 Patriotism and Sport by G.K Chesterton, read for the Coffee Break Collection 27, Sports. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Patriotism and Sport I notice that some papers, especially papers that call themselves patriotic, have fallen into quite a panic over the fact that we have been twice beaten in the world of sport, that a Frenchman has beaten us at golf, and that Belgians have beaten us at rowing. I suppose that the incidents are important to any people who ever believed in the self-satisfied English legend on this subject. I suppose that there are men who vaguely believe that we could never be beaten by a Frenchman, despite the fact that we have often been beaten by a Frenchman, and once by a French woman. In the old pictures in Punch you will find a recurring piece of satire. The English caricatures always assumed that a Frenchman could not ride to Hound or enjoy English hunting. It did not seem to occur to them that all the people who founded English hunting were Frenchmen. All the kings and nobles who originally rode to Hounds spoke French. Large numbers of those Englishmen who still ride to Hounds have French names. I suppose that the thing is important to anyone who is ignorant of such evident matters as these. I suppose that if a man has ever believed that we English have some sacred and separate right to be athletic, such reverses do appear quite enormous and shocking. They feel as if, while the proper sun was rising in the east, some other and unexpected sun had begun to rise in the north-northwest by north. For the benefit, the moral and intellectual benefit of such people, it may be worthwhile to point out that the Anglo-Saxon has in these cases been defeated precisely by those competitors whom he has always regarded as being out of the running. By Latins and by Latins of the most easy and unstrenuous type, not only by Frenchmen but by Belgians, all this, I say, is worth telling to any intelligent person who believes in the haughty theory of Anglo-Saxon superiority. But then no intelligent person does believe in the haughty theory of Anglo-Saxon superiority. No quite genuine Englishman ever did believe in it, and the genuine Englishman these defeats will in no respect dismay. The genuine English patriot will know that the strength of England has never depended upon any of these things, that the glory of England has never had anything to do with them, except in the opinion of a large section of the rich and a loose section of the poor, which copies the idleness of the rich. These people will, of course, think too much of our failure, just as they thought too much of our success. The typical jingos who have admired their countrymen too much for being conquerors will, doubtless, despise their countrymen too much for being conquered, but the Englishman with any feeling for England will know that the athletic failures do not prove that England is weak any more than athletic successes proved that England was strong. The truth is that athletics, like all other things, especially modern, are insanely individualistic. The Englishmen who win sporting prizes are exceptional among Englishmen for the simple reason that they are exceptional, even among men. English athletes represent England just about as much as Mr Barnum's freaks represent America. There are so few of such people in the whole world that it is almost a toss-up whether they are found in this or that country. If anyone wants a simple proof of this, it is easy to find. When the great English athletes are not exceptional Englishmen, they are generally not Englishmen at all. Nay, they are often representatives of races of which the average tone is especially incompatible with athletics. For instance, the English are supposed to rule the natives of India in virtue of their superior hardiness, superior activity, superior health of body and mind. The Hindus are supposed to be our subjects because they are less fond of action, less fond of openness and the open air. In a word, less fond of cricket. And substantially, this is probably true that the Indians are less fond of cricket. All the same, if you ask among Englishmen for the very best cricket player, you will find that he is an Indian. Or to take another case, it is, broadly speaking, true that the Jews are, as a race, specific, intellectual, indifferent to war, like the Indians or perhaps contemptuous of war like the Chinese. Nevertheless, of the very good prize fighters, one or two have been Jews. This is one of the strongest instances of the particular kind of evil that arises from our English form of the worship of athletics. It concentrates too much upon the success of individuals. It began quite naturally and rightly with wanting England to win. The second stage was that it wanted some Englishmen to win. The third stage was in the ecstasy and agony of some special competition that it wanted one particular Englishman to win. And the fourth stage was that when he had won, it discovered that he was not even an Englishman. This is one of the points I think on which something might really be said for Lord Roberts and his rather vague ideas which vary between