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LACROSSE. 
 
 
 NATIONAL GAME OF CANADA: 
 
 BY W. G. BEEliS, 
 
 Secretary of thk National LACKossb; Association of Canada. 
 
 PUBLISHED WITH THE SANCTION OF THE NATIONAL LACROSSE ASSOCIATION 
 OF CANADA. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 W, A. TOWNSEND & ADAMS. 
 
 1869. 
 

 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by 
 W. A. TowNSEND & Adams, in the Clerk's Office of the District 
 Court for the Southern District of New York. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PREFACE V 
 
 CHAP. I. THE ORIGIN OF LACROSSE.... 1 
 
 CHAP. II. THE ORIGINAL GAME 7 
 
 CHAP. III. GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE PRESENT GAME 32 
 
 SCIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT 61 
 
 THE NATIONAL GAME OF CANADA 57 
 
 CHAP. IV. HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE 60 
 
 CHAP. V. MATERIALS FOR PLAY; THE CROSSE, &C. — RUNNING, 
 
 TRAINING , 76 
 
 CHAP. VI. POSTING AND DIRECTING THE PLAYERS 90 
 
 CHAP. VII. FACING 97 
 
 CHAP. VIII. THROWING THE BALL 106 
 
 CHAP. IX. CATCHING AND CARRYING THE BALL 134 
 
 CHAP. X. DODGING AND CHECKING 146 
 
 CHAP. XI. PICKING UP, TIPPING, FRISKING, &C 180 
 
 CHAP. XII. FIELDING 189 
 
 CHAP. XIII. GOAL-KEEPING 212 
 
 APPENDIX — THE LAWS OF LACROSSE 251 
 
KEY TO THE PHOTOGRAPHS. 
 
 C N. H. Hughes, . . . 
 
 (L. Gushing, Jr 
 
 ..E. Cluff, 
 
 . .W. Macfarlane . . 
 
 ..W.D. Otter, 
 
 ..W.L.Maltby 
 
 . . J. R. Middlemiss, ■ 
 ( J. B. Hutchison, . 
 ( Alex. M. Davidson 
 ( S. R. MacDonald, 
 
 ( R. Tate, 
 
 C E. A. Whitehead, • 
 
 ^T. Ralston, 
 
 C J. Watson, 
 
 ( F. Dowd, 
 
 . .A. G-rant, 
 
 i S. Stephenson, • ■ • 
 (W.G. Beers, 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Ottawa. . . 
 
 Chebucto . 
 
 Toronto • 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Crescent.. 
 
 Crescent . 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 St. John . 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Dominion. 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Ottawa. . 
 
 Halifax . 
 
 Toronto 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal 
 
 St. John, 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal 
 
 Montreal 
 
 N.B. 
 
 Representation. 
 
 ' Facing. 
 
 . Picking up. 
 . Catching. 
 
 • Flat-catch. 
 
 • Long-throw. 
 
 > Checking. 
 
 Checking. 
 
 I Dodging and 
 ) Checking. 
 
 > Ditto. 
 
 . Throwing. 
 ) Throwing and 
 I Goal-keeping. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages are designed to extend a 
 knowledge of the game of Lacrosse, to systematize 
 its principles and practice, and to perpetuate it a& 
 the National game of Canada. Until the appearance 
 of my brochure^ published in 1860, there had never 
 been any attempt made to- reduce the game to rule. 
 It was barren of laws, and goal-keeper was the only 
 player with a definite name and position. 
 
 I feel in duty bound to own to the parentage, 
 while apologizing for the publication of the little book 
 referred -to, which was issued, without any revision, 
 during my absence from the city. Notwithstanding 
 the fact that it was extensively plagiarized, I trust it 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 will be regarded, by any who had the misfortune to 
 buy it, as one of those productions of youth, which, 
 in maturity, we would fain disown. 
 
 The difficulty of writing practically about La- 
 crosse, was then, as it is now, that there had never 
 been anything practical written on the subject. 
 Every principle and point of play had to be laid 
 down from personal experience and experiments, 
 and "pow-wows" with the best players; and, at first 
 blush, it seemed a difficult task to write anything 
 about the game. Moore, in his Diary, however, 
 mentions a German savant who wrote several folio 
 volumes on the "Digestion of a Flea!" After 
 that accomplishment, no one should despair of 
 producing at least one volume on any subject. 
 
 It may seem to some, well acquainted with La- 
 crosse, as if I had given too much space to the 
 rudiments of the game ; but I intend this book for 
 the novice as well as the expert, and wish even the 
 latter to believe with me, that there is a gradation of 
 learning in the use of the crosse, as there is with the 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 rifle or the cricket bat. We may wish for the 
 hereditary sagacity of the Indian, who plays mainly 
 by instinct ; as poor Tom, in the "Mill on the Floss," 
 envied the people who once were on the earth, 
 fortunate in knowing Latin without having learnt 
 it through the Eton grammar ; but the Indian never 
 can play as scientifically as the best white players, 
 and it is a lamentable fact, that Lacrosse, and the 
 wind for running, which comes as natural to the 
 red-skin as his dialect, has to be gained on the part 
 of the pale- face, by a gradual course of practice and 
 training. All Indians are not good players, but I 
 never yet knew one without an aptitude for the 
 game ; and it is surprising to witness the expertness 
 of the juveniles, not yet in their teens, in the villages 
 of Caughnawaga, St. Regis, Oka, and Onondaga. 
 
 I have not attempted, in this work, to exhaust the 
 practical feats of Lacrosse, though I have given all . 
 the various methods of throwing, checking, &c., in 
 use among Clubs, as well as some original feats, and 
 others derived from the Indians, never introduced 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 among the whites. Some may seem impracticable, 
 and at first, no doubt, will be found to be so, but 
 I simply ask for them a fair trial. There is no 
 reason why an Indian feat may not be done by a 
 white plajer. 
 
 I am indebted, for many kind acts of co-operation^ 
 to Messrs. J. R. Middlemiss, W. L. Maltby and 
 L. Gushing, of Montreal ; G. H. Leslie, of Toronto ; 
 E. Cluff, of Ottawa ; Dr. Allen, of Cornwall ; J. 
 B. Morrison, of Caughnawaga, and other friends 
 too numerous to mention. Also, to the gentle- 
 men whose photographs represent the various 
 positions in the game, and to the " National 
 Lacrosse Association of Canada " for the vote 
 approving of this undertaking. For many of 
 the facts contained in the chapter on " Historical 
 Associations of Lacrosse," I am much indebted to 
 Mr. Parkman's work, " The Conspiracy of Pontiac.'^ 
 As I have been requested, since the body of this 
 work was written, to give some account of the rise 
 and progress of Lacrosse, I purpose briefly doing so 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 here. The game first met with popularity in Mon- 
 treal about thirteen years ago, when the Iroquois 
 Indians of Caughnawaga introduced it as a field 
 sport. The origin and early existence, thirty 
 years ago, of the regularly organized Montreal 
 Club — the Alma Mater of the game — and its 
 several matches with the red-skins, only one of 
 which it won, may make an interesting chapter 
 in the history of Lacrosse at some future day. 
 Among the original members of the Club, alive 
 to-day, are Mr. N. H. Hughes, still President ; 
 Judge Coursol, Messrs. Romeo Stephens, and 
 Wm. Lamothe, of Montreal ; and Mr. Gouin, 
 Prothonotary, at Sorel. Mr. Lamontagne was 
 one of the crack-players of the early time ; 
 and our big friend, '• Baptiste," the pilot of 
 the Lachine Rapids, was then as great a master- 
 of the crosse as he is now of. the helm. I 
 shall be much indebted for information furnished 
 me respecting the early matches and life of the 
 Montreal Club. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 The Montreal Club did not flourish in its early 
 history. For a long time it was dormant, and 
 practice was limited to a very small number. About 
 twelve years ago the Club revived, and was followed 
 Iby the " Hochelaga." On the 31st of March, 1860, 
 the two Clubs were united, under the name of " The 
 Lacrosse Club of Montreal." About this time the 
 spirited young " Beaver " disputed the champion- 
 ship and the propriety of the definite article " The," 
 assumed by the Montreal Club, and invariably 
 succeeded in making drawn matches. On the 31st 
 of March of the following year the name of the Club 
 was changed again to " Montreal." 
 
 The visit of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales to 
 Canada, in 1861, and a proposal to play before him, 
 infused new life into the ancient Indian sport, and a 
 grand match was played in the presence of H. R. H. 
 by the "Montreal" and "Beaver" vs. Caughna- 
 waga and St. Regis Indians, twenty-five players a 
 side. The playing on both sides was determined and 
 excited, and ended in a dispute, — Baptiste, of 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 Caughnawaga, the Indian Captain, having picked 
 up and held the ball with his hand, at a moment 
 when the whites had a clear chance of carrying 
 it into the Indian goal. The match was awarded 
 to the whites. The following are the names of 
 the white players in this ever-memorable match: 
 
 Captain — N. H. Hughes. 
 
 1. GeopvGe Kernick. 14. J. McCulloch. 
 
 2. P. Christie. 
 
 3. R. Gray. 
 
 4. A. Cherrier. 
 
 5. T. Coffin. 
 
 6. F. DowD. 
 
 7. W. Browin^. 
 
 8. A. Brown. 
 
 9. J. Bell. 
 
 10. J. Bruneau. 
 
 11. W. Leduc. 
 
 12. W. Blakely. 
 
 13. T. Taylor. 
 
 15. W. A. Stafford. 
 
 16. J. R. Middlemiss. 
 
 17. J. McLennen. 
 
 18. W. McLennen. 
 
 19. J. Becket. 
 
 20. H. Duclos. 
 
 21. W. Masse Y. 
 
 22. T. Craig. 
 
 23. C. P. Davidson. 
 
 24. W. NoAD. ] ^^^,. 
 
 25. W. G. Beers, j ^^^^^>^^- 
 
 After this match the '' Montreal," '^ Beaver " and 
 ^' Young Montreal " Clubs, tried to arouse an interest 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 in the game, but the season soon closed, the Clubs 
 were disorganized,'and Lacrosse became unfashionable. 
 In the meantime, Mr. George Massey, ("Beaver,") 
 and Mr. W. A. Stafford, (" Montreal,") formed the 
 nucleus of a Club in Ottawa, which flourished under 
 the management of Mr. E. Cluff, when the game was 
 dormant in Montreal. A match at Cornwall, Ont.^ 
 between the organized Ottawa Club and some of the 
 old members of the "Montreal" and "Beaver," 
 who had never played together before, and most of 
 whom had not handled the crosse for years, ended in 
 the defeat of the Montrealers, — not the Montreal 
 " Club." The spirit of young Montreal awoke. 
 Lacrosse was revived, and the lost laurels brought 
 back again. The game began to grow East and 
 West. In June, 1867, the IMontreal Club framed 
 the first laws of Lacrosse; and, in September of 
 the same year, called a Convention of Clubs in 
 Canada, to organize an Association for the guidance 
 of Clubs and the government of the game, — an idea 
 which had been discussed in Committee meeting the 
 
PREFACE. XUl 
 
 previous year. The Convention met in Kingston on 
 the 26th of September, organized the " National 
 Lacrosse Association of Canada," amended the laws 
 of the game, and adopted a Constitution. The popu- 
 larity of Lacrosse now steadily increased, and Clubs 
 sprang up all over the country. The Association 
 met again, in Montreal, in September, (1868,) and 
 made important amendments to its Constitution and 
 the laws of the game. 
 
 In the spring of 1867, Mr. J. Weir, a member 
 of the Montreal Club, organized a Club in Glasgow, 
 Scotland. 
 
 la July, 1867, Mr. W. B. Johnson, of Montreal, 
 tt)ok eighteen Caughnawaga Indians to England and 
 France, and played several exhibition games. This 
 seems to have given the impetus to Lacrosse in 
 England. A number of Clubs were formed in 
 London, and an Association organized similar to the 
 ^Canadian Association. 
 
 The Mohawk Club, of Troy, N.Y., pioneered the 
 game in the United States ; and the " Maple Leaf," 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 of Buffalo, and others, followed their lead ; and 
 there is every indication that our Clubs in Canada 
 will one day find worthy rivals over the lines, and 
 cross the crosse in friendly contest. 
 
 I have much pleasure in chronicling the generosity 
 and public spirit of Mr. T. J. Claxton, a Montreal 
 merchant, in the donation to the " Montreal," for 
 competition among the city Clubs, of a set of four 
 magnificent flags and flag-poles, costing over $250,. 
 two of which are represented in photograph No. 12. 
 This gift not only illustrates the generosity of an 
 individual, but the appreciation of the mercantile 
 community, of the efforts of the Montreal Club to 
 popularize and spread the game of Lacrosse. A 
 healthy sign, too, of the growing favor of rational 
 sports. 
 
 I have but little to add in conclusion, and may be 
 pardoned for making that little personal. The 
 practice of Lacrosse was my physical recreation ; the 
 writing of this book was one of my mental diversions, 
 principally the result of notes made on the field. 
 
PREFACE. XY 
 
 It would never be allowed to see the light of day,, 
 did I think it would get me the reputation of being 
 absorbed in the sport, to the exclusion of more 
 serious and important duties. When I commenced 
 the book I felt its completion would tend to much 
 good, physically, mentally and morally, and assist 
 the cause of rational recreation among the young 
 men of Canada. The popularity of the game has 
 popularized all healthy sports ; and nothing, per- 
 haps, has won more esteem for Lacrosse than 
 its moral tendencies, and the necessity it involves 
 of abstaining from habits, which are too often 
 associated with other recreations. 
 
 One of our most eloquent statesmen, in addressing 
 an audience outside of Canada, said, in referring to 
 the physical outfit of the new Dominion, " Young 
 Canada would as soon fight as eat his breakfast." 
 While not advocating pugnacity, men — and women, 
 too — admire manly youth; and if our National 
 game, while exercising the manly virtues, also 
 trains the national and the moral, it will, un- 
 
XVI PREFACE. 
 
 doubtedly, help to make us better men ; and 
 genuine "pluck" will never go out of fashion in 
 Canada. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE GAME OF LACROSSE. 
 
 The origin of Lacrosse, like that of the Indian race 
 from whom we derived it, is lost in the obscurity 
 which surrounds the early history of this people ; 
 but that it had its first existence in his wild brain is 
 claimed in his own traditions, and entitled to every 
 belief. The subject, however, is a mystery, and the 
 most patient research cannot but meet with bewilder- 
 ment. Indian traditions concerning it are scarce 
 and unreliable, while anything that might be learned 
 from their hieroglyphics is met by the fact that they 
 could not transmit more than outward events. 
 Doubtless there were rude Pindars and Homers in 
 the "forest primeval" who could have saved their 
 early records from oblivion, had there been means to 
 preserve them ; but as it is, the more we try to 
 
 unravel such mysteries as the origin of the Indian 
 
 B 
 
2 OBIGIN OF LACROSSE. 
 
 and many of his customs and recreations, the deeper 
 we get into diflSculties that have no solution. 
 
 The origin of Cricket, in enlightened Europe, is 
 uncertain, though traced to the 13th century. How 
 much more difficult to discover the origin of Lacrosse 
 in a savage country, unknown till the century after. 
 If obscurity be any proof of antiquity. Lacrosse is 
 certainly senior among field games. 
 
 Spanish cruelty sullied the great discovery of 
 America, and made " pale-face" a synonym for 
 everything base and unjust ; and French and English 
 conduct afterwards, confirmed the justice of the 
 complaint. Under the circumstances, it was to be 
 expected that they would each have more familiarity 
 with Indian warfare than Indian recreation ; and 
 this may account for the comparative silence of 
 American history on their native Sports. It was not 
 until a conciliatory policy was adopted, that such 
 sports as Lacrosse were played for the amusement of 
 the whites. 
 
 Civilization has not destroyed the Indian's love of 
 hoaxing. Charlevoix, Catlin, and a host of others, 
 were unmercifully hoodwinked and humbugged, and 
 one need not travel far to-day to meet with the same 
 
ORIGIN OF LACROSSE. 8 
 
 characteristic. A genuine hoax is as old '' fire- 
 water" to a red man : it is told to clusters of 
 admirers, and repeated from wigwam to wigwam. 
 While endeavouring to find out the opinion of 
 intelligent Indians as to the origin of Lacrosse, we 
 had some charming and plausible legends invented 
 for us impromptu^ and the difficulty of centuries 
 expeditiously unravelled in the rocky recesses of 
 Caughnawaga. If the soil of that settlement is not 
 favorable for peaches, it unquestionably produces a 
 spontaneous imaginative genius, not to be rivalled by 
 anythmg white or red in Canada. We are satisfied, 
 however, that the Indians of Canada know nothing 
 whatever about the origin of their native field game. 
 I had the good fortune to travel on the Grand 
 Trunk, side by side with the late Hon. Thos. D'Arcy 
 McGee, about a year before his cowardly assassina- 
 tion by the *^' Fenian Brotherhood." The subject of 
 conversation turned upon Lacrosse, prompted by the 
 sight of a Crosse on the rack overhead ; and Mr. 
 McGee first suggested to my mind the resemblance 
 between the national game of Canada and the Irish 
 game of Coman, or trundling. Some time after, a 
 communication appeared in a Port Hope paper, by a 
 
4 ORIGIN OF LACROSSE. 
 
 writer holding the identity of origin of the Indian 
 and Irish races with the Phoenicians, and ingeniously 
 attempting to show sulB&cient resemblance between 
 Lacrosse and Coman to make a plausible argument 
 for his theory. The former part of the proposition 
 involves scientific questions hardly within my province 
 to discuss, but it seems rather far-fetched. If this 
 ethnological view be correct, it would scarcely seem 
 possible that the game of Lacrosse should now be 
 almost the only prominent remnant of the Phoenician 
 origin of the Indian race. Were I inclined like 
 the Irishman who traced his genealogy into the Ark, 
 and the locality of Paradise to his potato patch, 
 which he was irreverently ofiering for sale, I might 
 enter into archaeological researches, and build up 
 theories from hypothesis ; but this would only lead 
 astray. 
 
 It is quite possible that there should be resemblances 
 between Lacrosse and Coman, as between any game 
 of ball played with a bat. In '^ Strutt's Sports and 
 Pastimes" may be read some very close coincidences, 
 but nothing to prove their identity. The writer 
 aforesaid hinges his conclusions greatly upon the 
 pres3nt resemblance between the sticks used in both 
 
ORIGIN OF LACROSSE. 5 
 
 games ; but the original crosse was not the present 
 shape, and had no more resemblance to a trundling 
 bat than a cross-bow has to a " Snider." With the 
 original game, too, was associated peculiar customs 
 and ceremonies which distinguished it from any other 
 field sport. Its uniqueness was and is beyond dispute. 
 
 The Indians may justly be awarded the credit of 
 having invented the game of Lacrosse, as well as the 
 snow-shoe, toboggan, and bark canoe ; and unless 
 some archaeologist can prove that it was played by 
 the extinct races of a cultivated and superior type of 
 humanity said to have existed on this continent long 
 before the advent of the Spaniards, it is only fair that 
 they should have the honor. 
 
 An Algonquin who was asked the origin of his 
 race pointed to the rising sun. So may we as 
 indefinitely answer the query, '' When and how did 
 the game of Lacrosse originate ?" 
 
 Originally, it bore different names ; each tribe 
 calling it "ball" in their own peculiar dialect. By 
 the Iroquois it was called '' TehontshikSaheks ;" by 
 the Algonquins '' Teiontsesiksaheks ;" by the Objiways 
 "Baggataway." The crosse Avas called '^ Teionstik- 
 wahektawa" by the Iroquois ; " Te88aa Naton" by 
 
6 ORIGIN OF LACROSSE, 
 
 the Algonquins ; and by other tribes, names as 
 euphonious and intelligible, sometimes as long as the 
 stick itself. The single tree or pole goal was called 
 '' lorhenoketo-ohikta" by the Iroquois. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 In the early history of all countries we find their 
 recreations to have been of a rude and barbarous 
 nature. Such were those of Greece when Homer 
 wrote ; such were those of Britain when Caesar 
 landed; and such were the amusements of the 
 North American Indians when first witnessed by 
 the early French and English travellers. 
 
 The character of the game of Lacrosse, as originally 
 played, made it midway between a sport and a deadly 
 combat, because of its serious results to limb and life. 
 It was a game which King James would, no doubt, 
 have anathematized as being " meeter for laming than 
 making able the users thereof; " and more emphatic 
 would have been this edict had he played it ; for not 
 even the divinity that hedges kings would have saved 
 his royal shins from many a sore and unceremonious 
 whack. 
 
8 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 Never was there ancient or modern field sport 
 that so effectually tried the endurance and agility, 
 and every physical instinct as the original game of 
 Lacrosse. The gladiatorial games of the Romans, 
 a;ad the bull fights of Spain, were severe tests of 
 stamina and skill ; but neither the praises of Cicero 
 nor the approval of Pliny can prevent the banish- 
 ment of amusements deliberately designed for the 
 shedding of blood, and the death of, at least, one of 
 the combatants. 
 
 It may not be possible for one who has never 
 handled a Crosse — even though he has witnessed 
 many of the exciting matches of the present day, to 
 conceive of the intensity and vehemence of the old 
 game ; but to a player who has tried his mettle 
 against Indian wind and endurance, and experienced 
 the exertion required in the present modified game, 
 it is easier to estimate correctly the magnificent 
 physical condition of the aborigine a century ago, 
 and the unparalleled union of strength, agility and 
 wind developed by, and necessary for, the primitive 
 Lacrosse. It was not played as a superstitious rite 
 in honor of the Great Spirit ; it had none of the 
 religious element of the Grecian games. It was 
 
THE ORIGINAL GAME. 9 
 
 instituted as a pure amusement, and as one of the 
 means of quickening and strengthening the body, and 
 accustoming the young warriors to close combat. It 
 was emphatically a sport, and brought out the very 
 finest physical attributes of the finest made men 
 in the world, — the impetuosity and vigor of a wild 
 nature let loose ; and compelled its votaries, in its 
 intense exercise, to stretch every power to the 
 greatest extreme. 
 
 The hunters and warriors looked and longed for 
 the grand anniversaries, when through dense forests, 
 and in bark canoes, hundreds would return from the 
 chase and the war-path to be present at the Lacrosse 
 tournaments. Among some tribes, ball-play was, as 
 Basil Hall tells us, " the chief object of their lives," 
 so absorbed were they in its excitement ; and in 
 every tribe it developed an amount of splendid 
 physical energy sufiicient to have made their race 
 masters of this continent for ever, had mind not been 
 so entirely subservient to body, nor destiny so inevit- 
 ably pointed against them. 
 
 All the education of an Indian from the cradle to 
 manhood tended to physical development and inure- 
 ment ; and however much we may pity the strapped 
 
10 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 papoose, it is in a better place for a symmetrical 
 body and a straight spine, than the pale-face hopeful, 
 rocked and knocked about in the modern cradle, or 
 the Spartan child cradled on a shield. It was the 
 perfection of the Indian's physical nature which 
 made his conquest so difficult. With every instinct 
 keen as an eagle's eye, with every muscle, nerve 
 and fibre strung to its perfect capacity ; with his 
 wonderful vitality, energy and unity, he was more 
 than a match for the white man and superior weapons, 
 until " firewater " undermined his manliness, and 
 treachery stole away his advantages. Whiskey was 
 a cunning ambassador, more effectual than " villainous 
 saltpetre." What was the stoicism of the Indian but 
 his physical training ; what was his pride and individu- 
 ality but the blood of his race and the education of his 
 boyhood ? The great brain of a young man was only 
 fit for scalping if it had not a body able to wield the 
 tomahawk ; the chieftains and leaders were honoured 
 in proportion to the number of scalps within their 
 wigwams. Such were the characteristics of the men 
 who played the old game of Lacrosse. 
 
 The descriptions given of the game by difierent 
 travellers vary in some respects, as they happened 
 
THE ORiaiNAL GAME. 11 
 
 to have seen it played at different periods, and among 
 the various tribes ; but all unite in ascribing to it the 
 hereditary wild beauty and variety which it has 
 always retained. 
 
 There was some dissimilarity among the different 
 tribes in the shape of the stick used, the size and 
 composition of the ball, the kind of goal, &c., but the 
 general character of the game was the same. 
 
 The Crosse. — As far back as we can trace we 
 find the original Crosse to have been of a very 
 different shape to that used at present. That of the 
 Choctaws, Chippeways, Cherokees and Creeks was 
 about three feet long, bent into an oblong hoop at 
 one end large enough to hold the ball. That of the 
 Sacs, Sioux, Objiways, Dacotahs, Poutawatamies, 
 and most other tribes was about the same length, but 
 
 the hoop was round as seen in the above illustration. 
 None of the original sticks were over four feet long. 
 The net-work of the oblong hoop was generally three 
 inches long and two wide ; that of the round hoop, 
 
12 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 twelve inches in circumference. The former was 
 literally net-work, but the latter was simply two 
 strings tied in the centre, and fastened in four 
 places to the hoop ; and both were sufficiently 
 bagged to catch and preserve the ball. The net- 
 work or strings were originally of wattup^ the small 
 roots of the spruce tree as used for sewing bark 
 canoes ; — afterwards they were made of deer- 
 skin. 
 
 Among the Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, &c., 
 each player carried two sticks, one in each hand. 
 The ball was caught and carried between them. 
 There was considerable diflference in the play with 
 one and with two sticks, and the former was by far 
 the most expert, as it was the most difficult. 
 
 The manner of picking up with one stick was 
 peculiar, and indeed, necessary, owing to its shape. 
 As the ball lay on the ground, it was almost covered 
 with the hoop, and by a peculiar twist of the wrist 
 and arm from right to left, scooped up in one motion. 
 The ball was thrown from it by a jerk, and could not 
 be pitched as far as with the present stick, as it got 
 but little impetus. The Indians dodged very little, 
 except when the ball was caught or picked up in a 
 
THE ORIGINAL OAME. 13 
 
 Crowd, and dodging was necessary. This seems the 
 more remarkable when we consider the shape of the 
 stick, and the peculiar facilities for dodging, afforded 
 by the concavity of the netting and the smallness of 
 the hoop which retained the ball. 
 
 On grand occasions, they ornamented the hoop 
 and handle with small feathers or tufts of hair, and 
 painted or dyed it various colors. 
 
 Several tribes still use the original stick. The 
 above illustration is taken from one which Mr. 
 Radiger, an old Montreal Club player, used in 
 several matches with the half-breeds of the Garden 
 River Indian Reserve, Sault River, about 15 miles 
 from the entrance to Lake Superior. It is 
 similar to the Objiway stick described by early 
 travellers. 
 
 The BALL.~The original ball was about the size 
 of a tennis ball, though differing among the tribes ; 
 and was first made of deer-skin or raw-hide, stuffed 
 with hair and sewed with sinews. The Objiways 
 and Poutawatamies at the mouth of the Detroit River 
 used a heavy wooden one, generally a knot ; while 
 others improvised balls of the bark of the pine 
 tree. 
 
14 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 The Goals. — The earliest goal was any marked 
 rock or tree that happened to be convenient ; and it 
 is still customary among the domesticated and wild 
 tribes in America to ignore such a thing as " flag 
 poles." 
 
 At grand matches, however, the Indians were 
 more particular, and used for each goal a single 
 pole or stake, eight feet high and two inches in 
 diameter, or the two pole goal as at present. The 
 distance from one goal to the other varied in proportion 
 to the number of players, from five hundred yards 
 to half a mile and more. The Poutawatamies, Sioux, 
 Dacotahs, Cherokees, Sacs, Objiways, Iroquois, 
 Algonquins, and nearly all tribes used the one pole. 
 The four former merely required the ball to be 
 thrown past the line of this stake ; the Objiways, 
 Iroquois, Algonquins, &c., required the pole to be 
 struck with the ball. The former still maintain this 
 law. The Algonquins, seen by Charlevoix, used one 
 pole. 
 
 The Choctaws, seen by Catlin, used two stakes 
 for each goal, twenty-five feet high, and six feet 
 apart, with a pole or goal-line across the top. The 
 Creeks in Alabama used two stakes, six feet high 
 
THE ORIGINAL GAME. 15 
 
 and six feet apart. Basil Hall (1828) says they 
 were simply boughs. 
 
 THE GAME DIRECTOR 
 
 Was the captain or presiding chief, under whose 
 direction the goals were posted ; and who, among 
 several tribes, made a preliminary speech to the 
 players before starting the game. Sometimes he 
 was the best player and fleetest runner, and joined 
 in the game, and like the chiefs in Homer, tried to 
 signalize himself by personal acts of courage, forge t- 
 ing altogether the management of his men. 
 
 . THE UMPIRES 
 
 Were generally the old medicine men of the tribe, 
 whose decision was in all cases final. 
 
 DRESS OF THE PLAYERS. 
 
 The primitive Indian players usually appeared 
 almost as naked as the Grecian athletae, wearing 
 only a tight breech cloth ; and on grand occasions 
 painted their faces and bodies, and decorated them- 
 selves with fantastic ornamental bead work, feathers 
 &c., of various colors. They wore a curious kind of 
 
16 THE OmaiNAL GAME. 
 
 tail, projecting from the small of the back, made 
 of white horse hair or dyed quills of the Canada 
 porcupine, and a mane or neck of horse hair dyed 
 various colors. 
 
 It was a rule of the Choctaws that no one should 
 wear any dress save the breech cloth, and the 
 aforesaid tail. The Poutawatamies always wore 
 mocassins. 
 
 PREPARATORY CEREMONIES. 
 
 When great matches were on the tapis^ village 
 against village, or tribe against tribe, they were 
 agreed upon and the players selected months ahead. 
 For two weeks before the day of the match, the 
 competitors were to fast from all excesses, eat little 
 food, and harden themselves by every possible means 
 for the exertion in anticipation ; and the night pre- 
 ceding, they rather ignored the present theory of train- 
 ing, by a peculiar preparatory ceremony, which we will 
 endeavour to describe. 
 
 It was usual to select a moonlight night, and a 
 grassy plot near the borders of a river or lake. 
 Only those who were to play on the following day 
 were permitted to join in the ceremony. A large 
 
THE ORIGINAL GAME. 17 
 
 fire of pitch pine wood was kindled ; several musicians 
 
 with Indian drums, and large gourds containing 
 
 gravel, were seated to assist the players in keeping 
 
 time in the dance. At a signal from the head chief, 
 
 the intending competitors would begin what they 
 
 called the training dance, — a succession of the most 
 
 frantic movements and wriggling of the body and legs, 
 
 contortions of the face, and screaming at the top of 
 
 the voice, intended, like the military dances of the 
 
 Greeks, to make the body active and strong, and to 
 
 exhilirate the mind. It was also a sort of invocation 
 
 to the Great Spirit for victory, and must have been 
 
 of a character as terrible and expressive as the 
 
 dances of the Furies. This dance was peculiarly 
 
 attractive to the emotional Indian, who, like all 
 
 barbarians, was a spontaneous dancer ; sounds, 
 
 however rude, intoxicating him with a passion for a 
 
 spasmodic oscillation of the body. After performing 
 
 for an hour or longer, the players, heated and 
 
 perspiring, immediately plunged into the cold stream. 
 
 It was customary among some tribes to dance in a 
 
 circle around a bonfire, with the crosses in hand ; 
 
 while others danced in their costume around the 
 
 goals, rattling their sticks together and singing aloud 
 
 C 
 
18 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 to the Great Spirit. Bach party danced for a 
 -qnarter of an hour at a time around their respec- 
 tive goals or bonfires, and repeated it every half 
 hour during the night, which compelled the players 
 to lie awake until sunrise. The squaws of each 
 side kept the goods which were invariably staked 
 upon the result of the match ; and at this dance 
 they formed themselves in two straight rows between 
 the two parties of players, and joined in the dance 
 and song. Four of the most antediluvian medicine 
 men who were to act as umpires on the following 
 •day, were seated at the point where the game was to 
 be started, solemnly smoking and praying to the 
 Great Spirit for impartiality in judgment. Catlin 
 gives a few excellent sketches of the original game 
 as played by the Choctaws, and among them a very 
 suggestive one of this preparatory dance. 
 
 In Capt. Basil Hall's " Travels in the United 
 States in 1827-28," we find a new feature of this 
 preparatory ceremony, introduced after the dance, 
 among the Creeks of Alabama. The players met in 
 a hut, round which ran a seat close to the wall ; 
 in the middle a fire was burning, at which the 
 players squatted, nearly naked, tying cords tightly 
 
THE ORIGINAL GAME. 19 
 
 around one another's arms and thighs. They then 
 splashed themselves with water, and each placing 
 himself in a sloping position against a wooden pillar, 
 went through the ceremony of "scarifying." This 
 was done by expert operators, who using an instru- 
 ment formed of the sharp teeth of the gar fish — two 
 rows of about fifteen teeth tied to a corn cob, scraped 
 the arms and legs of the players over a space of more 
 than fifteen inches in length. 
 
 "Five separate scratchings were made on each 
 man's leg below the knee, five on each thigh, and 
 five on each arm, in all nearly thirty sets of cuts. 
 As the instrument contained about thirty teeth, each 
 Indian must in every case have had several hundred 
 lines drawn on his skin. The blood flowed profusely, 
 as long as the bandages were kept tight. This 
 indeed, seemed to be one of their principal objects, 
 as the Indians endeavoured to assist the bleeding by 
 throwing their arms and legs about, holding them 
 over, and sometimes placing them almost in the fire, 
 for a second or two. It was altogether a hideous 
 and frightful scene. For my own part I scarcely 
 knew how to feel when I found myself amongst some 
 dozens of naked savages, streaming with blood from 
 
2Q THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 top to toe, sHpping and yelling round a fire, or 
 talking at the top of their voices in a language of 
 which I knew nothing, or laughing as merrily as if it 
 were the best fun in the world to be cut to pieces. » 
 Not one of these lads uttered the slightest complaint ^ 
 durmg the operation ; but when I watched their 
 countenances closely, I observed that only twoor 
 three bore the discipline without shrinking or twisting 
 
 their faces a little. 
 
 « I was told that these scarifications and bleedmgs 
 render the men more limber and active, and bring 
 them into proper condition to undergo the exertion 
 of the ball-play on the following morning. I don t 
 know how this may be with my friends the Creeks ; 
 but I suspect half a dozen of the cuts of which 
 each of these young fellows received some hun- 
 dreds, would have laid me up for a week : 
 
 On the next day and for hours previous to the ap- 
 pointed time for the match, a crowd of warriors 
 Laws and children assembled on the plain selected 
 for the game, dressed in the gaudiest feathers and 
 bead work, and squatted on the ground m little 
 picturesque groups. One of the principal prelimi- 
 Lies was handing to the stake-holders the property 
 
THE ORIGINAL GAME. 21 
 
 hazarded upon the result of the game, and not only 
 did every warrior bet, but the women carried it to 
 excess, and even the children wagered their childish 
 toys. 
 
 It was an affectation of the players to keep out of 
 sight until everything was ready, and they usually 
 were in the adjacent woods, busily painting and 
 feathering in the most fantastic styles imaginable. 
 The two parties who were to contend for the prize 
 were divided, and posted in opposite parts of the 
 woods, and during the process of festooning they 
 indulged in wild whoops and cries. 
 
 The goals were now placed by the game director, 
 and a stake set to mark the centre of the field where 
 the ball was sometimes laid, according to custom. 
 At a certain signal the two parties advanced leisurely 
 from their covert, brandishing their sticks, shouting, 
 making terrible contortions and grimaces and turning 
 somersaults. It was customary among the lady 
 loves of the Cherokees to run out on the field at this 
 stage, and give beaded and other tokens of favoritism 
 to their dusky gallants, which these savage lovers 
 wore during the game as faithfully as the most 
 chivalrous knight of the 12th century ever carried 
 
22 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 lady's glove in combat. Lanman, who witnessed this 
 little episode of the game among the Cherokees of 
 Qualla town. North Carolina, says: "This little 
 movement struck me as particularly interesting, and 
 I was greatly pleased with the bashfulness and yet 
 complete confidence with which the Indian maidens 
 manifested their preferences." What an incentive 
 to first twelves if Canada's fair daughters would 
 revive the fashion ! How it would put one on one's 
 mettle to be a crack player ! 
 
