The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1955-09-02
THE HIGHER
THE FEWER
There's Always Plenty of Room
At The Top
By
NANCY J. MIDGET

/ wonder how many folk, old
or young, like myself who have
rushed around lawn tennis court
painting heavily in summer or hop
ping about in winter with fur
glove on the free hand to keep it
from freezing, have given thought
to the beginnings of Tennis, how it
was played in the past, or of the
people who played it in the past
and that the game of tennis with
its original rules is still played.
When came here, trailing my
racquet behind me in its press
from which it to date has never
been removed, l had played on
an off since l was about twelve
years old, and although | vaguely
knew or had read that the game
originated in France, or at least
was played there at very early
date, l knew little more.
During my vacation home how
ever, l went to Hampton Court
Palace to walk about the beautiful
gardens there, sit on the comfort
able public seats by the sides of
the well kept, gravel walks or on
the river wall looking down at the
old river Thames. Everywhere
there were beautiful green lawns
and flower beds, at that time not
at their showiest, for at the end
of April the tulip beds had not
come to full bloom, when the large
cups seeming to hover above misty
water, for often in the Court gar
dens, the tulips are bedded with
blue forget-me-not. Pansies and
many other blooms showed along
the border by the high brick wall
between the lawns and the Palace
building and Wilderness,--the nat
ural garden where the spring
flowers, all the varieties of daffo-
dis, narcissus, ETC., bloom among
the grassy banks under the silver
birch, willows and elms. There
were two magnolia trees in full
bloom when went into one of the
walled gardens near the old fitting
yard and l thought l could detect
faint odour of Dixie land.
Next, and almost nDt visited,
was the tennis court in the palace.
Though l had been born in King
ston. across the Home Park and
my father had brought us for
walks and picnics here ever since
could walk the distance across
the bridge from Kingston to the
Middlesex side of the river and on
through the park, l had not been
into the tennis court.
For those of you who have never
heard of Hampton Court Palace, it
was built or partly built by Cardi-
nal Wolsey about 1915 but soon
passed into the possession of
Henry VIII, that much married and
bloodthirsty monarch who was the
sire of Elizabeth /. 1t was he who
built the tennis court in the palace,
probably around 1529-30 according
to records, although it is known
that the game had been played in
Canterbury, England as early as
1896. Many have played the game
on the Hampton Court Tennis
Court and although at first ii
was only the courtiers, friends of
royalty, and royalty themselves
who played, the annual subscrip-
ton now to the Royal Tennis
Court is still only one pound STIR
ling or approximately that-about
two dollars and eighty cents, and
you or l may join providing we GO
there to play tennis and bide by
the rules.
The court resembles that of a
squash rackets court for those OF
you have seen or heard of one
and part of the game includes the
use of the wall of the court in as
much as some of the plays have
to be made on the rebounce of the
ball from the marked wall.
The overall length of the court
is rather more than half again the
length of a lawn tennis court and
the width slightly more than the
width of doubles court. The net
higher at the sides, is the same
height as lawn tennis net in the
center. Balls which are solid and
weigh rather more, are slightly
smaller. Rackets weigh much the
same, but are shorter, narrower
and asymmetric,-(not symmetric-
al, in case you wondered,-I had
to look it up myself). The courts
are marked out in very detailed
manner, or so it appeared to me
but see on reference to the pam
phlet l obtained,-copyright, P. A.
Negretti and M. G. L. Bruce, "that
it is perfectly possible for per-
son of average intelligence to
learn everything but the most OBJ
struse details of the game in an
hours study of the rules and an
| bo,Ir IL, or aho,lt q colIrt