Skating (1892)

Charles Goodman Tebbutt wrote the following about the sport of bandy in a book entitled Skating, published in 1892:

Text

BANDY

BY C. G. TEBBUTT

"THE game of bandy, otherwise known as hockey and shinney, or shinty, is doubtless one of the earliest pastimes of the kind ever known. In its most primitive form it is simply played down the middle of a village street by boys who, armed with bent sticks, make themselves warm on a winter's evening by knocking a 'cat' about, all against all. At other times sides are chosen and it becomes a more regular game, the hedges or houses forming the side boundaries, and a couple of stones, some hundred yards apart, marking each goal.

From this rough-and-ready frolic, however, the present games of hockey and bandy are derived.

The word 'hockey' is now given to a well-established game under definite rules, played with boundaries and goals as foot-ball is on grass, while 'bandy' has long been identified with a game played like hockey, but on ice; and it is with this game we are now concerned.

Some persons suppose that the origin of the word 'bandy' is to be found in the bent stick employed, the old English word being still retained, as in the expression 'bandy-legged', while others imagine that the term is derived from the verb - to bandy to 'bandy looks', for instance, the ball being 'bandied' about, or struck backwards and forwards.

Probably bandy was played on the ice before skates were in use, for the level and slippery ice would suggest a surface upon which a 'cat' could be easily and accurately driven. A very ancient form of this game which did not require skates, and vaguely resembles curling or bowls, existed centuries ago in Holland, and was played with sticks or mallets and balls. Polo, it may be added, is another branch of the same game.

But, when once the player was shod with skates, and could career over the ice at a great pace, could suddenly stop, and as suddenly start, could turn and dodge at full speed and maintain a pace impossible on land, then enthusiasm for bandy was assured; it became, in fact, to its devotees the most fascinating of games.

Bandy can be played on a comparatively small piece of ice, but a large expanse is desirable, and the Fen district in England is therefore specially suitable for the game. The uplands send their water after heavy rains down into the Fen rivers, which overflow and flood the washes and low-lying meadows; then, should a frost come, any quantity of ice is available.

Bury Fen is one of the ideal places for the game. Lying alongside the river Ouse, just above where it connects with the Old West River to Ely and the Cam, and the Old and New Bedford Rivers with the great washes between, Bury Fen is, during a frost, in skating touch with a great many Fen villages. After heavy rains the water confined within the river rises rapidly and soon becomes higher than the low-lying meadows comprising Bury Fen. The sluice gates are then drawn, and the river water, thick with rich alluvial deposit, soon spreads over the grass land. Once flooded and the gates closed, the still water drops its deposit on the grass beneath, and when frost follows, the still shallow waters are the first to bear. No better place for skaters could be chosen.

Bury Fen lies within the twin parishes of Bluntisham-cum-Earith, in the agricultural county of Huntingdonshire. As soon as frost sets in, work is at a standstill, and squire, farmer, and labourer indulge in skating. It was more specially from the bargemen and fishermen of Earith that the bandy players in times past were recruited, their occupation seeming to fit them better for active exercise than did the more laborious work of the agriculturist.

Concurrently with skating races, bandy matches have long been held in the fens. It is certain that during the last century the game was played and even matches were held on Bury Fen, and the local tradition that the Bury Fenners had not been defeated for a century may not be an idle boast. But it was not until the great frost of 1813-14 that tradition gives place to certainty. I propose to furnish a short account of the Bury Fen players; for, excepting a few games played on private waters in different parts of England, bandy has been confined to that district, and its history is a history of the game.

When the army of Napoleon, retreating from Moscow [actually the winter of 1812-1813], were starved and frozen to death by thousands; when, at home, Prof. Sedgwick had to burn his gun-case and chairs to keep himself warm; when the scarcity of coal at Cambridge was so great that the trees within the grounds of St. John's College were cut down for fuel, and in all the colleges, we are told, the men sat in their rooms two and three together for warmth; then the hardy watermen, gunners, and labourers were quickening their circulation by playing bandy on Bury Fen. It was then that that fine old Fenman, William Leeland, at the time scarcely eleven years old, remembers watching the matches and joining in the practice of bandy. Undoubtedly matches were played before this time, and Leeland had 'heard talk' of them; but we have no records…"

"[From about 1825] until well into 1850 Leeland captained the Bury Fenners, and only died in the autumn of 1891, in his ninetieth year [actually in his 87th]. An interview with this fine old player was made specially interesting by his pleasant memories of matches won at bandy..."