 Where this custom was not in vogue, the players 
 either danced, one party at a time, around their 
 respective goals, as the night previous, and advanced 
 to the middle of the field where they laid or sat 
 down, yelling defiance at each other. At a signal 
 from the game director they sprang to their feet and 
 held their sticks over their heads, facing, and gradual- 
 ly approaching until they were within a yard of 
 each other. Upon another signal they laid their sticks 
 down at their feet, and the sides were counted. When 
 the game was for mere pleasure, the men could 
 choose the sides upon which they would play. The 
 game director now delivered a long speech, urging 
 the players to energy and fair-play ; they then dis- 
 
THE ORIGINAL GAME. 23 
 
 persed and every man took his own position. The 
 old chiefs seated themselves on the ground with ten 
 small sticks, with which they kept the score of games; 
 pulling all out when they got to " eleven," and re- 
 placing one to count ten. Matches consisted 
 sometimes of ten, twenty and one hundred games, 
 and often lasted two or three days. 
 
 THE GAME. 
 
 The game generally began at nine o'clock in the 
 morning. The Indians had different ways of inaugu- 
 rating it, and never seemed to have " faced "as at 
 present. Sometimes the ball was laid on the ground 
 in the centre of the field, and at a signal from the 
 game director, a general rush was made towards it, 
 amid a glorious clatter and scramble, — the best man 
 at a hundred yards generally picking it up, and 
 making off with it like a deer foUow^ed by the hounds. 
 The most common way, however, was to throw it 
 high into the air in the centre of the field, which 
 altered the appearance of this part of the game, as 
 the players reached the centre before the ball fell, 
 and leaped at it en masse to catch or strike it away. 
 Sometimes it was caught by one player between his 
 
24 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 two spooney sticks. Charlevoix says the Algonquins 
 in Canada tried to keep the ball from touching the 
 ground during the progress of the game, and that if 
 a player missed a catch, the game was lost for his 
 side unless he could send it to goal in one throw. It 
 was never allowable to pick it up from the ground 
 with the hand, but it was customary to use the hand 
 in tapping or blocking it away from the body. 
 
 The wildness of the old game is graphically 
 sketched by Catlin (who saw it played by 600, 
 800 and 1000 Choctaws and others, at a time), 
 Basil Hall, Sir James Stewart, Lanman and others. 
 The players would trip and throw each other, and 
 sometimes as occasion offered, take flying leaps over 
 the heads of stooping opponents, or dart between 
 their extended legs. " In these struggles," says 
 Catlin, " every mode is used that can be devised to 
 oppose the progress of the foremost who is likely to 
 get the ball, and these obstructions often meet 
 desperate individual resistance, which terminate in 
 violent scuflling, and sometimes fisticuffs ! — when 
 their sticks were dropped and the parties are un- 
 molested while settling it between themselves, unless 
 it be by a general stampede to which they are 
 
THE ORIGINAL GAME. 25 
 
 subject who are down, if the ball happens to pass in 
 their direction." " There are times," he adds, 
 " when the ball gets to the ground, when there is 
 a confused mass of balls, sticks, shins and bloody 
 noses." When the ball fell among the spectators, 
 the players leaped into them like a whirlwind, with 
 as little regard for their safety as their own, and 
 there was a well known art among the spectators of 
 saving oneself from much tumbling and contusion by 
 embracing the nearest tree and holding on like grim 
 death until the rush of players had passed. It 
 seemed as if they were bent upon dislocating or 
 breaking every bone of their bodies ; they tumbled 
 and dragged and did everything rough in pursuit of 
 the little deer-skin ball. One remarkable feature 
 of the old game was the magnificent leaps which the 
 players indulged in, either for show or to grasp the 
 ball in the air. " At one time," says Lanman, " the 
 whole crowd of players would rush together in the 
 most desperate and fearful manner, presenting, as 
 they struggled for the ball, the appearance of a 
 dozen gladiators, striving to overcome a monster 
 serpent ; and then again, as one man would secure 
 the ball and start for the boundary of his opponent, 
 
26 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 the races which ensued were very beautiful and 
 exciting." 
 
 Basil Hall's description of the old game, as played 
 by the Creeks, is so well delineated that we cannot 
 do better than give an extract from his travels : — 
 
 '' One of the chiefs, having advanced to the centre 
 of the area, cast the ball high in the air. ^ As it fell, 
 between twenty and thirty of the players rushed 
 forward, and leaping several feet ofi the ground, 
 tried to strike it. The multiplicity of blows, acting 
 in different directions, had the effect of bringing the 
 ball to the ground, where a fine scramble took place, 
 and a glorious clatter of sticks mingled with the cries 
 of the savages. At length, an Indian, more expert 
 than the others, contrived to nip the ball between 
 the ends of his two sticks, and having managed to 
 fork it out, ran off with it like a deer, with his arms 
 raised over his head, pursued by a whole party 
 engaged in the first struggle. The fortunate youth 
 was, of course, intercepted in his progress twenty 
 different times by his antagonists, who shot like 
 hawks across his flight from all parts of the field, to 
 knock the prize out of his grasp, or to trip him up — 
 in short by any means to prevent his throwing it 
 
THE ORIGINAL GAME. 27 
 
 through the opening between the boughs at the end 
 of the play-ground. Whenever this grand purpose 
 of the game was accomplished, the successful party 
 announced their right to count one by a fierce yell 
 of triumph, which seemed to pierce the very depths 
 of the wilderness. It was sometimes highly amusing 
 to see the way in which the Indian, who got hold of 
 the ball, contrived to elude his pursuers. It was not 
 to be supposed he was allowed to proceed straight to 
 the goal or wicket, or even to get near it ; but on 
 the contrary, he was obliged in most cases to make a 
 circuit of many hundred yards amongst the trees, 
 with thirty or forty swift-footed fellows stretching 
 after or athwart him, with their fantastic tiger's tails 
 streaming behind them , and he, in like manner, at 
 full speed, and holding his stick as high over his head 
 as possible, sometimes ducking to avoid a blow, or 
 leaping to escape a trip, sometimes doubling like a 
 hare, and sometimes tumbling at full length or break- 
 ing his shins on a fallen tree, but seldom losing hold 
 of his treasure without a severe struggle. These 
 parts of the game were exciting in the highest degree, 
 and it almost made the spectators breathless to look at 
 them." 
 
28 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 Catlin would ride 80 miles on horseback to witness 
 a game, and he says he has almost dropped from his 
 horse's back with irresistible laughter at the succes- 
 sion of droll tricks and kicks and scuffles which 
 ensue in: the almost superhuman struggles for the 
 ball. Carver saw it played by Indians, whom he says 
 played with such vehemence that broken bones were 
 no rarity, ^^but not withstanding, there never appears 
 to be any spite, or wanton exertions of strength to 
 affect them ; nor do disputes ever happen between the 
 parties.^^ 
 
 A few concluding extracts will prove the same 
 remarkable interest in the old as in the present 
 game. Catlin, writing of a match he saw, says : 
 " I pronounce such a scene, with its hundreds of 
 nature's most beautiful models denuded, and painted 
 various colors, running and leaping in the air in all 
 of the most enlivening and varied forms, in desperate 
 struggles for the ball, a school for painter or sculptor 
 equal to any of those which ever inspired the hand 
 of an artist in the Olympian games or Roman 
 forum," 
 
 Lanman, among the Sioux, says : " The Olympic 
 beauty of this game is beyond all praise. It calls 
 
THE ORIGII^AL GAME. 29 
 
 into active exercise every muscle of the human frame, 
 and brings into bold relief the supple and athletic 
 forms of the best built people in the world. At one 
 time a figure will rivet your attention, similar to the 
 Apollo Belvidere, and another, you will actually be 
 startled by the surpassing eloquence of a Mercury." 
 The game was played in the United States occasion- 
 ally some years ago by several of the most numerous 
 tribes, who used the original stick and generally the 
 one pole goal, but a combination of circumstances 
 has almost obliterated it as an Indian recreation in 
 that free Republic where Indians and negroes have 
 not exactly paradisiacal times. 
 
 Mr. Radiger tells me he has both seen it played 
 and participated in the game with the Objiway half- 
 breeds of the Garden River Indian Reserve, Sault 
 River. They use the original round hoop stick, and 
 use only one. Their goal is a single pole, eight feet 
 high and two inches in diameter, and must be struck 
 to decide the game. They begin the game after 
 the primitive manner, of placing the stick on the 
 ground in front of them, and the ball is thrown 
 up in the air. " They do very little dodging," 
 writes our friend, " except when they get near to 
 
30 THE ORIGINAL GAME. 
 
 the goal, when they do wriggle consider ally y The 
 Lac La Pluie Indians, 225 miles west of Lake 
 Superior, occasionally hold their grand fetes and 
 medicine ceremonies near Fort Francis, at which 
 6,000 natives assemble. In the report on the 
 Exploration of the country between Lake Superior 
 and the Red River settlement, it is stated, that the 
 Indians " do not scruple to jump over the fences and 
 run through the ground crops if their ball in the game 
 
 of is driven in that direction." The blank 
 
 may be interpreted '' Lacrosse." The game is also 
 played at the diflferent establishments of the Hudson 
 Bay Company in Rupert's Land, &c, by the savage 
 tribes of Lower Winnipeg. Several hundreds played 
 before Fort Garry, the capital of the Red River 
 country, a couple of years ago. The Rocky 
 Mountain Indians still play and use the original 
 stick. 
 
 On the Saskatchewan, the Prairie, Crees, Black- 
 feet and Assinniboines still celebrate their returns 
 from the buffalo hunt by grand contests of the original 
 game. 
 
 When Charlevoix and his party were ascending 
 the St. Lawrence at some point between Quebec and 
 
THE ORIGINAL GAME. 31 
 
 Three Rivers, they saw the game, which Charlevoix 
 calls " le jeu de la crosse," played by the Algon- 
 quins, who used the present stick. 
 
 The Hurons at Loretto, below Quebec, played 
 extensively about fifty years ago, using the present 
 stick and a ball of worsted, covered with deer-skin. 
 Their goals were lines drawn at both ends of the 
 field, and game was decided by throwing across 
 either line. The sport was very rough and tumble. 
 Latterly this remnant of the great Huron tribe have 
 entirely neglected their glorious pastime. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 Though sports are transmitted from one genera- 
 tion to another, they usually change their general 
 character 5 as they do their names, yet seldom lose 
 their most prominent features. When civilization 
 tamed the manners and habits of the Indian, it re- 
 flected its modifying influence upon his amusements^ 
 and thus was Lacrosse gradually divested of its radical 
 rudeness and brought to a more sober sport — though 
 to call the game in any measure a sober recreation 
 may be bordering on the sarcastic. Only a savage 
 people could, would or should play the old game ; 
 only such constitutions, such wind and endurance 
 could stand its violence. The present game, 
 improved and reduced to rule by the whites, 
 employs the greatest combination of physical and 
 mental activity white men can sustain in recreation, 
 
 1 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 33 
 
 and is as much superior to the original as civilization 
 is to barbarism, base ball to its old English parent of 
 rounders, or a pretty Canadian girl to any unculti- 
 vated squaw. 
 
 The aim of Lacrosse is so evident and simple that 
 a child looker-on can intuitively understand it. It 
 has no elaborate nomenclature to make it puzzling ; 
 its science and beauty need but eyes for discovery. 
 The players are divided into two equal sides ; each 
 has a goal to defend and one to attack ; certain men 
 are posted in certain positions ; the ball is placed 
 midway on the field and faced for by the centres. 
 The object of both sides is to put the ball through 
 the goal of the opponent and prevent him getting it 
 through theirs ; and all the running, throwing and 
 endless variety of play tends to that end. One 
 objection to some field games is the intricate mystery 
 surrounding the best parts of the exercise ; and 
 however much we admire the fine play we intuitively 
 understand, it is disagreeable to know that there is a 
 vast deal hidden, because of our theoretical and 
 practical ignorance. A field game ought to be a 
 literal sport : if it is encompassed by too much con- 
 ventionality — if too much science makes it tedious 
 
34 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 and exclusive, wherein lies its literal recreation ? 
 The most of men have no sympathy with field games 
 that can only interest when crack players make 
 them lively. If they are to be hard study, don't 
 call them sports ; if sports, then get out of them all 
 possible recreation. 
 
 It is not generally the custom of Anglo-Saxons to 
 depreciate a game because it is likely to become 
 more popular than their particular favorite ; but 
 Lacrosse has been one of the best-abused in th© cata- 
 logue of recreations. It would seem a pity if the 
 race of grumblers met with even a sport to please 
 them. Lacrosse, however, survived in spite of dis- 
 paragement ; and its unparalleled spread within the 
 last two years is the best proof of its suitableness and 
 attraction. A game that can persuade over two 
 hundred of the youth of a single Canadian city to 
 rise at half-past five, three or four mornings all 
 through the summer weeks, when all other games 
 put together cannot muster a corporal's guard ; and 
 that can regularly attract thousands of spectators 
 when the exhibition of other games fails to pay 
 expenses, needs no eulogy ; it speaks for itself. 
 Lacrosse has its failings, but so has every game ; 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 35 
 
 Ibut for what the object of all such sports should be 
 — that is, the healthy, active exercise of every 
 part of the body, unintermittent amusement, infinite 
 variety, and science enough to stimulate young 
 players to keep at it till they learn, and old ones 
 not to give it up — what other game compares to 
 Lacrosse ? 
 
 It has the merit, too, of being a cheap game, in 
 which all can participate without much outlay. It 
 is not exclusive ; every player, has his innings, so to 
 speak, at the same time, and no one monopolizes the 
 best part because he happens to be an extra good 
 player. Good players cannot be kept down, nor 
 sent off fagging for others ; they rise to the surface 
 as surely as cork on water. There are none of the 
 debasing accompaniments, the bar-room associations 
 of other games ; there is no beastly snobbishness 
 about it. There is nothing missed by b^ing late at 
 practice ; the game is always alive, and there is 
 always an opening for late comers. A game can be 
 played in a short time, and as much exercise got in 
 half an hour as will do for a day. With a crosse 
 and a ball any one can practice alone ; any boy can 
 amuse himself all day. 
 
36 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 A contributor to Chambers Journal, in December, 
 1862, under the heading of " A Kival to Cricket/^ 
 makes free use of my little hroehure of 1860, often 
 word for word, without acknowledgment. I freely 
 forgive him the plagiarism for thus discoursing: 
 " As a game, I rank Lacrosse far above cricket or 
 golf. It does not require attendants and special 
 ground, like golf, and it boasts more unintermittent 
 amusement and more simultaneous competition than 
 cricket. The materials, too, are cheaper, and you 
 require no ^ hog-in-armour ' costume. It is more 
 varied, more ingenious, more subtle than cricket, 
 and, above all, it can be played in all seasons of the 
 year without danger, expense or preparation. No 
 marquees required, no grass rolling, no expensive 
 bats or balls, no spiked shoes, and no padded leg- 
 gings to preserve you from the cannon shots of fast 
 bowlers, who seem determined to maim or lame 
 somebody ; above all, there is not that tiresome and 
 wearisome waiting for the innings. The whole 
 twenty-four (or field) have their innings simul- 
 taneously, and have both an equal chance and an 
 equal certainty of amusement and employment ; 
 while in cricket a beginner gets, perhaps, ten strokes 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 37 
 
 at a ball, and that is all in the whole game. I admit 
 the pleasure of the good swipe in cricket, the excite- 
 ment of the runs, the delight of blocking a treacherous 
 slow ball, the rapture of catching out a good player, 
 and the feverish anxiety of a close-run game, but 
 still I hold that cricket cannot hold a candle to 
 Lacrosse for variety, ingenaity and interest." 
 
 " It was marvellous to see, as the ball for the first 
 flew up in the air, those statues spring into life 
 instantly. The field was dotted with groups of 
 struggling figures, now running into jostling knots, 
 now fanning out in swift lines like skirmishers before 
 a grand army. Every now and then there would break 
 away from the rest some sinewy, subtle runner, who, 
 winding and twisting like a serpent, would dash 
 between the eager ranks of his rivals, avoiding every 
 blow, now stooping, now leaping, now turning, quick 
 as a greyhound and artful as a fox ; and then, as the 
 ball was shot between the crimson flags of the 
 Montreal men, the Indians would give a war-yell 
 that echoed again." 
 
 Lacrosse is always fresh and lively, and sustains 
 its attractiveness from'; beginning to end. No player 
 has either time or inclination to sit on his heels and 
 
38 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 yawn ; there is none of that serious work and gloomy 
 pleasure which is the bane of some field games, and 
 which some players try to counteract by light gym- 
 nastics, or feats which have nothing to do with the 
 game. It unbends the mind better than any other 
 sport, because of the ubiquity of the ball ; it is more 
 like genuine recreation, and is a holiday to the blood 
 to play, and a half-holiday to look on. 
 
 One grand element in Lacrosse is its native 
 attraction and amusement to spectators — -and how 
 soon it converts them into players ! The indefatig- 
 able running and fascinating contests between 
 opponents wherever the ball goes ; the excitement 
 of dodging and of battles around the goals, are 
 watched with breathless interest, while the frequent 
 sudden upsets and somersaults would make even 
 a Plato laugh, and the moroseness of an Antis- 
 thenes take flight for ever. Any one who has taken 
 the trouble to study the faces of spectators at a 
 match may have seen in their expression an index of 
 the character of the game. Gouty old gentlemen 
 forget their big toes in the excitement of watching a 
 struggle for the ball ; the faces of crusty bachelors 
 soften into the old smiles of their youth, while low 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 39 
 
 grumbling laughter, as if afraid to come up, begins to 
 shake them in epigastric regions, and gradually ex- 
 panding into hearty haw-haws, gives them a perma- 
 nent and happy cure. Prudes forget their primness ; 
 snobs their propriety ; old women fearlessly expose 
 themselves to dismantling ; young ladies to the demol- 
 ishment of crinohne and waterfall ; small boys to the 
 imminent fracture of limbs ; dogs will rush frantic- 
 ally over the field and after the ball, exposed to 
 annihilation, while cheers rend the air at good play, 
 and an epidemic of laughter seizes the crowd at the 
 ridiculous incidents and misfortunes of unlucky men. 
 It seems very pardonable to enjoy the laughable 
 shipwreck of some overweening dodger and his 
 excited checker, who make battering rams of their 
 bodies, and send dodger, checker, crosses and ball all 
 in a heap. It helps the circulation of the blood 
 even to watch the varied changes on the field as the 
 ball flies through the air, and twenty-four or more 
 active fellows are alive to its career. The lively 
 and graceful attitudes, the skilful manoeuvring of 
 body, and the scientific handling of the crosse ; the 
 little spirts and leaps — often pretty enough to be 
 affected; the twists and turnings, rallies and 
 
40 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 charges, make a beautiful combination of play ; 
 while the eye can sometimes hardly follow the 
 skilful feats and incidents which occur in such quick 
 succession. How determinedly, how earnestly they 
 work ; how they put their hearts into the pleasure, 
 and even enjoy their own misfortunes ; letting out 
 the most demonstrative proof of sound lung and limb 
 ever developed by field game, and realizing some- 
 thing of the rush and thrill of a genuine battle. 
 Nature may send born poets into the world, but she 
 never sends Lacrosse players ; at least, not in 
 any white community. There is nothing more 
 amusing to a good player than to watch the first 
 attempts of a tyro, with a crosse and a ball. There 
 it lies on the ground before him ; nothing seems 
 simpler than to pick it up. He makes a frantic 
 dash with his stick lowered, but the ball makes a 
 retrograde movement, and the more he pokes at it, 
 the more it seems to evade him. By and bye he 
 learns to take it cool ; there is another plunge and a 
 scoop, and he has it ; and now the mischief of the 
 thing is to carry it. If he holds his crosse out at 
 arm's length, it persists in rolling off ; if he attempts 
 to throw to any point, it will go straight up over 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 41 
 
 his head, or to the very point where he least 
 expected. He sees a dodger passing checks in 
 succession, and it seems easy enough ; checking not 
 so very hard ; goal-keeping simplicity itself. His 
 entire existence for the first few hours is one of 
 inglorious mishaps and disappointments ; but soon 
 the ball is carried with ease, and thrown with 
 accuracy ; the sprawling nervous tips and swipes in 
 final desperation give place to grace and facility, 
 and the novice enjoys something of the astonishment 
 of a young Newfoundland dog thrown into the water 
 for the first time, who, trying to walk, discovers he 
 can swim. 
 
 If it is a worthy thing to be a player at all, it is 
 well worth while being a good one. When the 
 novice has learned to pick up and master the ball, to 
 throw, catch, check, dodge and field properly, he 
 will find he needs something more to get on ^' the 
 first twelve." To play well he must be able to keep 
 it up ; to stand the exertion in the game he must 
 live temperately, and abstain from all " hot and rebel- 
 lious hquors." To be a good player, too, he must 
 learn to control temper under the most trying 
 provocations, cultivate courage, self-reliance, perse- 
 
42 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 verance ; and, above all, learn by heart and practise 
 in conscience that beautiful verse of Thackeray's — 
 
 '* Who misses or who wins the prize, 
 Gro, lose or conquer as you can, 
 But if you fail, or if you rise, 
 Be each, pray God, a gentleman." 
 
 The best players are early risers. No sluggish 
 snoozing after five or six, but up while " silken 
 dailliance in the wardrobe lies," and out in the blue 
 unclouded morning, on a fresh green meadow, where 
 one's blood is set a boil, and put into such healthy 
 circulation that appetites are made ravenous for 
 breakfast. A grand tonic it is, too, which bestows 
 a clear head and a fresh heart, and makes one feel 
 as if he had stolen a march upon time, and was 
 prepared to tackle to business, after the fashion of 
 Monckton Milne's men of old who 
 
 *' "Went about their gravest tasks 
 Like noble boys at play." 
 
 Lacrosse dislikes fellows who '^ spree," who make 
 syphons of their oesophagi, and who cannot make 
 better use of their leisure than to suck mint juleps 
 through straws. It dislikes immaculate snobs, or 
 snobs of any kind, who are allowed to live to show 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 43 
 
 what an absurd donkey excessive conceit can make 
 a man. It has no sympathy with grumpy, selfish 
 brutes, whose science consists in swiping, and who 
 think more of their individual performance than the 
 honor of the game. Neither has it affinity for those 
 model specimens of propriety who think a young 
 man is on the road to perdition unless he is always 
 reading good books, and making himself a bore to his 
 friends by stale, hypocritical moral conversation — 
 those nice young men in black broadcloth who never 
 can take a joke, and who prefer draughts with other 
 nice young men to healthy Lacrosse. The game of 
 Lacrosse dislikes all hypocrisy, unnaturalness, and 
 assumption, and it is the very thing to knock all 
 such out of a man. By the shade of Tullock-chish-ko,* 
 it is a glorious game ! 
 
 Take those whining schoolboys who " creep un- 
 willingly to school," give them crosses, encourage 
 them to go into it, rough-and-tumble if they will 
 until they learn better play, and the sapling will 
 shoot into finer plant, and the lessons come easier 
 and stay longer. Lacrosse quickens and brightens 
 
 * The greatest player among the Choctaws of old. 
 
44 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 the mind. The close quarters in strugghng for the 
 ball, the contests of strength and agility, will bring 
 out dormant energies in boys, develop their pluck and 
 manliness, give them self-confidence, and, like Nelson 
 when a boy, they will forget or never know the meaning 
 of fear. Cerberus may come down ever so cruelly on 
 upturned palm, but the lads will not cry : what care 
 they for taws or tanning when they have run the 
 gauntlet of a dozen whirling crosses, and each one of 
 them, like the English after Agincourt, can 
 
 " Strip his sleeve, and show his scars. 
 And say — These wounds I had on Crispin's day." 
 
 And here Shakspere brings us to the " moving 
 accidents" in the game. It was once a part of the 
 players creed to believe in unpitying roughness, and 
 the best men were noted for maiming others and 
 following the ball in a raiding fashion, " seeking 
 whom they might devour." That was in the days 
 of no government, when clubs were seriously con- 
 sidering the propriety of attaching surgeons, and 
 purchasing club ambulances. Happily this is chang- 
 ing, though not yet complete. The laws forbid 
 spiked soles which might pierce the feet of an anta- 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 45 
 
 gonist, deliberate tripping or striking each other, 
 holding or grasping a player or his crosse. There is 
 nothing in the game as severe as the " mauling, 
 hacking, and tripping" of the Rugby game of foot- 
 ball, or the maiming from cricket or racket balls. 
 Who has not seen every part of the anatomy maimed 
 by cricket and base ball, and eyes gouged out by 
 racket balls. The worst accident yet known from 
 Lacrosse was the fracture of the radius of an arm by 
 a fall. No one was ever maimed for life, though it 
 is hard to go earnestly into the game and entirely 
 escape some slight skin cuts and scratches. Many 
 players have their own blood upon their heads by 
 persistent attempts to dodge when they cannot dodge ; 
 but after all no game is worth a fig if it has not some 
 spice of danger. 
 
 What boots it to any one else if those who are 
 hurt do not complain ? Do Lacrosse players enjoy 
 their mishaps, as foxes, they say, enjoy being hunted ? 
 It would seem so. Before the formation of laws by 
 the Montreal Club in 1867, the game was destitute 
 of regulations, saving the impromptu rules made 
 upon the field, and broken at the first opportunity. 
 Now it has a code which has regulated and systema- 
 
46 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 tized it from beginning to end, quietly settled old 
 causes of dissension, and opened a field for develop- 
 ment which was previously hidden by rough play. 
 It is true there are some men always on the qui vive 
 for offence, who will dog their opponents and hit 
 their heads oftener than their crosse ; one may never 
 expect fair play or good manners from them. A few 
 such players counteract all the good intentions of the 
 laws, and originate the only faults that can be found 
 in the game. 
 
 One objection to Lacrosse — hardly ever made, 
 though, by players — is the great exertion required. 
 It is a common perversion of the game to be made 
 violent by unscientific and young players. They 
 make vehement what they cannot make scientific. 
 But the fierce exertion is fast becoming traditional, 
 and it is a question if the present game is more 
 fatiguing than foot-ball, or half as trying and danger- 
 ous as a stiff boat-race. Hard work, however, is no 
 disparagement. It is a fact that Her Majesty's 
 subjects, wherever they are to be found, are fonder 
 of real hard work in their amusements than any other 
 people. It is this inherent quality which makes 
 them the best average cricketers, rowers, boxers, and 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 47 
 
 fox hunters in the world, and the most adventurous 
 travellers. The Alps have been climbed by more 
 Britons than all the other nationalities put together ; 
 a Briton penetrated to the North Pole, too far to 
 survive ; another, despite of peremptory mandates, 
 ventured into African mazes and Chinese sanctums, 
 and had his bowels let out for reward. A French- 
 man, looking on at a game of cricket, said he would 
 rather fight than play it ; and some nations cannot 
 understand the spirit of adventure of the Anglo- 
 Saxon race. In Canada the same love of adventure 
 and hard work is evinced in snow-shoeing, toboganing, 
 and Lacrosse, as well as those imported sports which 
 are not indigenous to the soil. The Montreal fox 
 hunt has a stifier country to ride over than any in 
 Europe. Canadians gave the All-England Eleven 
 the hardest tug this side of the Atlantic ; Canadian 
 oarsmen are probably equal to any in the world. It 
 is this love of hard work which helps to make Lacrosse 
 popular. Labor ipse voluptas. There is somewhat 
 of an illusion, however, among spectators at a 
 Lacrosse match. They see an excitable wavering 
 game ; the real play is not confined to any Hmit — it 
 is far from Quakerish. They see twenty-four men 
 
48 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 on the alert for the ubiquitous ball — here and there 
 they move out and in, while some run as fast as their 
 legs can carry them. The ball flies through the air 
 from one point to another ; there are innumerable 
 close contests and hard struggles in attack and 
 defence, all of which appear in quick succession. 
 From the red flags to the blue, the men are full of 
 life — ^not one is useless — the grass has no time to 
 grow where they run — and the result is an apparent 
 amount of intense exertion, which the spectators 
 invariably magnify. 
 
 Pity it is that gunpowder should rob us of such 
 glorious fights as Hastings and Naseby, and, as Don 
 Quixote laments, give men now no chance for indivi- 
 dual valor ; for what grand training Lacrosse would 
 have been for sword and battle-axe encounter — for 
 splitting helmet from crown to chin — for storming 
 redoubts without fear of flying shot or shell ; in 
 fact, for hand to hand conflict. Confound the man 
 who first invented breech-loaders ! Are those 
 splendid bayonet charges of the " thin red line" to 
 become traditionary because any scarecrow can lie 
 on his belly and pop a dozen bullets at it in the same 
 time as he used to fire one ? But a truce to war 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 49 
 
 :and weapons ; this sounds bloodthirsty, and Lacrosse 
 is a recreation, though it may be, too, as all such 
 sports are, a peace preparation for war, if needs be. 
 A valuable addition to education in Canadian schools 
 is the systematic instruction in the use of the rifle 
 and gymnastics. Nothing better brings out the 
 mental as well as physical mettle of boys. The story 
 of a certain Duke who, looking on at the boys 
 playing at Eton, said, " It was there the battle of 
 Waterloo was won," is familiar to every one. 
 
 To come back to the game. Lacrosse as a bene- 
 ficial exercise has no superior. It combines the 
 benefits of several. It brings into operation at one 
 time more muscles than any other game, and equal- 
 izes the exercise over the entire system. Biceps and 
 <5hest, trained by boxing, are developed at the 
 expense of other muscles and parts left in repose, 
 and the object of exercise is frustrated, that is, the 
 symmetrical development from head to toe, brain as 
 well as muscle. Lacrosse stimulates nutrition, invi- 
 gorates and equalizes the circulation, quickens and 
 frees the function of respiration, strengthens the 
 appetite and digestion, and purifies the blood. Its 
 
 sociability calls forth a nervous stimulus which acts 
 
 E 
 
50 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 enticingly on the muscles ; and, in accordance with 
 the truest physiological rules of exercise, it has its 
 origin in, and is kept up by, an active mental 
 stimulant, involving a healthy variety of movement 
 which may be proportioned to any age or constitu- 
 tion. It educates the body to speed and agility, and 
 gives one a feeling of freshness and lightness, the 
 true sign of good health. Galen says games of ball 
 cure low spirits, " be it with hand or racket." 
 
 Does Lacrosse not do any service for mind as well 
 as body ? Certainly it does. It knocks timidity and 
 nonsense out of a young man, training him to tem- 
 perance, confidence, and pluck ; teaches him to 
 govern his temper if he has too much, or rouses it 
 healthily if he has too little. It shames grumpiness 
 out of him, schools his vanity, and makes him a man. 
 It develops judgment and calculation, promptness 
 and decision ; destroys conventionality, and creates 
 a sort of freemasonry which draws men of the same 
 tastes and sympathies together. It has one result, 
 too, which the good Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, foresaw 
 in such healthy exercises when he made them part of 
 his system of instruction, viz., a mingling of Greek 
 with Christian education, " in which the body should 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 61 
 
 become the strong instrument of the trained mind 
 and free heart, open to every pure, high, and heroic 
 feehng." Its moral influence is beyond dispute. 
 
 SCIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 There are a few disparagers of Lacrosse who refuse 
 it fealty, because, as they assert, " there is no science 
 in it," though they fail to remember that it is as yet 
 in its infancy among the only men — the whites — who 
 can develop its science, and that it has only recently 
 been brought under the restraint of standard laws, 
 which materially check the old rough-and-tumble 
 play. It takes more than one season to make a good 
 Lacrosse player as well as a cricketer ; and when we 
 study to practise on the principles maturing, there 
 will be just enough of science in the game to make 
 it popular, and not too much to make it a bore. 
 
 What is " Science" as imphed in a sport ? The 
 wrestling and leaping of hounds at play is not science. 
 A cat can spring with more nimbleness than a 
 Lacrosse player, and a young setter will get at a ball 
 on the ground with his fore-paws or his teeth, how- 
 ever quick it may be tipped or frisked with a crosse 
 — ^but that is not science. Science in a sport implies 
 
62 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 training and education of the intellect, a high use of 
 the reasoning faculty, and a capacity to experiment 
 and improve, and impart principles of knowledge to 
 another. It can only be a human prerogative. The 
 difference between it and art is, that science is a 
 collection of the general principles or leading 
 precepts ; art is the skill that apphes them. " A 
 principle in science is a rule of art." The theory 
 of Lacrosse is its science — the practice is its art. 
 
 The science of a sport is not immutable like that 
 of mathematics. The latter is founded upon a few 
 axioms and definitions, and it is impossible to prove 
 Euclid's propositions to one who disputes the axioms. 
 In a sport, however, contingencies and casual 
 circumstances occur, which lead off from some 
 theories into new ones, and such science can never 
 be unalterable and certain. 
 
 Is the art of Lacrosse based on a science ? Hot 
 entirely so, not as much so as cricket ; but that there 
 is science in the game is proved by the fact that many 
 throws, dodges, checks, &c., are explained by fixed 
 principles, from which no one can deviate and be 
 successful. The throw of the ball, for instance, unlike 
 that of a die, is not under the doctrine of chance. 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 63 
 
 All things being equal, the rules given for accurate 
 and long shots, &C.5 are no probability or surmise. 
 No one undertakes to say that principles can be laid 
 down to govern every movement, every part of play 
 — that cannot be expected in any sport. 
 
 Catlin's and other descriptions of the original game 
 differ very much from the present Lacrosse, and the 
 transformation is palpable even to .those who cannot 
 play. Old players can recal the game of ten or 
 twelve years ago, or even three years ago, before the 
 estabhshment of laws, and will acknowledge the im- 
 provement of the present game, not only in the 
 destruction of the old principle of brute force and 
 hard running, but in the invention of new and superior 
 modes of practice. Many of the general principles 
 of fielding, methods of dodging, throwing, frisking the 
 ball, &c.,were unknown three years ago as a regular 
 art. The game is not played better now because 
 every player trains or is better winded and stronger 
 than the old players, but because it is played on 
 different principles. When the bagged crosse was 
 repudiated, a comparatively new field of development 
 was opened, and a vexatious cause of excessive 
 dispute and dodging removed. The laws of Lacrosse 
 
64 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 created new ranges of thought and experiment ; new 
 theories and principles were laid down, and new 
 modes of practice developed, and more method given 
 to any madness in the game. 
 
 Science in Lacrosse is brought out by the netting 
 on the stick used, which is not possible in shinty, or 
 games played differently with a different instrument. 
 The various feats with the ball on the crosse are not 
 possible in any other game. 
 
 The development of science in Lacrosse, has been 
 brought about, too, by the smallness of the fields, or 
 the short distances from goal to goal ; bringing the 
 players to close contests, and necessitating quick 
 feats, and entirely different play from that formerly 
 practised on large fields The whites have only ever 
 beaten the Indians because they played on smaller 
 fields than the latter are accustomed to ; and there 
 is no doubt but that if the red skins had goals half a 
 mile apart, the whites would seldom, if ever, get a 
 chance to touch the ball. The white game differs 
 from the red, in being restricted by that mark of 
 civilization and trespass, the fence, and by the differ- 
 ence of the constitutions of the two people. 
 
