PASTIMES, 
270 
it,. About 1253, the 38th of Henry III, the quiutin was a sport much 
in fashion in almost every part of the kingdom. This contrivance, 
consisted of an upright post iirmly fixed in the ground, upon the top 
of which was a cross piece of wood, moveable upon a spindle; one 
end of which was broad like the flat part of an halberd, while at the 
other end was hung a bag of sand. The exercise was performed on 
horseback. The masterly performance was, when, upon the broad 
part being struck with a lance, which sometimes broke it, the assail- 
ant rode so swiftly on as to avoid being struck on the back by the 
bag of sand, which turned round instantly upon the stroke given, 
with a very swift motion. He who executed this feat in the most 
dexterous manner was declared victor, and the prize to which he 
became entitled was a peacock. But if, upon the aim taken, the 
contender miscarried in striking at the broadside, his impotency of 
skill became the ridicule and contempt of the spectators. Dr. Plott, 
in his Natural History of Oxfordshire, tells us, that this pastime was 
in practice in his time at Deddington. He and Matthew Paris give 
similar accounts. 
' But all the manly pastimes seem to have given place to one, indeed 
no less manly, which was Archery. This had a continuance to the 
reign of Charles I. It appears from 33 Hen. VHI. that by the intru« 
sion of other pernicious games, archery had been for a long time 
disused ; to revive which, a statute was made. 
Towards the beginning of James I.’s reign, military prowess seems 
to have sounded a retreat. He, to gratify the importunity of the 
common people, and at the same time to obviate his own fears upon 
a refusal, published a book of sports, in which the women had been 
some time before indulged on Sunday evenings, but which had been 
lately prohibited. These sports consisted of dancing, singing, 
wrestling, church ales, and other profanations of that day. Charles I., 
his successor, w isely, in the very entrance of his reign, abolished these 
sports, which was no doubt proper, and shewed the distinguished 
piety of this unfortunate monarch. But in this age likewise ended 
the manly sports of Britons, and nothing w'as introduced that could 
compensate for the loss. 
' In the Satistical Account of Scotland, parishofMonquhitter, under 
* Amusements,’ w e are told, ‘ People who are not regularly and pro- 
fitably employed, rejoice in a holiday, as the means of throwing off 
that languor which oppresses the mind, and of exerting their active 
powers. So it was with our fathers. They frequently met to exert 
their strength in wrestling, in casting the hammer, and in throwing 
the stone, their agility at foot-ball, and their dexterity at coits and 
penny-stone. , ^ 
Hot-cockles . — This sport is described as follows by Gay : 
As at Hot Cockles once I laid me down, 
I felt the weighty hand of many a clowm ; 
Buxoma gave a gentle tap, and I 
Quick rose, and read soft mischief in her eye.” 
Races. — Misson, in his Travels in England, translated by Ozell,, 
says : ‘ The English nobility take great delight in horse-races. The 
most famous are usually at Newmarket; and there you are sure to 
