Grain and Chaff from an English ManorSavory, Arthur Herbert
History
Grain and Chaff from an English Manor
Savory, Arthur Herbert
Aldington (Worcestershire, England); Country life -- England; England -- Social life and customs
I am able, as an eye-witness on one of these occasions, to write of an
incident which, I think, has been almost forgotten. It was within a
year of the marriage of King Edward, then Prince of Wales, and Queen
Alexandra. A ball had been hit almost to the boundary, but was stopped
by a spectator close to the ropes, thrown in to the fielder, and
smartly returned to the wicket-keeper. The batsmen took it for granted
that it was a boundary hit, and were changing ends when, one man being
out of his ground, the wicket was put down, the wicket-keeper not
recognizing that the ball was "dead." The umpire gave the man "out."
The man demurred, and immediately shouts arose on all sides: "Out!"
"Not out!" "Out!" "Not out!" "Out!" "Not out!" rising _in crescendo_
to a pitch of intense excitement. The boys watching the match, and the
other spectators, some agreeing with, and some disputing the verdict,
rushed into the centre of the ground, and completely blocked the open
space still shouting vociferously. When the turmoil was at its height
the carriage of the Prince and Princess was driven on to the ground;
one of the players rushed up excitedly, and asked the Prince to decide
the matter. The Prince had not seen the incident, and of course
declined, as no doubt he would have done under any circumstances, to
give an opinion. It was impossible to clear the ground and continue
the play that evening, and stumps were drawn for the day. Next morning
the fielding side offered the disgusted batsman to continue his
innings, but he decided to play the game and abide by the umpire's
decision. I forget whether Eton or Harrow was in the field at the
time, and after this lapse of years it does not matter. The headmaster
always sent a notice round, just before the match, to be read to every
form, that the boys were desired not to indulge in any "ironical
cheering" at Lord's; this was his euphemism for what we called
"chaff," and I fear that on this occasion the warning was disregarded
even more completely than usual.
As a child, I generally paid a visit to London with my brothers and
sisters during the Christmas holidays to see a pantomime, and I
remember an occasion when returning from Covent Garden Theatre after a
matinee we all--nine of us--walked over Waterloo Bridge and paid nine
halfpennies toll--a circumstance that had never happened before, and
never happened again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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