 The mistake some white players make, and which 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 65 
 
 iias retarded development, is in trying to imitate the 
 Indian game to the very letter. Now this is simply 
 as absurd as attempting to live as he does. They 
 are differently situated, and the most degenerate 
 have, as a rule, better inherent constitutions than the 
 majority of white men ; and if the present generation 
 of them, modified the game from the original to suit 
 their present habits and mode of life, how much more 
 should we, who are inferior to them in wind and 
 endurance, temper it to suit us. A sensible, thor- 
 oughly civilized people cannot, and should not, play 
 Lacrosse exactly after the manner of the Indian. 
 The fact that they may beat the pale-face, is more a 
 proof of their superior physical nature, than any 
 evidence of their superior science. They play on 
 their old principle of war, viz. : to have the most 
 men at the critical points of attack and defence, and 
 obey no arrangement of any kind. Every Indian 
 feels that where the ball is, there he should be, and 
 though they do not altogether abandon ^n instinctive 
 disposition, the glory of Lacrosse to them is in the 
 exciting chases after the ball. The Indian village 
 game was not intellectual enough for the whites, and 
 needed systematizing; but never let this improve- 
 
56 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 ment be carried to such extreme as to spoil its^ 
 extemporaneous peculiarities of jSelding, and the 
 general free character, which distinguishes it above 
 all other field games. 
 
 However much the game has changed, it cannot 
 change much more and retain its charms. Base-ball 
 perfected rounders ; cricket, club-ball ; and the laws 
 of Lacrosse supplied the deficiencies existing before 
 they were formed. The game can never change 
 from its present character as it did from its original ; 
 it is not desirable that it should. Neither can old 
 methods of play ever become useless, unless the 
 game becomes so revolutionized that it will no longer 
 be the attractive game it is. If old styles of throw- 
 ing, dodging and checking were ever good, they can 
 never become obsolete ; nor can any developments of 
 science ever make a good hard player a nonentity. 
 The metamorphosis of tne game was completed when 
 the laws were formed; its general character can 
 undergo little other change, though the methods of 
 play in every department must become more nume- 
 rous and improved, as knowledge of the game 
 increases. 
 
 That Lacrosse can never be as scientific a game 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 67 
 
 as cricket is freely acknowledged ; but that it suffers 
 thereby is not believed. The genuine worth of any 
 physical recreation is in keeping the physical above 
 the mental, for once the mind is paramount to the 
 body, the object of bodily exercise is frustrated. 
 
 The science in Lacrosse will be more prominent 
 when rough play is ousted, and men learn to play up 
 to the strict letter of the law. If this science is to 
 be developed, rough brute force play must end ; not 
 the hard running, nor the occasional honest shoulder 
 encounters, but the slashing and swiping and wound- 
 ing hy crosses. 
 
 But supposing it was granted that there is no 
 science in the game — can that make it a whit less 
 popular, or less healthy ? How much science is there 
 in boating, independant of strong arms, and are all 
 regattas to be despised ? How much is there in snow- 
 shoeing and toboganing — those glorious winter sports 
 of Canada, — and who will dare impugn the moon- 
 light tramps over Mount Royal, or cast the suspicion 
 of a sneer at swift rides down Montmorenci cone ? 
 
 LACROSSE — THE NATIONAL GAME OF CANADA. 
 
 I beheve that I was the first to propose the 
 
58 THE PRESENT GAME. 
 
 game of Lacrosse as the national game of Canada 
 in 1859 ; and a few months preceding the pro- 
 clamation of Her Majesty, uniting the Provinces of 
 Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, into one 
 Dominion, a letter headed " Lacrosse — Our National 
 Field Game," published by me in the Montreal 
 Daily News^ in April, 1867, was printed oflf and 
 distributed throughout the whole Dominion, and was 
 copied into many of the public papers. A circular 
 giving minute instructions about the game, was after- 
 wards distributed, and over sixty answers received 
 from parties in all parts of Canada, who were after- 
 wards instrumental in organizing clubs. On the day 
 which created the greater part of British America a 
 Dominion, the game of Lacrosse was adopted as the 
 national game, and it was appropriate and auspicious 
 that this should be so. The fact that it was to be 
 the national game, spread throughout the country, 
 and gave it popularity in districts where it had never 
 been seen or heard of before, and where other field 
 sports had been played for years. Suggestive as the 
 spread of the game is of its attractiveness, it must 
 also suggest happy ideas of the patriotism of Young 
 Canada. 
 
THE PRESENT GAME. 69 
 
 It may seem frivolous, at first consideration, to 
 associate this feeling of nationality with a field game, 
 but history proves it to be a strong and important 
 influence. Cricket and curling have their national 
 and nationalizing influences on their respective admi- 
 rers, and so may Lacrosse. Whatever tends to 
 cultivate this nationality is no frivolous influence, 
 even should it be a boyish sport. 
 
 If the Republic of Greece was indebted to the 
 Olympian games ; if England has cause to bless the 
 name of cricket, so may Canada be proud of 
 Lacrosse. It has raised a young manhood through- 
 out the Dominion to active, healthy exercise ; it has 
 originated a popular feeling in favor of physical 
 exercise, and has, perhaps, done more than anything 
 else to invoke the sentiment of patriotism among 
 young men in Canada ; and if this sentiment is desi- 
 rable abroad, surely it is at home. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS OP LACROSSE. 
 
 Nothing adds more to the interest manifested in 
 scenery, than its association with remarkable events 
 in the history of the country. Such associations 
 hover over the Plains of Abraham, Chateauguay, 
 Queenstown Heights, and Ridgeway, with a classic 
 reminiscence ; sweep away from present view 
 noble cities, and revive the dense forest and the 
 Indian village. Deadly struggles are re-enacted 
 on battle fields where now the clover blooms, and 
 "^ lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea." Old 
 chateaux, forts, and windmills bring to mind tradi- 
 tional occurences connected with the Indian and 
 French regime; and the pure Indian, — ^now a nonen- 
 tity — stalks forth in his degenerate posterity, a 
 subject of curiosity, but a blot on the escutcheon of 
 " pale face " humanity. 
 
 The same associations are interwoven with the 
 
ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 61 
 
 original game of Lacrosse, in a most thrilling 
 tragedy of colonial history, which occurred about 
 four months after the signing of the Treaty of 
 Peace at Paris in 1763, between the Sovereigns of 
 England, France and Spain, — we refer to the sur- 
 prise and massacre of the British garrison of Fort 
 MichiUimackinac, by a party of Indian Lacrosse 
 players, during a grand exhibition game before the 
 Fort. 
 
 To thoroughly understand the occurrence we must 
 retrace our view to the motives which prompted the 
 massacre, — the prologue, as it were, of the tragedy. 
 
 In the contests between England and France for 
 •dominion on this continent, the red men ot the forest 
 were always found convenient and willing auxiliaries ; 
 treacherous and unstable, 'tis true, but faithful in 
 following their instinct for war, on whichever side they 
 fought. When the country was first discovered, the 
 Indian tribes had been at war with each other for 
 unknown years ; the arrow and the tomahawk had 
 decimated numerous tribes, and the chief end of the 
 red skins was to develop the instincts of war, and 
 accumulate scalps in preference to the richest furs. 
 
 On the 13th of September, 1759, was fought the 
 
62 ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 
 
 battle which sealed the fate of Canada, and though 
 the colony was virtually conquered when Quebec 
 was taken, the French still garrisoned the rest of the 
 country. On the 8th of September, 1760, the 
 Marquis de Vaudreuil, the last of the French gover- 
 nors, signed the capitulation of Canada; and the 
 arrival at Montreal on the same day of the three 
 armies of Sir Jeffrey Amherst, Col. Haviland, and Gen. 
 Murray, consummated the surrender. The western 
 outposts, however, still hoisted the fleur de lys^ and 
 a provincial officer. Major Robert Rogers, was com- 
 missioned by Amherst, on the 12th of September, to 
 ascend the lakes with a body of hunters and back- 
 woodsmen called '' Rogers' Rangers," and take 
 possession in the name of the King of England, of 
 Detroit, Michillimackinac, and the other posts includ- 
 ed in the capitulation. Rogers coveted the duty 
 assigned him ; it suited his mood exactly ; and on the 
 13th he left with 200 men in fifteen whale boats, and 
 was intercepted where now stands the city of Cleve-^ 
 land, Ohio, by Pontiac, the Indian lord of the coun- 
 try. Rogers told him of the capitulation and the 
 object of his expedition, and Pontiac expressed his 
 desire to live at peace with the English, though he 
 
ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 63 
 
 had been a firm ally of the French. As a tangible 
 proof of his sincerity he saved Rogers and his men 
 from an impending onslaught of 400 Detroit Indians. 
 Arriving at Detroit, where the news of the capitul- 
 ation had preceded him, Rogers demanded its sur- 
 render, and " the fleur de lys was lowered from the 
 flag-staff, and the cross of St. George rose aloft in 
 its place, while seven hundred Indian warriors, lately 
 the active allies of France, greeted the sight with a 
 burst of triumphant yells," The forts Miami, Oua- 
 tanon, Michillimackinac, St. Marie, Green Bay and 
 St. Joseph were next severally surrendered, and the 
 capitulation was complete. 
 
 England had now an opportunity of making her 
 dominion permanently secure by a policy of con- 
 cihation and probity, but the same blunders of 
 government, the same absolute lawlessness and 
 unrestrained individual liberty to abuse the natives, 
 which hastened the decline of French rule, alienated 
 the favor of the Indian from the English, and depriv- 
 ed them of moral and physical authority. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that the chain of forts 
 extending from Lake Michigan to Niagara were 
 built by the French under the pretence that they 
 
64 ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 
 
 ivere to be used as trading houses, for the mutual 
 interest of the government and the natives. From 
 these forts the Indians derived inestimable advan- 
 tages. Jesuit missionaries worked themselves into 
 the sympathies of the Indians ; French officers and 
 soldiers appeared to assimilate themselves to manj 
 of their wild habits, and, like Frontenac, occasionally 
 arrayed themselves in the garb of Indian warriors, 
 and joined in the war dance with that art of accom- 
 modation so illustrative of French character. " The 
 French became savages," says Charlevois, " instead 
 of the savages becoming French." French com- 
 merce ornamented every wigwam ; the mirrors of 
 Paris pleased the vanity while they reflected the 
 features of stately warrior and dark-eyed squaw ; 
 yet French power was never relaxed, for while they 
 courted the favor of the natives they showed their 
 might, and while " caressing with one hand held a 
 drawn sword in the other." Indian vanity and love 
 for '^ presents" was sagaciously fed; the novelties 
 of Europe were lavishly distributed ; even guns, 
 ammunition and clothing were given with a genero- 
 sity which won the heart of the red-skin. A French- 
 man might have slept as soundly and securely in 
 
ASSOCIATIOiNTS OF LACROSSE, 65 
 
 any Indian wigwam as on the softest couch of " la 
 belle France." 
 
 With the change of dominion came a change of 
 conduct. No longer were the forts attractive : the 
 Indians were snubbed and abused by the red-coats ? 
 their savage conceit and dignity was outraged and 
 contemned. English fur traders .cheated them; 
 settlers invaded their best lands, and cut down their 
 forests. ''Who goes there?" and a musket at the 
 charge was now the orthodox reception at the forts ; 
 conciliation was turned to insult, flattery to repulsion, 
 and the usual "presents" altogether ceased. The 
 difference was not so much a premeditated invention 
 of the government to injure the Indian, as it was a 
 difference in the nature of the new rulers. The 
 Enghsh were blunt and stern, because it was their 
 nature ; they truckled to no one ; asked no favours 
 and gave none. There was an element of diplomacy, 
 however, in the French conduct towards the Indians, 
 which served them better than resort to the logic of 
 the bayonet, and it would have been wiser for British 
 supremacy, and have averted several disasters which 
 followed the defeat of the French, had their con- 
 ciliatory policy been adopted. 
 
66 ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 
 
 By active misrepresentation the French added fuel 
 to the flame of Indian discontent. The tribes were 
 incited by them to take up arms, under the fear of be- 
 ing exterminated by the Enghsh ; and were assured 
 that the armies of the King of France, were on their 
 way up the St. Lawrence and Mississippi, to defend 
 a^nd aid them, and, what seemed the most moving 
 argument, to bring them ship loads of " presents." 
 Indeed, we have always thought that there was 
 isomething of French diplomacy and generalship in 
 the conspiracy which has been named after and 
 attributed to Pontiac. It has always seemed to us as 
 if it was too comprehensive, too methodical, too vast 
 for his conception ; and though he was made the 
 responsible instrument of its accompUshment, it 
 exhibits the genius of a master mind in tactics, a 
 flavor of Napoleonic strategy ; as if the generalship 
 which failed to preserve the country had conceived a 
 brilliant plan of revenge. 
 
 Several plots to destroy the Enghsh garrisons 
 between 1761 and 1762 were discovered and frus- 
 trated ; but at the close of the latter year, was 
 planned the " Conspiracy of Pontiac." 
 
 Pontiac was the great high chief of the Ottawas, 
 
ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 67 
 
 and head of the confederacy formed by that tribe, 
 the Ojibways and Pottawattamies. He is repre- 
 sented as of the average height, very dark red 
 complexion, bold and determined expression: and 
 when we remember that the Indian chief had no 
 legal authority over his men ; that, though he was 
 followed and acknowledged as leader, there was none 
 of that respect and distinction which exists between 
 the officers and men of an army, we may have some 
 idea of his pre-eminent ability. None of his con- 
 temporaries or imitators were equal to him, or ever 
 held such sway. Eighteen nations chose him as 
 their united leader : his individuality was marked ; 
 he was Pontiac and no one else. His speeches, if 
 correctly reported, — which we doubt of all Indian 
 ^speeches, — prove him to have been of a higher sphere 
 of thought than his race has usually produced ; but 
 he was as genuine a savage as ever trod the forest, 
 or scalped a skull. There was a contagion in his 
 courage, and his greatness raised the reputation 
 for valor of the tribes who fought with him ; but we 
 believe that the influence of the French, and the 
 powers they brought to bear upon him, had much to 
 do in training a character which has been made 
 
68 ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 
 
 SO famous in the annals of Indian history and the 
 early associations of Lacrosse. 
 
 The war belt of black and purple wampum had 
 been sent to all the nations of the Ohio and its 
 tributaries, the upper lakes, the borders of the river 
 Ottawa, and the mouth of the Mississippi, and with 
 the exception of the Iroquois confederacy — except the 
 Senecas who joined the rest, — all the tribes accepted 
 the invitation and prepared for war. Pontiac held 
 several councils of the warriors ; the plans were 
 discussed and decided upon, but nothing was said of 
 the ball-play snare. It would seem as if that portion 
 of the plan was a new ruse decided upon after 
 the failure of the first attempt upon Detroit ; as 
 the scheme there tried, and which was frustrated 
 through the revelations of an Ojibway girl, was 
 to obtain admittance to the fort, and during a council 
 meeting, suddenly fall upon and massacre the officers, 
 while the Indians outside would fall upon the 
 garrison. The next afternoon, to calm the appre- 
 hensions of the garrison, Pontiac summoned the 
 players of the different tribes to a game of ball, 
 on the common adjacent to the fort; and it is 
 possible that it was this occasion which suggested the 
 
ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 69 
 
 l)all-play ruse. On the following morning (9th of 
 May) he sought entrance to the fort for himself and 
 all his warriors, but was refused such a carte hlanche^ 
 though offered a personal admittance. Seeing his 
 designs thus detected, he forgot dissimulation, and 
 with a savage expression on his face, turned and 
 left, while his warriors, yelling like fiends, took 
 immediate revenge by massacring the few English 
 settlers who lived near the fort and its vicinity. 
 Pontiac, however, had no hand in this, as he had 
 crossed the river in a canoe to the Ottawa vil- 
 lage, where he gave vent to his threats of ven- 
 geance. 
 
 A general attack now ensued, and the inmates 
 of the chain of forts had a sleepless time, and a 
 terrible fate in view ; but " Britons, you know," said 
 a letter from Detroit, " never shrink. We always 
 appeared gay to spite the rascals." 
 
 Passing over the rout of Lieut. Cuyler's detach- 
 ment, and the capture of Forts Sandusky, St. Joseph, 
 Ouatanon, Miami, Presqu Isle, and the posts of Le 
 Poeuf and Venago, Niagara not having been attacked, 
 and Pittsburgh having been saved by Col. Bradstreet, 
 let us take up the thread of our narrative at 
 
70 ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 
 
 Michillimackinac, the third of the fated garrisons to 
 fall. 
 
 The ancient route to Michillimackinac, and 
 the one followed in 1763 by the English fur 
 traders was up the Ottawa, and along a suc- 
 cession of small lakes and rivers ; or by Detroit 
 and the lakes of St. Clair and Huron. Some years 
 ago, Parkman made a personal examination of 
 that fort, where, says he, " the stumps of the pickets 
 and the foundations of the houses may still be 
 traced." Michillimackinac — an Algonquin word, 
 signifying the Great Turtle, and applied also to a 
 neighboring island — was one of the three and most 
 important northern posts, founded by the French at 
 an early date, as a military key and a centre for the 
 fur trade from the Mississippi and the North-west. 
 The Jesuits had a mission there in 1671. Early in 
 the spring of 1763, Pontiac had invited the Ojibways 
 of Michillimackinac to join him in the great con- 
 spiracy, and they eagerly accepted. 
 
 It was impossible that such a grand scheme could 
 mature without detection, but the English officers 
 treated the rumours brought to them by friendly 
 Indians and Canadians, with extraordinary unconcern 
 
ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 71 
 
 and sang f void. None of the forts had better warn- 
 ing of the threatening danger than Michillimackinac. 
 A Canadian told Capt. Etherington, the command- 
 ant, the whole plan ; and Henry the trader, to whose 
 " Travels" we are" much indebted for the particulars 
 of the massacre, was personally warned by an 
 Algonquin, named Wawatam. Henry communicated 
 the warning to the commandant, but the latter paid 
 it no regard whatever. 
 
 At the time of which we write the fort was 
 occupied by thirty-five men of H. M. 55th and 80th 
 regiments, and other inhabitants to the number of 
 about ninety souls. The Indians at Michillimackinac 
 had more freedom of intercourse with the fort than at 
 any of the other posts. They strolled in and out at 
 leisure, and though challenged after dusk, they were 
 free to enter during the day. On the afternoon 
 previous to the massacre it was full of Ojibways and 
 Ottawas, professing unusual friendship. 
 
 The garrison was never more profoundly at peace 
 than on the early morning of the 4th of June, 1763. 
 It was the birthday of King George ; and here, 
 in the heart of the forest, the love of country 
 and sovereign was that day to be celebrated : the 
 
72 ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 
 
 soldiers were allowed more freedom than usual, w^hile 
 Indians and a multitude of their squaws and children 
 flocked about the doors and gate. 
 
 An invitation of apparent friendliness from the 
 Ojibways was sent to the fort, to witness a grand 
 game of haggataway^ as Lacrosse was then called, 
 between them and the Sacs, on the plain in front. 
 They had played it very often before among them- 
 selves for the amusement of the garrison, but this 
 game was intended to be especially interesting in 
 honor of the day. The gates were opened wide ; the 
 soldiers were lying and standing about in groups in 
 undress — the majority without arms. Capt. Ether- 
 ington and Lieut. Leslie were standing close to the 
 gate, — the latter betting that the Ojibways would win. 
 The cross of St. George floated proudly from the 
 flag-staff, and the little garrison felt that though 
 thousands of miles from home, they could honor the 
 birthday of their king. Indian warriors, French, 
 and a large number of squaws were mixed up in 
 little groups, lying and sitting on the ground near 
 the fort. 
 
 The players, nearly naked, and each carrying one 
 of the sticks shown on page 11, separated from 
 
ASSOCIATIONS OF LACEOSSE. 73 
 
 the crowd and spread out over the plain. A single 
 post was planted for goal ; and without further 
 ceremony, one of the chiefs advanced to the centre, 
 flung up the ball, and at once retreated. Imme- 
 diately a wild scene of struggling and confusion 
 ensued, as the little bone of contention was struck at, 
 caught, carried and thrown from one side to the 
 other. Every player yelled at the top of his voice, 
 and with frantic leaps and dashes, chased and fought 
 for the ball, tumbling over each other, kicking, 
 and wrestling with might and main. The spectators 
 roared with laughter ; the garrison forgot all else 
 but watching the sport. Several times the ball shot 
 high into the air, and descending fell inside the 
 pickets, much to the delight of the garrison, who 
 then had a near view of the struggle. Gradually 
 the body of players neared the fort, pell-mell after 
 the ball. Suddenly it again soared into the air, and 
 fell near the pickets of the fort, while the players 
 made a rush to the gate, followed by the warriors 
 who were spectators ; the war whoop rang over the 
 plain ; the ball-sticks were flung away ; the squaws 
 threw open their blankets, and the players snatched 
 the tomahawks and other weapons they had concealed 
 
74 ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 
 
 there. Led by Minavavana — a man of fifty years of 
 age, le Grand Sauteur, or Great Ojibway as he was 
 called by the French — they fell upon the defenceless 
 garrison, cutting down the soldiers and traders with- 
 out mercy. Not a Frenchman, many of whom stood 
 calmly looking on, was touched. Henry, who gives a 
 vivid description of the scene, witnessed the fate of 
 several of his countrymen. " Capt. Etherington and 
 " Lieut. Leslie were seized and led away to the 
 " woods. Lieut. Jamet was instantly killed, and fifteen 
 *' rank and file, and a trader named Tracy. They 
 " wounded two, and took the rest of the garrison pri- 
 " soners, five of whom they have since killed. They 
 " made prisoners of all the English traders, and rob- 
 " bed them of everything they had." About twenty 
 men escaped the massacre. While the joy-bells in 
 England rang out in honor of King George, one little 
 band of loyal men in the wilds of America, thus 
 perished in cold blood in the uniform of His Majesty. 
 Fortunately for those taken prisoners, the Ottawas, 
 who were jealous because the Ojibways attacked 
 the fort without asking them to share in the 
 onslaught, took Capt. Etherington, Lieut. LesHe, and 
 eleven men from the latter. They were afterwards 
 
ASSOCIATIONS OF LACROSSE. 75 
 
 released, and on the 18th of July left L'Arbe Coche^ 
 and arrived in Montreal on the 12th of August. 
 
 We will not follow the campaigns under Bouquet 
 and Bradstreet to subdue the Indians. Between 
 fighting and treaty making, peace was eventually 
 declared, and the spirit of the red-skin broken. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 MATERIALS FOR PLAY — RUNNING AND TRAINING. 
 THE CROSSE, &C. 
 
 The Canadian Indians claim to have invented the 
 present Crosse long before Jacques Cartier came to 
 Canada. When the French first saw the game they 
 gave it the name of La Crosse^ the bat ; and it is 
 worthy of note that the use of the present shaped 
 stick seems to have been almost entirely confined to 
 Canada. 
 
 1. Tip. 
 
 2. Top. 
 
 3. Bend. 
 
 4. Collar or Peg. 
 
 5. Butt. 
 
 6. Leading string. 
 
 A. Head surface of netting. 
 
 B. Centre surface of netting. 
 
 C. Lower angle. 
 
 The Crosse is made of ash, hickory, rock-elm, 
 or basswood, and, like the other aboriginal con- 
 structions, such as the bark canoe, the snow-shoe and 
 
MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 77 
 
 tobogan, was made entirely from the productions of 
 the chase and the forest, until deer-skin became 
 scarce and the Indian domestic, — when the skin of 
 the cow or the horse supplied the material for the 
 netting. An Indian goes into the woods, cuts a load 
 of green boughs, or young trees — which are split 
 in four ; bends them, while green, to the required 
 shape around a wooden model, or between two logs, 
 or in a hole, fastens a piece of cat-gut or birch 
 bark from the tip to the collar or peg, to preserve 
 the bend, and lets them season; or if the wood is 
 already seasoned, it is bent by steaming. The 
 Indians prefer hickory because of its strength, but 
 unless it is light, ash or rock elm is better adapted for 
 the purpose. Poor, cheap sticks are a snare : good 
 sticks should be free from knots. 
 
 In bending the stick the incurvation of the bend 
 should be regulated either by a wooden model or by 
 the eye. The laws of Lacrosse now limit the width 
 of the widest part to one foot, but nine inches is 
 perhaps more serviceable and convenient for every 
 purpose ; though a goal-keeper may take advantage 
 of the outside limit. A slight outward bend should 
 be given to the middle. The part of the top of the 
 
78 MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 
 
 curve which touches the ground in picking up should 
 be shaved or filed off, either previous to or after weav- 
 ing. There is no restriction upon the length of the 
 stick, but the measurement most likely to suit all 
 parties is from the toe, close into the hollow under 
 either arm. A long stick is better for long and hard 
 throwing, and for general play, providing the player 
 can manage it ; but the disadvantage is, that the 
 -weight is increased, and that the length impedes 
 ground frisking, and is more exposed to checks in 
 dodging. Goal-keeper, hoAvever, should never have a 
 crosse longer than the toe and arm-pit measurement. 
 The circumference of the stick should be about 3J 
 inches in its thickest part ; the back part, which is 
 pierced for the netting, should be shaved flat about a 
 quarter of an inch wide on both sides of the holes. All 
 trimming should be completed before commencing to 
 weave. Care must be taken not to sacrifice strength 
 to appearance. A curve too thin is sure to crack at 
 the holes, and some fine morning collapse. The butt 
 may be bound with waxed cord or chamois, to give a 
 firm grasp, and prevent concussion. 
 
 After the stick is bent, and before the string is 
 fastened to retain it in place until seasoned, a hole 
 
MATERIALS FOK PLAY. 79 
 
 should be bored and a peg inserted, or what is, 
 perhaps, better, the stick should be so trimmed as 
 to leave a collar at figure 4, where the length 
 strings are to terminate. The netting should be 
 about twenty-nine inches long. About thirteen 
 holes, two and a half inches apart, are now bored for 
 the length and side strings, about a quarter of an inch 
 from the inside of the wood, and exactly in the centre 
 of the shaved surface. These holes should begin 
 about an inch and a half from the tip, and stop at 
 about nine or ten inches from the collar. The 
 stick is then ready for weaving, after seasoning. 
 
 WHICH SIDE OF THE CROSSE TO USE. 
 
 Before commencing to weave, decide upon the side 
 of the stick which you will use. Holding it in your 
 right hand, the right side is that which is uppermost 
 when the tip of the curve is to the right. Reverse 
 it, and you bring the tip to the left, and the left side 
 uppermost. There are as many plausible reasons for 
 using the one side as the other. Some maintain that 
 there is less danger of being checked in dodging, and 
 more ease and accuracy in throwing, by using the 
 left side ; but on the other hand, as many maintain 
 
80 MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 
 
 the same advantage for the right. In the carried 
 dodge from right to left, described in Sect. 1 on 
 Dodging, the netting is more exposed to damage 
 from the usual front check ; and as this is about the 
 only carried dodge much practised by the Indians, we 
 may attribute to this their general use of the left side 
 of the Crosse. Another good argument in favor of 
 the left side in dodging, is that in the movement from 
 right to left the ball finds a better guard from 
 slipping, as it is close to the stick ; while when held 
 on the right side in this movement, it is altogether 
 controlled by the wrist and arm in carrying. 
 Personally we prefer the right side, as we never 
 could make the ball run close to the stick in throwing 
 from the left side. In facing. Centre is obliged to 
 place the right side of the netting against the ball, 
 and it seems awkward that in case of a slip, where 
 the crosse has to be used as in close play, that he 
 should have to reverse his stick or play at a 
 disadvantage. It is more convenient, too, to have 
 the angular ridge suggested for the Centre's crosse, 
 on the side with which he plays. However, many 
 good players who use the left side maintain that they 
 make the ball run close to the wood in throwing ; and 
 
MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 81 
 
 the most natural side for each player is the only 
 rule. 
 
 WEAVING. 
 
 The material used for weaving must be '' cat-gut." 
 (See Rule 1, Sec. 1.) Formerly it was customary 
 to use cord, leather thongs, and moccasin strings, 
 and we have seen stay laces, boot laces and tape 
 utilized for the same purpose. The cat-gut, if good, 
 will be transparent after being prepared in a solution 
 of potash and water. It should be cut into straight 
 strips of uniform thickness, and soaked in water for a 
 few minutes before weaving. The longest strings 
 are used first, and the weaving may be commenced 
 by catching at the collar or peg, passing through the 
 tip hole, across to the second hole, down to the collar 
 or peg, up to the third hole, and so on until the 
 length strings are completed. The inter-weaving is 
 then done by continuing sideways, twisting the gut in 
 a half knot as it has to cross any length string. It 
 is much cheaper to buy than to make a crosse, but 
 every player should learn to weave a netting for 
 himself, as the Indian manufacturers make a hide go 
 a long way, and have no conscientious scruples 
 
82 MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 
 
 about sending miserable gut into market. The 
 strongest material we have ever met for the nettings 
 and which may be used alone or interwoven with the 
 regular material, is the clock gut used for clock 
 weights, and which seems to last longer than 
 anything else. 
 
 The length strings should be made so tight as to 
 prevent the possibility of the netting bagging. The 
 " bag" was instituted by bad players who were fond 
 of dodging, and too lazy or unskilful to learn the art 
 of managing the ball on a flat netting. The difficulty 
 lay in defining a bag, but every player instinctively 
 knows one. There is no such thing in a new crosse ; 
 and, to induce players not to bag, it was agreed 
 years ago by the Montreal and Beaver Clubs to use 
 a leading string resting upon the top of the stick. 
 
 When the leading string was first proposed it was 
 also suggested to make a certain concavity, below 
 which it would be illegal to bag, thus meeting the 
 baggists half way ; but this was clearly seen to be 
 impossible with the pliable substance used for weaving, 
 and the length of surface exposed to alteration by the 
 vicissitudes of play and damp weather. It would be 
 far easier to lay down a rule for the mathematical 
 
MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 83 
 
 exactness of the curve and dimensions of the stick 
 than for the concavity of the netting ; because the 
 latter loses its original shape in using, especially when 
 wet, and would not retain any original concavity half 
 an hour. Picture the confusion when several Crosses 
 would bag below a restricted depth after a game had 
 commenced. The men might present a netting per- 
 fectly flat, before the Umpires, and, when their backs 
 are turned, let out the length strings and make a 
 bag of any depth. There would be many more 
 disputes on this point, if such a law was made, than 
 there ever can be as the law now stands. No player 
 should own a Crosse suspected of bagging. Prettier 
 and more scientific play is made with a flat surface. 
 The improvements in general play commenced when 
 the old bag was repudiated. 
 
 THE GOALS. 
 
 Two goals are required. Two flags constitute a 
 goal; colors generally scarlet and blue, sometimes 
 very handsomely worked in gold and embroidery. 
 The flag-poles should have iron spikes about two 
 inches long to sink into the ground. The distance 
 from one goal to the other should be proportioned by 
 
84 MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 
 
 the number of players ; two hundred yards is a fair 
 length for twelve players a side. 
 
 THE GOAL CREASE 
 
 should be distinctly drawn with chalk or the butt of 
 a Crosse. 
 
 THE GROUND. 
 
 The more level the ground the more pleasant ; 
 but one may see Lacrosse played in Montreal in 
 lanes, yards, unmacadamized streets, on hills and 
 in rocky valleys. The fewer the stones and the 
 shorter the grass the better. The ground does not 
 absolutely need rolling or preparation of any kind ; 
 but level grounds develop fine play. Lacrosse may be 
 played on ice on skates, or on the snow. The size 
 and nature of the ground changes the character of 
 the game. Men with good wind, who run well, will 
 prefer a long field ; but the real science in Lacrosse, 
 and the beauty and skill of close contests, will be 
 sooner developed on a field where the men are often 
 brought near together. 
 
 THE BALL. 
 
 The circumference of the ball is about half an inch 
 less than a cricket ball, and weighs about four ounces, 
 
MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 85 
 
 less two pennyweights. The weight of balls of the 
 size and quality defined by the laws is nearly always 
 the same. Solid rubber was discarded some years 
 ago as being too heavy. Just before the sun rises, 
 and at dusk, there is a grey misty haze over the 
 ground, and the ball can scarcely be seen in its 
 rapid aerial or terrestrial flight. No goal-keeper 
 can stop balls under such circumstances. Would 
 not white rubber balls be an improvement? A 
 white speck can be easily seen on the ground when 
 black is invisible. Painting a black ball white is 
 only a temporary expedient, as the paint soon wears 
 off. 
 
 DRESS OF THE PLAYER. 
 
 It has always been the fashion to wear a light 
 dress, and though we would not advocate the nudity 
 of the original players, we think the less and lighter 
 the dress the better. The respective sides in a 
 match should have a distinguishing dress, easily 
 particularized at first glance. Flannel cap, or Have- 
 lock — though some say the latter is an impediment 
 to running, and we know in running races boys 
 always pitch away their caps — tight shirt, knicker- 
 bockers, v/ooUen stockings, and moccasins, sandals, 
 
86 MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 
 
 light shoes or rubbers, complete the costume. The 
 Montreal and some other Clubs sport pretty jackets, 
 Tbut we disapprove of any covering over a tight fitting 
 shirt. Belts are worn, but we hope some one will 
 introduce instead a light variegated Canadian sash. 
 Gloves are not to be sneered at. Driving gloves, 
 which should protect the wrist from blows, are the 
 best. The palm may be cut out sufiiciently to give 
 a good grasp. 
 
 RUNNING AND TRAINING. 
 
 It would be a weakly game of Lacrosse that would 
 be played by one legged men, as cricket is sometimes 
 indulged in between the one leg'd and one arm'd 
 veterans of Greenwich Hospital. A gouty foot, a 
 rheumatic limb, and even the minor affliction of 
 corns and bunions, are the greatest impediment to 
 Lacrosse players. Though there are desperate men 
 who esteem their legs above brains in the game, it 
 must be admitted that unless a man's lower ex- 
 tremities from hip to heel, and indeed the whole man 
 externally and internally, are in prime condition to 
 dash down a common at the rate of a hundred yards 
 in thirteen seconds, and keep it up at intervals, at 
 
MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 87 
 
 the rate of four or more miles a match, he has little 
 chance of getting on our crack " Twelves," unless 
 his hobby is goal keeping or " home." So much of 
 the success of a player depends upon his legs that 
 they must be in good condition, requiring a special 
 education in the art of sudden leaping and springing, 
 and of suddenly arresting the speed, which the 
 practice of ordinary running does not give. The 
 directions laid down in the various works for position 
 in running cannot apply to a man carrying the ball 
 on a Crosse, checked and impeded by numerous 
 opponents at all points ; but the general principles 
 are the same. A good runner is always an ac- 
 quisition, providing he masters the real art of 
 play, but is too common a delusion to believe, that 
 because one has gained a reputation for pedestrianism 
 or snow-shoe racing, he is peculiarly fitted to 
 make a good Lacrosse player. As well expect a 
 cavalry squad to be able to dismount and master the 
 velocipede. 
 
 TRAINING. 
 
 Training a " Twelve " has never to our knowledge 
 been systematically applied by any Club, though it is 
 quite as important in Lacrosse as in boating or 
 
88 MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 
 
 cricket. Individual separate training as systemati- 
 cally as laid down in books on the subject, applied 
 to Lacrosse, is not only inconvenient for the large 
 majority of players, but decidedly inadvisable; but 
 every one can avoid excesses of living, eat plain 
 strengthening food, retire and rise early, and exercise 
 sufficiently to develop a fair amount of wind and 
 endurance. For ordinary play, however, absolute 
 training is unnecessary, if the man lives anyway 
 reasonably. The nature of Lacrosse is such that it 
 will not permit " first Twelve " men to Uve immorally. 
 Indulgence in liquor and tobacco tell on the wind 
 and muscle, especially in America. The nut-brown 
 ale of England, home-brewed in inns historical, is a 
 different thing to the bottled trash and barrelled 
 bitterness imported or made and sold in Canada. 
 The less we know of their taste the better. We can 
 only recall to mind one or two instances where 
 players "finished off" after practice by a spree; and 
 they went to the dogs, and would have gone sooner, 
 we dare say, but for their indulgence in a game 
 which occupied and utilized a share of their leisure. 
 
 Before a match, players should nurse themselves 
 by temperance and gentle exercise. A night's 
 
MATERIALS FOR PLAY. 89 
 
 dissipation will counteract a fortnight's trainings 
 and the finest pace may be killed by a champagne 
 supper. 
 
