THE FORERUNNER OF CRICKET 235 



end of the cricket ground to give shelter and pro- 

 tection to those who sit and watch the games. 

 Both dogs go with me and their gambols and 

 excited barking arouse the curiosity of a rosy- 

 faced boy who is playing with his nurse in the 

 park near by. " What are Tim and Mischief 

 going to look at ? " he shouts, for he no doubt 

 feels that what will be of interest to his four- 

 footed friends is likely to suit his own tastes. 

 " Why, the young garden ladies playing stool- 

 ball," says the nurse, and so we all five start 

 running through the long grass to see who gets 

 there first. 



The casual observer may think the game a poor 

 one compared with cricket, although the rules in 

 both are very similar, but it must be remembered 

 that stoolball is essentially a game for girls, and 

 although we know from the following verse, with 

 its rather charming chorus, that young men some- 

 times joined in playing it with their sweethearts, 

 it requires far less strength than a boys' game. 



" Down in a vale on a summer's day, 

 All the lads and lasses met to be merry ; 

 A match for kisses at stoolball to play, 

 And for cakes, and ale, and cider, and perry. 



Chorus 

 " Come all, great, small, short, tall, away to stoolball ! " 



These lines occur in a play called " Don Quixote," 

 written by D'Urfey and acted at Dorset Gardens 

 in 1694, which gives us a definite, early date when 

 the game was well known in England. Another 



