JUBILEE YEAR.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 341, 9 February 1889, Page 4

JUBILEE YEAR.

Sj^Cj^* r,«" S yot, tho numerous iliitV^T newspaper writors who ! RBB^®s- are hunfcin f? u p pai%l^&Trfegfffi " ticulars of manners and •y^^^. customs which prevailed •"-"■^t^ in these islands at the at the time of the last Jubilee would appear to have quite neglected the sporting side of the question. We have been reminded often enough during the past few weeks of the marked changes which have taken place in our costumes, our methods of travel, our artistic and musical tastes ; but of the sports and pastimes of our grandfathers we have heard nothing. In 1809 sport was not in as flourishing a condition aa it is in 1887. Athletics were not so developed, shooting was in its infancy, and football was a barbaric pursuit, played only on high feasts and festivals in certain towns where custom ruled that folks should divide themselves into factions, and kick a bladder up and down the streets for a couple of hours. ' Records ' there were none, or at least very few people would have taken the trouble to train in order to run a hundred yards in a fifth ot a second faster than someone else. As for cycling, there was not even the dandyhorse, which some ten years later became fash ionable. Yachting was almost unknown, canoeing quite so ; lawn tennis had not been invented. Yet, for all that, sport existed. Shoot ing may have been in its infancy, but it was ardently loved by the manhood of the period. Driving had just got to be considered " the thing," and hunting was certainly as popular as it is to day. As for cricket, though the organisations which govern it at the present time had not come into existence, it was played on every village green from one end of England to the other; and rackets and tennis were known to everyone. It has been said by some writers of the present school of sportsmen that your old sporting man did noc enter into the pursuits of the field unless there was some pecuniary advantage, or a chance of gain looming in the distance. It was an ace of wagers, it is true, but the wagering of that day has given way to the betting of this. It is not to be denied that cricket was played for stakes, that races were ridden for wagers, and that no opportunity was lost of introducing £ s d into the arena; but, on the other hand, in 1809 noble lords did not shoot for the poulterers, or Leadenhall Market clerks did not rob their masters' tills in order that they might back their ' moral?,' running men did not enter into intrigues with bookmakers, and 'squaring' o\ents was comparatively unknown. There is much to be said on both sides of this, as of every other question. Only the other day we heard a represen'ative of the past school and the present discussing the merits of their two periods, and it was a case of six of one and half-a-dozen to the other. Everyone will agree with us when we say that the sports and pastimes of to-day are in themselves, and separated from their record-making, healthy enough. Football is much better t^an, though in some districts not unlike, prizefighting. A ' sett' of tennis is a tcood deal healthier than a main of cocks. And if w e compare the whole catalogue of sport of tliiJubilee year with that of the last, we como to the conclusion that, though 1809 was the period usually spoken of as the good old days, when Englishmen were John Bulls, were equal to three Frenchmen, and innumerable representatives of every other race, we are not, physically, at all inferior to our grandfathers. From the ' Sporting Magazine,' the ' Annual Register.'and the various calendars then issued, we can get a very fair knowledge of the life of the sporting world as it then was. Cock fighting 1 seems to have been at that time the ultra-fashionable sport. The 'Morning Post ' of the day is full of advertisements of matches. Here is one which appeared on January sth :—: — " Cocking. To be iought on Monday, January 7th, and continued all the week at the Cockpit, Royal South Side, St. James's Park, the gentlemen of Surrey and the gentlemen of Hampshire main of cocks for live guineas the battle, and one hundred guineas the odd. To begin fighting each day precisely at half-past five o'clock." The enormous sumswhichwerestaked by the owners of birds wouldsomewhat astonish the present day sportsmen. In another ' Morning Post' advertisement we read — * A main of cocks that is to be fought this week at Newmarket is as interesting to the sporting world a? that last summer at York. The match is ostensibly ma-ie between Mr Cussons and Mr Geimain, buo Sir Harry Vane Tempest and otheis we could name are supposed to be tin real principals. It is for a thousand guineas aside, and forty guineas a battle; gre*t siima are depending, and much money will be sported.' The Cockpit Royal mentioned in the first advertisement was in Birdcage Walk, and at the time of the Jubilee was in the heigh b of it^ popularity. In 1816, however, it was closed for ever, but cock-fighting did not, as most of our readers will be aw^re, drop out c itirely until 1849. Nor, indeed, is it dead yet, as plenty of those who are behind the scenes can tell us ; it is notorious that anyone who wishes to see a battle can do &o easily if he is prepared to draw a sufficiently large cheque. A description appended to one of Rollandson's sketches gives one a very fair idea of the cockpit and its company. 