Henley Royal Regatta

“ There are finer and more gorgeous sights in the world than the Henley Regatta, but I doubt if there is any sight more exquisitely pretty, more charming to the mind and the eye! Ostensibly the people collect to see some races on the Thames at Henley, but the thing has grown into a national institution, and the people come more to enjoy a holiday than to see the races. ”

“ Not far off is the old Abbey Hotel, beloved of artists, and farther on up the green lane is a curious old house which once belonged to Sir John Borlase, friend of King Charles II, who was visited here by His Majesty on horseback, often accompanied, so tradition goes, by Nelly Gwynne.
Henley, of course, boasts the regatta of the Thames; other regattas there are in plenty, but none can compare with Henley in importance. Its heats are [Pg 31] telegraphed abroad, and as a sporting event it ranks only second to the boat race. The regatta is held the first week in July. ”

“ Lanterns, music, and fireworks are extremely pretty things, but night air on the river is sometimes an introduction to sciatica, rheumatism, and chills.
In the selection of a costume, a lady should remember that it is good to be "smart," but better still to be well.
Finally, it is desirable to bear in mind that, pleasant as riparian life may be, Henley is, after all, a regatta, and that consequently some sort of attention should be paid to the racing. ”

“ It would be impossible here to describe the history or organization of boat clubs and regattas in Australia, in Canada, and in the various countries of Europe. Canadian rowing has always been of a high class. In 1904 L. Scholes, a Canadian sculler, won the Diamond Sculls at Henley, and on several occasions Canadian eights and fours have competed for the Grand Challenge and Stewards Challenge Cups at Henley. In Australia they have a regatta which is called the “Australian Henley,” and an inter-university contest for a cup presented by Oxford and Cambridge oarsmen. ”

“ There was a club called the ‘St. George’s’ which put on a good four-oar or two in the ‘forties’ at Henley; and after them came a ‘Thames’ club, which lasted some seasons, and chiefly distinguished itself by winning thrice running the ‘Gold Cup’ of the old Thames Regatta of the ‘forties.’ The Thames Club also won the Grand at Henley; but they died out, and a lot of local small-fry clubs dismembered the rowing talent of the metropolis for the next few years. Of these, the most distinguished were the ‘Argonauts,’ between 1853 and 1856. ”

“ The intense earnestness and concentration of the American on his one sport—for most Americans are specialists in one only—does not commend itself to English amateurs. The exclusiveness, which seems to be suspicious of foul play, and the stringent training system of certain American crews at Henley have been out of harmony with all the traditions of the great [420] Regatta and have caused much ill feeling, some of which has occasionally come to the surface. ”

“ What the yacht-races at Cowes and a score of other places are to that section of the upper ten-thousand who delight in everything that pertains to the sea, and to whom the smell of salt water is as the breath of life—what Henley regatta is to those who find their exercise or pastime among the sunny reaches of the Upper Thames—such is the annual sailing-barge match from Erith to the Nore and back, to the vast river-side population below-bridge who have more or less to do, or are in some way connected, with the dock, canal, or up-river shipping traffic of the port of London. ”

“ In our college boat—of which he was now stroke, and which he took with a brilliant rush to the head of the river, bumping University, the leading boat, to which his captain, F. Menzies, was still stroke, after two very severe races—he always saw that every man had a small slice of lemon at the start, in memory of the Battersea reach.
Next year (1843) , owing to a dispute about the time, there was no University race over the London course, but the crews were to meet at the Henley Regatta. ”

“ You have been at Henley, no doubt, during regatta week, when both banks were flower-beds of blossoming parasols and full-blown picture-hats, the river a stretch of silver, crowded with boats, their occupants cheering like mad. Or you know Marlowe with its wide stream bordered with stately trees and statelier mansions, and Oxford with its grim buildings, and Windsor dominated by its huge pile of stone, the flag of the Empires floating from its top; and Maidenhead with its boats and launches, and lovely Cookham with its back water and quaint mill and quainter lock. ”

“ Why should the stewards stand? They are presumably men of a certain age, some of them must be of a certain corpulence, and it seems to me a refinement of cruelty that these faithful officials, of whom, I believe, the respected Mayor of Henley is one, should be compelled to refrain from seats during the whole of the Regatta. It may be necessary for them to set an example of true British endurance to the crowds who attend the Regatta, but in that case surely they ought to be paid for the performance of their duties. ”

“ If the number of entries at Henley Regatta, the extension of the sphere of influence of the A.R.A. and the public interest in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, may be taken as tests, rowing has more than held its own among the various competing forms of recreation in the world of British amateur athletic sport. ”

“ Bethune and his granddaughter to go down as his guests.
"I understood you to say," he continued, without giving either of them time to reply, "that you had never seen Henley at the regatta-time. But it is a thing you ought to see—it is the prettiest sight in England—it is perfectly unique—there is nothing else like it in the world. And then they make those house-boats so comfortable; it is simply a small floating home; or, on the other hand, you can sit outside, and be in the very midst of all the fun. There is no scramble—no crowd—no hustling—so far as we are concerned ”

