We have already explained in the preceding chapter how in each public school a game of football was developed which suited the capacities of the school playground; a few only of these widely varying school games need be described in detail. The schools which like Marlborough and Cheltenham played the running and tackling game drew their ideas from Rugby, and copied with greater or less modification the style of play which we shall afterwards deal with in an account of the ' Rugby Union Game.' Other schools, like Westminster and Charterhouse, played games which varied so little from the present Association rules that nothing need be said of them separately-Shrewsbury, where from a very early time compulsory football was played - 'dowling' was the school term - had an independent game of its own in which catching with the hands was allowed, and after a catch a drop kick or 'hoist' (as the Salopians termed a 'punt') was permissible. At Shrewsbury, too, the off-side rule was as strict as in the Rugby game, and another peculiarity was that the goal had no crossbar, and provided the ball passed 'through or above' the space between the posts a goal was counted.

No running with the ball or collaring was, however, allowed, and the Shrewsbury game has now yielded to centralising influence and has been replaced by the Association game. Three of our great public schools, however, Eton, Harrow, and Winchester, have so far steadily resisted pressure from outside and play their own time-honoured games. When school is left behind the old Etonians, Harrovians, and Wykehamists furnish a full contingent to the ranks of Association players. The 'Eton Wall," Eton Field," Harrow, and 'Winchester' games are not, however, merely interesting as showing how a host of players are trained for the dribbling game. As healthy and vigorous survivals of the age of football previous to Associations or Unions of every kind, they claim separate attention. The accounts which follow of the Eton and Harrow games are from the pen of a well-known Old Etonian and Old Harrovian respectively, that of the Winchester game is mainly taken from the description in the little book we have referred to before, for which the coadjutor of the present writer in that task was responsible.

The Eton Wall Game appears to be a species of ' passage football' played out of doors. 'Passage football' is common enough in most of the houses at Eton, as doubtless it is at other schools, and is frequently played during the winter evenings with a small ball, the players being shod with slippers, in the passages outside the boys' rooms. Very likely the boys played passage football in former years, and when they wished to renew the game out of doors, having no open fields as now to play in, they went to the most suitable place - viz. along the side of college field, where there is a wall about 120 yards long and about 10 feet high. At right angles to the wall at the one end is another wall, bounding one of the masters' houses, with a door in it about 4 feet wide by 5 feet high, some 15 yards from the angle, while at the other end stands a large elm tree; this door and the trunk of the elm tree are the two goals. Parallel to the wall and along its whole length a small boundary line is cut in the turf about 6 yards from the wall, and inside this space, i.e. about 120 yards long by 6 yards wide, is the scene of play.

Outside the boundary is an open field; about 10 yards from either end of the wall a white chalk line is drawn on the wall; the space within this line at the 'door' end is known as 'good calx,' that at the other or 'tree' end as 'bad calx.' It should be noticed that neither goal is exactly at the end of the play, the door and the tree being both some little distance outside the boundary line, and that both the goals are very small.

There are eleven players on either side, 3 called 'walls,' 2 'seconds,' 1 'third,' 1 'fourth,' 1 'line,' 1 'flying-man,' 1 'long behind,'and 1 'goals.' The 'walls' are clad in heavy sweaters padded on the back and sleeves with rough canvas to protect the players from the surface of the wall; they also wear caps covering the whole of the top and back of the head and ears and buttoned under the chin. The ' seconds' also generally wear caps of a similar description.

The game is begun by a 'bully' in the centre of the wall. The 'wall' whose turn it is to 'go in,' forms down with his shoulder against the wall, taking turn and turn about with the opposite side to form under and over; the two other 'walls' back him up by supporting him behind, also with their shoulders against the wall. The two ' seconds' form down alongside the 'walls' under or over their opponents as the case may be; under when the walls form over, and vice versa, and act as a kind of prop to the 'walls' of their side; 'third' stands outside the bully about half-way between the wall and the boundary line; 'fourth' next to him, and 'line' next to 'fourth' and at the boundary line. 'Flying-man' stands behind the bully and corresponds to 'half-back' in Association, 'long behind' be« hind him, and 'goals' behind him. The players of the opposing side station themselves in the same manner. So much for the formation of the bully. As to the play, the ball is placed against the wall between the feet of the two first opposing 'walls,' and the game begins.

The players in the 'bully,' i.e. the 'walls' and 'seconds,' begin to shove and push with all their might, their object being to force the ball from the centre of the wall into the opponents' 'calx.' If the 'walls' and 'seconds' of the one side are stronger than those of the other, they may be able by crawling along with the ball at their feet and shoving back their opponents, to force their way along the play several yards at a time, i.e. between each bully, for the moment the ball is 'loose,' and is kicked across the boundary line into the open field or over the wall, the next bully is formed at a point in a line with the spot where the ball is stopped by a player out in the open field or at the spot where it went over the wall. The ball, it should be stated, is a small round one, little more than half the size of an Association ball.