Going Up the Wall?

Fives is a form of Handball. It is played between two pairs of players in an odd-looking court with a buttress on one side. The players wear padded gloves with which they hit a composition ball of cork and rubber about the size of a golf ball. In Nigeria where the game was introduced by an education officer, Mr Hogben, the courts were made of mud so often tennis balls are used extensively and more are being built. There are courts in other countries such as Switzerland, Austria, Germany and France; at schools in Australia, Malaysia and India; there is even a court in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The origin of the name of fives has caused a good deal of speculation. It may be that it refers to the bunch of five fingers on the hands. There is an idea that fives and rackets share the same origins as the"jeu de paume" - the palm game - and that the name derived from la langue paume in which five-a-side played. On the other hand at Ushaw College, in Durham, where rules for a handball game played in a three-walled court were drawn up in 1808, games were scored to 15 points and scoring was recorded by scratching marks on the walls, in sets of fives and the game went to 15.

It is an old game, but how old we do not know. An article by P F Aguirre in the recent Eton Fives Association Annual Report suggested that the Mexicans were playing a form of handball more than 3,000 years ago. Archaeologists have retrieved a rubber ball from the springs at El Manati in Mexico dating back to the Olmecs, the dominant culture in Mexico between 1500BC to 500BC. For the 1968 Olympic Games, the Mexican government produced a commemorative 25 peso silver coin: on one side of the coin was depicted an "ornately dressed, muscular Aztec athlete elegantly striking a ball with his right hand".

Some form of fives was played by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. There are several references to fives being played in Ireland in the early nineteenth century, but the fives there developed into court handball.

In England, the game has been played for centuries. In the sixteenth century, Robert Mulcaster, headmaster of Merchant Taylor's school refers to "The little hand ball whether it be of some softer stuffe, and used by the hand alone, or of some harder, and used with a rackette.....against a wall alone, to exercise the bodie with both the handes in everie kind of motion." In 1742 the advertisements of one of Thomas Higginson show that among the sports facilities he offers is fives. "At his 'Fives-court at the bottom of St Martin's Street' it was for 'Fives-playing only with Raquets, or at Hand-Fives, at 2d, 3d or 4d a game'."

Eton Fives owes its origin to the fact that the game was played against church walls, often the north wall, with the area between the two buttresses providing a suitable court. Parson Woodforde in his diary records that he gave a bachelors' party on June 22nd, 1764 and his guests "plaid at Fives in Babcary Churchyard this evening". I have seen references in the churchwardens' accounts in Wales of repairs to damage caused by villagers playing fives against the church. In "A description of Caernarvonshire 1809-11" Edmund Hyde states that "fives may be almost termed a national pursuit in which both boys and men very generally and eagerly engage". Lord Torrington referred to the fives playing men and boys of Oswestry who "batter the church walls". Many churches resorted to outside shutters to protect the windows.

It was with the development of games in the new and reformed public schools in the 19th century that Eton Fives became formalised. At Eton, the college chapel which stands in the school yard had provided the ad hoc court for boys playing this form of handball. In 1840 the Headmaster of Eton, Dr Hawtry, had built the first four fives courts, which were modelled on the area where the game was played against the chapel wall. Other schools such as Harrow, Charterhouse, Highgate and Westminster followed suit and built courts in the 1870s. The first set of rules were drawn up in 1877. The first recorded game between two schools was in 1885 when Eton beat Harrow in a one pair game.

There are two main versions of fives: Eton boys were playing a handball game which had been played by villagers and townspeople for years against church and chapel walls in many parts of England and Wales and it was Eton that gave its name to this particular form of fives. Rugby fives is played in a bare court like a squash court.

Eton Fives is played in a three-walled court with a buttress on the left-hand side, a top step and upper ledges running along the three walls; there is also a lower ledge running along the three walls; there is also a lower ledge along the walls on the top step. Between the top step and the buttress there is a hole. The brick work at the back projects marginally into the court. In short, there are plenty of hazards to which the players have to adjust.

How is the game played? It is not an easy game to describe on paper, but these are the key rules:

1) The ball must hit the front wall on or above the upper ledge. Players may hit the ball before it bounces or after it has bounced once on the floor.
2) Rallies are lost when a player does not return the ball above the ledge, or the ball bounces twice or is hit out of court without bouncing.
3) When the serving side wins a rally, it wins a point. If it loses a point, it loses the serve.
4) When both servers have lost their serve, the other side becomes the serving side and has the opportunity to score points.
5) A game is won by the side which first scores 12 points. If the score reaches 10-10 or 11-11, then there are further options for playing to a higher total.

In addition, there are two further features to explain.

The Serve. Uniquely, in Eton Fives the server has no advantage. The server has to provide the opponenet or cutter with the serve he wants. The cutter can reject as many serves as he wishes.

The Cut. The aim of the cut is to stop the serving side winning any points and to get service. A pair can only win points when serving. The cutter must hit the ball to the right of the line on the front wall. He can aim to hit at the server on the top step or hit it down the right hand wall.

At present the game is centred on the independent schools and the old boys clubs, but there is a great desire to attract a wider section of the population. There are a small number of clubs which are aimed at encouraging people who have not played before to take up the game. Both men and women now play: there is a ladies championship and mixed doubles competition. One comprehensive school in Norfolk has rediscovered its old fives courts and the pupils have shown tremendous enthusiasm in learning the skills.

Inner City Schools. More ambitiously, there is a scheme to seek a National Lottery grant to build courts to enable inner city children to play the game. What we are seeking are schools and leisure centres which would provide the space to build courts. They do not take up much space and the only equipment you need are balls and gloves.

As a game it has much to offer. You need to think quickly, have good anticipation, be reasonably ambidextrous and have sharp reflexes. It is a fascinating game and provides excellent exercise for any age. It would be good to recover its popularity of two or three hundred years ago.

Roger Beament
Hon.Secretary Eton Fives Association 1997

Going up the Wall - 'Recreation' September 1997
Created 3rd April 2000
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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