The bewties of the fut-ball: Reactions and references to this boysterous sport in English writings, 1175 -1815
Patricia SHAW FAIRMAN University of Oviedo
ABSTRACT
It is thc object of this study te give sorne account of references and reactions to Furopes oldcst team game, football, te be found in English writings, 1175-1815, laus references te this by then reformed and regulated game effering less interest. A briefsurvey of observations concerning the oldest form of British football, camp- bali, wilI be offered as also sorne carly testimonies concerning the game frornother Furopean sources. The English seurces will be examined, and in many cases quoted. in order te emphasize ihose aspects of football which evidently areused most interest, thesc being essentially: its popularity with the peasant and urban working- class pepulation, as opposed te the more distinguished pursuits of gentlemen,and the exaltation of prowess at this sport: the extreme violence of football as played in earlier centuries; and thc possibilities it offered for figurative and metaphorical explo¡ tation.
Over the last decades, we have, unfortunately, become only toe used te hearing, reading and seeing innumerable reports and debates in the media concerning the violence engendered by the playing and the watching of what is, as professor Emilio Lorenzo, te whom this study is respectfully and affectienately dedicated, observes, “nuestro primer deporte”’, tbat is te say, football. As, however, we shall try te demenstrate in this brief survey, the association of football with violence in Great Britain is centuries’ oid, being reflected in English texts dating frorn 1175 onwards, and ferming, indeed, the principal, altheugh net exclusive subject matter, of Ihe majority of those accounts concerning this sport still extant.
E.s ~,tdu,x Ji,y/QA Footbal! is undoubtedly “nne of Ihe most ancient of team gamcs”2. similar lo Ihe Greek arpaston and 11w Roman harpastum, Ihis Latter according to Seneca, involving mucb “pusbing and kicking in tbe bol sun”3. one of [he earliest European references [o [he roughness of [he game occurring in the Chronicon Montis Serení wbicb registeis the death of a hoy in 1137 from a kick received wliilst playing foo[ball. The ‘word FuolbaIl is firsí registered in English in 1 486~. Ihe game being a successor [o, nr version of, [he carlier team bali game, known as camp- bali or camping. from O.E. eamp. vb. campian, ‘a contest”, “tu contest” (< LI. campus. “fieL] of contesí’>: MidE. eampyngc, vh. campin. as also campar, “football player”. etc. ThaI in sorne versions of [bis game [be bali was eonveyed by ihe fuol, is proved by ihe expression “kicking camp”, ami by [he fact [bat Ihe Promptuarium Parvulorum . c. 1440, glosses campynge as ped¡piludium. The garne involved teams composed of a limi[less number of players, wbose aim was lo convey [be bali, gencraliy an inflated pig’s bladder6, to [he opponenfs goal, the goals being identified with sorne local landmark, aud as far as 200 yards apart7. The English Chaucerian, John Lydgate, like several níher pocís, Shakespeare included, saw [he me[aphorieal possibili[ies of [he game. and in e. 1430, wrote about being “Bolsteryd ou[ of Ienghth and breed 1 Lycbe a large eampynge bail~~s. [he simile being used [o suggest í1w sensation of being casI nul luto Ibe void. In 1567, Thomas Drant, in bis [ransiations of Horace’s Episíles , obviously identifies “camping” with kieking: “Lesí even younge folke secinge you drinke.../ Do make of you mere mockinge s[ocks 1 And campe you with Ibeire feeí”9, and in bis transiation of Horaee’s Ars Poetica , associated camping-hall wi[b [be sínol bali or ihe top. as ah demanding skill un tbe pací of [be player. Ca¡np-ball was particularly popular in the Eas[ern Counties ( Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex ) aud Ihe expression was síjil being used in sorne of Ihese arcas as lateas 1827’’. In [be eaíiy fourteenth ceníury, forexample. ‘a canon of [be ($ilbertine monastery of Shouldbam in Norfolk, William of Spalding, was “run against” by ano[her canon William during a garne of kicking camp, bis dagger aecideníally wounding [bis iatter lo deatb. In íhe section of [be Boke of Sr Albans, 1486. dedicated tu The Biasing of Arms. aud illustrated by erude drawings of various heraldie devices, [here exists a subsection entitied 0ff bullís ¡ir armys Itere now U sItué be shewvt a, whose [ex[ warns ah wouid-be arms-blazoners lo be careful in [beir use of latin [errns, and not [o confuse lalin pila ( i. e. ~iIa Y “a peese of tymhre [o be pu[ under [be pelor of a bryge”. with i[s olber meaning ( i.e. ~iia): “Ibis [erme pila is [ake for a certan rounde islrumU lo play with”: 0w wich tstrumét suys ulber wbile tu Ibe bande aud Iben jhs calde latyn pila manualis as bere And o[her while it is an instrumcnt fur [lic fuote and iben it is calde in latin pila pedalis a fote ha]. The hewties of thefut-halI; Reactions and references... 49 The aecompar¡ying illustralion sbows Ibree wbite spheres against a dark ground. 11w term football, [herefore, was obviously by [lien in everyday use. As was suggesled aboye, [he majori[y of referenees tu foo[bali in English lex[s wril[en prior [o [he regularization of [be game in 1843, are concerned precisely wilb its viulen[ na[ure, whicb frequeníly endangered life and 11mb of Ihuse who played it. Olber texís, however, exalí the manliness aud healthiness uf tbe sport as praetised by ihe English peasantry aud urban working-classes ( in Ihe days when fiat green fields were 5h11 [o be found in [he vicini[y of Ihe towns ), for it must be remembered Ihal, in England, as today, foo[ball was assoeialed primarily wilh Ihe Iower classes, riding, bunting, hawking aud arcbery being Ihe uutdoor recreations of gentiemen. A chroniele concerning the foundation uf tbe Iown of Ardres in Flanders wriííen in 1200, hu[ dealing wiíh affairs da[ing frum [be beginning uf tbe eleven[1-i century, men[ions a tavera where “rustid homines” met [u drink Burton, in bis and lo play fouthall in a wide, fial field4, and Robert Anatomy <>fMclancholy , 1621, points oul tba[ quuits, leaping, wreslling e[c. and foolhall are “Ihe cummon recreahions of Ihe cuuntry folk”, whilst borse- riding, hun[ing and shooting e[e are for gentlemen’5. I[ may be remembered in this con[ext that KenI, in Shakespeare’s King Lear (1. iv, 95), insults (ioneril’s steward, Oswald, by ealling him “a base foutbali player”. Tbere are, however, as we shalJ see, certain dislinguished exceptions [u [bis rule. Finally, in Iilerary [ex[s, the seman[ic ficid of football is occasionally expluited figuratively, providing [he hasis for sorne in[eres[ing melapbors and similes. Tbe carliesí reference [o English foulball is cerlainly not pejorative: [his is tu be fuund in [he well-known Descriptio Londoniae which served asan ¡n[roduclion [u William Filzs[ephen’s Vila Sancil Thomae , a latin 11k of St. Thomas Beeket, composed in approximately 1175. Tbis work was consul[ed by John Stow, and printed by blm in English as an appendix to bis Survey of London , 1603. l[ isso interes[ing [ba[ it deserves tu be quoled al Iength: un tbe day whicb is called Sbruvetide...After dinner. Ml the young men uf the ei[y gu out into tbe fields lo play al Ihe well-known game of foutball. Tbe scholars belunging tu Ihe several schuuls have each [huir bali; and ihe city tradesmen. according tu 11w respective crafis. havetheirs. Tbe more aged men. the falbers of the players, and tbe wealthy citizens, come un horseback tu see the con[esís of tbe young men, wiíli whom. afler tbeir rnanner, Ihey