EDWARD CRAVEN HAWTREY S.T.P. (1)
HEAD MASTER OF THE ROYAL SCHOOL AT ETON
LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW FIVES COURTS
SPONSORED BY (?OLD) ETONIANS 4/12/1847

(1) sanctae theologiae professor i.e. “Doctor of Divinity”.

Nostrae...

Come, you who are both accomplished and free-ranging in your study of the arts, lay aside your gravity and do not be too high-minded to support our new game. Let wheels (? hoops ?chariot wheels) hold sway with the Greeks, balls with the Romans. Although the young delight in both these sports, let it be for our own ball-game that Eton applauds you, intellectual though you are.

Utile...

It is a useful plan to link sport with study so that inspiration in the arts does not fall victim to the feebleness of age. Make for the temple of Apollo on the Palatine early; thus better may you have time for field/track and court. Lest you waste your effort, concentrate on hard learning; lest people laugh at you, learn to play, boy.

εν δε χειριδας...

He put the well-stitched gloves on his hands, so that the stone scraping the tops of his hands should not hurt his fingers once the ensuing game began: and putting a felt hat (?scugger) on his head, which men and gods call a “petasos”, he led the players with all speed into the court. Which of the two broad-backed fellows was it who came forth first for us from the Seats of King’s (King’s College, Cambridge), where the slowest of rivers, the Cam, flows its soundless course? Shall I mention the names of these men? Or why am I silent? I am silent for good reason, and Athene has put a fitting bolt on my tongue and makes me speechless. The two went forth, rejoicing in their cunning and their skill, like runners mid-course, twin scions of our Eton.

Ergo...

So, when there was the first break in his studies, and he had completed his task, Pilumnus (1), leaping forward, threw off his Colleger’s gown from his shoulders and protected his hands with the soft-leather gloves, skilled at receiving the ball as it flew and returning it, at one time striking like a whirlwind this way and that with alternate blows against his opponent, at another creeping more gently under the very walls and deceiving his opponent off his guard with a brisk right-hander. For the famous Porcius (2) with neater foot-work moved more slowly, he who, nurtured in his rich home around the meandering streams where, from his sad name, there are Bridges for Pigs, was sent by his mother Ionia.

(1),(2) These unidentified names may be Latinised versions of surnames, the first possibly Spears or Spearman, the second perhaps Hambridge.

Phocas...

Proteus used fives in numbering the seals on the coast of Pharos, by the coast of Alexandria; you make sure you use fives in a different context. Exercise your five fingers in the game which takes its name from them. The goddess of Health has blessed it with a fifth part of herself. There are five qualities. You rightly call this outstanding court game by the name of the fifth.

γραμμη...

There is a line (?ledge) on the court wall; you must neither hit far above it nor fall below it to succeed. I think this is in some way like the present life of mortal man. For in life, when not exalted too high nor falling to the depths, you succeed.

Ασματα...

Some poems which are about ball-games which should be applauded.

ουτος...

You there, why are you cowering? Come now, try the game. Moreover, there is good exercise in the game. Straightway make a fine move, apply your manual dexterity mid-court (to provide) a well-matched game. We three others are gathered about, standing in a circle, and you will say being our fourth is a nice move. Do not look useless or take a rest, and do not feebly let an opponent run towards you on your left or right. One against another, send the ball whirling all over the court. You must avoid the stone (?wall) under the line (?ledge) and always hit the ball above the line (?ledge). But if you send it too high, straightway your opponent instinctively finds the Holes (?pepper-pot) close to ground. When you have learnt this, be determined never to be defeated. That’s the sort of education your game has provided.

ανδρα...

Tell me, Muse, of the wily athlete, very well-taught in playing fives, who knew how to practise his many skills in the stout contest. For his is the greatest glory among men. See, when the sun has passed through the vaults of heaven, then indeed from the haunts where the Muses, godlike Athene and Phoebos the guardian of bards dwell, boys involved in literary pursuits run swiftly hither and thither to the fields of Eton in search of sport. Some hurry in fours to the levelled court to hit the ball with forceful skill. And often strong wise men play there, who shunning the noise and smoke of the city, come from afar and enjoy themselves. So, whom do I name first, whom last? There is one famous in the Assembly, a wise counsellor, Lyttelton, who is a favourite of the Muses and the Graces alike, for he masters the people with his oratory and the ball with his strokes. There is a second, a wily fellow, skilled in the intricacies of the law, an actuary far superior to all others in finding out man’s life-expectancy on this earth: not with eases would a divine bard name him – he is fearful to look upon, exulting in the glare of a bull. Even so, he is no better fives player than his brother. These, then, are far the best in the great game, and Eton holds none other in greater respect.

εκ των...

From the works of some would-be Euripides.

εγω Βριταννων...

I did not grow up skilled in the English language, but, having spoken it, I can well explain the shapes of the letters. The first is a double, native to the Aeolians: two lines would spring from a single upright. In the old days this character was not used, but nevertheless it is in vogue now. The second is a single upright. You could say the third sounds like the first, two lines coming from opposite sides to a single point. Again, the fourth is a single upright having three horizontals attached. The last is like a strung bow, such as the Scythians carry. That’s your puzzle for today!

τεσσαρες...

There were four games in Greece (1). Lest you quibble as you go by, to Etonians this is the fifth.

(1) Olympic, Isthmian, Pythian, Nemean.

(Answer: F I V E S)

D.J.S.Guilford
J Faulkner
September ‘09