The School of Recreation by Robert Howlett (e book reader online .TXT) 📕

Pantus or Asthma: Pour the Oyl of sweet Almonds into a Chickens Gut, well washt, and give it the Hawk: Or, scower him with Sallandine-Pellets, and Oyl of Roses, and then wash his meat in the Decoction of Coltsfoot.

Filanders or Worms: To prevent them, seeing your Hawk low and poor, give her once a month a Clove of Garlick. To cure or kill them; take half a dozen Cloves of Garlick, boil them very tender in Milk, dry the Milk out of them; put them into a Spoonful of the best Oyl of Olives, and having steept them all Night, give them both to your Hawk, when she has cast, in the morning: feed him not till two hours after, and then with warm meat, and keep him warm all that day.

Lice: Mail your Hawk in some Woollen Cloth, put between his Head and Hood a little Wool, and take a Pipe of Tobacco, put the little end in at the Tream, blow the smoak, and the Lice that escape killing, will creep into the Cloth: Probatum.

Formica: Take a little of the Gall of a Bull, and beating it with Aloes, anoint the Beak of the Hawk, Morning and Evening,

Frounce: Take the Powder of Allume, reduced to a Salve with strong Wine Vinegar, and wash her mouth with it; then take Juice of Lolium and Raddish, mixt with Salt, and anoint the Sore.

Apoplex: Gather the Herb Asterion, wash your Hawks meat with the Juice thereof when you feed him.

Wounds: Take the Juice of English Tobacco, or Mouse-ears, after you have sticht it up with a little Lint, bathe the place.

The first and greatest Cunning to be observed in Bowling, is the right chusing your Bowl, which must be suitable to the Grounds you design to run on, thus: For close Alleys, your best choice is the Flat Bowl: 2. For open Grounds of Advantage, the Round-byassed-bowl. 3. For Green Swarths, that are plain and level, the Bowl that is Round as a Ball.

The next thing requires your Care is, the chusing out your Ground, and preventing the Windings, Hangings, and many turning Advantages of the same, whether it be in open wide places, as Bares & Bowling-greens, or in close Bowling-alleys.

Lastly, Have your Judgment about you to observe and distinguish the Risings, Fallings and Advantages of the Places where you Bowl: Have your Wits about you to avoid being rookt of your Money: And have your Understanding about you, to know your best Time and Opportunity for this Recreation; and finally a studious Care of your Words and Passions, and then Bowl away, and you may deserve, Well have you bowled indeed.

But methinks I cannot conclude here, without admiring how aptly a Bowling-green is by the Divine Quarles characterized, in the following Verses, thus,

Brave Pastime, Readers, to consume that day,
Which without Pastime flies too swift away!
See how they labour, as if Day and Night
Were both too short to serve their loose Delight?
See how their curved Bodies wreath, and skrue
Such Antick Shapes as Proteus never knew:
One rapps an Oath, another deals a Curse,
He never better bowl'd, this never worse;
One rubs his itchless Elbow, shrugs and laughs,
The t'other bends his Beetle-brows, and chafes;
Sometimes they whoop, sometimes the Stygian cryes,
Send their black Santo's to the blushing Skies:
Thus mingling Humours in a mad Confusion
They make bad premisses and worse Conclusion.

Thus much for Bowling.

This Recreation is of the Same Date for its Antiquity of Invention with Bowling, and for the Violence of its Exercise to be preferred before it. This Sport indeed is of so universal an Acceptance, that Majesty it self is pleased to design it its Recommendation, by tracking its laborious steps; and Princes and Lords admire it too for the most proper Recreation, to suit with Innocence, and true Nobility. Here the Body is briskly exercised more than ordinary, and inured in Agility and Nimbleness; this renders the Limbs flexible and mettlesom, and adapts them for the most Vigorous Enterprize.

Tennis and Baloon are sports which are play'd almost with the same Instruments; and therefore may be under one and the same Head: The first is a Pastime, used in close or open Courts, by striking a little Round Ball to and fro, either with the Palms of the hands (and then is called Pila palmaria in Latin) or else a Racket, made for the purpose, round with Net or Cat-gut, with a Handle: The other a strong and moving Sport in the open Fields with a great Ball of a double leather filled with Wind, and so driven to and fro with the strength of a Mans Arm, armed in a Brace of Wood. And thus much shall suffice to speak of the Baloon and Tennis; only let me desire you, let not this or any other Pastime disturb your Minds; divert you from the diligent and careful Prosecution of your lawful Business; or invite you to throw away your Time and Money too lavishly and idley; nor engage you in any Passion; that so you may not offend God, dislike your Neighbour, nor incomode your Self and Family in your Well-being and Felicity; and then you may recreate your self without Fear: And in this Recreation observe the ensuing Morality of

The Tennis-Court.

When as the Hand at Tennis Plays,
And Men to Gaming fall,
Love is the Court, Hope is the House,
And Favour serves the Ball,

This Ball it self is due Desert,
The Line that measure shows
Is Reason whereon Judgment looks
Where Players win and lose.

