If the attacking side is stronger, and the 'sides' do their work properly, the bully of the defenders is sometimes pushed bodily through goals; if, however, the two bullies are equal in weight or strength, the ball eventually breaks 'loose,' and the play continues as originally begun.

If no rouge is allowed, or the attacking side kick the ball 'cool' over the line (i.e. while not being charged), it is a 'kick off' from the goal-line for the defending side. If the defending side kick the ball behind their own goal-line, and one of their own number touches it first, a bully is formed where the ball was kicked.

If the ball hits the hands or forearm below the elbow, a bully can be claimed by and allowed to the other side. The game lasts an hour, and ends are changed at half-time.

The Harrow Game has been played in substantially its present form for upwards of half a century. Changes in the rules have undoubtedly been made from time to time; and in recent years the adoption of the Association rules at the principal preparatory schools has affected in some measure the style of play. The distinctive features, however, of the Harrow rules remain unaltered, and being in a sense the natural offspring of local circumstances, it is probable that they will retain their hold on the School for many years to come. Everybody knows that Harrow is on a hill. It follows, therefore.

that the football fields are at the bottom of a hill, and are difficult to drain, especially as the soil is a stiff clay. The grounds, in fact, are often half under water, and in the height of the football season are generally a mass of trampled mud. This state of things necessitates the use of a heavy ball and rules which compel the players to be continually on the move.

In matches eleven play on each side, the usual disposition of the players being as follows: a 'whole back' and a 'half back ' (formerly called 'base' and 'second base' - terms probably unknown to Harrow boys of the present generation) form the rearguard; two players keep each 'side,' called respectively'top side' and 'bottom side,' and the remaining five 'follow up.' It will be noticed that whereas the Association game has five or at most six 'forwards,' the Harrow game has nine.

The rules as they at present stand are not hard to master, although they differ in some essential characteristics from those of any other game of football. There is a strict off-side rule as at Eton. A player who is nearer the opponents' base than the kicker of the ball is out of the game until the ball has been touched by one of the opponents' side. As regards the mysteries connected with the word 'yards,' the Harrow rules may perhaps best explain themselves. Rules 6, 7, and 8 of the Harrow code say:

Whoever catches the ball is entitled to a free kick if he calls 'Yards'; but whoever catches the ball, and does not call 'Yards' is liable to have the ball knocked out of his hands. The ball must be kicked without delay; and the preliminary run must not be longer than three yards (i.e. the utmost length to which three running strides would extend). When a player catches the ball, he may take his three yards, or each of them, in any direction he likes. If a player catch the ball near the opposite base, he may try to carry the ball through by jumping the three yards. If he fail in this attempt, no second try is allowed, but he must return to the spot where he caught the ball, and from there may have a free kick at the base; none of the opposite side may in this case get in his way nearer than the spot to which his jump brought him.

This system of 'free catching' was no doubt originally introduced to meet the supposed difficulty of 'shooting' a base with a heavy ball under a strict off-side rule. In theory the base is unlimited in height, for the ball may be kicked between the poles a solo usque ad caelum.

The Harrow player is always at first a 'selfish' Association player, because he has learnt under the strict 'off-side' rule to stick to the ball till it is taken away from him by an opponent.

Another feature of the rules which an Association player can hardly fail to notice is that there is practically no penalty for breaking any of the rules. It has been found after many years' experience quite unnecessary to inflict one. In important matches two umpires are appointed, who have vested in them the power of sending a 'rule-breaker' off the field, a power, however, which in practice has very seldom to be exercised.

To return, however, to the game itself. Although the ball is heavy and of an awkward shape, Harrow boys attain a complete mastery over it and learn to dribble it with wonderful accuracy. Evidently it represents the most rudimentary form of football, being a kind of irregular oval in shape, and really, in fact, nothing more than a bladder enclosed in three pieces of thick shoemaker's leather, two being circular and the third a broad strip equal in length to the circumference of the ball. Until quite recently all boys below the first ninety or so, with the exception of those who had been in the school for three years and those excused by medical certificates, were compelled by the school rules to play football at least twice a week. As late as 1864 those who went down to play were divided into only two games according to age, the result being that scientific play was quite out of the question. In recent years great improvements have been made in this direction, thirty or forty at the most playing in one of these 'compul.' games as they are called. Harrow football is essentially a game for boys and those who love hard exercise. It has simple rules, is fast and manly, and has no penalties or ceremonies which waste time.

It probably takes more out of a player who goes in to win heart and soul than any other form of the game.

The Winchester Game differs in its general character from every other game of football. The ground upon which it is played is about 80 yards long and 25 yards wide. Thus upon the college 'meads,' which are more or less square with an irregular excrescence upon the side nearest to the college, it was possible for four games to be played simultaneously, while the central portion was reserved for cricket. To keep the ball within the prescribed limits, the ancient custom is generally believed to have been first to mark out the space with stakes and ropes, then outside the ropes to place a line of shivering fags. In time, humanity and genius combined discovered that hurdles served the purpose as well as small boys; and in later days the hurdles have given place to tarred nets spread out upon an iron framework some ten feet in height. The ropes still remain, and are placed about a yard from the netting, and when the ball (which is round, and heavier than an Association ball) is 'under ropes,' i.e. between the ropes and the netting, it is still in play in a certain sense. The game begins with a 'hot,' which is formed in the following fashion.