participale, Iheir na[ural heaí seeming tu be aruused by the .sigbl uf su mucb agili[y, and by Ibeir participation in the amusements uf unrestrained youlb’t How of[en, in modern l3ri[ain, aud elsewbere, is [here cause [u lanient INc aronsal of [he “natural hea[” of fou[balI supporters Sbrove-Tuesday 50 Patricia Sitow Fuir,nc,n was [be greal fuolbail day in England for centuries, aud ducumenís from fouríeen[b century Chester bear wilness lo [he fuolbail match frequently played un thaI day be[ween [he drapers and Ihe sboemakers of INc townk It is probable tba[ Layamon was referring lo fuolbalí in [he passage uf the Brut , e. 1200, in wbich he describes [be beal[hy recrea[ions uf Artbur’s eourl, after [be plenary session at Caerleon-on-tJsk, and wriles: “summe bco driuen bailes wide “yeond [ha feides” (1.12,328). [he verb drive being nol infrequently associated witb kieking in similar contexts8. Ar[hur’s eourtiers likewise induiged in borse-racing, foot-raeing, leaping. shoo[ing, wresíling and sbicld games. It is in[eresting lo note ibM Waee, wbo was une uf Layamon’s principal sonrees, does not mention bali games at ah in bis Roman de Brin , 1155, but ralber, jousting, horse-racing, fencing, eatapuiíing, darí Ihruwing and wrestiing’9, and nur indeed does Geoffrev of Munmouíh, su we may see iii Layamon’s une a ebaracteristically Hngiisb intcrpretatiun of enjoying oncsclf in [be upen aid Foo[baii, 1 wuuld suggesl, provides likcwise Ibe inspiration br Ibe gruesome unes in Sir Gawain and tite Green Knight , e. 1380, in wbich Arlbur’s courtiers, [he Green Knight’s bead baving been ehopped off by Sir Gawain, bit foyned wyth her fete. there bit forlh roled”, [he key words here being “feel” and “rolled”. TIte suggcstiun would hardly seem far-feiched if we consider. br example, [he foiluwing real life reference pruvided by Teresa MeLean2: “Camping was sucb a fieree game Iba[ in 1321 twu broíbers called Oldyngton. Irum Darnbill, Cheshire. piayed it wiíh [be bead of une John of Boddeworth. a servant of Vale Royal Abbey nearby. whom Ihey bad murdered”. Tbc tbir[een[h century boy-vietim [o Jewish cruelty, Sir Hugh of Lincoln, isa young aristocra[ whose lamentable story, recailed by Chauccr’s Prioress when teiiing her own similar tale, is narrated in an carly bailad, beginning: Fuur and twenty bonny buys Were playing at tbe bali, And by it carne blm, sweet Sir Hugh. And he piayed o’er tbcm ah. He kicked [be bali witb bis rigbt fuol. And catcbed i[ witb bis knee, And thruugh and thruugh tbe Jew’s winduw He gared tite bonny bali fice. Here, fuolbail piaying, including whaí sounds iike sorne very neal foutwurk, has lragic consequenees, for ¡he Jew’s daugb[cr refuses “lo tbruw duwn [he balI”. and en[ices [he nine year oíd Hugb togo up and gel it bimself, wi[b [be resulí thaI the cruel maiden “stiekit bim like a swine”. Both in INc bailad, where [be belis for bis funeral ring of Iheir uwn aceord. and, i[ is believed, in real life. [be martyrcd St Hugh of Lincoln (2 1246- 1255) was Ihe cause of several miracles, so that if English foutbaii were lo Tite bewties of tite fui-bali; Reaction.sant] refrrences... Si have a pa[ron-saint, Sí. Hugh would scem tu be a suilable candidate In Ibis contcx[, it is wor[h mentioning tbat John Sket[un, in his macaronie. satirical and ratbcr cryptic poem, composed in eharacteristie Skeltonics and entitíed A Devout Treatisef¿’r Oid John Clark, 1506-7, seems tu suggest [bat [be game and [be instrument it is played with, are worlhy of reverenee: “1 pray you ah, 1 And pray sball, ¡ At [bis trental ¡ On knees lo fal 1 Tu thc footballe;” ( a trenlal being a set of thir[y requiem masscs ). It is perhaps no[ a coincidence [bat Ibe deecitful, malieiuus aud quarreisume Jobn Clark should have bailed frum Diss in Norfolk, whose common witnessed nuturiously ruugh games of kicking camp fur ecnturies2. 