CLASS AND SPORT
PUTTING ON A SHOW
Convention set country activities in some ancient Greek landscape and contemporary poetry made popular the pastoral genre with its Arcadian shepherds. Dover used real shepherds and involved local gentry in his re-enactments of Greek games. The centrepiece was a portable wooden ‘Dover Castle’, which was dismantled after the Games and stored for the following year. This incorporated cannon that loudly fired blanks with real gunpowder, at a time when royal permission was needed for supplies of powder. The Games were not strictly reflective of the Greek Olympics (and were held annually rather than every four years), but by 1636 the term ‘Olimpick’ was fully accepted.
Dover maintained firm control over proceedings, ensuring the Games were peaceful and orderly, and therefore suitable for gentry. His position was signalled by his riding a horse while wearing the King’s second-hand clothes, which included a hat, feather and ruff. This was not as bizarre as it might sound today. Wearing such clothes sent a powerful message, highlighting royal patronage. They were undoubtedly first given by the King to Porter, who then passed them to Dover, in part to encourage his enterprise. Clothing was valuable in the 17th century and not thrown away, regularly being left in people’s wills. And the King had clothes to spare: one five-year period saw him buy 60 new cloaks, more than eight waistcoats, a new suit every 10 days, a new pair of stockings, boots and garters every four or five days and a new pair of gloves every day! What would he have done if there had been a Primark back then?
Importantly, clothes defined a person’s occupation, religious beliefs and social status. It’s worth noting that Dover’s wearing a feather in his hat and a ruff raised the ire of Puritans, who believed that even such small acts could lead to sin and an eternity in Hell, as did holding the Games on the Whitsun holiday. Puritans were viewed by many (correctly, as it turned out) as a sect whose beliefs challenged monarchical authority; dressing as he did, then, was a political statement by Dover.
Dover made sure that the Games were inclusive, and his belief that they functioned to bring rich and poor together and create social harmony was possibly why they caught the public’s imagination. The feasting that took place ensured that the lower orders were fed too. In addition, Dover provided favours and prizes for event winners. These included silver awards for the gentry for certain sports, to be returned each year. Shepherds and workers are understood to have received money as prizes.
The mores of 17th century England meant that being completely faithful to the Greek Olympics was not possible. In Greece, keeping fit and physically skilled was part of an educated man’s lifestyle. By contrast, Christianity placed emphasis on the soul, although 17th century sports could act as legitimised preparation for war. Whereas Greeks were naked or in full armour during sports, the English competed wearing doublet and hose. The ‘Olimpick’ sports included athletic exercises, which maintained fitness, such as running, leaping, wrestling, and spurning the bar (similar to tossing the caber in Highland Games).
Backswords was a martial sport fought with a wooden sword and a dagger. Weapons were held high, with scores made when the head was hit and blood drawn – body blows did not count. Serious injury, such as losing an eye, was not unknown. Some sports that took place that were not on the King’s approved list were headstands (which he dismissed as tumbling tricks for comedians and acrobats) and throwing the sledge or hammer. There is uncertainty about whether bare-fist fighting was included.
The likely original form of wrestling at the ‘Olimpicks’ was Cotswold Wrestling, similar to the Cornish and Cumberland versions, which involved gripping the opponent’s shoulders and attempting to trip or throw him to the ground. This eventually evolved into a very localised version known as Shin Kicking (see below). The referees were known as sticklers, believed to have led to the phrase “a stickler for the rules”.
wrestling evolved into a very localised version known as shin kicking