150 YEARS OF FIVES AT ETON
Report by M.D. Constantinidi
Whether the editor of this Year Book knew something I didn't when I was asked to write this article on Fives at Eton, or whether it was just a coincidence, I still don't know. But the fact is that it is exactly 150 years since the first purpose-built Fives courts were built at Eton under the direction of Dr Hawtrey, one of its great 19th century Headmasters.
The Early days of Fives
The early days of Fives are shrouded in a good deal of mystery as is the very name. Hitting a ball against a wall is a basic instinct of man and it is well known that by the twelfth century, ball games were being played in Europe. The Encyclopaedia Britannica tells us that "the origin of the game, Fives, is probably the French "jeu de paume" tennis played with the hand, (paume meaning palm of the hand,) in that case being eventually superseded by the racket. Fives and rackets are probably both descended from the jeu de paume of which they are simplified forms. The name Fives may be derived from la langue paume in which five a side played, or from the five fingers, or from the fact that five points had to be made by the winners."
In the days when there were few purpose built games courts, men played all games against any wall which was available - indeed one of the original courts for Rackets was in the Fleet Prison.
The Origin of the Eton Fives Court
The buttresses of cathedrals and churches were particularly convenient so it is not surprising that those of College Chapel standing as it does in School Yard, the centre of school life at Eton, provided natural courts for the boys to play in. The difference at Eton to any other school or cathedral cloister, was that at Eton one bay formed by the buttresses was quite different to all the others. This is the one where the steps down from the Chapel meet the buttress. As David Egerton says in his chapter on Eton Fives in the Lonsdale Library Book of Rackets, Squash-Rackets, Tennis, Fives and Badminton, "there is an intrinsic superiority of any game which includes a hazard, over any game which is not so fortunate."
It is still a source of surprise to me how very like the original Chapel buttresses is the modern Fives Court. To all intents and purposes, the only difference is that there were no side walls in the bottom half of the court.
By the early nineteenth century, we have to assume that Fives was beginning to become part of school life, just as was the Eton Wall game. Both sports had the great advantage that they needed no special equipment; in fact just walls! Fives must have been an especially convenient game to play; right in the middle of School Yard; games could be played at more or less any time; or for any length of time.
As the Fives Court was situated in School Yard, next to College, it is probable that the Collegers (Scholars) had preferential rights about when they played over those of the other boys (Oppidans) who lived in the town, just as they did at the Wall Game. There is a reference in the Fives Books kept by the Keepers (Captains) of Fives, to the fact that in the early part of the 20th century, College (only 70 boys) still had an allocation of Fives Courts out of all proportion to the number of boys, compared to the rest of the school. This was attributed to the fact that the original court was part of College Chapel.
The first purpose-built courts
But to come back to 1840 and the first tangible fact we have, Dr Hawtrey laid the foundation stone for the four purpose built Fives Courts.
It is on these four courts, built along the Eton Wick Road, that all further Eton Fives Courts are based. In fact, all other courts are just two inches narrower and one inch shorter than Dr Hawtrey's original courts. This is because the original courts were built of sandstone and after a few years they had to be surfaced with cement, one inch being laid on all round. It is also improbable that the step at the back of the court would exist but for the situation of the original courts. They were built on gravel soil and were subject to occasional flooding and so were raised some five inches off the ground level.
The four original Courts were soon clearly not sufficient and in 1847 eight more Courts were built. This was, of course, the era when organised games of all types were being formalised; William Webb Ellis had picked up the ball at Rugby in 1823; the Henley Regatta had started; association football was being played. But we can judge how important a part Fives played in Eton life because you can find in College Library a tour page printed sheet entirely devoted to verses in Greek, Latin, German, Italian and French on the subject of Fives or, as it is referred to in the Greek verse TTEUTTTOS while the title of the French verse is "La Balle au Mur ou les vicissitudes de la vie humaine!"
The first recorded winners at Fives
By the side of the Fives Courts at Eton there is a board headed simply "Winners of the Fives" and here we find that the first recorded winners were T.F. BAGGE & F.H. NORMAN in 1857.
In 1863. the Eton Chronicle was published for the first time and in the edition of 28th January 1863, we read "The two new Fives Walls are rapidly progressing but on account of the great care that is required to build them perfectly even, they must take some little time longer before they can be completed. The total cost of these courts will be upward of 250 pounds." Then in the Chronicle for 21st April 1864 we find "The two new Fives Walls were completed."
In 1869, the "Winners of House Fives" have begun to be recorded, being won that year by the Rev. E. Warre's House.
The growing popularity of the game meant that still more Courts were needed and A.C. Ainger persuaded Old Etonians to subscribe sufficient money to build twelve new Courts and then "saddled each house with the task of building a Court for itself." The new Courts were built at the side of the Field at Eton, which has been the site of the Fives Courts ever since. They were opened in 1871. These Courts were, of course, completely open to the sky. Eventually there were about 36 of them and I can remember playing in them when I was at Eton during the last war. On a whole holiday, all these Courts, as well as 15 new covered Courts would be full. Meaning that about 200 boys were playing Fives on one afternoon.
