universities, and the universities, in return, visit the school ground. The players under the different systems cling to them tenaciously, and, of course, every one 'sticks up' for his own game, and, as is but natural, considers it the best. Everybody is supposed to know what football is, and any one asked would declare it was a very simple winter game, all there was to do in it being to kick the ball between two sticks. When put in practice, it is found more complex than cricket, and that as many as forty rules are not found too many for it. There is that number in the Rugby code. The great questions are, shall the game commence with a kick off or a bully, or not? Shall the ball be taken up and carried, or caught, when kicked in the air? What is off side? and what is on side? Shall there be a cross bar for the ball to be kicked over, as at Rugby, one for it to be kicked under, as at other places, or never an one at all, as at Harrow and Eton? Are hacking, charging, and tripping legitimate? Those are only a few of the leading questions which many players have tried to answer, but they continue to be differently interpreted at the different centres of the game. The shrill whistle of the engine cut short my deliberations at this stage, and a minute later we entered the Rugby station. Rain was falling, but the fog was far away. Rugby! It was a horse fair. Did anybody ever go to Rugby when it was not a horse fair, or a cow fair, or a cattle fair of some kind? when the doors of those old-fashioned houses were not blocked up, and animals with plaited tails, and manes tied up with straw, were not tethered to the blank walls, and chains not stretched from post to post to keep free about twelve inches of footway? I never was so fortunate. If I were a schoolboy again, and the question were put to me, For what is Rugby noted? I should, in all probability, answer, For sleek farmers, greasy butchers, graziers, and cattle; and I might add, as an afterthought, its school. I picked my way as best I could. It was by no means an easy matter, and there was a great jumble of dialects and jingling of money in leathern bags. However, I reached Laurence Sheriff Street, and turned into it. Good old Laurence Sheriff! Best of grocers! I was glad to see his name-albeit, the letters were tarnished, and the board somewhat rusty-at the corner of the lane. It keeps him in the memory of the boys, and prompts the new ones to ask who Laurence Sheriff was. His 'Free Grammar School, for the parishes of Rugby and Brownsover,' has developed itself, and grown to goodly proportions; and, thanks to the eight acres of land in what is now part of the W. C. postal district, but was only a portion of Lamb's Conduit Fields when he gave it, it has been found quite possible for his pious wish, that the master should, "if convenient,' ever be a Master of Arts, to be observed. I should like to run down and see the old people in his almshouses too; but the little boys, with eager and expectant faces, who hurry past me, say, 'calling over' is finished. The clouds have lifted a little, and it is time I was in the school close. The school close is the playground of the Rugby students, and a fine one it is too, studded with grand elm-trees, and covered with well-worn turf. A stranger might think the effect somewhat marred by the goals erected in every direction, and looking, as Tom Brown says, like so many places of execution. The Rugby goal-posts and cross-bars are something like a gallows; but the old Rugbeians, who are so plentiful in the close to-day, know better, for they have spent many an hour endeavouring to drive the ball over them. What pleasant reminiscences hang about the place! Walking round, before the match begins, you may observe many a graybeard looking up at the old elms, counting them once more, perhaps, and growing eloquent upon the subject of his school days and school exploits, pointing out to the fair girl, his daughter, who leans upon his arm, the tree where he sat in summer shade, and first read the 'Arabian Nights, or the spot where he fought a desperate battle with a schoolmate. A little sadness mingles with these memories of long ago, and the eyes are quick to detect alterations and changes. There are meetings and recognitions of men who were schoolboys here together, but who have been widely sundered in later days; divided by parties and pursuits, and some between whom have been for long years the wide seas. For among the visitors on the day of the Old v. Present Rugbeians' football match, you may see not a few of even famous men. Waterloo veterans, Indian heroes, travel-stained and worn to look upon, but green at heart still, have been known to revisit the school close on this day; hear conand you stantly the names of the old masters, who have long ago gone to their rest, spoken with loving and reverential tongues, and the names of schoolfellows who have since bereverend dignitaries, great statesmen, men of fame in the world of letters, who were football-playing boys here in this close. come ones have the privilege of the kick divide, each facing the other's goal, The object is to kick the ball between the two goal-posts above the iron bar. The side winning two games out of three wins the match. A player who is nearer his opponent's goal than the ball, is off his side, and is not allowed to take part in the play until the other side has played the ball. Now let us follow the game. The kick off drove the ball over the heads of the forward players, who wheeled round to follow it, their opponents rushing forward at the same time. One of the half backs caught the ball as it bounded. This is allowable at Rugby, though not on other grounds. Immediately he had it in his hands, he started off at full speed towards his opponents' goal, but his adversaries ran full tilt at him. He evaded the earliest by skilful dodging, putting his toe in front of theirs, and tripping them up, but was eventually surrounded, and a general scrummage ensued. Scrummage is a Rugby definition that very adequately describes what followed. There is a little shouting, which announces that all is ready, and everybody turns to the Old Bigside,' which is that portion of the close where the great matches are played. At the school end are two perpendicular posts, 18 feet high, with a cross-bar at 10 feet from the ground. Opposite these, at about 130 yards, is a precisely similar erection. The ground is about 70 yards broad, and is defined on all four sides by the removal of a narrow strip of