1 n Sir Walter Seoll’s Lay of tIte lasí Minstrel , composed in 1805, buí situated lix the late Middle Ages at [he lime of [he Border Wars belween Ihe Seots and [be Englisb, a truce is bricfly celebrated between [he two bands, aud “social cheer” is enjuyed by Ibe aristueratie leaders and Iheir followers: “Sume drove Ihe jolly bowl about; 1 Wilh dice and dTaughts sorne chased the day ¡ Aud sume, with many a merry shout. ¡ In riot, revelry, and muí. ¡ Pursued Ihe fuo[ball piay” (y vi, 19-23). “Tbe fuol-bail”. adds Scott, in a note, “was aneicntiy a vcry favourite sport ah througb Scutland, buí especially upon Ihe Borders Huwever, as has already been suggcstcd, foo[ball is most frequently conceived of as a rustie sport: Alexander Barclay (nIS), associates it witb “sturdy plowmen”. Edmund Walier, in 1621. as we sball see, witb “lusty sbepbcrds”, Robert Burton, in Ihe same ycar, with “cuuntry fulk”, and Izaak Walton, in 1653, witb ~~slurdy...swains’v3. In 1711, Eustace Budgell, a cousin uf Addison’s and a regular contributor tu TIte Spectator , dedicated an article, in issue N~’ 161, tu [he praise of country life including a Icíter from a so-calied “correspundení” giving a glowing aecount uf a cuun[ry wake, and undcrlining Ihe impurtance fur a countryman of sbining in physicai recreations if he is interested in acquiring a sweethearl. The “correspondení”, afler watebing sorne cudgel-players, was, he says. diverted fmum a furíher Observation uf [he Cumbatanís by a Football Match which was un Ihe other side uf Ihe Green; where Tom Short behaved himself so weil. that most peuple seemed tu agree it was impossible thai he should remain a Bachelor tilí tite ne,d Wake. Having piayed many a Matcb niyseif, 1 euuld have iuuked lunger un this Sport... Budgell folluws up [bis supposcd letíer with sume comments of bis own un Ibe exeellencies uf oulduor games as offering suitabie occasions for acquaintanceship among tbc yuung ( besides, as Robert Burtun affirms, euring melanchoiy ), and in true alahanza de la aldea spirit, adds: “And 1 behieve 1 may assure my Cuuntry Friend, lha[ there has been many a court lady wbo wuuld be cuntented [o exehange ber erazy young husband for Tom Short...”, [bis imaginary football player thus acquiring what we mighl calI 52 P¿~¡ricia Siia w Fairnian star status! It is significaní thaI, at Ibe cmi of the eentury, Ibe Philadelphia Quaker, William Bartram,, in bis description of Carolina, shuuid comment thaI “The fuotbali is tikewise a favourite manly diversion with ‘Ibe Nurth- American lndians”’24, and in[eresting lo note thaI Wurdswortb, in Ibe cuarse of exal[ing and comrnemoraling. in The Excursion, une of bis euuntry herues, killed in Ibe Napuleunie wars, endows what he himself calís “the inglorious footbali” with lyrical uvertones by assuciating it witb sueb charae[erisíicaiiy romantic phenomena as [he lark and tbe rainbuw. lf [unehed by him. ¡ The ingluriuus fuol-balí moun[ed [o [be pitcb ¡ Of the lark’s fligbt, - or sbaped a rainbow curve,! Alofí, in prospeet uf [be shouting ficíd” ( vii, 743 ). By 1814, when Pie Excursion was published, of course, attempts were being made lo regulate INc game: a less rough version began tu be played in publie schouis, such as Eton and Winchester. in Ihe late seventeenth century, between different houses. tIte rules varying from sehuol tu sehuol. whiie aix effort was being rnadetocodifvand síandardisefoo[tall at Cambridge University in 1843, Ibe Fuolbal! Assucialion, a national eonlroliing and advisory body, being formed lwen[y years later. So far, we bave been recording what we might consider as pusitive estimations of foo[ball: Ibese, bowever, are well outweigbed by Ibe commentaries dedicated, uver Ibe centuries, tu deploring the violenee of Ibe game