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"20. They marry, for the most part, by pledging to each other, without any ceremony. A few exceptions have occurred, when money was plentiful.

"21. They do not teach their Children religion.

"22 and 23. Not one in a thousand can read.

"24 and 25. Some go into lodgings in London, Cambridge, &c., during the winter; but it is calculated three-fourths of them live out of doors in winter as in summer."

CHAPTER XIII

Ladies' dresses – The Dandizette – Waltzing – The Quadrille – Almack's – Women's education – Women's work – Women Soldiers and Sailors – Female rowing match – Female pedestrian – Gretna Green Marriages – Some curious marriages

For the limits of a book like this, I have spent enough time on the Roads, Streets, Country, and even Gipsies, so let me turn to the men and women of the time. Place aux dames of course – so we will begin with the ladies first. And in the next few engravings which I give are culled specimens of women's dresses from 1811 to 1820.

Of course there would be caricatures – some rather outrée, others very moderate – I give two of the Dandizette or Dandyess as she was indifferently called, one true, the other, as with her concomitants, perhaps, a trifle exaggerated – but not a great deal. Perhaps it is most so in "the Fashionables of 1816," where, I must own, the feathers in the bonnets, the large Muffs, and the short skirts are, doubtless, slightly in advance of the fashion, but it is an amusing picture, with no harm in it, and I give it. Of course, I cannot vouch for its truth, but the following little story is as I find it: "June 8, 1812. A young lady of rank and high Condition, in the warmth of her dancing heart, thus addressed her partner at the late Lord Mayor's ball. – 'God bless you – take care and don't tread upon my muslin gown, for you see that I have nothing under it.'"

And, when we look at a really sensible picture of a dance (Waltzing), I do not think it is very much exaggerated. Waltzing was considered by some as awfully wicked. It may be. Personally, my dancing days are over, but I never felt particularly sinful when waltzing – Mrs. Grundy is another name for nastiness. For instance, take two separate verses in the same paper: —

 
"What! the girl of my heart by another embrac'd?
What! the balm of her lips shall another man taste?
What! touch'd in the twirl by another man's knee?
What! panting recline on another than me?"
 

Very properly rebuked thus: —

 
"Sir H. E. thinks each waltzing Miss
From every partner takes a kiss;
Then O! how natural the whim
That makes them loath to dance with him."
 

Read "The Waltz," by Lord Byron, and see what was thought of this dance. On June 9, 1817, we read: "Quadrilles have had but a short run. They have now had a lamentable descent, not from the drawing-room to the kitchen, to supersede the Contre Danse, but from Almack's to Hockley in the Hole. Though they have not yet fallen into the kitchen, the kitchen has risen to them. Some days ago the Lady of a Noble Admiral, lately returned from the Mediterranean, happened to come home from a Ball unexpectedly, when her Ladyship found all her domestics busily employed in a quadrille in the drawing-room, with the chandeliers lighted up, and a regular band of two violins, a bass, and a harp. Her Ladyship owns that they danced them with as much grace and spirit as is visible elsewhere." And they did dance in those days – there was no languid walking through a quadrille. All the steps were properly and accurately performed. I have before me engravings of a set of all the figures – 1 Le Pantalon, 2 L'Été, 3 La Poule, 4 La Trenise, or 4 La Pastorale and La Finale, which are delicious, but are too large for reproduction in this book.

Of course, the Crême de la crême went to Almack's, but numberless were the Peris who sighed to enter that Paradise, and could not. Capt. Gronow, writing of 1814, says: "At the present time one can hardly conceive the importance which was attached to getting admission to Almack's, the seventh heaven of the fashionable world. Of the three hundred officers of the Foot Guards, not more than half a dozen were honoured with vouchers of admission to this exclusive temple of the beau monde; the gates of which were guarded by lady patronesses, whose smiles or frowns consigned men and women to happiness or despair. These lady patronesses were the Ladies Castlereagh, Jersey, Cowper, and Sefton, Mrs. Drummond Burrell, the Princess Esterhazy, and the Countess Lieven."

In a Newspaper of May 12, 1817, we read – "The rigorous rule of entry established at Almack's Rooms produced a curious incident at the last Ball. The Marquis and Marchioness of W – r, the Marchioness of T – , Lady Charlotte C – , and her daughter, had all been so imprudent as to come to the rooms without tickets; and, though so intimately known to the Lady Managers, and so perfectly unexceptionable, they were politely requested to withdraw, and accordingly they all submitted to the injunction."

