The chief requisites for the game were mallets, balls, two arches or hoops, one at either end of the mall, and a wooden border marked so as to show the position of the balls when played. The mallets were of different size and form to suit the various players, and Lauthier directs that the weight and height of the mallet should be in proportion to the strength and stature of the player. The balls were of various sizes and weights, and each size had its distinct name. In damp weather, when the soil was heavy, a lighter ball was required than when the soil was sandy. A gauge was used to ascertain its weight, and the weight of the mallet was adjusted to that of the ball. The arch or pass was about two feet high and two inches wide. The one at the west end of St. James's Park remained in its place for many years, and was not cleared away until the beginning of the reign of George III. In playing the game, the mallet was raised above the head and brought down with great force so as to strike the ball to a considerable distance. The poet Waller describes Charles II.'s stroke in the following lines:-- "Here a well-polished Mall gives us joy, To see our prince his matchless force employ. No sooner has he touch'd the flying ball, But 'tis already more than half the Mall; And such a fury from his arm has got, As from a smoking culverin 'twere shot." Considerable skill and practice were required in the player, who, while attempting to make the ball skate along the ground with speed, had to be careful that he did not strike it in such a manner as to raise it from the ground. This is shown by what Charles Cotton writes:-- "But playing with the boy at Mall (I rue the time and ever shall), I struck the ball, I know not how, (For that is not the play, you know), A pretty height into the air." This boy was, perhaps, a caddie, for it will be seen that the game was a sort of cross between golf and croquet. Lauthier describes four ways of playing at pall mall, viz.:--(1) the _rouet_, or pool game; (2) _en partie_, a match game; (3) _à grands coups_, at long shots; and (4) _chicane_, or hockey. Moreover, he proposes a new game to be played like billiards. We may now pass from St. James's Park to Hyde Park, which became a place of public resort in the reigns of James I. and Charles I. It was then considered to be quite a country place. Ben Jonson mentions in the Prologue to his comedy, _The Staple of News_ (1625), the number of coaches which congregated there, and Shirley describes the horse-races in his comedy entitled _Hide Parke_ (1637). The park, being Crown property, was sold by order of Parliament in 1652 for about £17,000 in three lots, the purchasers being Richard Wilcox, John Tracy, and Anthony Deane. Cromwell was a frequent visitor, and on one occasion when he was driving in the park his horses ran away, and he was thrown off his coach.