Top illustration 192
Middle-left illustration 192
Bottom illustration 192‘RUN A MILE OR TWO.’
‘RUN A MILE OR TWO.’
Training not only gets off superfluous flesh, but also lays on muscle. The sooner the fat is off the sooner does the muscle lay on. The commissariat feeds the newly developing muscles better if there is no tax upon it to replenish the fat as well. For this reason, apart from the importance of clearing the wind, heavy work should come early in training. When a crew who have been considerably reduced in weight early in their course of training, feed up towards the last, and gain in weight, it is a good sign, and shows that their labours have been judiciouslyadjusted; the weight which they pick up at the close of training is new muscle replacing the discarded fat.
In training college eights for summer races there is not scope for training on the above system. The time is too short, some of the men are already half-fit, and have been in work of some sort or other during the spring; while one or two of them may have been lying idle for a twelvemonth. In such cases a captain must use his own discretion; he can set his grosser men to do some running while he confines those who are fitter to work only in the ship. As a rule, however, unless men have no surplus flesh to take off, all oarsmen are the better for a little running at the end of the day during the early part of training. It prepares their wind for the time when a quick stroke will be required of them. A crew who have been rowing a slow stroke and who have meantime been improved in condition by running, will take to the quick stroke later on more kindly than a ditto class crew who have done no running, and whose condition has been obtained only by rowing exercise. The latter crew have been rowing all abroad while short of wind, and have thereby not corrected, and probably have contracted, faults. The former crew will have had better opportunities of improving their style, will be more like machinery, and will be less blown when they are at last asked to gallop in the boat.
For the first few days it will be well to row an untrained crew over easy half-miles. A long day’s work in the boat will not harm them: on the contrary, it will tend to shake them together; tired men can row well as to style, but men out of breath cannot row. At the end of a week or so, the men can cover a mile at a hard slow grind without an easy. If there is plenty of time, i.e. some five weeks of training, a good deal of paddling can be done, alternating with hard rowing at a slow stroke. If there are only three weeks to train, and men are gross, much paddling cannot be spared. If again time is short and men have already been in work for other races, and do not want much if any reduction in weight, then a good deal of the day’s work may be done at a paddle.
Thirty strokes a minute is plenty for slow rowing. Some strokes, though good to race behind, have a difficulty in rowing slow; especially after having had a spell at a fast stroke. It is important to inculcate upon the stroke that thirty a minute should be his ‘walking’ pace, and should always be maintained except when he is set to do a course, or a part of one, or to row a start. When once he is told to do something like racing over a distance, he must calculate his stroke to orders, whether thirty-two, -four, -six, -eight, &c. But when the ‘gallop’ is over, then the normal ‘thirty’ should resume. It is during the ‘off’ work, when rowing or paddling to or from a course, that there is most scope for coaching, and faults are best cured at a slow stroke.
In training for a short course, such as Henley and college races, a crew may be taken twice each day backwards and forwards over the distance; the first time at thirty a minute each way, the second time at the ‘set’ pace of the day, over the course, relapsing into the usual ‘thirty’ on the reverse journey. The ‘set’ stroke depends on the stage of training. A fortnight before the race the crew may begin to cover the course, on the second journey, at about thirty-one a minute. A stroke a day can be added to this, until racing pace is reached. If men seem stale, an off-day should be given at light work. Meantime, each day, attention should be paid to ‘starting,’ so that all may learn to get hold of the first stroke well together. In order to accustom the men to a quicker stroke and to getting forward faster, a few strokes may be rowed, in each start, at a pace somewhat in advance of the rate of stroke set for the day’s grind over the course. A couple such starts as this per diem benefit both crew and coach. The crew begin to feel what a faster stroke will be like, without being called upon to perform it over the whole distance before they are fit to go; the coach will be able to observe each man’s work at the faster stroke. Many a green oarsman looks promising while the stroke is slow, but becomes all abroad when called upon to row fast. It is best to have some insight to these possible failings early intraining, else it may be too late to remedy them or to change the man on the eve of battle.
Towards the close of training the crew should do their level best once or twice over the course, to accustom them to being rowed out, and to give them confidence in their recuperative powers; also to enable the stroke to feel the power of his crew, and to form an opinion as to how much he can ask them to do in the race. The day before the racing begins, work should be light.
In bumping races, if a college has no immediate fear of foes from the rear, it is well not to bring men too fine to the post; else, though they may do well enough for the first day or two, they may work stale or lose power before the end of the six days of the contest. It is better that a crew should row itself into condition than out of it. In training for long-distance racing, it is customary to make about every alternate day a light one, of about the same work as for college racing. The other days are long-course days of long grinds, to get men together, and to reduce weight. When men have settled to a light boat, and have begun to row courses against time, and especially when they reach Putney water, two long courses in each week are about enough. Many crews do not do even so much as this. As a rule a crew are better for not being taken for more than ten or eleven minutes of hard, uninterrupted racing, within three days of the race. A long course wastes much tissue, and it takes a day or two to feed up what they have wasted. Nevertheless, crews have been known to do long courses within 48 hours of a Putney match, and to win withal: e.g. the Oxonians of 1883, who came racing pace from Barnes to Putney two days before the race, and ‘beat record’ over that stretch of water.
Before the start of a bumping raceBUMPING RACE—WAITING FOR THE GUN.
BUMPING RACE—WAITING FOR THE GUN.