 Apart from individual training to develop and 
 perfect the individual body, we would impress upon 
 " Twelves " the advisability of practical training 
 together, to perfect each other in individual positions, 
 to combine and equalize their action, and to establish 
 mutual confidence. Our theory is that young player 
 should be taught progressively a systematic squad 
 drill, beginning with picking up and mastering the 
 ball on the Crosse, until they know the principles of 
 throwing, catching, checking, &c. ; and that the 
 twelve selected to play on a match should all play on 
 one side at practice as much as possible. Let them 
 take gentle trots together of a quarter of a mile to 
 begin with for a few mornings; then dashes of a 
 hundred and two hundred yards as hard as they can 
 go ; then longer runs of two or four miles. Let 
 them practice a little the art of bringing up suddenly 
 while at full speed, turning around suddenly and 
 dashing back, turning to either side-face and dashing 
 sideways. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 POSTING AND DIRECTING THE PLAYERS. 
 
 The men of each side should be posted and directed 
 by the players who tossed up, if they are competent, 
 or by the regular captains. The best way is to have 
 two regularly appointed captains in a club, who 
 always take opposite sides. No one captain can 
 do justice to both sides. 
 
 The players most generally take up their positions 
 sans ceremonie^ but we would suggest the following 
 prelude : After the sides are chosen, and goals 
 selected, each captain draws his men up, facing each 
 other in the centre of the field, and dresses them as 
 companies in line. The men intended for the attack, 
 and those for the defence, should be on the flank 
 nearest to their posts. The two centres, who should 
 be in the centre of the lines, step out and prepare for 
 facing. At the words " take posts " from the senior 
 
POSTING AND DIRECTING THE PLAYERS. 
 
 91 
 
 captain, the men run to their positions ; and when all 
 are in place, the ball is started. 
 
 The manner of posting the men at the beginning 
 of a game can have, and needs no absolute rule, as 
 everything depends upon the strength or weakness of 
 the respective sides, the size of the ground, and a 
 variety of seen and unforeseen circumstances. The 
 following diagram illustrates the arrangement gene- 
 rally in favor with the Montreal Club : — 
 
 1^ 
 
 LJ 
 
 o o 
 O 
 
 W 
 
 pq 
 
 c3 
 ^ eg 
 
 A.— Goal-keeper. 
 B.— Point. 
 C — Cover Point. 
 D— Field. 
 E— Fiel^. 
 F.— Centre. 
 
 G.-Field. 
 H.-Do. 
 I.- Do. 
 J.- Dr. 
 K.-Do. 
 li.— Home. 
 
 It will be seen that there are seven in favor of the 
 attack, and only five for defence, in anticipation of 
 the ball being taken by the Montreal centre and 
 
92 POSTING AND DIRECTING THE PLAYERS. 
 
 passing the defence half of the field. If Centre 
 loses it, the balance of power is preserved by the 
 retreat of one or more of the attack, according to the 
 fluctuations of the game. When there are more than 
 twelve men a-side, the links are nearer: the proportion 
 remaining in favor of the attack. Light, active men 
 are the best for the attack ; heavy men for defence. 
 Occasionally this rule may be reversed, but rarely. 
 The most important positions are those of the imme- 
 diate attack and defence, and, perhaps, Nestor's plan 
 of drawing up troops, might serve to illustrate the 
 tactics for Lacrosse, — the best men first and last, and 
 the weakest in the middle. It is difficult to define 
 or particularize " the best man " in a Lacrosse field, 
 as each one has his forte ; but the positions in the 
 attack and defence develop a reliableness of play, 
 which is not always seen in fielding, where the men 
 may expeirment and venture more, without equal risk. 
 There is no greater delusion in Lacrosse clubs than 
 to suppose, that because a man has made some mark 
 as a player, he is competent to act as captain. There 
 is a combination of mental and physical qualifications 
 required of him, something parallel to those of a good 
 general. His ability to throw to perfection, to check 
 
POSTING AND DIRECTING THE PLAYERS. 93 
 
 and dodge, no more qualifies him for a captain, than 
 the most thorough knowledge of drill does a soldier 
 for a commander. Directing the men during the 
 fluctuations of a game is mainly a peculiar mental 
 occupation, and needs something beyond the physical 
 attributes of a player. The principles practised by 
 him in play are no criterion for his conduct as cap- 
 tain. The individual and collective positions of his 
 own men, as well as his opponents, in the various 
 evolutions necessary te attack and defence, require 
 to be constantly watched and checked. A captain 
 must know the name of every player of his side, and 
 their special characteristics. Some men are reliable, 
 others risky, others unfortunate. A captain's tactics 
 must depend greatly upon the temperament of his 
 men. Wellington used deployed hnes two deep when 
 he had British troops, but at Waterloo he formed the 
 Hessian infantry in columns. With men who thoroughly 
 understand and practice " tacking," or playing to 
 each other, successful movements may be made w^hich 
 would be disaster with raw or egotistic players. 
 
 In playing Indians, it is always best not to be 
 independent, but rather to post the men to check 
 their arrangement, as they dispose themselves without 
 
94 POSTING AND DIRECTING THE PLAYERS. 
 
 relation to their white opponents, and are constantly 
 on the move to get away from the vicinity of checks. 
 
 The freedom of movement necessary in following 
 the ball, prevents posting the men with the same 
 exactitude as in cricket. The positions hardly ever 
 remain the same one minute ; they are altered many 
 times during a match, to push advantages and 
 frustrate attacks. 
 
 When the game is hard against a side, its captain 
 may require to change his men by bringing certain 
 players to the defence, and placing others nearer home. 
 It may be necessary to put some certain men in the 
 vicinity of certain opponents ; but never allow your 
 men to dog or cling to the heels of an opponent in 
 every step, like a pickpocket, or a Fenian assassin. 
 
 When a captain's attack is good, and his side has 
 a marked advantage all through, the fixed points 
 may be more ubiquitous, and fewer men left for the 
 defence. When the opponents change their disposi- 
 by crowding in defence or attack, a good captain may 
 see many opportunities for drawing away some of the 
 points, by a careful and quick extension of his men, 
 when one of his side gets the ball. The men should 
 not be left to themselves in such a predicament. 
 
POSTING AND DIRECTING THE PLAYERS. 95 
 
 A captain must put his voice at its most distinct 
 pitch. To order with brevity is important. If a 
 man is seen straying away from a certain opponent 
 towards whom the ball is coming, the captain should 
 call out the name of the man, and follow with the 
 words " check right " or " left," as the case maybe. 
 If there is a certainty of a dodger losing the ball, 
 the man's name should be called out, and followed by 
 the words " throw ;" defining any particular point 
 or man to be thrown to in as few sharp words as 
 possible. Indeed, a captain's duties in a match are 
 so onerous and important, that he should be a 
 practical player and have a good knowledge of the 
 game all through. We wonder that from the 
 ranks, better men have not arisen to make this a 
 specialty. 
 
 The following suggestion for a Club Registrar for 
 matches is submitted here, to form part of a captain's 
 duties, or of a special scorer. We have often wished 
 for some record of our early matches on the green, 
 and we think this Register would not only be of 
 lasting interest to Clubs, but, perhaps, tend to check 
 rough and foul play, when men know that it would 
 permanently chronicle their reprimands. 
 
96 
 
 POSTING AND DIRECTING THE PLAYERS. 
 
 CLUB versus 
 
 Match Played at 
 
 Date 
 
 18 
 
 
 Names of Players. 
 
 Positions. 
 
 Foul Play Declared. 
 
 
 
 Goal-Keeper. 
 
 Against Club. 
 
 Against Clrjb. 
 
 1 
 
 1st Game. 
 
 1st Game. 
 
 2 
 
 
 Point. 
 
 2nd do. 
 
 2nd do. 
 
 3 
 
 
 COVER-POINT. 
 
 3rd do. 
 
 3rd do. 
 
 4 
 
 
 Home. 
 
 4th d \ 
 
 4th do. 
 
 5 
 
 
 Centre. 
 
 5th do. 
 
 5th do. 
 
 SIGNS. 
 
 6 
 
 
 Fielder. 
 
 SUSPEiq 
 
 7 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Club. 
 
 Club. 
 
 8 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 UMPIRES. 
 
 10 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 11 
 
 REFEREE. 
 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 EESULT. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1st Game won by 
 
 Time, 
 
 
 2nd do. do. 
 
 do 
 
 
 3rd do. do. 
 
 do 
 
 
 4th do. do. 
 
 do 
 
 
 5th do. do. 
 
 do 
 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FACING. 
 
 The present manner of opening the game of 
 Lacrosse is supposed to have originated soon after 
 the introduction of the present shaped stick, and has 
 no resemblance to the beginning of any other game. 
 There was no chance for skill in the old methods of 
 facing — in the ball laid on the ground or thrown up 
 in the air, and the general rush and scramble. That 
 there is considerable knack and art in taking the ball 
 at present, is proved by the proficiency attained by 
 Centres who practise particularly for this part of 
 early play. A few years ago the Indians oftener 
 had it their own way than now; and when they 
 succeed at all at the present time with our best 
 white facers, it is more by an anticipatory ruse than 
 any superior skill. They cannot wait for the sound 
 ''play." 
 
 H 
 
98 FACING. 
 
 The game is commenced as follows : The Centre of 
 each side face each other in the middle of the field, 
 crossing their sticks (as shown in Illustration Ist,) 
 with the ball on the ground between them. At the 
 beginning of the face, the sticks should be almost 
 level with the ground. The illustration represents 
 the second action, when the struggle for the ball has 
 commenced. At the last sound of the words, 
 ^' Ready — Play," from the senior captain, the men 
 strive to take the ball in the best manner they know 
 liow. 
 
 The crosse of the Centre should have an angular 
 ridge from near the top of the curve to within a foot 
 of the collar on the right side. It should not extend 
 beyond the first of the length strings nearest the 
 wood ; and the top of the ridge should be in the 
 centre, or if anything, a little nearest the outside part 
 of the stick. Lay the ball on the ground, place the 
 stick beside it as in facing, and you will see the 
 object of this ridge, and will understand why some 
 novices succeed in taking the ball away every time 
 from older players. If your crosse is flat, or per- 
 fectly round at the part where the ridge should be, 
 it will hardly have any catch to hook the ball ; but 
 
PACING. 99 . 
 
 the ridge is not only a perfect catch for the up and 
 over-take (Sect. 1,) but a guard against slipping, 
 for all methods of facing. It must be gradually 
 bevelled off towards the top of the curve, so as not to 
 interfere with picking up. 
 
 Centre should avoid assuming any unnatural 
 position, or kneeling on one knee, as if at the 
 " Eeady," to receive cavalry. There can be no 
 absolute rule laid down about position ; a man may 
 stand on his head if he likes, providing he finds it 
 his best way ; but one rule should guide the Centre, 
 and that is, not to get into a position for facing, 
 which checks or impedes elasticity and spring for 
 completing the face, making the best of an advantage 
 gained, or an opportunity lost. 
 
 Ist Position.— A favorite position of some Centres 
 is to grasp above the collar of the crosse with the 
 right hand, the left hand at the butt. The right leg is 
 advanced, and the right elbow leveraged against the 
 inside of the advanced knee. This is principally 
 used for the up and over-take, and other forcible 
 methods of facing. 
 
 2nd Position.— The usual Indian style, and the 
 one which we beUeve infinitely the best adapted to 
 
100 FACING. 
 
 develope variety and skill, is the contrary position : 
 an inch or two above the collar grasped by the left 
 hand, the butt by the right, the left leg advanced. In 
 both positions the body inclines forward from the 
 hips easily, and ready for instant action. 
 
 The objections to position first are, that it is only 
 safer than the other for forcible methods of facing ; 
 that it does not allow of as free action and spring as 
 the other ; that the butt of the crosse is more likely 
 to interfere with the body ; that it takes the right 
 hand from the natural grasp at the butt, which 
 should be avoided as much as possible, and that it 
 actually prevents several methods of facing not much 
 practised, but nevertheless calculated to be as often 
 successful, if not more so, than forcible methods now 
 mostly in vogue. When we see a Centre stand and 
 grasp as in position first, we are almost sure that he 
 intends to take the ball by the up and over or some 
 forcible method ; but in the other position, while a 
 Centre can accomplish the up and over, he is in an 
 attitude for others of more variety. However, the 
 best method for any Centre is his most natural or his 
 most successful ; though we hope no one will be 
 above giving up an old method if he discovers a better. 
 
FACING. 101 
 
 The following are the most effective ways of getting 
 the best of it in opening the game ; though facing is 
 not learned by study as much as by patient practice : — 
 
 1. Up and Over — Is primarily a feat of strength, 
 and is done best in the first position. It is compara- 
 tively independent of the backward spring used in 
 other methods. The ball is fairly lifted up and over 
 the opponent's crosse by the ridge before described, 
 firmly pressing the crosse against the opposing crosse. 
 
 2. The Indian, — We call this the Indian to ^dis" 
 tinguish it as the general favorite of the red-skin. 
 It is partly a feat of strength of arm and trick of 
 crosse. The Centre stands in the second position. 
 The face is done by quickly drawing your crosse 
 towards you and the ball with it, and hooking it from 
 your opponent by the side of the bend ; at the same 
 time making a sudden retrograde spring from the 
 pft foot. The whole length of the crosse, from the 
 bend to the butt, may be level with the ground, and 
 a rise made when hooking the ball, at the same time 
 turning the handle out to the right to prevent your 
 opponent hooking it. The position in this face may 
 be changed by standing more erect, with the handle 
 of the crosse sloping. 
 
102 FACING. 
 
 3. The Tip. — So called, because the ball is 
 taken with the tip, the Centre standing in position 
 second. At the sound of the last word give 
 the handle of your crosse a strong quick twist 
 outwards from left to right, covering the ball with 
 the top surface of the netting, the tip pointing 
 to the left. The ball is caught close to the wood, 
 and drawn to the right, or between your legs by a 
 strong, quick jerk. In this, as in the succeeding 
 methods of facing, care must be taken to keep the 
 crosse as close to the ball as possible, in every part of 
 the movement. 
 
 4. Reverse Tip — Is an extension of the Tip, and 
 is done by continuing the twist, strongly pressing the 
 tip to your opponent's crosse to force a space in his 
 netting, until the tip of your crosse is upon the ball, 
 when you tip it to your right. In this movement the 
 crosse is entirely reversed from the original position 
 in facing, the tip pointing downwards and the bend 
 upwards. 
 
 5. Flat Face — Is done by turning your crosse 
 from right to left, covering the ball with the head or 
 centre surface of the netting, as in the flat check, 
 and drawing it towards you. The stick may be 
 
FACING. 103 
 
 pushed further forward, and the ball covered with 
 the lower angle previous to the draw. 
 
 6. Bach Catch. — Raise your crosse about two 
 inches from the position assumed before the word 
 " play" is given, and in the same motion turn the 
 bend inwards towards the crosse of your opponent, so 
 as to press in its net work, tip pointing slightly to the 
 right. Press against his crosse, get the lend on the 
 other side of the bally and draw to your right. Always 
 keep the bend on the ball. 
 
 7. Half -wheel Face — Is done by springing on 
 your left foot as a pivot, making a sort of " left 
 face," at the same time reversing the tip as in No. 4, 
 excepting that the crosse should be almost perpendi- 
 cular at the termination of the wheel. The ball is 
 taken with the top of the curve, by a tip towards 
 your original rear. 
 
 When you purpose taking the ball to your right,, 
 the draw or tip must not be as forcible as if to left 
 
 y 
 
 because then you send it towards your own goal. 
 Centre should quietly tell the near field of his side, 
 the particular direction in which he proposes hooking 
 the ball, in order that the latter can regulate his 
 position accordingly. 
 
104 FACING. 
 
 There are modifications of every face, and others 
 entirely different from those described. So far, there 
 has been Httle development in this part of the game, 
 and Centres scarcely ever calculate doing more than 
 forcing the ball from their opponent to an indefinite 
 point, away from their own defence, where it is as 
 likely to be caught by an antagonist as an ally. It 
 may seem unimportant as to which side gets the ball 
 at the start, but if it is dangerous at all during the 
 game, how much more so when the men are fresh ? 
 Games won in one or two minutes are nearly always 
 taken this way. 
 
 The simplest methods of facing need practice. 
 The more complicated may seem easier to describe 
 than to perform, but we have personally seen methods 
 of facing, and general points of play among the 
 Indians, in their village games, which they never 
 attempt or risk on pale-face grounds. There is more 
 scope for experiment in facing than at first sight 
 seems possible, and the variations here suggested are 
 a few such, which may by practice be made useful 
 when Centres meet antagonists as well posted in old 
 methods as themselves. There is a spontaniety 
 required in all methods which cannot be made into 
 
FACING. 105 
 
 axioms. Not only the single draw, or hook, or tip, 
 but anticipating or retrieving slips by double catches, 
 is an important part of the art of facing. 
 
 When a ball is taken up with the hand, as in Rules 
 XIII. and XIV., it is usual to face with the nearest 
 opponent, by throwing it straight up in the air, both 
 men striking at it as it descends. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 Nothing in Lacrosse offers more scope for develop- 
 ment than the throwing of the ball, and yet nothing 
 has been more neglected in theory and practice. 
 The number of useless and miscalculated shots, the 
 mistakes in timing and speed, are far beyond the 
 aggregate of throws that are successful ; and when 
 we consider the games made wild and tedious, and 
 the opportunities lost by bad throwing, it would seem 
 to call for reform and systematic improvement. For 
 years we have endeavoured, in conjunction with 
 others, to impress upon our brotherhood the value 
 of practising throwing, especially into each other's 
 crosses ; but men resisted what they considered 
 tedious practice compared to the excitement of a 
 game. True enough it is ; but so is the training to 
 a gymnast, and the goose-step to a subaltern, but they 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 107 
 
 lead to perfection. It is a great mistake to suppose 
 you can make good players by an immediate rush into 
 hot games. There is no royal road to Lacrosse any 
 more than to geometry ; and though you may pick up 
 what may seem to be a successful style by playing 
 the game, ignorant of its principles, it will no more 
 compare to genuine Lacrosse than sliding on a chip 
 does to toboganing. To assert that you can learn to 
 play as well by intuition as by rule, is to deny that 
 there are first principles in the game, and it would 
 be as useless trying to teach you as trying to prove 
 Euclid's proportions to a man who disputes the axioms. 
 If you feel yourself such an incarnation of genius 
 that you think you know everything about the game, 
 you'll find yourself left behind, and may say au revoir 
 to your chances of election on " the first twelve." 
 
 There are so few really good throwers in a club 
 that they stand out as exceptions. There are many 
 able to throw to any point from any distance when 
 they have it all their own way ; but the essence of 
 good play is to be able to do this in the excitement 
 of having an opponent at your heels ; to have more 
 ways than one, and to be able to throw accurately 
 and quickly to any point, from whatever position you 
 
108 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 may happen to be in, when circumstances are such 
 that you should not keep the ball. It is common to 
 see men checked, while turning to the only position 
 from which they are habituated to throw. Many 
 players are like the gentleman with a short-hved 
 reputation as a vocalist, who, when called upon to 
 sing, had only in his repertoire one verse of '^ Ye 
 Mariners of England," and the chorus of " Eule 
 Britannia ;" their throws are not only limited in 
 number and variety, but those they do know are not 
 known to the perfection they might be. 
 
 A ball thrown to a wrong point may do your 
 side real harm, and it will not come back, like a 
 boomerang, to give you another chance to improve. 
 Many throws are poor because the thrower's methods 
 are limited, and attempts are made to adapt some 
 favorite style to all circumstances. At every game 
 you may see this verified in close-quarter throwing. 
 Few players have more than one or two ways 
 of throwing past a checker, or putting the ball 
 into goal. One or two we know have great variety 
 and ingenuity in this respect. While other men 
 waste throws by long shots, they invent and attempt 
 new methods ; and from experience we know their 
 
 I 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 109 
 
 shots at goal to be peculiarly puzzling. A checker 
 gets accustomed to a few orthodox thrown-dodges, and 
 in time intercepts them almost invariably. We do 
 not undervalue old or present methods of throwing^ 
 but we think there is great room for improvement, 
 and that new and more effective methods can be 
 invented to supersede them at certain times. We 
 presume, then, that we are agreed — 
 
 1. That good throwing is essential to good play. 
 
 2. That throwing has not been brought to perfection. 
 We divide throws into — 1, long ; 2, medium ; 3, 
 
 short ; and the varieties of balls into — 1, grounders ; 
 2, straight ; 3, curved ; 4, hoppers. 
 
 The rudimentary practices should be short dis- 
 tances, and one of the best ways of learning to 
 throw accurately and quickly, at the same time 
 learning to catch, is practice in 
 
 The Ring. — About seven or eleven 
 
 men should form a circle, open at inter- 
 
 7 2 . 
 vals of six feet, and gradually increas- 
 ing the distance 6 3 until they get to long 
 throwing. The g ^ men are numbered 1, 
 2, 3, and so on, always having an odd 
 number. All face the centre of the circle. No. 1 
 
110 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 starts by throwing easily to No. 2, and the ball goes 
 round the ring, every man trying to throw into the 
 crosse of the number succeeding him After a little 
 of this practice No. 1 throws a curved ball over 
 the head of No. 2 to No. 3 ; No. 3 throws to No. 5 ; 
 No. 5 to No. 7; No. 7 to No. 2, and so on. 
 The ring is then gradually enlarged, and the 
 practices varied by different throws and positions. 
 The men may all face to the right, and practice 
 throwing over head to each other. At first the 
 players may look before they throw, but they should 
 practice throwing without seeing their man. All the 
 varieties of throws may be learned in the ring, as 
 well as every method of catching. Several such 
 circles should be formed when the muster is large ; 
 and it will be found one of the very best practices 
 for a few men when the muster is too small for a 
 game. At any time it is infinitely of more use, than 
 the common habit of players standing at each end 
 of the field, and making long, high throws. In 
 the ring you not only learn to throw and catch, but 
 you learn to do both instantly. The arrangement of 
 the circle may be varied in many ways. For 
 "setting up" drill nothing can be better. 
 
THROWING THE BALL. Ill 
 
 It is almost impossible to mention the whole 
 variety of throws, as so many modifications are 
 made on the spur of the moment, according to 
 circumstances ; but the following will be found 
 prracticable for all cases, and comprise many more 
 than are commonly practised. Special throws 
 should be cultivated as your forte. It is well to 
 know every one, but better to know a few to 
 perfection than half learn many. Almost any throw 
 may be varied into the four kinds named above, 
 by altering the general attitude, the manner of 
 holding the crosse, &c. 
 
 FRONT THROWS WITH ONE HAND. 
 
 As a rule the best and most effective throwing 
 is made with both hands on the crosse ; but it is 
 often necessary, and sometimes preferable, to throw 
 with one hand — as, for instance, when so closely 
 checked that you have not time to grasp the stick 
 with the disengaged hand, or when an opportunity 
 offers for a throw into goal which would be lost 
 by the time you would get another grasp. If you 
 want to throw to a man of your side, guard against 
 misjudging the distance, and never attempt it unless 
 
112 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 he IS at least within forty feet. To make eiOFective 
 front throws with one hand, always grasp the crosse 
 a little above the middle, thumb on top, the better to 
 guide the impetus. This is one of the best. 
 
 THROWING OVER THE HEAD OF A CHECKER. 
 
 It should be done with a part jerk instead of a full 
 sweep upwards, as less liable to a close check. The 
 latter catches the eye of the checker too well. The 
 ball may either be on the top or centre surface of the 
 netting, and necessarily makes a curved throw, 
 but guard against too great altitude or force. The 
 rules relative to the deflection and curvings of the 
 crosse, are applicable to all throws with one hand» 
 
 THROWING INTO GOAL. 
 
 Draw back your crosse, or carry it thus as 
 you advance, and make a straight forward thrust^ 
 either giving the arm full swing, or jerking the 
 ball off. A modification of this may be made by 
 carrying the crosse at a right angle from the 
 right hip, as seen in Illustration 11th, and making 
 an incurvation towards the point aimed at, by 
 describing a sweeping curve from right to front, 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 113 
 
 at the same time slightly turning the crosse inwards 
 at the completion of the throw. A strong, steady 
 arm and wrist can have great effect with this throw 
 by altering the deflection and twistings of the crosse, 
 from the beginning to the end of the shot. The 
 ball should be on the lower angle, and run down 
 during the throw. The shot may be either a straight 
 or a grounder, and is generally a twisted ball. An 
 excellent, and undeveloped throw into goal, is made 
 by bringing the crosse quickly around to the rear, 
 and throwing either close past the left leg, or between 
 the legs. It is more puzzling to a goal-keeper, if 
 done smartly, than you would at first suppose, as the 
 ball is hardly seen until it has left the crosse, and 
 the goal-keeper cannot tell whether it will be thrown 
 from the left side, or from between the thrower's 
 legs. It must be done quickly. 
 
 Another effective shot — much used by the St. 
 Regis Indians — to goal, may be done by reversing 
 the crosse, turning the side you use, with the ball on 
 it, upside down, by a twist of the wrist, and throwing 
 in and downwards. 
 
 We have seen balls put into goal by bringing the 
 crosse around to the rear, and twisting it so as to 
 
 I 
 
114 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 throw over the left shoulder, bending the body 
 forward as the throw is completed. 
 
 THROWING WITH BOTH HANDS ON THE CROSSE. 
 
 Facing GroaL — This is an extension of the one- 
 hand throw, and is sometimes more effective, as the 
 act of changing the grasp puzzles the eye of the 
 keeper ; and this is one of the great principles of 
 success in getting balls in. The crosse is grasped 
 by the right hand, as in carrying, and, when within 
 a few feet of the goal-keeper, the left hand grasps 
 about the collar, as the crosse is drawn back to begin 
 the throw. The ball should start from or below the 
 centre surface of the netting ; and it will be found 
 that the addition of the left hand greatly helps to 
 increase the strength of pitch, if used as a sort of 
 lever. This manner of throwing kas the advantage 
 of concluding with leaving both hands on the crosse, 
 ready for stopping, tipping, or any close play which 
 might be necessary, should the goal-keeper block or 
 cut the ball back. It may often be used to very 
 great advantage to pass a checker on the field, as 
 seen in Illustration 8th ; and may be varied from 
 low to high throws, and to the front or either side. 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 115 
 
 The TJiroiv and Hit. — Used purposely at goal. 
 As you approach goal, throw the ball up a foot in 
 front, and strike it into the flags as it descends, and 
 if you follow the general rule, you will not have the 
 least compunction about striking it into the keeper's 
 face. We would be the last, as goal-keeper, to 
 object to any effort to get the ball in, but 
 reminiscences of a black eye on one occasion, and a 
 damaged osfrontis on another, constrains us to plead 
 for fellow-victims who may thus possibly be saved 
 maltreatment. It is hardly " play," either, and by 
 no means honorable to practice it. A more reason- 
 able mode would be to try the same principle with a 
 grounder or a straight ball below the hip ; letting the 
 ball off the crosse, and hitting it into goal. 
 
 From the Shoulder or Head^ Facing Goal, — 
 Bring the crosse up to either shoulder, or to the 
 front of the face, with the ball on the lower angle or 
 centre, grasping with both hands, and bring it quickly 
 to the front, jerking or sweeping the ball off. There 
 is no necessity of aiming at goal-keeper's face. This 
 is used a good deal by the St. Regis Indians. 
 
 Side Throtus. — These are the prettiest and most 
 graceful methods, and are more used than any other, 
 
116 » THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 in throwing to goal or to any part on the field. They 
 comprise every variety of throw, and as a general 
 rule, are the most effective and preferable. The 
 body may be in any convenient position for throwing 
 past the left side, though the most natural, is of 
 course the best. One of the most graceful throws 
 in the game is peculiarly Indian, and was greatly in 
 favor in the early days of the Montreal Club, 
 especially in playing to each other. The right hand 
 grasps the butt as usual, the left the collar or above 
 it. If throwing to one of your side, place the ball 
 on the top surface, and pitch from right to left, 
 either ending by a full sweep, or, as is more 
 customary, a jerk. This may be used either for a 
 straight or curved ball, and in throwing to goal as 
 well as to a fielder. 
 
 We fancy we can tell members of the old Montreal 
 Club by this pitch. After their crosse has laid dor- 
 mant for years, they will take it up, and the first throw 
 will be the parallel side-shot. It is more like the 
 throw from the original stick than any other. Front 
 throws, with one hand, simply require that the ball 
 should be propelled off the crosse as the latter is 
 thrust forward ; but the throw we are now describing 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 117 
 
 requires a twist of the stick from the flat side upper- 
 most, so as to bring the tip up. Without this twist, 
 the ball could not be sent to any distance. 
 
 For long swift shots, run the ball down to the lower 
 angle, and put all possible force into the throw from 
 beginning to end. Illustration 5 shows the prepara- 
 tion the instant before pitching, and immediately after 
 a dodge. If the throw is to be high or straight, 
 elevate the crosse at the end ; if a grounder, depress 
 it. An excellent series of shots may be made at goal 
 by throwing past the left side close to the left leg, 
 and depressing the crosse so as to bring it perpen- 
 dicular. If the thrower partially hides his crosse 
 from the goal-keeper until the ball is off, the line of 
 vision will be shorter, and the shot more likely to 
 puzzle. 
 
 Over Head, — This is much used by the Indians, 
 and is important in cases where you have not time to 
 use any other to advantage. It is done by picking 
 up the ball in front, and immediately sending it over 
 head ; or may be done more coolly when carrying the 
 ball. The head should be turned quickly around, 
 and a glance got at the point to be thrown to ; but it 
 is an advantage to be able to throw accurately in 
 
118 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 answer to signals without looking. In many instances 
 during the game, this over-head throw will be found 
 useful, especially during close play, when persistently 
 followed by a checker. The ball should start from 
 the top or centre surface ; but more accurate shots 
 are made by the former. 
 
 Past Right Side, — Some fine shots to goal can 
 be made past the side of the body which corresponds 
 with the arm used to carry the crosse. The right 
 side of the body half faces the point aimed at ; the 
 right hand grasps the butt, and the left above the 
 collar. A parallel sweep is then given. 
 
 Over Right or Left Shoulder - — This throw is 
 often necessary, and is easily made accurate for 
 throwing to any point. May be used for short and 
 long shots, and is identical with the same throw 
 practised in " The Ring." 
 
 POSITION OF THE BALL ON THE NETTING PREVIOUS 
 TO THROWING. 
 
 It will be conceded, we think, by players who 
 reflect at all upon the theory of Lacrosse, that the 
 most of throws are more effectively delivered when 
 the ball starts from certain parts of the netting. If 
 
THROAVING THE BALL. 119 
 
 you observe good throwers, you Avill see them 
 manoeuvre to get it on a certain part of the 
 crosse just as they are about to throw, and regu- 
 late — often unconsciously — velocity, distance and 
 style by this principle. We do not say thal^ , 
 there is an exact focus ; but we know there is 
 almost one. 
 
 The velocity of a ball, propelled with the greatest 
 force, is increased in proportion to its nearness to 
 the termination of the lower angle at the start. 
 The secret of hard, swift throwing is to start 
 the ball from the lower angle, as seen in Illustra- 
 tion 5th. 
 
 A ball can be thrown farther from the lower angle 
 than from any other part of the crosse. 
 
 Long shots can be well guided, if thrown from the 
 lower angle ; but medium throws are better guided, 
 as a rule, if thrown from the centre or top surface. 
 
 Throws of the same kind may require more or less 
 impulse, according to the point thrown to. A throw 
 to a man of your side, as a rule, requires a different 
 momentum — and consequently a different starting 
 place on the netting — than the same throw to goal. 
 If you make a certain throw to a man, and expect 
 
120 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 him to catch it, it is not likely you want to throw in 
 the same way to the goal you are attacking. It is 
 not uncommon to regulate the accuracy and speed 
 of the short shots by a certain guard of the muscles, 
 and a physical control of the wrist and arm ; when 
 the fact is, that the position of the ball on the 
 netting is the surer guide. 
 
 It may not be generally known, even by old 
 players, that a goal-keeper can easier judge a 
 thrown ball, if it starts from and leaves the same 
 part of the netting, providing, of course, that he 
 sees the beginning and end of the throw. We have 
 proved this a hundred times ; and believe the 
 reason is that the ball does not twist the same? 
 and sometimes not at all, when it leaves the spot 
 it starts from, and that the line of vision between 
 the goal-keeper's eye and it, as it originally lies on 
 the stick in the action of beginning the throw, is 
 less unbroken. When a ball is thrown by one hand, 
 at goal, from the top surface, its momentum is less, 
 and it has no netting to roll over, and the eye 
 quicker catches its direction ; but if thrown from 
 the centre or lower angle its momentum is corres- 
 pondingly greater, and the length it rolls, as well 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 121 
 
 as the speed it gets, makes it a more effective and 
 dangerous shot. 
 
 VARIETIES OF SHOTS. 
 
 It is well to remember that there are four varieties 
 of balls, all of which are different in their effect, and 
 that they are differently delivered, according as the 
 shot is to a player of your side or to goal. 
 
 Straight Balls are those thrown within the height 
 of the flag-poles, and which do not touch the ground 
 en route. If swift and accurate, they are very 
 effective at goal, and are absolutely indispensable on 
 the field for short, quick throws. Thrown at the 
 flags, goal-keeper's difficulty of stopping them is 
 increased in ratio as the ball meets his centre, 
 thus : — 
 
 1. Below the knee. 
 
 2. The knee. 
 
 3. The head, or above it. 
 
 4. Chest. 
 
 5. Stomach. 
 
 The latter is the most difficult ball to stop when it 
 shoots within a foot of the goal-keeper's body, to 
 
122 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 either side ; because, if it is unforeseen and sudden, 
 as most all shots are to goal-keeper, it meets the part 
 of his crosse (the lower angle) which offers the 
 smallest surface for stopping, and, in attempting 
 to block, his arms are cramped. When you get 
 between point and goal-keeper, and have a chance 
 to throw into the flags, prefer a straight throw 
 on a line with the centre of the keeper's body. 
 
 Q-rounders are those thrown along the ground, 
 and are mostly used at goal. May be any speed or 
 distance, and though easier to stop than any others, 
 they are always insinuating and puzzling, especially 
 if thrown from a short distance. They are most 
 effective at dusk, as they cannot be seen quickly 
 when thrown swift. 
 
 Hoppers are those which strike the ground in 
 front of goal from a curved throw or grounder, and 
 hop or rise suddenly. All grounders are liable to 
 this on uneven ground. The home men should 
 examine the ground near goal, and if they see a 
 furrow or ridge parallel or opposite, make use of 
 it by throwing swift grounders which will strike 
 them. The theory of hoppers is, that if started as 
 grounders the goal-keeper prepares to receive them 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 123 
 
 as sucla ; and when they rise, they hop so suddenly 
 that he may not bring up his crosse sufficiently quick 
 to stop them. This fact will make the player cautious 
 about throwing grounders to men of his own side 
 on a rough ground. 
 
 Curved Throws are those thrown in a curve ^ 
 either on the field or at goal. In general field play 
 they are very much used, and have a pretty effect 
 as they rise and fall. They are preferable whenever 
 you cannot throw the ball to a point without the 
 possibility of its being stopped on the way ; also 
 when your home men are at the enemy's goal- 
 crease ready to strike them in, and whenever the 
 sun is in goal-keeper's eyes. Slow curvilinear 
 balls dropped into the flags from any distance are 
 harder to judge than any other. The Indians know 
 this ; they always throw them when their home 
 is at the goal-crease. This pitching on instead 
 of at goal has been much overlooked in pale-face 
 play. 
 
 SWIFT AND SLOW BALLS. 
 
 It is sometimes necessary to throw swift, and 
 sometimes slow. Whenever it is an object to throw 
 
124 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 to a man of your side^ the sooner the ball gets 
 to him the better ; and if a swift throw will facili- 
 tate that end better than a slow, by all means 
 throw swift. In throwing to goal, however, we 
 wish to correct a delusion, and that is, that " swift 
 shots are more likely to win games than slow." 
 We have lost more games by the latter, and 
 believe it to be the experience of every goal- 
 keeper, white and red. Slow balls at cricket are 
 harder to time. Most batsmen like fast bowling. 
 If only swift balls took wickets, where would be 
 the bowling fame of George Parr ? In goal we 
 find swift shots easier to time and stop than slow, 
 because they do not deviate as much from the 
 original line, and are not as likely to slip. Of 
 course, if a goal-keeper is afraid of them, swift 
 balls will soon knock him end-ways. Curved balls 
 get any speed they may have, from the altitude from 
 which they fall and the distance they were thrown, 
 and their speed cannot be regulated to ensure 
 accuracy. 
 
