arranged, ^^'hether 
 the Harvard advocates were more expert in their diplomacy 
 than the Yale delegates, or the inherent merit of the Rugby 
 code made itself felt, the compromise rules were certainly 
 nearer the Rugby than the old American. For all that, the 
 strangeness of attempting to combine the two threw both 
 teams badly out, and the match, from the point of view of both 
 player and spectator, was a dismal failure. Harvard, in spite of 
 the many fouls that occurred upon both sides, easily demon- 
 strated her superiority, and defeated the Yale team by four 
 goals and two touch-downs to nothing. One of the concessions 
 made by the Harvard delegates to their Yale petitioners was 
 that, when a foul occurred, the old American rule of throwing the 
 ball into the air should govern. This, in itself, as one can 
 easily imagine, seemed strange in a Rugby contest. But the 
 seed of the Rugby Union was sown ; the next season the 
 Harvard and Yale delegates agreed upon a match under the
 
 THE AMERICAN GAME 399 
 
 regular Rugby Union code, and the contest took place again at 
 New Haven. This time the Yale men had devoted far more 
 time to preparation, and were better trained than the Harvard 
 team. For all that, Harvard was so superior in skill and 
 understood the science of the sport so much better, that the 
 match was a very close one, and was finally won only by a buck- 
 ing kick of one of the Yale half-backs which sent the ball over 
 the Harvard goal. The Harvard team made two touch-downs 
 but failed in both instances to convert the tries. From this 
 match dates the real introduction of Rugby Football into the 
 ■catalogue of American sports ; and although the present rules, as 
 they appear in the Intercollegiate Association code, differ in 
 many respects from those of the English, their foundation was 
 the same. 
 
 Both games have undergone some changes since that 
 •day, but the American game by far the most. The principal 
 reason for this lies in the fact that, while the Englishman 
 had a school where the traditions of what was allowed and 
 what was forbidden in football were as fixed and unalterable as 
 the laws of the Medes and Persians, the American player had 
 nothing but the lex scripta to guide him, and no old player to 
 whom to refer disputed points, or from whom to obtain infor- 
 mation. The result in the case of the American was that the 
 first year of Rugby Union was simply full of questions as to 
 interpretations of the code. At the present day the game of 
 American football is played by eleven men a side upon a 
 field 330 feet long by 160 feet wide. While not absolutely 
 necessary, it is customary to mark the field also with transverse 
 lines every five yards, for the benefit of the referee in deter- 
 mining how far the ball is advanced at every down. In the 
 middle of the lines forming the ends of the field the goal-posts 
 .are erected, and should be 18 feet 6 inches apart, with a cross- 
 bar 10 feet from the ground. The posts should project several 
 feet above the cross-bar. The ball used is the same as that 
 used in the English game, an oval leather cover containing 
 a rubber inner. A majority of the players wear canvas jackets.
 
 400 
 
 FOOTBALL 
 
 These fit closely, and lace up in front so that they may be 
 drawn quite snugly. The trousers are of some stout material — 
 fustian for example— and well padded. Long woollen stockings 
 are worn, and occasionally, but not usually, shin-guards by men 
 playing in the forward line. The most important feature of 
 
 An .American player. 
 
 the entire uniform is the shoe. This may be the Ordinary 
 canvas and leather base-ball shoe with leather cross-pieces 
 nailed across the sole to prevent slipping. This is the most 
 inexpensive form, but the best shoes are made entirely of 
 leather, kangaroo skin preferably, fitting the foot firmly yet 
 comfortably, lacing well up on the ankle, and the soles pro-
 
 THE AMERICAN GAME 
 
 401 
 
 vided with a small leather spike which can be renewed when 
 
 worn down. Inside this shoe, and either attached to the 
 
 bottom of it or not, as preferred, a thin leather anklet laces 
 
 tightly over the foot, and is an almost sure preventive of 
 
 sprained ankles. The soa l 
 
 cap may be of almost 
 
 any variety, and except 
 
 in the cases of half-backs 
 
 and back, does not play 
 
 any very important part. 
 
 These men, however, 
 
 have caps with visors to 
 
 protect their eyes from 
 
 the sun when catching 
 
 a long kick. 
 
 The team of eleven 
 men is usually divided 
 into seven rushers or 
 forwards, who stand in 
 a line facing their seven 
 opponents ; a quarter- 
 back, who stands just be- 
 hind this line ; two half- 
 backs, a few yards be- 
 hind the quarter-back ; 
 and, finally, a full-back or 
 goal-tend, who stands a 
 dozen yards or so behind 
 the half-backs. This 
 
 gives the general forma- Goal 
 
 tion, but is, of course, varied according to circumstances. In 
 beginning a game the two teams line up, the holders of the ball 
 placing it upon the exact centre of the field, and the opponents 
 being obliged to stand back in their own territory at least ten 
 yards until the ball has been touched with the foot. There 
 are several methods of starting the play. Primarily, however, 
 
 D D 
 
 
 R 
 
 I? 
 
 R 
 
 U 
 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 J
 
 402 FOOTBALL 
 
 the ball must be hit by the foot of the man making the kick- 
 off. He may kick the ball as far as he can down the field or 
 he may merely touch it with his foot and then pick it up 
 and pass it, run with it, or even punt it himself. The method 
 most commonly practised now is for him to touch it with his 
 foot and then pass it to some runner of his own side behind 
 him, while the other forwards mass in the form of a wedge in 
 front of this runner, and the entire body of men, with the run- 
 ner well protected in their midst, then plunges ahead as far as 
 possible into the ranks of the opponents. This play is called 
 the V or wedge, and is affected by almost every team, although 
 the methods may differ slightly. As soon as the ball is touched 
 by the foot, the opposing side may charge, and the rushers, 
 therefore, spring at this wedge-shaped mass of players, and 
 get at the runner as speedily as possible, bringing him to a 
 standstill. 
 
 As soon as the ball is fairly held - that is, both player and 
 ball brought to a standstill — the runner must cry ' down,' and 
 someone upon his side, usually the man called the snap back 
 or centre rusher, must place the ball on the ground at that spot 
 for a ' scrimmage,' as it is termed. The ball is then put in play 
 again (while the men of each team keep on their own side of 
 the ball, under penalty of a foul for off-side play) by the snap- 
 back kicking the ball or snapping it back, either with his foot 
 or more commonly with his hand, to a player of his own side 
 just behind him, who is called the quarter-back. The ball is 
 in play, and both sides may press forward as soon as it is 
 put in motion by the snap-back. Naturally, however, as the 
 <iunrter-back usually passes it still further behind him to a half- 
 back or back, to kick or run with, it is the opposing side which 
 are most anxious to push forward, while the side having the 
 ball endeavour by all lawful means to retard that advance until 
 their runner or kicker has had time to execute his play. It is 
 this antagonism of desire on the part of both sides that has 
 given rise to the special legislation regarding the use of the 
 hands, body, and arms of the contestants— and beginners must
 
 THE AMERICAN GAME 403 
 
 carefully note the distinction. As soon as the snap-back has 
 sent the ball behind him he has really placed all the men in 
 his own hne off-side, that is, between the ball and the opponents' 
 goal, and they therefore can theoretically only occupy the 
 positions in which they stand, while the opponents have the 
 legal right to run past them as quickly as possible. For this 
 reason, and bearing in mind that the men 'on-side ' have the 
 best claim to right of way, it has been enacted that the side 
 having possession of the ball may not use their hands or arms 
 but only their bodies, when thus off-side, to obstruct or interrupt 
 their adversaries, while the side running through in the 
 endeavour to stop the runner, or secure possession of the ball, 
 may use their hands and arms to make passage for themselves. 
 The game thus progresses in a series of ' downs ' followed by 
 runs or kicks, as the case may be, the only limitation being 
 that of a rule designed to prevent one side continually keeping 
 possession of the ball without material advance or retreat, 
 Avhich would be manifestly unfair to the opponents. This rule 
 provides that in three ' downs,' or attempts to advance the ball, 
 a side not havmg made five yards towards the opponents' goal 
 or retreated twenty yards towards their own goal must sur- 
 render possession. As a matter of fact, it is seldom that a 
 team actually surrenders the ball in this way, because after two 
 attempts, if the prospects of completing the five-yard gain 
 appears small, it is so manifestly politic to kick the ball as far 
 as possible down the field, that such a method is more likely 
 to be adopted than to make a last attempt by a run and give 
 the enemy possession almost on the spot. In such an exigency 
 no feint at a kick is allowed by the rules, b'U it must be such 
 a kick as to give the opponents fair and equal chance to gain 
 possession of the ball. There is one other element entering 
 into this state of the game, and that is the fair catch. This 
 can be made from a kick by the opponents, provided the 
 catcher takes the ball on the fly, and, no other of his own side 
 touching it, plants his heel in the ground at the spot where 
 the catch is made. This entitles him to a free kick ; that is,
 
 404 FOOTBALL 
 
 his opponents cannot come beyond his mark made by heeh'ng 
 the catch, while he and his side may retire such distance 
 towards his own goal as he sees fit, and then make a punt or a 
 drop, or place the ball for a place-kick. He ordinarily, how- 
 ever, in these days of wedge-play, acts exactly as we have 
 described for the first kick-off — that is, merely touches the ball 
 with his foot in order to conform with the rule that he must 
 put it in play by a kick, and then passes it to another of his own 
 side for a run. His own men must be behind the ball when 
 he kicks it, under penalty of off-side. 
 
 Whenever the ball goes across the side boundary line of 
 the field, it is said to go ' into touch,' and it must be at once 
 brought back to the point where it crossed the hne, and then 
 put in play by some member of the side which carried it out, 
 or first secured possession of it after it went out. The methods 
 of putting it in play are as follows : to throw it directly in at 
 right angles to the touch-Hne, bound it or touch it in, and then 
 pass it back, or finally, and most commonly, walk into the field 
 and make an ordinary scrimmage of it the same as after a down. 
 In this latter case, the player who intends walking in with it 
 must, before stepping into the field, declare how many paces 
 he will walk in, in order that the opponents may know where 
 the ball will be put in play. We will suppose that the ball by 
 a succession of these plays, runs, kicks, downs, fair catches, &c., 
 has progressed towards one or the other of the goals, until it is 
 within kicking distance of the goal-posts. The question now 
 will arise in the mind of the captain of the attacking side as to 
 whether his best plan of operations will be to try a drop-kick 
 at the goal, or to continue the running attcnipts, in the hope 
 of carrying the ball across the goal-line, for this latter play will 
 count his side a touch-down, and entitle them to a try-at-goal. 
 The touch-down itself will count four points, even if he afterwards 
 fail to convert it into a goal by sending the ball over the bar 
 and between the posts, while, if he succeed in converting it, 
 the touch-down and goal together count six points. A drop-kick, 
 if successful, on the other hand, counts but five points, and is, of
 
 THB: AMERICAN GAME 405 
 
 course, even if attempted, by no means sure of resulting suc- 
 cessfully. If it fail, the ball is almost certain to cross the goal- 
 line somewhere, and this gives the opponents the right to bring 
 it out to the twenty-five yard line for kick-out, and then have 
 a free kick, which results in still further gain for them, and 
 usually puts their goal out of danger for the time being. He 
 must, therefore, carefully consider both issues at this point, and 
 it is the handling of those problems that show his quality as a 
 captain. If he elects to continue his running attempts, and 
 eventually carries the ball across the line, he secures a touch- 
 down at the spot where the ball is carried over, and any player 
 of his side may then bring it out, making a mark ^Yith his heel 
 on the line as he walks out, and when he reaches a suitable 
 distance place the ball for one of his side to kick, the opponents 
 meantime standing behind their goal-line. In placing the ball 
 it is held in the hands of the placer close to, but not touching, 
 the ground, and then carefully aimed until the direction is 
 proper. Then, at a signal from the kicker that it is right, it is 
 placed upon the ground, still steadied by the hand or finger of 
 the placer, and instantly kicked by the place-kicker. The 
 reason for this keeping it off the ground until the last instant 
 is that the opponents can charge forward as soon as the ball 
 touches the ground, and hence would surely stop the kick if 
 much time intervened. If the ball goes over the goal it scores 
 as above indicated, and the opponents then take it to the 
 middle of the field for kick-off again, the same as at the 
 beginning of the match. The same result happens by the latest 
 rules if the goal be missed, although formerly the opponents 
 could then only bring it out to the twenty-five yard line. 
 
 There is one other issue to be considered at this point, and 
 that is, if the ball be in possession of the defenders of the goal, 
 or if it fall into their hands when thus close to their own goal. 
 Of course they will naturally endeavour, by running or kicking, 
 to free themselves, if possible, from the unpleasant situation 
 that menaces them. Sometimes, however, this becomes im- 
 possible, and there is a provision in the rules which gives them
 
 4o6 FOOTBALL 
 
 an opportunity of relief, at a sacrifice it is true, but scoring less 
 against them than if their opponents should regain possession 
 of the ball and make a touch-down or a goal. A player may 
 at any time kick, pass, or carry the ball across his own goal-line 
 and there touch it down for safety. This, while it scores two 
 points for his opponents, gives his side the privilege of bringing 
 the ball out to the twenty-five yard line and then taking a kick- 
 out, performed like kick-off or any other free kick, except that 
 it must be a drop-kick or a place-kick. 
 
 This succession of plays continues for three-quarters of an 
 hour in a regular match. Then intervenes a ten-minute inter- 
 mission, after which the side which did not have the kick-off 
 at the beginning of the match has possession of the ball 
 for the kick-off at the second three-quarters of an hour. The 
 result of the match is determined by the number of points 
 scored during the two three-quarters, a goal from a touch-down 
 yielding six points, one from the field— that is, without the aid of 
 a touch down — five points ; a touch-down from which no goal 
 is kicked gives four, and a safety counts two points for the 
 opponents. 
 
 Toward the end of the first year of American Rugby, the 
 latter part of November 1876, a convention was held, and the 
 rules were amended here and there, as the exigencies of the play 
 had indicated. 
 
 In the Rugby code. Rules 8 and 9 read as follows : — 
 'The ball is dead when it rests absolutely montionless on the 
 ground,' and 'A touch-down is made when a player, putting 
 his hand on the ball in touch or in goal, stops it so that it 
 remains dead, or fairly so.' As a touch-down was about the 
 most important point to be achieved in the entire game, the 
 words ' or fairly so ' following such a definition as ' absolutely 
 motionless' left much to be desired, and were eventually 
 eliminated by the Americans to save disputes. It is easy even 
 for one not versed in football to appreciate the difficulty under 
 which any referee must labour when interpreting such a clause. 
 JSIen would go tumbling and rolling over the ball, hitting it
 
 THE AMERICAN GAME 407 
 
 with their hands, ' patting it ' as the expression had it, and he 
 must decide which among them, if any, made it rest 'absolutely 
 motionless on the ground, or fairly so.' This was but one of 
 the many instances where custom must have guided the English 
 player, but where the American had no guide. 'Off' and ' on- 
 side ' were mysteries naturally ; but, with the exception of two 
 rules which seemed to conflict, the new players found less dif- 
 ficulty in interpreting the rules than in enforcing them. Nearly 
 all of them had been accustomed to the free and easy methods 
 of playing anywhere upon the field they chose, and it took 
 weeks of practice to make them keep behind the ball. Even the 
 first season of Rugby football in America brought out a style 
 of game that would have been laughed at by Englishmen, and it 
 is no wonder that the alterations and amendments to the rules 
 proved necessary. From the time of this first convention up to 
 a convention held in April of 1882, American football legislators 
 amended and added to the rules they had adopted, through no 
 less than a half-dozen annual meetings. During all this time 
 the game had wandered farther and farther from the lines of the 
 English Rugby. But it was in the scrummage, or, as the Ameri- 
 cans call it, the scrimmage, that the radical difference between 
 the two methods was most apparent. To go back into the re- 
 mote history of football, to the days when there was no scrum- 
 mage, but men struggled for possession of the ball indefinitely, 
 one finds that the first and best reason for the introduction of 
 such a law was to bring about a temporary cessation of the 
 struggle between the holder and the would-be holders, and after 
 this temporary cessation to start the more interesting and better 
 progress of the ball once more in place of the mere struggle for 
 possession. Now, as one writer has truly said, the American 
 scrimmage far more nearly fulfils the requirements of such a 
 case than the English scrummage, for two reasons. It preserves 
 the original rights of the side holding the ball, and it sets the 
 play speedily in motion again. It recognises and preserves, to 
 a far greater degree, the original rights of the holder, in that 
 the side having possession when the ball is held and a scrim-
 
 4o8 
 
 FOOTBALL 
 
 mage occurs is more securely guaranteed that same advantage 
 when the play recommences. This can be appreciated when 
 one considers that a scrimmage most frequently occurs as a 
 result of a player who is running with the ball being tackled 
 and brought to a stop. Now, in order to preserve these con- 
 ditions most nearly when the play is started again, a scrimmage 
 should insure for the player a fair chance to have the ball in his 
 hands again. The English scrummage consists of a mass of men 
 
 sia^^^ 
 
 m^^^^^msMmm^ 
 
 ,frM^i?5;^ia 
 
 A L;'jijd S.I iiiiiiid;^i_-. 
 
 kicking and pushing in the endeavour to drive the ball, which 
 has been placed upon the ground, in the direction of the oppo- 
 nents' goal-line. The outcome of the English scrummage is 
 thus ever a matter of doubt. The ball may pop out any- 
 where, and the method never can insure to the man or side 
 which originally bad possession of the ball the same privilege 
 after the scrummage. It is in the development of the scrum- 
 mage that the American game has made the most progress 
 and has lost the features of the original Rugby.
 