'This print may, 1 siy-i the author of a capital 'Microcosm of London,' 'without undue partiality be acknowledged to excel that of Hogarth upon the ?ame subject. It is different in one particular — here the satire is general, not personal — -x collection of peer 3 and pickpockets, grooms and gentlemen, bon vivant-, and bullies ; vi short, a scene which produce* a medley of characters, from the highest to the lowest, has seldom been paintfid with an adhere. ice to nature so strict and so interesting. The principal figure in the front row* seem? to anticipate the loss of the battle, hi- neighbour to the right appears to have home egg-, in the same basket, whilst a stupid sort of despair in the countenance of the next fig.n-e proclaims that all hope is lost. The smiling gentleman on his left seems, t> be the winner. The clenched fist and earnest features of the personage in the same row, between two sedate contemplators of the fight, make one feel that sort of interest which arises from a belief that victory depends upon a little assistance being given at that particular moment to the bird upon whose side he has betted. In the centre, and on the highest row behind, are two figures, apparently intended as hurling defiance at the whole of the company ; they are cer ainly offering odds which no on 9 is disposed to take. A little to the left, and just above the cm art officer with the cocked hat, is a group inimitably portrayed. A couple of knowing ones who have betted pretty high, finding themseives in the wrong box, appear very desirous of edging off, and are talking together to a person )ge who ha* been too much for them ; his attitude i-> expressive, and with his fingers thrust into his ears, seems to indicate that he wii take no more bets, whilst the two figur jti the cocked

hat) Lo the left begin to enjoy the humorous expedient. On the right wo discover a pugilistic exhibition, and at a little distance • horsewhips and sticks are brandished in the air. All these are the natural accompaniments of the scene. Upon Hie whole this picture has groat merit, and conveys a more perfect idea ot the confusion and bustle of the cockpit than any description. As for hull-baiting, it was part and parcel of the Jubilee rejoicings ab Windsor Castle. * Later in the day,' says a writer in the 'Times' for 1809, describing the festivities at Windsor Castle, the roasting of whole oxen and sheep, the scrambling of \ bushels of plum puddings, and other light entertainment of the kind, ' Butler's Acre was the scene of renewed festi\ity, no less than a bull - baiting. A fine sturdy animal kept for the purpose, and given to the butlers for their amusement by the saina gentleman who gave the ox, was baited ; and in the opinion of the amateurs of bull-baiting, furnished fine sport. But at length his skin was cut by the rope so much that ho bled piofusely, and as it was thought he could not recover, he was led off to be slaughtered.' The author of that charming work, ' The Dawn of the Nineteenth Century in England,' says: ' Hardly a country town of note but had its bull-ring ; and although the bull had but a circumSctibed ranee, being tied by a rope to a stake, yet the dogs did not always get the best of the combat, and many a tyke met his death, or went a limping cripple tor the remainder of ins days.' But by many, even in much more recent times, bull-baiting has been thought to bo a perfectly legitimate and humane sport. When the Bill to prevent bull-baiting and bull-running v\ asinti oduced, the Ui^ht Hon. J]r Windham, M.l*, for Norwich, contended that the cruelty was not greater than that comprised in the sports of hunting, shooting, and fishing. 'He believed,' lie said, 'that the bull felt satisfaction in the contest, no less so than the hound did when he heard the pound of the horn which summoned him to the chase.' In the same debate Mr Coui % te:iay exclaimed, ' What a srlorious sight to see a dog attack a bull ! Tb animates a Bi ibish heart "To sec him growl and snap, and snarl and bite. Pin the bull-; nose, and pro\e instinctivo might.'" General (Jascoyne expressed the regret with with which he observed a disposition to deprive the poor of their recreations., and forcing them to pass their time in chaunting conventicles. If prize fig thing did not attain the acme of its popularity in Great Britain in 1809, it was at least an exceedingly admued pursuit. The 'amateurs' of pugilism, as they called themselves, were numerous and influential. Not many years previously the Piince of Wales had enrolled him-elf in the list of patrons of the ring by attending prize-fights. After the famous fightbetween John Jackson and Fewterell, the ' tat Adonis of forty' forwarded Jackson, the winner, a bank-note lor twenty pounds. ButH.R. H., fortunately perhaps for himself, was present at the terrible exhibition which took place between ' The Tailor ' and Earl, on Brighton racecouise, in which Earl was lulled ; and at the conclusion of the light, the Prince e\ pi e->sed a determination never to witness the glories of the P.R. again, and promised to settle an annuity on the man's widow and children. A story went the rounds at the peiiod of which we write, which tells of a certain Lord Mayor of London, who, whilst hunting at the citizens' annual meet, which at those times was held on Easter Monday in Epping Forest, was encountered by the huntsman, who shouted out to him, 'My lord, the hare conies this way !' Whereupon his lordship bravely drew