rifle clubs and conscription. Whatever may be the advantages or disadvantages otherwise of the idea, it is at least an idea of procuring equality and a sort of average in the athletic capacity of the people. It might conceivably act as a corrective to our mere tendency to see ourselves in certain exceptional athletes. As it is, there are millions of Englishmen who really think that they are a muscular race because CB Fry is an Englishman. And there are many of them who think vaguely that athletics must belong to England because Ranjit Singhi is an Indian. But the real historic strength of England, physical and moral, has never had anything to do with this athletic specialism. It has been rather hindered by it. Somebody said that the Battle of Waterloo was won on Eaton's playing fields. It was a particularly unfortunate remark for the English contribution to the victory of Waterloo depended very much more than is common in victories upon the steadiness of the rank and file in an almost desperate situation. The Battle of Waterloo was won by the stubbornness of the common soldier. That is to say, it was won by the man who had never been to Eaton. It was absurd to say that Waterloo was won on Eaton's cricket fields. But it might have been fairly said that Waterloo was won on the village green where clumsy boys played a very clumsy cricket. In a word, it was the average of the nation that was strong and athletic glories do not indicate much about the average of a nation. Waterloo was not won by good cricket players but Waterloo was won by bad cricket players by a mass of men who had some minimum of athletic instincts and habits. It is a good sign in a nation when such things are done badly. It shows that all the people are doing them. And it is a bad sign in a nation when such things are done very well for it shows that only a few experts and eccentrics are doing them and that the nation is merely looking on. Suppose that whenever we heard of walking in England it always meant walking 45 miles a day without fatigue. We should be perfectly certain that only a few men were walking at all and that all the other British subjects were being wheeled about in bath chairs. But if when we hear of walking it means slow walking, painful walking and frequent fatigue then we know that the mass of the nation still is walking. We know that England is still the tree on its feet. The difficulty is therefore that the actual raising of the standard of athletics has probably been bad for national athleticism. Instead of the tournament being a healthy melee into which any ordinary man would rush and take his chance it has become a fenced and guarded tilting-yard for the collision of particular champions against whom no ordinary man would pit himself or even be permitted to pit himself. If Waterloo was won on Eaton Cricket Fields it was because Eaton Cricket was probably much more careless than it is now. As long as the game was a game everybody wanted to join in it when it becomes an art everyone wants to look at it. When it was frivolous it may have won Waterloo. When it was serious and efficient it lost Major's Fontaine. In the Waterloo period there was a general rough-and-tumble athleticism among average Englishmen. It cannot be recreated by cricket or by conscription or by any artificial means. It was a thing of the soul. It came out of laughter, religion and the spirit of the place but it was like the modern French duel in this that it might happen to anybody. If I were a French journalist it might really happen that Monsieur Clomenceau might challenge me to meet him with pistols but I do not think that it is at all likely that Mr. C. B. Fry will ever challenge me to meet him with cricket bats. End of Patriotism and Sport by G. K. Chesterton The Raven of a Golf Maniac by Martha Michelle Martin Read for the Coffee Break Collection 27 Sports by Anita Sloma Martinez This is a LibriVox recording while LibriVox recordings are in the public domain If you have more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Raven of a Golf Maniac Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December that I pondered weak and weary or my volumes of golf lore eagerly I wished the moral that I happiness might borrow from a game that would cause sorrow, sorrow to opponents soar to opponents, male and female, who would evermore be soar at the loneness of my score While I nodded, nearly napping suddenly there came a tapping as of someone gently rapping, rapping, saying to me, for, to some visitor I muttered out there jealous of my score only this and nothing more deep into that darkness peering long I stood there wondering, fearing fearing that arrival had come wandering to my door but the silence was unbroken and the stillness gave no token and the only words there spoken were the whispered words, your score merely this and nothing more Open then I flung the shutter when with many a flirt and flutter in there stepped a saucy caddy caddy who knew well my score not the least obese since made he not a minute stopped or stayed he but with cool assurance laid he my golf clubs upon the floor then he kicked them nothing more Prophet cried