turf. The visitors keep outside these lines. Within them are eighty players in football costume. These are divided into two sides, easily distinguishable by the difference in their bright-coloured jerseys. A fine group of fellows they are. Among them are boys About thirty of the playand young men, and not a few who ers on each side wedged themselves together, the player, who held the The ball is brought in. Unlike the ball, being in the centre, his adverballs used by other schools, it is not saries endeavouring to take it from round, but oval, and larger, made of him, his own side to get him free, stout leather on the outside, and inflated india-rubber within. The and all the outsiders trying, with the aid of kicking the shins of their Present Rugbeians have won the neighbours, and pushing, to get to toss for choice of goals, and have the ball. After a time the struggle became hopeless, and the cry' Ilave it down,' was uttered by the holder. Then the ball was loosed, but the circle was too compact for it to get to the ground, or for players to see where it was for some time. Vigorous kicking eventually cleared the legs away, and the ball burst out of the ranks of the 'forwards,' and was followed and kicked, now near one goal, now near the other. Again and again it was caught or taken up while bounding, the player in each case starting for his adversaries' goal, being leapt at, and pulled over, or, as the Rugbeians term it, mauled, the spectators crying Bravo!' 'Well kicked!' or 'Bravely charged!? Scrummages were of frequent occurrence, and always exciting. I marvelled to see the little boys leap up at running men and cling to their necks till both rolled over together, and others came up and kicked the ball on. The ingenuity in leaping, twisting, and stooping, the turning and turning and still going on, was wonderful to behold. The players were too breathless to talk, if they had been inclined, which they were not. There was no rest; from side to side, and from end to end, the ball went with astonishing rapidity, now being kicked, now carried, now struggled for, almost fought for, till a vigorous kick drove it out at the side bounds under the elm trees. Then there was a pause, and the players wiped the perspiration from their brows, while one player brought the ball back to the edge, where the two sides gathered, forming themselves into two lines, each with their faces towards their opponent's goal. The player who stood beyond the goal line tossed the ball between these two lines, and up went a forest of hands to catch it, and another scrummage ensued, from which the ball was driven down to the school goal, and taken up by a back player and carried across the line, and then touched down between the posts. Whereupon the excitement greatly increased, for a try at goal was to follow. Before this, though, the ball had to be placed on the ground, just within the goal line, and kicked gently up into the hands of a player standing ready to catch it just without the goal line. It was his duty to make a mark on the turf with his heel as soon as he had caught the ball, and before he had done this the other players might charge him, or set upon him, and take the ball from him, and thus prevent the try at goal. The head of the side took care of all this, and chose his man for the work, and the moment the ball was caught the heel was kicked into the turf, and behind that mark the defenders of the goal had to stand until the ball should again touch the ground. Then the head of the side commissioned one player to take it out, and another to make thetry.' Even then the 'try' was not quite sure. If the player who had to carry it from the goal line to the spot where it was to be deposited for the kick had touched the ball with two hands, it would have been lost. It was carried a convenient distance from the goal by one player, and another went to kick it. of the players remained near the goal line to keep guard over their adversaries, the young Rugbeians, who, in their excitement, were considered likely to encroach a little, ready for the desperate charge they would make directly the ball touched the turf. Some This taking the ball out for the try at goal was a very deliberate and solemn proceeding. Arrived at what was considered the best distance, and due calculation for the effect of the wind having been made, a little hole was knocked in the turf by the heel of the player who carried it. The one who was to make the kick then retired three or four paces beyond it. Every eye was upon him, and all was excitement, both among spectators and players. Now;' and the ball was deposited in the little hole. At the same instant the player deputed to the honourable post of making the 'try,' and who gave the signal for placing the ball, ran forward, and delivered a tremendous kick full on the ball. A moment's delay, and it would have been too late, for the players on the other side rushed forward, ready to fall upon him-all except a few who were near goal, in the hope of being able to touch the ball in its passage, which would render it null. But the hope was a vain one, and it went flying full five feet above the crossbar, clearly between the posts, an undisputed goal for the Old Rugbeians. Then the sides changed goals, and a new game began, just as the old one had done. Several times victory seemed in the hands of the younger players, who were cheered on. But they could not get a goal, though they struggled bravely. The players appeared to have only just got their spirits into the game when a clever drop kick brought it to an end in favour of the Old Boys' without the ball having crossed the goal line, as in the previous game. It was just after a boldly-contested scrummage, close by the elm trees, which, in the words of Tom Brown, 'come into the play; that's a tremendous place when the ball strays there, for you get thrown against the trees, and that's worse than any kick.' No Rugbeian forgets those elm trees: the scrummages which take place near them are, for the very valid reason given by Tom Brown, among the most desperate. It was after one of these that an old Rugbeian caught up the ball and rushed away towards his opponents' goal, upsetting players who tried to stop him, and evading others, till he came to within an easy distance of the goal, when he dropped the ball, and, as it fell, delivered a kick that sent it spinning through the air over the cross-bar. This is the Rugby game of football. All through the winter months for nearly two hours daily, vacations