Again, at the beginning of the season of 1819 we find these female tyrants issuing the following ukase: "An order has been issued, we understand, by the Lady Patronesses of Almack's, to prevent the admission of Gentlemen in Trowsers and Cossacks to the balls on Wednesdays – at the same time allowing an exception to those Gentlemen who may be knock-kneed, or otherwise deformed." But the male sex were equal to the occasion, as we find in the following lines: —

"TO THE LADY PATRONESSES OF ALMACK'S

 
Tired of our trousers are ye grown?
But, since to them your anger reaches,
Is it because 'tis so well known,
You always love to wear the breeches?"
 

I have collected a quantity of ana respecting ladies' dress of this period, but some would take too long to explain their point, and others are too risqué for the modern Mrs. Grundy. However, here is one which can offend no one: "August, 1814. The Wife of a respectable citizen has excited a good deal of curiosity at Margate. She bathes in a green dress, without a cap; and, attached to the shoulders of the dress is something resembling fins. She swims remarkably well, and the peculiarity of her paraphernalia, together with her long black hair, have occasioned many to believe that she was a mermaid."

Women were not, as a rule, what we should now term, highly educated: they knew very little of the "ologies," but they were good women, and true. Their music had not reached the sublime height of the weird discord of Wagner, and they knew nothing of the "Higher Cult;" but they had as pretty ballads to sing as ever were sung, from which we are glad to borrow, and which are refreshing to hear. They did beautiful needlework, and vied with each other in this respect, they painted a little on velvet and satin – sometimes did a little mild water colour on paper – but their efforts were hardly commendable as works of art, according to our modern standard. But they were notable house wives, and there were female servants in those days who were not above their position, but knew their work, and did it. There were no five o'clock teas, no reception days; all had their circle of acquaintances, who were welcome to call whenever they chose, and were received without fuss: in fact, as a rule, the women were helps-meet for their spouses – thrifty, caring for their husbands and children, and were, essentially, home makers.

In the Country, the whir of the spinning-wheel might be heard – but such a thing is not to be seen in use now except in dilletante hands, like those of Her Most gracious Majesty. Then, too, at a Cottage door might be seen a woman making pillow lace, now getting rarer and rarer, and it is not an occupation much taken up by the higher classes, as it shows small results for much hand-and-brain work. Straw-plaiting in some districts, glove sewing in others. Now we get straw plait from China, and the gloves are machine sewn. Then all the milk carrying, especially in London, was done by a hardy race of women, principally Welsh, carrying yokes and pails, now the Milk Cart and Perambulator have superseded them.

And there must have been women of thews and muscle, with plenty of pluck, or we should not hear of so many female sailors, and soldiers, during this period. In May, 1813, one was taken on board an American prize, and her sex was only discovered on her being sent to prison. In September of the same year, the master of a Collier, belonging to Ipswich, had reason to believe that one of his apprentices who had made two voyages, was a girl, and so it proved, and, as in the former case, the girl appeared to be a respectable, steady, young man, so in this latter, whilst she was on board, she conducted herself with great propriety, and was considered a very active clever lad. Again, in September, 1815, when the Crew of the Queen Charlotte, 110 guns, was paid off, one of the Crew, an African, was discovered to be a woman. She "had served as a seaman in the Royal Navy for upwards of eleven years, during several of which she had been rated able on the books of the above ship, by the name of William Brown, and had served for sometime as Captain of the foretop, highly to the satisfaction of the officers."

But the ladies did not confine themselves to "ploughing the main." We know what an attraction a red coat has for them, and therefore no surprise need be manifested, if some of them tried the Army. In January, 1813, was a rather romantic case: a girl, in man's clothes, was enlisted in the 53rd Regiment. Her sex was afterwards discovered when she said her lover was in the 43rd Regiment on foreign service, and she wanted to be near him. In 1814, Old Phœbe Hassel was alive, and at Brighton, aged 99. She had served in the army for seven years. I do not know when she died, but there is a portrait and biography of her in Hone's "Year Book," ed. 1838, pp. 209, 210, 211, 212, in which she is spoken of as being 106 in 1821. The Regent, after seeing her in 1814, allowed her half a guinea a week, and at her death ordered a stone to be put up to her memory. Another woman who had served five years in the German army, applied for relief to the German Committee at Baker's Coffee-house – she had been several times wounded, but was so badly hit at Leipsig, that she had to be taken to hospital, where her sex was discovered.