 THE AMERICAN GAME 
 
 409 
 
 The point that it has at present leached can be judged from 
 the following description of the way it is played at the present 
 date, sixteen years after the adoption of the English rules. 
 When a player, running with the ball, is tackled and the ball 
 fairly held, he must cry 'down,' and a man of his side who has 
 been particularly trained for this work, and who plays in the 
 centre of the line of forwards, takes possession of the ball upon 
 the spot. The two rusher lines spread out more or less across 
 
 Snap-back and Quarter-back. 
 
 the field, and the man who has the ball (called the snap-back, 
 from his work) places it on the ground with his hand resting 
 upon it. Just a few feet behind him stands, or rather crouches, 
 another player called the quarter- back. He it is who has been 
 called, and with justice, the key to the American game, for, as 
 -will be seen, he practically has the entire direction of the play 
 in his hands. At a certain signal which he gives the snap- 
 back, usually by touching him with his hand, this man with the
 
 4IO FOOTBALL 
 
 Ijall snaps it back between his legs directly into the quarter- 
 back's waiting hands, and this player passes the ball to some 
 particular player who has been given a signal and is waiting 
 behind him for a kick or a run. The opponents cannot touch 
 the ball until the snap-back has set it in motion ; and while 
 It is, therefore, among the range of possibilities for the play to 
 be spoiled before the ball reaches the runner's hands, the 
 chances are so strongly against this that it may with safety be 
 said that the American scrimmage practically guarantees the 
 side holding the ball the possession of it when the play recom- 
 mences after every ' down.' 
 
 It has taken nearly a score of years for the scrimmage to reach 
 this form, for the development has been a gradual and well- 
 considered one. The Americans began upon the English scrum- 
 mage, and the players massed about the ball, kicked hard and 
 vigorously until they drove the ball out somewhere — anywhere — 
 no one could predict upon which side of the line. A year of 
 this method was followed by a period of study as to how a man 
 ought to act in a scrimmage, in order to gain the most advan- 
 tage for his side. Should he })ush and kick, or should he not ? 
 If he could so manage it that, when the ball was in front of him, 
 his opponent should kick it through, it was evident that was 
 extremely desirable ; for while his opponent was unable to rush 
 after it, being entangled in the scrimmage, one of his own 
 half-backs could get the ball and run around the struggling mass 
 for a considerable gain. Hence the problem became, not how 
 to kick the ball ahead in a scrimmage, but how to make the 
 opponent kick it through. When both parties to the struggle 
 understood this, it became difficult to make the ball come out. 
 For a time the development seemed likely to follow the English 
 fashion of slow close scrimmages, when clever forwards would 
 keep the ball in the scrimmage, and by steady pressure advance 
 the mass towards the opponents' goal. l>ut this did not last 
 long, for the progress was too slow, and soon rushers acquired 
 the trick of kicking the ball over to the side, and presently drag- 
 ging it backward wiih the foot to one of their own side. This
 
 THE AMERICAN GAME 41 r 
 
 was the origin of the snap-back, and men became skilful at it. 
 Before two years had passed it was quite the common play, and 
 another season found the man who was best qualified for this 
 work ahvays stationed in the scrimmage where he might do this. 
 There arose the question, as to how much right to the ball 
 the side had whose man was placing it for the scrimmage. It 
 was eventually decided that the man who put the ball in 
 play was entitled to but half the ball in performing this act, 
 but that his opponents could not put it in play or disturb it 
 until it was put in play. Then the rule was amended to read 
 that the opponent could not interfere with the ball until it was 
 actually in motion. All this time the foot only was used in 
 snapping the ball back, although the player might steady the 
 ball with his hand. It came to be quite common in this 
 steadying process to use the hand in such a way that both 
 hand and foot assisted in snapping the ball back. Greater 
 accuracy was obtained in this manner, and the rules were again 
 amended so that a man could use the hand only if he desired. 
 This, in the last few years, has become the universal practice,, 
 and the ball is rolled back with the hand. One more point 
 completes the comparison between the English scrummage and 
 the American scrimmage, and that is the cessation of the play. 
 ' When does a scrimmage end?' in other words. The original 
 rules provide with great force that no man can pick up the ball 
 in a scrimmage. The law reads : 'In a scrimmage it is not law- 
 ful to touch the ball with the hand under any circumstances 
 whatever.' But again : ' A player may take up the ball when- 
 ever it is rolling or bounding except in a scrimmage.' Even 
 prominent British players have had heated discussions as to 
 the limits of a scrimmage, and the American players could 
 hardly be blamed for finding even greater difficulty in inter- 
 preting this. Of course, if the ball rolled out clear of the mass 
 of players, it was out of the scrimmage ; but the players were 
 never massed just alike, and often the formation was quite 
 loose. Where, then, could the line be drawn? The American 
 solution, while a singular one, was based upon the supposed
 
 412 FOOTBALL 
 
 reason for the rule against handling the ball when so surrounded. 
 A man who attempted to pick up the ball in the midst of 
 the kicking feet was liable to be injured, and hence the rule. 
 The Americans limited their scrimmage finally as follows : The 
 man who snapped the ball back and the man directly opposite 
 him could neither of them pickup the ball until it had touched 
 some third man ; that is, any other one of the players. The 
 rapidity with which the American scrimmage sets the play in 
 proper motion again is fully as satisfactory as its preservation 
 of the rights of the side holding the ball when the scrimmage 
 occurred ; for no sooner is the ball placed than it is played, and 
 instantly travels to the open through the pass of the quarter- 
 back. The man to whom he passes may run immediately up 
 into the line again, but by still another most praiseworthy rule 
 he cannot repeat this indefinitely without material progress. 
 This particular rule is known as the ' five-yard rule,' and has 
 ■done much to raise football in America to a high standard of 
 popularity. The rule is as follows : 'If in three consecutiv'e downs 
 or fairs (that is, scrimmages, or putting the ball in from the 
 side of the field), the ball be not advanced five yards, or taken 
 back twenty, it shall go to the other side.' As will readily be 
 appreciated by anyone familiar with the Rugby game, this law 
 insures the rapid progress of the play. The only way to avoid 
 the issue is to kick the ball, and that acts doubly in favour of 
 increased interest, for it changes the situation of the play and 
 also gives the opponents an opportunity to secure the ball. 
 There is one other feature of the American game worthy of 
 especial mention, and that is what is known as interference. 
 This is something of a very recent growth, and has only been 
 practised for a few years. Its origin was in the assistance lent 
 to a half-back when running through the line by two com- 
 panion rushers. These would so obstruct the opponents as to 
 prevent their seizing the half-back. At first this was really an 
 infringement of the rule prohibiting a man off-side from inter- 
 fering in any way, and it was not done in an open manner, and 
 when detected was punished. But after a time the possibility
 
 THE AMERICAN GAME 413 
 
 of a system founded upon the use of this interference became 
 so attractive that the play was legaUsed to a certain degree. 
 The side whose man has possession of the ball may, so long as 
 they do not use their hands or arms in the act, obstruct or 
 interfere with anyone about to tackle the runner. Almost all 
 the play in the American game now depends upon more or less 
 of this interference, and it is this and the scrimmage play that 
 would militate strongly against any contest between English and 
 Americans. 
 
 The principal contests in the United States to-day are the 
 final Intercollegiate matches, played toward the end of 
 November. These attract audiences of from twenty to thirty 
 or even forty thousand people, and the interest and excitement 
 are at a fever heat. The matches have become a fashionable 
 event, and the appearance of the crowd is such as one wit- 
 nesses at no other meeting of any kind in the United States. 
 Scores of coaches, gaily bedecked with the various college 
 colours, and traps of all descriptions line the field, while the 
 immense grand stands are packed to their utmost capacity 
 with eager partisans. The cheering is quite an American 
 feature of the assemblage, for each college has its own peculiar 
 cheer, and although the match is between but two, almost all 
 are represented among the spectators, and take the opportunity 
 of declaring their favourites by first giving utterance to their 
 own distinctive college cheer, and then adding the name of the 
 college whom they favour.
 
 414 FOOTBALL 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALI,. 
 
 A GENEROUS partisanship in sports is on the whole a healthful 
 thing. It is at least natural ; for he who has at his heart a 
 throng of happy reminiscences of his own club, his own game, 
 his own peculiar ground, has always a tendency to attribute to 
 them in some degree the buoyant happiness of those early sports. 
 The comrade who fought stoutly with him in many a hardly 
 contested field, the rules which were once as the flag beneath 
 which they all strove side by side, become to him in after 
 years haloed with somewhat of the romance which makes the 
 soldier glow at the sight of the colours under which he met and 
 •conquered danger. In all such cases reason is dominated by 
 feelings too warm and hearty to be deplored, even when the 
 impulses of boyish enthusiasm cause the listener to smile with 
 incredulity. 
 
 Unless he is wilfully aggressive, therefore, in denouncing 
 other games, the Australian footballer is following only a natural 
 <and healthy impulse when he looks round on all the develop- 
 ments of his sport that the world possesses, and feels that there 
 is none like his own. He visits England, and watches with 
 interest and respect the great contests which are there to be 
 seen, and then he turns back with satisfaction to his own out- 
 lying corner of the earth, and his heart warms within him to 
 remember the ' Laws of the Australian Game of Football,' and 
 all the jolly associations connected therewith. And perhaps we 
 shall not be incautious or injudicious if we go with him so far 
 as to agree that there is no football game whi-'h appears to a
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 415 
 
 ■crov.-d of spectators so quick, so picturesque, and so interesting. 
 \\'i"iat other city of half a milHon people can, like Melbourne, 
 show its gatherings of from ten to twenty thousand people at its 
 principal matches every Saturday and public holiday throughout 
 a whole season ? It is not too much to say that fifty or sixty 
 thousand people are assembled in one part or other of 
 INIelbourne every Saturday afternoon to behold their favourite 
 matches, a single match having repeatedly attracted more than 
 thirty thousand. And it is astonishing to see how deeply 
 absorbed the great crowds are in the progress of the game, and 
 to hear with what unanimity the spontaneous roar goes up at 
 some sudden turn in the progress of the play— that hollow roar, 
 short and deep, often heard a mile away on an afternoon of 
 tempered winter sunshine. 
 
 Whether rightly or wrongly, the Australian footballer who 
 has toiled in uniform for a few seasons, or the old stager who 
 has 'barracked,' as it is locally called, for the club of his 
 district during half a dozen winters, will agree in declaring 
 that the game of football, as evolved under the guidance of 
 Providence in Australia, is the crowning mercy vouchsafed to 
 the human race 
 
 Sydney and Melbourne are the two cities which in moht 
 things take the lead throughout Australia, and in football, as in 
 many other matters, they have led along divergent lines. In 
 both cities the football which was played a generation back 
 was like that of England in the same period, uncertain and 
 subject to a hundred local variations. In Sydney this vague- 
 ness has given way to the full adoption of the Rugby Union 
 Rules, which have been altered from time to time to keep 
 pace with the Union in England, the colonial divergences 
 being slight. Queensland has followed the lead of the elder 
 colohy, and New Zealand is unswervingly loyal to the Rugby 
 game. 
 
 In Melbourne there was a feeling, as far back as 1858, that 
 without strict rules football was apt to degenerate into a rough 
 contest no higher in level than mere horse-play. And yet, the
 
 4i6 FOOTBALL 
 
 Rugby rules being generally voted slow, the players of the citr 
 were thrown back upon the necessity of developing a game of 
 their own ; the objects in view being very much the same as- 
 those of the English Association, to prevent unnecessary rough- 
 ness, to make the game fast and interesting, and to encourage 
 the development of skill as an element of at least equal impor- 
 tance with courage and strength. 
 
 The result has been favourable, and the \'ictorian game has- 
 worked out for itself solutions of various problems on different 
 lines, but with strictly analogous results to those described as- 
 the 'Association Game ' in a previous chapter. All Victoria 
 followed the lead of Melbourne, then South Australia and after- 
 wards Tasmania gave in their adhesion to the new system, 
 and it is the game as played in these three colonies that is 
 known by the name of the 'Australian Game.' The outcome 
 of this development has been that a team now pla\s with a 
 discipline, a self-abnegation, a solidarity of aim, which the game 
 has never before known upon Australian soil. 
 
 To gain easily some idea of the manner in which the 
 Australian game differs from the English, let us image to our- 
 selves an afternoon spent in watching the pastime, dreaming 
 that we occupy a place in the long rows of one of the grand 
 stands in Melbourne or in Adelaide ; that we look down on a 
 turf of wintry green, flooded with the sunlight of an azure dome. 
 Flags are fluttering, and forty athletes in close-fitting uniform, 
 are below— for the Australian game always plays twenty on a 
 side, except where some handicap has been allowed. 
 
 Unlike the practice of the English game, the players of both 
 teams are dotted in pairs all over the field from goal to goal, 
 each man of one team having a man of the other team beside 
 him. As for the field itself, it is larger than is usual in England, 
 the English maximum being the Australian minimum. In 
 Australia the goals must be not less than 150 yards apart 
 nor more than 200 yards. The minimum width is 100 yards 
 and the maximum 150 yards. The additional room is prob- 
 ably an advantage in Australia, where the public reserves in
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 417 
 
 all towns are spacious enough to make it possible. On the 
 whole, there is an inclination to keep the size of the field 
 at about 180 yards in length by about 140, which seems to 
 be the space best adapted for the exertions of forty com- 
 batants. 
 
 In the Australian game there is no 'kick-off.' It is con- 
 sidered that this must give, at the decision of a mere toss-up, a 
 solid initial advantage to one side. At the minute appointed 
 for the play to begin the field umpire takes the ball to 
 the middle of the field and, giving it a bounce, retires a few 
 yards, leaving the central men of each team to settle down to 
 work. No sort of scrimmage is permitted, for no player is 
 allowed to keep the ball unless he is running with it, nor is any- 
 one allowed to hold another unless the latter has the ball in 
 his hand at the time. 
 
 Away it goes, therefore, never at rest for one second until it 
 finds half a minute of repose through the goal-posts. The 
 play is completely open, and the ball is all over the ground in 
 a minute, travelling backwards and forwards with surprising 
 speed. Players are allowed to run with it, but in order to pre- 
 vent it being tucked under the arm, and so productive of a 
 dead-lock that would spoil the spirit of the play, the runner has 
 to bounce it every seven yards at least, and as it is of oval 
 shape the task is not an easy one. Generally a player is con- 
 tent to bounce it once or twice and then take his kick while he 
 can. No pushing from behind under any circumstances is 
 allowed, nor from the front unless when the player is running 
 to catch the ball and is within five or six yards of it, nor is any- 
 one allowed to push a player after he has sprung into the air to 
 catch the ball for a mark. 
 
 The field umpire is vested with plenary powers for the en- 
 forcement of the rules, and from time to time his whistle can be 
 heard shrilling out to signify that something has been amiss. 
 Then back comes the ball to the spot where the rules were 
 violated, and the nearest player of the opposite side has the 
 privilege of a free kick. But all this is done with such quick- 
 
 E E
 
 4i8 FOOTBALL 
 
 ness as to interfere in no way with the game ; by the rules, a 
 club which disj^jutes a field umpire's decision thereby loses the 
 match. No word of dispute is ever heard, for, by the rules, 
 'a player disputmg the decision of an umpire shall be dealt 
 with as the Association may think fit.' The power of the field 
 umpire is so entirely autocratic that only those who have a licence 
 from the Association are permitted to act in that capacity. A 
 field umpire reported by any club for unfairness, and proved to 
 have been guilty of partiality, would have his licence cancelled by 
 the Association, and with it would disappear that guinea and a 
 half per match which his services secure. 
 
 His position is one that requires hard work. He must 
 always be as close as possible to the ball, and if he sees any 
 closing up of players likely to lead to any sort of scrimmage 
 his whistle rings out, the players retire a little from the ball, 
 while he advances and bounces it on the spot, to set the fast 
 play in motion once more. 
 
 Again, it is the field umpire who is in request when the 
 ball goes ' out of bounds,' as it is called in Australia — that is, 
 when it is ' in touch.' He carries the ball about five yards 
 over the line, and knocks it evenly into the field so as to give 
 no advantage to either side. The Australian player also is 
 allowed to knock the ball with his hands if he likes, but no 
 throwing of any sort is tolerated by the rules. 
 
 An innovation which an English visitor would be sure to 
 note is that of quarter-time. ^Vhen play has proceeded for 
 twenty-five minutes a bell is rung, and from the first stroke of 
 it the ball is dead and may no longer be played till the teams 
 have changed ends ; but if a player has just marked the ball 
 ai- the bell was on the stroke of ringing, he is allowed his kick, 
 and if a goal is made it is counted. 
 
 There is reason in the system of quarter-time, halftim.e, 
 and three-quarter time,' for if a strong wind is blowing down 
 
 ' Introduced by Mr. 1". S. Marshall, the veteran secretary of the Victorian 
 Football Association, with whom, for many years past, the most notable 
 innovations have originated.
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 419 
 
 the field it may easily happen that the favoured team will make 
 so good a score in the first half of the match that, even if the 
 wind continues as before, the other team, worn out by a heavy 
 struggle against adverse fate, is incapable of rallying the game. 
 And then there is so much chance that the wind may lull or 
 wholly change its direction. The division of the time of play 
 into four quarters, in each of which the ends are changed, is an 
 undoubted means of securing fairness of conditions. 
 