"[Of the players from the early part of the century] "only Mr. R. Brown (88), Jas. Searle (75), and Bill Christmas (71), still live at the time of writing (Christmas, 1891).

Next to the Bury Fen players those of Swavesey were considered 'the most deadly'.

The 'cat' or 'kit' was generally a ball, but often a bung of cork or wood did service, sometimes a cricket ball, and more recently an indiarubber ball was used. The bandies were curved sticks often cut from the lower branches of the pollard willow-trees which abound in the Fens. The lower branches grow in a curve upwards until clear of the upper branches which surround the topped head of the tree, and thus are often naturally just the right shape for bandies. A good bandy was eagerly looked after; once possessed it was carefully preserved, and became the pride of the owner. As it hung up in the cottage it recalled many an exciting game, and started many a fireside talk of how matches were lost and won; thus stimulating the young to become players. No one who has not talked to the superannuated players can realise how intense was the interest in bandy fifty years ago in Bluntisham-cum-Earith.

A generation later, when Leeland's playing days were over, we still find the game in full swing during those winters when frost made the Fen waters bear. The improvement in agriculture and drainage of land, and enclosure of open fields, had deprived some villages, like Cottenham, of their bandy ground, but whenever possible, Bury Fen, Swavesey, Over Chatteris, &c., played matches. Messrs. C. P. Tebbutt, N. Goodman, and W. L. Meadows captained the Bury Fen teams.

In 1860 an attempt was made to introduce the game in London, and on December 27 a lot of Fenmen collected on the ice at the Crystal Palace. During 1868 [1871] so strong were the Bury Fen players that when through a misunderstanding two teams, Swavesey with Over, and Chatteris, arrived to play, Mr. Meadows chose one Bury Fen team, and Mr. Tebbutt another, and they defeated both the visiting teams. One of the Chatteris team, a very big man, lay down, blocking the goal from post to post for all balls that kept on the ice.

The series of cold winters beginning with 1879 made Bury Fen lively with bandy and bandy matches, Mr. Sidney Tebbutt generally captaining the team. Matches and return matches were played with Swavesey, Chatteris, St. Ives, Huntingdon and Godmanchester at Mare Fen, Hertford, Houghton, and on Bury Fen. Still the Fenners maintained their credit for an unbeaten record. The most important of these games, including the best players of the neighbourhood, was against Huntingdon and St. Ives, captained by Mr. Henry Goodman. The home team won three goals to one, C. G. Tebbutt scoring two; F. Jewson, one; and J. Goodman, the Hunts goal. The size of ground used was about one hundred and fifty to two hundred yards long, by one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards wide.

In 1882 a general meeting of the players of the neighbourhood was held at St. Ives, with Mr. C. P. Tebbutt in the chair, when rules for play were discussed and adopted. Again in 1889 play was possible, and under the captaincy of Mr. C. G. Tebbutt the club played and beat teams from St. Ives, Godmanchester, and district. The winter of 1890-91 should have proved an eventful one from the long continuance of the frost, but an extraordinary lack of rain in the summer and autumn left the washes quite dry. Only one match was played in the district that against St. Ives, on December 26, on the Ouse River below St. Ives, when the visitors made the only three goals scored.

For several years the writer had visited Holland to take part in and witness skating races, and, in the trips made over the country, he was struck with the facilities which the frozen rivers, lakes, and waters that everywhere abound gave for playing bandy. These deserted areas of ice seemed to be 'a sinful waste', and led to a determination to introduce the game. In the winter of 1890-91 this was made possible by the co-operation of Mr. W. Mulier of Haarlem, and on January 3, a Bury Fen Club team left Harwich for Holland. The first match was played on the ice rink at Haarlem before a large number of spectators, and to the strains of a band. The Dutch team was in connection with the Netherlands Football and Athletic Union, and was captained by their president. The English, of course, won easily from such inexperienced opponents.

The teams were : Bury Fen: - W. Minson (goal); Arnold and C. G. Tebbutt (capt.), (backs); Neville Tebbutt, B. B. Tarring (half-backs); H. Wadsworth, F. Jewson, Maurice Warren, Jos. Goodman, Sidney Tebbutt (forwards).

