200 
G A 
in the market; and this madnefs they dignify by the name 
of /twrur.'' Chefs’was aifo a favourite game with the 
Sax*iis ; as was likewiCe backgammon. It appears that 
amongft them a large portion of the night was appropri- 
ated to tlie purfuit of thefe unprofitable amufem.ents. In 
the re'e;n of Canute, this praftice was fandlioned by the 
cxatuple of royalty, and followed by the nobility : the 
clergy, however, were (irohibited from playing at games 
ol ciiance, by the ccclefiaftical canons ellablifhed in the 
reign of Edgar, 
Among the paftimes introduced by tiie Norman 
nobility, none engaged the general attcnlioa fo 
much as tlie tournaitieiits and the jufls. Thefe atnufe- 
merits in the middle ages, wliich maybe denominated 
the ages of cliivalry, were in high repute aipoiig the 
nobility ol Europe, and produced in reality njtich of the 
pomp and gallantry tliat we find recorded with poetical 
exaggeration in ilie legends of knight-errantry. AVe are 
nor, however, to conceive, tliat martial exercifes were 
confined entirely to the education of young noblem.en : 
tlie Ions of citizens and yeomen had alfo their games and 
J(un ts refembling military combats. Thofe pratftifed at 
an early period by the young Londoners fcem to have 
been derived from the Romans: they confifted of various 
attacks and evolutions performed on liorfeback, the youth 
being armed with fliields and pointlefs lances, and was de¬ 
nominated /udiis Troj(C, or Troy game. Tltefe amufe- 
nienrs, according to Eitz Stephen, were appropriated to 
the Tea Con of Lent; but at other times they exercifed 
themfelves in archery, fighting with clubsand bucklers, 
and running at the quintain ; and in winter, when the 
frott fer in, they alfembled on the ice, and run againfl: 
e icli other w ith poles, in imitation of lances, in a juff ; 
.and frequently one or both were beaten down, “ not al- 
w-avs wiihout hurt; f.r, Come break their arms, and fom.e 
their legs; but youth, (fays this author,) emulous of 
glory, leeks thefe exercifes preparatory againff the time 
tliat war fliall demand theirprefence.” Henry VTIl. not 
only countenanced the pradlice of military paftimes by 
permitting them to be exercifed without reflraint, but al¬ 
fo endeavoured to make ilieni fafliionable by his own ex¬ 
ample. Hall affures us, that, even after his acceftion to 
the tlirone, he continued daily to araufe hiinfelf in arche- 
ly, catling of the bar, wreftling, or dancing, and fre¬ 
quently in tilting, tonrnaying, fighting at the barriers 
with fwords and battle-axes, and fuch like martial recre¬ 
ations, in motl of which there were few that could excel 
liim. The purfiiirs and amufements of a nobleman are., 
liowever, placed in a different view by an author of tlie 
fucceeding century ; who, defcribing the perfon and man¬ 
ners of Cliarles lord Mountjoy, regent of Ireland, fays, 
“ lie delighted in (fudy, in gardens, in riding on a pad to 
take theaire, in playing at fliovelboard, at cardes, and in 
reading of play-books tor recreation, and el'pecially infifh- 
ing and fillV-ppnds, feidome ufeingaiiy otlier exercifes, and 
ufeing thefe rightly as paftimes, only for a Ihortand con- 
X'cnient time, and with great variety of change from one 
to the other.” Thus, by degrees, the difcontinuation of 
bodily exercifes afforded a proportionable quantity of lei- 
fure lime for the cultivation of tlie mind ; fo that the 
maimers of the people were foftened by degrees, and 
learning, which !iad been fo long negleffed, became 
i'alhionable, and vv.is efteemed an indifpenfable mark of a 
polite education. Many of the p.iftimes that had been 
countenanced by (he nobility, and fatiTioned by tlieir ex¬ 
ample, in the middle ages, grew into difrepute in more 
modern times, and wck* condemned as vulgar and unbe¬ 
coming the notice of a gentleman. “ Throwing the liam- 
mer and wreftling, (fays an author of the feventeentli 
century,) 1 hold tlieiii exercifes not fo well befeeming no¬ 
bility, but rather the foldiers in the camp and the prince’s 
guard.” 
Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy, gives us a ge¬ 
neral view of the Iports moll prevalent in the feventeeiith 
eentuiy. “Cards and dice'(fays he) are rocks upon 
M E. 
which men lofe themfelves, w'hen they are imprudently 
handled, and beyond tlieir fortunes. Ringing, bowling, 
(liooting, playing with keel-pins, ironks, quoits, pitching 
ol bars, hurlicig, wrefiling, leaping, niiining, fencing, 
.muftering, twimming, playing with wallers, foils, foot¬ 
balls, balowns, running at the quintain, and the like, are 
common recreations of country folks; riding of great 
horfes, running at rings, tilts and tournaments, horfe- 
races, and wild goofe chafes, which are difports of greater 
men, and good in themfelves, tliough many gentlemen by 
fuch means gallop quite out of their fortunes.” 'Speak¬ 
ing of the Londoners, he fays, “ They take pleafure to 
fee fome pageant or fight go by, as at a coronation, wed¬ 
ding, and fuch likefolenin niceties; to fee an ambafiadcr 
or a prince received and entertained witli mafles, fnovvs, 
and fireworks. The country hath alfo his recreations, as 
may-games, feaft.s, fairs, and wakes.” The following paf- 
tinies he confiders as common both in town and country, 
namely, “ bull-haitings and bear-baitings, in which our 
countrymen and citizens greatly deliglit,and frequently ufe, 
dancers on ropes, jugglers, comedies, tragedies, artillery 
gardens, and cock-fighting.” He then goes on : “ Ordinary 
recreations we liavein winter,as cards, tables, dice, fliovel- 
board, cliefs-play the philofopher’s game, fmall trunks, 
fiuittlecock, billiards, mufic, mafks, finging, dancing, 
ule-games, frolics, jells, riddles, catches, crols purpofes, 
queftions and commands, merry tales of errant knights, 
queens, lovers, lords, ladies, giants, dwarfs, thieves, 
cheaters, witches, fairies, goblins, and friars.” To this 
catalogue he adds : “ Dancing, finging, mafking, mum¬ 
ming, and ftage-plays, are reatdnable recreations, if in 
feafon; as are may-games, wakes, and whitfonales, if not 
at unfeafonable hours, are jullly permitted. Let them, 
(that is, the common people,) freely feaft, fing, dance, 
have pvippet-plays, hobby-horfes, tabers, crowds, (fid¬ 
dles,) and bagpipes ;” let them “ play at ball and barley- 
brakes and afterwards, “plays, mafks, jeflers, gladi¬ 
ators,•ttireblers, and jugglers, are to be winked at, left 
tlie people (liould do worfe than attend them.'’’^ In addi¬ 
tion to tlie may-games, morris-dancings, pageants, and 
proceftions, which were commonly exliibitad tliroughout 
the kingd-om in all great towns and cities, the London¬ 
ers had peculiar and extenlive privileges : they had large 
portions of ground allotted to tliem in the vicinity of the 
city for the pradlice of fuch paftimes as were not prohi¬ 
bited by the goverivment, and for thofe el'pecially that 
were befl calculated to iender them llrong and healthy. 
In the holidays during tlie fummer ieafon, the young men 
of London exercifed themfelves in the fields with “ leap¬ 
ing," (hooting with tlie bow, wreftling, carting the done, 
playing with the ball, and fighting with their fhields.” 
The lall fpecies of pafliine is the fame that Stow calls 
pracli/Ing with their loajlcrs and bucklers which in his 
day was exercifed by the apprentices before the doors of 
their mafters. The city damfels had alfo their recre¬ 
ations on the celebration of thefe feftivals, according to 
the tefliiiiony of both tlie authors above-mentioned. The 
firll tells us that they played upon citherns, and d^iiiced 
to the mufic ; and, as this amufement did not take place 
before the dole of the day, they were occalionally permit¬ 
ted to continue it by moonlight. We learn troiii the 
other, who wrote at the diltance of more than four centu¬ 
ries ago, that it was' then cullomary for the maidens, after 
evening prayers, to dance in the prefence of their mailers 
and niillrelfes, while one of their companions played the 
meafure upon a timbrel; and, in order to (linuilate them 
to purfue this exercife with alacrity, the bed dancers were 
rewarded with garlands, the prizes being expofed to pub- 
lie during the whole of the performance. 
A general viewof the gamesand paltinies pradifed by the 
Londoners foon after the commencement of the ieven- 
teenth century, occurs in Strype’s edition oLStow’s Sur¬ 
vey. The modern fports of the citizens, fays the editor, 
befides drinking, are cock-fighting, bowling upon greens, 
playing at tables, or backgammon, cards, dice, and biU 
liards 
