254 POLO 



CHAPTER II 



POLO IN ENGLAND 



IT may at first sight seem strange that a nation like the British, 

 celebrated for its manly sports, should have imported one of 

 its very best games from a country many thousands of miles 

 distant ; but the strides that polo has made of late years and 

 the growing popularity in which it is now held are very apparent. 

 There are infinitely more players than there were even half a 

 dozen years ago, and not only is this a fact, but the prices of 

 good ponies have increased enormously. Play, too, has reached 

 a very much higher standard, and a man who aims now to be in 

 the front rank has to be almost ' in training.' The reason for 

 this we shall be able to trace if we follow its progress in this 

 country and in India. Before doing so, however, let us glance 

 back to the time when it first became known in England. 



It is generally supposed that the origin of the game in 

 England was due to a cavalry regiment lately returned from 

 India ; that they had seen the game there, and so brought the 

 idea with them. This theory is, however, erroneous. It 

 originated in a far more prosaic manner, and found its birth- 

 place in the brain of sundry young subalterns of the loth 

 Hussars in 1869. This regiment was then quartered at Alder- 

 shot under canvas. After lunch one day, and wearying for 

 some occupation wherewith to kill time and overcome the 

 ennui of camp life, Messrs. St. Quintin, ' Chicken ' Hartopp, 

 and Chain were scanning the papers in the ante-room tent. 

 There they read an account of the game as played by the 