Strokes and coaches do a crew much harm if they are jealous of ‘times’ prematurely in practice. Suppose an opponent does a fast time, there is no need to go to the starting point and endeavour to eclipse time. Possibly his rapid time has been accomplished by dint of a prematurely rapid stroke, while the pace of our own boat, with regard to the rate of stroke employed,discloses promise of better pace than our opponents, when racing shall arrive in real earnest. Now if we, for jealousy, take our own men at a gallop before they are ripe for it, we run great risk of injuring their style, and of throwing them back instead of improving them. After the day’s race, the body should be well washed in tepid water, and rubbed dry with rough towels. It is a good thing for an oarsman to keep a toothbrush in his dressing-room. He will find it a great relief against thirst to wash his mouth out with it when dressing, more especially so if he also uses a little tincture of myrrh.
One ‘odd man’ is of great service to training, even if he cannot spare time to row in the actual race. Many a man in a crew is the better for a day’s, or half a day’s, rest now and then. Yet his gain is loss of practice to the rest, unless a stop-gap can be found to keep the machinery going. The berth of ninth man in a University eight often leads to promotion to the full colours in a following season, as U.B.C. records can show.
With college eights there used to be afurore, some twenty years ago, for taking them over the long course in a gig eight. These martyrs, half fit, were made to row the regulation long course, from ‘first gate’ to lasher, or at least to Nuneham railway bridge, at a hard and without an easy. The idea was to ‘shake them together.’ The latter desideratum could have been attained just as well by taking them to the lasher and back again, but allowing them to be eased once in each mile or so. Many crews that adopted the process met with undoubted success, but we fancy that their success would have been greater had their long row been judiciously broken by rest every five minutes. To behold a half-trained college eight labouring past Nuneham, at the end of some fifteen minutes of toil, jealous to beat the time of some rival crew, used to be a pitiable sight. More crews were marred than made by this fanaticism.
On the morning of a race it is a good thing to send a crew to run sprints of seventy or eighty yards, twice. This clears the wind greatly for the rest of the day, without taking any appreciable strength out of the man. A crew thus ‘aired’ do not somuch feel the severity of a sharp start in the subsequent race, and they gain their second wind much sooner.
The meal before a race should be a light one, comparatively: something that can be digested very easily. Mutton is digested sooner than beef. H. Kelley used to swear by a wing of boiled chicken (without sauce) before a race. The fluid should be kept as low as possible just before a race; and there should be about three hours between the last meal and the start. A preliminary canter in the boat is advisable; it tests all oars and stretchers, and warms up the muscles. Even when men are rowing a second or third race in the day, they should not be chary of extending themselves for a few strokes on the way to the post. Muscles stiffen after a second race, and are all the better for being warmed up a trifle before they are again placed on the rack.
Between races a little food may be taken, even if there is only an hour to spare: biscuit soaked in port wine stays the stomach; and if there is more than an hour cold mutton and stale bread (no butter), to the extent of a couple of sandwiches or more (according to time for digestion), will be of service. Such a meal may be washed down with a little cold tea and brandy. The tea deadens the pain of stiffened muscles; the brandy helps to keep the pulse up. If young hands are fidgetty and nervous, a little brandy and water may be given them; or brandy and tea, not exceeding a wine-glass, rather more tea than brandy. The writer used often to pick up his crew thus, and was sometimes laughed at for it in old days. He is relieved to find no less an authority than Mr. E. D. Brickwood, on page 219 of ‘Boat-racing,’ holding the same view as himself, and commending the same system of ‘pick-me-up.’
A rowing man seems somehow to be heir to nearly as many ailments as a racehorse. Except that he does not turn ‘roarer,’ and that there is no such hereditary taint in rowing clubs, he may almost be likened to a Derby favourite.
Boilsare one of the most common afflictions. They used to be seen more frequently in the writer’s days than now. The modern recognition of the importance of a due proportion of vegetable food blended with the animal food has tended to reduce the proportion of oarsmen annually laid up by this complaint. A man is not carnivorous purely, but omnivorous, like a pig or a bear. If he gorges too much animal food meat, he disorders his blood, and his blood seeks to throw off its humours. If there is a sore anywhere on the frame at the time, the blood will select this as a safety valve, and will raise a fester there. If there is no such existing safety valve, the blood soon broaches a volcano of its own, and has an unpleasant habit of selecting most inconvenient sites for these eruptions. Where there is most wear and tear going on to the cuticle is a likely spot for the volcano to open, and nature in this respect is prone to favour the seat of honour more than any other portions of the frame. Next in fashion, perhaps, comes the neck; the friction of a comforter when the neck is dripping with perspiration tends often to make the skin of the neck tender and to induce a boil to break out there. A blistered hand is not unlikely to be selected as the scene of outbreak, or a shoulder chafed by a wet jersey.
A crew should be under strict orders to reportallailments, if only a blister,instantlyto the coach. It is better to leavenodiscretion in this matter to the oarsman, even at the risk of troubling the mentor with trifles. If a man is once allowed to decide for himself whether he will report some petty and incipient ailment, he is likely to try to hush it up lest it should militate against his coach’s selection of him; the effect of this is that mischief which might otherwise have been checked in the bud, is allowed to assume dangerous proportions for want of a stitch in time. An oarsman should be impressed that nothing is more likely to militate against his dream of being selected than disobedience to this or any other standing order. The smallest pimple should be shown forthwith to the coach, the slightest hoarseness or tendency to snufflereported; any tenderness of joint or sinew instantly made known.