 When the quarter-time has rung all players quietly pass to 
 their new positions ; the field umpire gives everyone time to 
 get ready, then bounces the ball in the centre as before. At 
 half-time the players are allowed to leave the ground for ten 
 minutes, and again play is resumed by the bouncing of the ball 
 in the centre. 
 
 The game lasts a trifle less than two hours, and as it is 
 quick and moving throughout all that time, its capacity for 
 awakening the interest of the spectator is almost unbounded. 
 The goahposts are placed a little closer to one another than in 
 the EngUsh game, being only seven yards apart, and they are 
 Ijound by the rules to be twenty feet high. To obtain a goal 
 the ball must be kicked between these posts, no matter at what 
 height, but if it touches a post or any player the goal is dis- 
 allowed, as in the English game. 
 
 The goal umpire at each end has but the one duty, that is, 
 to decide as to the validity of goals. He stands provided with 
 a pair of hand-flags. When one of these is waved it indicates 
 to all the field that what is called a 'behind' has been gained ; 
 two of them waved together signify a 'goal.' No goal umpire 
 is allowed to raise his flag till the field umpire has signified 
 his assent, which is done by raising one arm for a ' behind,' two 
 arms for a ' goal.' The reason of this arrangement is that, while 
 the goal umpire is the sole judge of the goal, there might 
 perhaps have been, just before the goal was kicked, some 
 infringement of the rules, for which the field umpire had 
 intended to stop the play and award a free kick. 
 
 Once the flag is raised, however, the goal is settled and 
 
 E E 2
 
 420 FOOTBALL 
 
 cannot be annulled. In place of the Association 'tries' the 
 Australian game has what it calls ' behinds.' On each side of 
 the goal, and seven yards away from the goal-posts, there are 
 ' behind-posts,' which therefore make, along with the seven yards 
 between the goal-posts, an entire stretch of twenty-one yards. 
 If a player, trying for a goal, fails in his aim, but goes within the 
 ' behind-posts,' his success is scored as a ' behind.' The 
 match is decided in favour of the club which has kicked the 
 greatest number of goals, the arrangement of ' behinds ' being 
 merely to signify in the case of a draw which was on the whole 
 the better team. It has no use except that it satisfies curiosity, 
 for the public has no love for indecisive conflicts. 
 
 If a goal has been kicked, the ball is carried by the field 
 umpire to the centre of the field and then bounced for the 
 play to begin again ; but if only a ' behind ' is scored, tlie 
 ball is kicked off by one of the team whose goal it is, from a 
 line drawn seven yards in front of the goal and running the full 
 distance from one ' behind-post ' to the other. If the ball passes 
 behind the line of the goal in any other part, it is merely thrown 
 back again by the field umpire ; but if an}- one of the defend- 
 ing side has wilfully kicked it behind his own goal-line, the 
 field umpire bounces it five yards inside the boundary opposite 
 the place -where it crossed. Xi any time in the play, if the 
 field umpire sees any tendency on the part of any player to 
 obstruct the quickness of the game by wilfully forcing the ball 
 out of bounds, he is permitted to give a free kick to some player 
 of the other side. 
 
 As with the Association game of England, the great aim in 
 the Australian game is to get a team well drilled and accus- 
 tomed to play into one another's hands. Individual prowess is 
 of no avail against a team which acts with automatic precision, 
 each player's individuality lost in the concerted movements of 
 the whole, each man's yearning for his own personal distinction 
 being subordinate to the honour of the team. 
 
 A great deal of this concerted play depends on what is 
 called the ' little mark.' As no throwing or passing of the ball
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 421 
 
 is permitted, the only way in which one player can give it to a 
 fellow-player is to kick it so that he can ' mark ' it. But when 
 the latter has caught it he is, for the time being, unmolested. 
 He is master of the situation ; if he makes his mark, none of 
 the opposing players are allowed to cross it, or crowd nearer 
 than four yards on either side of him while he takes a free kick. 
 It thus becomes a point of extreme importance for players to 
 give each other this advantage. 
 
 If a man can pick up the ball, yet sees that a crowd is almost 
 on him, he kicks it quick as thought into the hands of the player 
 of his own side who is nearest to him. The latter may take a 
 long leisurely kick if such a course seems best ; but oftentimes 
 it happens that if he sinks the personal gratification of seeing 
 the ball rise from his foot in a giant curve towards the goal, he 
 will do more real good for his side by merely kicking it a few 
 yards further into the hands of a friend, who in his turn, if 
 judicious, may perhaps work it up the field a few yards more, 
 so that by degrees, without any brilliant play, a solid advantage 
 may be gained. 
 
 To avoid the pettiness that would arise if this were over- 
 done, when perhaps the ball might be bandied about from toe 
 to toe in a narrow space to little purpose, it is provided that in 
 order to make a ' mark ' valid the player who catches the ball 
 must be at least two yards away from him who kicked it. The 
 player who has ' marked ' the ball is allowed reasonable leisure 
 to take his kick, but if it be the opinion of the field umpire 
 that he is wilfully wasting time, the ball is taken from him and 
 * bounced ' on the spot. On the other hand, any unfair inter- 
 ference with the player who is taking his free kick is forbidden 
 by the field umpire, and the player who refuses to submit 
 himself to authority is reported to the Association. 
 
 So much power is left to the field umpire that if he 
 exhibited any partiality the game must infallibly be ruined. 
 Fortunately it always happens that the umpire, having a repu- 
 tation to maintain, strives so sedulously to be irreproachably 
 fair that a kind of tacit deference has grown up, and a sort of
 
 422 
 
 FOOTBALL 
 
 divinity hedges an umpire, so that his word is obeyed in 
 silence, and the game never flags for a minute. 
 
 The following plan shows the most usual fashion of placing 
 the players : — 
 
 Goal-Posts 
 
 Bshind-Po3t 
 
 Bchind-Po_-t 
 
 Dehind-Post ^~-- ^Behind-Post 
 
 Goal-Posts 
 
 Players marked X kick '\^, while plajers marked O kick |.. 
 
 In the field as thus disposed there are fifteen men on each 
 side, who have places to which they must in the main adhere. 
 The four who are called 'followers' stand up to the field 
 umpire when he bounces the ball, and follow it in its wander- 
 ings over the field. They ought never to be very far from it. 
 The rover is an individual chosen for his quickness and readi-
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 423 
 
 ness to go wherever he is wanted. He observes the turn of 
 the game, and follows when he sees his own followers being 
 over-weighted by their adversaries, leaves them if he finds they 
 can hold their own, and stations himself wherever he thinks 
 that extra work may be required. 
 
 The best and straightest kicker of the team is made centre 
 forward. It is the duty of all the rest to ' feed ' him, and place 
 the ball in his hands, giving him the chance to ' mark ' it if 
 possible. Then, when the liall has been ' marked,' comes his 
 chance to kick the goal. Other players must on no account 
 take risky shots at the goal ; a difficult kick adroitly managed 
 yields individual glory, but in the long run a taste for such 
 display ruins the team that exhibits it. All such temptation 
 has to be shunned, and the ball worked steadily up the field, 
 'middled' if necessary, until it reaches the hands of 'central 
 forward,' who ought to put it through. The next best kickers 
 are placed as right and left wing forwards. 
 
 The centre man is generally the most powerful in the 
 team ; his position does not call for special smartness, but he 
 ought to be capable of strong efforts to prevent the ball from 
 being carried behind him. To right and left of him, on the 
 wings, stand the two fiistest runners of the team, men well 
 versed in the art of bouncing an oval football, so as not to lose 
 control over it, as they run. 
 
 If the ball, after having cleared the heads of the ' ruck,' 
 reaches one of these outlying ends of the centre line, and he 
 proves to be a quick runner who is capable of dodging one or 
 two scattered men of the opposite side, he may readily carry it 
 forward so as to place it with a drop kick fair in the hands of 
 the centre forward or ' goal-sneak ' as he is popularly called, 
 who then has every chance of putting it through. 
 
 The half-forward men on the wings ought to be ready to 
 protect these centre wing men in their running, and do all 
 in their power to secure the ball for the centre forward. 
 This process of protecting another player while he leisurely 
 runs and bounces the ball as he goes is one of the most
 
 424 FOOTBALL 
 
 generous features in the game, and one that often gives scope 
 for no Httle skill. It is popularly known as 'shepherding.' A 
 man shepherds another who is running by keeping antagonists 
 away. It can be done only for a time, as others eager for the 
 fray soon bear down from all sides, and the play would become 
 a 'scrimmage,' which, being stopped by the whistle of the field 
 umpire, would leave the ball neutral with both sides evenly 
 disposed around it. Judgment is shown in determining how 
 long it is possible to ' shepherd ' another, and the one who is 
 ' shepherded ' ought to take his kick at the right moment and 
 in the right direction so as to put it well forward in the hands 
 of a friend. Another way of 'shepherding ' a fellow-player is 
 to protect him against interference when he is going for a ' mark.' 
 A man who can kick well ought to be assisted to get the ball, 
 and if it is whirling through the air in his direction, his fellow- 
 players ought to have their shoulders ready to jostle and impede 
 anyone of the opposite side likely to be a rival for the ' mark.' 
 A match is often won by this species of subordination and 
 organised assistance. 
 
 The three men who stand on the back line should be 
 Fkilful in marking the ball ; the centre back especially should be 
 a good marker, a long strong kicker, and should have a cool 
 head and good judgment, in order by his ingenuity and 
 determination to divert the ball from the danger of proximity 
 to the goal of which he is guardian. 
 
 If the players have all been judiciously chosen for their 
 parts, and if they have had some practice together, everything 
 ought to go forward as if the whole team were an organism 
 possessed of the one mind and the one ol)ject : every man 
 zealous to play into the hands of his fellow and to give him 
 a chance of distinguishing himself in his own particular line. 
 
 Strength is needed, but it is not brute strength ; not the 
 strength of the bully, but a strength adorned with lightness 
 and made efficient by skill. To prevent any tendency that 
 players might have towards a reversion into savagery, the laws 
 against roughness are stringently enforced. Before the match
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 425 
 
 is begun the field umpire examines the boots of all the players, 
 and declines to suffer anyone on the field whose soles are 
 armed with projecting nails or with iron plates, and no 
 Australian player ever wears the shin protectors which are an 
 awkwardness and disfigurement to the English footballer. 
 
 If the umpire saw a player purposely kick the shins of 
 another, the chirp of his whistle would at once be heard, and a 
 free kick would reward the player whose shins were kicked, 
 and prove an effectual warning to the kicker, whose own side 
 also would have something serious to say to him for injuring 
 the prospects of their game by infringement of rules. 
 
 All this means that the central or field umpire has to be 
 close up to the play at all times. The English umpire, with 
 his tall hat and neatly folded umbrella, would be out of place. 
 The field umpire, dressed in a white tight-fitting suit, has to 
 run in order to keep close to the ball ; he has to watch the 
 play, to bounce the ball, to decide instantly as to infringement 
 of rules, and yet to keep himself out of the way so that the 
 game may not be impeded by his presence. 
 
 In Victoria there are eleven of these umpires licensed by 
 the Association, and told off each Tuesday by the Committee 
 for their several matches on the Saturday. 
 
 The goal umpires also require a licence from the Associa- 
 tion ; but while the field umpire has a guinea and a half, they 
 receive only half a guinea each for their services. 
 
 Thus it costs two guineas and a half to provide umpires for 
 a match. This sum is paid by the competing clubs, but the 
 umpires are in no way dependent on the clubs. Their business 
 is faithfully to serve their employer, the Association, by carry- 
 ing out the rules in perfect simplicity and impartiality, and no 
 case has ever yet occurred in which an umpire has been dis- 
 missed or even so much as reprimanded for unfairness, although 
 from time to time a defeated club has been known to indulge 
 in growls among its own members. They have growled, but 
 only on two occasions have cases been stated, and neither 
 complaint was sustained after full inquiry had been made.
 
 4-6 FOOTBALL 
 
 The field umpires are alone responsible for the enforcement 
 of the rules, and it is from their official report that the Associa- 
 tion makes its record of the result. In this report must be in- 
 cluded a statement of any infringement of rules which cannot 
 be met by penalties given on the field. 
 
 The umpires are of course an openly professional class ; but 
 professionalism among players is strictly discouraged, the rules 
 directing that ' any player receiving payment directly or in- 
 directly for his services ' shall be disqualified, and any club 
 known to pay a footballer ' shall be fined ten pounds, and in 
 addition lose the match, and be disqualified for the remainder 
 of the season.' 
 
 But alas for human regulations ! There are so many ways 
 in which remuneration can be given that the most elaborately 
 drafted rules may not catch the infringer. It is so easy for a 
 club to induce a good player to join them, and then — merely 
 as a mark of esteem— contribute a hundred pounds with which 
 to start him in business, or provide him with some other form 
 of testimonial. And then a stalwart fellow can so easily be 
 retained as a trainer, or caretaker, or something of that sort, 
 that those who are determined to break the spirit of the laws 
 will certainly find a way of doing so without infringing their 
 letter. However, the evil is not one that has as yet caused any 
 great inconveniences or unfairness ; and although it is alleged 
 that sooner or later the wealthier clubs will have the game 
 entirely in their own hands, there is as yet no sign of anything 
 of that kind. 
 
 Ikit there is another canker to true sport that threatens 
 mischief in the future. There is that sardonic Mephistopheles 
 the bookmaker, who lingers in out-of-the-way places to sneak 
 behind the elbow of the player and whisper golden promises in 
 his ear ; whose muscles, thereafter, though they show no loose- 
 ness such as may be detected by a crowd, are perhaps not 
 exerted up to the winning point. 
 
 But this, in Australia, and not there only, is a jarring element 
 in every form of healthful sport, and cannot be provided against.
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 427 
 
 Wherever manly competition occurs there will the betting man 
 appear, and what he may in secret be able to effect as a tempter 
 can never be with certainty discovered. 
 
 But we are forgetting to watch our game. On the sward 
 twenty forms in blue and white and twenty in black and red 
 are sprinkled in pairs, every blue and white having a black and 
 red to watch him. In the middle of the field some five or six of 
 each colour are grouped around the man in white who is the 
 field umpire. Down goes the ball in the middle with a bounce, 
 and as it rises stalwart arms and legs bandy it for a second till 
 it passes clear. A player seizes it, runs, bouncing the ball as 
 he goes ; others career to meet him ; he kicks ; where the ball 
 is likely to fall a concourse gathers ; up go two or three figures 
 boldly springing into the air to catch it. 
 
 This is a feature in an Australian game not so much noticed 
 ni the English, as the rules give a 'mark,' or free kick, to any- 
 one who catches a ball from the foot of any other player, if not 
 less than two yards away from him. ^\'henever the ball is seen 
 curving through the air it becomes at all times a matter of im- 
 portance to catch it. Up into the air, therefore, go the players, 
 and it is sometimes pretty to see the neat w^ay in which the ball 
 is held. It is this practice which necessitates a rule forbidding 
 anyone to interfere with a player already in the air. When he is 
 running for the ball he may be jostled or hustled, if the hands 
 are not used ; but when he is well up in the air, to knock 
 against his legs would probably enough bring him heavily to 
 the ground on his side, and cause a dangerous fall Nothing 
 of the kind occurs ; or, if there is a tendency to it, the field 
 umpire's whistle stops the play, and a free kick is given. Any 
 serious repetition of the offence would lead to the disqualifica- 
 tion of the player. 
 
 Yonder we see the ball being closed in by a number of 
 crowding players ! Again the whistle sounds ; the field umpire 
 hurries up, the players fall back a little, the ball is bounced, 
 and away it goes. Soon it is over the boundary line ; at once 
 the umpire knocks it back. Now it is held by an active man
 
 428 FOOTBALL 
 
 who runs with it for a few yards, gives a ' little mark ' to a 
 friend, who passes it by a ' little mark ' to another. He takes 
 his kick leisurely behind his mark, but there is no lining up, 
 there being nothing corresponding to 'off-side ' in the Austra- 
 lian game. The ball clears the heads of the crowd ; now the 
 ' forwards ' of the one team and the ' backs ' of the other have 
 to fight it out till the ' followers ' come up. The ball rolls in 
 front of the goal ; the ' centre back ' tries hard to send it to 
 the wings, but the ' centre forward ' or ' goal-sneak ' of the 
 assailants gets a ' little mark ' from one of his men. Being the 
 straight kicker of his team, he takes a leisurely kick, and puts it 
 through amid a roar of voices as though human throats were of 
 brass. 
 
 The ball is soon back in the centre, and off it goes again, 
 the whistle of the field umpire being heard from time to time 
 and obeyed with instant alacrity. As in the English Association 
 game, the play is exceedingly quick, and the crowd have to 
 watch with the closest attention if they hope to follow all the 
 fortunes of the ball. In the deep absorption of the game any 
 little piece of bad play is met by a low murmur ; a bad miss is 
 greeted with an instant growl as of thunder — checked at once 
 in the eagerness to watch the sequel ; parted lips are whisper- 
 ing to themselves, or burst out into loud warnings or injunctions 
 which none of the combatants can possibly hear. And when 
 a player is pitched headlong on the sward what a sharp laugh 
 rings out for a second ! 
 