I, thing of evil Prophet still if boy or devil by Chick Evans, Varden, Travers and the others we adore tell this would be champion truly when will Bogey be his score both the caddy, never more be that word our sign of parting boy or friend I shrieked up starting get thee back onto the golf links use your voice to call out for do not try to cool my ardor for I'll only practice harder and I know that Colonel Bogey I'll be downing with my score quote the caddy, never more and the spirit of that caddy never flitting must be sitting still upon my harmless golf clubs that he kicked upon the floor for my shots have all the seeming as if played by one who's dreaming and with driver clique and mashy I'm the one to call out for always am I in the background always do I call out for good score make I never more End of the Raven of a Golf Maniac by Martha Michelle Martin Story of Kahana Moku by Anonymous from the New York Times September 23rd 1917 read for the Coffee Break Collection 27 Sports by Colleen McMahon This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Story of Kahana Moku Hawaiian swimmer has devoted his life to water sports Duke Kahana Moku, the Hawaiian swimmer who again broke records at a sanctioned national swimming meet in Honolulu on September 3rd, 5th, and 6th has lived practically all of his life in the waters of the Pacific Ocean he was born close to the shores of the beach at Waikiki, Honolulu and as a baby paddled in the waters of the Carl Sand Beach and at the age of four was swimming with ease and often in the presence of royalty for his father was a Hawaiian high chief of ancient regime and lived in the Royal Palace enclosure it was this fact it is said that gave him his Christian name Duke during the reign of Kamehameha the 5th in 1869 the Duke of Edinburgh arrived in Honolulu and was the guest of the king residing at the Royal Palace there are half a dozen important events in Hawaii's history which are still referred to by old time Hawaiians as unusual incidents and one of these was the English pier's visit during his sojourn in the Hawaiian capital a son was born to a high chief whose family name was Kahana Moku the son was named Duke in honor of the visiting pier the son of the first Duke Kahana Moku is the present Duke throughout his life Duke Kahana Moku has never indulged in smoking or drinking and in spite of the lionizing which has been his due since his victory at the Stockholm Olympic Games a few years ago he has always kept in training following his victory at Stockholm the citizens of Honolulu presented Duke with a lot near Waikiki Beach and a bungalow home which he shares with his brothers sister and mother his brothers are almost as prominent in local swimming as himself and one of them is now a lifeguard at Waikiki Beach employed by the Outrigger Club in business circles Duke Kahana Moku is a member of the staff of public works department of the territory of Hawaii as an inspector of wharf building his daily practice calls him to the waterfront where in addition to inspection he has become an expert diver he has done a lot of work on his regulation diving costume helmet rubber suit and all and descends to the bottom of the harbor to inspect piers and other features in connection with wharf building it was while on duty as an inspector a year ago that there was need of the services of a diver and none at that moment procurable Kahana Moku immediately volunteered to don the diving costume although he had never had one on before he made a successful descent to the harbor bottom with the services when he raced against Norman Ross who he defeated in the 50 yard race his time was 23 3 5 seconds in the final and 23 seconds in the first heat in the 100 yard race in which he directly competed with Norman Ross and John Cowley another Hawaiian his time was 53 seconds breaking his own world record of 53 1 5 seconds end of story of Kahana Moku Trout and Other Fly Fishing by Francis E. Slaughter read for the Coffsbury collection 27 Sports this is a LibriVox recording more LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Trout and Other Fly Fishing this subject far from being treated exhaustively or even with any attempted fullness will on the contrary only be written of so as to give a few hints to those who love to wield the rod bottom fishing with the paraphernalia necessary to that branch of the sport has objections at least from a woman's point of view but to fly fishing with the fly there is no drawback unless indeed you happen to be one of those who hold that you should never pitch your skill against one of the lower animals in a struggle for life of all sports indeed there is none more entirely suited to the powers of women than fly fishing the nicety the quickness the light handedness and care as to details and I think I may add thoroughness in any pursuit they really take to in which women genuinely excel are all points in her favor the moment she takes a rod in hand great strength is not needed unless indeed she choose to go after one of the Leviathans of the deep but only constant and exhaustless patients yet it is the mention of the last that will make