To return to boils. If a boil is observed in the pimple stage, it may be scotched and killed. Painting it with iodine will drive it away, in the writer’s experience. ‘Stonehenge’ advises a wash of nitrate of silver, of fifteen to twenty grains to the ounce, to be painted over the spot. Mr. Brickwood also, while quoting ‘Stonehenge’ on this point, recommends bathing with bay salt and water.
Anyhow, these external means of repression do not of themselves suffice. They only bung up the volcano; the best step is to cure the blood, otherwise it will break out somewhere else. The writer’s favourite remedy is a dose of syrup of iodide of iron; one teaspoonful in a wineglass of water, just before or after a meal, is about the best thing. A second dose of half the amount may be taken twenty-four hours later. This medicine is rather constipating; a slight aperient, if only a dose of Carlsbad salts before breakfast or a seidlitz powder, may be taken to counteract it in this respect. It is a strong but prompt remedy; anything is better than to have a member of a crew eventually unable to sit down for a week or so! An extra glass of port after dinner,and plenty of green food, will help to rectify the disordered blood.
Another good internal remedy is brewer’s yeast, a tablespoonful twice a day after meals. Watermen swear by this, and Mr. Brickwood personally recommends it.
If care is taken a boil can be thus nipped in the bud (figuratively); to do thisliterallyis the very worst thing. Some people pinch off the head of a small boil. This only adds fuel to the fire. If a boil has become large, red, and angry before any remedies are applied, it is too late to drive it in, and the next best thing is to coax it out. This is done with strong linseed poultices. A doctor should be called in, and be persuaded to lance it, to the core, and to squeeze it, so soon as he judges it to be well filled with pus.
Rawsused to be more common twenty-five years ago thannow: boat cushions had much to do with them. Few oarsmen in these days use cushions. Raws are best anointed with a mixture of oxide of zinc, spermaceti and glycerine, which any chemist can make up, to the consistency of cold cream. It should be buttered on thickly, especially at bed-time.
Blistersshould be pricked with a needle (neverwithpin); the water should be squeezed out, and the old skin left on to shield the young skin below.
Festers are only another version of boils. The internal remedies, to rectify the blood, should be the same as for boils. Cuts or wounds of broken skin may be treated like raws if slight; if deeper, then wrapped in lint, soaked in cold water, and bound with oilskin to keep the lint moist.
Abdominal strainssometimes occur (i.e. of the abdominal muscles of recovery) if a man does a hard day’s work before he is fairly fit. A day’s rest is the best thing; an hour’s sitting in a hot hip bath, replenishing the heat as the water cools, gives much relief. The strain works off while the oarsman is warm to his work, but recurs with extra pain when he starts cold for the next row. If there is any suspicion of hernia (or ‘rupture’) work should instantly stop, even ten miles from home; the patient should row no more, walk gently to a resting-place, and send for a doctor. Once only has the writer known of real hernia in a day’s row, and then the results were painfully serious. Inspection of the abdomen will show if there is any hernia.
Diarrhœais a common complaint. It is best to call in a doctor if the attack does not pass off in half a day. If a man has to go to the post while thus affected, it is a good thing to give him somerawarrowroot (three or four table-spoonfuls) incoldwater. The dose should be well stirred, to make the arrowroot swill down the throat. To put the arrowroot into hot water spoils the effect which is desired.
Many doctors have a tender horror of consenting to any patient rowing, even for a day, so long as he is under their care, though only for a boil which does not affect his action.
Professional instinct prompts them to feel that the speediestpossible cure is the chief desideratum, and of course that object is best attained by lying on the shelf. A doctor who will consent to do his best to cure, subject to assenting to his patient’s continuing at work so long as actual danger is not thereby incurred, and so long as disablement for the more important race day is not risked, is sometimes, but too rarely, found.
Sprains,colds,coughs, &c., had better be submitted at once to a doctor. A cold on the chest may become much more serious than it appears at first, and should never be trifled with. Slightly sprained wrists weaken, but need not necessarily cripple a man. Mr. W. Hoare, stroke of Oxford boat in 1862, had a sprained wrist at Putney, and rowed half the race with only one hand, as also much of the practice. He was none the worse after Easter, when the tendons had rested and recuperated.
Oarsmen should be careful to wrap up warmly the instant that they cease work. Many a cold has been caught by men sitting in their jerseys—cold wind suddenly checking perspiration after a sharp row—while some chatter is going on about the time which the trial has taken, or why No. So-and-so caught a small crab halfway. A woollen comforter should always be at hand to wrap promptly round the neck and over the chest when exertion ceases, and so soon as men land they should clothe up in warm flannel, until the time comes to strip and work.
Siestas should not be allowed. There is a temptation to doze on a full stomach after a hard day, or even when fresh after a midday meal. No one should be allowed to give way to this; it only makes men ‘slack,’ and spoils digestion.
If a man can keep his bedclothes on all night, and keep warm, he will do himself good if he sleeps with an open window, winter or summer. He thereby gets more fresh air, and accordingly has not to tax the respiratory muscles so much, in order to inhale the necessary amount of oxygen. Eight hours sleep with open windows refresh the frame more than nine hours and upwards in a stuffy bedroom. A roaring fire may obviate an open window, for it forces a constant current of air through the apartment. The writer has slept with windowswide open, winter and summer, since he first matriculated at his University, save once or twice for a night or two when suffering from cold (not contracted by having slept with open windows). If a bed is well tucked up, and the frame well covered, the chest cannot be chilled, and the mouth and nose are none the worse for inhaling cool fresh air, even below freezing-point. This refers to men of sound chests. Men of weak constitution have no business to train or to race.
Four-oarFOUR-OAR.
FOUR-OAR.