 Off goes the ball again ; a player seizes it, bouncing it as he 
 goes, ' shepherded ' along the way by his friends. Suddenly an 
 opponent bursts through the defence and flings himself upon 
 the man with the ball, who then has reason to repent that he 
 did not sooner kick when the chance was open. The instant 
 that he feels himself touched he must drop the ball ; the instant 
 it is dropped his assailant must take his hands off. If the 
 umpire considers that his grasp has not relaxed immediately 
 when the ball was dropped, his whistle sounds, and a ' free 
 kick' is awarded to the man who has been held; a salutary
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 429 
 
 lesson which reminds the aggressor that he cannot be too 
 prompt in obeying the rules. 
 
 Once the runner has dropped the ball and has himself been 
 released, a tussle takes place, but being open, not closing up 
 in any scrimmage, the ball soon goes away followed vigorously 
 by the field. Back and forwards it bounds till it flies clear of 
 the crowd. As it trundles over the sward towards the bound- 
 aries, two of the wing players, placed to watch each other as 
 rivals, go in pursuit of it. Shoulder to shoulder, bumping as 
 they go, they dodge each other for a chance of picking the ball 
 up, or of dribbling it over to their own side for freedom to kick 
 it to suit their taste. But if they hamper each other too long, 
 up comes a fast runner, and bears it away unmolested. Some- 
 times judgment is shown by merely keeping an opponent off, 
 if it is observed that a player of one's own side is the nearest 
 and most likely to be the first on the spot. 
 
 It would be impossible for the * followers ' to keep up the 
 pace of the game for the whole hundred minutes during 
 which it lasts. It is usual, therefore, to give them places for 
 two alternate quarters, and make them follow during the 
 others. 
 
 In Melbourne there are, beside the Senior Association, the 
 ' Senior Second Twenties Associations,' the ' First-rate Junior 
 Association,' and the ' Second-rate Junior Association,' which 
 play under the Association rules. What is called the ' Third- 
 rate Junior Association ' consists chiefly of a multitude of clubs 
 of lads, who make all the public parks and vacant lands resonant 
 on a Saturday afternoon with games so interlaced one with 
 another that the visitor is at his wits' end to distinguish where 
 one begins and where another terminates. Yet the players 
 themselves toil on without confusion, though, as everybody 
 seems in some matches to be captain of his team, and spends 
 his whole breath in screaming his instructions to everybody 
 else, it is impossible to understand how they do it. 
 
 In the Senior Association great care is taken to discourage 
 touting for players. No player is allowed to play with more
 
 430 FOOTBALL 
 
 than one club, and no player is allowed to change his club un- 
 less with the express and written consent of the permit com- 
 mittee, after having produced satisfactory reasons for the 
 change he proposes to make. But on no account whatever 
 will a transfer be permitted after midwinter, when the competi- 
 tion for premiership becomes keen, and touting for players 
 might be expected to appear and grow aggravated. 
 
 A player can change his club only by showing that he has 
 changed his residence so considerably that he could not be 
 expected still to play with his previous club, a fact for which 
 that club must vouch in writing. Also if he can bring a written 
 certificate that his own club does not propose to select him 
 again to play in its team, he can change. Otherwise he must 
 continue loyal to his own club. 
 
 There are few accidents in the Australian game ; for some 
 years past no serious hurt has happened where the rules of the 
 Association have been enforced, though it would be too much 
 to expect that in a city like ^Melbourne, where 3,000 footballers 
 turn out to play every Saturday afternoon, reckoning the 134 
 recognised clubs alone, there should never be a mishap or a 
 death. But, as the national poet Lindsay Gordon has put it in 
 some doggerel rhymes — 
 
 ^&£)^ 
 
 ' No game was ever yet worth a rap 
 For a rational man to plaj', 
 Into which no accident, no mishap. 
 Could possibly find its way.' 
 
 And football, as now played in the southern colonies of 
 Australia, has as few accidents as cricket, a game which has not 
 of late increased in popularity throughout Australia, for the 
 employment of fielding under a summer sun during the height 
 of the cricketing season is distinctly monotonous, and the 
 more scientific the game becomes the less is there for the 
 spectators to see. A few maiden overs scon tend to thin the 
 crowd, and though people may be interested to read next 
 .morning in the papers that a stout batsman guarded his wicket
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 431 
 
 for four or five hours, they would rather read about it than sit a 
 whole afternoon in the heat to see him do it. 
 
 Football is beyond a doubt the national game in Australia. 
 The schoolboy anticipates the season and extends it long after 
 the time for cricket is duly arrived. The public who have 
 languidly attended the matches where bowler and batsman 
 have slowly fought out a three-days' contest awake with a keen 
 interest to the fact that football has begun— football with its 
 sharp contests always settled in some definite way within the 
 two hours; always sprinkled here and there with comic incident 
 for a laugh ; always quick and moving, and with picturesque 
 changes of colour, at short intervals presenting some critical 
 moment when a champion gives a new complexion to the game 
 — football, all animation and life, finds vastly increasing favour 
 as compared with the slow and steady dignity of cricket. Of 
 the two perhaps football is the better for a national game. 
 There is no other like it to teach the eye to be quick and the 
 will ready to decide. Instead of being the mother of accidents 
 it is in part their cure, for the youth who has learnt the courage 
 and address of the football field is one whose nerves are ready 
 to meet an emergency, and whose wits are rapid to devise a 
 course of safety. Moreover, it can more than hold its own in 
 comparison with all other sports as a training for generous and 
 unselfish co-operation. 
 
 The Australian game may in one sense be called a com- 
 promise between the English Association game and that of the 
 Rugby Union, for it unites many features of both ; but it has 
 likewise new points of its own. Here and there an Australian 
 player is heard to growl that there is too much field umpire 
 about it. And indeed that functionary is plentifully in evidence. 
 But then, as the majority of players say, in such a game you 
 must trust your umpire, and if he does not abuse his autocratic 
 powers, the more summarily everything is decided the smarter 
 is the game ; and if he does make crops of mistakes, they will 
 be on the average as much in favour of one side as in that of 
 the other, unless wilful partiality is displayed
 
 432 FOOTBALL 
 
 Such things can be left only to the test of experience, and 
 experience seems to have shown in Australia that the new game 
 entirely goes with the national taste. Apparently it is now only 
 in the early stage of a lusty existence. 
 
 LAWS OF THE AUSTRALIAN GAME OF FOOTBALL. 
 
 1. The distance between the goals shall not be more than 200 
 yards nor less than 150 yards, and the width of the playing space 
 not more than 150 yards nor less than 100 yards, to be measured 
 equally through the centres of the goals. The goal-posts shall be 
 7 yards apart, of not less than 20 feet in height. The ball to be 
 used shall be the No. 2 size Rugby (26 inches in circumference). 
 
 2. Two posts, to be called the ' kick-off-posts,' (or ' behind-posts ') 
 shall be erected at a distance of seven yards on each side of the 
 goal-posts, in a straight line with them ; the intervening line 
 between such posts shall constitute the goal-line. 
 
 3. Matches shall be played with not more than twenty a side 
 imless where handicaps are conceded. Any team detected, during 
 the progress of the game, playing more than the number arranged 
 for, shall have all goals kicked prior to the detection of same 
 annulled. In the event of a club commencing play with less than 
 twenty men, that club shall be allowed to complete its team at any 
 stage of the game. 
 
 4. The captains of each side shall toss for choice of goal. 
 The players shall then take their proper positions on the field, and 
 the game shall be commenced by the field umpire bouncing the 
 ball in the centre of the ground. When a goal has been obtained, 
 the players shall again take positions as above, and the ball shall 
 be bounced in the centre. 
 
 {a) When one-fourth, one-half, and three-fourths of the time 
 arranged for play have expired, the players shall change ends, and 
 the ball be bounced by the field umpire in the centre of the ground. 
 At half-time the players may leave the ground for not more than 
 ten minutes. 
 
 {b) Each club shall appoint a time-keeper, whose duty it shall 
 be to keep time, and ring a bell, ajiproved by the Association, at 
 the times indicated above. 
 
 ic) An alarm clock, or any other suitable apparatus, may be 
 substituted for a bell.
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 433 
 
 {d) At the first sound of the bell the ball shall be dead, but in 
 the event of a player having marked the ball before the bell has 
 rung he shall be allowed his kick, and should he obtain a goal from 
 it, it shall be reckoned. A goal obtained from a ball in transit 
 before the bell has rung shall be also reckoned. 
 
 5. The game shall be won by the side kicking the greatest 
 number of goals. 
 
 6. All matches shall be commenced and played out to the time 
 arranged (unless interfered with by adverse weather), and shall not 
 be stopped or cancelled immediately previous to the time arranged 
 for starting, except by the consent of both captains ; but in the 
 event of the captains disagreeing, the field umpire shall be consti- 
 tuted sole referee, and the side disputing his decision shall lose the 
 match. 
 
 {a) Should a match be cancelled (immediately previous to the 
 time of starting), or be stopped through adverse weather, the game 
 shall be reckoned a drawn one. 
 
 [b) No arranged match, other than those provided for above, 
 shall be cancelled except by the written consent of the two 
 secretaries, and the written consent of the permit committee, or of 
 the local association. 
 
 7. All matches throughout the season shall be played twenty- 
 five minutes each quarter. 
 
 8. A goal must be kicked by one of the side playing for goal 
 kicking the ball between the posts without touching either of them 
 (flags excepted), or any player, after being kicked. Should any of 
 the spectators, standing between or immediately in front of the 
 goal-posts, interfere with or stop the progress of the ball going 
 through, a goal shall be scored, unless the goal umpire is of opinion 
 that one of the players whose goal is attacked would have touched 
 it, or that it would not have gone between the goal-posts if not 
 interfered with or stopped. 
 
 9. The goal umpires shall be sole judges of goals, and their de- 
 cision shall be final, except in cases where the ball becomes dead, 
 either by the ringing of the bell or decision of the field umpire. 
 The field umpire shall decide in all other matters during the 
 progress of the game, and may appeal to a goal umpire. 
 
 {a) Goals and behinds shall be indicated by flags. 
 
 {b) The goal umpire must consult with the field umpire prior to 
 raising the flags. A goal given in accordance with above and 
 Rule 8 cannot be annulled. 
 
 F F
 
 434 FOOTBALL 
 
 10. In case the ball is kicked behind the goal-Hne by one of the 
 opposite side (except when a goal is kicked, in which case the ball 
 is bounced in the centre of the ground), any one of the side behind 
 whose goal it is kicked may bring it seven yards in front of any 
 portion of the space within the goal-line (to be indicated by a 
 white mark seven yards in front), and it shall be kicked towards 
 the opposite goal. 
 
 11. In the event of a player kicking or forcing the ball wilfully 
 behind his own goal-line, it shall be bounced by the field umpire 
 at right angles to, and not more than five j'ards from, the point 
 where it crossed the said goal-line. 
 
 12. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be brought back 
 to the spot where it crossed the boundary line, and bounced by the 
 field umpire at least five yards within the playing ground. 
 
 13. Any player catching the ball from the foot of another player 
 two yards away may call 'mark.' He then has a kick in any 
 direction from any spot behind and in a line with his mark and 
 the centre of his opponents' goal-posts, even if he have to go 
 out of bounds or behind his goal, no player being allowed to 
 come inside the spot marked, or within four yards in any other 
 direction. 
 
 {a) A free kick shall be treated as an ordinary mark. 
 ip) Should a player, having a mark, or in kicking off, unduly 
 delay the play, the field umpire shall bounce the ball. 
 
 14. The ball may be taken in hand at any time, but not carried 
 further than is necessary for a kick, unless the player strikes it 
 against the ground at least once in every seven yards. In the 
 event of a player with the ball in hand trying to pass an adversary 
 and being held by him, he must at once drop the ball. 
 
 15. If any player, when the ball is in play, wilfully kick or force 
 it out of bounds, the umpire shall give a 'mark' to the opposite 
 side from the spot where the ball went out of bounds. 
 
 16. The ball, while, in play, shall under no circumstances be 
 throw n or handed to a player. 
 
 17. Tripping, hacking, rabbiting, slinging, unfairly interfering 
 with a player after he has made a ' mark,' or catching hold of a 
 player below the knee, are prohibited ; pushing with the hands or 
 body is allowed only when a player is running within five or six 
 yards of the ball. Holding a player is allowed only while such 
 player has the ball in hand, except in cases provided for in Rules 
 13 and 14.
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN GAME 435 
 
 {a) Pushing a player shall not be allowed under the following 
 conditions : — 
 
 (i) Pushing from behind shall not be allowed under any cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 (2) From the front when a player is standing. 
 
 (3) When a player is in the air going for a 'mark.' 
 
 [b) A player reported by the umpire for unduly rough play shall 
 be dealt with as the Association may think fit. 
 
 {c) Slinging, deliberately charging, or throwing a player after 
 he has clearly made a ' mark,' or when the ball is out of play, will 
 be considered unduly rough play, and the offender shall be reported 
 by the umpire to the Association. 
 
 [d) A player disputing the decision of an umpire, or unduly 
 interfering with or assaulting him during the progress of the game 
 or within the enclosure on the day of the match, shall be dealt with 
 as the Association may think fit. 
 
 {/) A player assaulting another player, or using foul language 
 on the field, shall be reported to and dealt with as the Association 
 may think fit. 
 
 18. The field umpire shall either award a ' mark,' call ' play on,' 
 or stop the play, and bounce the ball, stop all attempts at scrim- 
 mages, enforce strictly the running, pushing, and holding clauses 
 of Rules 14 and 17, and in eveiy case his decision shall be final, 
 and the club disputing same shall lose the match. In the event 
 of an umpire refusing to decide upon the matter in dispute, 
 clubs may appeal to the local Association, whose decision shall 
 be final. 
 
 19. In case of infringement of Rules 14, 15, 16, and 17, a player 
 of the opposite side shall be awarded a 'mark' from the place 
 where the breach of the rule was made, the player nearest the 
 place of infringement being the only one entitled to the kick. 
 
 20. The field umpire shall, prior to the match, examine the 
 boots of players, and no one wearing protecting nails or iron plates 
 thereon shall be allowed to play. 
 
 {a) If, during the progress of the game, any player is detected 
 infringing the above rule, such player shall be disqualified for the 
 remainder of the match, and be reported by the umpire to the 
 Association. 
 
 21. Local Associations may disqualify players, for any term. 
 {a) The several Associations represented on this conference 
 
 shall endorse the decisions of all the other Associations, whether 
 
 F F 2
 
 436 FOOTBALL 
 
 made under the Laws of the Game, or the Articles of Constitution 
 of such Association. 
 
 22. None of the above laws shall be altered or rescinded, nor 
 
 shall any rule be repealed, altered, amended, or adopted without 
 
 the concurrence of an absolute majority of inter-colonial delegates, 
 
 a meeting specially called for that purpose, or a majority of the 
 
 Associations (in writing) represented on the 1890 conference
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE LAWS OF THE GAME, 
 
 THE FOOTBALL ASSOCL\TION. 
 
 1. The limits of the ground shall be : — maximum length, 
 200 yards ; minimum length, 100 yards ; maximum breadth, 
 100 yards ; minimum breadth, 50 yards. The length and breadth 
 shall be marked off with flags and touch-line, and lines defining 
 6 yards from the goal-posts and 12 yards from the goal-lines shall 
 also be marked out. The centre of the ground shall be indicated 
 by a suitable mark, and a circle with a 10 yards radius shall be 
 made round it. The goals shall be upright posts, 8 yards apart, 
 with a bar across them, 8 feet from the ground. The circumfer- 
 ence of the Association ball shall not be less than 27 inches, nor 
 more than 28 inches ; and in International matches, at the 
 commencement of the game the weight of the ball shall be from 
 13 to 15 ounces. 
 
 2. The winners of the toss shall have the option of kick-off, or 
 choice of goals. The game shall be commenced by a place-kick 
 from the centre of the ground in the direction of the opposite goal- 
 line ; the other side shall not approach within 10 yards of the ball 
 until it is kicked off, nor shall any player on either side pass the 
 ■centre of the ground in the direction of his opponents' goal until 
 the ball is kicked off. 
 
 3. Ends shall only be changed at half-time. After a goal is 
 won the losing side shall kick off, but after the change of ends at 
 half-time the ball shall be kicked off by the opposite side from that 
 which originally did so ; and always as provided in Law 2. 
 
 4. A goal shall be won when the ball has passed between the 
 goal-posts under the bar, not being thrown, knocked on, or 
 carried by any one of the attacking side. The ball hitting the
 
 438 FOOTBALL 
 
 goal or boundary posts, or goal-bar, and rebounding into play, is 
 considered in play. The ball crossing the goal or touch line, either 
 on the ground or in the air, is out of play. 
 
 5. When the ball is in touch, a player of the opposite side to 
 that which kicked it out shall throw it in from the point on the 
 boundary line where it left the ground. The thrower, facing the 
 field of-play, shall throw the ball over his head with both hands in 
 any direction, and it shall be in play when thrown in. The thrower 
 shall not play until the ball has been played by another player. 
 
 6. When a player kicks the ball, or throws it in from touch, any 
 one of the same side who at such moment of kicking or throwing is 
 nearer to the opponents' goal-line is out of play, and may not touch 
 the ball himself, or in anyway whatever prevent any other player 
 from doing so, until the ball has been played, unless there are at 
 such moment of kicking or throwing at least three of his opponents 
 nearer their own goal-line ; but no player is out of play in the case 
 of a corner-kick, or when the ball is kicked off from goal, or when 
 it has been last played by an opponent. 
 