and, as íoday, Ihe huoliganism whicb it might engender We knuw thaI an Oxford s[udent was killed in 1303, Ny a team uf of Irisb sludenís “while playing balI in tbe Higb Street towards Eastgate”25. and bans againsí footbali-piaying, nol only un aceount uf its rougbness, buí also tu encourage INc practice uf archery, were issued by Edward II in 1313, and by Edward III lix 1349. Sume ehroniciers noted - what a familiar ring [bere is tu Ibis! - thai sbopkeepers closed their sbups when a match was due tu take place, and even religious ubservances could end in fuutball violenee: in 1403 and 1404, we iearn, players from Ihe Sussex villages uf Saimerstun and Chidham, respectively. broke iegs playing foutbail after baptisms 1>’ It is bardly surprising [bat a Nutíinghamshire friar shuuld, Iherefore, analyse [be game as it was played in Ihe four[eentb ceníury, in the following way: In this game young people propel a large bali furward. but nor by thruwing it, bu[ by kieking ibe bali and rulling it un tbe ground witb Iheir feet. It is a ratber horrible garne, 1 must say, vulgar. unwurlby. aud Iess woríhwhiie Iban any ulber game, whieli seidurn enús withuut any kind uf mishap>7. Tbe game was popular tbruughout [he British Isles. [he area around Scone being a well-known fucus for football playing in Seotland: James 1 of Seotland, Ibe author of [he romantie Kingis Quair, like [be fourtcenth eentury English monarchs, tried lo suppress it Ny means of fines: “Tbe King TIie bewries of tite Jút-ball; Reactions ant] references... 53 forbiddes [he na man play at the ful bali vnder the payne of iiijd~VS, buí tono avail ! Indeed, in 1497 in canto II of Gavin Dougias’s King Hart, an aliegorical puem wbieh cuncludes with thc oíd king’s rcmembcring in bis wiii boíh fricnds and foes, we find included amongst ihese latíer Delivernes (Agility ), which bad, in his youth, led him tu participate reckiessly “at bali and bouli”; tu birn, Iherefure, King Han bequealbes bis “breissit arm” and “[bis brukin sehin that sweiiis and wiiI nochí swage...; he brak it at the balI”, ami a little Scottisb snateb, preserved in Ihe Maitland folio, e. 15751 summarizes in similar vein, ironically and tcllingiy, [he advantages uf [he garne: “Brissit brawnis aud broken banis. ¡ Strif, discord and waslie wanis, ¡ Crukií in cid, sin hall wiíhall: ¡ Tbir are [he bewteis uf the fut-baii”. In a note [o bis referenee lo fuolbalí in TIte Lay of tIte Last Minstrel,Sir Walter Scott emphasizes [he aggressiveness of dic game as playcd in [he pasÉ in Seotland: Sir John Carmichael, Warden uf Ihe Middle Marches, was kiiled in 1600 by a band of [be Armstrungs. returning frum a fuut-ball match. Sir Rubert Carey. in bis Memoirs, mentiuns a greal meeting, appointed by [be Seotch riders tu be heid at Kelsu fur [he purpose uf playing at fout- bali, but which terminated in an ineursiun upen Engiand””. In [bis eontext,it is intercsting [o note [bat James VI of Scotland,as James 1 of Engiand, tried tu forbid [he game at [he English Court, it being, he affirmed. “meeter for Ihe laming Iban Ibe making able” uf bis liege subjccts3. Long before the advení uf Ibe Scottish monarch. bowever, Engiisb eummentarists had been dcpluring [he violenee of football. Sir Thomas Elyot, in bis Book named ¡he Governour,, 1531. suggesls [bat ah nublemen uttenly reject buwling, burling and foutball: “Wherein is nolbing buí beastly fury and extreme violence; whereuf pruccedeth burt, and consequenlly rancour and malice do remain wilh [bern tbat be wuunded, wherefore it is lo be put in perpetual siience”32, and [he Puntan pamphleteer, Philip Slubbes, in bis fascinating denunciation of wbat he saw as [he cvii customs uf bis time ( ineiuding stage plays ), TIte Anatomie of Abuses, 1583, sees football usa “devilish pastime” whieh sorne even play on [he Sabbath, and [ben offers Ihe reader a superbiy realislie evueation of Ihe violence of Ihe game, wbieb deserves lo be quoted at lcngtb: Fur as eoncerning fuutball playing, 1 prutesí unto yuu it rnay rather be calied a friendiy kind uf fighí, Iban a play uf recreatiun; a bloody and murdering practise, than a fellowiy sport ur pastime. Furduth not everyune lic in wait for bis adversary, sceking tu uvertbrow 1dm and tu pick himen his nuse. thuugh it be upun hard stones, in ditch or dale, in valiey ur hill, ur wbat place suever it be he careth nul, sobe have him down. And be [bat can serve tbe ¡nusí uf Ihis fashion. he is cuunted [he onlyfellow. and wbo buí be?. So that by this means, sumetimes their neeks are bruken. 54 Patricia Sitc,w h,irn,an sumetirnes tbeir backs. sumetimes Ibeir legs, sumetirne tbeir arms, sumetime une pan thrust uut uf juint. sumetirne anuthcr. sumetime their foses gusb out witb bluod, sumetirne tbeir eye start uut, and sometimes burt in une place, sumetimes in anutber. But wbosuevet scapetb away INc best goetb nut seut-free. bul is eitber sote wuunded aud bruised, so as he dietb of it, or cisc scapetb very bardly. And no marvel, lot tbey bave sleigbts tu rneet une betwixt twu. te daslí 1dm against (be bearí witb tbeir eibuws, tu bit bini under tbe sbort ¡lbs wiíb tbeir gripped fists, and witb tbeir knees tu catcb birn upen INc bip. and tu piek him un bis neck, witb an bundred sucb murdering devices. And bereul gtowetb envy. malice. ra necur. efluí en, It al red. d isp leasure, en ini a nd wbat nul el se: a nd sumetimes figbting, brawling. cuntentiun. quarrel picking. murder, humicide and greal eflusion uf bluod, as experienee daily teacbetb”. Particuianiy signifieant in Ibis ubviousiy biased and presumably exaggerated deseriptiun is [he prescriptiun for attaining fuolbail stardom: “And be that can serve tbe most of tbis fasbion, be is euunled tbe uniy feiluw, and who but be?” Stubbes’ aeeount is undoubtedly une uf tbe musí delinitive descriptiuns of the violence generated by fuotball, altbougb uther brief spuradie referenees cuntinne tu appear in later writings: Thomas Nasbe, in bis Lea/en Stuffe, 1599, uses [be verb tú footbali as a synonym of tú knock: “they fuolbaid their heads togethcr”’, ami Shakespeare refers lo [he tripping up uf une’s opponcnt in King Lear : Oswald says: “Ile not be strucken, rny Lord”, tu whicb Kent retorts: Non tript neitber, you base Footbali-piaier”. A few years later, [he pbysician, Thomas Cugan, in bis medical treatise TIte Huyen of Health , 1612. quaiifies”dauncing, leaping and fuote balJ play” as “vehemen[”, [he anonymuus aulbur uf a pampblet. !‘lugellum or Oliver Cromwell, 1663, associates it witb cudgeis, fis being bulb “buysterous” sports ur games. aud .Jobn Cay, in 1741. refers [o “[be Furies of ihe Fuolbalí xvar’”5. As lateas 1805. Scott was tu coifimení un dic ruugbness of Scottisb footbaii: At present. dic fuut-bail is ulten played by (he inbabitants of adjacent parisbes, ur uf tbe opposite han ks uf a st ream. dic vietorv is cuní ested witb Ibe utrnost fui-y, ami very seriuus accidenís have sometiníes taken place in tbe siiuggle.> Finally, as has been mentioned, referenees lo football-playing were aol ¡nfrequently exploited figurativeiy ur metapborieally, tu suggest, as is tu be expected. íhat an object ura persun is being lossed un spurned hilber and tbithei’, ihe empbasis being laid un [he rapid and roiling mution of [be balI implicil in [be game ratber [han un INc viulenee tliereof: Ibus, Sir Thomas Mure, in bis Confutation of TaJo/e. 1532, suggests the possibility uf Ihe world being conceived uf as “a ruunde rollynge fuotebaile”. whilst Dromio. in Shakespeane’s Comed y of Errors ¡594, prutests against being, as we might say, ‘kicked around” by Antiphoius and Adriana: TI, e hewties ofthefut-bafl; Reocrions ant] references... 