Popular Recreation in pre-industrial Britain

Popular recreation were pre-industrial sports and pastimes mainly associated with the peasant or lower class.Pre-industrial popular recreation reflected the society, life and time in which it existed.The activities were often colourful and lively and were supported by a strict class system.

• different classes sometimes shared activites, e.g. cockrel fighting
• sometimes different classes took part in different activites, such as mob football for the lower class peasants and real tennis for the upper class / gentry
• sometimes different classes has different roles within the same activity. For example, a pedestrain - race walker or runner - was often lower class while his patron, or sponsor, was upper class.

Natural/Simple - lack of: technology, purpose-built facilities and money for the masses

Local - limited transport and communications

Simple, unwritten rules - illiteracy, no NGBs, only played locally

Cruel / Violent - reflecting the harshness of eighteenth-century rural life

Occassional - free time for recreation on holy days and annual holidays, e.g. shrove tuesday

Courtly / Popular - pre-industrial britain; mostly a two-class society, based on the fuedal system

Rural - before the industrial revolution, britain was agricultural and rural

Occupational - work often became the basis of sport

Wagering - a chance to go from rags to riches (poor) or to show off (rich)

Bathing and Swimming
Upper: likely to increase skill and health
Lower: key functional role for hygiene

Athletics
Upper: pedestrianism required skill & would need an increase in physical fitness thus health
Lower: pedestrianism; rural sports - predominatly for recreation

Football
Upper: involvement unlikely so no impact
Lower: mob football was forceful rather than skilful; severe injuries

Cricket
Upper: outside and active during summer months, so is skilful game; improve health
Lower: same as upper class

Real Tennis
Upper: a skilful, potentially health-enhancing game for the elite
Lower: not available to lower class; played simple hand & ball games for recreation

In pre-industrial britain, just like today, class and gender were key factors affecting opportunities for participation.

Gender
In pre-industrial britain, upper class women pursued elitist pastimes, e.g. hawking. Lower-class women participated in less sophisticated, more uncouth activites, e.g. smock races.
The victorian era brought new attitudes, especially for middle class women for whom physical activity was thought to be unsuitable, undignified and even dangerous.
Nineteenth-century women were later constrained by social attitudes and by lack of opportunity and provision.

Class
Pre-industrial britain was predominatly a two-class society. The upper class dominated the peasant class.
There was also a merchant, trading or commercial class from whom the middle class later emerged.
The upper class had money for facilities, equipment and transport; time to become skilful; and societal status which increased their self-worth or esteem.

Activities of the upper class were often ...
- sophisticated and expensive, e.g. real tennis
- rule-based with a dress code and etiquette
- linked with patronage/acting as an 'agent', e.g. pedestrianism
- distant, due to opportunity to travel

Activities of the lower class were often ...
- simple, accessible and inexpensive, e.g. mob football
- simple with unwritten rules and were often violent and/or uncivilised
- linked with occupation, e.g. pedestrainism
- local, due to lack of opportunity to travel

Popular recreations were subject to periodic church interference since medieval times.

• henry VIII broke with the catholic church in rome in 1534. He had no desire to change peoples religions, social or sporting habits.
• change came as a result of the english reformation.
• puritanism emerged. Puritans opposed the excess, unruliness, spontaneity, swearing and drinking associated with contemporary recreations. They believed that idleness and playfulness were sinful and that salvation could only be earned through a life of prayer, self-discipline and moderation.
• this was a bleak time for popular sports and pastimes.
• the puritan ethic gave away to the work ethic and spreading protestanism, whereby leisure pursuits were acceptable only in that they restored people for work.

• life was tough for the lower class or agricultural worker in the eighteenth century; sports and pastimes reflected this harshness.
• the drinking house or pub was central to village life and the focus for community lesuire acitvities.
• the pub hosted bear and badger baiting, dog fighting and prize fighting as well as less barbaric games such as billiards, quoits, bowls and skittles.
• landlords often provided prizes for sporting matches and primitive equipment for ball games in order to stimulate interest and, perhaps more importantly, boost profit.
• many late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century sports clubs used the public house as their base, most famously the Hambleton cricket club at the Bat and Ball inn, Hampshire, where the game of cricket was nutured between 1750 and 1780.

• a direct link is something such as a pre-industrial festival that still occurs today
• an indirect link or developemental link is one that goes to or has come from a previous stage.
• popular recreations had some limited direct links to today, but their impact is mainly indirect as they were the starting point of each activity on its developmental journey.

Direct links include:

• illegally-staged bare-fists fights
• blood sports such as badger baiting and dog fights

Both of these declined as law and order increased but they did not completely die out.

Contemporary newspaper articles still occassionally report on bloody activities with betting as a central feature. Fox hunting continues amid ongoing debate.

Swimming - there are links with lake-based swimming clubs or continued motives such as health, recreation and survival/safety.

Athletics - in april 2002 five british athletes repeated the unique feat of captain robert barclay allardice who ran 1000miles in 1000hours for a wager of over 1000guineas at newmarket heath 200 years ago. That is, a mile an hour, every hour, every day and night for six weeks. Also rural sports including races and tests of strength continue at some summer fetes and fairs; along with traditional olympics - much wenlock and dover games, for example.

Football - surviving ethnic sports such as the ashbourne football game. Occassional violent behavior by players or spectators in the modern game is another unwelcome direct link.

Cricket - in pre-industrial times the game was for all classes - the english cricket board stresses that this is the same today.

Tennis - in pre-industrial times the game of real tennis was exclusive and today it is largely the same.

Identify the characteristics of popular recreation

Describe how social and cultural factors shaped popular recreation

Explain how popular recreation affected the physical competence and health of participants

Distinguish between different opportunities for participation in pre-industrail britain

access the impact of popular recreation on contemporary participation and performance.