 7. When the ball is played behind the goal-line by one of the 
 opposite side, it shall be kicked off by any one of the players be- 
 hind whose goal-line it went, within six yards of the goal-post 
 nearest the point where the ball left the field-of-play ; but if played 
 behind by any one of the side whose goal-line it is, a player of the 
 opposite side shall kick it from within one yard of the nearest 
 corner flag-post. In either case no opponent shall be allowed 
 within six yards of the ball until it is kicked off. • 
 
 8. No player shall carry, knock-on, or handle the ball under any 
 pretence whatever, except in case of the goal-keeper, who, within 
 his own half of the ground, shall be allowed to use his hands in 
 defence of his goal, either by knocking-on or throwing, but not 
 carrying the ball. The goal-keeper may be changed during the 
 game, but not more than one player shall act as goal-keeper at the 
 same time, and no second player shall step in and act during any 
 period in which the regular goal-keeper may have vacated his 
 position. 
 
 9. In no place shall a goal be scored from any free kick (except 
 as provided in Law 13), nor shall the ball be again played by the 
 kicker until it has been played by another player. The kick-off, 
 corner-flag kick, and goal-kick shall be free kicks within the 
 meaning of this rule. 
 
 10. Neither tripping, hacking, nor jumpir.g at a player shall be
 
 APPENDIX 439 
 
 allowed, and no player shall use his hands to hold or push his 
 adversary, or play in any manner likely to cause injury. No player 
 may charge an opponent from behind, unless such opponent be not 
 only facing his own goal, but is, in the opinion of the referee, 
 wilfully impeding his adversary while in that position. The goal- 
 keeper shall not be chai-ged except he be in the act of playing the 
 ball, or is obstructing an opponent. 
 
 11. No player shall wear any nails, excepting such as have their 
 heads driven in flush with the leather, or iron plates, or gutta- 
 percha on the soles or heels of his boots, or on his shin guards. 
 If bars or studs on the soles or heels of the boots are used, they 
 shall not project more than half an inch, and shall have all their 
 fastenings driven in flush with the leather. Bars should be trans- 
 verse and flat, not less than one and a half inches in length, and 
 half an inch in width. Studs shall be round in plan, not less than 
 half an inch in diameter, and in no case conical or pointed. Any 
 player discovered infringing this rule shall be prohibited from 
 taking further part in the match. 
 
 12. A referee shall be appointed, whose duties shall be to 
 enforce the rules and decide all disputed pomts ; and his decision 
 on points of fact connscted with the game going on shall be final. 
 He shall also keep a record of the game and act as timekeeper ; 
 and, in the event of any ungentlemanly behaviour on the part of 
 any of the contestants, the offender or offenders shall be cautioned, 
 and if the offence is repeated, or, in case of violent conduct, with- 
 out any previous caution, the referee shall have power to rule the 
 oJending player or players out of play, and shall transmit the 
 name or names of such player or players to his or their (National) 
 Association, in whom shall be solely vested the right of accepting 
 an apology. The referee shall have power to terminate the game 
 whenever, by reason of darkness, interference by spectators, or 
 other cause, he shall think fit, and he shall report the same to the 
 Association under whose jurisdiction the match was played, who 
 shall have full power to deal with the matter. Two linesmen shall 
 be appointed, whose duty (subject to the decision of the referee) 
 shall be to decide when the ball is out of play, and which side is 
 entitled to the corner-flag kick, goal-kick, or throw-in. Any undue 
 interference by a linesman shall be reported by the referee to the 
 National Association to which the linesman belongs, who shall 
 deal with the matter in such manner as they may deem necessary. 
 The referee shall have power to award a free kick witJioiii any
 
 440 FOOTBALL 
 
 appeal in any case where he thinks that the conduct of a player 
 is dangerous, or Hkely to prove dangerous, but not sufficiently so 
 as to justify him in putting in force the greater powers vested in 
 him as above. 
 
 13. If any player shall intentionally trip or hold or push an 
 opposing player, or wilfully handle the ball, within 12 yards from 
 his own goal-line, the referee shall, on appeal, award the opposing 
 side a penalty-kick, to be taken Jrom any point 12 yards from the 
 goal-line, under the following conditions : — All players, with the 
 exception of the player taking the penalty-kick and the opposing 
 goal-keeper (who shall not advance more than 6 yards from 
 the goal-line), shall stand at least 6 yards behind the ball. The 
 ball shall be in play when the kick is taken, and a goal may be 
 scored from the penalty-kick ; but the ball shall not be again 
 played by the kicker until it has been played by another player. 
 If necessary, time of play shall be extended to admit of the 
 penalty-kick being taken. 
 
 14. In the event of an appeal for any supposed infringement of 
 the laws, the ball shall be in play until a decison has been given. 
 
 15. The referee shall have power to stop the game for such a 
 time as he may think tit, whenever he may deem it necessary to 
 do so. 
 
 16. In the event of any temporary suspension of play from any 
 cause, the ball not having gone into touch, or behind the goal-line, 
 the game shall be re-started by the referee throwing up the ball at 
 the spot where play was suspended, and the players on either side 
 shall not play the ball until it has touched the ground. 
 
 17. In the event of any infringement of Laws 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, or 
 16, a free kick shall be forfeited to the opposite side, from the spot 
 where the infringement took place. 
 
 Definition of Terms. 
 
 A Place-kick is a kick at the ball while it is on the ground, in 
 any position in which the kicker may choose to place it. 
 
 A Free Kick is a kick at the ball in any direction the player 
 pleases, when it is lying on the ground, none of the kicker's oppo- 
 nents being allowed within six yards of the ball, unless they be 
 standing on their own goal-line. The ball must at least be rolled 
 over before it shall be considered played. 
 
 Hacking is kicking an adversary intentionally.
 
 APPENDIX 441 
 
 Tripping is throwing or attempting to throw an adversary by 
 the use of the legs, or by stooping in front of or behind him. Unless 
 in the opinion of the referee a trip is intentional no punishment 
 shall be imposed ; thus within the twelve-yards line a referee must 
 enforce Law 13, and has no power to mitigate the penalty. 
 
 Knockixg-OX is when a player strikes or propels the ball with 
 his hands or arms. 
 
 Holding includes the obstruction of a player by the hand or 
 any part of the arm extending from the body. 
 
 Handling is understood to be playing the ball with the hand 
 or arm. 
 
 Touch is that part of the field on cither s de of the ground 
 w^hich is beyond the line of play. 
 
 Carrying is taking more than two steps while holding the 
 ball. 
 
 The Council of the Football Association have placed the follow- 
 interpretatiofis iipofi Laws : — 
 
 {a) All reports by referees to be made within three days after 
 occurrence. 
 
 {b) Linesmen, where neutral, must call the attention of the 
 referee to rough play or ungentlemanly conduct. 
 
 (t) A player putting his leg from behind another player in order 
 to get the ball, and thus throwing his opponent, should be penalised 
 for tripping. 
 
 {a) Wearing soft indiarubber on the soles of boots is not a 
 violation of Law 1 1 . 
 
 {e) The corner flag must not be removed when a corner kick is 
 taken. 
 
 (/) The whole of the ball must have passed over the goal-line, 
 or touch-line, before it is out of play. 
 
 {g) If after the goal-bar becomes broken or displaced, the ball 
 passes between the goal-posts at a point which, in the opinion of the 
 referee, is below where the bar should have been, it is a legitimate 
 troal.
 
 4A2 FOOTBALL 
 
 THE RUGBY UNION. 
 
 The following are the Laws of the game of Football, as played 
 by the Rugby Football Union : — 
 
 I. Introduction. 
 
 1. The Rugby game of football should be played by 15 players 
 on each side. (Anyone coming under the laws of professionalism 
 shall not be allowed to take part in any game under this Union's 
 jurisdiction.) The field-of-play shall not exceed no yards in 
 length, nor 75 in breadth, and shall be as near these dimensions 
 as practicable. The lines defining the boundary of the field-of- 
 play shall be suitably marked, and shall be called the goal-lines at 
 the ends and the touch-lines at the sides. On each goal -line and 
 equidistant from the touch-lines shall be two upright posts, called 
 goal-posts, exceeding 11 feet in height, and placed 18 feet 6 inches 
 apart, and joined by a cross-bar 10 feet from the ground ; and the 
 object of the game shall be to kick the ball over this cross-bar and 
 between the posts. The game shall be played with an oval ball of 
 as nearly as possible the following size and weight, namely : — 
 
 Length 11 to iii^in. 
 
 Length circumference ... ... ... 30 „ 31 ,, 
 
 Width circumference ... ... ... 25^ „ 26 ,, 
 
 Weight 13 „ i4ioz- 
 
 Hand-sewn, and not less than eight stitches to the inch. 
 
 II. Glossary— Duties of Officials— Scoring. 
 
 2. The following terms occur in the laws, and have the respec- 
 tive meanings attached to each : — ■ 
 
 DEiV.D-BALL Line. — Not more than 25 yards behind and equi- 
 distant from each goal-line, and parallel thereto, shall be lines, 
 which shall be called the Dead-ball Lines, and if the ball or 
 player holding the ball touch or cross these lines the ball shall be 
 dead and out of play. 
 
 In-GO.\L. — Those portions of the ground immediately at the 
 ends of the field-of-play and between the touch-lines, produced, 
 to the dead- ball lines, are called In-goal. The goal-lines are in- 
 L^oal.
 
 APPENDIX 443. 
 
 Touch. — Those portions of the ground immediately at the 
 sides of the field-of- play and between the goal-lines, if produced,, 
 are called Touch. The touch-lines are in touch. 
 
 TOUCH-IN-GOAL. — Those portions of the ground immediately 
 at the four corners of the field-of-play and between the goal and 
 touch lines, if respectively produced, are called Touch-in-goal. 
 
 A Drop-kick is made by letting the ball fall from the hands 
 and kicking it the very instant it rises. 
 
 A Place-kick is made by kicking the ball after it has been 
 placed on the ground. 
 
 A Punt is made by letting the ball fall from the hands and 
 kicking it before it touches the ground. 
 
 A Tackle is when the holder of the ball is held by one or 
 more players of the opposite side. 
 
 A Scrummage, which can only take place in the field-of-play, 
 is when the ball is put down between players who have closed 
 round on their respective sides, and who must have both feet on 
 the ground. 
 
 A Try is gained by the player who first puts his hand on the 
 ball on the ground in his opponents' in-goal. 
 
 A Touch-down is when a player touches down as above in 
 his own in-goal. 
 
 A Goal is obtained by kicking the ball from the field-of-play, 
 except from Siputit, from a kick-off, or from a drop-out, direct {i.e., 
 without touching the ground or any player of either side) over the 
 opponents' cross-bar, whether it touch such cross-bar or the goal- 
 posts or not. 
 
 Knocking-on and Throwing-forward are propelling the 
 ball by the hand or arm in the direction of the opponents' in-goal ; 
 a throw out of touch cannot be claimed as a throw-forward. 
 
 A Fair-catch is a catch made direct from a kick, or a knock- 
 on, or throw-forward, by one of the opposite side to the catcher, 
 who must immediately claim the same by making a mark with his 
 heel at the spot where he made the catch. 
 
 Kick-off is a place-kick from the centre of the field-of play ; 
 the opposite side may not stand within 10 yards of the ball nor 
 charge until the ball be kicked, otherwise another kick-off shall be 
 allowed. If the ball pitch in touch the opposite side may have it 
 kicked-off again. 
 
 Drop-out is a drop-kick from within 25 yards of the kicker's 
 goal line, within which distance the opposite side may not charge,
 
 444 FOOTBALL 
 
 otherwise another droj? out shall be allowed. If the ball pitch in 
 touch the opposite side may have it droppcd-out again. 
 
 At kick-ofif the ball must reach the limit of lo yards, and at 
 drop-out must reach the 25-yards line. If otherwise, the opposite 
 side may have the ball rekicked, or scrummaged, at the centre or 
 in the middle of the 25-yards line, as the case may be. 
 
 Off-side. — See Laws 7 and 8. 
 
 3. In all matches a Referee and two Touch-Judges must 
 be appointed, the former being mutually agreed upon. The 
 referee must carry a whistle, which he must blow in the following 
 cases :— 
 
 {a) \\'hen he allows an appeal. 
 
 (b) When a player makes and claims a fair-catch. 
 
 {c) When he notices rough or foul play or misconduct, when 
 for the first offence he shall either caution the player or order him 
 off the ground, but for the second offence he must order him otT 
 and afterwards report him to this Union. 
 
 {d) When a player is down in a scrummage and he considers 
 it dangerous. 
 
 {e) When the ball has been improperly put into a scrummage. 
 
 (/) When he allows a decision given by a touch-judge. 
 
 ( 0-) When he wishes to stop the game for any purpose. 
 
 {h) If the ball or a player running with the ball touch him. 
 
 (/) At half-time and no-side, he being the sole timekeeper, 
 having sole power to allow extra time for delays, but he shall not 
 whistle for half-time or no-side until the ball be held or out of play. 
 
 (_/■) When a player in a scrummage lifts a foot from the ground 
 before the ball has been put fairly into the scrummage. 
 
 The referee shall be sole judge in all matters of fact, but as to 
 matters of law there shall be the right of appeal to the Rugby 
 Union. All appeals must be made to him iiiuncdiatcly, otherwise 
 they cannot be entertained. 
 
 The touch-judges shall carry flags, and shall each take one 
 side of the ground, outside the field-of-play, and their duty shall be 
 to hold up their flag when and where the ball goes into touch. 
 
 4. The captains of the respective sides shall toss for the 
 choice of in-goals or the kick-off. Each side shall play an equal 
 tmefrom each in-goal, and a match shall be won by a majority of 
 points ; if no points be scored, or the number be equal, the match 
 shall be drawn.
 
 APPENDIX 445 
 
 The following shall be the mode of scoring : 
 A try ... ... ... ... ... equals 2 points 
 
 A penalty goal „ 3 „ 
 
 A goal from a try (in which case the try 
 
 shall not count) ,, 5 „ 
 
 Any other goal ... ... ... ... ,, 4 „ 
 
 5. At the time of the kick-off all the kicker's side shall be 
 behind the ball ; if in front, the referee, on an appeal from the 
 opposite side, shall order a scrummage where the kick-off took 
 place. The game shall be re-started by a kick-off— 
 
 {a) After a goal, by side losing such goal, and 
 {b) After half-time, by the opposite side to that which started 
 the game, 
 
 III. Mode of Play— Defixitioxs. 
 
 6. When once the game is started, the ball may be kicked or 
 picked up and run with by any player who is on-side, at any time ; 
 except that it may not be picked up— 
 
 {a) In a scrummage. 
 
 ip) When it has been put down after it has been fairly held. 
 
 (c) When it is on the ground after a player has been tackled. 
 
 It may be passed or knocked from one player to another pro- 
 vided it be not passed, knocked, or thrown forward. If a player 
 ■while holding or running with the ball be tackled and the ball 
 fairly held, he must at once put it down in front of him. 
 
 7. A player is placed ofif-side if he enters a scrummage from 
 his opponents' side, or if the ball has been kicked, touched, or is 
 being run with by one of his own side behind him. A player can 
 be off-side in his opponents' in-goal, but not in his own, except 
 where one of his side takes a free kick behind his goal-line, in 
 which case all of his side must be behind the ball when kicked. 
 
 8. An off-side player is placed on-side — 
 
 {a) When an opponent has nm five yards with the ball. 
 {b) When the ball has been kicked by or has touched an 
 opponent. 
 
 ic) When one of his side has run in front of him with the ball. 
 
 (d) When one of his side has run in front of him, having 
 kicked the ball when behind him. 
 
 An ofif-side player shall not play the ball, nor during the time
 
 446 FOOTBALL 
 
 an opponent has the ball, run, tackle, or obstruct, nor may he ap- 
 proach within five yards of any player waiting for the ball ; for any 
 breach of this law the opposite side, on an appeal by them, shall 
 be awarded, at their option — 
 
 {e) A free kick, the place of such breach being taken as the 
 mark. 
 
 (/) A scrummage at the spot where the ball was last played 
 by the offending side before such breach occurred. 
 
 Except in the case of unintentional off-side, when a scrum- 
 mage shall be formed where such breach occurred. 
 
 Q. If a player makes a fair-catch he shall be awarded a free 
 kick, and he himself must either kick or place the ball. 
 
 ID. All free kicks maybe place-kicks, drop-kicks, or punts, but 
 must be in the direction of the opponents' goal-line, and across the 
 kicker's goal-line, if kicked from behind the same. They may be 
 taken at any spot behind the mark in a line parallel to the touch- 
 lines. If taken by drop or punt the catcher must take the kick, if 
 taken by a place-kick the catcher must place the ball. In all cases 
 the kicker's side must be behind the ball when it is kicked, except 
 the player who may be placing the ball for a place-kick. In case 
 of any infringement of this law the referee shall, on a claim by the 
 opposite side, order a scrummage at the mark. The opposite side 
 may come up to and charge from anywhere on or behind a line 
 drawn through the mark and parallel to the goal-lines, and may 
 charge as soon as the catcher commences to run or offers to kick 
 or places the ball on the ground for a place-kick, but in case of a 
 drop-kick or punt the kicker may always draw back, and unless he 
 has dropped the ball or touched it with his foot the opposite side 
 must retire to the line of the mark. But if any of the opposite side 
 do charge before the player having the ball commences to run or 
 offers to kick, or the ball has touched the ground for a place-kick 
 (and this applies to tries at goal as well as free kicks), provided 
 the kicker has not taken his kick, the charge may be disallowed, 
 on an appeal. 
 