 If either the ball or the netting of the crosse are 
 wet, the throw is easier accelerated, though velocity 
 is mainly regulated by the force put into the 
 
 I 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 125 
 
 pitch. All swift shots require a tight grasp of the 
 crosse, and a sudden jerking propulsion. 
 
 LONG AND HIGH THROWS. 
 
 Long throws are more fashionable than advisable ^ 
 and more pretty than necessary. If men are par- 
 ticular about fielding, and can play into each other's 
 crosses, it is scarcely ever absolutely preferable to 
 make a long shot. It must be a principle in Lacrosse 
 as in war, to never waste your shot ; and the tendency 
 of long throwing is to be made the rule, and to 
 destroy confidence in one another. It will be found, 
 too, that men noted for long pitches are apt to neglect 
 short practice, and are deficient in that nice per- 
 ception which guides the variations of thrown dodges, 
 frisking, &c. However, this is not always so, and 
 long throws are sometimes important, when, for 
 instance, they completely destroy a strong bunching 
 attack. When your goal is crowded, or the enemy 
 have managed to rally more men to the attack than 
 you have for defence, a long, judicious throw 
 checkmates the assault, and gives an advantage to 
 your side, who are stronger where the ball falls, in 
 consequence of the bunching attack of your opponents. 
 
126 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 The average long throw with the regulation crosse 
 is about 120 yards, but our crack throwers average 
 140, and several have thrown from 160 to 190 yards. 
 The pale-face throws farther than the red-skin. 
 
 If you must make a long shot, do not make it too 
 Mgh. High throws in Lacrosse are as ineffective as 
 high hits in cricket, and we know the latter make 
 low averages. 
 
 Twenty feet high is a good height for general 
 throwing ; but it will be remembered, of course, 
 that the same law of gravitation in long shots applies 
 to long throws, and the farther you want to send the 
 ball the greater must be its elevation. It is too 
 common, though, to make high throws for the sake 
 of show and individual applause ; and once men 
 go to work to please spectators, without consulting 
 the first principles of scientific play, then all chance 
 of improvement ends. 
 
 " The shortest distance between two points is 
 straight out." Apply this rule to every long throw. 
 Supposing you throw to one of your side who has one 
 or two opponents in his vicinity, you evidently want 
 him to get it Avith impunity. Now, the higher you 
 throw, the more time is lost in the ascent and descent, 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 127 
 
 and the opponents profit by it, because they see the 
 point aimed at, and reach it as soon, and perhaps 
 sooner, than the ball. It needs no great knowledge 
 of Dynamics to understand, that the higher a ball is 
 thrown, the more its speed is retarded in rising, and 
 accelerated in the fall; and consequently, that 
 accurate calculation as to the time it will take to 
 send it to a given point, cannot be made with the 
 same certainty as if it was thrown straight. 
 
 THROWING TO GOAL. 
 
 All throws to goal should depend upon the attitude 
 and reputation of the keeper. If he is fearless of 
 swift balls, give him slow, and vice versa. If he 
 stands in the exact centre, throw at the side 
 corresponding to the hand which grasps the butt of 
 his stick. For instance, if his right hand is at the 
 butt, throw past his right side, and vice versa. The 
 theory of this is, that it cramps the arms and crosse 
 a little more to stop balls, especially grounders and 
 low straights, which come on the same side as that 
 which corresponds to the carrying grasp, as that 
 arm is then partly in the way. If he stands to one 
 side, throw at the side most open. If goal-keeper's 
 
128 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 crosse is held as if expecting a curved ball, throw a 
 grounder ; if down, expecting a grounder, throw a 
 straight or curved ; if held in the position of " ready," 
 make your best and favorite shot. 
 
 PRECISION. 
 
 To throw with precision should be your aim ; not 
 only to throw about where one of your men is, but to 
 throw into his crosse ; not merely to throw to goal^ 
 but to either side, high or low of the keeper. Precision 
 depends upon steady arms and wrists, keen eyes, and 
 a perfect command of the ball on the crosse. The 
 arms and eyes work together. Always take time to 
 aim when possible. Keep a stiff grasp of the, stick. 
 
 DEFLECTION. 
 
 If the wind is strong you must make allowance for 
 deflection, especially in long throws, either by throw- 
 ing with more force, or more to windward of the 
 point aimed at. You can tell the way the wind 
 blows by the goal flags. 
 
 LOOK BEFORE YOU THROW. 
 
 The slightest glance at the point to be thrown to is- 
 of the greatest importance to make a dead shot. 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 129 
 
 You may and should be able to throw well without 
 it, but sure shots without it are more the exception 
 than the rule. Looking is almost equivalent to 
 aiming, and whether you aim deliberately or imper- 
 ceptibly, it materially affects your shot. A practised 
 thrower learns to pitch to a point quickly and with 
 precision, as an old sportsman learns to bring his 
 gun up to his shoulder, and fire with an unconscious 
 aim. The arms and wrists must be educated to 
 obey the eye. As a general thing, you have no 
 chance for slow calculation, and whether you have 
 or not, it is advisable to practise throwing instan- 
 taneously. Keep your eye on the point aimed at 
 until the ball has left your crosse, or let it follow the 
 ball the instant it leaves the netting. 
 
 TWISTING THE BALL. 
 
 Many players deny that the ball can be twisted 
 
 by pre-meditation. We acknowledge it is the acme 
 
 of difficulty to do it, but we are convinced that it 
 
 can be done, though not always. It is sometimes 
 
 done unknowingly, when throwing to goal. The 
 
 theory of twisted balls is this : all balls thrown from 
 
 K 
 
130 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 a crosse, rotate to a certain extent, but they are more 
 circular than rotatory, — that is, they revolve more 
 around the circle, as when thrown along the ground, 
 then spin on their own axis. The effect of a mere 
 circular spinning ball when blocked by the goal- 
 keeper, is, at the most, to revolve up or down the 
 length of the netting ; but a rotatory ball twists 
 across the face of the netting, from right to left, or 
 left to right. The result is evident. The width of 
 the netting being much narrower than the lengthy 
 the ball is more likely to twist off into goal. 
 
 You cannot twist grounders in this way. To 
 twist straight and curved balls, requires a knack of 
 the wrists and arms, to give the ball a twist from 
 right to left on the crosse as it is leaving. It should 
 leave the crosse at the bend, or if the throw is short, a 
 little below. The ball should have a ring painted 
 around it, by which you can see the spin. If the ball 
 and crosse are wet, the spin is greater. If a perfect 
 twist could te given to the ball, so that it would spin 
 from right to left, or left to right, when it is blocked, 
 there is no doubt but that " blocking" such shots 
 would be almost as risky as trying to catch them. 
 Here is a chance for invention — how to make the 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 131 
 
 ball twist on its own axis with certainty ; for we do 
 not say we have discovered the correct principle. 
 
 DO NOT HESITATE WHEN THROWING. 
 
 One of the most important qualifications of a good 
 thrower, is to pitch with as little hesitation as possible. 
 It is aggravating to see a man holding the ball and 
 looking for the best place to throw ; and though it is 
 well to pitch to the best place, it is folly waiting 
 until a checker gets so near, that your anticipated 
 throw is spoiled, and the man you proposed throwing 
 to, probably checked while you were waiting. If you 
 decide to throw, get all the opportunity and space 
 you can, and do not risk a check. " There's many a 
 slip," &c. ; and if you do slip, and a checker within 
 a few feet, your chances of retrieving it will be much 
 lessened. The necessity for throwing very swift — 
 when the ball is to be thrown to a player not checked, 
 but about to be — would often be avoided by throwing 
 instantly. 
 
 THROW GRACEFULLY. 
 
 Do not work your whole body as if you intended 
 propelling yourself after the ball, or were griped. 
 
132 THROWING THE BALL. 
 
 The ball seems to come to goal more suddenly from 
 a thrower who merely uses his arms. The arms are 
 the motive powers of propulsion, though certainly 
 much force can be added by the body. The position 
 in which you throw must be governed by circum- 
 stances, such as the chance and room you have, and 
 the point to which you wish to pitch. A man who 
 l)ends his body much at throwing to goal, gives 
 goal keeper a preparatory warning where the ball is 
 coming. We learned to know the part of the goal 
 at which the ball would likely have to be stopped, 
 by the position some awkward throwers assumed in 
 the first act of pitching. 
 
 DANGEROUS THROWING. 
 
 Almost any throw may be made dangerous if you 
 like, or do not care. Nearly all old players, and too 
 many new ones, can relate some instance of personal 
 temporary injury from dangerous throws ; and there 
 seems something so deliberately wicked in rash 
 methods of throwing, when men know they must hurt 
 some one, that we wonder any player of feeling or 
 honour would use them. No hurt is an accident 
 when you deliberately use the means almost certain 
 
THROWING THE BALL. 133 
 
 of causing one ; and we know no more disagreeable 
 companion on the field, than a player who has a 
 reputation for sending balls at the faces, stomachs, 
 and legs of his rivals. A few general rules and we 
 have done with this chapter. Never empty or give 
 the ball into the crosse of another player to throw. 
 When necessary to throw to a man closely checked, 
 pitch a little beyond him, if he is good at a dash. 
 Never touch the ball with your hand, to press it 
 into the leading string before pitching. Above all, 
 have confidence in your side, and remember that the 
 greatest accuracy and skill are of little avail, if you 
 ignore throwing into the crosses of your own men. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CATCHING, AND CAREYING THE BALL. 
 
 Catching. — You may be the best catch of a 
 cricketing eleven, or a base ball nine, but to catch a 
 ball on a crosse is quite a different art. I never yet 
 saw it done in the easiest way, by men who handle a 
 crosse for the first time, though every day you may 
 hear theorists talk of its simplicity. It is easy enough 
 to hold your crosse so that a ball thrown to you may 
 fall on the netting, but the difficulty consists in 
 keeping it, especially if your netting conforms to the 
 regulations. It is an antithesis of catching, that 
 nothing is harder at first, and nothing easier when 
 learned. 
 
 To catch with a bagged crosse is no art whatever ; 
 to catch and play with the netting flat is the per- 
 fection of catching, because it makes your play 
 scientific. It was not unusual before laws were 
 
CATcnma, and caerying the ball. 135 
 
 made 5 to find the best catchers those who had 
 bagged netting, and there were passable players who 
 could not play at all when obliged to use the netting 
 flat. When you find you must resort to bagging, to 
 make you equal with others, you may be convinced 
 you have yet to learn the very elements of good and 
 scientific play. The Indians are celebrated for 
 catching, and yet, observe the paltry net work of 
 their sticks, as a rule, and without the least 
 bag. We remember that at the match before 
 H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, of twenty-five 
 Indians, only cme carried a stick which would not 
 have passed the inspection of the Umpires, and 
 yet one special feature of that match was their 
 magnificent catching. Catching, however, has always 
 been their hereditary acomplishment. When the 
 original stick was used they played for hours with- 
 out missing a catch ; Lanman says, '^ it is sometimes 
 kept from touching the ground for a whole after- 
 noon." Sandford, in his History of the United 
 States, also says, '' the ball seldom touches the 
 ground." If you look at the size and shape of the 
 original stick, you will understand the diSiculty of 
 such play, and may feel that catching in our game, 
 
136 CATCHING, AND CARRYING THE BALL. 
 
 with our larger netting, is far from practised to 
 the perfection it might be. 
 
 Old custom, and the first laws, allowed touching 
 the ball with the hand, to block or pat it on to the 
 crosse, but in the excitement of the game it 
 degenerated into deliberate catching. The result 
 was that the new laws prohibited any touching of 
 the ball with the hand during play, except when 
 by goal-keeper inside the goal crease, or when it 
 was taken out of a hole to face. The Indians, 
 from the earliest times, were prohibited touching 
 the ball with the hand ; and in the village games 
 at Caughnawaga and St. Regis, it is still con- 
 sidered unfair to touch it in any way, and a penalty 
 of "facing" from the spot where the ball was 
 touched is strictly enforced. That permission to 
 touch with the hand developed some beautiful 
 play cannot be doubted, but its tendency was to 
 extremes, and to cause disputes, and its abolition 
 became a necessity. Since the interdiction, catchers 
 have paid more attention to real expertness in 
 handling the crosse, and the art has become 
 more finished. 
 
 We take it for granted that you repudiate a 
 
CATCHING, AND CARRYING THE BALL. 137 
 
 bagged netting; but avoid dry, hard cat-gut, as 
 it not only cracks on bending, but renders your 
 catching unnecessarily difficult. Soft cat-gut deadens 
 the bounce, and enables you to manoeuvre the 
 ball with more grace and promptne&s, than when 
 it is hard. 
 
 The simplicity of catching is to catch slow balls 
 thrown from a short distance ; the high art is 
 to catch long or short swift balls, especially when 
 you run out to meet them, whether thrown to you or 
 to an opponent : also the variety of quick catches 
 occurring in close quarter play. 
 
 Preliminary practice is of the greatest importance ^ 
 and the best and surest way of learning the 
 rudiments, as well as the high art in catching^ 
 is to practise quietly with some one or two players^ 
 or even alone. Your very first lesson must be learned 
 alone, and I would suggest the following series : 
 
 First — The perpendicular throw and catch ; 
 beginning at a low altitude, and increasing as you 
 find you perfect yourself in each successive height. 
 Next throw the ball from different distances and 
 to different points of a high wall or fence, catching as 
 it rebounds. Next, stand alone, and throw upwards 
 
138 CATCHING, AND CARRYING THE BALL. 
 
 and outwards, so that you will have to make 
 short dashes to catch ; next upwards and backwards, 
 so that you will have to turn around and run 
 backwards to catch. Then hold your crosse out 
 at arms' length, right and left alternately, and 
 practise a semi-circular throw, and catch from 
 one side to the other ; first, from right, over head 
 to left, and vice versa. After you have learned the 
 art alone, and can catch and keep balls, practise 
 in the ring, as described on page 109. 
 
 There are many variations of catching, but master 
 the following and any others will naturally be easy : 
 
 1. Descending Balls, — If you catch a descending 
 ball before it touches the ground you gain an 
 advantage. In a game where every movement of 
 play you make with the 'ball is liable to check, 
 success often depends upon the advantages gained 
 in seconds. 
 
 If the ball is descending from a high perpendicular 
 throw, as if thrown straight up, or if descending in a 
 curve, hold your crosse to the front, right hand at the 
 butt, left above the collar, and when the ball is 
 about two or three feet above the level of your head, 
 make a thrust upwards to meet it, — something 
 
CATCHING, AND CARRYING THE BALL. 139 
 
 similar to the '' high thrust " in the bayonet 
 exercise ; and when it is within a few inches let 
 your crosse sink before it, imperceptibly slackening, 
 until the ball rests ^ as it were, upon the netting. 
 As soon as this is done continue a slight depression 
 of your crosse to steady the ball, and bring it up 
 in another and successive movement to the usual level 
 at which you carry. The softer the ball drops 
 on the netting, without noise or jar, the more 
 scientific is the catch. To accomphsh this is no easy 
 matter. 
 
 The fault of many players in catching descending 
 balls, is in holding the crosse too stiff as the ball 
 is near the netting, and meeting it half way^ the 
 result of which is to cause it to bounce. Another 
 fault is letting the ball touch the netting at too 
 high an altitude, which often prevents the safe 
 completion of the catch. The correct method in the 
 former case is to retreat the netting of your crosse 
 from the ball, as if you did not want, and yet would 
 like to catch it. A good player at any hand-ball 
 catching, never catches a ball flat ; his hands move 
 towards it, and retreat just when it is at his finger 
 ends. The same rule applies to catching on a crosse. 
 
140 CATCHING, AND CARRYING THE BALL. 
 
 The netting should be presented to the ball, as 
 seen in illustration 3, not batted against it, and 
 should receive it on the head or centre surface ; 
 never on the lower angle. If a checker is near^ 
 let your catch terminate by a curve or sweep of the 
 crosse from his direction, whether he is on your 
 right or left. If in proximity to more than one, 
 make a little leap upwards, and strike the ball away 
 to one of your side, or to a point you can reach 
 before any of your antagonists; or, if possible, frisk 
 it in the air to one side and catch it. You may 
 frisk with the head surface of the netting, at 
 full length of your crosse, sweeping the ball over 
 your head to one side without letting it fall to the 
 ground, and terminating by a sinking and sweeping 
 dodge to secure it. This is one of the prettiest feats 
 of play. Your entire body, from head to toe, 
 must give special action, as well as your crosse, to 
 complete any catch among opponents, so as to evade a 
 check. The mere catch is insufficent without an 
 accompanying agility, which gives grace to your feat 
 and guards your subsequent movements. You may be 
 a master of every point and guard of fencing, but 
 without the proper use of your legs, an agile 
 
CATCHING, AND CARRYING THE BALL. 141 
 
 amateur might run you through, or escape your 
 deadliest thrust. The rule holds good for effect 
 in Lacrosse. 
 
 After the hall strikes the ground, — This is a 
 very simple catch, and is used when you have 
 not confidence for, or miss the preceding, and is 
 sometimes a matter of choice, but often of necessity. 
 Any ball, but a grounder, may be struck to the 
 ground at your front and caught on the rebound. 
 The easiest catch is made on the head surface 
 of the netting, and with one hand grasping the 
 butt. A slight twist from right to left insures 
 the security of the ball. If one or more opponents 
 are near and attempt to catch, you may strike away 
 their sticks before you touch the ball. This applies 
 to all catching. 
 
 Grounders. — This is more a combination of 
 picking up and blocking, as in goal, than catching 
 proper, but nearly all grounders rise after blocking 
 and require catching. Block with the head surface 
 of the netting, and as the ball slides up, depress 
 the handle of your stick, and scoop it up by a 
 thrust forward and upward. If the ball is very 
 swift, keep the handle of your crosse well advanced 
 
142 CATCHING, AND CARRYING THE BALL. 
 
 until you block, then depress it and catch. When 
 running to meet a grounder, guard against it slipping 
 after caught. Whether you should catch at arms^ 
 length, or at closer distance, must depend upon 
 your position at the time. 
 
 Hoppers. — In the case of hoppers you may either 
 catch immediately, or block first and then catch. If 
 the hop is very swift or sudden, the latter is the 
 safest resort. Especially guard against slipping. 
 
 Straight halls — The most difficult to master o 
 all catches, requiring a great deal of confidence and 
 practice, especially if the ball is thrown with 
 any extra velocity. If it comes above the level 
 of your chin, you had better not attempt to catch ; 
 if below, you may do it by quickly drawing up your 
 crosse, to a position something similar to the " low 
 point" in bayonet exercise ; the side of the netting 
 with which you play receiving the ball ; knuckles of 
 left hand which grasps above the collar, uppermost. 
 As the ball strikes the netting give your crosse a slight 
 motion forward to deaden the shot, and a quick curve 
 upwards to secure the ball. This is the neatest and 
 most scientific catch. 
 
 The omnipresence of the ball develops various 
 
CATCHING, AND CARRYING THE BALL. 143 
 
 combinations of catching, which depend for success 
 upon agility of body, as well as perfect at-homenes& 
 with the crosse. No one can be a good fielder 
 without a good knowledge of its principles, as the 
 occasions for it in general play are so frequent. 
 Catching is always more difficult when you are 
 running ; and the player who can keep a cool 
 head on the field is always the best catch. As 
 you should be able as a dodger, to catch balls 
 thrown past a checker, so should you cultivate 
 the art of catching balls thrown past you, when your 
 position as dodger is reversed. This latter art requires 
 that you should have something of the '' tee-totum" 
 in your legs, and an eye quick as an eagle's. 
 
 The sinking and rising movement in catching is 
 of absolute importance to sure effective play. It 
 perfects any catch, better secures the ball, saves 
 the netting of your crosse, and is scientific and 
 graceful. The different sweeps, deviations and 
 curves described in the termination of catching, 
 follow naturally, when the first principles are mas- 
 tered ; and no better example can be offered in this 
 easy and elegant play, than the every-day Lacrosse 
 of the Indians of Caughnawaga and St. Regis. 
 
144 CATCHING, AND CARRYING THE BALL. 
 
 Whether you catch with one hand or two grasping 
 the crosse, is a matter of choice ; but though any 
 catch may be commenced with the ordinary grasp of 
 carrying, it is safer to let every catch terminate with 
 the two hands on the crosse, in case you are obhged 
 to throw. 
 
 A ball, accidentally caught under the arms, should 
 never be touched by the hand, nor carried there. 
 Avoid the very appearance of unfair play. 
 
 Carrying, — Before the laws were made, the 
 fashionable thing was to have a bag of various 
 degrees of depth, at the lower angle, in which it was 
 also fashionable to carry the ball. Of course 
 the bag facilitated carrying very much, and the 
 deepest bag had the best chance. Now, the 
 lower angle is the riskiest place for carrying, 
 unless the leading strings are large and protective. 
 When running, the safest place to carry is on the 
 centre surface, because you can there control 
 the ball better, and are always ready for an effective 
 one-hand throw. If you carry on the lower angle, 
 you have little control of the ball if your stick 
 is struck by a checker ; if on the extreme top surface 
 you cannot recover quick, if hard hit, unless you have 
 
CATCHING, AND CARRYING THE BALL. 145 
 
 a short grip. The best grasp, for all purposes, is 
 at the butt, leaving half an inch protrude. The arm 
 should hang at full length, and the stick at the 
 lowest level at which the ball will not fall off. The 
 arm and wrist alone should control the crosse ; the 
 body should not be contorted. It is a common play 
 to dandle the ball on the netting when running, and 
 otherwise add variety to the plain carry ; and we 
 would recommend players cultivating this dandhng of 
 the ball, when carrying near an opponent, and even 
 in many carried dodges. Recently some players have 
 resorted to ingenious constructions of the wooden 
 part of the crosse, to get over the restrictions about 
 bagging the netting. The best we have seen is the 
 stick scooped out from the collar to the top, thereby 
 making nearly as good a bag as the netting could 
 afford were the old bag allowed. Although this is 
 not illegal, we certainly do not approve of it. It is 
 worse than a high leading string, as the ball is 
 oftener carried next the wood than the string, and 
 has even more objectionable features than are in- 
 terdicted in the netting, in Rule 1. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 Dodging — Is the art of carrying the ball past one 
 or more checkers. It is the ostentation and glitter 
 of the game ; and though important, has been too 
 often made a sort of saturnalia, where the dodger 
 ran a gauntlet of merciless s wipers, after the Indian 
 fashion of the gauntlet for captives. Its absolute 
 necessity is of rare recurrence, but common custom 
 and young blood, has made it an indelible and 
 prominent feature of Lacrosse. There is a madness 
 in its most difficult feats, spiced with a smack of 
 danger, that must always make it a tempting at- 
 traction. When you dodge to excess, you submit 
 your anatomy to the possibility of cut and bruised 
 fingers, and, like Lamb's convalescent, you are 
 ''your own sympathizer." The burnt child may 
 dread fire, but did maiming ever give players a 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 147 
 
 disrelish for dodging ? There is an audaciousness 
 in charging a good checker, and especially a 
 succession of checkers, which becomes a mania with 
 some men ; and no catastrophe seems to cure their 
 predilection for risking the contingencies of a 
 checker's crosse. 
 
 Good players aim at perfection in throwing and 
 frisking in preference to any great skill in dodging, 
 because there is more certainty about the former. 
 But as nothing is trifling that ever succeeds, every 
 player ought to be able to dodge to some extent. 
 The correct play lies between the two extremes. 
 For instance, you may have an opportunity to pass 
 Point, when their are no fielders to attack or aid you, 
 and either dodge into goal or get closer to throw : 
 the importance of being able to dodge Point is then 
 obviously evident. On the other hand, by attempt- 
 ing to dodge too near your own flags, you may lose 
 the ball and have the tables turned. Indiscriminate 
 attempts to pass checkers is too Quixotic in principle, 
 and damaging to the rest of your side ; moderate 
 and well timed dodging will often bring you into 
 better position, and into closer relation with your 
 opponents goal, looks well, and develops confidence. 
 
148 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 Dodging owes its origin to the vain individualism 
 of the Red Skin. Long before a pale face saw the 
 game, there were notables whose /or^g it was to carry 
 the ball to the goal, through a crowd of opponents ; 
 and to this day, their common practice in their 
 village game is to carry the ball to the flags, or, 
 over the Jine representing " game." Indian dodging 
 was principally " thrown '' dodges ; they seldom 
 attempted the '' carried " styles which are so preva- 
 lent among our white players. Since their 
 frequent contests with the pale face, they have 
 taken to dodging, much to their disadvantage we 
 think. 
 
 We divide dodging into " Carried" and " Thrown" 
 dodges ; the former, when the ball is kept on the 
 crosse ; the latter, when it is thrown past the 
 checker and afterwards recovered. 
 
 The crosse should be held in the hand with which 
 you carry ; the grasp may be shorter for thrown 
 than carried dodges. 
 
 Good dodging implies coolness, and dash, close 
 calculation, a thorough command of the ball on the 
 crosse, agility of body, and a strong and a supple 
 wrist and arm. 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 149 
 
 CARRIED DODGES. 
 
 1. Across front of body from right to left, — This 
 is the oldest and most used carried dodge, and has 
 the advantage of being done with so slight a motion, 
 that it may be repeated in quick succession in a 
 gauntlet of checkers. Grasp the crosse at the butt, 
 or a little above the collar ; carry the ball on the 
 lowest part of the centre surface. When bags were 
 used, the nearer the ball was to the lower angle, the 
 easier it was managed. To make this dodge, watch 
 the eye of the checker as you near him, and as he 
 makes a cut at your crosse, bend your arm quickly, 
 and bring it across the front of your body to the 
 opposite side, and thrust it forward past his right, 
 giving a twist upwards from right to left during 
 the thrust, as if dodging another checker. A 
 wavering motion of the stick, confuses checker's 
 eye, gives you more command of the ball, and often 
 prevents its falling off when the stick is struck. 
 
 This dodge allows of considerable variety in the 
 deflections and curvings of the crosse, which can 
 only be learned by practice. Some players succeed 
 best by a high up-thrust at the completion of the 
 check ; some by lowering the front ; others by a straight 
 
150 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 forward thrust ; but the general fault is in thrusting 
 too high, by which you cannot command the ball 
 with ease. 
 
 The great secret of success lies in accurately 
 anticipating and timing checks, and promptly 
 avoiding them. If the checker waits until you 
 begin your dodge, your chances of success are not 
 as consoling as if he commenced a check at your 
 right ; because the latter shows you his play, and 
 gives you opportunity to accommodate your dodge 
 to the result of his blow. This is the diflSculty in 
 making this plain check. It is sometimes varied by 
 changing the crosse quickly, as you pass it across 
 your body, into the other hand. When approaching a 
 dodger, you may hold your crosse out straight 
 towards Mm at nearly full arms length. If he strikes 
 in time, suddenly draw it back to escape the check, 
 and then make the sweep across the front of your 
 body to left. 
 
 2. Past Ohecher^s Left. — Instead of carrying 
 your stick across your front, thrust it suddenly to 
 your right, at a right angle with your right side, 
 making a dash past checker's left. Take a short 
 grip of the crosse, if possible. 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 151 
 
 3. Turnmg on your own axis, — This dodge is 
 very successful if well-timed, — even against the best 
 Indian checks. It takes them by surprise, and is 
 one of the prettiest of all the dodges. 
 
 It consists in making a sudden right-wheel twist, 
 on the left toes as a pivot, as the checker strikes at 
 your crosse, and bringing the latter up perpen- 
 dicular. It is not a complete revolution that 
 will bring you back to your original position ; though 
 you must accommodate your tactics to the changes of 
 your adversary, so far as they impede your liberty to 
 pass him. At the end of the spin, dart forward from 
 the left foot. 
 
 The ball should be on the centre surface ; the 
 crosse grasped short, keeping it perpendicular, and 
 balancing the ball during the wheel. The disengaged 
 arm may be extended to ward off easy checks ; and 
 should be used on the forward and backward prin- 
 ciple of catching a ball. In close quarters, many 
 checks are prevented by the timely use of the left 
 hand and arm. 
 
 When an opponent meets you, and strikes at your 
 crosse, a sudden and single quarter, or half turn, 
 will often be the best movement to thwart him. In 
 
152 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 almost every dodge, it is essentially necessary to be 
 able to spin around instantaneously, and should be 
 often practised. 
 
 4. Short Stop and Turn, — This is peculiarly 
 Indian, and more an artful evasion than a deliberate 
 dodge. When a checker meets you, instead of 
 dodging, as described, suddenly stop a few feet from 
 lim, make a turn to the right flank or rear as the 
 check is coming, and double until safe. Before our 
 present improvement in playing, a pleasant diversion 
 of the Indians was to keep our checkers prancing 
 around them trying to check this dodge ; while it was 
 edifying to a philologer to hear the redskin repartee^ 
 whenever a paleface made frantic strikes at nothing. 
 It is still their best dodge, as few white men can 
 match them in the wiry sort of leg-bail pecuhar to it. 
 When a checker is very persistent and dangerous, 
 occasionally wheel around and keep your back to him. 
 
 5. Over Head of Checker, — As the checker 
 strikes at your crosse, elude the stroke by a timely 
 avoidance to the right, and before he recovers, carry 
 your crosse upwards and sweep it high over his head, 
 as you run from right to left ; reversing the ball 
 and the side of the netting which hold it, and recov- 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 153 
 
 ering by a twist as the dodge is completed. A long 
 grasp of the crosse is best, — the ball should be kept 
 on the top surface. 
 
 6. When closely pursued ly checkers, — Simply 
 alter your course, by darting to right or left or rear, 
 and guard strokes at the butt of your crosse from 
 the rear, by twists of the wrist, and extension of the 
 arm carrying the stick. 
 
 DandUng the ball up and down on the crosse, is 
 very serviceable to frustrate many checks, as the 
 ball is in the air when the crosse is struck. 
 
 THROWN DODGES. 
 
 1. Over head of checker. — Is simply the front 
 throw with one hand, described on page 112, in the 
 chapter on " Throwing." It is much used in dodging, 
 and unless practised often, is subject to close checks. 
 
 2. Hear throw. — When the ball is picked up in 
 front of an opponent, or, if the dodger is checked by 
 one or more in front, or from either flank, a good 
 style is to throw the ball backwards over your own 
 head ; turning around and catching it before it falls. 
 A single glance must be taken to the rear, lest the 
 ball should be thrown into the crosse of an opponent. 
 
154 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 3. Checker striking crosse. — Several good thrown 
 dodges are sometimes improved, by letting the checker 
 strike your crosse the moment the ball is leaving it (see 
 illustration 9). The concussion of the two sticks 
 increases the force of any throw, and the checker is 
 momentarily put off his guard, to a greater degree 
 than the dodger. One of the prettiest and cleverest 
 dodges of the kind, is greatly in favor with the St. 
 Regis Indians. As the checker meets the dodger, 
 the latter turns slightly to the right, and with a 
 motion of his wrist, jerks the ball over the former's 
 crosse, between it and his body, catching it neatly 
 on the other side. 
 
 4. The counter check. — If checker strikes your 
 crosse, throw the ball up, or over his head, and 
 counter-check him by striking his stick away before 
 you catch the ball. You may use this counter-check 
 in nearly all thrown dodges. 
 
 5. Dropping and picking up. — This is useful 
 when closely followed by a checker who strikes at 
 the butt of your crosse. The Indians often use it 
 with effect. It is done by simply throwing the ball 
 a few feet in front as you run, and picking it up 
 again. If your stick is struck very hard from the 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 155 
 
 rear, this dropping is useful. The ball may be 
 dropped at any angle, or more deliberately thrown a 
 further distance. 
 
 6. Past either side or between the legs of a 
 checker, — As you approach your opponent, bring 
 your crosse to the position of the dodger, in illustra- 
 tion 8 ; watch his eye, and throw the ball low past his 
 right side, following it up as you run. If his legs are 
 open, you may throw between them. These two throws 
 are very puzzling, as the throw from the crosse is so 
 sudden. The manner of carrying the crosse helps 
 the deception. 
 
 It may be well here to state, that thrown dodges 
 are more deceptive and more suddenly done, when 
 the crosse is held with both hands, as in illustrations 
 8 and 9. 
 
 Bodging into Groal, — May be either a carried or 
 thrown dodge, and is useful where a dodger has only 
 goal-keeper in the way. It is not always successful, 
 and a good goal-keeper would prefer it to a short 
 throw. The old members of the Beaver Club will 
 remember Stewart's style of charging the goal-keeper 
 when he carried the ball. S. was seen bearing 
 down upon goal like a trooper, lips compressed, head 
 
156 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 forward. The shock came, — general result, one ball, 
 two crosses, Stewart and goal-keeper, all in a heap 
 in the goal, and one flag pole down. 
 
 Stooping down in dodging — Is a good way to 
 vary your defence, when an active checker tackles 
 you at either side, or from the rear. Lower your 
 crosse almost level with the ground, bend forward, 
 and keep one leg ready to spring from. When 
 checker tries to check from any of the above points, 
 bend forward, and turn your back to him, covering 
 your crosse as well as possible with your body. If 
 you should trip, and the ball falls off your crosse, 
 cover it with the flat check. 
 
 Feigning to throw, — When checker is close to 
 you, make a feint to throw a swift straight ball, 
 which he will probably shrink up to avoid. Instantly 
 dart past him, carrying the ball with you, or throw- 
 ing over his head. If you have any reputation for 
 hard throwing, and make a proper feint, you will, in 
 most cases, accomplish your object. 
 
 Inviting a cheeky and evasion, — You may tempt 
 the checker to strike at your crosse in a certain 
 way, which would give you a better chance to pass 
 him before he could recover. If you premeditate 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 15T 
 
 a certain dodge, you may often facilitate it better 
 by thus inviting a check, which, by the way, you 
 must not invite, unless you feel positive of success. 
 Single evasive movements to right or left are often 
 sufficient to prevent a check. A single dodge has- 
 often to be made good by an extra evasion. This 
 art of avoidance is important in dodging. 
 
 The best way to learn all manner of dodges is for 
 two men to practise checking and dodging, alter- 
 nately, without the hall. When you learn the rudi- 
 ments of dodging with the ball on your crosse, your 
 action is embarrassed in endeavoring to preserve its- 
 equilibrium ; but by practising first without it, until 
 you learn the principles and knack of the dodges, it 
 becomes easier to put the ball on the netting and 
 attempt them. When you are " waiting for the 
 ball" at the morning meets, pair ofi* and practise 
 this. It would be unnecessary to give rules for the 
 various combinations of dodging, which arise out 
 of those already mentioned, as well as from checks 
 and counter-checks. Dodging involves a peculiar 
 gymnastics, which brings out various twistings and 
 bondings, in which the whole body partakes. 
 " Battles are won with legs as well as arms," and 
 
158 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 the proper use of the former is half the victory 
 in dodging. Without activity of hmb your play is 
 stiff and incomplete. Some men show great inven- 
 tion in play, and particularly in the art of managing 
 their extremities in dodging. I suppose the lady 
 who sent the dedicatory poem to a club some years 
 ago, referred to these contortions of limb in dodging, 
 when she said, 
 
 " I wonder at the players' gait, 
 For crooked legs predominate!^^ 
 
 though she afterwards, with artless innocence of the 
 shape of unbreeched shanks, says, 
 
 "And yet, perhaps, I should suppose, 
 They're caused by wearing tightened hose." 
 
