Athletics of To-Day 1929

2 Athletics of To-day town and country life from the earliest times to which chronicles go back. In the reign of Henry II young Londoners had open spaces allotted to them near the city for the practice of athletics. Henry V was himself a :fine runner, according to the bards of that age, and doubtless there were as good, but meaner men whose prowess the minstrels deemed it beneath their dignity to notice. The less natural, but perhaps more scientific, pastimes, such as shot-putting, (l casting the barre," and hammer-throwing, seem to be of almost equal antiquity with running and jumping, since Edward Ill, by statute, pro– hibited weight-putting, lest it should spoil the practice of archery-a statute, which, to th best of my belief, has never since been repealed. H nry VIII, on the other hand, seems to have viewed athletic sport with great favour and was him– self adept at running, jumping, weight-putting and hammer– throwing, but, lil e many of our mod rn youths, he had a great penchant for femal society and was fond of dancing. In the days of Good Queen B ss, however, it appears from the writings of one Randel Holmes, a wand ring North ountry bard, that whereas the common folk took delight in sprint and distance races, high and long jumping, and weight– putting and hamm r-throwing, th (l quality," like Gallio, '' cared for none of these things.'' The uritans se m to have put a p riod to athletics in England and perhaps not without cause. Th ir grievance do s not appear to have been so much again t the form of recr ation, a against the plac sand ccasion of their practice, the occasions b ing undays and the plac s the churchyards; whil the c untry fair f th p riod, at whi h ports took place, usually t rminat din c nes of uproarious intoxication. With the f ll of the Puritan pow r all forms of sport gained such vigour a has n v r ince dimini h d in ngland. Unfortunat ly little or no r liance can be placed upon the "r cords" whicl have come down to us from the period prior to the foundation of the Oxford and ambridge ports in r864 and the English hampionships in r866. or example,