 IV. Penalties. 
 
 1 1. Free kicks by way of penalties shall be awarded on claims 
 by the opposite side, if any player — 
 
 (a) Intentionally either handles the ball, or falls down in a 
 scrummage, or picks the ball out of a scrummage ; 
 
 (^) Having the ball, does not immediately put it down in front 
 of him on it being held ;
 
 APPENDIX 447 
 
 (f) Being on the ground, does not immediately get up ; 
 
 (ii) Prevents an opponent getting up ; 
 
 [e) Illegally tackles, charges, or obstructs as in Law 8 ; 
 
 (/) Wilfully puts the ball unfairly into a scrummage ; 
 
 {£) Not himself running at the ball, charges or obstructs an 
 opponent not holding the ball ; 
 
 {Ji) Not in a scrummage, wilfully obstructs his opponents' half- 
 backs by standing on his opponents' side of the ball when it is in 
 a scrummage ; 
 
 (/) Being in a scrummage, lifts a foot from the ground before 
 the ball has been put into such scrummage. In this case the 
 referee must allow a free kick to the opposite side without any 
 appeal. 
 
 The place of infringement shall be taken as the mark, and any 
 one of the side granted the free kick may place or kick the ball. 
 
 V. General. 
 
 12. The ball is in touch when it, or a player carrying it, touch 
 or cross the touch-line ; it shall then belong to the side opposite to 
 that last touching it in the field-of-play, except when carried in. 
 One of the side to whom the ball belongs shall bring it into play 
 at the spot where it went into touch by one of the following 
 methods : — • 
 
 {a) Bounding it on the field-of-play at right angles to the 
 touch-line, and then run with it, kick it, or pass it ; 
 
 (Z-) Throwing it out so as to alight at right angles to the touch- 
 line ; or 
 
 {c) Scrummaging it at any spot at right angles to the touch 
 line, between 5 and 15 yards from the place where it went in:o 
 touch. 
 
 If the ball be not thrown out of touch so as to alight at right 
 angles to the touch-line, the opposite side may at once claim to 
 bring it out themselves as in {c) 
 
 13. When a side has scored a try, the ball shall be brought 
 from the spot where the try was gained into the field-of-play in a 
 line parallel to the touch-lines, such distance as the placer thinks 
 proper, and there he shall place the ball for one of his side to try 
 to kick a goal ; this place-kick is governed by Law 10 as to 
 charging, &c., the mark being taken as on the goal-lme. It is 
 the duty of the defending side to see that the ball is taken out 
 straight.
 
 448 FOOTBALL 
 
 On an appeal, the referee shall award a try if, in his opinion, 
 one would undoubtedly have been obtained but for unfair play or 
 interference of the defending side. Or, he shall disallow a try, 
 and adjudge a touch-down, if, in his opinion, a try would un- 
 doubtedly not have been gained but for unfair play or interference 
 of the attacking side. In case of a tiy so allowed, the kick at goal 
 shall be taken at any point on a line parallel to the touch-lines, 
 and passing through the spot where the ball was when such unfair 
 play or interference took place. 
 
 14. If the ball, when over the goal-line and in possession of a 
 player, be fairly held by an opposing player before it is grounded, 
 it shall be scrummaged 5 yards from the goal-line, opposite the 
 spot where the ball was held. 
 
 15. After an unsuccessful try, or touch-down, or if the ball after 
 crossing the goal-line go into touch-in-goal or touch or cross the 
 dead-ball line, it shall be brought into play by means of a drop- 
 out, when all the kicker's side must be behind the ball when 
 kicked ; in case any are in front, the referee shall, on an appeal 
 from the opposite side, order a scrummage on the 25-yards line 
 equidistant from the touch-lines. 
 
 16. In case of a throw-forward or knock-on, the ball shall, on 
 a claim by the opposite side, be at once brought back to where 
 such infringement took place and there put down, unless a fair- 
 catch has been made and claimed. If the ball or a player running 
 with the ball touches the referee, it shall there be put down. 
 
 17. If a player shall kick, pass, knock, or carry the ball back 
 across his goal-line, and it there be made dead, the opposite side may 
 claim that the ball shall be brought back and a scrummage formed 
 at the spot whence it was kicked, passed, knocked or carried back. 
 Under any other circumstances a player may touch the ball down 
 in his own in-goal. 
 
 18. No hacking, or hacking over, or tripping up, shall be 
 allowed under any circumstances. No one wearing projecting 
 nails, iron plates, or gutta-percha on any part of his boots or shoes 
 shall be allowed to play in a match. 
 
 19. In case of any law being infringed in in-goal by the 
 attacking side, a touch-down shall be awarded, but where such 
 breach is committed by the defending side, a scrummage shall be 
 awarded 5 yards from the goal-line, opposite the spot where the 
 breach occurred. 
 
 But in the case of any law being broken, or any irregularity of 
 play occurring on the part of either side, not otherwise j^rovided
 
 APPENDIX 449 
 
 for, the opposite side may claim that the ball be taken back to the 
 place where the breach of the law or irregularity of play occurred, 
 and a scrummage formed there. 
 
 20. It is illegal for any member of any club in England in 
 membership with this Union — (a) to take part in any match or 
 contest where gate-money is taken, unless it is agreed that not less 
 than 1 5 players on each side take part in a match ; {p) to play, 
 between May 1 and August 31, both dates inclusive, in any 
 football contest of any character, either for charity or otherwise, 
 where gate-money is taken. 
 
 Any player transgressing this law shall be deemed a professional, 
 and may be dealt with under Rule 4 of the Rules relating to 
 Professionalism. 
 
 At the annual general meeting held September 20, 1893, the 
 following resolution was adopted : — ' That this meeting strongly 
 approves of the principle that the referee shall have sole control 
 over the game, and may blow his whistle without waiting for ^ny 
 appeal, and recommends that it be acted upon in matches in which 
 both sides consent' 
 
 G c.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ADV 
 
 Advertisements of athletic 
 meetings, 197 
 
 Alcock, C. W. (sec, of Football 
 Association), 384 
 
 Allardice, Capt. Barclay, 33, 
 37,38 
 
 Alum and water for tender feet, 
 181 
 
 Amateurism, 233, 245 
 
 Amateurs, 49-53 ; aristocratic, 
 32, 35, 38, 40, 47, 50 ; dis- 
 putes about and definition of, 
 195, 225, 227, 229-231 ; de- 
 cadence in character of, 233, 
 234 ; true and false, 244, 
 245, 247 ; contending for 
 money, 245, 246 
 
 Amateur Athletic Association, 
 53. 132, 190, 192, i93> 206, 
 208 ; rules, 55, 195 ; on re- 
 cords, 218, 219 ; foundation 
 of, 224-228 ; at the Oxford 
 conference, 228 ; objects, 229; 
 committee, 229 ; position as a 
 controlling body, 230 ; com- 
 pulsory laws, 230 ; dispute 
 with National Cyclists' Union, 
 231 ; composition, 232 ; hono- 
 rary secretary, 232 ; difficul- 
 ties with the modern amateur, 
 233 ; dealings with the true 
 
 APP 
 
 amateur, 235 ; clubs affiliated 
 with, 236 
 
 Amateur Athletic Club, 52, 53, 
 133, 224, 242 
 
 American athletic championship 
 meeting, 132 
 
 American football, 395 ; early 
 days of the game, 395 ; college 
 matches in the seventies, 396 ; 
 a set of rules drawn up in 
 ^^73^ 397 ; rivalry of Harvard 
 and Yale, 398 ; introduction 
 of Rugby football, 399 ; the 
 game at the present day, 
 399 ; dimensions of the field, 
 399 ; costume of the players, 
 399, 400 ; placing of the 
 team, 401 ; description of the 
 game, ^01-406 ; method of 
 scoring points, 406 ; revision 
 of rules : variations from the 
 Rugby code, 406 ; the scrim- 
 mage, 407-412 ; the snap-back 
 and quarter-back, 409 ; the 
 five-yard rule, 412 ; ' inter- 
 ference,' 412; popularity of 
 the intercollegiate matches, 
 413 
 
 American Intercollegiate Foot- 
 ball Association, 399 
 
 Apparatus for an athlete, 183
 
 4E- 
 
 INDEX 
 
 ASS 
 
 Association football, 299, 358- 
 387 ; rules, 437-441 ; see Foot- 
 ball 
 
 Astley, Captain, 47, 50 
 
 Athletic government, 224-250 
 
 Athletic meetings in early times, 
 22-24 
 
 Attendants, 199 
 
 Australian football, 414 ; Mel- 
 bourne and Sydney the chief 
 centres, 415 ; the Rugby game 
 adopted by New South Wales, 
 Queensland, and New Zea- 
 land, 415 ; Association rules 
 followed by Victoria, South 
 Australia, and Tasmania, 416; 
 the latter known as the ' Aus- 
 tralian game,' 416 ; its points 
 of difference from the English 
 game, 416 ; dimensions of the 
 field, 416; the field umpire, 
 417, 425 ; quarter-time and 
 three-quarter-time, 418 ; the 
 goal umpire, 419, 425; ' be- 
 hinds,' 420 ; the 'little mark,' 
 420 ; positions of players on 
 the field, 422 ; their duties, 
 422 ; the ' goal -sneak,' 423 ; 
 ' shepherding,' 424 ; laws 
 against roughness, 424 ; rule 
 against professionalism, 426 ; 
 description of the game, 427 ; 
 the Melbourne Senior and 
 Junior Associations, 429 ; 
 touting for players, 429 : re- 
 gulations as to changing clubs, 
 430 ; rarity of serious acci- 
 dents, 430 ; football the 
 national game, 431 ; the laws, 
 432-436 
 
 Authors cjuoted or cited :— Addi- 
 son, 22, 288 ; Ascham, Roger, 
 8 ; Barclay, 9, 274 ; Budd, 
 390; Burton, 16, 28o;Carew, 
 
 281 ; Carter, 24; Cartwright, 
 Thomas, 12; Collins, Wilkie, 
 27, 249 ; Cullum, 283 ; 
 Davenant, Sir W. , 281 ; 
 Elyot, Sir Thomas, 7, 13, 
 274 ; Fitzstephen of Canter- 
 bury, 5, 271, 272; Forest, 
 Sir William, 7 ; Glover, 293, 
 294 ; Googe, Burnabe, 12, 
 280 ; Gordon, Lindsay, 430 ; 
 Heath, 24 ; Holmes, Randel, 
 9, 279 ; Hone, 24, 25, 281, 
 285, 289, 290, 291 ; Hughes, 
 Thomas, 298 ; Hutchinson, 
 289; Laneham, Robert, 11, 
 277 ; Macaulay, 18 ; Misson, 
 287, 296 ; Moor, 283 ; Neo- 
 gorgus, 280 ; Nichol, 1 1 ; 
 Northbrooke, John, 12 ; 
 Pace, Richard, 6 ; Pepys, 18, 
 19, 287 ; Phillips, Sir Eras- 
 mus, 21 ; Scott, 28, 291 ; 
 Shakespeare, 8, 279 ; Stow, 
 22 ; Strutt, 4, 5, 6, 9, 23, 24, 
 46, 47, 288 ; Strype, 22 ; 
 Stubbes, 277 ; Thorn, 34- 
 37 ; Vincent, J. E. , 295 ; 
 Waller, 280; Westhall, 126- 
 128 
 
 BaLOWN IIAI.L, 270, 28:) 
 
 Barrymore, Lord, 32 
 
 Bath, use of the, 78 
 
 Beardsell, H. , 57 
 
 Beauclerk, Lord F. , 35 
 
 Belfast wake, 26 
 
 Bentinck, Lord F. , 35 
 
 Betting, 197, 231, 247, 426 
 
 Birchfield Harriers, 258, 259 
 
 Birmingham Football Associ- 
 ation, 383 
 
 Blackhealh Harriers, 57, 243, 
 258
 
 INDEX 
 
 453 
 
 Blisters, i8i 
 
 Books on training, 69 
 
 Boys' races, 198, 221 
 
 Broad jump, 143, 149-155, 200, 
 
 252 
 Brand, Hon. Mr., 36 
 
 FOO 
 Dover, Captain, 23, 24 
 Drawers, 184 
 
 Dress, 184, 201, 265 ; of Ameri- 
 can football players, 399, 400 
 Drink, 175-178 
 
 Cambridge University Ath- 
 letic Club, 236, 237 
 
 Cambridge University sports, 48 
 
 Cameron, R., 57 
 
 Camp-ball, 283, 286 
 
 Casting of the barre, 6 
 
 Championship meetings, mo- 
 dern, description of, 54-67 ; 
 spring or summer, 226, 227, 
 229 
 
 Chang, the Chinese giant, 157 
 
 Charles II., 17, 19, 24 
 
 Charterhouse School, 49, 296, 
 
 301. y^i^ 360 
 
 Cheltenham School, 46, 303 
 Cinder tracks, 186 ; see Tracks 
 Civil Service meeting, 52 
 Clerks of the course, 58, 203, 
 
 205 
 Clothing for racing, 201 
 Clubs, 224, 243 
 Coaches, river, advice to, 105 
 Columbia College, 397, 398 
 Committees, 201 
 Country clubs, 243 
 Countr)- wake, description of a, 
 
 22 
 Crick Run at Rugby, 47, 257 
 Cripples racing, 17, 18 
 Cross-country running, 255 ; see 
 
 Paper-chasing 
 Cutting down, 98 
 
 Diet, 170-17S 
 
 Disqualification, 207, 247 
 
 Eccentric matches, 29 
 Edward II., 6, 272 
 Edward III., 6, 272 
 Elliman's embrocation, 1S2 
 English athleticism, 24S 
 Entrance fees, 193, 209 
 Entries, 191, 197 
 Eton, athletics at, 47, 297 
 Eton School, 301, 303, 304-312 
 Exeter College, Oxford, meet- 
 ing, 41-46, 48 
 
 Feet, tender, 181 
 
 Follis, the, 270 
 
 Football, early notices of, 8, 10, 
 17 ; development of, 269 ; 
 approximation of Greek and 
 Roman games, 270 ; legends 
 concerning, 271 ; Shrove 
 Tuesday matches, 271, 279, 
 285 ; interdicted by Edward 
 II. and Edward III., 272; 
 forbidden by Richard II., 
 Henry IV., James III. of 
 Scotland, and Henry VIII., 
 273 ;in Elizabeth's reign, 275 ; 
 in the streets of Manchester, 
 276 ; Puritan strictures on, 
 277, 287 ; Stubbes, the Puri- 
 tan, a converted footballer, 
 278 ; James I.'s views, 278; 
 references to, by sixteenth- 
 century writers, 279 ; in the 
 streets of London, 2S1, 287 ; 
 statutory repressions, how 
 enforced, 281 ; Carew's ac-
 
 454 
 
 INDEX 
 
 FOO 
 
 count of, 281 ; known as 
 hurling, 281 ; and as camp- 
 ball, 283 ; Moor's description, 
 2S3 ; the Scone game, 285 ; 
 compulsory, 285 ; spinsters v. 
 married women, 286 ; in the 
 time of Charles II., 287 ; 
 Addison on, 288 ; the Rugby 
 Union game in its unreformed 
 condition, 289 ; a Shrove 
 Tuesday match at Bromfield, 
 289; at Kingston in 181 5, 
 290 ; in Copenhagen Fields 
 in 1 84 1, 291 ; Sir Walter 
 Scott's song, 291 ; the game 
 at Derby, 293 ; at Corfe 
 Castle, 294 ; the dribbling 
 game, 296, 360, 364 ; adopted 
 by the schools, 296, 297, 360 ; 
 at Rugby, 298 ; Rugby Union 
 and Association games, 299 ; 
 rapid formation of clubs, 300 ; 
 effort to establish a uniform 
 code of rules, 300 ; origin of 
 the Football Association, 301 ; 
 the off-side difficulty, 301 ; 
 formation of the Rugby Union, 
 
 302 ; the Shrewsbury game, 
 
 303 ; the Eton wall game, 
 304-30S ; Eton field game, 
 308-312 ; Harrow game, 312- 
 314 ; Winchester game, 315- 
 317 ; Rugby Union game, 318 ; 
 the scrummage, 323,335-337 ; 
 half-ljacks, 324, 329, 334, 344, 
 370 ; the loose game, 327 ; 
 fast forward game, 327 ; three- 
 quarter backs, 330, 334, 346- 
 34S ; passing the ball, 331, 
 332, 341, 366; the 'four 
 three-quarter system,' 332 ; 
 main features of Rugby game. 
 333 ; forward play, 337-341. 
 364, 365, 368 ; tackling, 339 ; 
 
 FOO 
 passing, 341 ; fast running, 
 347 ; full backs, 348 ; club 
 matches, 351 ; cup ties, 352, 
 
 382 ; international fifteens, 
 
 352 ; London v. Western 
 Counties, 352 ; North v. South, 
 
 353 ; England v. Scotland, 
 353 ; international disputes, 
 353 ; roughness in cup ties, 
 353 ; Oxford Rugby Union 
 College championship, 354 ; 
 Yorkshire Union rules, 355 ; 
 county matches, 355 ; York- 
 shire V. Lancashire, 355 ; 
 the Association game, 358- 
 387 ; the off-side rule, 359 ; 
 Association cup ties, 360, 382- 
 387 ; London v. Sheffield, 
 360 ; Oxford v. Cambridge, 
 361 ; steering the ball, 362 ; 
 the modern Association game, 
 363 ; middling, 366 ; heading, 
 369 ; back players, 372 ; 
 goal-keeper, 375 ; kaleido- 
 scopic changes in Association 
 game, 379 ; settlement of 
 disputes in Rugby and Asso- 
 ciation games, 380 ; rapid 
 adoption of Association game, 
 
 383 ; Birmingham v. London, 
 383 ; the Football Association, 
 384 ; county associations, 
 385 ; popularity in large 
 provincial towns, 388 ; gate- 
 money, 388, 389 ; profession- 
 alism, 389 ; Rugby Union 
 views on, 390, 391 ; dangers 
 and unhealthiness combated, 
 392 ; explanation of terms, 
 440, 442. See also American 
 football and Australian foot- 
 ball. 
 