 Frisking the ball forms an important auxiliary of 
 dodging. Indeed, there is no part of Lacrosse which 
 can be ignored by any man ambitious of being 
 a crack player : everything is affiliated in interest, 
 and during the use of any paTt, all others are as 
 satellites — always at hand as accessories. Dodging, 
 without a knowledge of checking, generally comes to 
 grief. It is a good rule to make it subservient 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 159 
 
 to throwing ; not to do away with it altogether 
 as that would ruin the game. 
 
 A few concluding rules, and we are done with 
 this chapter. In the excitement of successful dodging 
 remember your original position on the field ; it is 
 an important one, return to it as fast as your legs 
 can carry you, after you have lost the ball. 
 
 If the defence of your antagonists is weak, your 
 home and two outward links may attempt to carry 
 the ball into goal, but throwing is better. 
 
 Point, cover-point, and the fianking links from 
 goal-keeper to cover-point, should hardly ever make 
 charges , upon the enemy's goal, — though there is 
 no law to prevent them ; neither should there be. 
 Even the ubiquitous fielders should not give free 
 license to a passion for dodging. 
 
 Never attempt to dodge near your own goal. 
 The worst player may perhaps check you, by 
 accident if not by skill. When the ball is at either 
 goal, no risk should be run in experimenting. Keep 
 your wits about you, and look out for rear 
 checks. Remember you are to avoid a checker 
 in preference to dodging him. Be prompt ; never 
 hesitate. The best dodge may be frustrated by an 
 
160 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 ordinary check, who is a second or so too quick 
 for you. Avoid clumsiness and rash dodging. 
 Never press the ball into the leading-string in 
 any way before you dodge. 
 
 Do not attempt dodging when you are not 
 " i' the vein." Success implies vim and mettle. 
 
 Checking- — Nothing in Lacrosse makes one feel 
 more throughly awkward than to be passed point-blank 
 by a dodger, and find a well-aimed check strike 
 mother earth, instead of the opposing crosse. The 
 thing looks so simple at first sight. You have 
 nothing to control, while your antagonist is limited 
 to certain movements to preserve the ball. Yet^ 
 when you think about it, you will perceive that 
 the advantage a checker has in not having a ball 
 to manage, is often counteracted by the fact that 
 while he has to act on the spontaneous impulse 
 of the moment, in the majority of cases, the dodger 
 can pre-determine his dodge, and have the advantage 
 of the start. If you, as checker, can check before 
 he begins his dodge, it may be luckier, and it may 
 not ; as some of the best players invite a check, 
 the better to facilitate their purpose. The danger of 
 anticipating a dodge is, that if you miss, you 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 161 
 
 not only miss that certain stroke, but lose the perfect 
 command of your crosse for succeeding play. 
 
 Checking, it must be remembered, is both 
 attack and defence. When you run out to tackle 
 an opponent carrying the ball, you literally attack 
 him: when you stand to receive an opponent, 
 determined upon passirg you, you act, as it were, on 
 the defensive. The circumstances of each are not 
 the same, though your object is. If you go out 
 to tackle, you succeed when you take the ball or 
 compel its possessor to throw it ; when you stand 
 on the defensive, you succeed if you prevent him 
 carrying it past you. 
 
 In the cases of attack, checking is not so 
 frequently extempore as in defence. 
 
 A skilful checker will seldom let a dodger pass 
 him successfully. Quick eyes, an elastic body and 
 extremities, pluck and perseverance, are the shining 
 virtues of a checker ; and as perfection in this 
 department materially restrains dodging, it should 
 be well cultivated. Good checks are worth more on 
 a twelve than men reputed for dodging. 
 
 The perfection of a good checker is not only 
 
 certainty in "disarming" a dodger, but the 
 
 M 
 
162 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 appreciation of his duty as laid down in the chapter 
 on " Fielding." In whatever position you are, you 
 must become convinced that to be enticed away 
 from your original position, more than is 
 necessary, is the cardinal sin of a Lacrosse player. 
 When to leave or retire, and when to remain, is 
 beyond the appointment of any established rule. 
 However sure a check you may be, you should never 
 be anxious to leave your position, to check men 
 who ought to be stopped by some other of your side. 
 Wlien a man finds himself a special terror to dodgers, 
 he is too apt to undertake the checking of the entire 
 field of opponents, thereby causing confusion in his 
 own ranks. 
 
 Our laws allow any strength of attack at one 
 dodger, but it is the custom among the St. Regis 
 Indians not to interfere between two adversaries, 
 unless at goal ; so that the dodger has only one 
 opponent at a time to avoid. This Indian play 
 would not answer for our small fields and our 
 improved game. We prefer trusting to the common 
 sense of the men, and the directing genius of a 
 Captain. 
 
 In some checks you can only use one hand, but as 
 
 1 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 163 
 
 a rule, the most effective and manageable checking 
 is done with both hands on the crosse. 
 
 We will give the checks in succession, for the 
 dodges described in the previous chapter. 
 
 CARRIED DODGE CHECKS. 
 
 1. Plain check. — As the dodger advances with 
 the ball on his crosse, and attempts the dodge 
 described in section 1st, on " Dodging," strike at his 
 crosse anywhere within a few inches of his hand, 
 before he brings it quite across from right to left. 
 If you can can strike it just after it has passed the 
 front of his body, you weaken his attempt much more 
 than if you strike it before, because the position 
 in which it finds his right arm is awkward for 
 quick recovery. A feint to strike may be made 
 at the side he carries, and if you recover quick and 
 act promptly, success is only a matter of practice. 
 Ordinary dodgers have only one movement, from right 
 to left ; it is comparatively easy to check them. 
 Good dodgers, however, deceive you by feints, 
 and invitations to check ; especially in this plain 
 dodge. The impotent checks of many players is 
 owing to their innocence of feints and invited checks, 
 
164 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 mistakes in timing, and slowness in handling the 
 /crosse. 
 
 In this check the length of your stroke, and the 
 action of your whole body is guided by the position 
 of the dodger's crosse. No rule can teach you the 
 principle for every action — nothing but practice 
 and observation. The variety of movements of the 
 crosse, in checking the plain dodge, is beyond 
 enumeration, as the twists, thrusts, strokes and 
 various turnings are so often altered, according to 
 circumstances which we can never foresee until the 
 moment of action. 
 
 The upward check is very important, either as a 
 premeditated check, or when recovering from a 
 down stroke, and may be brought into service in a 
 great number of cases. It is simply bringing up 
 your crosse from the ground, and hitting the dodger's 
 from under. 
 
 The circular check is done by swinging your crosse 
 in a circle, around the front of your opponent, so as to 
 strike his crosse, wherever it may be, during the 
 plain dodge. If you miss this, recover by the upward 
 check. 
 
 2. When dodger tries to pass your left. — Turn 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 165 
 
 quickly to the left face, and aim at arm's length at 
 the nearest part of the dodger's crosse, making a 
 leap at the same instant to intercept him and get to 
 close quarters. If he has a short grip, you may, 
 perhaps, hit his stick from the rear. The difference 
 in this check from the preceding is, that the dodger's 
 crosse is further away from your instant reach, 
 requiring more agihty of body to get into good 
 position to meet him. The upward check is often 
 here available to advantage. 
 
 3. When the dodger turns on a pivot. — Strike 
 the dodger's crosse above the collar, as high as 
 possible. If his grasp is short, you may sometimes 
 strike the handle without hurting him, and quicker 
 than you could hit higher. Check the moment 
 he revolves, either with one or both hands on 
 your stick, and beware of hitting your opponent 
 on the head. If you miss a strike during the 
 revolution, follow close and check upwards as he 
 is bringing his crosse down to the carry. 
 
 4. Short-stop and turn dodge, — However well 
 you can manoeuvre your crosse, your skill will be 
 of no avail to meet this dodge, without an unusually 
 strong and supple pair of legs, and an elasticity 
 
166 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 of action from head to toe. To defeat it, you 
 must do it as much by virtue of your legs as 
 your crosse. If the dodger keeps his back to 
 you, your chances are diminished, as by simply 
 turning and keeping his distance he can often 
 keep your check in rear until you get close. The 
 play, then, is to close in as quick as possible, 
 sweep your crosse at the side of his, or, leaping 
 up, pass it quickly over his head, and bring it 
 down upon his netting. If the butt is projecting in 
 his hand, strike it ; if his wrist prevents you hitting 
 on top or at the side, strike upwards under his 
 wrist. I remember an Indian, following close at a 
 white man's heels, succeeding in dislodging the ball 
 from his opponent's crosse, by a strong thrust at the 
 extreme butt end, which was just visible in the rear. 
 When a dodger is too much for a checker, and 
 chooses to prance around his vicinity, another 
 check should run out and spoil his strategy. It 
 is, of course, necessary, that in making this 
 movement, whatever is intended should be made 
 like a flash, so as not to give time to opposing 
 fielders to rally, or the unchecked man whom the 
 reinforcer has left, to gain any great advantage. 
 
 I 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 167 
 
 5. When the dodger attempts to sweep his 
 erosse over your head. — If you have made a 
 previous check, and dodger carries his erosse 
 upwards over your head, bring your erosse to the 
 right side, perpendicularly, and make a backward 
 half-circular sweep from right to left, which is 
 intended to meet his erosse as it sweeps over 
 your head ; or you may make a direct upward 
 strike, at that part of his erosse which is between 
 your body and his hand. 
 
 6. When closely following a dodger, — If you 
 cannot get at his stick anywhere in rear as you 
 run, incline a little to the right, make a leap 
 forward, and bring your erosse in a sweep to his 
 right front, the tip in towards his erosse. Turn 
 your wrist so as to bring the tip down upon his 
 erosse. A full arms length upward check, is often 
 the most successful. If this fails, the dernier ressort 
 is the straight thrust at the butt. 
 
 THROWN-DODGE CHECKS. 
 
 1. When the hall is thrown over your head. — 
 In all cases make an attempt to strike opponent's 
 erosse at the moment it is raised to throw. If 
 
168 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 you do not succeed, and the ball goes over your 
 head, turn sharp around and dart after it, at the 
 same time making a long full-length cut at either the 
 ball or opponent's crosse. If you get to it before your 
 antagonist, tip it away ; if your opponent reaches it 
 first, you must check him according to his position. 
 Few players have the art of wheeling quickly around. 
 The best check, however, for such thrown-dodges, 
 is hitting or blocking the ball in front of you, as 
 it is going over your head, which kind of check 
 needs a very accurate quick eye, and a great 
 deal of confidence. 
 
 2. When dodger makes a rear throw. — Instantly 
 spring towards the direction the ball is thrown, and 
 make a long stroke at it or your opponent's stick. 
 The greatest chances of success in this check depend 
 upon the way you dart forward at first. 
 
 3. When dodger lets you strike his crosse, — If 
 you knew a dodger was about to attempt the Indian 
 trick described in section 3rd, on " Dodging," it would 
 hardly be possible for him to do it successfully. Its 
 success depends a good deal upon its surprise. 
 
 When a dodger lets you strike his crosse, he only 
 calculates upon one stroke. The check, therefore^ 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 169 
 
 for this dodge, is to make a quick succession of 
 down, side, or upward strokes — as indeed is useful 
 wherever possible. Sometimes you may hit the 
 ball as it is in the air. 
 
 4. When counter-checked^ it becomes a struggle 
 for the possession of the ball, unless a succeeding 
 check again gives you the advantage, and frisking 
 or tipping is your play. 
 
 5. When the dodger drops and picks up the hall 
 on the run^ and you are too far to dispute his liberty 
 to do so, and cannot make a sufficiently hard stroke 
 at any part of his crosse to give you an advantage, 
 spring in to close quarters ; but if you cannot, simply 
 make a thrust at the extreme butt of his stick, from 
 the rear, as he is about picking up the ball. This 
 has the effect of pushing the front of his crosse out 
 of the line of his calculation, and necessitating a 
 second attempt to pick up, which is for you a gain 
 of time, when you may close in to get a more 
 effective check. If he is running at any extra speed 
 and misses picking up the ball, you will have time 
 to get to it before he can recover. 
 
 6. When the dodger attempts to throw past your 
 either side^ the proper thing is to block the ball just 
 
170 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 as a goal-keeper would, as seen in illustration 8. A 
 side cut is serviceable, but by all means try to 
 prevent the ball passing you. 
 
 When the dodger stoops^ you must guard against 
 the temptation to shove him over, as was the custom 
 some years ago. Your best resource is to cut either 
 sideways, or sweep over his head and down in front. 
 If the ball is thrown by the dodger, the first principle 
 should be to stop it. He may throw past your right 
 or left side, when you should turn around towards 
 the direction of the ball and endeavour to capture it. 
 
 Othe7* modifications of checking adapt them- 
 selves to circumstances. An excellent check, in 
 cases where the ball is nearing an opponent, is to 
 strike his stick as he attempts to catch or stop it, 
 as seen in illustration 7. This rule may be carried 
 into every part of the game, where you wish to 
 deprive an opponent of a catch, and may be done in 
 many cases, such, for instance, as when an attempt 
 is made to pick up the ball, to catch, to block, etc. 
 
 THE COVER CHECK. 
 
 If the ball is on the ground cover it with your 
 crosse as seen in Illustration 4, having the wood 
 
BODGING AND CHECKING. 171 
 
 towards the direction from which your antagonist is 
 approaching, if he approaches from either side ; if from 
 the immediate front, cover with the reverse side to 
 which you play. When a rush is made for it, depress 
 the handle of your crosse so as to bring it almost 
 level with the ball, holding it down stiff so as to 
 secure it. Your antagonist, if running at any 
 speed, will make an attempt to pick up under 
 your crosse, but the instant he attempts it, depress 
 your stick, and the probability is that his will slide 
 over yours, and before he can recover you can 
 pick up without opposition. The crosse must be 
 first kept as seen in the illustration, to deceive your 
 opponent and invite him to thrust at the ball; and 
 must afterwards be depressed to secure it, and to 
 occasion the slide of your opponent's crosse. Neither 
 movement must be done too soon, lest he has time to 
 calculate and draw up ; nor too late, lest you are 
 prevented covering the ball. Sometimes, though a 
 player cannot stop suddenly enough, he will make 
 a strike at your crosse as he is passing, and generally 
 just at your lower grasp. In such a case, draw your 
 left hand away when you see the stroke coming, 
 keeping the stick down firm with the right. 
 
172 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 There are many chances of using the cover check, 
 or either part of it. It has become a peculiarity of 
 Indian play, and is very successful on any field. 
 The Indians credit us with its invention in 1859, 
 when we showed it to the interpreter at Caughna- 
 waga. None of the crack Indian players then knew 
 it. 
 
 FEIGNED THROWS, INVITED CHECKS, EVASIONS. 
 
 A perfect dodger will feign to throw, to spoil your 
 position for checking and give himself a better 
 chance to accomplish some premeditated dodge. 
 The mistake of tyros is checking too soon and too far 
 from the dodger, and letting out too much force, 
 beyond recovery. Old players know this when they 
 coax your stroke at a certain point. If you can hit 
 an invited check, do it in preference to the after 
 dodge ; but beware of putting so much force into it, 
 that if you miss, you cannot recover in time to make 
 a succeeding stroke. In feigned throws, spring at 
 the dodger's crosse, and never fear them. Fielders, 
 as a rule, are too frightened of closing in to any 
 attempt to throw. The Indians have a way of 
 avoiding a hard throw by leaping up as they check. 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 173 
 
 Evasions are only checkmated by quick leg action 
 and long strokes. 
 
 UP, DOWN, AND SIDE STROKES. 
 
 The most of checks used to be downwards ; but 
 as Lacrosse has improved and new methods of 
 dodging been added, upward and side strokes have 
 become a necessity. The upward and side strokes 
 are useful, when you have made and missed the down 
 hit, and cannot recover in time to repeat it ; also 
 in the various exigencies and opportunities, when the 
 down stroke would be an experiment or a failure. 
 All checks depend upon the position of the dodger's 
 crosse, and it is important to know when and how to 
 use the different strokes. The best way to learn this 
 and every other part of checking, is to pair off and 
 practice quietly. You cannot experiment in the 
 excitement of a game, and only cool heads discover. 
 
 Part of Crosse to use, — When you strike the 
 netting of dodger's crosse, always, if possible, bring 
 the full face of your netting to the direction of your 
 stroke ; but if you hit the bare stick, you may strike 
 without bringing the netting to bear. The former 
 rule is more effectually to dislodge the ball, the latter 
 
174 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 to spare the netting unnecesssry hard work. Learn 
 to reverse your stick so as to bring either side to 
 bear. When you hit with the stick above, give your 
 wrist a turn to bring the netting flat on your op- 
 ponent's crosse. Do not try to hook the tip in his 
 net-work. 
 
 Quickness in delivering the stroke, — Shakspere's 
 aphorism may apply to checking in Lacrosse — " If 't 
 were done, when 'tis done, then 't were well it were 
 done quickly." Free, strong wrists and arms, in 
 sympathy with a quick body and mind, make the 
 valuable checker. Fencing, as an exercise, brings 
 out the necessary qualifications of a good checker, 
 who sometimes anticipates, and is always ready for 
 guard while acting on the attack. Very often it is 
 absolutely necessary to check with one hand. Some 
 of the finest checks are made thus, and every player 
 should practice it, as it can often be done quicker 
 than with two. 
 
 Persistency in checking is the marked indi- 
 vidualism of Indian play. Wherever the ball falls, 
 there under it, near it, or after it is a red-skin. 
 Indeed, they carry their individual persistency in 
 checking to such an extent when playing against 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 175 
 
 the pale face, as to neglect all disposition and 
 arrangement ; bunching in knots at the goals in 
 defence and attack, and bearing down in twos and 
 threes upon the dodger, as in their old strategy in 
 war — always having the most men at the point of 
 attack. The pale face is not as persistent, because 
 his wind is not as good ; but there is always a vein 
 of laziness, and a stupid immoveableness at some 
 points that needs correction. Second strokes and 
 counter checks are important ; but you may do as 
 much by following a dodger carrying the ball, as by 
 changing your base to intercept him, as if you had a 
 chance for a close check. Supposing you are placed 
 as nearest field to cover point, the tactics of a dodger 
 about to pass within a radius of at least forty feet of 
 your position on an ordinary-sized Lacrosse field, will 
 be guided by your anticipatory movements in flank- 
 ing him. If you remain where you are, and he runs 
 a clear course until he passes you, or if you are in 
 the habit of giving up the battle after a slight 
 struggle, he will rather prefer the little excitement 
 of a deliberate dodge than the unchecked run. But 
 if you move out energetically, you may check him 
 if he attempts to dodge, or you may make his throw 
 
176 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 of no avail. Get up a reputation for persistent 
 checking, and your value cannot be estimated. 
 
 It is not uncommon to see a good dodger, hard 
 pressed, lose the ball from sheer nervousness, and 
 the best calculated throw ruined, because of the 
 proximity of a checker. The golden rule, therefore, 
 is " never give up." Even if down on your marrow- 
 bones, stick to it as long as you can. The pluck 
 and persistency of the hero in the ballad of Chevy 
 Chase may be a worthy example, who, 
 
 " When his legs were smitten off, 
 He fought upon his stumps." 
 
 Rough Checking, — Nothing has done more injury 
 to Lacrosse than rough play in general, and rough 
 checking particularly; and it is a lamentable fact 
 that certain individuals stand out so prominent for 
 maiming their antagonists, as to suggest some more 
 valid reason for such play than mere accident. In 
 the ordinary business and associations of life, there 
 is a community of interest and courteousness which 
 puts the barier upon rough conduct ; but in a field 
 sport, there is an abandon and a little of that return 
 to the original barbarism of our ancestors, which, 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 17T 
 
 though very good for the blood, is not equally salu- 
 brious for the temper. Men agree to disagree in 
 sports as they do in politics, without being deadly 
 foes ; and the finest man, is he who combines the 
 earnestness of the player — like the politician — with 
 the fair play and manliness of the man. 
 
 'Tis said, " a fellow feeling makes us wondrous 
 kind," but it is not always a true maxim ; or fear of 
 getting back what is given, if not love of fair play, 
 would put an end to rough play in Lacrosse. 
 
 If you are vindictive, and choose to pour out the 
 phials of your wrath upon a player you do not happen 
 to admire, you could not have a better chance than 
 when you follow him as a checker. Emphatic checking 
 is always necessary — mere tips and touches go for 
 nothing ; but if you cannot discriminate between a 
 man's head and fingers, and his crosse, you should 
 not risk your own, or play Lacrosse. There is no 
 reason why checking should not be so perfected as 
 to make hitting an opponent a mark of bad play, as 
 is implied in our laws, and even agreed upon by the 
 Indians when playing among themselves. In Caugh- 
 nawaga and St. Regis, you may occasionally see 
 rough play, since they learned it from us^ but the 
 
178 DODGING AND CHECKING. 
 
 general rule is the reverse. If a red-skin should 
 hold, trip, throw or push his adversary, he has to 
 " face " on the spot where the offence occurred, and 
 several repetitions by the same man puts him in 
 disrepute. 
 
 The laws relating to spiked soles, holding, striking, 
 pushing, &c., were necessary, because of the license 
 to rough play, of which there was formerly too much 
 to make Lacrosse attractive, to anybody who valued 
 the use of his hands and head. The resignation of 
 one of the best players of the first twelve of the old 
 Montreal Club, who was passionately fond of the 
 pianoforte, and found himself debarred from practice 
 by maimed fingers, is not too old for recollection, 
 and there are players carrying indellible reminis- 
 cences of rough play, who can testify to the 
 injurious effects on the game, of the old manslaugh- 
 tering style. 
 
 The perfection of checking is to check without 
 hitting your opponent. Cultivate several styles of 
 checking, as one cause of injury to the dodger, is 
 attempting to apply one mode of checking to every 
 style of dodging. A cool dodger is more likely to 
 hoodwink you than a rash one, and you require to 
 
DODGING AND CHECKING. 179 
 
 meet both with cool promptness. If you have a 
 narrow hmit for play, and a difficult dodge to over- 
 come, take the Irish maxim, " Be aisy, and if you 
 can't be aisy, be as aisy as you can." 
 
 Greneral Mules. — Do not be afraid of swift balls or 
 close throws. One great beauty of checking, is to 
 stop a thrower's shot when within a few feet of his 
 crosse. Keep your eyes on the ball. Improvise 
 checks when you can, according to circumstances ; 
 for in the infinite variations of close play, occasions 
 arise for checks that you cannot anticipate. 
 
 Dodging and checking are so interwoven that yon 
 need a knowledge of both to be perfect in either. 
 Checks will be the more efiective, if you know just 
 how the dodges are done, and vice versa. 
 
 Guard against the habit of reinforcing one of your 
 side, who has only a single opponent to contend with, 
 unless the latter practises the " short stop and turn," 
 without the check being able to defeat him, when the 
 nearest player of the same side should assist him. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PICKING UP, TIPPING, FRISKING, ETC. 
 
 Picking up, — To pick up the ball, keep, and fully 
 control it on the netting of the crosse, is necessarily 
 the A B C of the game, and yet, by no means, an 
 easy accomplishment. Simple as it looks, and easy 
 as it may be to a skilful player, it is " the very 
 mischief" to a novice. It is impossible to be a 
 reliable player unless able to pick up with facility, 
 and the two following practices should be gone 
 through with, before venturing to enter into the heat 
 of a game :^ 
 
 1st. Picking up in one motion — -Stand a crosse's 
 length from the ball, with the left foot advanced. 
 Draw the crosse back about a foot from the ball, 
 and, striking straight at and under it, scoop up in 
 one quick, sharp motion. 
 
 2nd. Picking up in two motions. — Cover the ball 
 with the top surface of the netting, draw it towards 
 
PICKING UP, TIPPING, FRISKING, ETC. 181 
 
 you quickly to make it roll, and scoop up as in one 
 return motion forwards. 
 
 The ball may be picked up, by the first practice, 
 when it is coming towards or going from you fast, or 
 when steady : the latter practice generally applies 
 only to occasions when the ball is comparatively 
 steady. It will be remembered, that picking up is 
 much facilitated, by shaving the part of the top of the 
 turn which touches the ground. 
 
 Tipping the hall. — Tipping is the issue of close 
 practice and precious moments, and is important, not 
 only as a dernier resort when there is not time 
 to pick up, but as a principal practice in Frisking, 
 and a very excellent part of the duties of a home- 
 man. The ball is simply tipped with either side 
 of the top or bend of the curve and netting, and may 
 be done forcibly by striking, or, more gently, by 
 placing the stick at the ball and jerking it from the 
 ground. We knew a home-man, whose forte it was 
 to stand near goal, and tip the ball to the flags if it 
 condescended to come within the reach of his crosse. 
 He was the laziest mortal ever seen on a Lacrosse 
 field ; he was never known to disturb his equanimity 
 by a run, but, if the ball came anywhere within the 
 
182 PICKING UP, TIPPING, FRISKING, ETC. 
 
 circuit of his crosse, it was generally caught on the 
 wing, or hooked from the ground and tipped into the 
 flags like a shot. A quick tip from a short distance 
 is more puzzling to a goal-keeper than a clean throw. 
 
 Swiping the hall. — Any one knows, instinctively, 
 the difference between a tip and a swipe ; and, though 
 swinging the crosse in front, or at the side of the 
 body, and hitting the ball, as in shinty, is not actually 
 prohibited, it is generally deemed unfair, and is 
 repudiated by all good players. It has not a shadow 
 of skill to excuse it, is dangerous and unnecessary, 
 and is not only a death-blow to science, but destroys 
 the originality and beauty of the game. 
 
 Kicking — Often helps to introduce pretty and 
 effective play. Some have proposed to prohibit it 
 under certain circumstances, but it is one of those 
 points of play which must either be allowed ad libitum^ 
 or entirely done away with, as any half measure, 
 one way or the other, would only lead to endless 
 dispute. The use of the feet is, however, important 
 in close play, not only for kicking, but for guiding 
 and guarding, and may be used when there is even 
 not time' for tipping. The Indians use the feet a 
 great deal around an enemy's goal, and thereby 
 
183 
 
 interfere with the free action of the goal-keeper, while 
 they do their best to kick the ball into goal. 
 
 Frisking the ball. — In close play you may point out 
 the scientific from the brute-force player, as easily as 
 you can pick silver coin from among copper. Though 
 the play of the old school is not to be ignored, it is 
 not the paragon of to-day, even though it should 
 sometimes succeed against the present more studied 
 game. To improve Lacrosse, and not detract from 
 its native merits, we must agree to the systematic 
 conformity, intended in the regulations which guide 
 the game. Unscientific play m any game has 
 sometimes been more eifective than its antithesis, as 
 poor shots . have sometimes made bull's-eyes when 
 champions have missed altogether ; but the more 
 head-work put into such a game as Lacrosse, the 
 more beautiful and less rough it will become. 
 
 Among the improvements in general play we 
 must recognize one peculiar feature of close contests, 
 which is becoming a specialty and a mark of the true 
 artiste in Lacrosse. Occurring only at close quarters, 
 and sometimes lasting but a few seconds, it is the 
 foreshadowing of a scientific game, and an evidence 
 that there is more scope for development than gene- 
 
184 PICKING UP, TIPPING, FRISKING, ETC. 
 
 rally believed. At present this specialty of close 
 play is in its adolescence, but gives token of a 
 development which must eventually oust much of 
 the shillelahing of rough players. Its very first 
 principle is the avoidance of roughness, and the 
 getting out of difficulties, and overcoming opponents 
 "without breaking sticks or heads, or swiping, or any 
 manner of play which partakes of rough-and-tumble. 
 
 It is easier to explain this mode of play than to 
 give it a name, so we will risk it and call it " Frisking 
 the ball." We would define it as the quick feat§ 
 done, instantaneously, in passing one or more check- 
 ers ; in hooking the ball out from a crowd of oppo- 
 nents ; titilating it on the crosse ; capering it upon the 
 ground, within a radius of ten feet. It embraces 
 throwing, catching, carrying, dodging and checking, 
 all in one, and needs a remarkable agility of body^ 
 which is only secondary to the quick and clever use 
 of the crosse. 
 
 When the ball is on the ground, frisking consists in 
 filching it out from among feet and crosses, hooking 
 it towards you, and from right and left, and vice 
 versa^ and between your legs; and the general, 
 quick, varied play designed to frustrate similar 
 
PICKING UP, TIPPING, FRISKING, ETC. 185 
 
 attempts on the part of your opponents, and to secure 
 the ball to yourself for further proceedings. Some- 
 times you require a short grasp of your crosse ; at 
 other times the longest reach possible, using both 
 sides alternately as you tip and draw the ball, or 
 shield it, as it were, from the strokes and drags 
 of your antagonist. 
 
 In ground frisking, the feet may be used to tip and 
 kick the ball in various ways, as in football. At other 
 times the feet are in the way of some effective hits, 
 and little leaps, especially if running,are often useful in 
 giving room to hit close. The various feats of ground 
 frisking which arise during close play, are beyond 
 description, and yet no rules can be given for any. 
 Some players have a remarkable aptitude for getting 
 the ball close to their feet, and puzzling their oppo- 
 nents by this manner of frisking. We remember 
 seeing an Indian get the bal) between his heels, and, 
 leaping up, kick it straight up behind, and, turning 
 around, catch it as it descended, and make off with 
 it, while his opponent was looking for it in another 
 direction. 
 
 Practice for ground frisking by toying the ball in 
 front of you, alone, or with another player, and, no 
 
186 PICKING UP, TIPPING, FRISKING, ETC. 
 
 matter how simple it seems, you will find it good 
 exercise. Tip it to right, then to left, then out and 
 in, and around, and between and at the back of your 
 feet. Practice tipping to the right with the bend 
 and the tip of the crosse. A very good practice is 
 frisking with a young and smart setter — ^your crosse 
 versus his teeth and paws. It will teach you many 
 little feints. 
 
 High frisking, when the ball is not on the ground, 
 is quite a different play, but needs a like expertness 
 in handling the crosse and mastering the ball. It 
 can hardly be premeditated, but opportunities are 
 often afforded for its practice in close contests. It 
 comprises all quick, successive feats in playing with 
 the ball in the air. 
 
 When carrying through a gauntlet of checkers, or 
 when catching, after throwing over your own or an 
 opponent's head, a pretty and most invaluable play is 
 to titilate or dandle the ball upon the netting. Some 
 of the best dodgers use this very much, the ball 
 never being on the netting when the crosse is struck 
 at by the checker. 
 
 A great deal of showy play may be introduced in 
 frisking, — such as playing with the ball on the top of 
 
187 
 
 the curve, tapping it up, and catching or titilating. 
 There are times when a descending ball may be 
 wisely checked in its descent, and tapped away by 
 the top of the curve. 
 
 Another neat play in frisking is to gently touch 
 descending or straight balls with the opposite side of 
 the netting to which you carry, and, quickly bringing 
 down your crosse, catch before the ball touches the 
 ground. 
 
 Several skilful and neat feats can be done, intro- 
 ducing tips, balancings, and twistings. Did you ever 
 try to revolve the crosse, and the ball with it, with- 
 out letting the latter off the netting ? The rule to 
 do it is to keep the ball close to the wooden part of 
 the crosse, and, if you carry on the right side, revolve 
 the stick quickly, by a turn of the wrist, from right 
 to left : if you carry on the left side, revolve it from 
 left to right. The closer the ball is to the wood, the 
 shorter its turn, and the less chance of it being 
 thrown off in revolving. This feat may be so per- 
 fected, when the crosse is held in a high and horizontal 
 position, as to be made a useful part of dodging. 
 
 A " dying-bounce " ball is one that strikes the 
 ground more than once before touched, and, like a 
 
188 PICKING UP, TIPPING, FRISKING, ETC. 
 
 cramped swimmer, is giving its last kick. Sometimes 
 you may make something of these balls by hitting 
 them on the bounce to make them bounce higher, 
 which may secure you a catch in a position, when 
 a forward pick-up would bring your crosse into the 
 neighborhood of checking. 
 
 We might as well advise you here, as elsewhere, 
 to drop your crosse, when it is trodden upon, rather 
 than run the probable alternative of a fracture. If 
 you feel you are going to tread on a crosse, leap up 
 and over it. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PIELDING. 
 
 Next to a persistent engagement around a goal, 
 the great and exciting charm of Lacrosse is in the 
 ever-varying incidents and vicissitudes of the Field- 
 ing, — the gladiatorial contests, the agile feat, the 
 sudden rally, the skirmish, the running fight. Its 
 aspects are so vascillating, and its situations so 
 changeable, that no moment of play is like the play 
 that preceded it: different men are after the ball 
 in a different way, and every circumstance out on 
 the field, as well as every crisis at the flags, has 
 the fascination of novelty. A new player is sooner 
 marked by his fielding and his sense of his indi^ 
 vidual responsibility, than by any particular point 
 of play. The play on the field is conspicuous, and 
 there never fails to every man opportunity to 
 distinguish himself, if he can. To be a good fielder 
 is, therefore, a sine qua non of every player ; and 
 
190 FIELDING. 
 
 men, ambitious of being on " The First Twelve,'^ 
 have to " win their spurs " by indefatigable practice, 
 and no kind of humbug. It embraces the leading 
 and paramount part of the game, and the very 
 pith of good play. 
 
 Signals. — A member of a Club in Toronto sug- 
 gested, in 1867, the use of certain signals, or a 
 Club cry, among a twelve playing another, which 
 seems feasible. For instance, there are moments 
 when a man carrying the ball must either throw 
 or run the risk of losing it, while, at the same 
 time, he cannot venture to look for the nearest 
 fielder of his side. Supposing one of his side is 
 behind him, or in any position favorable for 
 receiving the ball, the former calls out some such 
 signal as "A" or "One," — the twelve being 
 lettered alphabetically, or numbered in rotation ; 
 or he shouts the Club cry. At once the man in 
 possession of the ball throws where the sound 
 came from. It should be a point of honor with 
 the sides not to make use of each other's signals. 
 The Toronto, and the Union Club of Guelph, and 
 some others, have, we understand, a Club shout, 
 which they use for the above purpose. 
 
FIELDING. 191 
 
 Practising men for special positions. — It is 
 essential that Goal-keeper, Point, Cover-Point, 
 Centre and Home should be special men accus- 
 tomed to those positions ; and we purpose giving 
 their necessary qualifications and duties in this 
 place. 
 
 Croal-heeper. — (See Chapter xiii.) 
 
 Point — Should stand in a line opposite Goal- 
 keeper, at a distance of not more, usually, than 
 forty feet, though his exact position should be 
 regulated by the size of the ground, the disposi- 
 tion of his nearest opponents, and the fortunes of 
 the game. He has one of the most important 
 posts on the field, — a sort of key of the de- 
 fence, — needing considerable self-reliance. A good 
 Point keeps many a ball from the goal, and, in a 
 hard-pushed game, is of invaluable service. He is 
 supposed to be destruction to all attempts at 
 dodging, good for any "shouldering" if necessary, 
 a good runner, and last, but not least, a fair 
 goal-keeper : indeed, the perfection of Point is to 
 combine the qualifications of every player with a 
 reliableness which peculiarly marks his position. He 
 should avoid dodging near his own goal ; be perfectly 
 
192 FIELDING. 
 
 cool, collected, and prompt. He is essentially a 
 defence, and, at the same time, a reserve and aid 
 to the attack. He should always be on hand in 
 hard-pressed games. When the ball is near or near- 
 ing his goal, he should back up if necessary ; but, in 
 close struggles, must avoid the cardinal sin of many 
 Points — of backing upon the goal-keeper, thereby 
 preventing him using his crosse with freedom, or 
 seeing the ball. 
 
 Point should be able to relieve goal-keeper, and 
 perform his duty. 
 
 Circumstances occur when he has to leave his 
 position to charge down the field, follow the ball, or 
 check an adversary at either flank. Cover-point or a 
 fielder should then retire to his vacated post, and 
 the positions of the former should also be replaced. 
 It is dangerous, however, in a hard-pushed game, to 
 leave his post farther than the line of cover-point ; 
 but when the play is even, or favorable to his side, 
 he may change posts with any of the fielders. If 
 there is no captain to keep the men in their places, 
 the links nearest any vacated position should keep 
 their own eyes open and quickly take them up. 
 Every position, of course, is movable, as your side 
 
FIELDING. 193 
 
 is weak or strong, and you choose to avoid or 
 foUowy our posted adversaries ; but, particularly 
 at important places like Point, should the men be 
 alive to changes. If it is absolutely necessary, 
 in a strong attack, that your Point should go 
 out, the nearest aid should invariably take up 
 position between goal and cover-point, unless the 
 attack has no men intervening. 
 
