The sports of the world, with illustrations from drawings and photographs . must have been many supperless lads, andsome sleepless ones, in Bluntisham that night, butno punishment ever damped their ardour. Whatwonder, with such a love of sport, when theirfavourite fen or wash was flooded and frozenover hard and strong, and all work was at a15* standstill, the boys and young men should playbandy on the lovely, keen ice. The grown-upmen, too, now shod with fen skates whichwere as wings to their feet, would join in theplay, delighting to renew their youth. For almost centuries this f
The sports of the world, with illustrations from drawings and photographs . must have been many supperless lads, andsome sleepless ones, in Bluntisham that night, butno punishment ever damped their ardour. Whatwonder, with such a love of sport, when theirfavourite fen or wash was flooded and frozenover hard and strong, and all work was at a15* standstill, the boys and young men should playbandy on the lovely, keen ice. The grown-upmen, too, now shod with fen skates whichwere as wings to their feet, would join in theplay, delighting to renew their youth. For almost centuries this fen district has beennoted for bandy, and the fen villages and RiverOuse towns of Cottenham, Willingham, Chatteris,Mepal, Swavesey, St. Ives, Huntingdon, andGodmanchester have met in friendly contests; butthe centre and home of play has always beenBun Fen, and the ambition of all has been todefeat the twin villages. Most of these placeshave, by the improving hand of the drainer, losttheir flooded wash ; Burv Fen and Swavesey MereFen alone remain. Records of matches played. BANDY STICKS. 1. Used at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century by John Jackson, of Ehith. and now Owned and Usedby his Grandson. T. Murphy. 2. Willow Bandy Stick used by the Writer in Regulation Ash Bandy Stick. on Bury Fen date back for a century, whilsttradition goes back much further ; and so skilledwere its players—consisting of farmers, gunners,lightermen, and tradesmen—that it is claimed. 233 THE SPORTS OF THE WORLD
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