Women were then even as now, they aped the manners of the stronger sex. Now as we know, they invade the Smoking and Billiard Rooms, which used to be considered Man's strongholds; they won't let him alone even when shooting – for, so solicitous are they after his welfare, that they will bring him lunch: they run him hard in School Board, and County Council, and his last refuge is his Club, where, in some instances, he is not safe. We have seen how (vol. i. p. 86) they played Cricket publicly – a practice lately revived by "Actresses" and others. We know them well on the river, but I do not know of a revival of professional boat racing by them, so I give the following:

"Female Rowing Match. – A rowing match took place on Monday (September 29, 1817), on the river, between Chelsea and Battersea, which excited great interest. Six watermen's wives started in six scullers, to row a given distance for a wherry. The ladies were dressed in appropriate trimmings, and the boats were discriminated by different colours waving gracefully in the wind, at the stern. In the first heat two of the Candidates were distanced. The remaining four then started, and the prize was won, at two heats, by a strapping woman, the mother of four children. At the moment of her arrival at the goal, her victory was proclaimed by the discharge of a pistol by the Judge on shore, and she was carried in triumph into a public-house on the beach. No jolly young waterman could handle his oar with more becoming dexterity than this dashing female. Her numerous friends crowded after her, and drank her health in copious libations."

They were equal to us even in "Female Pedestrianism. Esther Crozier, who commenced on Wednesday (29th of October, 1817) morning, on the Croydon road, to walk 1000 miles in 20 days, completed 50 miles that evening, at 35 minutes past 9. She commenced her second day's journey yesterday morning (October 30th) at a quarter before 7 o'clock, and, at a quarter past 4 she had gone 32¾ miles." She is mentioned again and again in the papers as going on with her task; but I do not think she accomplished it, as I find no triumphal record of it.

I suppose the proudest day of a woman's life is her Marriage day, and so we will talk about Marriage in these times. A trip over the border was a common event, but the smith who forged the matrimonial fetters at Gretna Green, was not always a common individual. Early in January, 1811, one of them, Joseph Paisley, died, at the ripe age of seventy-nine. He was by vocation a salmon-fisher, and a brandy drinker of such capacity, that he could drink a pint of brandy at a draught, without its having any appreciable effect upon him: he and a brother toper, between them, drank ten gallons of brandy in three days. He was a foul-mouthed blackguard, but he served his purpose of marrying runaway couples, as well as a better man, and his marriages were just as valid. He obtained the honour of an obituary notice in the London Daily Papers, the Annual Register, and the Lady's Magazine, in which he is also perpetuated by a copper-plate portrait – so that he must have been considered somebody.

These were not the only curious marriages of that time; take this as a sample (August 23, 1815): "The Naked Truth. – A scene of a singular and disgraceful nature took place a few days ago at Grimsby. A widow, under the impression of indemnifying her second, from the debts of her first husband, proceeded out of the window, in a state of nudity, where she was received into the arms of her intended, in the presence of two substantial witnesses." This is a curious old tradition – the origin of which I must quote from myself.³⁵ "This is not uncommon, the object being, according to a vulgar error, to exempt the husband from the payment of any debts his wife may have contracted in her ante-nuptial condition. This error seems to have been founded on a misconception of the law, because it is laid down (Bacon's Abridgement, Tit. Baron and Feme) that 'the husband is liable for the wife's debts, because he acquires an absolute interest in the personal estate of the wife,' &c. An unlearned person, from this, might conclude, and not unreasonably, that, if his wife had no estate whatever, he could not incur any liability."

One more little story about Matrimony in those times, and I have done. "A young man, having long wooed a buxom damsel, at last found a moment so favourable, that he persuaded her to accompany him to a Scotch Justice of the Peace, to have the ceremony performed between them. They stood very meekly under the operation until the Magistrate was laying the damsel under obligations to obey her husband. 'Say no more about that, Sir,' said the half-made husband, 'if this hand remains upon this body, I'll make her obey me!' – 'Are we married yet?' said the exasperated maiden to the ratifier of Covenants between man and woman. 'No,' said the wondering Justice. 'Ah! very well,' cried she, enraptured, 'we will finish the remainder to-morrow!' and away skipped the damsel, congratulating herself on her narrow escape.