many who know only of the sport by hearsay look schoolful and say they see no fun in standing watching and waiting for the bite that often never comes and that they prefer something more active as it is no use arguing with people who are persuaded they view the subject from a vastly superior standpoint the only answer to this is if you do not change your opinion after weeks or even a days experience well fly fishing is not for you what I am anxious to impress upon all is that fly fishing is not necessarily an expensive sport for the best of salmon fishing and the right to try for trout in their choicest waters you must indeed pen but for the right to fish for their less thought of bread room there need be but small demands on your purse my own experience one summer may be of some use to those who would feign due likewise my lot was cast in a part of Sussex where under the downs flowed a tiny but most beautiful little river no trout have been the answer given when I inquired as to the prospect of sport from its banks so sadly I made up my mind that beyond an occasional visit to a trout stream owned by some friends in the same county my rod would be idle that summer if only it was stopped with trout was my frequent reflection as I wandered along its banks and noted the swift flowing current and the tempting stickles that looked a perfect paradise from a trouting point of view one evening as I stood watching the clear waters as they rushed round and over some opposing rocks into a large pool I caught sight of a silvery most graceful fish dart through the water at the side of the eddy then when my eye became accustomed to the curious light as the rays of the setting sun fell slant ways over the pool through the branches of a mighty oak tree that rose from the banks I saw another and another dace was my verdict and forthwith dismissed them from my mind but I had not reached home before the thought of trying for those dace with flying came to me and the next day trout rod in hand and with a black palmer and older on the cast I made my first venture in what was to me quite a new branch of the sport as the line flew out for the second time and the flies fell gently and lightly on the water I had but to wait a second before a faint thrill ran through my hand and told me something had touched the fly could it be a bite so different was it to the sudden onslaught of a trout that I hesitated whether or not to strike and contrary to the usual fate of the waiverer it was the momentary pause which gave me the fish a slight movement of the wrist and I had him fast and then a delicious few minutes followed while I played as game a dace as I ever wished to measure skill with indeed I should not have been surprised when at last my prize was safely caught in the landing net to see the spotted scales of a trout but no the slender silvery beautiful headed fish could be no other than a dace and his captor at least was content with the gallant bid he had made for his life if dace would take the fly why not also roach and chub and soon fought to mure it is true but nonetheless with very considerable enjoyment I was fishing the little stream for all three kinds in turn on the gravelly bottom of a certain portion of the water I found a red palmer very attractive to the roach which were their inconsiderable numbers some of them were fair size the largest I took turning the scales at one pound but I am bound to confess that I found these fish such very shy biters that I generally preferred to try either for dace or chub which however gave rather a novel experience by hanging itself in a tree and causing the greatest excitement among our party the members of which quickly came from their chosen spots to see and admire I was fishing from the shelter of a bush on the top of a high steep bank and with some trees close at the rear and a decidedly fresh breeze blowing it was not an easy matter to get the line safely out at all the water however was but little disturbed by the wind from which just there it was protected by the high ground and the fish were clearly visible in the water below as there was nothing for it in such a position but to swing the fish out if I caught one I did not for that once wish to make a big capture scarcely had the tail fly this was a red palmer touched the water than one of the usual shy bites was made unfortunately my strike secured the prize so far but he seemed heavy and was besides the gamest of his kind I have ever played quietly we could not manage things and it was very soon clear that if I did not then secure him I need not struggle with the difficulties of casting again in that part of the stream for every other finny inhabitant would have taken the alarm all my faculties were therefore intent on the capture I saw him at last tired of struggling and almost beneath me I tried to swing him up wondering as I did so if it were possible my light tackle could stand the strain a flash of silver through the air then a puff of wind and a red finned black-backed roach of about eight ounces in weight was dangling over the topmost bow of a tree which grew up from the lower part of the bank a little to my