The formation of a ‘club’ for the pursuit of any branch of sport gives a local stimulus at once to the game, and lends facilities for the acquisition of merit in the performance. This is peculiarly the case with rowing, and for more than one reason. Theoretically a man might, by unaided scientific study, elaborate for himself the most improved system or principle of oarsmanship. Practically he will do nothing of the sort, and if left to teach himself will develop all sorts of faults of style, which tend to the outlay of a maximum of exertion for a minimum of progress. The tiro in oarsmanship requires instruction from the outset; the sooner he is taught, the more likely is he to become proficient. If he begins to teach himself, he will certainly acquire faulty action, which will settle to habit. If later on he has recourse to a mentor, the labours of both pupil and tutor will be more arduous than if the pupilwere a complete beginner; the pupil will require first to beuntaught from his bad style before he is adapted for instruction in good action of limbs and body.
Moreover, all rowing becomes so mechanical that the polished oarsman is almost as unconscious of merit in his style (save from what others may tell him of himself) as the duffer is of his various inelegancies. The very best oarsman is liable insidiously to develop faults in his own style which he himself, or a less scientific performer, would readily notice in another person.
Hence, where men row together in a club, each can be of service to the other, in pointing out faults, of which the performer is unconscious. So that half-a-dozen oarsmen or scullers of equal class, if they will thus mutually assist each other, can attain between them a higher standard than if each had rowed like a hermit. Still more is the standard of oarsmanship raised among juniors when the older hands of a club take them in charge and coach them.
In addition to this system of reciprocal education, a club fosters rivalry, and organises club races; and, in like manner, a plurality of clubs stimulates competition between clubs, and produces open racing between members of the rival institutions.
College clubs seem to be the oldest on record. Some of them go back as early as the concluding years of George the Third. The rise of British oarsmanship has been traced in apreceding chapter. The oldest ‘open’ rowing club is the ‘Leander.’ When it originated seems to be uncertain, but it was considered relatively to be an ‘old’ club in 1837.
Mr. G. D. Rowe, Hon. Secretary of the Club, has kindly extracted the following memoranda from the Club’s history of its records:—
It would seem that the earliest known metropolitan rowing clubs were ‘The Star’ and ‘The Arrow,’ which existed at the end of the last century, and expired somewhere about 1820. Out of the ruins sprang the Leander Club, which is still a flourishing institution, and which includes amongst its members most of the great University oarsmen of the last thirty years or so. So far as canbe ascertained, the Leander Club did not exist in 1820, but it was in full swing in 1825, and in 1830 was looked upon as a well-known and long-established boat club.In 1837, 1838, and 1841 Leander rowed races against Cambridge, losing the first and winning the last, whilst in 1838 the race was declared a draw owing to fouling.In all three the course was from Westminster to Putney.In 1839 Leander was beaten for the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley by the Oxford Etonians; but in 1840 the Leander crew won the Cup, whilst in 1841 they came in first, but were disqualified on a foul. In consequence of this Leander did not again compete for the G.C.C. till 1858,[12]as the Club considered the ruling of the Umpire unfair.[12]The Leander entry at Henley, 1858, arose thus. A mixed team of old Blues ofbothcolours got up an eight, and qualified by rowing under the Leander flag.Meanwhile, however, in 1843, -4, and -5 Leander won the Challenge Cup at the Thames Regatta, and between 1845 and 1855 Leander won the Presentation Cup at Erith for Four-oars, several times.Leander, however, was as much a social association as a competing rowing club. Up till 1856 the number of members was limited to twenty-five men, who used to meet at Westminster once or twice a week, and row to Putney or Greenwich, and take dinner together. Sometimes they would go to the Albert Docks, and dine on board a ship, at the expense of one of their members, who was a large shipowner.After 1856 the number of members was increased to thirty-five, and in 1862 the Club was put on a more modern footing after the example of the London Rowing Club, and no limit was put on the number of members.The Club quarters were moved to Putney, where a small piece of ground was rented on which a tent was erected for housing boats. This piece of ground was acquired by the London Rowing Club in 1864, and on it was built the present L.R.C. boat-house. Leander, however, were able to get a lease of a piece of land adjoining, and in 1866 built a boat-house, which still exists, though the Club has of late thought of departing from Putney and establishing themselves on one of the upper reaches of the Thames.The rowing successes of Leander of late years have not been very great, though a Leander crew is always formidable ‘on paper’ andcomprises a good selection of ‘Varsity oars. Want of practice and of combination usually outweighs individual skill. In 1875 and 1880 the Grand Challenge Cup was won by Leander under the leadership of Goldie and Edwardes-Moss respectively, but since 1880 all attempts to carry off the much-coveted prize have proved futile.It must have been a curious sight in old days to see a Leander crew rowing in front of the ‘Varsity race in their ‘cutter’ steered by Jim Parish, their waterman coxswain. The crew used to wear the orthodox top-hats on their heads, whilst the coxswain was arrayed in all the glories of ‘green plush kneebreeches, silk stockings, “Brummagem” coat, and tall white silk hat.’
It would seem that the earliest known metropolitan rowing clubs were ‘The Star’ and ‘The Arrow,’ which existed at the end of the last century, and expired somewhere about 1820. Out of the ruins sprang the Leander Club, which is still a flourishing institution, and which includes amongst its members most of the great University oarsmen of the last thirty years or so. So far as canbe ascertained, the Leander Club did not exist in 1820, but it was in full swing in 1825, and in 1830 was looked upon as a well-known and long-established boat club.