CHAPTER XIV

The Man of the period – Drinking habits – Dandies – Lord Petersham – A Dandy's diary – Gaming – Prize fighting – Country Sports

And what was the man of the period like? Well! there is no concealing the fact that he was narrow-minded – because he had no opportunity of mixing much with his other fellow creatures either abroad or at home – war stopping the former, and means of communication the latter, and so, the necessary rubbing off of his angles did not take place. The Middle Class gentleman was not too well read. Latin, of course, he knew, or had learnt. Perhaps a little Greek – his French was very "Stratforde at ye Bowe," and German was to him "unknowe." His English, too, was shaky. The Peninsular War over, the Officers brought back with them a smattering of Spanish, the Guitar, and the Cigar. Personally, he had plenty of Courage which found its vent in the Army and Navy, and, in Civil life, in duelling and boxing. As to duelling, it was so common that you can scarcely take up a London Newspaper of the time without some "affair of honour" being chronicled; and, as to boxing, every man learnt it, put his teaching into practice, and talked it. It was, except pedestrianism, the only athletic sport known. Rowing was not; of riding there was plenty, with a good breed of horses fit to carry a man. Cricket was played – but there was no football, nor cycling, if we except the short-lived dandy horse.

They worked longer hours at their divers businesses than we do, but they did far less work; they dined early, and had suppers, and, for evening amusements there were the theatre, and the social meeting at the Inn, where much Rum Punch and Brown Brandy was drunk, and the affairs of the Nation duly discussed, among a select Coterie. Those old boys could drink, too. A three-or four-bottle man, then common, would now be a phenomenon – and, mind you, it was not Claret or other light wines they drank – the war with France made that too great a luxury; but it was the stronger wines of Portugal and Spain, well fortified with brandy. I wonder how many died in "making their heads," and whether it was always "the survival of the fittest"!

They were of Convivial habits, and did not "join the ladies" after dinner, or, if they did, they were slightly inebriate, and the accompanying illustrations are no caricature of an advanced stage of a symposium. No. 1 is, "Are you all charged, Gentlemen?" No. 2 is, "A Song, Gentlemen, if you please." No. 3 is, "Sing Old Rose and burn the bellows."³⁶ No. 4 says, "I humbly move to throw the waiter out of the window, and charge him in the bill!"

Very little need be said about their dress, the illustrations throughout the book show its different phases. The Regent, of course, set the fashions, for tailoring, and building, were his hobbies; but even he could not do anything against the dictum of George Bryan Brummell. When he retired in poverty to Calais, in 1816, he left the field entirely to the Regent. There were some who gained a nickname from some eccentricity in costume as "Blue Hanger" (Lord Coleraine), or "Pea-green Haynes" – but they were not many.

The principal variation in men's attire, at this period, was the way in which they clothed their legs. Breeches and boots were now eschewed by fashionable men, and their place was taken by the pantaloon, made of some elastic stuff, generally "stockinette," fitting tightly to the leg, and after 1814 by the Cossack trouser: an example of both being given in two pictures of Lord Petersham, a distinguished leader of fashion, who married Miss Foote, the actress, and afterwards became Earl of Harrington. Over the trousered picture are these lines: —

 
"I'll prove these Cossack pantaloons
(To one that's not a Goose)
Are like two Continental towns
Called Too-long and Too-loose."
 

This was that Lord Petersham who never went out of doors till six p.m., and whose horses, carriage, and harness, were all of the same shade of brown. He had other foibles which are amusingly told by Capt. Gronow. "The room into which we were ushered was more like a shop than a gentleman's sitting room; all round the walls were shelves, upon which were placed the canisters, containing Congou, Pekoe, Souchong, Bohea, Gunpowder, Russian, and many other teas, all the best of their kind; on the other side of the room were beautiful jars, with names, in gilt letters, of innumerable kinds of snuff, and all the necessary apparatus for moistening and mixing. Lord Petersham's mixture is still well known to all tobacconists. Other shelves, and many of the tables were covered with a great number of magnificent snuff-boxes; for Lord Petersham had, perhaps, the finest collection in England, and was supposed to have a fresh box for every day in the year. I heard him, on the occasion of a delightful old light blue Sèvres box he was using, being admired, say, in his lisping way – 'Yes, it is a nice summer box, but would not do for winter wear.' In this museum there were also innumerable canes of very great value. The Viscount was likewise a great Mæcenas among the tailors, and a particular kind of great coat, when I was a young man, was called a Petersham."