left the poor fish struggled to stay dominously among the branches till at last a nimble climber released them both and to my delight restored them to me for Chubb I found a larger fly effective and a coachman and a red palmer both tied large for what I generally used in my experience Chubb is the most determined biter of any of those I am now discussing and he is very game up to a certain point his dashes and struggles as he tries to free himself from the hook being as fierce as those of many a good trout the battle however will be over much sooner than with one of the latter species and when you see the inert form in the water you will realise with sorrow that after all he does not belong to the kind known as game fish in fishing for Chubb you must be as careful about showing yourself as you would be in trying for a trout for he is very quick in spotting anything unusual and once he has done this you may offer him the most tempting flies unavailingly by the time you have landed a two pound Chubb you will in my opinion have exercised to the full as much if not more skill than you would have done in the capture of a trout and though the sport of playing him will be sooner over it will have been good indeed while it lasted the Chubb I found to rise earlier today in this little Sussex stream than either Dace or Roach the two last on the warm August evenings often rising freely as long as we could see to cast for them the great difference between fishing with the fly for game and course fish lies in this that while with the latter you require even more lightness of hand and skill in casting than on any ordinary trout stream the intense excitement of the moments when the good trout or salmon will not be experienced to the same extent but that sport and good sport may be enjoyed with any of the three varieties I have named I have proved to my own satisfaction and I hope that what I have said may induce others to try for themselves at the same time that nothing can equal the joy of playing and landing your first trout I would be the last to deny for the day on which the first fell to my rod is still marked letter day in my life this also was in Sussex in a well stocked merry little stream which babbled and chattered over its white stones giving the last touch of beauty to the peaceful valley through which it flowed after the preliminary walk along the banks of that part of the water I was to fish so as to get the knowledge of the position of the pools and eddies and overhanging banks without which one's labour is likely to be thrown away I salad forth rod in hand to the neighbourhood of a bridge from which I had noted several trout lying with their heads upstream a few hundred yards from this where the bank, it is true did not seem to offer much facility for casting there was an eddy at one side of the stream and a mass of rushes on the other all under the shadow of trees which rose between them and the bridge when it is remembered that I was trying for my first trout the experience now lies back in the dim distance of the past it will not perhaps cause surprise if I say that my whole being thrilled with the excitement of the moment my cast had a red palmer for the tail fly and black older as dropper for at dinner the night before I had been advised to try these by a local fisherman I should probably make a mess of it and catch my line in either one or other of the traps that literally bristled on all sides of me it was a thought that was uppermost as after scrambling down cautiously and keeping well out of view I crained my neck to see how I could possibly get my cast to light on the spot I had chosen as I had my hand up for the venture a swift rise just where my eyes were fixed on the water told me of the presence of a trout my line flew out and the tail fly falling within the widening circle was instantly seized a sharp turn of the wrist gave me a trout with a bewildering suddenness upward the point of the rod and the good cane bent to the weight beneath a maddened dash across the stream to the reeds was the first attempt of the prey then a trial to get to the shelter of a rock conveniently near but slowly and surely he gave in to the steady pull brought to bear on him and soon I looked with unspeakable delight on a half pound trout in the prime of condition safe within the folds of the landing net that no fish ever comes up to the one you first capture has since this moment being an article of faith with me others larger, gamer better in every sense may and will if you have ordinary skill and perseverance fall to your rod but nothing will give you the same thrill of rapture you felt when you saw your first trout on the bank at your feet to make a good trout there are of course many things to learn and one of the greatest charms of the sport lies in this of what there is to know of it but preeminently is it true that an ounce of practice is worth a ton of pre-sense you must to a very great extent by your own experience and though you will always do well to profit by other people's advice you must yourself build up the theories which will show you how, when and where to cast so that fish may rise