In 1837, 1838, and 1841 Leander rowed races against Cambridge, losing the first and winning the last, whilst in 1838 the race was declared a draw owing to fouling.
In all three the course was from Westminster to Putney.
In 1839 Leander was beaten for the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley by the Oxford Etonians; but in 1840 the Leander crew won the Cup, whilst in 1841 they came in first, but were disqualified on a foul. In consequence of this Leander did not again compete for the G.C.C. till 1858,[12]as the Club considered the ruling of the Umpire unfair.
[12]The Leander entry at Henley, 1858, arose thus. A mixed team of old Blues ofbothcolours got up an eight, and qualified by rowing under the Leander flag.
[12]The Leander entry at Henley, 1858, arose thus. A mixed team of old Blues ofbothcolours got up an eight, and qualified by rowing under the Leander flag.
Meanwhile, however, in 1843, -4, and -5 Leander won the Challenge Cup at the Thames Regatta, and between 1845 and 1855 Leander won the Presentation Cup at Erith for Four-oars, several times.
Leander, however, was as much a social association as a competing rowing club. Up till 1856 the number of members was limited to twenty-five men, who used to meet at Westminster once or twice a week, and row to Putney or Greenwich, and take dinner together. Sometimes they would go to the Albert Docks, and dine on board a ship, at the expense of one of their members, who was a large shipowner.
After 1856 the number of members was increased to thirty-five, and in 1862 the Club was put on a more modern footing after the example of the London Rowing Club, and no limit was put on the number of members.
The Club quarters were moved to Putney, where a small piece of ground was rented on which a tent was erected for housing boats. This piece of ground was acquired by the London Rowing Club in 1864, and on it was built the present L.R.C. boat-house. Leander, however, were able to get a lease of a piece of land adjoining, and in 1866 built a boat-house, which still exists, though the Club has of late thought of departing from Putney and establishing themselves on one of the upper reaches of the Thames.
The rowing successes of Leander of late years have not been very great, though a Leander crew is always formidable ‘on paper’ andcomprises a good selection of ‘Varsity oars. Want of practice and of combination usually outweighs individual skill. In 1875 and 1880 the Grand Challenge Cup was won by Leander under the leadership of Goldie and Edwardes-Moss respectively, but since 1880 all attempts to carry off the much-coveted prize have proved futile.
It must have been a curious sight in old days to see a Leander crew rowing in front of the ‘Varsity race in their ‘cutter’ steered by Jim Parish, their waterman coxswain. The crew used to wear the orthodox top-hats on their heads, whilst the coxswain was arrayed in all the glories of ‘green plush kneebreeches, silk stockings, “Brummagem” coat, and tall white silk hat.’
The match between Oxford and Leander in 1831 had ended in the defeat of Oxford, and when, six years later, Cambridge challenged Leander, it was thought by the London division to be a rash venture on the part of the Cantabs. But we read in the Brasenose B.C. records that in the opinion of some experts the Leander oarsmanship was observed to have rather fallen off of late, and that there were not wanting good judges who were prepared for the Cantab victory in which the match resulted. This casual remark seems to show that Leander was a club of some years’ standing at the time of this match. There seems to have been a ‘scullers’ club, hailing from Wandsworth, even earlier than this. But if it had a name, the title is lost. There must have been a fair amount of sculling among amateurs prior to 1830, in order to induce Mr. Lewis Wingfield in 1830 to present the silver challenge sculls which still bear his name, and which to this day carry with them the title of Amateur Championship. The University clubs, when once founded, rapidly developed strength; new college clubs were founded, and eights were manned by colleges and halls which hitherto had not entered for the annual bumping races. But London oarsmanship gradually deteriorated between 1835 and 1855. The cause of this decay is intelligible. The tideway was churned up by steamers, rowing from Westminster was no longer the pleasant sport which it had been, and railway facilities for suburban rowing had hardly developed. Leander made one show at Henley after its foundation and failed to scorea win. After that Leander crews absented themselves from the scene until the days of their modern revival. There was a club called the ‘St. George’s’ which put on a good four-oar or two in the ‘forties’ at Henley; and after them came a ‘Thames’ club, which lasted some seasons, and chiefly distinguished itself by winning thrice running the ‘Gold Cup’ of the old Thames Regatta of the ‘forties.’ The Thames Club also won the Grand at Henley; but they died out, and a lot of local small-fry clubs dismembered the rowing talent of the metropolis for the next few years. Of these, the most distinguished were the ‘Argonauts,’ between 1853 and 1856. They were not numerically strong, but they made up in quality for quantity. They were not enough to man an eight, and the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley was farmed for several seasons by the Universities. The Chester men came and went like a meteor in 1856. Their performances will be found under the description of thefirst keelless eight. In that year the London Rowing Club was founded, and in 1857, being then a year old, it made itsdébutat Henley, and won the Grand Challenge, Mr. Wood in the Oxford crew breaking an oar in the last two hundred yards of the race. The foundation of the London Club did more to raise the standard of amateur rowing than anything in modern times. It created a third great factor in eight-oared rowing, and served to keep the Universities up to the mark. It also encouraged other clubs. Kingston soon followed suit, first with a four and afterwards with an eight. After them the new (modern) Thames Club also made its appearance at Henley, beginning like Kingston with fours before aspiring to eights. In these days Thames are rivals with London for the pick of the rowing talent of the tideway, and each acts as a stimulus to the other. It is no exaggeration to say that at an average Henley Regatta, during the present decade, four or five eights may often be seen, any one of which would,ceteris paribus(and sliding seats barred), have been considered a good winner of the Grand Challenge a quarter of a century ago, so great has been the advance in the standard of amateur rowing.