The first rules are published and the first school match
Around 1870 other schools such as Harrow, the home of Squash, Charterhouse, Highgate and Westminster built Courts. In 1877, A.C. Ainger "in conjunction with several clear-headed friends" drew up and published the " Rules of the Games of Fives as Played at Eton". These rules stood until the publication of the Laws of Eton Fives by the Committee of the Eton Fives Association in 1931. The first recorded Fives match between two schools was in 1885 when Eton went to play Harrow. F. Thomas (later Lord Willingdon and Viceroy of India) and C. Barclay of Eton, beat E.M. Butler and B.R. Warren of Harrow. This was just a one pair match which was the format for this match until 1938 when three pairs a side was played for the first time.
We have the scores from 1888 onwards. In that year Eton appears to have won by six games to none. In the return match that year they won by five games to none. The games, of course, being played up to 15 points, or 18 and 19 should 13 and 14 all have been reached. From then on it looks as if the best of seven games was being played until 1894. All of which was remarkably similar to the scoring at rackets. From then on matches seem to have settled down to the best of five; games were played up to 15 points until the last war when 12 was introduced.
One pair matches were very much the norm in those days; and if you look through the Fives Books at Eton you will find that right up to modern times they concentrate on the result of the first pair's match.
Fives by subscription
Fives was still essentially a game played at school and so the school matches were almost entirely against Old Boys. But Charterhouse was already playing Eton by 1901 which is the first year for which we have the Keepers of Fives Books. In those days, boys had to pay a subscription to use the Fives Courts and we find the Keeper writing "This half (term) a new method of collecting the Fives subscriptions was instituted... A list was also made of all boys in the school who had not paid their subscription and were therefore not entitled to play Fives."
In 1902 we read that 106 pairs entered the School Fives, while in 1905 "Lower Boy Fives: for this again there was another record entry, 66 pairs are recorded, 13 more than last year." But by 191 0 "The game has not been so universally played owing to the many other attractions now in vogue throughout the school such as Rugby and Association Football." In 1916 "the subscriptions amounted to 100 pounds 10 shillings & no pence." By now Shrewsbury had joined Harrow and Charterhouse as the three schools against whom Eton played. In 1919 "the match was played in the covered Court because this is the fastest Court and nearest to the pace of the Shrewsbury Courts."
After the First World War, the Old Etonians once again raised money for more Fives Courts and 8 new Covered Courts were opened in 1923. These are still played in at Eton nearly 70 years later.
In 1924 the Keeper wrote "On Mr Marten's suggestion, I started team matches (presumably meaning more than one pair). Besides the usual two against the Masters, I arranged two others, one against Oxford University Old Etonians and the other against the Old Etonians."
The Kinnaird Cup is established
It was in the 1920s that Lord Kinnaird, a winner of the School Fives in 1899, gave his Challenge Cup for the Amateur Championships. The first champions were two Old Etonians, R.G. de Quetteville and R.A. Redhead who won in 1926 and 1928. In fact, the Kinnaird Cup was to be very much dominated by Old Etonians and Harrovians until 1933.
In the meantime, in 1931, the Keeper at Eton was writing "But now that Courts are built at Queens and at Cambridge, the visitors are, unlike recent years, in full practice." In 1938 the Eton and Harrow match became a 3 pairs a side match for the first time. Due to the 30's expansion of the game, sixteen schools were taking part in the Public Schools Eton Fives Handicaps held between 1930/2. After the war, in the 50s and 60s Eton had a remarkable record of Public School Winners and Finalists, so that it isn't surprising that when the Alan Barber Cup was introduced in 1966, that the Old Etonians were finalists in 1968 and winners in 1972 and 1973.
The future of Fives at Eton
Since then, Soccer and Rugby have assumed increasing importance at Eton and Fives does not enjoy the same pre-eminent position it used to in the Easter Half. But it is encouraging to see in last year's E.F.A. Report that Eton produced finalists in both the Under 16 and Under 14 Competitions. The future is difficult to predict. But then little could Dr Hawtrey have thought when he was laying the foundation stone for those original four courts that Fives would be played not only at Oxford and Cambridge but at 30 schools in England and as far afield as Australia and Nigeria.
Acknowledgements
My grateful thanks are due to Neil Colquhoun for giving me so much background information; to Paul Quarry for access to the records at Eton College Library and to the Lonsdale Library Book of Rackets, Squash-Rackets, Tennis, Fives & Badminton for being an invaluable source to the early days of Fives.
Constructed by Mike Fenn
7 December 2001
efa@etonfives.co.uk