Cricket 1898

468 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 24, 1898 AT THE SIGN OF THE WICKET. B y F. S. A s h l e y -C o o p e r . The first fully-recorded match, found in Scores and Biographies is that given on pages one and two of the first volume. The match, which is stated to have taken place some time during the year 1746, was between Kent and England and was played in the Artillery Ground, in Bunhill Fields, Finsbury Square, London. James Love’s famous verses, “ Cricket: an Heroic Poem,” describe this match, which was the result of a challenge issued on behalf of Kent by Lord J. F. Sack- ville to play All England. The full score of the match first appeared in the editio princeps of John Nyren’s “ Cricketer’s Tutor,” pub­ lished by Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange, London, in 1833. On page 109 of this little book Nyren states, “ Mr. Ward obligingly furnished me with a small MS., written some years since by an old cricketer, containing a few hasty recollections and. rough hints to players, thrown together without regard to method or order.” It was from this manu­ script that Nyren obtained the score of the match. Mr. Arthur Haygarth, the indefa­ tigable and painstaking compiler of the whole fourteen volumes of ‘ ‘ Scores and Biographies, ’ ’ reproduces the score in his monumental work, also stating that “ The Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cumberland (the ‘ Butcher’ ), the Duke of Richmond, Admiral Vernon, and many other persons of distinction were present at this match.” He also informs us that “ This match . . . . is recorded in the *Gentlemen’s Magazine ’ for the year,” i.e., 1746. A short time ago I referred to the magazine, wishing to see what it had to say on the sub­ ject, and hoping, if possible, to discover the date on which the match was played. I went through the volume carefully, not once but many times, and could find nothing. In 1789 there was published an index to the articles, etc., contained in the magazine from the com­ mencement of 1731 to the end of 1786, and to this I referred and looked under the headings of “ Cricket,” “ Kent,” “ England,” “ Artil­ lery Ground,” “ Cumberland,” “ Prince of Wales,” “ Richmond,” and “ Vernon,” but could find no reference whatever to cricket being played in 1746. We may, therefore, take it for granted that the match is not re­ corded in the Gentlemen’s Magazine for that year, as is stated to be the case in “ Scores and Biographies.” Therefore, the only rea­ son we have for supposing the match to have been played in 1746 is because the date is so given by Nyren, he having obtained the same irom the old manuscript referred to above. Now Nyren was not too careful with regard to facts—witness his repeatedly referring to Lambom, the “ Little Farmer,” as Lambert— and, possibly, he made a mistake in the date in copying. In 1746 England was in a very unsettled condition, and could ill afford to allow her greatest men to witness cricket matches. In January the Duke of Cumberland left London for Scotland and for some months was ergaged in chasing the Young Pretender; as a matter of fact the Duke did not return to London until the end of July. On his return he at­ tended to State affairs, after which he was off again, this time to the Hague. That was in November, so if he did witness the match it must have been some time between the end of July and the end of November. But, bearing in mind the unsettled, state of England, it is most improbable that he was present at the match, especially with such high personages as the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Rich­ mond, Admiral Vernon, and others. A few weeks ago I set myself the task of finding out whether the match was played in 1746 or not. First of all I read Love’s poem through very carefully, with the score of the match at my elbow, to see whether I could discover anything in that which would give me a clue. But no information regarding the date was forthcoming from that quarter. I then returned to the Gentlemen’s Magazine, and one day happened to be looking through the volume for 1744 when, much to my delight and surprise, I found Love’s poem men­ tioned in the “ Register of Books for July” as being published that month. Htre was a discovery—an account of the match published two years before the match itself was played ! For such a thing to be was, of course, impos­ sible, but this showed that the poem was known in July, 1744, and therefore the match - of which the poem is a description—must have been played some time previous to that date. There now remained but one thing to do, namely, to find a re'erence to the match in one of the papers of the period, and this is to be found in the London Magazine for 1744, pp. 307-308, under the heading, “ The Monthly Chronologer” (for June, that is):— “ Monday, 18. Was played in the Artillery Ground the gr<atest Cricket Match ever known, the County of Kent playing against all England , which was won by the former. There were present their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales , the Duke of Cumberland , the Duke of Richmond , Admiral Vernon , and many other Persons of Distinction.” The last paragraph in the above bears such a striking resemblance to the one already quoted from Scores and Biographies , that there can be no doubt that the note furnished by Mr. Haygarth was originally taken from The London Magazine. Is any further proof