The Leander Club has been a practical reality once more for nearly twenty years; it has competed periodically for the Grand Challenge and Stewards’ Cups, and has twice won the Grand, but its composition is now widely different from what it was in the palmy ‘Brilliant’ days of fifty years ago. In those times it represented the rowing talent of the metropolitan element; it filled the same position that the London and Thames Clubs now jointly occupy. In these days it is almost entirely composed of University men, past and present. Having vacated its old functions, it has in turn filled those formerly performed by the ‘Subscription Rooms’ of the Universities, which in the ‘forties’ used to hail from Stangate. There is but little junior rowing done or taught in Leander; most of its recruits are already more or less proficient before they join it. It is not a nursery of oarsmanship, but a colony, to which rowing men from the Universities resort. It is of value in promoting sport and competition, but it does not, from the very nature of its elements, fill the same sort of position that the London and Thames Clubs hold in the rowing world—as nurseries of junior talent on the tideway. On the upper Thames, Kingston holds a position of much the same nature as London and Thames. Twickenham are an old club, but it is only of late years that they have aspired to Grand Challenge form; they owe this aspiration to a reinforcement from Hertford College, Oxon. Besides these leading clubs there are sundry smaller bodies, which content themselves chiefly with junior rowing. Such are the ‘West London’ and ‘Grove Park,’[13]the ‘East Sheen,’ and others of this class. Five-and-thirty years ago it was a rarity to see even a scratch amateur eight on the tideway, so much had London rowing gone downhill. In the present day, on a June or July evening, especially on Saturday, half-a-dozen or more may be seen between Wandsworth and Richmond.
[13]Since the above was written, West London and Grove Park Clubs have become extinct.
[13]Since the above was written, West London and Grove Park Clubs have become extinct.
Provincial oarsmanship has made considerable advance during the last thirty years. The Chester Club was the first to makea great mark, as mentioned elsewhere. The Eastern Counties are the most behindhand in the science, although they have good rivers in the Orwell and Yare. Newcastle produces strong local clubs, and once a champion, Mr. Fawcus, came from the Tyne. Mr. Wallace, a high-class sculler, also came south, but without absolute success, some years before Mr. Fawcus. Durham, what with its school, its University, and its town, shows plenty of sport on the Wear. Lancashire sent a fair ‘Mersey’ four to Henley in 1862, and in 1870 the ‘John o’ Gaunt’ men from the same river made a decided hit at Henley, although they failed to win. Bath has produced some good men before now, chiefly under the tuition of Mr. C. Herbert, a London oarsman. The Severn has woke up considerably. In 1850 we doubt whether four men could have been found on the whole river who could sit in an outrigger; but during the last fifteen years amateur rowing has made great advances at Worcester, Bewdley, Bridgnorth, and other towns. Tewkesbury started a regatta about a quarter of a century ago, and other towns on the Severn have followed suit. At present the Severn clubs confine their rowing very much to contests among themselves, and do not try their luck on the Thames in the leading regattas. The time may come when they will acquire sufficient talent to enable them to make a creditable display against the greater clubs of the Thames. The Trent, though one of the finest of our English rivers, does very little for oarsmanship. Some very second-class rowing is now and then seen at Nottingham, and also at Burton-on-Trent. The latter, many years ago, sent a pair-oar to Henley Regatta; but, so far as we can recall, the men, or one of them, was a Cantab (Mr. Nadin), and we may surmise that he owed his oarsmanship to the Cam rather than to the Trent. One curious feature in provincial rowing is, and has been, the absence of any professional talent. The Tyne alone has really rivalled the Thames in respect of producing leading professionals. A good four once or twice came from Glasgow to the Thames Regatta about sixteen years ago, and now and then a fair second-class sculler (such as Strong, of Barrow-in-Furness) has appeared from theprovinces, but in other respects great apathy seems to prevail as regards professional oarsmanship on all our rivers except Thames and Tyne. The later decadence of professional talent on these once famous rivers will be treated inanother chapter.
Mr. Brickwood, in his book on ‘Boat-racing,’ gives some admirable suggestions for the formation of rowing clubs, which should be read by all who aspire to found such institutions. For the benefit of those who may hereafter take the lead in establishing new boat clubs, or in remodelling old ones, he propounds a ‘draft’ code of general rules; it would be presumptuous to attempt to improve upon them, and we take the liberty of giving themin extenso, as sketched by this eminent authority.
