Cricket 1900

414 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 13, 1900. E X T R A C T S F R O M “ T H E L I F E A N D T I M E S O F F R E D E R I C K R E Y N O L D S .” W RITTEN B Y HIMSELF. Frederick Reynolds, an old dramatist, was born November 1st, 1764, and com ­ menced to write plays, principally come­ dies, when he was nineteen years old. and continued to write for the stage until he was sixty years of age.- Contemporary w ith M rs. Siddons (actress) and Charles K em ble (actor). The follow ing extracts from his autobiography relative to cricket (see “ Cricket Scores and B iogra­ phies,” vol. i., p. 188) have been selected b y M r. F . G . H arding : — “ N o tw ith sta n d in g this success,* and m y natural propensity towards the drama, yet it at this period only afforded me a secondary pleasure. The love of a mere pastime of cricket was the first; and at length increased to such a height, that the day I was proposed as a member of the M trylebone Club, then in its highest fashion, I waited at the Portland Coffee House to hear from Tom Lord the result of the ballot w ith more anxiety than I experienced the month before, while exp ec'ing the deci-ion of tbe audience ou m y new play. Being unanimously elected, I immediately as- su ned the sky- blue dress, the uniform of the club, and foon thoroughly entered into all the spirit of this new and gay scene. T be members then in the club, who were the most regular in their atten­ dance, were the late Duke of Richmond, the prespnt Lord W in ch el-et, Lord D irnley, Lord Cardigan, Lord Frederick Beaucl-rc, the Honourable John and Henry Tufton, General B ligh ,an d Richard Leigh (a gentleman of large landed pro­ perty in K >nt, and the great match­ maker). the Duke of Dorset, Sir Horace M ann, the Honourable Thomas Twisleton, Charles Anguish, Paw lett, Louch, and Dehany. T be club was occasionally attended by the present Marquis of Hertford, the late Lord Thanet, and sometimes honoured with the presume of Duchesses of R ich­ mond and G >rdon, L ad y W allace, and other l-tdies. Such was dramatis person® of what often proved in representation, “ A ryhte pyth y, pleasant, and merie comedie.” f Before, however, I introduce m y readers to the members of this club, I must beg leave to whisper in his ear a word or two, illustrative of its character. To club w it, and club society, of that period, and most particularly to the one under considera­ tion, m ay be appropriately applied the thought of Montecuculi, as only three single points were necessary to effect the supposed existence of the former, and the real happiness of the latter, viz , first, practical jo k es; second, practical jo k es; and third, practical jokes. The Duke of Richmond was one of the best players in our drama, not as a cricketer, but as a companion. Soon after my election into •His play, “ How to Grow Rich.” + Vide title-page to “ Gammer Gurton’s Needle,” by the Bishop of Bath and Wells. the club, I attended a grand county match, at M oulsev Hurst. Our head­ quarters being at K ingston, the Duke was one of our party, asking me, the follow ing morning, whether I would rather ride to the cricket ground, offered the loan of one of his horses. I accepte 1 the proposal, and starting together, we continued our route gaily and cheerfully, without “ peril or adventure,” till we encountered a party of soldiers, when to m y utter alarm, and to the surprise of the red coats, the horse I rode began capering, curvetting, and pirouetting so perfectly, a la Yestris, that like another John Gilpin, I first lost my hat, then m y balance, and then pitched on the ground ; bu t instead of alighting on m y head, I unaccountably found m y­ self on m y feet, staring m y dancing partner full in the face; astounded, and wondering “ what trick he would play next.” Lord W inchelsea was a good cricketer, a most liberal supporter of the game, and as well known, a man of elegant and accomplished manners, but he was considviably too precise and too punc­ tilious to descend to m ix in what the grave would term the boyish buffooneries of the club. Lord Thanet and Lord D irnley also stood aloof, and watched the “ tu g of w a r” from the distance. Lord Cardigan would w illingly have followed these examples, had the wags always been equally inclined to permit him ; but he, like myself and others, may remember their quips and cranks on various occasions. L ord Frederick Beauclerc both in the club room and the field preserved “ the even tenour of his way ” ; never pro­ posing the aforesaid