Just how old are the sports and games we play today? A hundred years, two hundred years? And, from where do they derive? You may be surprised to learn that most of them have their roots in ancient history — a fact that’s often overlooked, because sport is not usually the stuff of history books. Throughout most of history, games were played rarely and by a small part of the population. Rulers frequently banned games that didn’t involve practice of various forms of weaponry, in case they distracted the population from the vital task of preparing to be an army. Other games were played only by specific groups — like jeu de paume, the ancestor of tennis, which was popular with the clergy.
Although they originally came from all around the world, many of today’s sports were knocked into their current shape on the playing fields of English public schools. The 19th century saw the rules of cricket, football, hockey and rugby being laid down. And the Empire, particularly the Raj in India, was the source of several more pastimes — including snooker and polo. But it’s not only these traditional sports that have a long history. Even pastimes that have only recently become popular are older than you might think.
Four thousand years ago on a Beni-Hassan tomb, an Egyptian sculptor carved two women hitting a ball back and forth from hand to hand. (And in the background a small group of hieroglyphics deciphered as “Oh, I say”?) Is this the ancestor of tennis?
A wide variety of ball games were played around the world in ancient times, from a blood variety of Aztec basketball to Byzantine horseback lacrosse called tchangon and it was from the latter that tennis developed. It was brought to northern Europe from Greece by Saracen invaders in 500 AD. Played without horses, it developed into jeu de paume and became so popular between the 12th and 14th centuries that every town in France had its own court. This was “real” tennis, very different from the game played on the grass courts of Wimbledon. At first, the game was played bare-handed, with a leather ball filled with dog’s hair. Since this stuffing was very expensive, not to mention difficult to obtain without a co-operative dog, it was replaced by rougher materials. Sand, chalk, metal shavings and sawdust were all tried, much to the pain of the players.
As the number of fractured hands and broken arms grew, players began to protect themselves with huge gloves. To make them bigger, but lighter, the centers were cut out and replaced with tight ropes or used parchment. Gradually, these unwieldy gloves evolved into rackets held in the hand. Courts changed as well. A full-depth net replaced the fringed string — the source of many an argument about whether the ball went over or under the fringe. Although originally played almost anywhere, real tennis eventually found its home in special clubs called tripots. These clubs acquired a dubious reputation and in France Louis XIV decided to stamp them out. From 114 in 1657, their number was reduced to one by 1839.
Real tennis was also successful in Britain — Henry VIII was a keen player and this is how he may have looked with racket in hand (image source). It remained an entertainment for the aristocracy until recently. A small but dedicated group of players keeps the game alive today on a few courts, notably in Cambridge and at Hampton Court. The game that we call tennis (lawn tennis) was patented in 1874 by one Major Walter Clopton Wingfield. He called it sphairistike, which is Ancient Greek for a ball game. Not surprisingly, this name didn't catch on and it was soon replaced by “tennis” — a mangled pronunciation of the old French word tenetz, or “Are you ready?”, which players of real tennis shouted to their opponents before serving.
Shepherds were an inventive lot, devising games based on the tools of their trade. Hockey gets its name from hocquet (curved crook in Old French), while in England, cricket was the name of the game.
Crycc is the Old English word for shepherd’s crook. The wicket gets its name from the narrow gates used to pen sheep. No one knows when the crack of bat on ball first echoed over the English countryside, but a picture of a cricket-like game appears on a Celtic crown from the 3rd century.
In 1300, the accounts of the Royal Household of Edward I show that 100 shillings was paid out for Prince Edward’s playing at creag — a club and ball game which is quite likely to have been cricket in some form. The earliest clear record of cricket appears in 1598 as evidence in a land dispute, but it was not until Charles II’s Restoration in 1660 that it emerged as a game for gentlemen rather than boys. In the first few years of Charles’s reign, cricket became the “in thing” in society.
In 1709, the first county match was played between Kent and London and by 1760, the Hambledon club had been formed, based in a tiny village miles from anywhere. This club became the cradle of today’s game. In 1737, the Marylebone Cricket Club was founded and it employed one Thomas Lord to rent a cricket ground. This ground was Lord’s and the MCC became and remains, the center of cricket the world over.
As somebody used to say, "It’s a funny old game" (Jimmy Greaves), but when soccer began, it was no laughing matter. Two villages, obviously made-up of savages, would battle to score by carrying a pig’s bladder to a goal. The goals were just landmarks, sometimes up to five miles apart and the bloody and violent “game” could go on from sunrise to sunset. The Normans introduced this game to Britain, developing it from the Roman rites of Saturnalia.
In 1314, Edward II banned soccer for causing too much rioting, confusion and damage. The ban didn’t succeed and the game continued to be played until, in 1603, it was officially recognized again and the general mayhem surrounding the game remains unabated.
A more controlled form of the game began to be played in England’s public schools in the early 19th century. Each school played a different version of the game and the rules varied widely. In 1848, a meeting was held in Cambridge to agree on rules, but they were not widely adopted. In 1863, another meeting was held at the Freemason’s Tavern, in London. This was the start of the Football Association, the governing body of the English game. It took five meetings to iron out the differences of opinion about how the game should be played — even then Blackheath withdrew because it disapproved of the law banning hacking (shin-kicking). But by 1881, there were 128 clubs in the FA and the first Challenge Cup had been established. In 1885, the first professional players were allowed. Soccer has changed little since then.
The word golf, which means club, comes from Holland, but no one really knows where the game itself originated. Was it from the Dutch game of kolven, which involved trying to hit a grapefruit-sized ball with sticks? Or did it start with shepherds knocking stones down a rabbit hole with their sticks? The debate continues...
The Romans played a game called paganica with bent wooden sticks and a leather ball stuffed with feathers, but the details of the game are not known.
In the 15th century, golf first appeared in the written history of Scotland. In 1457, the Scottish parliament got very upset about the number of people playing golf instead of training for the army. James II of Scotland banned the game entirely. But not for long.
In 1503, the King of Scotland was buying golf balls and Mary, Queen of Scots, is said to have been the first woman golfer, even playing a few rounds shortly after the murder of her husband. It was during her reign that golf was first played at St Andrew’s, although the club was established later. In 1860, the first tournament was played and in 1882, the club at St Andrew’s laid down the first set of rules.
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