needed to show that the match was played on June 18, 1744, and not in 1746? The mistake, which has remained undetected for sixty-five years, may have originated in either of two ways. Either 1744 appeared in the manuscript and Nyren made a mistake in copying, or 1746 appeared in the manuscript and Nyren copied the mistake. I believe the latter, to be the real cause of the error, for had 1714 been the date in the manuscript the mistake would have been discovered long ago, either by Mr. William Ward, or the Rev. John Mitford, both of whom referred to the manu­ script. The year of 1744 was an important one as far as cricket was concerned, for Mr. Gaston tells us in IVisden's Almanack for 1892 that in that year the laws of the game were settled by the Cricket Club at the Artillery Ground, London. The following is the score of the match : - KENT v. ALL ENGLAND. In the Artillery Ground, London, Monday June 18, 1744. E n g l a n d . H arris, b H adswell ............ ft b M ills................... 4 D iiga te b H a dsw ell............ 3 b HadsweU.............11 Newland. b M ills ................... 0 b Hadr?w ell............. 3 Cuddy, b Hadswell ............ 0 c Danes ............. 2 Oreeu, b M ills ..................... 0 b N ills...................... 6 W ajm aik , b M ii s ............ 7 b Hadswell............. 9 Bryan, st Kips .....................12 c K i p s ............. . . 7 Richard Newland. not out 18 c I.ord Sa<kville 16 H ariis, b Hadswell ............ 0 b H adswell............. 1 Sm ith. b Baitrum ............ 0 b M ills...................... 8 Newland, b M ills ................... 0 not o u t .................... 5 B y es............................. 0 Byes ............ 0 40 70 K e n t . L ord J. F . Sackville, cW a y - mark ...................................... 5 b H a rii* ... 3 L ong Robin, b Newland ... 7 b Newiand ... ... 9 M ills, b Harris .................... 0 c N tw land .. ... 6 Badswell, b Harris ............ (i not out . ... ... 5 Cutbush, c Green... ............ 3 not ou t............ ... 7 Bartium , b N ew la n d .......... 2 b New land .. ... 0 Danes, b Newland 6 c Smith ... U Sawyer, c W aym ark ............ 0 b New land... ... 5 Kips, b Harris .................... 12 b B arris . . ... 10 M ills, not out.. ............ 7 b N ew land .. ... 2 Rum ney. b Harris .......... 11 c H arr id ... 8 B y e s............................. 0 L yes ... ... 3 53 68 K ent w inning ty one wicket. In Nyren there are two extras given in the second innings of England, and in the second innings of Kent Lord Sackville scores 0, and not 3. The figures given in the above score are taken from “ Scores and Biographies,” as in Nyren’s book the innings do not add up correctly. And now let us turn our attention to Love’s poem, which describes this match. The date of publication, and even the number of issues, appears to be uncertain. In the Dictionary of National Biography it is said to have been written about 1740, but this is obviously a mistake, caused, perhaps, by an expression in a later edition (1771), that “ nearly thirty years ago it was the effusion of a youthful mind.” Mr. Charles Box, in his “ English Game of Cricket,” gives the dates as 1746 and “ about 1775,” thus allowing one year for the expression ‘ ‘ nearly thirty years ago,” or twenty-nine years between the two publications Mr. Gaston states that the poem was published at Edinburgh in 1754, and in London in 1770. The issue of 1754 I have never seen, but Mr. Gaston informs me that it was published in a book called “ Poems on Several Occasions,” and was printed by R. Fleming, M.DCC.LIV., the date appearing on the book. The Poems are stated to be “ Poems on Several Occasions which proves that there must have been an issue previous to the one in Scotland—proba­ bly the issue mentioned in the Gentlemen’s Magazine in 1744. The edition published in London and dedicated to the Earl of Sand­ wich bears no date, but Mr. Gaston says it was issued in 1770. I do not know what authority Mr. Gaston has f».*r giving the date as 1770 : personally, I believe this to be the issue referred to in the Gentlemen’s Magazine for 1744. In “ Scores and Biographies” Mr. Haygarth reproduces the edition dedi­ cated to the members of the Richmond Club in Surrey, and, according to “ The Gentle­ men’s Magazine,” this issue was published in May, 1771. It was in this edition that Love spoke of the poem as being ‘ 4the effusion of a youthful mind” nearly thirty years pre­ viously. As far as I can gather there have been three editions of this poem :—1st, 1744 : mentioned in the Gentlemen’s Magazine for July that year. This is probably the undated issue published in London and dedicated to Lord Sandwich, which Mr. Gaston believes to have been issued in 1770; 2nd, 1754 : published at Edinburgh in a book entitled “ Poems on Several Occasions, by James Love, Comedian ” ; 3rd, 1771 : dedicated to the members oi the Richmond Cricket Club in Surrey. This edition is mentioned in “ The Gentlemen’s Magazine ” for May 1771, under the heading of “ Catalogue of New Publications.” Perhaps a few words here about James Love may not be out of place. His real name was Dance, his father being George Dance, architect and designer of the Mansion House. In his early manhood he took to the stage and in later years, with his brother’s help, built the theatre at Richmond. James Love used to write for Edmund Kean, the famous N E X T ISSUE, T HUR SDA Y , DECEMBER 22.