 Point should act upon the suggestions of goal- 
 keeper. It must be borne in mind that a slip at 
 Point is generally harder to retrieve than elsewhere ; 
 and that the fortune of the game is always increased 
 in danger, in proportion to the nearness of the ball 
 to your flags. It is absolutely necessary, then, that 
 Point should be a thoroughly reliable man, and that 
 his connecting links should always be on the alert 
 for rapid support, retreat, or attack. 
 
 Cover-Point — Should regulate his distance from 
 Point on the same principle that Point regulates his 
 from goal, and though considered less perma- 
 nently fixed, he should never fail to be in his 
 place when the game is against him. A Cover- 
 point should possess every qualification of a Point. 
 
 As a general thing, he has to stand more hard work, 
 
 o 
 
194 FIELDING. 
 
 and make more use of his legs ; sometimes having 
 two or three antagonists to manage. He is more 
 at liberty to dodge than Point, has more opportunity 
 for field play, and may occasionally carry the ball 
 down as far as he can go, and throw at goal ; but a 
 fielder should always relieve him. As soon as he 
 has '^ played his part," and got rid of the ball, he 
 should retire to his original position. 
 
 Point, Cover-point and Goal-keeper are a trio in 
 defence, and need confidence in each other. The 
 two former musb act in concert as to change of base, 
 retiring, &c. We think the importance of these 
 places has never been properly estimated : they 
 make a defence either strong or weak. 
 
 Centre. — As the early fortune of each game may 
 depend upon the way the ball first goes — whether 
 it is sent down towards the flags of your opponents, 
 or up to your own, — the position of Centre offers 
 no ordinary scope for skill. It is merely temporary, 
 and only survives the starting of the ball ; but if the 
 men are well posted, and Centre is able to send the 
 ball to any particular one, the probabilities are that 
 it goes up to the enemy's flags, and. may stay there, 
 if the home attack is strong. The player facing 
 
FIELDING. 195 
 
 is allowed more latitude of range ; he is supposed to 
 be one of those ubiquitous few, who wander around, 
 a terror to dodgers everywhere, and a puzzle to 
 opposing checks. Good wind, good running capa- 
 bilities, and a thoroughness in every part of the 
 game, make him a valuable acquisition to a 
 "twelve." 
 
 Home — Should stand within eight or ten feet of the 
 opposing goal, but must regulate his position according 
 to the face of the game. He should always be the 
 last of the fielding links towards the opponent's 
 goal ; should stand, as a rule, to one side, at right- 
 angles with the right of the goal-keeper, so as to 
 success the ball in sideways. The goal-crease has 
 prohibited him standing within six feet of the goal- 
 keeper until the bath has passe Cover-point, 
 and a courteous home should never entrench 
 upon this rule. He should always be ready to move 
 near to the goal-crease when the ball is thrown 
 towards it, and may make across to either side, as 
 the game is going. He should not squat imme- 
 diately in front of the crease, nor yet go out too far. 
 When the ball is thrown to him or the flags, either 
 in the air, or along the ground, he should close in, 
 
196 FIELDING. 
 
 and hit it, or catch it on the wing, and sweep it in. 
 with force. Very often he has several antagonists to 
 contend with, and several of his own side with whom 
 to co-operate ; and must not only have wit to fight 
 his foes, but sense to aid his friends. Though he m 
 Home, a tip in proper time to one of his side near 
 by, may be more useful than if he had aimed direct 
 at the flags. 
 
 Home should perfect himself in frisking the ball^ 
 quick straight throwing from the front and sides, and 
 quick playing into the crosses of his side. The Indian 
 Home puts the ball in for long shots, but when 
 several are near the crease, he is no more Home 
 than any other. This is as it should always be. 
 Any man throwing at goal, should prefer angle or 
 diagonal to front balls. 
 
 A sharp Home is the bugbear of a goal-keeper. 
 He has opportunities for a specialty of play, and can 
 develop a peculiar style, valuable to every man, 
 but more especially so to himself. The ball comes 
 to him in such a variety of ways, and so many 
 changes occur in close contests around the flags, 
 that he must exercise unusual sharpness and agility. 
 
 Fielders and Fielding. — The eight fielders — 
 
FIELDING. 19T 
 
 Centre being also a fielder — are the skirmishers of 
 the " Twelve," and are supposed to be more 
 ubiquitous and flitting than the rest, and to have 
 greater freedom in moving on the field and following 
 the ball ; though they have definite positions never- 
 theless. In the fluctuations of the game, they must 
 be prepared to assume the positions of the more 
 fixed points, when the latter are drawn out by 
 checking or running. The general rules laid down 
 for other players apply as well to the fielders ; 
 though no absolute rule can be made for the inva- 
 riable conduct of an entire " Twelve," owing to 
 the changes developed by the nature of the game. 
 Every rule must be modified according to existing 
 circumstances. It would be unreasonable, for 
 instance, to make it a rule, that you should throw 
 to the worst player ; but there may be moments 
 when by so doing, a game may be won. With 
 some opponents you progress better by a weak 
 defence, and a proportionately strong attack, and 
 vice versa. If you have confidence in your side, 
 individually and collectively, it materially alters 
 your play. In fact, the Lacrosse-player has to 
 use his own judgment of the position of affairs ; 
 
198 FIELDING. 
 
 and though guided by a captain, no captain can 
 supersede individual judgment, nor obviate the 
 necessity for every man keeping both his eyes 
 open, for the advantages to be gained, and the 
 defence to be guarded, in the wavering fortunes of 
 the game. 
 
 The eight fielders should be expert in every part 
 of the game ; especially quick, accurate and en- 
 during. As a first principle, they should play to 
 each other, and to the more fixed points, and avoid 
 the temptation for long wild throwing. Time wa^ 
 when men could play a showy game, and establish 
 a reputation for superiority : now there are too 
 many practical critics ; Lacrosse is better under- 
 stood, and a player who comparatively ignores the 
 rest of his side, is put down as more vain than 
 sagacious. There is a time to throw, and a time 
 to dodge ; a time to advance and a time to retire ; 
 and the perfection of fielding is to do all this 
 neither too soon nor too late. 
 
 Playing to each other, or " tacking " the ball, is the 
 characteristic of Indian play ; and not until it was 
 imitated by the pale-faces, did the latter show any 
 chances of defeating the red-skin. Fielding degene- 
 
MELDING. 199 
 
 rates into a melee without it, and the object of 
 posting the men is defeated. The fielders should 
 always keep the disposition of every man in vieWy 
 and never waste a shot or unnecessarily break their 
 wind. If tacking is adhered to, this intense exertion 
 and wild play must have an end. 
 
 It is easv to understand the merit of each man 
 perfecting his own play ; — in fact, a good " Twelve " 
 is always the result of individual progress : it is not 
 that we deprecate, but the playing solely for effect 
 and admiration ; the attempt to monopolize attention 
 in so far as possible, and for the sake of separate 
 applause, sacrifice the science of Lacrosse to 
 hard running. It is vexing to a side to see a 
 man persist in carrying the ball, when a throw to 
 another in a better position would have accomplished 
 the object more surely. To this pale-face fashion we 
 have always attributed our defeats by the Indians 
 They forget their individuality when hard pressed, 
 and do not try to shine at risk of losing the ball. 
 There is no egotism in their play when hard pushed ; 
 they have a unity of aim and an alliance to play 
 into each other's hands ; while we, working twice 
 as hard, fail to combine our play or pin our faith 
 
200 PIELDING. 
 
 to each other. Lately it has been improved, and 
 our success, consequently, nearer consummation. 
 
 Aside from the art of play, there is a combina- 
 tion of mental and physical qualities required, for 
 which no length of leg can compensate. When 
 Lacrosse was " in its leading-strings," it was con- 
 sidered the height of good fielding to rush frantically 
 over the field, upset and be upset, and come out cut 
 and bruised. If a man had shoulders like an Atlas, 
 and the force of a battering-ram, he wa^s the pet of 
 his " Twelve," and the terror of his adversaries. 
 The practical use of the crosse was by no means to 
 be sneered at ; indeed, in respect to the quick use 
 of the stick, it was superior, in the home department, 
 to the same art of to-day. The fielding, however, 
 was very rough. To be spotted with mud from head 
 to toe, was equal to a ribbon of the legion of honor, 
 and a tough match was considered a cheap and 
 capital way of draining mud puddles. There is 
 more brain in the fielding and general play of to-day. 
 
 It is an Indian instinct, and should be a pale-face 
 principle in Lacrosse, that the ball should be followed 
 on or off the crosse, by the link of men in succession, 
 as they happen to be near it, and with discretion as 
 
FIELDING. 201 
 
 to weakening one's side, by too much skirmishing 
 from the vicinity of the man near whom you 
 were originally posted. It is as important to follow 
 a thrown ball which lights on the ground, as to give 
 chase to a man carrying it, and the term " following 
 the ball " includes both. 
 
 The Indians do not let our men carry or chase the 
 ball with impunity. They bear down upon them, 
 though there is no chance of checking ; they never 
 abandon the pursuit, and pale-face has to run a more 
 literal gauntlet of checkers, than red-skin gene- 
 rally meets with in his progress on the field. The 
 fact that an opponent, seen or unseen, is on your 
 track, is likely to excite and confuse you, and some- 
 times spoil your throw. 
 
 " Following the ball " in Lacrosse is not a general 
 chase after it; — that would be as absurd as an 
 entire " Eleven " chasing a cricket-ball. No man 
 is restrained from following it, in accordance with 
 his own judgment, and that of his captain ; but, as 
 we said before, position should never be sacrificed, 
 nor defence weakened, by too much skirmishing. 
 It is well to give three or four men — not more — on 
 a "' Twelve " limitless action. They flutter around the 
 
202 FIELDING. 
 
 field in a raiding style, very useful in spoiling any 
 pet disposition of the opponents, and preserving a 
 balance of power ; alternating between attack and 
 defence. They harass the enemy's goal, and are 
 lions in the path of dodgers ; and if they do not 
 attempt to play the whole game themselves, are 
 invaluable anywhere and everywhere. They relieve 
 any man, and support all, and fill a gap here and 
 there in the nick of time. The beauty of this style 
 is that the opposing checks at defence, never get 
 used to the changeable character of the attack, 
 consequent on the varied styles of the men, and 
 that weak fielders are oftener sure of support, in 
 case they fail in wind or ability. 
 
 One great fault of pale-face play, is a lack of 
 foresight in anticipating the spot a thrown ball will 
 fall ; or rather the instantaneous action when the 
 ball is thrown. The Indians do not wait to see 
 where a ball will light before they chase it. They 
 follow it the instant it leaves the crosse, and know, 
 by the rise, exactly where it will drop. They 
 retreat like a flash to the defence, if the ball goes 
 towards their goal; or crowd down to the attack, 
 if it goes towards that of their opponent. Where- 
 
FIELDING. 203 
 
 ever the ball drops, one or more natives are under 
 it, or at it. What folly to talk of " men never 
 leaving positions " under the circumstances. 
 
 Whenever the Indians can, they like to bunch at 
 the goal. We would not advise such tactics in the 
 pale-face game ; but if you ever play opponents who 
 practise it, do not leave the defence to Goal-keeper 
 and Point ; proportion your men to the numerical 
 strength of the attack, always remembering that, 
 though one man may be physically a match for two, 
 no one man can do much between two antagonists 
 tacking the ball over his head. Sir Colin Campbell 
 received the Russian cavalry with a two-deep line, 
 and made them turn tail ; but any parallel defence 
 of confidence in men in Lacrosse, however perfect 
 your goal-keeper and Point may be, is dangerous. 
 
 A word about rough play. There is quite enough 
 excitement in the quietest game without adding 
 rough play to make it impetuous. Violent out- 
 breaks of brute force are the death-blows to art, 
 and not only injure the popularity of the sport, but 
 tend to physical injury, sooner or later. Put a rough 
 player where you will, and he shows roughness. In 
 goal, he swipes at every ball ; on the field, he has 
 
204 FIELDING. 
 
 no regard for his friends or foes, but throws full 
 force, and swipes without mercy. There is always 
 sufficient calls for exertion in ordinary fielding, 
 without resorting to deliberate rough and homicidal 
 play. Fierce checking and violent shouldering 
 should be repudiated as contrary to the principles 
 of the game. We have no objections to a good toss, 
 and rather relish a tough tussle, but tossing and 
 tussHng should not be a rule of play. Learn the 
 art of handling the crosse to perfection, and the 
 different dodges, checks, throws, etc., and you will 
 require to pay less attention to the art of shouldering. 
 Cultivate scientific play, and any other will be hate- 
 ful, as swiping is to good cricketers. We may lay 
 it down as a leading maxim in fielding, that the 
 cause of success of noted rough players is not a 
 principle to be imitated. Some old players, who 
 esteem themselves superlative excellence, have a 
 good deal to unlearn in this respect. We would not 
 be misunderstood in our ideas upon rough play. We 
 do not wish to be restricted to conformity to a code 
 of Lacrosse ethics, which will deprive us of the 
 relish of shouldering a man if we please, while strictly 
 obeying the rule on " rough play," — especially 
 
FIELDING. 205 
 
 if the said man be bigger and stronger ; but we 
 repudiate the miscellaneous butting which in close 
 contests, make men calculate what they will do with 
 their shoulders instead of their crosse. 
 
 We were invited by an Indian chief, at 
 Caughnawaga, early one morning last summer, to 
 witness a game of Lacrosse on the commouy 
 among about thirty Indian residents ; and after 
 watching a hard-fought game of an hour, the gentle 
 savage turned to us, and said, in broken English : 
 " You can't play Lacrosse like that. You smash 
 heads, cut hands, make blood. We play all day ; 
 no hurt^ except when drunks It is very rare 
 that an Indian is injured or injures ever so slightly 
 when playing with his fellow red-skins ; but when 
 red meets white, then comes the tug of war — 
 and we blame the latter for its development. 
 
 There is one other important consideration in 
 fielding, which men are likely to forget in the excite- 
 ment of the game, — we refer to over-exertion. No 
 man should use himself up by hard running, unless 
 a hard run is unavoidably necessary. Keep your 
 wind and endurance as fresh as possible for the last 
 2!:ame. 
 
206 FIELDING. 
 
 Should goal-keeper^ pointy cover-point and home 
 always retain their positions ? — Last season there was 
 considerable controversy on this question, with the view 
 of making it a principle that the above men should 
 " never leave their places." Young players and new 
 clubs — especially those who never saw the game 
 played, and consequently knew nothing to the con- 
 trary — were deluded into the belief that it was 
 correct ; and several queries on the subject came to 
 us from different parts of Canada. Otherwise, we 
 would not think it necessary to repudiate a pro- 
 position, so patent a mistake to anyone who knows 
 anything of Lacrosse. In the infancy of the game, 
 it is well to definitely settle such issues, however, 
 and we regret that such propositions are made 
 without any previous experiment to justify them. 
 Nothing is easier than to draw up plans for a 
 grand campaign, but the difficulty lies in carrying 
 them out. Nothing is easier than to propose fine 
 theories in Lacrosse ; but, like the Fenian projects 
 to take Canada, they look mightier on paper 
 than they turn out in practice. 
 
 It is well understood by the best Lacrosse-players 
 everywhere, that no position in the game is, or ever 
 
FIELDING. 20T 
 
 can be, absolutely permanent ; that they fluctuate in 
 accordance with the wavering destinies of the ball 
 and the circumstances which grow out of these 
 changes. To make any one or more positions per- 
 manent, would completely change the character^ 
 and destroy the uniqueness and beauty of the game. 
 It would be like some games of chess, where a single 
 pawn could checkmate, if it only had the power to 
 move hke a castle. It might be possible to have a 
 perversion of Lacrosse, if two sides agreed to play 
 with the above men permanently fixed, but a 
 '' Twelve " playing on such a stagnating principle, 
 would soon have their fine theories scattered to the 
 winds, while they might almost as well be spectators 
 as participants, for all the support they could 
 give their fielders. It is not usual for a man 
 carrying the ball to get in the way of opposing 
 checkers, if he can help it ; and there would be less 
 probability of it than now, if any certain men were 
 "never to leave their places." The result, too, 
 would be to over-tax and break down the fielders, 
 and give either the attack or the defence men — as 
 the game was going — a wearisome repose, instead 
 of that division of labor which alone can make a 
 
208 PIELDING. 
 
 ^' Twelve " on a hard-fought field successful. It 
 would be like holding a reserve of skirmishers in 
 check until the advance were all cut off. In the 
 chapter on " Goal-Keeping," we have endeavoured 
 to show the necessity for goal-keeper sometimes 
 leaving his place ; in describing the duties of Home, 
 Point and Cover-point in the present chapter, we 
 have also attempted to prove the same necessity 
 in their cases. It may be well to illustrate this 
 point more fully in its individual and collective 
 bearings, as recognized both in Indian and pale- 
 face play. 
 
 The men chosen for the several particular points 
 are their legitimate possessors, with prescriptive 
 right at proper times to move out or in, or dash 
 down the field ; but the vicinity they occupy should 
 seldom be left vacant. If Point utterly forsakes his 
 post. Cover-point or a near fielder should retreat to 
 the vicinity ; if Cover-point leaves, an adjacent 
 fielder should take his place. The fielders nearest 
 at any time to the special points, are always their 
 supposed supports, and should relieve and support 
 them when necessary. 
 
 The number of men on each side influences the 
 
FIELDmO. 209 
 
 movements of the special points. If there are only 
 twelve on a side, these points necessarily have more 
 leg- work. 
 
 We would like to see it made a rule that goal- 
 keeper, Point and Cover-point— especially the two 
 former— should limit their range to their half of the 
 field, unless they made a permanent change, or the 
 game was very favorable for their side. This would 
 give them scope enough, would always ensure a 
 good defence, and better systematize the posting of 
 the men, as the adjacent fielders would know their 
 original positions from their vicinity to these points, 
 and would not be as likely to neglect them. Indeed, 
 in difficult defence, this must necessarily be the 
 management ; and in any case, it is the safest play. 
 The exact position of Home must be governed by 
 many circumstances. The ball is not always thrown 
 to him in the same way, and sometimes not to him 
 at all. If a fielder has a chance to carry a game 
 safely, it would be folly throwing to Home, and 
 trusting to him to put it in. Because a man is 
 Home, it does not follow that he always has the best 
 chance of scoring game. If the rule was absolute 
 to throw to him, goal-keeper would have an easier 
 
 P 
 
210 FIDLDING. 
 
 time of it, and games would be of longer duration. 
 Recall the strength of a rallying attack, where two 
 or more opponents, tacking to each other, work the 
 ball up to the flags ; how weak in comparison would 
 be the solitary dependence upon Home ! Home 
 often must " leave his place." Whenever he can 
 get to a ball thrown wide or over the goal, before 
 an opponent, and before any other man of his side, 
 he should do so. If he, sooner than any of his 
 side, can prevent an opponent getting the ball away 
 from the goal, he should certainly do it. It often 
 happens that he can reach wide and over balls 
 before any other man of his own side, and prevent 
 an opponent pitching it away from the critical 
 vicinity. Whenever he leaves his place, under any 
 such circumstance, the nearest link should close to 
 the goal-crease, ready to strike in any throw ; while 
 the other links dispose themselves to check the 
 movements of adversaries who should run to the 
 defence. 
 
 We would not like to see Lacrosse so revolu- 
 tionized as to make the permanency of any position 
 compulsory, but the common sense of players should 
 guard them against running to the other extreme. 
 
PIELDING. 211 
 
 and forsaking them. Many otherwise good players, 
 have a chronic habit of wandering from their posi- 
 tion, and the vicinity of the man they are posted to 
 check. 
 
 And here it may be necessary to remind ad- 
 mirers of Indian tactics, that we do not take the 
 Indian as a perfect model, and, therefore, do not 
 imitate their actual disposition or play. They are 
 never posted with regard to us; they like to get 
 away from our jSelders as disagreeable neighbours, 
 unless their goal is attacked, when they exhibit a 
 wonderful unity of defence, utterly regardless of all 
 previous arrangement — parallel with the bunching 
 game at the goal of the opponent. 
 
 A few general rules, and we have done with 
 ^'Fielding." 
 
 1. Do not leave men unchecked — especially near 
 your goal. 
 
 2. Always warn your men who straggle. 
 
 3. Two checkers should scarcely ever tackle one 
 dodger. 
 
 4. Two opponents tacking should be checked by 
 two men. 
 
 5. Do not form knots either in defence or attack. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 No moment in the game of Lacrosse is of more 
 intense and nervous interest, than the critical 
 junctures of attack and defence at the goals. The 
 fate of every game culminates at one or the other. 
 No score can be made by any other play than that 
 which puts the ball in, and then the score is not 
 individual but collective. 
 
 The moment the ball is thrown to goal — with no 
 chance of interception until it gets there, — the whole 
 fortune and stake concentrates in responsibility on 
 the individual skill of its keeper, irrespective of all 
 play that preceded it. Nothing antecedent to the 
 straight throw or tip, which is to win the game or be 
 stopped, can in the least avert the danger. There 
 are many chances of retrieving a mistake on the 
 field, before it becomes critically dangerous, but 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 213 
 
 if goal-keeper misjudges a shot, or fails to stop a 
 ball, at least one game is irretrievably lost. Let 
 the ball through, and you may rest on your crosse, 
 while your antagonists throw their sticks in the 
 air, and " hurrah ! " and your side look glum and 
 blue. Point may be Point to perfection ; Centre 
 may be all that could be wished, and your fielders swift 
 as the antelope, but of what avail, if you fail ? Brave 
 defence cannot compensate for loss of victory. 
 What matters it, comparatively, if the ball passes 
 any other player ; nothing is really lost ? Who 
 blames a fielder if he evades swift balls ? — but who 
 forgives the goal-keeper? 
 
 The single responsibility is the principal reason, 
 why so few players select the goal in preference 
 to any other position. 
 
 It is a common error to suppose that the Indians 
 never had special men at the goals. Where the 
 single pole was used there was no necessity for 
 a special defender ; but wherever the present goal 
 was in use, one or more men were placed at the 
 flags, or conveniently near. Proximity to the 
 goal was governed by the size of the ground, the 
 number of players, and the face of the game. 
 
214 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 On fields of a quarter or half a mile, it was left 
 comparatively unprotected, unless the game was 
 pressing hard towards it ; but on moderate sized 
 fields it was common to have special men posted, 
 unless the number of players was unusually smalL 
 Basil Hall, writing of the Creeks of Alabama, and 
 of a game he saw in a field 200 yards long, fifty 
 players on a side, says, " I observed that each of 
 the goals or wickets, formed by the two boughs at 
 the ends, was guarded by a couple of the most 
 expert players, whose duty it was to prevent the 
 ball passing through the opening ; — the especial 
 object of their antagonists." 
 
 An observer, looking at our game, easily signals 
 out the special man who defends the flags, because 
 the goal-keeper is nearly always at his post ; but it 
 is quite probable that the specialty in the original 
 game, may not have been noticed as particularly 
 by others as it was by Hall; as the Indian game 
 was more individual, and every man on the field 
 was ambitious of carrying the ball to the goal. 
 The original goal-keeper did not fear long shots, 
 or sudden sallies, as the play had little system 
 after it began, and the only principle of every 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 215 
 
 man was to follow the ball, and concentrate entire 
 interest upon himself by a carry. We have, 
 however, positive testimony, that special men at 
 the goals was the rule whenever the present kind 
 were used, and we know it is still the rule 
 among the Indian players of Canada, though they 
 have often told us to the contrary, and advised 
 us not to train one. We rather fancy they would 
 approve of not training special men for goal, for 
 good goal-keeping has so often baulked their best 
 shots, and defeated even four and five of them,, 
 tipping and swiping at the flags. Who doubts 
 whether the splendid Indian goal-keeper at the 
 Montreal matches on Dominion Days, 1867 and 
 1868, was goal-keeper by chance or selection? 
 And why does each succeeding year develop better 
 red-skin goal defence ? Simply, because one indi- 
 vidual man trains for the post. 
 
 However, it is not what the Indians did or do 
 among themselves ; the question is, does our game 
 necessitate special men at the flags ? We have 
 seen that wherever the present goal was used, 
 the Indians had certain men at or in proximity 
 to each winning point, and the reason why our 
 
216 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 game absolutely needs trained goal-keepers, may be 
 summed up in a few words. The small fields to 
 which we are predestinated in towns and cities, — 
 even on this continent of great lands, — and the 
 change from carrying, to a game of accurate throwing 
 from all positions and distances, which makes the 
 goal a target for good shots, might be sufficient 
 reason; and when we consider the importance of 
 that open space being well protected when the 
 ball is thrown to it; that it is only six feet high 
 and wide ; that the ball is only nine inches in 
 circumference, and that the objects of posting the 
 men would be greatly frustrated if there was no 
 one specially charged with defence of the flags, 
 you will, doubtless, see the necessity for a trained 
 goal-keeper. It is diSicult to write in this con- 
 nection without writing of ourself, but not egotis- 
 tically, we hope. Eight or nine years ago, when 
 we defended the goal of our Club, the matches 
 for the championship were emphatically games of 
 defence on our part. We used to keep a score of 
 the balls stopped during a match, and at one, in 
 1860, our crosse saved game fifteen times in a 
 little over an hour, as is chronicled on the stick we 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 217 
 
 then used, — peace to its cat-gut! At several 
 matches succeeding, when goal was crowded by- 
 opponents, or swift shots came at the flags, within 
 a distance of twelve feet, no one would deny the 
 necessity of accustoming a special man to guard 
 that portal ? 
 
 A trained man at goal strengthens the confidence 
 of the men out on the field, as infantry supports 
 do the confidence of cavalry. A single long 
 throw from the centre of the field, alters in a 
 twinkling the face of the game, and may give 
 an advantage to the home men, which no speed of 
 leg can prevent before a strong attack is made. 
 The art of stopping a home man's shot or tip, is 
 entirely different from any other play, and needs 
 special practice as well as dodging or checking. 
 
 You may sometimes hear men who are good 
 hand-ball catchers say " Oh ! anybody can keep 
 goal ; I could catch any ball you throw, with my 
 handP Let us tell you a personal reminiscence, 
 which may serve as a warning to such ambition. 
 A friend several years ago made just such a remark 
 to us, and consented to try the experiment. The 
 flags were placed only four feet apart : the first 
 
218 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 few shots were as slow as could be thrown, and 
 were caught, of course. We then moved off to 
 about thirty feet from the flags, and placing the 
 ball on the lower angle, let fly straight at the 
 mark. Our friend's hands did not stop it, but his 
 stomach did. Closing up to about twenty feet, we 
 threw a moderately swift ball, which struck the 
 ground a few feet in front of notre ami, and 
 suddenly bouncing up, hit him under the chin 
 with such force as to make him yell with pain. 
 We never knew a better hand-ball catcher than the 
 above experimenter, but he is now thoroughly 
 convinced, that hand-ball catching and goal-keeping 
 are two very different arts. 
 
 Many crack players dread the responsibilities 
 and dangers of goal-keeping. We have seen veteran 
 fielders shrink up like the mimosa sensitiva at the 
 very approach of a swift ball, which a trained 
 goal-keeper would no more mind than a pea. A 
 man may even stop balls well enough out on the 
 field, but put him at goal, and confidence gives way 
 to trepidation. Not only does he find himself a 
 target within a limit for the swiftest of shots ; but 
 dreads the responsibility at his back, the fear of 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 219 
 
 making slips, and the nervous anticipation when- 
 ever the ball is shooting within his vicinity. 
 
 It is rarely you meet with players magnanimous 
 enough to throw at goal in the way you would 
 prefer, or a little slower than you would suggest. 
 They may put the greatest amount of brute force 
 into their most violent throw, and you must not 
 budge or move a hair of your eye lashes. Have 
 you ever had an opponent, noted for hard throwing, 
 pick his ground ten feet from you, and send the 
 ball whizzing from the lower angle down the 
 netting straight at your face ? And has it not 
 felt pleasant when it smashed through your crosse, 
 raising a half of a duck-egg on your forehead, and 
 giving you an imaginative demonstration of sidereal 
 astronomy, commonly called "seeing stars"? But 
 that's no odds, if you save game for your side in 
 a match. School boys should never cry when 
 flogged, and goal-keepers should never flinch when 
 hit. 
 
 The first virtue of a goal-keeper is to forget 
 that he has nerves, and simply accustom himself 
 to stopping balls, high or low, swift or slow, 
 because they have no business to pass him. 
 
220 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 There are qualifications required of a goal-keeper 
 in an eminent degree, which, owing to the single- 
 ness of his responsibihty, are as imperative as a 
 strongly woven crosse. If it does not need courage 
 to stand at the flags, and fear no pace of a ball, which 
 would kill a dog if it struck it, tell us what does? 
 What needs more undivided attention, more prompt- 
 ness, self-reliance and coolness, than when your 
 goal is crowded by four or five red skins, and your 
 own men in a desperate attack and defence ? Who 
 would change positions with you under such cir- 
 cumstances ? If the several men in front of you 
 cannot prevent a shot or tip to goal under such 
 circumstances, how, unerringly certain must be your 
 defence. Not only do you lose the game for your 
 side if you let the ball through, but your reputation, 
 and peace of mind. Any other man may pass 
 muster, but you are a sinner. And bright and soft 
 eyes do not look at you graciously any more — a 
 serious trouble, everybody knows, to young fellows 
 unwed. 
 
 But let us smooth the way for your defence of 
 goal. We like to go to the flags with shoes on 
 instead of moccasins, and, if throwing at goal from 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 221 
 
 short distances is to become the rule, we intend to 
 wear leg-guards, as in Cricket, for why should we 
 needlessly expose our shins to fracture. Our 
 principal reason, however, for wearing leg-guards 
 will be hereafter seen. Both hands may be gloved^ 
 but a glove on the left, padded on top, is sufficient.. 
 Our crosse, for goal-keeping, is of light, limber ash^ 
 and the cat-gut netted with twisted clock-gut strings, 
 doubled. The lower angle needs double strings to 
 the end. Every goal-keeper should have a foot- 
 measure marked on his crosse, from the butt 
 upwards, with which to regulate the height of the 
 flag-poles. The flag-pole is a measure for the width 
 of the flags apart, and the distance of the crease^ 
 but the crosse measure is more convenient. First, 
 make these measurements, and correct them by 
 permission of the umpires. Then study the 
 ground around your goal ; observe any ridge or 
 depression within twelve feet, at which the ball 
 might hop. The flags have no orthodox position 
 like wickets. If better ground can be had to post 
 the flags, ask permission of your captain. Tramp 
 down lumps and make the ground as level and 
 smooth as possible. If the wind is blowing strong, 
 
222 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 slip elastic bands over the flags, so that they will 
 not interfere with your sight and crosse. If the 
 sun is in your eyes, the more pity for you, and luck 
 for your opponents ; but have a moveable peak to 
 your cap, which can be regulated and extended as 
 you prefer. 
 
 We always turn our face to goal and draw three 
 lines with our crosse, — one from each flag-pole, and 
 one from the centre, out about seven feet in front, so 
 that when our back is to the flags we may be guided 
 by these lines, without having to glance behind, as 
 to the exact middle. Some years ago we lost a game 
 by misjudging our position, as we stood a few feet 
 from the line parallel with the flag-poles. Originally 
 we played with the poles seven feet apart, but the 
 average perfection of throwing became so increased 
 that it was thought fair to goal-keepers to narrow it to 
 six. Goal-keeping, therefore, is a shade less difficult, 
 especially in crowded contests, than in the olden time. 
 
 Be particular about your crosse. Do not use 
 hickory ; if you find it too heavy. Get the very 
 best clock-gut, and sacrifice looks to strength. 
 
 At the match before H. R. H. the Prince of 
 Wales, the whites had two goal-keepers, and the 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 223 
 
 result was imperfect harmony of action. If the ball 
 was as large as a football two men might work 
 together, but with a Lacrosse ball, never. One 
 trained goal-keeper is all that is required ; more only 
 obstruct and weaken the field. It is like having two 
 batsmen before the wicket, or two wicket-keepers 
 behind them. If you find it necessary to act on the 
 defensive, strengthen the links out from goal, but 
 avoid crowding and confusing your keeper. 
 
 Position, — Stand about the centre of goal, two 
 feet out. If the ball is nearing you stand about half 
 a foot forward, and never get immediately between 
 the flags. The advantage of being a foot or two out 
 will soon be demonstrated if you have much experi- 
 ence at goal. For instance, a grounder may be par- 
 tially stopped, but, by a slip, pass you ; if you are 
 between the flags the game is lost, but, if a foot or 
 two in front, you may catch it, as we have fre- 
 quently done, before it reaches the losing line. 
 
 When the attack is towards your flags always have 
 both hands on your crosse, right hand at the butt, 
 left above the collar ; the side with which you 
 play facing the front. The left foot may be a 
 little in advance of the right if you know how to 
 
224 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 use your feet in goal keeping, but, if not, keep 
 your heels together. If the ball is thrown from 
 any distance past the goal-crease, or, if you are 
 attacked by one man dodging, or Home tipping 
 in the ball, keep an easy almost erect position ; 
 but in close, crowded play, when the ball is 
 being fought at a few feet in front, and you see it 
 careering under feet and between legs, stoop down, 
 or half sit on one knee, and watch it with eagle eye, 
 taking a short grasp of your crosse. The former 
 erect position is the usual ''Ready" for any shot, 
 and is the safest position for young beginners ; but it 
 may be laid down, as a rule, that when your goal is 
 not crowded, it is better to stand up ; when crowded, 
 better to stoop. 
 
 Never sit or lie down at your goal when the 
 game is going on. Let us relate a thorn in our 
 reputation. At a match in Ottawa between our 
 club and the '' Ottawa," we heard the cry of 
 " lost ball " during one of the games. The players 
 of both sides stood and squatted in repose for some 
 minutes, and our Point said, " the ball is to be faced 
 when found ! " As we had been very ill on the way 
 up to Ottawa, and felt uncomfortable in our principle 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 225 
 
 organ of digestion, we ventured to take a siesta on 
 the ground until the ball was found. We were 
 mentally analyzing the cause and cure of stomach- 
 ache, when something flew over our head, and a 
 wild cheer followed. Like a shot we were up, but 
 to find that one of the " Ottawas " had just jumped 
 into goal over our head, with the ball on his 
 crosse ; having found the lost rubber and stolen 
 down behind the crowd, who were within ten feet of 
 the flags, and got between our Point and goal. The 
 feat was very properly declared a " fluke," and 
 no game, as the ball was lost, and every one expected 
 it would be faced for. We would certainly not have 
 sat down had the ball not been declared lost, unless 
 our side had it all their own way at the opposite 
 goal ; but this reminiscence may serve to teach a 
 principle to goal-keepers, and that is, to take nothing 
 for granted, but always be on the qui vive until game 
 is lost or won. 
 
 The variety of guards used at goal may be 
 enumerated as follows : 1st, the Cut ; 2nd, the 
 Block ; 3rd, the Flat Check. 
 
 1st. The Cut, — Is the guard by which you strike at 
 coming balls of all kinds ; and is used in emergencies, 
 
 Q 
 
226 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 when goal is crowded, and when your object is to drive 
 the ball to any particular man of your side. It 
 too often degenerates into swiping ; is the safest 
 guard, but severe on the netting of the crosse. 
 
