cards, may be presumed to deiive- its naiae from an Italian source, 

 there being an old game at cards in Italy known as " Bazzica." 



Under Mary and Elizabeth intellectual amusements began to 

 make their way. Both of these Queens were industrious needlewomen, 

 and fond of embroidery. Ladies of this period were instructed in 

 Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish, and their amusements 

 included playing on the lute and virginal. It was about this period 

 that horse-racing was recognised as a regular amusement. Chester 

 was among the first of our towns to encourage the running of horses, 

 and to bestow prizes upon the winner. 



In the 17th century the amusements of the citizens of London 

 consisted chiefly in bowling, cards and dice, billiards, musical 

 entertainments, dancing, masques, balls, plays, and club meetings. 

 The Lord Mayor kept a pack of hounds for the purpose of hunting 

 in Middlesex, Hertfordshire, and Kent. The lower classes amused 

 themselves with football, wrestling, cudgel-playing, nine-pins, cricket, 

 quoits, bell-ringing, cock-fighting, bull and bear baiting. &c. The 

 baiting of bulls, bears, and boars, is among the brataUsing and bar- 

 barous spoits which, with us, are now happily at an end. We have, 

 however, record of its practice as late as the present century, and it 

 was not till the year 1835 that an Act of Parliament was passed, 

 forbidding the keeping of any house, pit, or other place for baiting 

 or fighting any bull, bear, dog, or other animal. 



The game of ball is of remote antiquity ; it has originated 

 many popular amusements, and has, doubtless, descended to us from 

 Roman times. It was the forerunner of our lacket and lawn tennis, 

 of cricket and croquet, football, bowls, and billiai-ds. Stool-ball has 

 been mentioned by writers of the last three centuries, but with little 

 definition of the game. 



Olub-baU, in which a ball was struck from a straight bat, 

 probably gave rise to our game of cricket, an agi-eeable, healthy, 

 and manly exercise. Cricket was originally played without wickets, 

 and evidently in the manner of club-ball. 



Balloon-ball was a ball inflated with air, and of large dimensions. 

 The player had his light ami from the elbow to the wrist covered 

 with a guard, and with this he struck the ball, which was delivered 

 to him by another person, as a bowler does at cricket. 