to your fly when they are proof against the blandishments of the less skillfully thrown lure that you should always study the lie of the water over which you mean to fish is a truism and yet it is a fundamental rule to the neglect of which many both men and women owe the fact that they never rise above a very mediocre degree of skill unless you know something of the habits of the fish and the spots in which he is likely to be found how can you hope to succeed in making him acquainted with your fly to prevent him catching a glimpse of you and for this end to be dressed so as scarcely to be distinguished from the ground upon which you will be standing to make no noise or disturbance to throw with the utmost delicacy of hand, to strike instantaneously or the reverse according to the particular class of fish you are angling for more partly up and across and never to allow the gut to make a ripple as you draw your cast through the water all these constitute the ABC of an angler's stock of learning I believe that most people carry about with them are quite unnecessary stock of flies and that as much successful for you if you only provide yourself with different kinds of palmers, black and red gnats, the black older red spinner, march brown blue upright, yellow dung stone ply, Wickham's Fancy Greenwell's Glory and on some streams the green drake having these in several shades and tied on different sized hooks never forgetting to supplement them by any others recommended by local fishermen whose knowledge remember has probably been bought by careful study and long and varied experience for course fish I have found the palmers, black gnats, artificial grub and bumblebee the most successful the chub always liking their fly tied large the dace and roach preferring theirs small a rod well chosen and well balanced is of course of the first necessity to your success to speak again from my own experience I found an inexpensive light green heart made by Hancock, a delightful rod in every respect and with this my first ventures both with trout and coarse fish were made it only measured 10 foot 6 inches but was beautifully balanced and you could make very fairly long casts with it as a beginner you should always get some experienced friend to choose your rod for you though like everything else of the kind you will naturally prefer to make the choice yourself as soon as you know how to test the balance on which all else depends in the matter of outfit you will need a crew which should contain an upper tray for luncheon a landing net and one or two casts ready made for use the last may be fastened around your hat and of course if you have any idea of being independent and going out by yourself your crew and net should be chosen with a view to lightness or they will naturally add materially to the fatigue of a day on the riverbank lastly I would say that if you should have the opportunity of going out with a good fisherman on a river or lake there to learn the elements of fly fishing by all means avail yourself of it in no other way than you master the rudimentary practice so easily as from a boat for there will be no bushes or banks or the 101 difficulties you may have to consider on land and you will therefore be able to concentrate your efforts on getting your line out in a fairly workman like manner that you should not be easily discouraged it is scarcely necessary to add for who that has landed her first trout has not straightway felt the fever of the rod take possession of her end of trout and other fly fishing by Francis E. Slaughter Verses and Games by Roger Kipling read for the Coffee Break Collection 27 Sports this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information if you are not a volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Verses and Games here is a horse to tame here is a gun to handle God knows you can enter the game if you will only pay for the same and the price of the game is a cundle a single flickering cundle January Hunting 30's it is a noble sport and men have quitted cell and swam port but I am of the mickersort and I prefer sorties in comfort reach me my handly cross again my run where never danger lurks is with jerks and his deathless train pig, Benjamin and art exerxes February coursing most men hurry the world for fun each man sits at a different way of all daft devils under the sun a grey hounds the daftest says jerks jay march racing the horse is ridden the jockey rides the backers back the owner's own but there are lots of things beside and I should let this game alone April rowing the pope of rom he could not win from pleasant meets and pleasant scene it's who replying not submit unto the curses of the pit which that stern coach owe greater shame flings forth by number not by name can tribal crown or Jesuit soath do what one wrathful trainer doth May fishing behold a parable A fished for B C took her bait her heart being set and D heaven who cools your blood and crumpt your wishes man and not God's little fishes June Cricut thank God who made the British aisles and taught me how to play I did not worship crocodiles or bow the knee to clay give me a willow wand