The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-13
OLDEN-TIME FOOTBALL
FIFTY YEARS AGO, IN EUROPE, GOALS
WE'RE THREE MILES APART.
Men Were Manned and Killed I'm the
Games in England and
NJ. Souvestre's Book.

osb ~o-Ady Is u 1850
pared to what it used 90 be in days of
old. As long ago as 1886. when M. Sou
vestre published a volume in Paris on
this game. football was a pretty rough
sport. The book was entitled THE
Las of the Bretons" n contains
some memories which will be of inter-
est to modern university men. Foot
ball was really the last vestige of the
worship which was paid by Celts to the
SUI 1t was called "the game of the
sum-" The ball used, an immense leath-
er globe filled with bran. was called
the soule (sun.)
The contestants were representatives
from two adjoining townships. There
was a goal in a township. and the
distance between the two goals was
two or three miles. The game was
started midway between the two, and
the whole purpose of the game was
simply to carry the ball by main force
and touch it to the goal. 1t was put
in play by throwing it high in the air,
to be "~scrabbled' for by the dense
mixed crowd of several hundred half
naked men as it fell among them.
These players were called souleurS de
voices of the sun). and it was a re-
ligious duty to secure possession of the
sun and carry it home in order to OBJ
tain the favor and benign influence OF
the great deity represented by it.
There were no rules governing the
game that would in any way restrain
violence and the wild frenzy of the
players, stimulated not only by local
pride, but by religious zeal. left the
ground strewn for miles with bleeding,
badly manned and even dying men.
This savage play could not but engen-
der feelings of bitter enmlty between
the two localities, and opportunities of
murder, under the plea of accident.
were eagerly sought to revenge the
death of friends or relatives in previous
games. The time occupied to touch a
goal was the greater part of a lay.
The modern game of football is a tame
affair indeed compared to the soule.
The Derby game as played in Eng
and before the year 1910 was copied
almost exactly from the game of the
soule and was also played at Shrove-
tide. 1t must be said however, that
although in the fierce contests there
were man. sprained limbs and broken
heads. the men of Derby were never
guilty of the atrocities practiced by the
French SOuleurS.
The town of Derby contained five
parishes-AH Saints, St. Michaels. ST.
Aulkmund's, st. Werburgh's and st.
Peters. The last was SO extensive and
furnished SO large a share of the foot
ball players that it singly stood against
the other four parishes together. and
the rallying cry of the two parties thus
became .AI Saints and Peters," re-
spectively. The adjoining country
parishes took part, more or less. with
the side which approached nearest in
position to their boundaries, and the
fate of the game was frequently de-
cided by the one party or the other
bringing in an unusual influx Of these
outlying players.
The ball was made of strong leather,
about a foot in diameter and stuffed
hard with cork shavings. AT 2 o'clock
on Shrove Tuesday the sport began, and
as the hour approached the whole town
seemed alive with expectation. 1t was
a universal holiday and all ranks and
ages could be seen streaming toward
the market place. Here the shops were
found to be shut and the houses all
round filled with spectators. men,
women and children, crowding he win
dows n perched upon the housetops.
The market place was chosen as a CEN
trail spot for the beginning of the game
and the goals were all known from
long-standing agreement. That of the
PETERS, was the gate of a nursery
ground situate more than a mile off
in the direction of London; that of the
"A1l Saints" the wheel of a water mill
at a shorter distance or the road
toward Manchester by Ashbourne. The
O0JSS VI LII Solt4S q (iiO 6OCiIII "
the ball at the one or the other of
these three times against the gate or
the wheel, respectively.
NO DOWNS, UMPIRES OR REFEREES.
At the appointed hour the ball ar
rived. carried by the hero Of the pre-
ceding year who was lucky enough to
goal it then. The crowd of players
opened to receive him, and. going into
the fiddle. of the market place as all
clustered around, he tossed up the ball.
In an instant as it touched the ground
a swarming,. crawling. writing mass
of humanity seemed to have lost their
senses and intent Upon tearing one an
other to pieces. 1t mattered not how
high the struggling pile of human be-
ings might be or how long they con-
tinued SO, there being no downs in this
game and no umpires and referees. At
last the ball was pushed out of the
mound of men, and a fresh player grab
bling it. off he darted down the country
road toward his parish, and an excit-
inc chase began.
Another on the opposite side, equally
fleet, but unencumbered. after an ex-
citing race of a quarter of a mile, over
took him and a fierce struggle ensued.
Blows and kicks fell thick and fast.
If the attacking player succeeded in
laying out" the possessor of the ball
before the crowd, now pouring down
liz lOoos aiiiNCu lie Qdl leu luIOuSH Il
field in he opposite direction. Beyond
the field was a river running toward
the water wheel a mile off, which was
the goal he desired to reach. The
crowd was hes ding him off as he at
tempted to rur along the rivers bank.
Without an instant's hesitation he
plunged into the river. made for the
center, and then. using the ball for
a life preserver, swan in the desired
direction. The river was deep and swift
A struggle for a ball in the water
has been known to result fatally. The
crowd of several hundred players yelled
and surged on the bank. A stalwart
fellow in the rear was seen to be strip.
ping off his clothes. Then, almost
naked. with a rush and a yell, he
smashed through the crowd. With kicks
and blows the opposite players tried tc
stop him.. But, giving blow for blow
he broke through. dived into the river
and swan rapidly for the man with
the ball. He soon overlook him
grabbed him by the hair. and. plung,
ing his head under water. held it there
In a moment the ball came floating Il
the surface. The attacking party seized
1t and started for the opposite shore
swimming with his feet.
PLAYED IN THE WATER. TOO.
Others had by this time swarmed int