Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/42

Rh 30 ROWING Romans the biremes, quadriremes, quinquiremes, and hexiremes owed their pace to the exertions of men who plied the oar rather than to the sails with which they were fitted, and which were only used when the wind was favourable. Professor Gardner has shown that boat racing was not uncommon among the Greeks ; l and that it was practised among the Romans Virgil testifies in the well- known passage in the fifth book of the jEneid. And the Venetian galleys which were subsequently used on the shores of the Mediterranean in mediaeval times were only a modified form of the older kind of craft. These were for the most part manned by slaves and criminals, and were in constant employment in most European countries. Rowing was understood by the ancient Britons, as they trusted themselves to the mercy of the waves in coracles composed of wicker-work covered with leather, similar no doubt in many respects to those now used in Wales ; but these frail vessels were propelled by paddles and not by oars. The Saxons seem to have been expert in the management of the oar, as well as the Danes and Norwe- gians, as it is recorded that the highest nobles in the land devoted themselves to it. Alfred the Great introduced long galleys from the Mediterranean, which were propelled by forty or sixty oars on each side, and for some time these vessels were used for war purposes. It is stated by William of Malmesbury that Edgar the Peaceable was rowed in state on the river Dee from his palace, in the city of West Chester, to the church of St John and back again, by eight tributary kings, himself acting as coxswain. Boat quintain, or tilting at one another on the water, was first brought into England by the Normans as an amusement for the spring and summer season, and prob- ably much of the success of the champions depended upon the skill of those who managed the boats. Before the beginning of the 12th century the rivers were commonly used for conveying passengers and merchandise on board barges and boats, and until the introduction of coaches they were almost the only means of transit for royalty, and for the nobility and gentry who had mansions and watergates on the banks of the Thames. It is, how- ever, impossible to trace the first employment of bargemen, wherrymen, or watermen, but they seem to have been well established by that time, and were engaged in ferrying and other waterside duties. During the long frosts of the early part of the 13th century, frequent mention is made in the chronicles of the distress among the watermen, from which we may assume that their numbers were large. They were employed in conveying the nobles and their retinues to Runnymede, where they met King John and where Magna Charta was signed. Towards the close of this century the watermen of Greenwich were frequently fined for over- charging at the established ferries, and about the same time some of the city companies established barges for water processions. We learn from Fabian and Middleton that in 1454 "Sir John Norman, then lord mayor of London, built a noble barge at his own expense, and was rowed by watermen with silver oars, attended by such of the city companies as possessed barges, in a splendid manner," and further " that he made the barge he sat in burn on the water"; but there is no explanation of this statement. Sir John Norman was highly commended for this action by the members of the craft, as no doubt it helped to popularize the fashion then coming into vogue of being rowed on the Thames by the watermen who plied for hire in their wherries. The lord mayor's procession by water to Westminster, which figures on the front page of the Illustrated London Neios, was made annually tintil the year 1856, when it was discontinued. The lord 1 Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1881. mayor's state barg<5 was a magnificent species of shallop rowed by watermen ; and the city companies had for the most part barges of their own, all rowed double-banked with oars in the fore half, the after part consisting of a cabin something like that of a gondola. The watermen became by degrees so large and numerous a body that in the sixth year of the reign of Henry VIII. (1514) an Act was passed making regulations for them. This Act has from time to time been amended by various statutes, and the last was passed in 1858. Much time seems to have been spent in pleasuring on the water in the loth and 16th centuries, and no doubt competitions among the watermen were not uncommon, though there is no record of them. The principal occupation of watermen, who were obliged to serve an apprenticeship, used to be ferrying and rowing fares on the Thames, but in process of time the introduction of bridges and steamers drove them from this employment, and the majority of them now work as bargemen, lightermen, and steamboat hands, having still to serve an apprenticeship. For many years matches for money stakes were frequent (1831 to 1880), but the old race of watermen, of which Phelps, the senior Kelley, Campbell, Coombes, Newell, the MacKinneys, Messenger, Pocock, and Henry Kelley were prominent members, has almost died out, and some of the best English scullers during the last fifteen years have been landsmen. Apart from the reference already made to the ancients, we do not find any records of boat-racing before the establishment in England of the coat and badge, insti- tuted by the celebrated comedian Thomas Doggett in 1715, in honour of the house of Hanover, to commemo- rate the anniversary of " King George I.'s happy accession to the throne of Great Britain." The prize was a red coat with a large silver badge on the arm, bearing the white horse of Hanover, and the race had to be rowed on the 1st of August annually on the Thames, by six young watermen who were not to have exceeded the time of their apprentice- ship by twelve months. Although the first contest took place in the year above mentioned, the names of the winners have only been preserved since 1791. The race continues at the present day, but under slight modifica- tions. The first regatta appears to have occurred about sixty years later, for we learn from the Annual Register of the year 1775 that an entertainment called by that name (Ital, regata), introduced from Venice into England, was exhibited on the Thames off Ranelagh Gardens, and a lengthy account of it is given at the end of the work. The lord mayor's and several of the city companies' pleasure barges were conspicuous, and, although we learn very little indeed of the competing wager boats, it seems clear they were rowed by watermen. We find from Strutt's Sports and Pastimes (first published in 1801) that the proprietor of Vauxhall Gardens had for some years given a new wherry to be rowed for by watermen, two in a boat, which is perhaps the first pair-oared race on record. Similar prizes were also given by Astley, the celebrated horseman and circus proprietor of the Westminster Bridge Road, about the same period ; but thus far rowing was apparently viewed as a laborious exercise, and the rowers were paid. At the commencement of the present century, however, rowing as- sociations were formed, and the " Star," " Arrow," " Shark," and " Siren " Clubs had races amongst themselves, gene- rally over long courses and in heavy six-oared boats. The Star and Arrow Clubs ceased to exist in the early years of this century, and were merged in the newly formed Leander Club. The date of its establishment cannot be fixed exactly, but it was probably about 1818 or 1819. It ranked high, because the majority of its members had frequently distinguished themselves in matches with the oar and sculls. They were the first to patronize and lend