Stuart life / Bad sports
“People were allowed to take part in
fencing, archery, leaping and vaulting
after they had attended church”
Dancing around the maypole
was a favourite pastime
in the 17th century, despite
Puritans condemning it as
a ‘mischievous pole’wakes could easily get out of hand. Fuelled
by drink, fights often broke out, as in 1614
when men from neighbouring parishes
fought each other at May games held
in Longdon, Worcestershire. The following
year, a man was killed in fighting at a
Devonshire ale. Disorder was so common
that, in Lancashire, the eve of May Day
was called ‘mischief night’.
The Puritan attacks on revels came at a
time of mounting anxiety over social order,
as inflation and population growth led to
an alarming increase in poverty. Puritan
calls for reform added to these secular
concerns about potential disorder, causing
many local magistrates to attempt to
restrict popular festivity. Consequently,
ales and wakes steadily declined in many
parts of the country.
The suppression of traditional revels
increased tensions within English society.
Maypoles, which had historically been
symbols of a united community, now
somehow represented the struggle between
those who were seeking to suppress
popular revelry and those who sought to
defend it. Indeed, the decision by many
town authorities to ban maypoles
frequently led to clashes with sections of
the local community. In Shrewsbury, for
example, several people were jailed when
they struggled with officials taking downthe town’s maypole. In Canterbury, the
banning of the maypole prompted a group
of morris men to dance outside the mayor’s
house in protest.
Yet the dancers had one very influential
player on their side: the crown. James VI
and I was even more enthralled with sport
than the Tudors had been. He wrote
approvingly of pastimes such as wrestling,
leaping, running and “other faire and
pleasant field-games”. He also gave some of
his own clothes – including a hat, feather
and ruff – to Robert Dover “to grace him
and consequently the solemnity” of the
Cotswold Olimpicks. Dover even opened
his games wearing James’s clothes to
signify the royal endorsement. And, while
his predecessor Elizabeth I, despite
attending many sporting events, never
made any formal declaration about
recreations, James oversaw a dramatic
change in policy.
In 1616, Puritan magistrates in
Lancashire backed an order forbidding
recreations after church on Sundays. Thefollowing year, as King James was passing
through Lancashire on his way to be
entertained by Sir Richard Hoghton at
Hoghton Tower, he was petitioned by locals
complaining about the order against their
traditional Sunday recreations. James, who
disliked Puritanism, made a speech about
“honest recreation” and, a few days later,
issued a declaration “Concerning Lawful
Sports” which licensed the playing in
Lancashire of certain sports on Sundays.
James’s Book of Sports – as it came to be
known – stated the official view of the
crown on the matter of Sunday recreation.
Although bull-baiting and bowling were
not permitted, as they often led to excessive
gambling, people were expressly allowed to
take part in dancing, archery, leaping,
vaulting and “anie such harmeles
recreation” after they had attended church.
In 1618, James issued a similar declaration
for the whole country.
Many people were scandalised by the
licence that the king had given to Sunday
recreations. Among them was a Yorkshire GETTY IMAGES