And a horrid long before you have made 20 or taken your third wicket! But about 1883 grey flannel shirts were introduced for the undistinguished-ugly, in their own studies, which, so but more comfortable and sanitary. linen shirt becomes in going to their place in chapel, as if they had barely time to reach their goal. Their hands also must be kept out of their pockets, except when There were also minor distinctions in cricket "blue band " and "red band "-conferred by the Head of the House XI., if of XI. or XXII. rank; otherwise by the Head of the XI. These were blue or red bands round the housecap, worn all the year round, and were relics of the original first and second house elevens. There were no blazers," no cricket boots, and no cricket bags, except for the members of the XI. and the XXII. The XI. blazer was dark blue, edged with light blue, and the XXII. blazer was white, edged with dark blue. House-caps were only worn when going to or returning from games, and to wear them in the town was an offence. long as they did not make a noise, were their castles. The new boy's next discovery was that he could not go anywhere by himself. Whether the occasion were a walk, the start of a run, a game or a lesson, he was expected to provide himself with a companion; and the companion must be one of his own house, and of much the same standing as himself. Moreover, he must only have one companion, and the two must "link"-i.e., one of them must take the other's arm. This linking was a curious custom. For two small boys to be found walking together within the precincts of the school or town without having their arms linked was unseemly, and to be punished. But for three or more boys to link was "swagger," and no one but swells dared to do it. Before the three school matches i.e., Sixth, O.R., and CockHouses-the caps used to link "by houses," and parade the cloisters round the Quad, while the school gazed in admiration. The keenest observer of the customs of the school was the new boy. He observed them with an interest which was often pained. Having been shown his study, and finding nothing much to do there, perchance he wandered forth There was no intercourse to loiter in the passage or the between big boys and small, or yard. His meditations were between those who were high rudely and painfully inter- in the school and those who rupted, and he learned that were low, unless, of course, only swells were allowed to the boy low in the school was loiter anywhere. New boys distinguished in games. Small must hasten on their way, even boys only came under the or as fags, or when they went to them as they were always allowed to do in genuine cases of difficulty for help in their work. But any lowering of the dignity of the Upper School, or of the boy of standing in House or school, was promptly squashed. notice of their seniors in games, really associated with them. You never walked with them, you never went to their house, and they never came to yours. As soon as you left the school gates, you went at once to the side of the road on which your house stood, and you kept on that side of the road till you reached your house. To walk on the other side and only cross when opposite your house, or to walk back from school with a boy of another house, was swagger." Νο one ever told you so, but it was so, and you knew it. For swells, of course, swagger was right, and you expected them to do these things. As the terms slipped by the new boy ceased to be a new boy, and at the end of two years or sooner, if he distinguished himself in gameshe became a member of Hall. He was now allowed to enter the Hall by a door he had never used before; he could go into Hall whenever he liked, instead of only at meal-times; and he could sit as long as he liked at his breakfast, instead of leaving at 8.30-rather sharp work, considering that first lesson ended at 8.15. After breakfast he could read the papers at his leisure, whereas formerly he had had to share them with many others for an hour in the afternoon. He was now a member of a kind of club, and paid his "Hall subscription" for sausages, jam, and other luxuries, with which the members of Hall embellished their breakfast and tea. It was his admission into the society of the Sixth and the swells, and he began to be "somebody" in the house. In spite of the fact that work brought you constantly into contact with boys of other houses, with whom you naturally became friendly, unless you were a swell you never All morning lessons began at a quarter-past the hour, all afternoon lessons at the hour, the reason being that chapel, at 7 A.M., lasted just a quarter of an hour, and that odd quarter was not balanced until the afternoon. But although we had to be in chapel at 7, we thought it unreasonable to turn out of bed at 6.30, when the "boys' man" came round the dormitories with his horrible bell. Therefore in each dormitory a fag was appointed every week, whose duty it was to keep awake from 6.30 to 6.45, when he had to sit up in bed and yell "Quarter! " This gave you twelve or thirteen minutes to dress, and two or three to run from your house to chapel. To be sure, you could generally reckon on being in time if you arrived at chapel two minutes past the hour, but sometimes the door would be slammed punctually on the stroke of seven, and upwards of a hundred boys would be "locked out," with a prospect of 300 lines! I do not know what was the purpose of "early chapel." If it was to ensure that every one was in time for first lesson, there was something to say for it; but if it was a spiritual preparation for the day's work, it was a failure. Speaking generally, chapel was a failure. My recollection of the preaching is that it was bad, and the only thing that appealed to us was the singing, and I cannot say very much even for that! Entrance