The Tutties are Deceitful Shifts,
The Stoppers, Jealousy,
Which hath Sir Argus hundred Eyes,
Wherewith to watch and pry.

The Fault whereon Fifteen is lost,
Is Want of Wit and Sense,
And he that brings the Racket in
Is Double Diligence.

But now the Racket is Free-will,
Which makes the Ball rebound,
And Noble Beauty is the Choice,
And of each Game the Ground.

Then Racket strikes the Ball away,
And there is Over-sight,
A Bandy ho! the People cry,
And so the Ball takes flight.

Now at the length Good-liking proves
Content to be their Gain:
Thus in the Tennis-Court, Love is
A Pleasure mixt with Pain.

Whosoever would become an accurate Master of this excellent Art and Pleasure, and is very desirous to be esteemed an Elaborate and Ingenious Ringer, and be enrolled amongst that Honoured Society of =College Youths=; I must beg leave to instruct him before he enters the Bell-free, in these ensuing short Rules; which he must strictly observe, viz.

1. That as all Musick consists in these six plain Notes, La Sol Fa Mi Re Ut; so in Ringing, a Peal of Bells is Tuned according to these Principles of Musick: For as each Bell takes its Denomination from the Note it Sounds, by its being flatter or deeper, as, First, or Treble, second, third, fourth, &c. as they are in number to ten or twelve Bells, the last being called the Tenor; So must they successively strike one after another both Fore-stroke and Back-stroke, in a due Musical time or Equi-distance, to render their Harmony the more Pleasant, and to make the Young Practitioner the better informed to observe the Life of Musick, and indeed of true Ringing, Time; and therefore is called, Round-ringing.

2. As in Musick, so in Ringing there are three Concords, so called from their Melodious Harmony and Agreement, which Principally are these; Thirds, viz. 1 3, 2 4, &c. Fifths 1 5, 2 6, &c. Eights 1 8, 2 9, 3 10, &c. and these are the more pleasant according to the Number of Bells they are struck on, and as they are struck, whether separately or mutually. From hence Changes are made, which is only a Changing place of one Note with another, so variously, as Musick may be heard a thousand ways of Harmony; which being so obvious to common Observation, I shall not go about to demonstrate; for that if two may be varied two ways, surely by the Rule of Multiplication, a Man may easily learn how many times 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 12 Bells Notes may be varied; which will run almost ad infinitum.

3. For the better observing the Ringing of Changes or Rounds, these three things are to be noted.

1. The Raising true in Peal.
2. Ringing at a low Compass; and
3. Ceasing in true Peal; all which three are the most essential Parts to render a Practitioner Excellent.

1. For Raising a Peal of Bells true, the modern and best Practice recommends the swiftest and quickest possible, every one taking Assistance to raise his Bell, as its going requires: the lesser Bells as Treble, &c. being by main strength held down in their first Sway (or pull) to get time for the striking of the rest of larger Compass; and so continued to be strong pulled till Frame-high, and then may be slackned: The bigger, as Tenor, &c. must be pincht or checkt overhead, that the Notes may be hard to strike roundly and hansomely. Observe that all the Notes strike round at one Pull: I do not mean the first; but 'tis according to the Bigness and Weightiness of your Bells: However in raising a Peal, do not let one Bell strike before the rest, or miss when the rest do; this is contrary to the Strict Rules of true Ringing: And this is called Round-ringing. Now if you design to raise a Peal of Bells for Changes, you ought to raise them to a Set-pull, as the most proper for commanding the Notes, and he who is not well skilled to manage his Bell at a Set-pull, will be apt to drop or overturn it, be in a Wood, and fruitlessly toil and moil himself. Therefore in practising the Setting of a Bell, cast your Eye about the other Bell-Ropes, during your managing your own, that you may accustom your self to manage it according to the Change.

2. For Ringing at a low Compass, is thus observed: By keeping a due punctum or beat of time, in the successive striking one after another of every Bell; the best Ringer being set to the Treble, that may guide and direct the rest of the Notes in their due Measure.

3. For Ceasing a Peal of Bells; let them fall gradually from a set Peal, checking them only at Sally, till the low Compass renders it useless; and when so low, that for want of Compass, they can scarce strike at Back-stroak; then let the Treble-Ringer stamp, as a Signal, to notify, that the next time they come to strike at the Fore-stroke, to check them down, to hinder their striking the Back-stroke; yet Fore-stroke continued, till brought to a neat and graceful Chime, which may be the Finis to that Peal.

Thus much in short, for Raising, Round-ringing, and Ceasing a Peal of Bells; I come next to lead you forth into that spacious Field of Variety of Changes, and present you with Instructions that may be meerly necessary, for the right Understanding the several kinds of them.

Now in Ringing Changes, two of our best Senses, are to be employed, viz. The Ear, and the Eye: The Ear, hearing when to make a Change; and the Eye directing the Bell in making it: The Bells being the Object of the Former, and the Bell-ropes the Object of the Latter: And to render both the Eye and Ear Useful in Ringing Changes, these Five things are throughly to be Understood.

First, Endeavour to distinguish