 Football Association, the, 301, 
 384-386, 3S9 ; laws, 437-441
 
 IXDEX 
 
 455' 
 
 FOO 
 Football clubs :— Aston Villa, 
 388 ; Barnes, 300 ; Blackburn 
 Rovers, 378, 3S3 ; Blackburn 
 Olympic, 383 ; Blackheath, 
 300, 302, 327, 330, 342, 351, 
 352; Bradford, 351; Cam- 
 bridge University, 352 ; Car- 
 diff, 351 ; Civil Service, 300 ; 
 Clapham Rovers, 375 ; Corin- 
 thians, 381, 384; Crystal 
 Palace, 300 ; Darwen, 383 ; 
 Eton, 371 ; Forest, 300; 
 Hallam, 300 ; Harlequins, 
 300; London Scottish, 351, 
 352 ; Old Carthusians, 383, 
 384 ; Old Etonians, 371, 38 1- 
 383 ; Oxford University, 332, 
 352 ; Richmond, 300, 302, 
 327, 342, 35i> 352 ; Royal 
 Engineers, 382 ; Scottish 
 Queen's Park, 381, 383 ; 
 Sheffield, 300, 360 ; Shrop- 
 shire Wanderers, 382 ; Wan- 
 derers, 375, 381, 382; West 
 Bromwich Albion, 383 
 Football League, the, 385 
 Footballers : — Arthur, 378; Bai- 
 ley, N. C, 371 ; Birkett, R. 
 H., 375; Bolton, W. N., 
 348 ; Brown J., 368 ; Budd, 
 Arthur, 34I, 344 ; Burton, G. 
 W. , 344; Cail, W. , 321; 
 Campbell, 371 ; Cobbcld, W. 
 N. , 369 ; Don Wauchope, A. 
 R., 345; Finch, R. T., 340, 
 345 ; Fowler, 344 ; Freeman, 
 H., 326; Fuller H. G., 344; 
 Gurdon, C, 336, 344; Gur- 
 don, E. T. , 336, 344; Harri- 
 son, 344 ; Heron, Hubert, 
 363 ; Hill, G. Rowland, 353 ; 
 Plolmes, E. C, 321 ; Hornby, 
 A. X., 351 ; Hutchinson, W. 
 C. , 325 ; Kinnaird, Hon. A. 
 
 HAM 
 
 F-, 371, 382 ; Kirkpatrick, 
 378 ; Lockwood, R. E., 348 ; 
 Macaulay, R. H., 368, 378; 
 Maton, L. J., 321 ; Miller, 
 Dr., 368; Ottaway, C. J-, 
 363; Rofifey, D. B., 376; 
 Rotherham, A., 345 ; Rutter, 
 A., 321 ; Stoddart, 348; 
 Stokes, L. , 348 ; Taylor, A. 
 S.,351 ; Taylor, H. H.,345; 
 Thompson, 336 ; Tristram, 
 H. B., 351 ; Vassall, 341, 
 344 ; Vidal, 363 ; Wace, H., 
 376 ; Wade, 34S ; Walters, A. 
 :\L, y]i ; Walters, P. M., 
 
 373 
 Foot-baths, 1S2 
 Footmen, running, 20 
 Foot-racing, early popularity of, 
 
 18 
 Forms of entry, 192 
 Fouling, 199 
 Four-mile race, daily training 
 
 for, 104 
 French and English, 168 
 
 GaTE-MOXEY, 140, 191, 2IO, 
 
 233' 265 
 Gentlemen amateurs, 233, 246 
 Gentlemen of Hampstead, 258 
 Ginger-beer and gin, 263 
 Governing bodies, 224 
 Grass courses, 188, 191 
 Grounds, running, 186 ; see 
 
 Tracks 
 
 Hai.f-mile race, preparation 
 
 for, 96 
 Hammer-throwers : — Barry, W. 
 
 J. M., 163 ; Brown, S. S., 
 
 162 ; Gruer, J. D. , 61 ; 
 
 Hales, G. H.^ 163; Law-
 
 456 
 
 INDEX 
 
 HAM 
 
 rence, W. , i6i ; Mitchell, J. 
 
 S., 6i ; Queckberner, C. A. 
 
 J., 163 ; Whitton, K., 163 
 Hammer-throwing, 14, 159 ; 
 
 rules governing the sport, 160, 
 
 163 ; the throw, 160-162 
 Handicap prizes, 192, 229 
 Handicappers, 192, 197, 208, 
 
 209 
 Hare and hounds, 46 ; see 
 
 I'aperchasing 
 Harrow School, 46, 301, 303, 
 
 312-314 
 Harvard College, 397-399 
 Henry V. as a runner, 5 
 Henry VHI. , 6, 273 
 Herbert, Mr. (sec. A. A. A.), 
 
 58, 232 
 High jump, 143-149,200; best 
 
 amateur jump, 252 
 Holmes, E. B., 56 
 Honourable Artillery Comp-ny, 
 
 50 
 Horse-racing, 16 
 Huddersfield C. and A. C. , 
 
 244 
 Hungerford revel, 25 
 Hunter, C. \'., 57 
 Hurdle, formation of a, 120 
 Hurdle racers, style of, 119; 
 
 qualifications for, 120, 121 ; 
 
 beginners, 121 ; at practice, 
 
 121 ; paucity of good, 121 
 Hurdle-racing, 47,61, 118-122, 
 
 202 
 Hurling, 281, 2S6, 289 
 
 Ixter-Umversity sports, 52 
 
 Jackson, N. L. (sec. Lond. F. 
 A.), 384 
 
 JUM 
 James I. on sports, 13^ 
 Jersey, Lord, 106 
 Jerseys, 184 
 
 Joddrell, Sir Edward, 134 
 Joyce, William, the Kentish 
 
 strong man, 21 
 Judges, 56, 129, 130, 141, 195, 
 
 2or, 205. 2o5 
 Jumpers, physical qualifications 
 
 for, 143, 144 ; training and 
 
 practice, 144 
 Jumpers : -Baddeley, E., 151- 
 
 153 ; Bentley, 263 ; Brooks,. 
 
 M. J., 54, 143, 146-148, 
 
 152 ; Burl, 253 : Davies, E. 
 J., 146, 151-153 : Davin, P., 
 147, 148, isr, 154 : Davin, 
 T., 147 ; Fry, C. B. , 154; 
 Glazebrook, M. (",., 146; 
 Green, C. E., 145 ; Hor- 
 wood, E., 66 ; Kelly, 149 ; 
 Kemp, C. W. M., 152, 153 ; 
 Lane, J., 151, 152 ; Little, 
 T. G., 145 ; Lockton, 151, 
 
 153 ; Macaulav, R. H., 147 ; 
 Malone, T. M., 154 ; Mit- 
 chell, R. J. C. , 145, 146,. 
 151 ; PagJ, W. B., ^48 ; 
 Parsons, J. W.. 148, 151, 
 
 154 ; Purcell, J., 65, 154 ; 
 Ray, Tom, 61, 65 ; Roupell, 
 J. H. T., 145; Rowdon, 65, 
 148 ; Smith, A. P., 263 ; 
 Stones, E. L., 61 : Thomp- 
 son, F. G. F. , 61 ; Tomlin- 
 son, G., 147 ; Tosswill, A. C. , 
 
 151 
 Jumping, 10, 13, 14, 27, 48, 54, 
 61, 64, 65 ; the high jump, 
 143, 200 ; the take off, 145 ; 
 on the grass, 145 ; the long 
 jump, 150 ; ]5ole jumping, 
 164-167, 20D ; broad jump,. 
 200
 
 INDEX 
 
 457 
 
 KEN 
 
 Kensington Grammar School, 
 
 46 
 Knickerbockers, 1S4 
 Koyiing, 274 
 
 Laws of the Amateur Athletic 
 Association, 195 ; of Aus- 
 tralian football, 432 ; of the 
 Football Association and 
 Rugb)' Union, 437-449 
 
 London Athletic Club, 49, 52, 
 ^35> 136, 1S8, 212, 225 ; 
 foundation of, 241 ; open 
 membership, 242 ; in debt, 
 242 ; reorganisation, 242 ; 
 good work done, 243 
 
 London, football in the streets 
 of, 28 1, 2S7 
 
 London Football Association, 
 
 384 
 
 Long-distance races, training 
 
 for, 103 
 Long-distance runners, physical 
 
 characteristics of, 105 
 
 Manchester, football in the 
 streets of, 276 
 
 Marksmen, 57, 201 
 
 Marlborough School, 303 
 
 Mason, C. H., 56 
 
 Mason, Major, and the Xecton 
 Guild, 25 
 
 Matches, running, early, 30, 31 
 
 May Fair, 24 
 
 Medical profession, the, and 
 athletics, 170 
 
 Meetings, athletic, 186; the 
 ground, 186 ; the track, 186 
 grass courses, 188, 191 
 shape of path, 188, 189 
 local cricket-grounds, 190 
 
 MEE 
 
 records on turf, 191 ; entries, 
 191, 197 ; prizes, 192 ; pot- 
 hunting, 192, 209 ; entry 
 forms, 192 ; entrance fees, 
 
 193 ; secretary's duties, 193 ; 
 representatives of the Press, 
 
 194 ; chicken and cham- 
 pagne critics, 194 ; accommo- 
 dation for competitors, 194 ; 
 paraphernalia, 194; rules for 
 competitions, 195 ; qualifica- 
 tion of competitors, 195 ; 
 prizes, 196 ; betting, 197 ; 
 advertisements, 197 ; youths 
 and novices, 198 ; protests, 
 
 198 ; stations, 198, 201 ; 
 attendants, 199 ; fouling, 199 ; 
 starting, 199 ; walking races, 
 
 199 ; the high, broad, and 
 pole jumps, 200 ; steeple 
 chasing, 2CO ; throwing the 
 cricket ball, 200 ; officials, 
 201 ; track measurements, 
 
 201 ; clothing, 201 ; straight 
 sprint races, 202 ; hurdle 
 races, 202 ; throwing the 
 hammer and putting the 
 weight, 202 ; tug of war, 
 
 202 ; programmes, <S;c., 203 ; 
 competent officials, 204 ; 
 starters, 204 ; judges, 205 ; 
 misbehaviour of competitors, 
 206 ; decisions, 206 ; walkers' 
 gait, 207 ; cautions before 
 disqualifiication, 207 ; handi- 
 cappers, 208, 211 ; pro- 
 gramme for club meeting, 
 208 ; decrease in popularity, 
 210 ; paucity of level open 
 races, 210 ; short limit handi- 
 caps, 211 ; Sheffield system, 
 211; timing, 212, 213-217; 
 records, 213-219, 251, 252 ; 
 true raison d'etre of athletic
 
 458 
 
 INDEX 
 
 MEL 
 
 sports, 220 ; boys' races, 221 ; 
 veterans racing, 222 
 
 Melbourne, football in, 415, 
 416, 429, 430 ; the Senior 
 and Junior Associations, 429 
 
 Midland Counties C.C. Associa- 
 tion, 259 
 
 Mincing Lane Athletic Club, 
 
 51 
 
 Monmouth, Duke of, as an ath- 
 lete, 18 
 
 Moseley Harriers, 118, 258, 
 259 
 
 National Cyclists' Union, 
 
 230, 231 
 Necton Guild, 25 
 New South Wales, football in, 
 
 415 
 New Zealand, football in, 415 
 Noblemen racing, 18, 21 
 Northern Counties Athletic 
 
 Association, 226, 228, 259 
 Novices' races, 198 
 
 Officials, 195, 201, 204 
 One-mile race, daily work for, 
 
 104 
 Open races, institution of, 48- 
 
 53 
 Oranges and lemons, 168 
 Oxford conference, the, 227 
 Oxford University Athletic 
 Club, 236 ; beginning of the 
 season, 237 ; Freshmen's 
 sports, 238 ; strangers' race, 
 238 ; college meetings, 238 ; 
 'Varsity sports, 239 ; the 
 'blue,'- 239; half-blue, 240; 
 pernnanent officials, 241 
 Oxford University sports, 48 
 
 QUE 
 
 Paget, Lord, 32 
 
 Paper-chasing, 236, 255-266; 
 Thames Handicap Steeple- 
 chase, 256 ; events 256-259 ; 
 scoring in matches, 260 ; a 
 club's stock-in-trade, 260 ; the 
 hare's tactics, 260-262 ; the 
 distance, 262 ; dress, 262 
 dangers to be avoided, 262 
 conduct of hounds, 263 
 jumping, 263; precautions 
 after the run, 263 ; its future, 
 265 ; prizes, 265 
 
 Peckham A. A. C. , 257 
 
 Pedestrians ; see Runners 
 
 Peppard revel, 25 
 
 Performances, best amateur, on 
 record, 251, 252 
 
 Pinnes, 274 
 
 Pole jumping, 164, 200 ; best 
 amateur performance, 252 ; 
 T. Ray, 165, 166 ; Stones, 
 166; Woodbvirn, E,, 166 
 
 Portaferry wake, 26 
 
 Pot-hunting, 192, 209, 234, 245 
 
 Press, the, 193 
 
 Princeton College, 397, 398 
 
 Prizes, 55, 192, 196, 203, 229, 
 231, 233, 265 
 
 Professionalism in football, 389- 
 391 ; rule against in Victoria, 
 426 
 
 Programme for athletic club 
 meeting, 203 
 
 Protests, 19S 
 
 Puritanism and athleticism, li, 
 12, 15, 21, 
 
 Puttick, A. J., 56 
 
 Putting the weight, 202, 252 
 
 (^UAKTRR-MiLE race, prepara- 
 tion for, 85-88 
 Queensland, football in, 415
 
 INDEX 
 
 M>'9 
 
 REA 
 
 Reay, Jack, 56 
 
 Records, 213-219 
 
 Referees, 57, 201 
 
 Reforms in amateur athletics, 
 247 
 
 Riding, early notices of, 13 
 
 Rogers, Bob, 81, 99, 147 
 
 Rogers, G. P., 56 
 
 Roping, 234, 265 
 
 Rubbers, /S 
 
 Rubbing, 78, 132 
 
 Rugby football, 299, 302, 318- 
 •357, 385 ; in America, 399 ; in 
 Australia, 415 ; see Football 
 
 Rugby Football Union, forma- 
 tion of, 302 ; on professional- 
 ism, 390 ; laws, 442-449 
 
 Rugby School meeting, 49 
 
 Ruislip, football at, in Eliza- 
 beth's days, 275 
 
 Rules of the A. A. A. for 
 competitions and the manage- 
 ment of sports, 200 
 
 Runners, qualifications for, 69 
 
 Runners and walkers, past and 
 present, amateur and profes- 
 sional : — Abron, 30 ; Aitken, 
 Jame=, 43, 44 ; Bacon, F. 
 E., 113 ; Baker, A. J-, 79. 
 80 ; Baker, S. H.," 102 ; 
 Ball, H. R.,85, 92, 94, 191 ; 
 Barrett, 35; Bassett 60; 
 Batger, 61 ; Beal, Joseph, 
 35 ; Beckley, G. P., 138 ; 
 Bell, T. H., 76; Bertie, 
 Peregrine, 21; Bessell, 59; 
 Bindall, 35 ; Birkett, 103 ; 
 Bowles, R. F., 41-43 ; Brad- 
 ley, C. A., 84 ; Bredin, E. 
 C, 76, 85 ; Bryden, H. A., 
 109 ; Bryden, T. R. , 63, 64 ; 
 Bulger, D. D., 61 ; Burt, L. 
 U., 109; Callow, C. M., 51 ; 
 Chambers, J. G., 133, 134, 
 
