Cricket 1898

4 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J a n . 27, 1898 A ustralia . R. W . I R. W. Richardson ... 161 4 Hayward ... ... 35 0 Heame ... 94 2 |Mason ... 41 0 Briggs.......... ... 128 1 Storer......... ... 16 0 Hirst .......... ... 63 1 |Stoddart ... 10 1 M r . S toddart ’ s T eam . R. W. R. W . Howell .......... 70 4 ................. ... 60 0 Jones.......... .......... 67 2 ................. ... 5 0 Trumble ... .......... 39 1 ................. ... 37 0 Noble.......... .......... 78 3 ................. ... 81 5 T rott.......... .......... 14 0 ................. ... 18 0 McLeod ... ... (5 5 THE WESTERN DISTRICT MATCH (XX II.) ( fif t e e n t h of t h e t o u k .) Played at Hamilton, Victoria, on Jan. 21 and 22. Drawn. The total scored in the first innings by the home team who won the toss and batted on a matting wicket was 168; Filgate 38. The successful bowlers were Biiggs five for 25, Storer three for 24, Heaine three for 23. When stumps were drawn the Englishmen had scored 33 for the loss of three wickets. On the following day this was increased to 179, Hayward with 49 being the only man to make a good score. MacLaren retired hurt with 19. The home team had time to make 119 for five wickets, Sherin 32 not out, Broadbent 43. Storer took two wickets for 15. C T o m s p o n t i c n c e . CRICKET ST. THOMAS. To the Editor of C r ic k e t . Dear Sir,—If your correspondent’s query re the oiigin of Cricket St. Thomas has not been positively answered, the following evidence and speculations may be interesting. The original title of the Hoods, con­ ferred in 1794, was “ Baron Bridport of Crick it St. Thomas in the county of Somerset.” Dugdale describes two ad­ joining parishes of Cricket in that county (whose total population in 1831 was 114 souls), and in old maps they may be seen enclosed by an imaginary triangle having its angles at Chard Ilminster and Crew- kernp. Cricket Malherbe lies westward and Ciicket St. Thomas to the east. Of Cricket House my old gazetteer has i t : ‘ •Within three miles of Chard, on the left of the road, is Cricket Lodge, [the seat of] Lord Bridport.” The seat and title are evidently named from the parish and not vice versa. Now for the origin of the place-name. Cricket, in this sense, may be a legacy of the Normans, Saxons, or Britons. Near Fecamp on the coast of Normandy is still the bourg of Criquetot of which, or some similar name, this might be a dupli- c ition. But most English place-names, especially in the west, are derived from physical characteristics. Roughly, within a three-mile radius of Cricket we include a detached cluster of hills giving rise to three rivers whose subsequent courses nearly surround that space. Anciently perhaps they were more conspicuous. Crewkerne (or Crewkhern) which is al­ most, if not actually, contiguous to Cric­ ket ; lies in a valley watered by the Axe ai.d Parret. Chard, which is as near, is said to occupy the highest site ’twixt the Channel and Severn, whilst a notable hill in White Down is in equal proximity. From any of these features the name may have arisen. A more intimate topography and ancient spellings of the word would perhaps enlighten us. The most likely root-words to apply to our quest are: — Anglc-Saxon, Crecca= a creek (as in the Cray and Crays of Kent, and Cricklade, or Creek-glade in Wilts—Speed spells it, indifferently, Crakelade and Grekelade, whilst ancient writers seriously derived it from its Greek-lading colleges !). Cymric (1) Craig = a rock; English, Crag; Gaelic, Creag. (2) Crig=a fissure; English, Crack. (3) Crigyll= a ravine; English, Creek. (4) Crwca= winding; English, Crooked. (5) Crwg = a hook; English, Crook; Grelic, Crocan. (6) Crugian=TOcky ; as in Caer Crugian, the rocky fortress of Cricihowel, or Craig- hywel (Howel’s rock). All of these seem likely but, of course, only one can be correct; which, if any, it is I leave to those better capable of judg­ ing to decide. For comparison I append a little list of other place-names which may reasonably be suspected to have had a similar origin: In the east: North and South Creake (Norfolk); Crockham Hill (Kent); Cric- klewood (Middlesex); Crouch and Crick- sea (Essex) ; Cracknell (Berks). In the north: Carrock, Carghow or