These trousers later on (see illustration, Nov., 1818) were worn, instead of breeches and boots, on horseback, but this was only affected by the "Dandy," a term which came into vogue two or three years before this time, and which, according to Webster, is derived from the French dandin, "a ninny, a silly fellow." The Dandy at his toilet is of the same date, and here we see him in his evening dress. The huge cocked hat is exaggerated, but it was the shape of the chapeau bras, which folded flat, and was carried as we now do a Gibus. The looking-glass, wash-stand, &c., are very meagre according to our ideas, but much ornament was not lavished on bedroom furniture.

Here is the Diary of a Dandy (Sept., 1818): —

"Saturday. – Rose at twelve, with a d – d headache. Mem. Not to drink the Regent's Punch after supper. – The green tea keeps one awake.

"Breakfasted at one. – Read the Morning Post – the best Paper after all – always full of wit, fine writing, and good news.

"Sent for the tailor and staymaker – ordered a morning demi surtout of the last Parisian cut, with the collar à la Guillotine, to show the neck behind – a pair of Petersham Pantaloons, with striped flounces at bottom – and a pair of Cumberland corsets with a whale-bone back. – A caution to the unwary. The last pair gave way in stooping to pick up Lady B.'s glove. – The Duke of C – e vulgar enough to laugh, and asked me in the sea slang, if I had not missed stays in tacking. Find this is an old joke stolen from the Fudge Family. – Query. Who is this Tom Brown? Not known at Long's or the Clarendon.

"Three o'clock. – Drove out in the Dennet – took a few turns in Pall Mall, St. James's Street, and Piccadilly. – Got out at Grange's – was told the thermometer in the ice cellar was at 80. Prodigious! Had three glasses of pine and one of Curaçoa – the Prince's Fancy, as P – calls it. – P. is a wag in his way.

"Five to seven. Dressed for the evening – dined at half-past eight, 'nobody with me but myself,' as the old Duke of Cumberland said – a neat dinner, in Long's best style, viz., A tureen of turtle, a small turbot, a dish of Carlton House Cutlets. – Remove – a turkey poult, and an apricot tart. – Dessert – Pine apple and brandy cherries.

"Drank two tumblers of the Regent's Punch, iced, and a pint of Madeira. – Went to the Opera in high spirits – just over – forgot the curtain drops on Saturdays before twelve. – Mem. To dine at seven on Saturdays.

"Supped at the Clarendon with the Dandy Club – cold collation – played a few rounds of Chicken Hazard, and went to bed quite cool.

"Sunday. Breakfasted at three – ordered the Tilbury – took a round of Rotten Row, and the Squeeze, in Hyde Park – cursedly annoyed with dust in all directions – dined soberly with P – m and went to the Marchioness of S – y's Conversatione in the evening – dull but genteel – P. calls it the Sunday School.

"N.B. P – m, who is curious in his snuff as well as in his snuff boxes, has invented a new mixture, Wellington's and Blücher's, which he has named, in honour of the meeting of the two heroes, after the battle of Waterloo – La belle Alliance – a good hit – not to be sneezed at."

"A DANDY

 
I do remember me in Hertford streets
Walking at noon, I met an exquisite,
A thing, whose neck in Oriental tie,
Where not a crease is seen, so stiff withal
The powers of starch had rendered it, tho' made
Of finest muslin, that to my wondering gaze,
(Unlike the ease of Nature's masterpiece),
It seem'd as 'twere a mere automaton;
And then its shape, so all unlike a man,
So tightly laced that 'twas self-evident
He walk'd in pain, if walking 't could be call'd,
Since from the earth to raise his languid foot,
It seem'd a labour too Herculean;
But, still, thus mincingly, he reached the Bell —
There stopped. I, being anxious to o'erhear
The sounds this creature, nicknam'd man, would utter,
Entered the room apologizing to it;
No answer I receiv'd, save a low murmur,
For too fatiguing 'twas to articulate.
Finding it useless farther to intrude,
I asked the waiter who and whence he was?
'One of our College³⁷ Dandies,' he replied.
No longer wondering, straight I left the Inn."
 

