CHAPTER II. 



Sport Forty Years ago and To-day. 



My early reminiscences include seeing the daily coach from 

 Leeds arriving at Harrogate. There was then no train 

 communication between the two places, and in fact there 

 was no railway to Harrogate itself, the terminus of the 

 line being at Starbeck. Scarborough has also left many 

 quaint remembrances, among them being the soldiers at 

 the Castle in pre-Crimean days, in all the glory of high 

 stocks, epaulettes, cross-belts, and swallow-tailed coats. 

 We went up once to see the ball-practice, which was 

 carried on in the field in front of the Castle, at two targets 

 facing each other, 100 yards apart — quite far enough for 

 old Brown Bess ! A Minie bullet, which was said to be 

 able to kill a man at the distance of a mile, was viewed 

 with great awe. I very vividly remember the bells of the 

 old church being joyfully rung when the news came of 

 the victories of the Alma and Inkermann ; and what 

 interested us children quite as much was seeing our 

 mother go out to dinner in a sedan chair. 



We used to take home little presents for special 

 favourites among the work-people, tea at 4s. per lb., 

 sugar 8d., and only a very tiny bit of twist tobacco could 

 be bought for 6d. Wages were then only 8 s. and 9 s. a 

 week, except in the harvest time when they rose to 12s. 