Cargo, Croglin, Crookdale (Cumberland); Crook and Crawcrook (Durham); Crog- dean, Crookhouse and Carey Coates (Northumberland); Crackcnthorpe, Crook and Crooklands (Westmoreland); Carkin, Craco, Craike, Crakehall, Crigglestone and Aekrigg (Yorks.); Crook Hill and Crich (Derby); Crick (Northants). In the west: Creacombe, Crocombe, Evercreecb, Crockers and Crokern Well (Devon); Castle Carey, Creech, Crew- kerne. Crock Street, Crowcombe, C.icket and Crockeme Pill (Somerset); Long and More Crichell (Dorset); Craigsaisson, Crickbornell, Graig Gate and Graig Vawr (Monmouth), Carregyfran, Cwreglwyd, Cerrigybleiddiau, Cerrigceinwen (Angle- sea); Capel y Carreg, Crickhowel, Cricka- darn, Graigwen (Brecon); Carregtipcg, Pont Talgareg, Craggynon (Cardigan) ; Carregtaircroes, Carregwen (mountain), Cragfach, Crake (river), Gwyngrig, Myn- yddtrecrag, Pencarreg (mountain) and Pencarrwg (village, Carmarthen); Cipel Cerrig or Curig, Craigygwalch, Creigiau, Criccieth or Crickeith, Clogwynygareg, Pencaregyfran, Pontdolgarrog, Bwlcti Carregy Evan, etc. (Carnarvon); Carog, Carreghova, Cerrigydruidion and Crei- giogisylan (Denbigh) ; Caergwys and Caergwrle or C lergurley (Flint); Llanar- mondyffryn Ceiriog (Montgomery); Crai- gvllyn (mountain), Penygraig, Portkerry (Glamorgan); and Cregiina (Radnor). I am aware that some of these, as Capel Curig from St. Curig, are disputable, but most of them must have come from few sources, and where so many variations have been arrived at would it be ex­ traordinary to find Cricket, itself, acciden­ tally hit upon ? Crewkerne is commonly traced from the Anglo-Saxon, cruce-carne (cross-cottage); whatever its derivation its name may have been duplicated with the suffix, et (signifying appurtenance), in the suburb Cricket. At any rate, I am afraid the place- name has no more connection with the noble game than have Bole, Bolam, Field, Over, B jlingbroke, Watchet, Pultam, Is- lip, Outwell, Bowling, Battersea, Bale, Willoughby, Leatherhead, Scoreton. Peg- well, Wallop, Incline Top, Sharpness, Runnymead, Byletts, Byfield, Catsfield, Brakes, Bracon Ash, Ashbrittle, Catcher- side, Cawton, Nawton or any of the other whimsically suggestive names that crop up all over the country. In the “ Court Directory for Middle­ sex” (1882) I noticed among the personal names, Crickett, Batt, Ball, Stump, Bailes, and a multitude of others.—Yours truly, H. P.-T. Chelsea, 19 January, 1898. To the Editor of C r ic k e t . The following extract from “ The Book of the Axe,” by the late G. P. R. Pulrnan, will probably interest your correspondents who wished to know the origin of the names Cricket St. Thomas and Cricket House: “ Cricket, is perhaps, derived from the Anglo-Saxon, crecca, a ravine, and re­ ceived the adjunct of St. Thomas (the S lint to whom the church is dedicated) ss a distinction from Cricket Matherbie, a parish in the valley on the side of Windwistle. “ With regard to Cricket Matherbie, the same author in his “ Local Nomen­ clature ” mentions that this manor in Djmesday is surveyed under the single name of Cricket. “ Cricket House, I may add, is the name of the seat of Lord Bridport, at Cricket St. Thomas.” GERALD STRAWSON. MR. EDMUND CALVERLEY. To the Editor of C r ic k e t . Sir,—I send the date of death, etc., of an amateur cricketer of some note, which, perhaps, you will like to mention in your next publication. It ought to have been sent by me before, but I accidentally omitted to do so. He was a great friend of mine at Harrow. Mr. E lmund Calverley, J.P. and D.L., of Culton Hall, near Leeds, in Yorkshire, died September loth, 1897, aged 71. He was in the Harrow Eleven in 1844 and 1845, and four years in that of Cambridge, namely 1846, 1847, 1818 and 1819. A good free hitter, bowled slow round arm, and fielded well. His will appeared in the Illustrated London News of December 18th (towards the end of the number). When he assisted Harrow and Cambridge, his name was Blayds, which he subsequently changed to Calverley, the old family name. A short biographical notice of this gentle­ man appears in the Cricket Scores and Biographies, vol. v., page 458 (last page in the vol.)—Yours truly, “ AN OLD HARROVIAN.” N E X T IS SUE , T H U R S D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 24.