 RUN 
 257 ; Chappell, 256 ; Chin- 
 nery, W. M., 50, 51, 107- 
 109, 256 ; Christie, T., 100; 
 Churchill, W. H.,8s ; Clague, 
 W. L., 91 ; Clarke, C. W. 
 v., 64, 65; Clarke, J. A. P., 
 59 ; Cleaver, F. F., 125 ; 
 Clegg, J. C, 90, 91, 263 ; 
 Coad, W. H., 66, 264, 265 ; 
 Colbeck, E. J., 79, 85, 89, 
 90, 100, 105 ; Congreve, G. 
 F. , 108 ; Cooke, 36 ; Court- 
 ney, L. 11., loi ; Cowie, 59, 
 82, 85, 91, 92, 94 ; Cross, F. 
 J. K., 63, 64, 103, 113; 
 Cummings, 105 ; Curley, the 
 Brighton shepherd, 36; Cur- 
 tis, PL, 141 ; Daft, C. F, 61, 
 62, 125 ; Dane, Captain, 35 ; 
 Davies, J., 35, 40; Dawson, 
 W. A., 80; Deerfoot, 50, 
 105 ; Dixon, Sydenham, 107, 
 108; Dudman, 66; Elbo- 
 rough, F. T., 85, 90-92, loi, 
 102 ; Evar.s, 31 ; Farnworth, 
 T. H., 133, 134; Farrer, 
 James, 35 ; I'^enton, 40 ; 
 Fitzherbert, R., 122 ; Fowler, 
 W. J., 114; Frost, George, 
 40; Fuller, W. E., iii ; 
 Garnett, R., 116; Gamier, 
 E. S., 123 ; George, W. G., 
 62, 103, 109, 11I-I14, 187, 
 227, 265 ; Gibb, J., 108, 
 no, 265 ; Goodwin, Albert, 
 III ; Gordon, Hon. Cosmo, 
 32 ; Goulbourne, 37 ; Gow- 
 thorpe, C. W., 125 ; Green, 
 49; Grey, 35; Griffith, T., 
 134 ; 135 ; Grinley, 36 ; Gros- 
 venor. Captain, 32 ; Hague, 
 John, 30 ; Plaines, 58, 59, 
 63 ; Halton, J. , 39 ; Harbord, 
 Hon. Edward, 35 ; Hargraves,
 
 46o 
 
 INDEX 
 
 RUN 
 Capt., 40; Harrison, 66; 
 Ilaselden, 35 ; Hawtrey, 256 ; 
 Hayes, Tommy, 40; Hazen- 
 wood, C, 92, 102 ; Headley, 
 Joseph, 31 ; Hill, H. \V., 
 95, 100-102 ; Hill, W. P., 
 113; Holman, S. K., 102; 
 Horan, Y. S., 114; Howard, 
 Stuart, 58, 59 ; Howe, 35 ; 
 Howett, 105 ; Hughes, 137 ; 
 Jackson, Billy, 40 ; Jackson, 
 C. N., 122 ; Jackson, S. F. , 
 124; James, P., 60; Jervis, 
 64, 65 ; Jones, Norman, 62 ; 
 Joyce, S., 61, 62; Jullie, 
 J. H., 65 ; Junker, L. , 
 72, 81 ; Karoniare, 256 ; 
 Kennedy, 257 ; Kibblewhite, 
 J., 113 ; King, 256 ; Knight, 
 E. , 43 ; Lamb, Hon. Mr., 
 32 ; Laing, J. W. , 107 ; 
 Lang, 105 ; Lawes, C. B. , 
 106, 107 ; Lawrence, G. P. C. , 
 124, 125 ; Levick, 60; Lock, 
 AV. , 62, 63 ; Lockton, C. L., 
 72, 81, 82, 124, 125 ; Loder, 
 A. B., 123 ; Long, C.H., 107 ; 
 Lutyens, W. E., 113; Mabey, 
 63,64 ; Macaulay, R. H., 85 ; 
 Macdougall, H., 81 ; Mackin- 
 tosh, 142 ; MacNamara, 38 ; 
 Martin, 49; Martin, J. B. , 
 122 ; Mason, C. H. , 1 1 1, 256 ; 
 Massey, 82; Matthews, W., 
 39 ; Maxfield, Tom, 40 ; 
 Meek, W. H., 140, 141 ; 
 Mellish, 35 ; Merrill, 139, 
 141 ; Metcalf, James, 39 ; 
 Michod, C. J., 108, 117 ; 
 Milvain, T. , 122 ; Morgan, 
 J. IL, 108; Morgan, W, J., 
 135-137; Morton, W. H., 
 114; Murray, Y. P., 140, 
 141 ; Myers, 62, 63, 85, 89, 
 
 RUN 
 93, 94, 102, 139, 187, 191 ;: 
 Nalder, T. B., 63, 64;. 
 Nicholas, T. L. , 75 ; Nicolls, 
 E. R. J., no ; Nunn, G. R., 
 122 ; Nunn, R. II., 135 ; 
 Oliver, II. M., 118, 25S ; 
 O'Malley, C. L., 118; 
 Painter, 66 ; Palmer, S., 124, 
 125; Pearce, C. E., 114; 
 Pelham, Hon. A. L. , 95, 
 100; Phillips, W. P., 72, 
 82, 89, 92-94; Philpot, R. , 
 90 ; Pope, 31 ; Portal, M. R., 
 99 ; Powell, 32, 33 ; Prest, 
 C. H., 51 ; Purves, S. O., 
 61 ; Raby, J. W., 139, 140 ; 
 Reay, J. H. A. , 124 ; Ridley, 
 88 ; Ritchie, 59-61, 83 ; 
 Robinson, E. D., 58, 59, 62, 
 63 ; Rogers, E. D., 66, 265 ; 
 Ross, Horatio, 38 ; Rye, 
 Walter, 51, 134, 135, 137 ; 
 Sandford, E. A., 99 ; Sava- 
 gar, 32; Sayers, Lieut., 47, 
 50; Scott, J-, 43, 107, 108, 
 191, 262 ; Seary, W. H., 
 109 ; Shaw, G. B. , 61 ; Shaw, 
 Godfrey, 121 ; Shearman, J., 
 81, 89, 91, 264 ; Shearman, 
 M., 92 ; Shipley, 36 ; Skew- 
 ball, 36 ; Slade, Waller, loo- 
 102, 105, 108-I11, 117, 118, 
 136, 191 ; Smith, 33, 35; 
 Smith, Lyle, 62, 63 ; Smith, 
 S. P., 134, 135 ; Snook, 63 ; 
 Snook, W., 109, 112, 113; 
 Somers-Smith, R. \., 90, 
 100; Spicer, 50, 51 ; Sten- 
 ning, P. II., 259, 264 ; Stir- 
 ling, J. L. , 122, 123 ; Storey, 
 E., 99 ; Sturt, II. II., 92 ; 
 Temple, 30 ; Templer, G. 
 A., 100; Tennant, W. M., 
 79, 90, 122 ; Tetlow, Johnny,
 
 INDEX 
 
 4H 
 
 RUN 
 40; Thomas, Sidney, 1 14; 
 Tindall, 85, 90, 94 ; Tiepp- 
 lin, E. C, 72, 79, 80, 81 ; 
 Turner, Michael, 49 ; Upcher, 
 H. K., 90, 120, 123; Urm- 
 son, 80 ; Venn, H., 130, 137, 
 138; Wade, Harold, 113; 
 Wallis, 35 ; Walpole, 31 ; 
 Warburton, James (Choppy), 
 no; Warburton, 226 ; War- 
 ren, Lieut., 35 ; Webster, 
 H., 129, 130, 136-139, 141 ; 
 Webster, Sir R., 49, 106; 
 Webster, 226 ; Wellesley, 
 Hon. A., 50; Wells, T. E., 
 95 ; Whaley, 50 ; Wharton, 
 59-63, 73, 83 ; White, Jack, 
 105 ; Whitehead, Levi, 35 ; 
 Whyatt, H., 140; Widdow- 
 son, S. W\, 125 ; Wild, 32 ; 
 Wilkman, 35 ; Willers, C. E., 
 114; Williams, 36; Williams, 
 R. M., 133-135; Wills, T- 
 T., 118 ; Wilson, J. G., 79, 
 80, 90 ; Wise, B. R. , in, 
 112; Woolfit, 31; Wood, 
 Abraham, 35, 36, 38 ; Wood, 
 59-63, 83, 85 ; Wyatt, H., 
 43, 44 ; Vork, 31 
 Running, early notices of, 4-6, 
 13, 16; best amateur perfor- 
 mances, 251 
 Running footmen, 20 
 Rutgers College, 397, 398 
 
 Sack races, 167 
 Savagar's walking match, 32 
 Scholarship and athleticism, 249 
 Scone, football at, 285 
 Scoring in paper-chasing, 260 
 Scotland, football in, 291 
 Secretaries of sports, 193 
 Seven mile walking match, 132 
 
 STO 
 
 Sheffield Football Association, 
 301 
 
 Sheffield wake, 25 
 
 Shoemakers v. Drapers, 8 
 
 Shoes, 183 
 
 Shrewsbury meeting, 47 
 
 Shrewsbury School, 303 
 
 Six hundred yards race, 95, 9S 
 
 Sleep, 180 
 
 Smoking, 178, 264 
 
 Socks, 181, 183 
 
 South Australia, football in, 416 
 
 South London Harriers, 243, 
 258, 259 
 
 South Minis, football at, in 
 Elizabeth's time, 276 
 
 Southern Counties C. C. Asso- 
 ciation, 259 
 
 Spartan Harriers, 258, 259 
 
 Spelling bee, 264 
 
 Spikes in shoes, 184 
 
 Sprinters, physical character- 
 istics of, 72 ; practice and 
 exercise for, 73 ; attitude at 
 the start, 74-76 ; rubbing, 
 78 ; style, 79-S2 ; at the 
 quarter-mile, 88 ; as jumpers, 
 150 ; smoking, 178 
 
 Sprinting, 10, 36, 60, 62, 70, 
 79, 202, 205, 210, 215 
 
 Standard judges, 57 
 
 Standard medals, 56 
 
 Standard timekeepers, 57 
 
 Start, the, in sprinting, 74-76 
 
 Starters, 57, 199, 201, 204, 207 
 
 Stations, 198, 201 
 
 Steeplechasers, qualifications 
 for, 116; at the hurdles and 
 water-jump, 116 
 
 Steeplechases, 114-118, 200 
 
 Stewards, 203 
 Stilts, racing on, 31 
 
 Stool-ball, 10, 286 
 Stop-watches, 213-217
 
 462 
 
 INDEX 
 
 STR 
 
 Strains of muscles, 182 
 Sydney, football in, 415, 416 
 
 Tactics of a race, S9 
 Tasmania, football in, 416 
 Teetotalers, 177, 263 
 Tender feet, iSi 
 Terms used in football, 440- 
 
 444 
 
 Thames Handicap Steeplechase, 
 256 
 
 Thames Hare and Hounds Club, 
 209, 258, 259 
 
 Thames Rowing Club, 255 
 
 Thorn's training rules, 34 
 
 Three-legged races, 167 
 
 Throwing the cricket ball, 164, 
 200; P'orbes, W. F., 164; 
 Game, W. H., 164 
 
 Throwing the hammer, 10, 13,. 
 14, 61, 202, 252 
 
 Timekeepers, 57, 201, 212, 213, 
 216 
 
 Timing runners, 98, 104, 212, 
 213-217 
 
 ToUemache, Lord (the late), 38 
 
 Tossing the caber, 163 
 
 Track measurements, 201 
 
 Tracks: — Aston Lower Grounds, 
 55, 93, 190 ; Beaufort House, 
 Walham Green, 188, 241 ; 
 Christchurch cricket-ground, 
 Oxford, 187-1S9; Copenha- 
 gen Grounds, 40 ; Fenner's 
 cricket-ground, Cambridge, 
 
 188, 189, 237 ; Iflley Road 
 (Ground, 189; Kennington 
 Oval, 191 ; Lillie Bridge, 54, 
 138, 147, 154, 187, 188, 225, 
 241, 242 ; L. A. Grounds, 
 Stamford Bridge, 55, 188, 
 
 189, 225 ; Lord's cricket- 
 ground, 37, 38 ; Marston 
 
 WAL 
 
 cricket-ground, 147, 189 
 237 ; Private Banks cricket- 
 ground, Catford Bridge, 191 % 
 Stamford Bridge, 187- 189, 
 225, 226, 241 ; Trent Bridge 
 Ground, Nottingham, 191 
 Trainers, old professional, 78 
 Training, 34, 69, 70, 95-98, 
 103, 104, 131, 250 ; opposi- 
 tion to, from medical pro- 
 fession, 170 ; diet, 170 ; the 
 pre-athletic period, 170 ; a 
 new system with old errors, 
 
 171 ; ideal diet, 172 ; physic, 
 
 172 ; what is a healthy diet, 
 172 ; porridge, 173 ; quantity 
 of food, 174 ; drink, 175 ; 
 teetotalism, 177 ; use of wine, 
 178; smoking, 178; hours- 
 of sleep, 180; morning work, 
 180; work before breakfast, 
 180; care of the feet, 181 ; 
 remedies for strained muscles, 
 182 ; Elliman's embrocation, 
 1S2; Westhall's recipe, 182;^ 
 use of hot and cold water for 
 strains, 183 
 
 Trinity College, Dublin, meet- 
 ing. 49 
 Tug of war, 168, 202 
 
 University sports, 48, 49 
 
 Veterans' races, 222 
 Victoria, football in, 416 ; the 
 Football Association, 418, 425 
 A'oluntcer movement, 40 
 
 \Vakes, 22, 25 
 Wales, Prince of, 287
 
 INDEX 
 
 463 
 
 WAL 
 
 Walkers ; see Runners 
 Walking, 64 ; usefulness of, 
 126 ; distinction between run- 
 ning and walking, 126; fair, 
 128, 129, 133 ; unfair, 129- 
 132, 134, 138 ; bad, 130 ; 
 remedy for bad and unfair, 
 130 ; training for, 131 ; daily 
 work, 132 ; rubbing, 132 ; 
 distances, 132 ; unpopularity 
 at the universities, 134 ; on 
 the road, 142 ; races, 199 ; 
 gait in, 207 ; best amateur 
 performances, 252 
 Washleather socks, 181 
 Watch-holders, io(S, 131 
 Weight-putters: — Bor, E. J., 
 158 ; Davin, M., 147, 158 ; 
 Harte, Owen, 159; Gray, G. 
 R. , 159 ; Mackinnon, D. J., 
 159; Mitchell, R. J. C., 65, 
 158 ; O'Brien, T-, 159 ; Ross, 
 G., 158; Stone, f-, 158; 
 Stone, T., 158; Ware, J. 
 H., 159 ; W'inthrop, W. Y., 
 
 Weight-putting, 28, 65, 155 ; 
 rules regulating, 156 ; first 
 position, 156 ; second posi- 
 tion, 157 
 
 Westminster School, 49, 301, 
 303> 360 
 
 Wilkinson, Tom, 57 
 
 Wilson, Professor (Christopher 
 North), 47 
 
 Winchester School, 49, 303, 
 
 315-317 
 Works quoted or cited : — Ana- 
 tomic of Abuses in the 
 Realme of England, 12, 277 ; 
 Anatomy of Melancholy, 16, 
 2S0 ; Annals of King James 
 and King Charles, 15 ; Ath- 
 lete, 53 ; Barclay's Eclogues, 
 
 WOR 
 9 ; Basilikon Doron, 13, 278 ; 
 Bell's Life, 39, 40, 47-49 ; 
 Boke called the Governour, 7, 
 8, 274 ; Book of Sports, 15 ; 
 Comedy of Errors, 279 ; Cor- 
 poration of London Records, 
 276; Football Annual, 341, 
 363, 390 ; Football, its His- 
 tory for Five Centuries, 295 ; 
 Gentlem.an's Magazine, 16, 
 29; Harleian MSS., 279 ; 
 Harrison's Description of 
 England, 11 ; Henry IV. ,rt. 
 i., 8 ; Henry VL, Pt. i., 9 ; 
 History of Cumberland, 289 ; 
 History of Derby (Glover's), 
 271 ; History of Derbyshire, 
 293 ; History of Hawstead, 
 283 ; Hone's Every Day 
 Book, 24, 25, 290, 291 ; 
 , Hone's Table Book, 281 ; 
 Humphry Clinker, 19 ; Illus- 
 trated Sporting News, 106 ; 
 King Lear, 279 ; Kingsley's 
 Geoffrey Hamlin, 28 ; Knight 
 of the Swan, 5 ; Knyghthode 
 and Batayle, 5 ; Lady of the 
 Lake, 28 ; Lay of the Last 
 Minstrel, 291 ; Loyal Protes- 
 tant, 17, 18 ; Luttrell's Diary, 
 29 ; Man and Wife, 27 ; 
 Maitland's History of London, 
 22 ; Manchester Lete Roll, 
 276 ; Memoires et Observa- 
 tions faites par un voyageur, 
 287 ; Middlesex County Re- 
 cords, 275 ; Modern Athle- 
 tics, 48 ; Notes and Queries, 
 21 ; Peacham's Compleat 
 (ientleman, 13, 14 ; Poesye 
 of Princelye Practice, 7 ; 
 Progresses of Queen Eliza- 
 beth, 1 1 ; Reading Mercury, 
 25 ; Rugby Union Football
 
 464 
 
 INDEX 
 
 WOR 
 Annual, 322, 325, 341 ; Rus- 
 sell's History of Guildford, 9 ; 
 Spectator, 22-24, 288 ; Sport- 
 ing Magazine, 34, 39 ; Statis- 
 tical Account of Scotland, 
 285 ; Survey of Cornwall, 
 281 ; Survey of London, 22 ; 
 Thackeray's Rebecca and 
 Rowena, 28 ; Thackeray's 
 Virginians, 27 ; Thorn's 
 Pedestrianism, 34 ; Three 
 Kings' Sons, 6 ; Times, 50 ; 
 
 VOU 
 Tom Brown's Schooldays, 
 257, 298, 299 ; Toxophilus, 
 8 ; Weekly Intelligencer, 16 ; 
 Wilson's life of James I., 
 
 T4 
 Wrestling, 13 
 
 Yale College, 396-399 
 Yorkshire County Football 
 
 Union, 389 
 Youths' races, 198, 221 
 
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