 The side of the netting with which you cut, 
 depends upon the kind of ball, and the position from 
 which it is thrown. Balls may be cut well with either 
 side ; but it is better to take the most of those which 
 come above your hips, with the opposite side to which 
 you play, handle down ; all below, with the playing 
 side, if they are thrown from a straight point in front. 
 Balls which come swiftly at your centre, from a 
 right or left angle, however, should be met by the 
 side of the crosse which will bring the wood towards 
 the flag pole, past which the ball is coming ; — for 
 instance, if it is thrown from a point at right angles 
 with the flag pole on your right, meet it with the left 
 face of the netting and vice versa. The principle of 
 this is, that the nearer the ball strikes to the wood 
 the less likely it is to bounce off, and that you meet 
 it sooner with a wider surface. A goal-keeper 
 must, nevertheless, have equal confidence in either 
 side of his netting. 
 
 Cut by a half hook, catch and strike. When the 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 227 
 
 ball is just touching the netting, draw back your 
 crosse quickly, which will deaden the shock and 
 prevent the rebound of the ball, and in another 
 motion cut it away to any point desired, or retain it 
 if you have a chance to throw. This sudden retro- 
 ceding motion, as if recoiling from the ball after it 
 touches the netting, and then striking it away, is one 
 of the most important parts of stopping. Swiping 
 at a ball is both injurious to the crosse and unscien- 
 tific. Study the art of cutting to right and left, 
 wherever particular points may be. Under some 
 circumstances, such as when one or more opponents 
 stand at the goal-crease, ready to knock in a ball 
 about to be thrown, you must strike at it without the 
 receding movement. Prefer cutting to either side of 
 goal than to the immediate front, but keep your eyes 
 open and cut to the man least checked. Study to 
 cut exact to any distance. 
 
 2nd. The Block — Is the other common guard for 
 all balls, especially short quick throws and tips. The 
 difference between the cut and the block is the same 
 as in meeting a ball with a cricket bat, to score, and 
 with your hands as in hand catching. The rule in 
 the former as in the cut, is for the bat to strike 
 
228 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 the ball, not the ball the bat ; while in the latter, as 
 in the block, the ball strikes the hands, not the hands 
 the ball. The aim of the batsman is to score by a 
 good hit; of the goal-keeper to block, so as to 
 retain the ball for a throw. If you do not wish to 
 retain the ball, block and cut. The receding 
 movement described in preceding section is advisable. 
 You may use either side of the netting, but the 
 former rules, given in connection with this, apply as 
 well to the block as the cut. 
 
 If the ball slips in a block or cut, catch it up 
 smartly and draw it towards the front. 
 
 3rd. The Cover (see illustration 4) is often 
 available, but requires practice and caution. In 
 blocking, you may secure the ball by a quick 
 cover check ; but it is principally intended for 
 grounders. Always cover with the reverse side 
 of the netting to which you play, and do it quick 
 and close. The ball should stop about the middle 
 of the netting. 
 
 Special use of Hands, Feet and Legs. — The 
 laws very justly allow the goal-keeper to touch the 
 ball with his hand, while within the crease. Very 
 often a slip is recovered and patted away by the 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 229 
 
 left hand, and some useful and pretty play made 
 in tapping it up in the air, and keeping it out 
 from the flags after it has bounced on the netting 
 of the crosse. It is a common thing to cut and 
 block balls with one hand as an assistant to the 
 crosse. There is no license, however, given goal- 
 keeper to catch and throw with the hand. 
 
 The proper use of the feet is part of the science of 
 goal-keeping. When you block a ball near the edge 
 of either flag pole it is liable to slip sideways ; as 
 these balls are generally stopped at arm-stretch, 
 when you cannot bring to them a full face of the 
 netting. The instant you block at either side spring 
 to that side ; bring the nearest foot in hne with your 
 crosse, toe to the stick and follow with the next foot^ 
 heels in line with each other. This gives a guard 
 the width of your crosse and two feet together, and 
 has often, in our experience saved games. Had 
 you feet like the Monosceli Indians of whom Pliny 
 writes, who sheltered their whole body from the sun 
 with the only foot they had, — having only one 
 leg, — you would certainly be able to introduce 
 some new and startling methods of goal-keeping. 
 
 The legs, from the ankle to the hips, are sometimes 
 
230 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 made the innocent victims of hard shots ; but, when 
 stopping grounders, it is a good plan to close the legs 
 together and meet the ball with them, as well as with 
 the crosse. The use of one leg as an auxiliary of the 
 crosse is invaluable if you do not mind knocks. 
 
 About leg-guards. That swift balls hurt one's 
 shins will be generally acknowledged without experi- 
 ment, and we do not see why a goal-keeper should not 
 protect his lower extremities, as well as a batsman 
 before the wickets. The Indians never throw hard 
 at goal when playing among themselves, but the pale- 
 face substitutes swift shots for the Indian way of 
 bunching and crowding. As a goal-keeper we never 
 intend to complain of the swiftest and strongest balls, 
 lest some might think we dreaded them ; and we do 
 not. But if men will throw balls at goal hard enough 
 to smash any netting that was ever made, and, some- 
 times any bone that ever stood in the way, it is but 
 fair that its keeper should, at least, have some leg- 
 armor. But it is as much, if not more, for the sake 
 of the greater confidence leg-guards give a man, and 
 the better use he can make of his extremities in low 
 balls. For the same reason shoes or boots are better 
 for a goal-keeper than moccasins, because balls 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 231 
 
 striking the latter hurt the feet, and a man will not 
 risk his toes in " toeing" a grounder if he has any- 
 thing soft covering them. We know no leg-guards 
 better for the purpose than those used at cricket, 
 though they might be made so as to be more easily 
 put off and on, in case goal-keeper wanted to make 
 a good run, and had time to take them off. 
 
 Grrounders — Always cut or block grounders which 
 do not come straight, but to either side, with the 
 bend of the crosse nearest the ground, as they there- 
 by strike the wood, instead of the bare netting near 
 the leading strings. If the bend is down it gives 
 more surface for stopping. Place the crosse on the 
 ground, with the tip directly up, and the whole stick, 
 from the butt to the bend, is on a level: reverse 
 it, tip down, and butt touching ground, and there is 
 a space nearly its entire length through which the ball 
 can pass. The principle is that the former brings 
 the largest and safest surface to receive the ball. 
 
 When grounders come straight in front of you, stop, 
 them with the crosse perpendicular, or butt slightly 
 pointing over the right arm. 
 
 Grounders should be cut within two feet of your 
 position. If cut too far from where you stand. 
 
232 GOAL-KEEPINO. 
 
 the ball is liable to slip ; if too near, the object of the 
 cut is not as easily attained. The block should be 
 done within half a foot ; the cover, when the ball is- 
 about a crosse's length. In the two former, keep 
 the handle advanced to prevent the rise of the balL 
 If a grounder is coming slow, and the chances are 
 safe, go out and meet it ; but this, however neces-^ 
 sary, requires the utmost caution. 
 
 Grounders may be caught when blocked, but 
 never risk a catch or a block when an opponent is 
 close to the crease. 
 
 Hoppers — Are generally hard to meet, because 
 they rise so unexpectedly from a short distance. 
 You get absorbed in the attitude and mode for 
 stopping some certain ball, when suddenly it strikes 
 a ridge or lump, and ricochets into the flags quicker 
 than you can recover. Hoppers generally rise at 
 points between your breast and hips, and you should 
 always be on your guard against them, as no ground 
 is to be trusted. 
 
 Straight halls, — If swift, keep your ground; if 
 medium or slow, move out to meet them. Remember^ 
 these are the most difficult to stop, in the following 
 order: — 1. An inch or two above the navel; 2. 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 233 
 
 The chest ; 3. Head, or above it ; 4. The knee ; 6- 
 Below the knee. 
 
 A dead-shot, thrown on a line with the first, will 
 puzzle the most of goal-keepers, because it is difficult 
 to bring, quickly, any large surface of netting to that 
 point. Sometimes a sudden leap upwards answers 
 to do this ; sometimes, reversing the position of the 
 crosse from a ground block, and dropping down on 
 one knee, presenting the full surface of netting to 
 the ball. Any straight ball that can be cut may be 
 blocked. Balls may be struck to the ground in front^ 
 and caught ; but, when caught for an intended 
 throw, always go to one side, clear of the flags, 
 before throwing, as it is never safe for goal-keeper to 
 throw from a point immediately at the crease. A 
 goal-keeper — a friend of ours — once blocked and 
 caught a ball, and, being attacked by an opponent, 
 ran through his own flags with it to get an opportu- 
 nity to throw, and so scored a game for his antago- 
 nists. Do not do that. 
 
 Balls below the line of your hips are easier stopped 
 with the side of the netting you use in play ; those 
 above, with the reverse side, the crosse perpendicu- 
 lar, netting up and butt down. Straight balls^ 
 
234 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 which come at the chest, we often sweep up and 
 backwards over the top of the flags if home is near. 
 
 Ourved Balls. — Balls which come in a curve are 
 very deceptive to the eye, as you cannot tell exactly 
 where they will drop until they have commenced 
 to descend. Get a partially side view of descending 
 balls, if you can. Thes afest plan is to cut them ; 
 or practice first block, and then catch if you can. 
 Cutting is the surest. You are liable to misjudge 
 the time in blocking. The position at which you 
 receive the ball i« important ; that is, it is safer to be 
 too far behind it than too far in front. 
 
 Angle Shots. — Shots which are thrown from a 
 right or left angle with the flag poles are very 
 puzzling. We find the safest way to stop them is 
 to stand on a line, or a little outside of the flag-pole 
 nearest to the thrower, and meet them as if the 
 goal was immediately behind. In this position 
 you stand with one side to goal. 
 
 Tips and Kicks — Win many games. After you 
 have cut a ball, it not unusually happens that it 
 is tipped or kicked back by one or more opponents 
 near ; especially when goal is crowded. The great 
 quickness in stopping these balls can only be 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 235 
 
 acquired by practice, until it becomes a habit to meet 
 them as if by instinct. It is quite a different kind 
 of goal-keeping from a clear throw. 
 
 Sweeps, — Are the most dangerous and difficult to 
 stop ; and differ from swipes by being more short and 
 quick. A swipe is a regular strike, as in shinty ; 
 but a sweep is when a thrown ball is caught on 
 the wing by "- Home " for instance, and driven 
 into the goal. Such shots are very deceptive, as 
 they break the line of vision between the eye and 
 the original throw, and oblige it to catch up a new 
 line at a very difficult pace and distance. The 
 rule is to watch the coming ball, and if it is 
 evident that " home " will sweep, concentrate 
 attention on him just before the ball reaches him. 
 
 In all methods of stopping, bring the largest 
 surface of netting to the ball ; never pin your 
 faith to the lower angle. 
 
 In grounders or straight balls, it is easier to 
 stop those to the left than to right, because you 
 have more command of your crosse to the left, if you 
 hold your right hand at the butt, as nearly every 
 player holds his stick. If you hold it by the left 
 hand on the butt, the rule is reversed. 
 
236 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 We keep in the centre line of goal, and when 
 we know just about where a ball will come, we 
 mentally say "right" or ''left," "high" or 
 " low," as they are to be stopped, and accommodate 
 our position accordingly. 
 
 Dodging into Groal. — If your defence aids let an 
 opponent get between them and the goal, look out 
 for a dodge. If your opponent charges at you 
 headlong, stand about a foot from the centre of goal, 
 at the " ready " ; watch the ball on his crosse 
 attentively, and if he throws make a quick hard cut 
 or block, and bring your body square, to prevent 
 him passing you, if you can. If you see he is 
 attempting a fair dodge, and not bearing down 
 upon you like a hussar upon a foot soldier, follow 
 the same rules, minus the body check. Generally 
 a dodger throws into goal under the line of your 
 stomach. At the "ready," you have your crosse 
 in the best position of preparation for any low ball, 
 or ordinary check. 
 
 If your opponent attempts the throw and strike 
 described on page 115, you may wait for the ball, if 
 it is struck from beyond nine or ten feet, as the 
 probabilities are that by running out you might 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 237 
 
 miss. If it is about to be struck from a nearer 
 position, spring at your opponent, hit his crosse as it 
 is striking at the ball, and either hit it, or kick it 
 away with your foot when it falls. Practice in 
 stopping these balls is essentially necessary. 
 
 Long^ Medium and Short Throws,—Long throws 
 are the easiest to stop ; medium are more deceptive ; 
 short, bring out the science of goal-keeping. Mis- 
 calculation of any throw is liable, where strict 
 attention is not given to the ball before it reaches 
 the flags. The longer you can keep your eyes 
 upon it, from the instant it leaves the thrower's 
 crosse, the better will be your calculation. The 
 diflSculty of short throws, is that you have so little 
 time to catch the line in which they are coming. 
 
 Swift and Slow Shots. — Allowing for the extra 
 weight of a cricket ball, the danger of stopping a 
 short swift lacrosse ball, thrown from the lower angle 
 of the netting is greater. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that swift shots are 
 harder to stop than slow. They make a young goal- 
 keeper anticipate injury, and nervous, but when 
 accustomed to the habit of stopping he fears no pace. 
 We have always found slow balls more puzzling and 
 
238 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 more likely to be missed than swift. The Indians 
 generally win by slow close shots, and curved 
 balls dropped upon the flags. A swift straight 
 throw is easier to stop as a rule, because you can 
 calculate upon its course better than a moderately 
 slow. The effect of swift balls is increased by their 
 liability of breaking the netting of your crosse, 
 and exciting the terror of maiming. 
 
 Bunching Grame. — It is the highest art of goal- 
 guarding to contest successfully against a bunch of 
 opponents, especially if they be frantic Indians 
 fighting your men for the ball. Stoop down low, and 
 keep your eye on the ball. No opponent has a right . 
 to stand w^aiting for the rubber so as to impede the 
 action of your crosse. The Indians used to do this, 
 until their feet and legs were so unmercifully mauled 
 that they gave the goal-keeper room for action. 
 Do not let Point help you in a bunch : he ought to 
 have enough to do without backing up parallel with 
 you. A ball, tipped or thrown at the flags, should 
 be stopped by only one crosse after it passes the line 
 of the goal-crease ; two, or more, only interfere. 
 
 Regulating Points,- — It would be a wise principle 
 to establish, that goal-keeper, if he has the tact, 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 239 
 
 should regulate the positions of Point, Cover-point, 
 and any connecting links, as wicket-keeper in cricket 
 regulates the field. His quiet position enables him 
 to see when men leave their places, and when oppo- 
 nents manoeuvre in attack. So much ultimately 
 depends upon him, that it is but fair that he should 
 have some power to keep his defence aids in their 
 places to prevent a sudden attack. It is quite 
 common for Point and his links to get out of their 
 places, and for games to be lost because they were 
 too far from goal, and no one but goal-keeper can 
 always see when they are too far out. A wicket- 
 keeper's tact wins many a wicket, and a goal-keeper's 
 can save many a hard attack at his flags. If it is 
 necessary to give a man this power — even with a 
 Captain — in a game like Cricket, where the points 
 are comparatively stationary, how much more is it 
 necessary in Lacrosse, where the shifting of one 
 critical point may endanger a game ? Goal-keeper, 
 however, must not lose his wits, or, by too much 
 commanding, forget his principal duty. 
 
 Difference between Batting and Groal-heeping, — It 
 is a mistake to suppose a good batsman must easily 
 become a good goal-keeper. No doubt he can become 
 
240 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 SO sooner, as a rule, than a man who has not had his 
 hand and eye educated by swift balls ; but there is 
 a wide difference between batting and goal-keeping. 
 In Cricket the batsman knows that the bowler 
 aims solely at the wickets — -that to tumble the bails, 
 is his object. In Lacrosse, goal-keeper has a space 
 six feet high and six feet wide to defend; and, while 
 one ball into the wickets only puts one man out, 
 generally, one ball into goal is a lost game, invariably. 
 The bat covers the wickets, and the batsman's body 
 is scarcely exposed to accident, except by his own 
 carelessness. The crosse and you, together, cannot 
 cover the goal, and you are a target for swift shots 
 that have no compunction whether they hit your 
 crosse or your face. The difference of pace and 
 €urve in bowling is not as puzzling as the many 
 kinds of shots to goal, and the various distances from 
 which they are flung and tipped. The Cricket ball 
 is always delivered within the bowling-crease, and 
 you always have the orthodox distance from it to 
 judge ; but in goal-keeping you can neither fore- 
 see the distance of the next ball, nor whether it will 
 come high or low, swift or slow. We consider it 
 easier to block the same paced ball, at wickets, than 
 
GOAL-KEEPINa. 241 
 
 to stop it going into goal. Much of the fine science 
 of batting might be introduced into goal-keeping, but 
 it is risky, considering the width and height of the 
 flag poles. Science in goal-keeping is not batting at 
 all balls, but turning some to the right or left of the 
 flags, and retaining others. 
 
 Accidents, — If you lack courage and confidence 
 you are almost sure to be injured by swift balls. 
 Stop a ball determinedly and your crosse will bear 
 the brunt ; shirk, and your body will probably 
 sufier. 
 
 In close conflicts around goal you are liable to 
 accident from strokes of opposing crosses, especially 
 when playing with Indians. They get very savage 
 in such tussles. At an Indian match we got a 
 stroke and a drag on the back of the left hand 
 from an Indian's crosse, which opened a slit of an 
 inch and a half in length, through which was afforded 
 to the lover of anatomy a charming prospect of the 
 articulation of the knuckles. 
 
 Getting yourself dissected to save a game is not a 
 
 pleasant thing to look forward to, but, if you save the 
 
 honor of your side, never mind a wound. You are 
 
 not to invite it, but you must risk it. It is a very 
 
 R 
 
242 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 rare thing, however, to hear of any very severe 
 accident in Lacrosse. 
 
 Should goal-keeper ever leave Ms place ? — As a 
 rule, if there is only one reliable goal-keeper in a 
 match, he should not exchange permanently with 
 another player ; but there are occasions in nearly 
 every match when games are saved and danger 
 averted by a reasonable desertion. It would be 
 folly to pass the goal crease if the game narrows to 
 a bunching attack: in such a case, whether your 
 opponents are unskilful players or not, you should 
 keep your post. 
 
 If an opponent has a clear field, and makes an 
 unchecked charge at you, what should you do ? Run 
 out to meet him ? — as ten times in twelve you'll 
 be advised. No, decidedly not; even though you 
 are confessedly the best check on the field. The 
 folly of going out to meet such an emergency is 
 clear. If your opponent knows anything about 
 dodging, he will throw over your head, or pass you 
 by some carried dodge, and make a dash at the 
 flags ; or he may dart to one side, and make a clean 
 straight or curved shot, which when you turn to 
 follow, you'll see entering the goal ! Even if he is a 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 243 
 
 poor player, he may throw the ball over your head 
 into the goal before you reach him. The proba- 
 bilities too, are, that you are not as good at checking 
 as at goal-keeping, and it is best to choose the least 
 of two evils and receive your opponent at your flags 
 as advised. We have lost several games by running 
 out to meet an opponent in such a case, and only 
 saved one. Now we always stick to our post, and 
 trust to skill. 
 
 If the hall is thrown towards goal^ and lands mid- 
 way between an opponent and you. — You may if 
 good at a dash, run out, and flat check or tip away 
 if opponent is close. But never try experiments or 
 run any risk, especially in a match. Sometimes too, 
 the ball drops behind your flags, or in some spot near, 
 which you can reach soonest. In such a case you' 
 should save your aids, and run out. Your quiet 
 position walking the goal-crease keeps you compara- 
 tively fresh and winded for such dashes, and you 
 have, too, the advantage of proximity to the ball, 
 which imperatively demands that you should run out 
 to get it. But never challenge or accept a tussel with 
 any opponent. Point, of course, should go into goal 
 when you leave, unless he has opportunity to move 
 
244 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 to a good position to receive the ball from you. 
 There are a few other general principles which may 
 guide you in every case. Be within the goal-crease 
 whenever the ball is thrown at the flags. If " Home " 
 is so near that he might check your block, prefer 
 to let balls pass which shoot wide of the flag poles. 
 Do not attempt a run down the field if the game 
 has been, and is likely to be hard against you. It 
 is not safe to venture past Point's position if he is 
 the only man to replace you, unless your men are 
 having it their own way. If there is no reliable man 
 to relieve you in a match, better keep your position ; 
 but while that is, emphatically, defender of the goal, 
 you should occasionally relieve some over-taxed player, 
 when you judge it to be safe, — who can either replace 
 you or change places with an easier post. There is 
 a sort of duality in the duties of a goal-keeper, which 
 depends for its exercise upon his own judgment. 
 
 There are many puzzling occasions which test the 
 worth of a goal-keeper. For instance : — the close 
 throw and strike of an opponent who has reached 
 your flags ; the sweeping of the ball on the wing .into 
 goal by " Home " ; and the quick succession of tips, 
 swipes, and kicks of a crowd of checks. The most 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 245 
 
 critical point we know of, is a practice common 
 among the Indians. One man will carry the ball, or 
 it will be tacked up near to goal, while " Home " 
 closes in, and a fielder goes behind your flags when 
 you are absorbed in watching the manoeuvres in 
 front. In an instant a curved ball is thrown over the 
 flags to the fielder behind ; he catches it, throws it 
 back, dropping it just within the goal-crease, the 
 opponents near closing up in the meantime, and 
 hitting the ball, when it is within reach, into your 
 flags. Or perhaps the opponent in rear of your goal, 
 surprises you by closing in and sending a grounder 
 through — which is not game, of course, — which 
 " Home " tries to strike back. It is hardly possible 
 that such a crisis can arrive and find you without 
 your aids to check ; but it is a breathless moment 
 that needs courage and self-possession. 
 
 A fielder should be close enough to assist in front, 
 and to check any opponent in rear of the flags. 
 Goal-keeper should keep the whole situation in 
 his eye ; and never lose sight of the ball. Check 
 rear throws the same as if in front, and if they 
 go through or over to the front, wheel round to 
 the defence. Depend altogether upon "cutting" 
 
246 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 when your goal is crowded. Have no trepidation 
 about cutting emphatically, despite the proximity of 
 opponents. We never considered a deliberate 
 blockade and ram deserving of fairer play than we 
 got. If opponents choose to impede the freedom of 
 your crossse in cutting, let them take the consequences 
 as on the field. They generally give the goal-keeper 
 short swift shots : the keeper consequently should 
 stop balls regardless of opponents near. You cannot 
 afford to be generous, and risk defeat. 
 
 When balls are thrown from either angle, leave 
 as little of your goal exposed as possible. If 
 " Home " closes in, he may strike away your 
 crosse as you stop the ball. Whenever you are likely 
 to be checked, invariably "cut." 
 
 Always have both hands on the crosse when 
 stopping any ball. 
 
 Special Practice, — If a club expects to have a 
 reliable goal-keeper, it must give him special 
 practical training, which he cannot get by the 
 usual play on the field, or the little practice of 
 ordinary games. 
 
 The very best, and equally good for all parties, is 
 to place the flags in the centre of the field, to 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 247 
 
 radiate players from them, at different distances, — as 
 
 seen in the following diagram, — with three or four 
 
 balls, and give it to goal-keeper hot and heavy. 
 
 Begin by long shots, closing into the goal gradually^ 
 
 until one ball will be sufficient to keep up a 
 
 succession of tips and throws, that will make a 
 
 goal-keeper active on his pins. We have found 
 
 an hour's such practice more benefit than a month's 
 
 ordinary play. Goal-keeper turns around and 
 
 changes position rapidly to meet front and rear balls. 
 
 They should be thrown from every angle and 
 
 with difiierent degrees of force. Whenever he stops 
 
 the ball, he throws it to either front or rear. The 
 
 throwers take their turn, if they have only one 
 
 ball. 
 
 4 2 
 
 G.K. 
 BAD 
 
 C E 
 
 The ball should be thrown in every possible 
 way. It is excellent practice to have one or two 
 
248 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 good throwers aim in succession at the following 
 points of your body, or on a level with them. 
 
 1. Head, or about it. 2. Breast. 
 
 3. Stomach. 4. Knee. 
 
 5. Ankle. 
 
 A word, to players, about taunting or carping a 
 goal-keeper, when he happens to let the ball in. 
 Consider the number of balls missed out in the field, 
 where there is no great responsibility to make 
 one nervous about stopping them. Consider the 
 entirety of this responsibility upon the keeper, 
 and the common reluctance to assume it. Put 
 yourself in his place for one match, and trust me 
 your depreciation will vanish. We doubt if any one 
 can take a defeat more to heart than the goal-keeper 
 who lets the ball through. No bitterer pill can 
 he swallow. Sooner would he be maimed and 
 smashed if he could thereby save game. Whose 
 crest falls most when the men come off a lost field ? 
 Who, metaphorically, wears most willow ? 
 
 We knew a goal-keeper, whose crosse never 
 stood hard balls. Finally, in desperation, he wove 
 himself one ; doubly twisted the strings and in- 
 
GOAL-KEEPING. 249 
 
 terwove them with wire ! It was far too heavy and 
 failed completely ; and was broken by him, under 
 foot, in anguish, after the loss of two games 
 in succession at a match. 
 
 A word to goal-keeper. You must make up your 
 mind, to endure reproaches patiently, and defeat 
 bravely. Study to succeed ; and, believe us, 
 goal-keeping is a post worthy of practice, and 
 infinitely more responsible in a hard-pressed match 
 than all others. When the ball is sent whizzing 
 outside of the goal, and your opponents shout 
 " game," when it is not game, we hope you will not 
 feel as vexed as we do. It jars on our nerves 
 like a false check to an old chess-player. 
 
 We have often let balls through and failed to prac- 
 tice what we preach ; but we feel that if we had our 
 goal-keeping life to live over again, we would insist 
 upon special practice ; and with a month's such train- 
 ing, we believe we would defy anyone to put the ball 
 in. Of late, however, there has been encouragement 
 shown to dangerous throws at goal, such as the throw 
 from the shoulder ; and notwithstanding that these 
 methods of play have caused accidents, and have 
 made several good players give up playing altogether, 
 
260 GOAL-KEEPING. 
 
 they are still in vogue. No goal-keeper can possibly 
 count upon safely stopping them ; and if they are 
 not prohibited, in course of time there will be few 
 goal-keepers without smashed faces, and Lacrosse 
 will surely degenerate. 
 
 We feel we cannot better bring this book to an 
 end, than by beseeching players not to cultivate 
 rough and dangerous methods of play, merely be- 
 cause they are successful. If it is unfair and wrong 
 in Cricket and other sports, why not in Lacrosse ? — 
 and where is the honor of taking advantage of little 
 imperfections in the laws, and resorting to force, 
 instead of cultivating accuracy and skill. Particu- 
 larly at goal, a man wants to be shown fair play, 
 or no good man will occupy that position. If you 
 expect goal-keeper to restrain his desire to go out 
 on the field, and lose the pleasures of a run, give 
 him fair play in his own position. With a spirit of 
 this kind, and an earnest desire to popularize fair 
 play, in every part, our national game can never 
 die ; and the boast of an enthusiastic friend of ours 
 will be fulfilled, — that one day " the sun will never 
 set on our flags ! " 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 LAWS OF LACROSSE. 
 
 Bevised and Adopted Sept. 2Sth and 26tJiy 1868, hy the 
 Natio7ial Lacrosse Association of Canada. 
 
 RULE I.— The Crosse. 
 
 Sec. 1.— The Crosse may be of any length to suit the player ; 
 woven with cat-gut, which must not be bagged. (" Cat-gut'^ 
 is intended to mean raw hide, gut or clock strings, not cord 
 or soft leather.) The netting must be flat when the ball is not 
 on it. In its widest part the crosse shall not exceed one foot. 
 IsTo string must be brought through any hole at the side of the 
 tip of the turn. A leading string, resting upon the top of the 
 stick, may be used, but must not be fastened, so as to form a 
 pocket, lower down the stick than to the end of the length 
 strings. The length strings must be woven to within two 
 inches of their termination, so that the ball cannot catch in 
 the meshes. 
 
 Sec. 2. — Players may change their crosse during a match. 
 
 RULE. II.— The Ball. 
 
 The Ball must be India rubber sponge, not less than eight 
 and not more than nine inches in circumference. In matches, 
 it must be furnished by the challenged party. 
 
252 APPENDIX. 
 
 RULE III.— The Goals. 
 
 The Goals may be placed at any distance from each other, 
 and in any position agreeable to the captains of both sides. 
 The top of the flag-poles must be six feet above the ground, 
 including any top ornament, and six feet apart. In matches 
 they must be furnished by the challenged party. 
 
 RULE IV.— The Goal-Ceease. 
 There shall be a line or crease, to be called the Goal-Crease, 
 drawn in front of each goal, six feet from the flag-poles, within 
 which no opponent must stand unless the ball has passed 
 cover-point. 
 
 RULE v.— Umpiees. 
 
 Sec. 1. — There must be two umpires at each goal, one for 
 each side, who must stand behind the flags when the ball is 
 near or nearing the goal. Unless otherwise agreed upon by 
 the captains, they must not be members of either club engaged 
 in a match ; nor shall they be changed during a match except 
 for reasons of illness or injury. They must be thoroughly 
 acquainted with the game, and in every way competent to 
 act. Before a match begins, they shall draw the players up in 
 line, and see that the regulations respecting the crosse, spiked 
 soles, &c., are complied with. They must also see that the 
 regulations are adhered to respecting the ball, goal, goal- 
 crease, (fee, and, in deciding any of these points, shall take the 
 opinion of the captains and the referee. They must know, 
 before the commencement of a match, the number of games to 
 be played. They shall have power to decide all disputes, 
 subject to Rule YI., and to suspend, for any time during the 
 match, any player infringing these laws ; the game to go on 
 during such suspension. 
 
 Sec. 2. — ISTo umpire shall, either directly or indirectly, be 
 interested in any bet upon the result of the match. ¥o person 
 shall be allowed to speak to the umpires, or in any way 
 distract their attention, when the ball is near or nearing their 
 goal. 
 
APPENDIX. 253 
 
 Sec. 3.— "When " foul" has been called, the nmpires must 
 leave then* posts and cry *' time," and from that time the ball 
 must not be touched by either party, nor must the players 
 move from the positions in which they happen to be at the 
 moment, until the umpires have returned to their posts, and 
 " play" is called. If a player should be in possession of the 
 ball when the umpires leave their posts, he must drop it on 
 the ground in front. If the ball enters the goal after the 
 umpires have left their posts, it will not count. The jurisdic- 
 tion of umpires shall not extend beyond the day of their 
 appointment. They shall not decide in any manner involving 
 the continuance of a match beyond the day on which it is 
 played. 
 
 RULE VI. — Referee. 
 The umpires shall select a referee, to whom all disputed 
 games and points, whereon they are a tie, may be left for 
 decision, and who must be thoroughly acquainted with the 
 game, and in every way competent to act. He shall take the 
 evidence of the players particularly interested, the respective 
 opinions of the differing umpires, and, if necessary, the 
 opinions and offers of the captains, in cases where the discon- 
 tinuance of the game is threatened. His decision shall be 
 final. Any side rejecting his decision, by refusing to continue 
 a match, shall be declared the losers. The referee must be on 
 the ground at the commencement of and during the match, 
 but during plav he shall not be between the two goals. 
 
 RULE VII.— Captains. 
 
 Captains, to superintend the play, may be appointed by each 
 side, previous to the commencement of a match. They shall 
 be members of the club by whom they are appoints, and of 
 no other. They may or may not be players in a match : if 
 not, they shall not carry a crosse, nor shall they be dressed in 
 Lacrosse uniform. They shall select umpires, and toss up for 
 choice of goal. They shall report any infringement of the 
 laws during a match to the nearest umpires. 
 
254 APPENDIX. 
 
 RULE VIII. — Names of Players. 
 
 Thel players of each side shall be designated as follows: 
 "'' Goal-keeper," who defends the goal; ''Point," first man out 
 from goal ; '* Cover-point," in front of Point ; ** Centre," who 
 faces ; " Home," nearest opponent's goal. Others shall be 
 termed " Fielders." 
 
 THE GAME. 
 
 RULE IX. — Miscellaneous. 
 
 Sec. 1. — Twelve players shall constitute a full field, and 
 they must have been regular members of the club they 
 represent, and no other, for at least thirty days prior to a 
 match. 
 
 Sec. 2. — A match shall be decided by the winning of three 
 games out of five, unless otherwise agreed upon. 
 
 Sec. 3. — Captains shall arrange, previous to a match, 
 whether it is to be played out in one day, postponed at a 
 stated hour, or in the event of rain, darkness, &c., or to be 
 considered a draw under certain circumstances ; and, if 
 postponed, if it is to be resumed where left ofi". 
 
 Sec. 4. — If postponed and resumed where left ofi", there shall 
 be no change of players on either side. 
 
 Sec. 5. — Either side may claim at least five minutes' rest, 
 and not more than ten, between each game. 
 
 Sec. 6.- -No Indian must play in a match for a white club, 
 unless previously agreed upon. 
 
 Sec. 7. — After each game, the players must change sides 
 
 Sec. 8. — No change of players must be made after a match 
 has commenced, except for reasons of accident or injury 
 during the match. When a match has been agreed upon, and 
 one side is deficient in the number of players, their opponents 
 
 J 
 
APPENDIX. 255 
 
 may either limit their own numbers to equalize the sides, or 
 compel the other aide to fill up the compliment. 
 
 RULE X. — Spiked Soles. 
 JSTo player must wear spiked soles. 
 
 RULE XI. — Touching the Ball with the Hand. 
 The ball must not be touched with the hand, save in case of 
 Rules XII. and XIII. 
 
 RULE XII.— Goal -Keeper. 
 
 Groal-keeper, while defending goal within the goal-crease, 
 may pat away with his hand or block the ball in any manner. 
 
 RULE XIII. — Ball in an Inaccessible Place. 
 
 Should the ball lodge in any place inaccessible to the crosse, 
 it may be taken out by the hand ; and the party picking it up, 
 must " face" with his nearest opponent. 
 
 RULE XIV.— Ball Out op Bounds. 
 
 Balls thrown out of bounds must be picked up with the 
 hand, and '• laced" for at the nearest spot within the buands. 
 
 RULE XV. — Throwing the Crosse. 
 No player shall throw his crosse at a player or at the ball 
 under any circumstances. 
 
 RULE XVI. — Accidental Gtame. 
 Should the ball be accidentally put through a goal by one 
 of the players defending it, it is game for the side attacking 
 that goal. Should it be put through a goal by any one not 
 actually a player, it shall not count. 
 
 RULE XVII. — Balls Catching in the Netting. 
 Should the ball catch in the netting, the crosse must imme- 
 diately be struck on the ground so as to dislodge it. 
 
 RULE XVIII.— Rough Play, &g. 
 No player shall hold another with his crosse, nor shaU he 
 grasp an opponent's stick with his hands, under his arms, or 
 
256 APPENDIX. 
 
 between his legs ; nor shall any player hold his opponent's 
 crosse with his crosse in any way to keep him from the ball 
 nntil another player reaches it. N"o player shall deliberately 
 strike or trip another, nor push with the hand ; nor must any 
 player jump at to shoulder an opponent, nor wrestle with the 
 legs entwined so as to throw his opponent. 
 
 RULE XIX. — Threatening to Strike. 
 
 Any player raising his fist to strike another, shall be imme- 
 diately ruled out of the match. 
 
 RULE XX.— Foul Play. 
 
 Sec. 1. — Any player considering himself purposely injured 
 during play, must report to his captain, who must report to 
 the umpires, who shall warn the player complained of. 
 
 Sec. 2. — In the event of persistent fouling, after cautioning 
 by the umpires, the latter may declare the match lost by the 
 side thus offending, or may remove the offending player or 
 players, and compel the side to finish the match short-handed. 
 
 RULE XXI. — Interrupted Matches. 
 
 In the event of a match being interrupted by darkness or to 
 any other cause considered right by the umpires, and one side 
 having won two games— the other none — the side having won 
 the two games shall be declared winners of the match. 
 Should one side have won two games, and the other one, the 
 match shall be considered drawn. 
 
 RULE XXII. — Amendments. 
 
 Any amendment or alteration proposed to be made in any 
 part of these laws, shall be made only at the Annual Conven- 
 tions of the National Association, and by a three-fourths vote 
 of the members present. 
 
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