We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2010
In this section also, it would be superfluous to retrace again all the ground which has been covered by J. Strutt in his Sports and Pastimes of the English People (cheap edition by Chatto and Windus, 1898). Here again, it has seemed best to concentrate mainly upon London.
LONDON PASTIMES
John Stow understood medieval London life so well, and formed his opinions on so careful and exhaustive a study of original documents (many of which he uses textually), that it needs no further apology for including his own description of London revels and pageants in this collection of authentic medieval documents (A Survey of London, 1603, chap. XI. p. 92). A considerable portion of this chapter is translated textually from Fitzstephen's twelfth-century description of London, which has been printed in Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, R.S., vol. III.
SPORTS AND PASTIMES OF OLD TIMES USED IN THIS CITIE.
Let us now (saith Fitzstephen) come to the sports and pastimes, seeing it is fit that a Citie should not only be commodious and serious, but also merrie and sportful.… But London, for the shews upon Theaters, and Comicall pastimes, hath holy playes—representations of myracles which holy Confessours have wrought, or representations of torments wherein the constancie of Martyrs appeared. Every yeare also at Shrovetuesday, (that we may begin with childrens sports, seeing we al have beene children,) the schoole boyes do bring Cockes of the game to their Master, and all the forenoone delight themselves in Cockfighting: after dinner all the youthes go into the fields to play at the bal.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