his trusty sword, and, with a flourish, exclaimed, 'Let him come, I thank the Lord I fear him not !' To Cockney sportsmen, this annual meet at Epping was one of the best loved holidays of the year. From contemporary reports of the proceedings, we should say that they were, fioui a modern point of view, somewhat 'minced. The good gentlemen from the countinghouses hunted or shot everything that ran or flew; and of the accoutrements with which they were provided, one can gather &ome idea from the story of the Lord Mayor, But hunting and fishing were possible even closer to London than Epping Foiest, for we notice that an adserbisement of the bime says thab l The very extensive Manors or Hornsey and Finchley, in the county of Middlesex', with the liboity of hunting and shooting over and upon the said Manors, abounding with game, etc., are to let.' But the Cockney who went a-shooting at Hornsey in the&e dayc, or eke at Finchley, would scarcely find that game abounded, except, perhaps, in the shops ol the purveyors thereof. Hunting was then not a business —it is now. Subset iption packs, like subset iption dances, were fe.v and far between. A man kept a pack of hound? for his own amusement, that of his triend-, and the neighbourhood generally. ' A meet was a great social gathering or neighbours, at which for the time all were on a courteous equality, engendeied by similaiity of taste, and cemented by mean" of the master, who at some gteat expen«e kept a pack for others' use. Bub the old order changes, yielding place to new. The propability is that your modern pack is a subscription one, with the subscriptions not toj well paid : the master frequently changing, owing to his quarrels with his masters, the subscribers, who carp abhisdoingsand try to dictate their own views. The lailw ay brings down the ' London contingent,' which, unfortunately, numbers in its tanks sporting bookmakers, clerk?, touts, and publicans ; in fact, all who can scrape together the necessary money to hire a hunter, and pay its faie to the nearest station to the meet.. These people have no sympathy with the farmers, no relations with the county, spend no money, because they return to London the same night, care naught for the damage they do, which probably is done in ignorance, and it is no wonder that now-a-days hunting is nob so popular among tenant farmers as it might be ; and it is pretty safe to prophecy thab in many districts before many moie years it will be reckoned a thing of the past.' In those days a farmer would as soon have shot one of his hinds as he would have thought ot knocking over a fox. Honest Jack Russell is said to have been pasring through a wood near Barnstaple on one occasion, and to have observed three foxes hanging against the wall of a keeper 7*7 * lodge. His remaik bo the keeper was characberisbic. ' I would as soon,' he said, 4 seebhree men hanging there as three foxes.' But everyone who knew that kindesthearbed of parsons and of sportsmen understands that this was only his way of putting it. Still it showed the hatred of the vulpicide which lingered in the old man's heart. Cricket-playing for money was conducbed on different principles in these days, and runs were somewhat fewer and farther between. Cricket matches were advertised then just as they are now in the Midlands and the North. Here is an advertisement of a cricket match : 'On Tuesday will be played a grand match on Hampstead Heath, between eleven gentlemen of the Marylobone Club and nine gentlemen of i Hampstead an I Highgate, with two men gtven, for fi\e hundred guineas.' Here is a report of a match : 'On Tuesday last, a

grand match took place at Chigwell, Essex, between eleven gentlemen of Chigwell and eleven gentlemen of the Mile End Club, for five hundred guineas, which was won by the latter by t.wenty-three runs. Even betting at starting.' An advertisement, which will appeal to all who know the grand piece of greensward in the St. John's Wood Road, appeared in the ' Morning Post ' of April 21st, 1809. It was headed, 'CricketGround,' and ran as follows: — 'Lord begs to inform the noblemen and gentlemen lovers of cricket that he has enclosed and levelled a large piece of ground at tho top of Lisson Grove, a short distance from his o<vn ground, which, for size and beauty of situation, cannot be excelled. It will bo ready for playing on by the beginning of May 5 to be know by the name of Lord's Saint John's Wood Cricket Ground.' It was in the last Jubilee year that billiards, which had lingered on in a decayed condition, began to revive and become fashionable. Billiards, as played by our greatgrandfathers, was a dull andfatiguinggame. The old tables were slow. Cushions were dead as lead Such indoor amusementsasf cocking and rackets had prevented much of the patronago of bhe(o7i. Towards tho end of the last century, more attention was given to the construction of the apparatus of the game. Public billiard-rooms were opened, matches tor laigesums inaugurated, and presently Royalty smiled upon tho billiard-table. And we read in the 1 Morning Post ' of September 28th : — ' Billiards are becoming very fashionable ; it is an amusement of a gentlemanly cast — giving at once activity to the limbs and grace to the person. A match was played yesterday at Kidman's.' Kidman's appears to have been a fashionable billiard-room. Another famous place where billiard-players congregated was at Carter's, who kept tables at the Piazzo