Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

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ROWING
Romans—the biremes, quadriremes, quinquiremes, and
hexaremes—owed their pace to the exertions of men who
p led the oar rather than to the sails with which they were
fitted, and which were only used when the wind was
favourable. Professor Gardner has shown that boat racing
was not uncommon among the Greeks;1 and that it was
practised among the Romans Virgil testifies in the well-
known passage in the fifth book of the JEneid. And the
Venetian galleys which were subsequently used on the
shores of the Mediterranean in mediaeval times were only
a modified form of the older kind of craft. These were
for the most part manned by slaves and criminals, and
were in constant employment in most European countries.
Rowing was understood by the ancient Britons, as they
trusted themselves to the mercy of the waves in coracles
composed of wicker-work covered with leather, similar no
doubt in many respects to those now used in Wales; but
these frail vessels were propelled by paddles and not by
oars. Hie Saxons seem to have been expert in the
management of the oar, as well as the Danes and Norwe¬
gians, as it is recorded that the highest nobles in the land
devoted themselves to it. Alfred the Great introduced
long galleys from the Mediterranean, which were propelled
by forty or sixty oars on each side, and for some time
these vessels were used for war purposes. It is stated by
William of Malmesbury that Edgar the Peaceable was
rowed in state on the river Dee from his palace, in the
city of West Chester, to the church of St John and back
again, by eight tributary kings, himself acting as
coxswain.
Boat quintain, or tilting at one another on the water
was first brought into England by the Normans as an
amusement for the spring and summer season, and prob¬
ably much of the success of the champions depended
upon the skill of those who managed the boats. Before
the beginning of the 12th century the rivers were
commonly used for conveying passengers and merchandise
on board barges and boats, and until the introduction of
coaches they were almost the only means of transit for
royalty, and for the nobility and gentry who had mansions
and watergates on the banks of the Thames. It is, how¬
ever, impossible to trace the first employment of bargemen
wherrymen, or watermen, but they seem to have been well
established by that time, and were engaged in ferrying and
other waterside duties. During the long frosts of the early
part of the 13th century, frequent mention is made in the
chronicles of the distress among the watermen, from which
we may assume that their numbers were large. They were
employed in conveying the nobles and their retinues to
Runnymede, where they met King John and where Ma^na
Charta was signed. Towards the close of this century the
watermen of Greenwich were frequently fined for over¬
charging at the established ferries, and about the same
time some of the city companies established barges for
water processions. _ We learn from Fabian and Middleton
that m 1454 “Sir John Norman, then lord mayor of
ondon, built a noble barge at his own expense, and was
rowed by watermen with silver oars, attended by such of
the city companies as possessed barges, in a splendid
manner, and further “ that he made the barge he sat in
burn on the water”; but there is no explanation of this
statement. Sir John Norman was highly commended for
this action by the members of the craft, as no doubt it
lelped to popularize the fashion then coming into vogue of
being rowed on the Thames by the watermen who plied
or hire in their wherries. The lord mayor’s procession
by water to Westminster, which figures on the front page
of the Illustrated London News, was made annually until
the year 1856, when it was discontinued. The lord
1 Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1881.
mayor’s state barge was a magnificent species of shallop
rowed by watermen; and the city companies had for the
most part barges of their own, all rowed double-banked
wit i oars in the fore half, the after part consisting of a
cabin something like that of a gondola. The watermen
became by degrees so large and numerous a body that in
the sixth year of the reign of Henry VIII. (1514) an
Act was passed making regulations for them. This Act
has from time to time been amended by various statutes,
and the last was passed in 1858. Much time seems to
have been spent in pleasuring on the water in the 15 th
and 16th centuries, and no doubt competitions amono-
the watermen were not uncommon, though there is no
record of them. The principal occupation of watermen
who were obliged to serve an apprenticeship, used to bo
ferrying and rowing fares on the Thames, but in process
o time the introduction of bridges and steamers drove
them from this employment, and the majority of them
now work as bargemen, lightermen, and steamboat hands
having still to serve an apprenticeship. For many years
matches for money stakes were frequent (1831 to 1880)
but the old race of watermen, of which Phelps, the senior
Kelley, Campbell, Coombes, Newell, the MacKinneys
Messenger, Pocock, and Henry Kelley were prominent
members, has almost died out, and some of the best English
scullers during the last fifteen years have been landsmen.
Apart from the reference already made to the ancients,
we do not find any records of boat-racing before the
establishment in England of the coat and badge, insti¬
tuted by the celebrated comedian Thomas Doggett in
1715, in honour of the house of Hanover, to commemo¬
rate the anniversary of “King George I.’s happy accession
to the throne of Great Britain.” The prize was a red coat
with a large silver badge on the arm, bearing the white
horse of Hanover, and the race had to be rowed on the 1st
of August annually on the Thames, by six young watermen
who were not to have exceeded the time of their apprentice¬
ship by twelve months. Although the first contest took
place in the year above mentioned, the names of the
winners have only been preserved since 1791. The race
continues at the present day, but under slight modifica¬
tions. The first regatta appears to have occurred about
sixty years later, for we learn from the Annual Register of
the year 1775 that an entertainment called by that name
(Ital-,_ regata), introduced from Venice into England, was
exhibited on the Thames off Ranelagh Gardens, and a
lengthy account of it is given at the end of the work. The
lord mayor’s and several-of the city companies’ pleasure
barges were conspicuous, and, although we learn very little
indeed of the competing wager boats, it seems clear they
were rowed by watermen. We find from Strutt’s Sports
and Pastimes (first published in 1801) that the proprietor of
Vauxhall Gardens had for some years given a new wherry
to be rowed for by watermen, two in a boat, which is
perhaps the first pair-oared race on record. Similar prizes
were also given by Astley, the celebrated horseman and
circus proprietor of the Westminster Bridge Road, about the
same period; but thus far rowing was apparently viewed
as a laborious exercise, and the rowers were paid. At the
commencement of the present century, however, rowimr as¬
sociations were formed, and the “ Star,” “ Arrow,” “ Shark ”
and “ Siren ” Clubs had races amongst themselves, gene¬
rally over long courses and in heavy six-oared boats.’ The
Star and Arrow Clubs ceased to exist in the early years
of this century, and were merged in the newly formed
Leander Club. The date of its establishment cannot be
fixed exactly, but it was probably about 1818 or 1819.
It ranked high, because the majority of its members had
frequently distinguished themselves in matches with the
oar and sculls. They were the first to patronize and lend