quips and cranks, though hiscompassionablequalities seldom allowed him to oppose them . The excep­ tions being made, it may be guessed, by a reference to a previous enumeration of the principal members of the club, of whom the majority of “ the hoaxers” consisted. In the field Lord Frederick Beauclerc stood unrivalled; indeed, altogether he may certainly be considered the first cricketer of the day. I say altogether, beciuse no man could equal David Harris in bow ling, or surpass Tom W alker in batting, or Hamm ond iu w icket-keeping, yet L ord Frederick united in himself ail these three great points in the gam e in so considerable a degree, that he may fairly be called the Crichton of cricket. I never can forget (nor either can he sus­ pect) when I played with him a single­ wicket match for no inconsiderable wager. During the ten innings he gave me to his one, I succeeded in hitting away some of his “ high home and easy balls,” and in getting a number of runs just sufficient to completely exhaust m y strength, and make me feel that when he “ went io ,” I m ight as well endeavoured to bow l down the Monument as Lord Frederick’ s wicket. M aking the attem pt, however, after an hour’s Sysiphean labour, and something like a fit, I abandoned the hopeless con­ test, and with it flesh, muney, and O lympic reputation. Lord Thanet’s brothers, John and Henry Tufton, were to me both m y right and left hands during each cricket cam ­ paign ; for such it really w as— marching from M ay till September from place to place. John Tufton, who under a grave, reserve manner, concealed an unbounded love and fund of humour, was one of the principal “ convivials” in our club. Though not a first-rate cricketer, he was what is called a safe o n e; would that I could add he was also a safe driver. This gentleman’s brother, H enry Tufton, was one of the handsomest young men about town, and as recherche for his pleasantry as admired for his gentlemanly bearing and lofty spirit; both as a cricketer and companion, he always proved himself one of the greatest acquisitions in the club. W ith him too I must be vain enough to play a single-w icket m atch; which ter­ minated very differently and far more unpleasantly than the previous one with L ord Frederick ; for a ball from m y bat struck m y friend w ith so much force on the left arm that the bone was broken by it. A surgeon, of the name of Robinson, being on the ground during the occurrence of the accident, immediately set it ; and to show at once the firmness and mildness of H enry Tufton’s disposition, his first wish after the conclusion of the painful operation was to see me. I obeyed, when to m y infinite relief and gratification, I found him in very good spirits, and he instantly observed with a sm ile, “ R ey­ nolds, Lord Frederick hitherto has never fractured anything but wickets, so play him again.” Sir Horace M ann, long called the king of cricket (as he was principal maker of the different matches, and always kept open table for th« whole club at his seat near Maidstone, and at his home in M ar­ gate). was, like L ord W inchelsea, one of the good, old courtly school, and a per­ sonage of eq u il decorum and punctilio. Y e t, notwithstanding his hospitality, his excellent manners, and his universal popularity, he was too frequently made the object of the buffooneries of his less decorous associates. Richard L eigh, as a maker of matches and a general promoter of cricket, as the observer of an hospitality almost feudal, at his seat near W ilm in gton ; as the sup­ porter and superintendent of the private plays at the R oyal Kentish Bowm an’s L odge, where M iss M ellon, now M rs. Coutts, was the favourite actress ; and as the donor of the most splendid musical treats, in which Harrison, K n yvett, Sale, Suett, and D ignum , and others of almost equal celebrity, conjoined their talent, as last induced us of the cricket club to pro­ nounce that though our worthy baronet. Sir Horace, was justly termed the king of the noble gam e, it must be confessed that our Kentish squire was the viceroy over him. The decision of such competent judges in the affairs of cricket, was equal to that of the old Marechale de Boufflers, in affairs of to n ; and so substantiated the validity of L eigh ’s pretentions, that, at length, his greatest rival, the Duchess of Gordon, was compelled publicly to ac­ knowledge that, “ Though I am the first, you are the Becond m atch-maker in E ngland, M r. L eigh .” I could expatiate for ever ou m y cricket reminiscences; the