and frosts only being excepted, some hundreds may be seen playing it in the school close. At 'punt about,' which is very similar, a dozen balls may often be seen going at once: the bright colours, the rapid evolutions, and the dexterity of the players makes the scene a charming one. No player has, as cricket scouts have, occasion to stand still. The work provided for each is vigorous, and well adapted to the cold air of the season in which it is played. The detractors of this system as distinguished from others say it is too violent, that carrying the ball has no business to be permitted in football, that kicking shins, and tripping up, and players do not think so, and they pulling over are too rough. The ought to be judges. There is, however, one rule in those printed and circulated at Rugby which is rather calculated to astonish those who do not know what the game is in practice. It says, 'Though it is lawful to hold a player in a maul, this holding does not include attempts to throttle or strangle, which are totally opposed to all the principles of the game.' CHAPTER II. IN THE FIELD' AT ETON. Football in the 'Field' at Eton is a very different game to that played in the school close at Rugby. Two forms, or rather varieties, of football are played by the Eton collegians. The ground for one is at the 'wall,' and that for the other is "The Field,' where all the great matches take place. In these matches there are but twenty-two players, instead of seventy or eighty, as in the Rugby game, and there is no cross-bar to the goal posts, and catching or holding the ball, and, consequently, running with it are not allowed. Let us suppose the college clock has just announced a quarter past twelve; that it is a mild winter day; and that you, reader, and I have turned from the lane into the 'Field.' In the centre of the ground, on the green turf, are congregated the twenty-two players; other collegians are scattered about in groups, discussing the forthcoming athletic sports; one or two who are in training for the races at these sports are taking their midday quantum of exercise. Merry jokes are passing round; one is challenging another to an im promptu race; others are wrestling a little, or leaping; and the small boys are kicking some old footballs about at the edge of the ground. All this ceases as the four strokes denote the half-hour. The twentytwo players remove their coats, and rush down to the goal sticks to hang them thereon; then back into the centre, where the ball is put down. It is a large ground, and posts mark the corners and sides, and the goals are only defined by two slight poles seven feet high and eleven feet apart. The football costume serves admirably the purpose of showing the muscular development, the broad, healthy chest, and the generally fine frame which denotes strength. We have a capital opportunity of observing these things as they come down to dispose of their coats; and the wellproportioned, symmetrical frames of some of the players remind us of the gladiators, they are so well set, and there is such an absence of superfluous flesh. Football contributes not a little to this. training of the playground at these colleges and schools, the continual round of vigorous exercise, rowing, running, leaping, football, and cricket, is as valuable physically as the training which goes on within the college walls is mentally. The We have no time, however, for more than a passing thought on this, which is suggested to us as one after another reaches out his arm and leaves a coat on the goal post. Play is just about to begin. Each side has sent one of its fleetest runners and best kickers to keep the goal. He at our end has taken up his station only a yard in advance of the goal-posts. Two more are detached as cornerers. The remaining eight players on each side form themselves into two wallsliving walls. The ball as yet lies some distance from them. The players on each side stand two deep; the strongest form the first rank. The others lean upon them, ready to impel them forward. Each side is facing the opponents' goal. Heads are bent down, and shoulder is placed to shoulder, so that they form a compact mass. One of the cornerers takes up the ball, and puts it between the legs of these two lines. Then the struggle begins, each side trying to bear the other down, and push the ball away toward goal. This is an Eton bully. There is rare work for the muscular frames we admired just now. See how they cling together, and butt at each other; how the second line of feet are planted far back to give the outsiders force in pushing. It is one of the finest tests of strength and skill combined that has ever been witnessed. The sixteen players all move as one. Where is the ball all this time? About in the spot where it was placed by the cornerer. The struggle is not with the feet, but the shoulders. The effects of the protracted efforts begin to grow visible. The side in the violetcoloured jerseys sway backward a little-only a very little-and their feet move uneasily. That is the moment for the triumph of the other side. A couple of feet removed from the ground, and all is over. Push! Thrust! There! The bully is broken: the ball comes into sight. Some players are on the ground; others are racing along, kicking the ball gently (dribbling is the technical term) before their toes. The fallen players leap from the ground; the cornerers run up. There is a cry of 'No sneaking.' A vigorous dash is made at the ball; but one of the opponents has at the moment come up, and is just in time to charge the player, who has made preparations for the kick. This charge is bravely made. The two are running side by side; one stoops, and in the act of rising again brings his shoulder into forcible contact with that of his adversary, who, having one foot in the air to kick the ball at the moment, is unable to withstand the shock, and goes over on to the turf. By this time all the players have got together, and they sweep along the ground, heads all one way, for a minute as the ball is kicked forwards, and back again as an adversary's toe drives it in the contrary direction. The rapidity of the evolutions, the sharp and continual charges, and force of the collisions between the players, who, rushing from four or five different directions at the ball, meet together, and all kick at once, are interesting to watch. Legs, of necessity, receive heavy kicks that were intended for the ball, and falls while running at full speed are not light; but the players are |
