Floreat Etona: Anecdotes and Memories of Eton CollegeNevill, Ralph
History
Floreat Etona: Anecdotes and Memories of Eton College
Nevill, Ralph
Eton College
about the earliest record of any regular game there dates from the
first decade of the nineteenth century, at which time any one who
chose seems to have been allowed to play, with the result that there
were usually eighteen or twenty a side. It was then practically the
only form of football popular at Eton, though occasionally something
approaching to the modern “Field Game” was played in the open. Till
1841, however, such forms of relaxation were discouraged by the
masters. Nevertheless, on the piece of grass between the path and the
river in Lower Club the Collegers, up till about 1863, played a variety
known as “Lower College.” This was probably a link between the field
and wall games, for it had “shies” and “goals.” In early days the wall
game was played on a much wider strip of ground than is at present the
case. The bully was not its essential feature, and the ball was often
run down the whole length of the wall. Sixty years or so ago matches of
Dames _v._ Tutors were occasionally played, and during one of these the
ball somehow was pitched right on the top of the wall, along which it
ran for some eight yards before coming to a dead standstill on the top.
The rules were then, of course, more elastic than those now in use, and
since they were drawn up in 1849 the game has undergone various minor
changes, including the curtailment of the space at the wall to its
present limits and the toleration (about 1851) of “furking” the ball
back in calx.
At one time considerable savagery seems to have been displayed by the
rival teams, in consequence of which Dr. Hawtrey once suspended all
play for three weeks, and in 1851 it was actually proposed to abolish
the annual match on St. Andrew’s Day on account of the ill-feeling
which was said to be engendered between Oppidans and Collegers. Of late
years, however, the historic contest is remarkable for the good-humour
shown by both sides. A quaint figure at the annual match from 1847
up to 1888, the year before he fell ill, was old Powell, whose
old-fashioned velveteen coat and high top-hat were survivals of another
age. During his long superintendence of the wall he had seen many
generations of Collegers and Oppidans contending for goals and shies.
After ten years of confinement and suffering he died in 1899.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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