Draft Rules.1. This club shall be called the —— Rowing (or Boat) Club; and the colours shall be ——.2. The object of this club shall be the encouragement of rowing on the river —— amongst gentlemen amateurs.3. Any gentleman desirous of becoming a member shall cause a notice in writing, containing his name, occupation, and address, together with the names of his proposer and seconder (both of whom must be members of the club, and personally acquainted with him, and one of whom must be present at the ballot), to be forwarded to the secretary fourteen days prior to the general meeting at which the candidate shall be balloted for; one black ball in five shall exclude. In the case of neither the proposer nor seconder being able to attend the ballot for a new member, the committee may institute such inquiries as they may deem requisite, and on the receipt of satisfactory replies in writing from both proposer and seconder such attendance may be waived, and the election may proceed in the usual manner.4. The annual subscription shall be ——, due and payable on February 1 in each year.5. Subscriptions becoming due on February 1 shall be paid by April 1, and subscriptions becoming due after February 1 be paid within two months; or, in default, the names of the members whose subscriptions are in arrears may be placed conspicuously in the club-room, with a notice that they are not entitled to the benefits of the club.6. The name of any member whose subscriptions shall be inarrear twelve months shall be posted in the club-room as a defaulter, and published in the circular next issued.7. The proposer of any candidate shall (upon his election) be responsible to the club for the entrance-fee and first annual subscription of such candidate.8. Members wishing to resign shall tender their resignation in writing to the secretary before February 1, otherwise they will be liable for the year’s subscription; the receipt of such resignation shall be acknowledged by the secretary.9. The officers of the club shall consist of a president, vice-president, captain, and secretary, to be elected by ballot at the first general meeting in February in each year; the same to beex-officiomembers of the committee.10. The captain shall be at liberty, from time to time, to appoint a member of the club to act as his deputy, such appointment to be notified in the club-room.11. The general management of the club shall be entrusted to a committee of —— members, and —— shall form a quorum; such committee to be chosen by ballot at the first general meeting in February in each year.12. A general meeting shall be held in every month, in the club-room, during the rowing season, and at such time and place during the winter as may be selected by the committee.13. A notice containing the names of candidates for election at the general meeting shall be sent to every member of the club.14. Any member who shall wilfully or by gross negligence damage any property belonging the club shall immediately have the same repaired at his own expense. The question of the damage being or not being accidental shall be decided by the committee from such evidence as they may be able to obtain.15. A general meeting shall have power to expel any member from the club who has made himself generally obnoxious; but no ballot shall be taken until fourteen days’ notice shall have been given; one black ball to three white to expel such member. This rule shall not be enforced except in extraordinary cases, and until the member complained of shall have been requested by the committee to resign.16. No crew shall contend for any public prize, under the name of the club, without the sanction of the committee. All races for money are strictly prohibited.17. The committee shall have the management of all club matches.18. The rules and by-laws of the club shall be printed, and posted in the club-room, and the copy sent to every member; and any member who shall wilfully persist in the infraction of any such rules or by-laws shall be liable to be expelled.19. Any member wishing to propose any alteration in the rules of the club shall give notice in writing to the secretary, two weeks prior to the question being discussed, when, if the notice be seconded, a ballot shall be taken, and to carry the proposed alteration the majority in favour must be two to one.20. The committee shall have power to make, alter, and repeal by-laws.
1. This club shall be called the —— Rowing (or Boat) Club; and the colours shall be ——.
2. The object of this club shall be the encouragement of rowing on the river —— amongst gentlemen amateurs.
3. Any gentleman desirous of becoming a member shall cause a notice in writing, containing his name, occupation, and address, together with the names of his proposer and seconder (both of whom must be members of the club, and personally acquainted with him, and one of whom must be present at the ballot), to be forwarded to the secretary fourteen days prior to the general meeting at which the candidate shall be balloted for; one black ball in five shall exclude. In the case of neither the proposer nor seconder being able to attend the ballot for a new member, the committee may institute such inquiries as they may deem requisite, and on the receipt of satisfactory replies in writing from both proposer and seconder such attendance may be waived, and the election may proceed in the usual manner.
4. The annual subscription shall be ——, due and payable on February 1 in each year.
5. Subscriptions becoming due on February 1 shall be paid by April 1, and subscriptions becoming due after February 1 be paid within two months; or, in default, the names of the members whose subscriptions are in arrears may be placed conspicuously in the club-room, with a notice that they are not entitled to the benefits of the club.
6. The name of any member whose subscriptions shall be inarrear twelve months shall be posted in the club-room as a defaulter, and published in the circular next issued.
7. The proposer of any candidate shall (upon his election) be responsible to the club for the entrance-fee and first annual subscription of such candidate.
8. Members wishing to resign shall tender their resignation in writing to the secretary before February 1, otherwise they will be liable for the year’s subscription; the receipt of such resignation shall be acknowledged by the secretary.
9. The officers of the club shall consist of a president, vice-president, captain, and secretary, to be elected by ballot at the first general meeting in February in each year; the same to beex-officiomembers of the committee.
10. The captain shall be at liberty, from time to time, to appoint a member of the club to act as his deputy, such appointment to be notified in the club-room.
11. The general management of the club shall be entrusted to a committee of —— members, and —— shall form a quorum; such committee to be chosen by ballot at the first general meeting in February in each year.
12. A general meeting shall be held in every month, in the club-room, during the rowing season, and at such time and place during the winter as may be selected by the committee.
13. A notice containing the names of candidates for election at the general meeting shall be sent to every member of the club.
14. Any member who shall wilfully or by gross negligence damage any property belonging the club shall immediately have the same repaired at his own expense. The question of the damage being or not being accidental shall be decided by the committee from such evidence as they may be able to obtain.
15. A general meeting shall have power to expel any member from the club who has made himself generally obnoxious; but no ballot shall be taken until fourteen days’ notice shall have been given; one black ball to three white to expel such member. This rule shall not be enforced except in extraordinary cases, and until the member complained of shall have been requested by the committee to resign.
16. No crew shall contend for any public prize, under the name of the club, without the sanction of the committee. All races for money are strictly prohibited.
17. The committee shall have the management of all club matches.
18. The rules and by-laws of the club shall be printed, and posted in the club-room, and the copy sent to every member; and any member who shall wilfully persist in the infraction of any such rules or by-laws shall be liable to be expelled.
19. Any member wishing to propose any alteration in the rules of the club shall give notice in writing to the secretary, two weeks prior to the question being discussed, when, if the notice be seconded, a ballot shall be taken, and to carry the proposed alteration the majority in favour must be two to one.