55 Am iso i-ound witb you as yuu witb me, Tbat iike a fuotbaii you do spurn me tbus? Yuu spurn me here, he wiil spurn me bither: If 1 lasí in this service, you must case me in icather. (11, 1.82-5 and a characíer in TIte Distracted Emperor , e. 1600. une of INc Oid Plays. colleeted by Artbur H. Bullen, aflinrns: “1 am [he verye fuote-balí of [he stars”, a stnikingiy homely image similar in spirit tu Gloueesler’s “As flies tu wantun boys, are we tu ihe gods; ¡ Tbey kiil us for Iheir sport” in King Lear. Similariy, Owen Feiltbam, in bis Resobes , e. 1620, a series of munal essays, laments “Tu see huw well meaning sirnpiicity is football’d”~, wbere Ihe verb expresses [he sense uf “being played witb”, whilst un 1711, Henry Saeheverelí. [he pulitical preacher wbu was impeached by Ibe House uf Communs for printing “seditiuus libeis” is assured by a well-wisber [bat “England must always have a Natiunal Footbail, and you, al presení, are [bat”! Especiaily evocative is Edmund Walier’s brillianí extended metaplior about foutball as a game “loo rough for jest”, ineluded in bis verses, composed in 1621, un dic danger undergone by Pninee CharJes when a Tbames royal barge was eaught in a storm al sea: As wben a surt of iusty Shepherds try Tbeir funce at Foot-bali, care of Victury Makcs tbcm salute su nudely Breast tu Breasí, Thai their Encuunten seems tuo rough fui- jest; They piy iheir Feet, and still Ibe i-estiess Bali Tust tu and fi-o is urged Ny them ah: Su fares the doubtful Bange... in fine. [here seems little doubt that [he “restiess bali” will cuníinue [o be “lost tu and fro” un Ihe green fields of England and clsewherc for a guod wbile yet tu come: nuw that [be conduel of Ihe players, in cumparison witb what diese English testimonies telí us about that uf Ibe pasí, is so mueh improved. we can but pray lo St. Hugh of Lincoln [o ealrn “[be natural heat” uf [be specíators, [bat “strif and diseord” may no longer be Ihe watebwords uf wbat, for rnany. is stili, as G. M. Trevelyan put it, “[he aeknowledged king of games” 56 Patricia .5/ittw Enirnio,, N (MES t de 1/cv, ¡ la fi i s iii u miaati ag st u dy of Li anglie¡sino en la bpañ a de it . a El Espííño Lengua en Ebullición -Madrid. 1966, pp. 67—8. W. End re aad L. Zaia dv: tun ant! Canjes in Oid Europe . Budapest. 986, p. 99. ‘Ibid. op. cii. p.l 1 n Tite Boke of Si. Aibans : see be iuw, aole 13). (1. M. Ticveiyan: llVigland itude,- tlíe Sluarís . 1 9t)4. Pci ican E uoks. 196<), p. 65: “E ut 1 be acknowicdgcd king of ganies was faotbaii...The busbandaica. when Ibid. Qauted ja Eadrei anO Zoinay, up. cit.. piOO. Acís ofJames 1 ofSeotianá , e. 18. 2I5, Ed. W. A. Craigie. Tite 23 Magdaien Coliege. Cambridge: Maitiand Fuljo MS. p. Mañ/ant] Fc/jo MS. 1. Scottish Text Sodety, NS. 7. 1919. p.242. ‘“Op. cit.. p.I62. CM. Treveiyan, op. cit., p.65. ‘2 Book 1. cbapter 27. Ouoted bv John Dover Wiisoa: Life in Sitakespeare’s EnglanO , Pelican Books. 1951, pp.38-9. “Thomas Nashe: Works , Ed. A.B.Grusar<, y, p.268. John Cay: Trivia , 1714.11, pi26. ‘“Op. cit., pl62. Resolves . II, lxxxiii, GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Armitage, J. (1977). Man att/ay. Nine Centuries of mensure Making. London. Endi-ei,W. and Zulnay, L. (1986). Fun ant] Cc/mes lfl Oid Europe. Corvina Kiadó, Budapest. Gilimeister, Heiner (1981). The Oi-igin of Eui-opean Bali Games.Stat]ion. 7. Gilímeisíer, Heinei-. (1985). Linguisties and Sponts Histui-iography. Stadion II. MacLean, Teresa. (Undated). Tite EngIisit at PIay in tite Mit]t]Ie Ages . Kensal. Pness, Bei-kshii-c. Sbeai-inan, M. & Vincent, JE. (1885) FaotbalI: its Historyfor Five Centicries. London. Stnutt. J. (1801). Tite Sports ant] Pasí’i¡nes of tite People of Engiant]from tite Ear/iest Periot] tu tite Present Time. London.