into early chapel was a tumultuous unseemly scramble, but entrance on Sunday afternoon was a weird performance. All small boys were expected to be in their places before the last bell began, but no swell would dream of entering until that bell was ringing. Moreover, small boys must enter in numbers-no one would think of walking up the aisle by himself-and they must walk fast, because loitering was the privilege of the swell; and finally, after the last company of the small boys had raced to their places, began the leisurely progress of swells, one by one or in twos and threes, slowly and magnificently parading up the centre. Such was the entrance, but such could not be the exit, for exit was "by forms," and there were swells, as well as non-swells, in most forms except the lowest. Therefore in leaving chapel there was a continual mixture of rushing and loitering that was most bewildering to watch, here boy after boy racing out of chapel as if bent on "doing a record," there a heavy swell, strolling in his dignity and damming with his sacred person the surging stream of impetuous youth. The lessons were read, of course, by the Sixth-the first by a member of the Upper Bench, the second by one of the Lower Bench, and each reader wore a white tie for the occasion. There was plenty of healthy religion in the school, but not much, as far as I recollect, that originated in the chapel. It seemed a pity, and a regrettable throwing away of opportunity. Between breakfast and dinner the whole school was never at lessons at the same time. For instance, for some boys second lesson on certain days was from 9.15 to 10.15; for others it was from 10.15 to 11.15. This had an important bearing upon games, for there were not enough "grounds for the teams which wished to play on them, and a ground was taken by the boy who could first get to it after second lesson. The method of taking a cricket-ground was as follows: you wrote on a piece 66 of paper "Michell's (or Elsee's, with a kick as hard as the The best boys to take a ground were good runners, who sat near the door of the school of a master who stopped his lesson punctually. But during the 'eighties further grounds were acquired by the school, and were allotted equitably among the various houses. Fives-courts and racquet-courts, however, were still taken in the old way, and I have had many a good race diagonally across the Close to secure one. Football at Rugby passed through more changes in the 'eighties than in any other similar period of its career. In House games-called "Littleside "-and in House Matches twenty played on each side, and there were generally two backs, two three-quarters, two halves, and the rest in the scrum. The game was always started There was no particular formation in the scrum, which lasted sometimes for many minutes, and left a black muddy mark on the ground when it broke up. Sometimes the whole scrum would fall, and the halves would pull out the forwards one by one as they lay helpless at the bottom of it. A favourite dodge was for one forward to get the ball between his legs and hop along like a frog, his companions assisting him by pushing with all their might. The hopper did not keep his head down but up, and embraced with his arms the bodies of two of the front rank of his opponents. It was always allowable to hack "on the ball," so his shins, being on each side of the ball, were liable to severe punishment. A try behind the goal had to be taken opposite to one of the goal-posts, and a try far out was often made easier by a "punt-out," the defending side standing behind the line, and the side who had gained the try ranging themselves about ten yards out in front of goal. The punter then took the ball from where it had been touched down, and punted it to his men in front of goal, one of whom had to catch it and make his mark. The enemy were allowed to charge and prevent the catch and the mark, but if these were successfully made, the game proceeded as it does now when a man makes his mark, except that the kick must be a placekick, and must not be taken by the catcher. If a tackler got both his hands on the ball, or his arms round the ball and the man, the ball was "held," and must be put on the ground, and played with the feet. If there were enough men up, a scrum would be formed; if not, the two would be deemed a scrum "for the purpose of the act." Whenever the ball was motionless, it was "dead," and could not be touched by the hand until it had been kicked into motion; and when a man had run into touch, he could, instead of throwing the ball out to some one else, bounce it out of touch, catch it himself, and continue his run. When a man was "held " over the line a "maul " ensued -i.e., a struggle for the possession of the ball, which the possessor would then touch down. The defender might also achieve his object by carrying the attacker, with the ball, out into the field of play, or by preventing him from touching down within a certain time-two minutes, if I recollect rightly. Any number of defenders might join in the maul, providing that they all tackled the man at the same instant. What, I wonder, would players nowadays say if they were told that the game might be over in ten minutes, or that it might last five days? And yet such was the condition of affairs in House football in those days. Nothing counted but goals, and when you had scored two goals, and not till then, you had won the match, and went home. But if at "no side" less than two goals had been scored, the game was adjourned till the next halfholiday. Thus it often happened that a House Match lasted three days, and occasionally was prolonged to five. When, about the middle of the 'eighties, points were introduced, not only goals and tries counted, but a point was gained by a "touch-down or “quarter-way." |