202 When we Old Fogeys ivere Boys. 



ability ran rapidly up the school, and became a prefect 

 without any long apprenticeship to fagging, and possibly 

 physically weak and practically inexperienced. These were 

 the class who, immediately they got off fagging, abandoned 

 every sport and took to " constitutionals " in the summer 

 and fire-side coteries in the winter ; and by these fire-side 

 coteries much bullying was brewed, in the absence of manly 

 fellows who were engaged in athletics. 



Now as regards our sports : cricket and football were of 

 course the chief, and as we had no professional we learned 

 our cricket by ourselves ; and to show that we must have 

 learnt it pretty well, Harrow beat us for the first time in 

 1837 on their own ground, though they collared and headed 

 us in after years, the school matches having commenced in 

 1825. We held our own too, well, against Eton. Fielding 

 and hard hitting were our proclivities, and the Winchester 

 barter, the half -volley — named after Warden Barter, who 

 was a giant in strength and stature — is not unknown. 



To show what coaching will do, old Lillywhite in 1851 — 2 

 the first professional ever engaged — cetat 59, trained the 

 eleven in that and in the following year, and the Winchester 

 boys won both matches at Lord's two years running, in 

 1851-2, after losing both matches for five years. Oh ! why 

 did the Dons ever stop those glorious matches at Lord's ? 



We had one great drawback at Lord's, which was, that 

 not more than six or seven of our real eleven were ever up 

 there, as the school broke up a fortnight before the matches. 

 And we made one vital mistake, which was, not to make 

 long stop, as it is now, one of the most important places in 

 the field; and boys who had been excellent as juniors gave 

 it up as drudgery when they got into the eleven, and the 

 consequence is that our list of byes at Lord's looks very bad 

 now, as does that of other schools of that era. 



In the winter badger-hunting was a favourite sport, and 