and I with hide and cork and twine from century to century will gamble round my shrine July archery the child of the 90s considers with laughter the maid whom he sire in the 60s run after while careering himself in pursuit of a girl whom the 20s will dab a last century heirloom August coaching the pious horse to church may trot a maid may work a man salvation for horses and a girl are not however roads to reformation September shooting peace upon earth good will to men so great we Christmas day O Christian load your gun and then O Christian out and slay October golf why golf is art and art is golf we have not far to seek so much depends upon the lie so much upon the clique November boxing read here the moral randly read for him who into battle goes each soul that hitting hard or hit and ureth gross or ghostly foes prince blown by many overthrows have blind with shame have choked with dirt man cannot tell but Allah knows how much the other side was hurt December skating over the ice she flies perfect and poised and fair stars in my true love's eyes teach me to do and there now will I fly as she flies whoa for the stars that misled stars I beheld in her eyes now do I see in my head now we must come away what are you out of pocket sorry to spoil your play but somebody says we must pay and the candles down to the socket it's horrible tallowy socket end of verses and games by Roger Kipling the wooing by anonymous read for the copy break collection 27 sports by Anita Sloma Martinez this is a Libra Vox recording all Libra Vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Libra Vox.org the wooing the sporting instinct is now so keen among girls that a man who gallantly moderates his hitting in mixed hockey is merely regarded as an incapable slacker by his fair opponents when first I played hockey with Kitty I was right off my usual game for she looked so bewitchingly pretty when straight for the circle she came as a rule I'm not backward or cherry of hitting and harassing too but who can be rough with a fairy, not I so I let her go through she scored and we couldn't get equal the others all thought me a fool and Kitty herself in the sequel grew most unexpectedly cool they gave us a looking as stated I was sick of the sight of the ball she thought me a lot overrated and wondered they played me at all but she frankly approved Percy Waters who uses his stick like a flail and always impartially slaughters both sexes the strong and the frail a mutual friendliness followed I watched its career with dismay next match day my feelings I swallowed and hit in my orthodox way I caught her a crunch on the knuckle a clip on the knee and the cheek she said with a rapturous chuckle I see you weren't trying last week such conduct its cruelty loses when it brings consolation to both for after she counted her bruises that evening we plighted our truth end of the wooing by anonymous wrestling and football in 1681 by Walter Besant from London in the time of the stewards read for the coffee break collection 27 sports this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org wrestling and football in 1681 in 1681 the king witnessed a wrestling match where the Abedders were the monarch of Albert Marl a meadow below the castle was the scene of action and the match was composed of 12 men on each side the king's party were red waistcoats and the dukes blew a ring or enclosure was formed and a space in it admitted the royal coach the queen and her ladies viewed the contest from the terrace but the duke mixed with the crowd the activity displayed on this occasion excited great applause and only one of the number offered foul play which the duke punished by tripping up his heels the victory was gained by the blues and they thus procured their employer 200 guineas the wager depending the sum of 10 shillings each was given to the king's men and 20 shillings to the victors after which the king's men challenged the dukes at backsword in which exercise some being unskillful others were taken in to complete the number this was performed with great skill and courage but not attended with those barbarous circumstances which were usual with the roaming gladiators who to show the emperor's port sheathed their swords in one another's bowels our most plement and gracious king abominating all acts of cruelty the issue of this was only some broken plates and the palm was again given to the blues the king's men being heated and unwilling that the dukes should thus carry a victory resolved to have another trial with them and challenged them at football which being accepted the goals staked out and the ball placed in the middle the duke held up in handkerchief over the ball the letting fall of which was a signal to give the start and the handkerchief a reward kick which was one of the dukes men who in all three exercises behaved himself so singularly active that his majesty took particular notice of him and gave him a guinea and notwithstanding fortunes still appeared on the duke's side his majesty seemed highly pleased with that day's divertisement end of wrestling and football in 1681 by welter basant from London in the time of the stewards