20. The committee shall have power to make, alter, and repeal by-laws.
1. The boats of the club shall be for the general use of the members on all days during the season (Sundays excepted), subject to the following by-laws.2. That no visitor be permitted to row in a club boat to the exclusion of a member of the club.3. That the club day be —— in each week during the season, and the hour of meeting ——.4. That on club days members be selected by the captain (or in his absence by his deputy) to form crews; the members present at the hour of meeting to have priority of claim. Should the decision of the captain or his deputy be considered unsatisfactory by the majority of members present, the matter in dispute shall be settled by lot.5. All boats shall be returned to the boathouse by ten o’clock at night, except on club days, when club boats taken out before the usual hour must be returned half an hour before the time fixed for meeting. Any expense incurred by the club through an infringement of this by-law shall be paid by the member offending.6. Any dispute as regards rowing in any particular boat or boats shall be settled by lot, this provision having reference more particularly to club days.7. In the event of there being more members present than can be accommodated in the club boats, it shall be at the discretion of the captain or his deputy, or of such members of the committee as may be present, to hire extra boats at the expense of the club.8. The committee shall from time to time appoint one of their number to superintend the management of the boathouse, and to make all necessary arrangements for keeping the boats of the club in a thorough state of repair and cleanliness.9. All crews sent by the club to contend at a public regatta shall be formed by the captain and two other experienced members to be named by the committee, such crews when formed to be subject to the approval of the committee.10. In the event of a crew being chosen to contend in any public race or match, such crew shall be provided by the club with a boat for their exclusive use during their time of training, and shall have their entrance-fees paid by the club.11. The expense of conveying boats to public regattas at which crews of the club contend shall be paid by the crews, but the committee shall have power to repay the whole or any part of such expenses out of the club funds.12. The committee, on the occasion of a club race or other special event, shall appoint a member of the club to take charge of and conduct all arrangements connected with the same.13. The member pulling the stroke-oar in any club boat shall have command of the crew.14. Upon the arrival of a crew at the place appointed for stopping, the captain of the boat shall (if required) fix the time for returning; and, if any member be absent at the appointed time, the crew shall be at liberty to hire a substitute at the expense of the absentee.15. Every member, on landing from a club boat, shall be bound to assist in housing such boat, and in doing so shall follow the direction of the captain or other officer.16. Any member using a private boat without the consent of its owner shall thereby render himself liable to a vote of censure, and, if need be, expulsion.
1. The boats of the club shall be for the general use of the members on all days during the season (Sundays excepted), subject to the following by-laws.
2. That no visitor be permitted to row in a club boat to the exclusion of a member of the club.
3. That the club day be —— in each week during the season, and the hour of meeting ——.
4. That on club days members be selected by the captain (or in his absence by his deputy) to form crews; the members present at the hour of meeting to have priority of claim. Should the decision of the captain or his deputy be considered unsatisfactory by the majority of members present, the matter in dispute shall be settled by lot.
5. All boats shall be returned to the boathouse by ten o’clock at night, except on club days, when club boats taken out before the usual hour must be returned half an hour before the time fixed for meeting. Any expense incurred by the club through an infringement of this by-law shall be paid by the member offending.
6. Any dispute as regards rowing in any particular boat or boats shall be settled by lot, this provision having reference more particularly to club days.
7. In the event of there being more members present than can be accommodated in the club boats, it shall be at the discretion of the captain or his deputy, or of such members of the committee as may be present, to hire extra boats at the expense of the club.
8. The committee shall from time to time appoint one of their number to superintend the management of the boathouse, and to make all necessary arrangements for keeping the boats of the club in a thorough state of repair and cleanliness.
9. All crews sent by the club to contend at a public regatta shall be formed by the captain and two other experienced members to be named by the committee, such crews when formed to be subject to the approval of the committee.
10. In the event of a crew being chosen to contend in any public race or match, such crew shall be provided by the club with a boat for their exclusive use during their time of training, and shall have their entrance-fees paid by the club.
11. The expense of conveying boats to public regattas at which crews of the club contend shall be paid by the crews, but the committee shall have power to repay the whole or any part of such expenses out of the club funds.
12. The committee, on the occasion of a club race or other special event, shall appoint a member of the club to take charge of and conduct all arrangements connected with the same.
13. The member pulling the stroke-oar in any club boat shall have command of the crew.
14. Upon the arrival of a crew at the place appointed for stopping, the captain of the boat shall (if required) fix the time for returning; and, if any member be absent at the appointed time, the crew shall be at liberty to hire a substitute at the expense of the absentee.
15. Every member, on landing from a club boat, shall be bound to assist in housing such boat, and in doing so shall follow the direction of the captain or other officer.
16. Any member using a private boat without the consent of its owner shall thereby render himself liable to a vote of censure, and, if need be, expulsion.
Clubs are often but ephemeral. Some leading spirit founds one, and, when his influence vanishes with himself, the club wanes; perhaps it pales before a rival, perhaps it amalgamates with another. From various causes many minor clubs have risen and set on the Thames within the writer’s memory during the last two decades; others which were in full swing when he was at school or college have ceased to exist. In the summer of 1886 this question of extinction of small clubs became a subject of correspondence in the aquatic columns of the ‘Field.’ Subsequently the writer of this chapter discussed the question in the following leading article, published in the ‘Field’ on July 17,1886, and now reproduced by the courtesy of the proprietors. It is givenin extensofor the sake of the history and reminiscences embodied in it.