in Russell-street, Covent Garden. Though slato bods, indiarubber cushions, spiritlevels, and leather-tipped cues had not been discovered, the rules were not at all dissimilar to those now in vogue. A little work, entitled ' New Instructions for Playing in all its Varietiog the Game of Billiards,' shows us a picture of a pai ty of young bucks playing. The two best players of the day were the befoie-mentioned Carter and the famous Andiews, concerning whom the little work remarks : 'It is generally believed, ho w ever, that he has played for more money at billiards than any other peison ever did. The following is a remarkable circumstance. Ho one night won of Colonel W upwards of a thousand pounds and the colonel appointed to meet him next day to go with him to the City to transfer stock for him for the amount of the sum lost. Being in a hackney coach they tossed up who should pay for it. And rows lost, and upon this small beginning he was excited to continuetillhehad lost the whole sum he had won the night before at billiards. When the coachman stopped to get down he was ordered to get up again and drive them back as they had no occasion to get out.' Andrews appears to have been the same kind of man as on 6 or two modern 'cueists' (as the sporting papers have it). He amassed an ample fortune, but in a few years lost it all at games of chance, retiring at length to Kent and living upon a scanty annuity which he had had the foresight to settle upon himself in such a manner that he could not get hold of it. In the matter of costume, we have certainly improved on our ancestois. When men went shooting in 1809 they wore tall beaver hats and loose cut-away coats, that must have flapped in the wind and have been exceedingly inconvenient when getting through hedges. Shooting was quite a different pursuit. The percussion cap had only just been invented and was looked upon with distiust. The majority of sportsmen used flint locks. The special powders now in vogue had not been dreamt of, and gunpowder in thoso days was weak and very dirty. Joe Manton was the great gunmaker then. The biggest bag on record has been made by the Duke of Bedford, who with six other guns, killed eighty cock pheasants, forty hares, and a number of birds in one day. This, though it would not compare with the results of a modern battue, was accounted absolute butchery in the good old days. There was a great deal of betting about shooting. We read that ' Colonel Thornton, some time ago, made a bet that he would kill 400 head of game at 400 shots. The result was, that in the year 1800 lie begged 417 head of game, consisting of partridges, pheasants, hares, snipe, and woodcock, at 411 shots. Enumerated amongst these are a black wild duck and a white pheasant cock ; and at the last point he killed a brace of cock pheasants — one with each barrel. On the leg of the last) killed (an amazing fine bird) was found a ring, proving that he had been taken by Colonel Thornton when hawking, and turned out again in the year 17914. ' The ' birdins? gun' had a barrel of four — and sometimes e\ en five — feet ; the barrels constantly burst, and shooting accidents were common. Cross-country running, pedestrian harrier clubs, and other popular institutions of the present day had not come into existence. The great middle class, which, after all, is the athletic class of England, had not risen. Running was the amusement of a few young 'Varsity men and professionals.

Mr Blight's personal reconciliation with Mr Gladstone was of a very touching chaiacter. He sent specially for a member of his family, who was charged to deliver his message to Mr Gladstone, and tears stalled to the si k man's eye.s as he gave his message to his friend of so many years and his leader in so many fights. It is pleasant to know that in spite of the tedious and anxious character of his illness, Mr Bright mflersveiy little pain, and is in full possession of all his faculties. Only two or three days ago he had twelve columns of the Parnell Commission report read to him, and this exercise had no depressing effect on the invalid whatever. One may surely hope after thi& thab there is plenty of life in the old tribune yet.—" Pall Mall Gazette" Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria, who it is reported intends abdicating, is called "the monarch of Steel." He smokes penny cigars, shoots chamois and capercailzie with a muzzle-loader, and goes to bed at nine o'clock every night. Opera bores hill to death ; he seldom goes to fche theatre. He breakfasts alone in his study, lunches at noon, dines at five and gets up at four o'clock every morning to read State papers. He speaks seven of the languages and dialects spoken in his Empire and he has seven still to learn. He reads, but does not speak English. <*AV..T,i'-X & CRANWELL are sw.t^ Furniture and Carpetb very cheap. Iron '■Jed steals and Spi ing Mattresses at greatly i educed p, ices. Bedding of all kinds ready for delivery Oil Cloths from Is. square yard. Linoleum from 2s 3d. Blankets, ■sheets, quilts, curtains, and all furnishing t'oods splendid value. Wire Wove Mat tresses much chcapov than they used to be* A stiong Iron Bedstead and Wiie Wove Mai tress for 55s cash. Simple Iron Bed stead and Wire Wove Mattress for 38s cash pi ice. Our goods are carefully packed, eve y attention paid to prevent damage by ?2Tisit. Buy all your household goods from iRLICK and CRANWELL, Cabfe*^ .i.kers; street. Auckland"*