Naturally, the tight-fitting pantaloon required a well-made leg, so those gentlemen to whom Nature had not been bountiful, used false calves, and thus passed muster. They took snuff in quantities, but very rarely smoked. When Lord Petersham's Collection of Snuff was sold, it took one of the partners in the firm of Fribourg and Treyer, of the Haymarket, and two assistants three days to weigh it – and the same firm, when they bought George IV.'s collection, at his death, set a room apart, entirely for its sale.

They gambled terribly, not perhaps as much as now, but still large sums were won, and lost, on the cast of a die. March 28, 1811: "The brother of a Noble Marquis, is said to have lately won at hazard upwards of £30,000, all in one night!" April 3, 1811: "A young gentleman of family and fortune lost £7,000 on Sunday Morning at a gaming house in the neighbourhood of Pall Mall." But, although the Turf was an Institution of the day, there was but very little betting, compared to what goes on in that gigantic Cancer which so grievously afflicts England in the present day. Nor had they such a stupendous gamble as our Stock Exchange. There was plenty of betting on Cock fighting, which was a very fashionable amusement, even patronized by our Imperial Guest, the Grand Duke Nicholas, who, on February 10, 1817, accompanied by the Duke of Devonshire, the Russian Ambassador, Sir William Congreve, Baron Nichola, General Kutusoff, &c., &c., went to the Cockpit and saw five Cock fights. "His Imperial Highness remained an hour and a half, and appeared much amused, never having seen Cock fighting before."

But then he was here to study our manners and customs, and even went to a prize fight. February 14, 1817: "An Imperial Boxing Match, to use the general term of the ring, took place yesterday at Coombe Warren, for a subscription purse of twenty guineas, between Croxey the Sailor, a bustling second rater, and a candidate for milling notoriety… The Grand Duke Nicholas desirous of viewing the British character throughout, signified his wish to see the method of English boxing… His Imperial Highness arrived at the ring in a carriage and four, at one o'clock, accompanied by his own suite, and some English Noblemen, admirers of gymnastics. A waggon was reserved for the Grand Duke's reception, and he ascended it with a hearty laugh. Under it were placed the bull dogs and bull hankers for the last sports of the day. Bill Gibbons introduced his trusty bitch to the Patricians in the waggon as the favourite for the Bull prize."

The fight, or rather the fights, for there were two of them, took place, but they were stigmatized as very poor and tame affairs. "The Bull was the next object of attack, for a silver collar, and all the fancy buffers the town could produce were let go from the Royal waggon, which was decorated with purple flags. Gibbons' fancy dog was lamed early, but the best of the fun was, after the bull had broken a horn, he began to snort up on end, and went and got loose. Helter skelter was the consequence, and the bull, as regardless of men as dogs, made play through the ground, reclining his head, and tossing mortals before him, until he got clear off, upsetting carts, &c., that impeded his way. The fun concluded just before dark, and the whole sport went off with éclat."

Apropos of prize fighting the last sentence in the following paragraph is worthy of note. Feb. 28, 1817: "Carter next asked to be backed to fight any man, when Cribb mounted the table, and challenged to fight any thing in being, from three to twelve hundred, observing he had fought so often that he should not again prostitute his talent for a trifle. Carter said he thought the Carlisle people would back him for £300, and he would ask them. After devouring about twenty dozen of wine, the lads departed to spend the evening, and amuse themselves at the expense of lamp contractors and watchmen's rattles."

Although we may think all this very brutal, yet, with the exception of the bull baiting, which was only made illegal in 1835, I fancy that things go on very much now, as they did then, only they are done more quietly. In the country, men had their hunting, shooting, and fishing to amuse them, and they were as keen then as in our time. True, they did not rent deer forests in Scotland, at fabulous prices, nor did they take salmon rivers in Norway; but although they did not enjoy breechloaders, with spare gun ready loaded handed as soon as the other is discharged, and though they were innocent of the cruel slaughter of a battue, yet they had good sport both in wood and stubble, and the old flint gun, if held straight, would make a respectable bag to carry home. Then they played cricket, but they did not armour themselves, because there was no necessity for so doing, the ball then being bowled and not hurled as if from a cannon. Then for the quieter and middle-aged there were the healthy out-door games of bowls or quoits.

Among the younger men the manly sports of wrestling, quarter-staff, and back-sword, had not died out, but then they had not the advantage that we have of football and Rugby rules.