Dutch Team: - Pies (goal); Roothoven, V. Walcheren (backs); J. Walcheren, Klinkhamer, Gr. von Rogen (half- backs); Meyer, Menten, Haas, W. Mulier (capt.), von Manen (forwards).

The next day a game was played with a team captained by Mr. Vrowes, on the splendid ice rink at Amsterdam, round which are held the international races. The result was, of course, again an easy victory.

The day following the English team played Mr. Mulier's team on the Amsterdam rink, and though the Dutch suffered defeat they played better and fully appreciated the lively character of the game.

Returning to England, the last and only match played was against a London team at Virginia Water, which will be referred to. Here for the first time the Fenmen suffered defeat.

Bandy, or, as it is often called, 'hockey on the ice', is too good a game to have been always confined to one district of England. During a prolonged frost wherever a large piece of water gave scope games had been played. Thus, in 1864, a Hatfield eight played a Hoddesdon eight at Brockett Hall Park. It may, however, with truth be said that until 1879 nowhere but in the Fen district was bandy considered a recognised game. The great skating seasons beginning with 1879, which gave the N.S.A. its birth, also started bandy in and around London. The various cricket, hockey, and rowing clubs played games in the neighbourhood of Hampton Court, on the Rick Pond, Home Pond, Virginia Water, Wimbledon Lake, &c., stimulated doubtless by the annual match between Kingston Rowing Club and Surbiton Hockey Club, instituted as early as 1875. It was in this neighbourhood that the famous Molesey, Surbiton, and Kingston hockey teams flourished, and when frozen out kept themselves in practice by playing bandy. In some of these games a leather-covered bung and light ash sticks were employed, in others the ball and bandy were used.

During the winter of 1890-91 several matches were played near London, the principal being Virginia Water v. Mr. G. E. B. Kennedy's eleven, which was closely contested, victory falling to Virginia Water, two goals to one. After this a combination team was chosen to meet the Bury Fen Club, under the captaincy of H. Blackett, and called 'The Virginia Water Team'. For the first time the club left their native fens for the metropolis, and met on Virginia Water the representative London team. As a thaw had set in it was impossible to obtain as wide a piece of ice as is desirable. Some of the Londoners had been used to the leather- covered bung and light ash sticks, so the first half was played with these, during which the Londoners obtained one goal. At half-time the bandy and ball were played with, and the 'off-side rule', to which the Fenmen were unused, was agreed upon. The Londoners increased their goals by eight, whilst the Bury Fen club only made three. It was a very fast game throughout, the home side including some of the best hockey players of England, showing great speed, combination, and hitting power.

The teams consisted of, Bury Fen: W. Minson (goal); R. Goodman (capt), A. Tebbutt, L. Tebbutt (backs); F. Jewson, B. B. Tarring (half-backs); J. Goodman, C. G. Tebbutt, H. Wadsworth, Murphy, and H. Murphy (forwards). Londoners: R. P. Sewell, S. King Farlow, V. L. Oliver (backs); M. M. Barker, A. King Farlow, A. C. Hall (half-backs); J. Ward, G. E. B. Kennedy, H. Blackett (capt.), (forwards); and Percy Laming. In consequence of the great interest this match created, and the necessity of having uniform rules now that bandy was becoming general, a meeting of bandy players was held to consider rules and form a Bandy Association.

Outside the metropolis play during the last ten years has been indulged in on various private waters all over the country, as at Odiham, on Sir Henry Mildmay's Dogmersfield Lake, at Trafford Park, Footscray Park, Norfolk Broads, Kimberley Park, Sidcup Water, Combe, Derwent Water and English lakes, Basingstoke, &c.

At Winchester in the winter of 1890-91 a club was started with Mr. A. Tebbutt as Captain. Five matches were played; two with Basingstoke, two with Odiham, and one with Stockbridge. In 1891 the Thames Valley Club was formed, with Mr. G. E. B. Kennedy as captain. It now requires only a few good frosty winters for such extensive pieces of water as Fleet Lake, Welsh Harp, Edgbaston and Olton Reservoirs, the Norfolk Broads, &c., to become centres for bandy matches, and should the Dutch and Norwegians with their greater facilities for play take up the game, then international matches may enliven a frost when football, hockey, hunting, golf, coursing, and racing are frost-bound and laid up."

References

• Gidén, Carl; Houda, Patrick; Martel, Jean-Patrice (2014). On the Origin of Hockey.  - from which the text of the book is derived