“ Henley. Still the honours of winning eights, fours, pairs, or sculls at it rank, in amateur estimation, second only to Henley. Barnes Regatta is of very old standing. The tideway is always a drawback to scenery, but Barnes always used to produce good audiences and good competitors. Its chief patrons were tideway clubs and the Kingston Rowing Club.
GONDOLA.
Walton-on-Thames flourished in the ‘sixties.’ It has now died out. ”

“ To witness the splendour, the shouting, the races,
At Henley Regatta in charming July!
When athletes are weary and hushed is the riot,
When launches have vanished and house-boats are gone,
When Henley once more is delightfully quiet—
'Tis soothing to muse on the "Red Lion" Lawn! 206
When the swans hold their own and the sedges scarce shiver—
As sweet summer breezes most tunefully sigh—
Let us laze at the ruddy-faced Inn by the River,
For Henley is restful in dreamy July!
207
THE MINSTREL'S RETURN. A MOORE OR LESS MELODY.
F AREWELL, O farewell to the Holiday Season! ”

“ For the type of boat used in racing see Boat. The Wingfield Sculls, a race which forms the English Amateur championship, was instituted in 1830. It is rowed from Putney to Mortlake. The Diamond Challenge Sculls, instituted in 1844, are rowed for at Henley Regatta. The earliest professional championship sculling race was rowed on the Thames in 1831. Since 1876, when an Australian (E. Trickett, of Sydney) beat J. H. Sadler, the professional championship of the world has been held by Australians or Canadians ”

“ I think that American moment was more thrilling than any given moment at Henley; and though there is more comfort in a college barge, and more gentle seclusion for the favored spectator, I am not going to own that it equals as a view-point the observation-train, with its successive banks of shouting and glowing girls, all a flutter of handkerchiefs and parasols, which used to keep abreast of the racing crews beside the stately course of the Connecticut Thames. Otherwise I think it best to withhold comparisons, lest the impartial judge should decide in favor of Henley. ”

“ Once at Henley, all is pleasure. No crew is more popular, none more cheered, as it paddles down the course to the starting-point and as it arrives first at the winning-post. The scene of enthusiasm, not only among Etonians, but among the whole rowing world, when an Eton crew wins the Ladies' Plate after a lapse of several years, is past description. ”

“ A more unfavourable racing day than that which opened the Royal Club Regatta has never been experienced even on the unutterably fluky Firth. Sudden spurts of wind, calms, a very long spell of what was quite a deluge of rain, deafening thunder, blinding lightning and depressing gloom, made up the sample of weather vouchsafed to the competitors during the time that the 'sport' was progressing. The big cutters mustered in full force, and had a light easterly breeze, which gave a reach down the Clyde. ”

“ Till then, various executives had adopted various opinions as to what constituted an amateur. One year, about 1871, the Henley executive declined to recognise one of the local crews engaged in the ‘Town Cup’ as ‘amateurs;’ and on this ground refused to allow them to start for the Wyfold Cup. It was not alleged that any of this crew had ever laboured as a mechanic, or rowed for money. The allegation of the Henley executive was that this crew were not ‘gentlemen amateurs,’ and as such they declined to admit them. ”

“ A junior oarsman is one (A) who has never won any race at a regatta other than a school race, a race in which the construction of the boats was restricted, or a race limited to numbers of one club; (B) who has never been a competitor in any International or Inter-University match.
[199] A junior sculler is one (A) who has never won any sculling race at a regatta other than a race in which the construction of the boats was restricted, or a race limited to members of one club; (B) who has never competed for the Diamond Sculls at Henley, or for the Amateur Championship of any country. ”

“ When a Four is practising for a four-oared race alone—that is to say, when its members are not rowing in an eight-oared crew as well, their course of work should be similar to that laid down for an Eight. But when, as often happens at Henley, a Four is made up out of the members of an eight-oared crew, it will always be found better to allow its members to do the bulk of their work in the Eight, and to confine themselves in the Four principally to long and easy paddling, varied by short, sharp bursts of rowing. ”

“ Doggett’s prize, 26, 303; Westminster ‘Water Ledger,’ 27; match between randan and four-oar, 28; modest championship stakes, 28; Kemp’s match against time, 29; foundation of Wingfield Sculls, 29; University training, 30; first University race, 32; records of college racing, 33; Oxford eight steered by professional, 34; London and Oxford amateurs, 35; adoption of ‘light blue’ by Cambridge, 37; match between Universities at Henley, 37, 38; foundation of Henley Regatta, 38; pair-oar races established at Universities, 38; Colquhoun sculls and University sculls, 38; four-oar races, 39; regattas, 40 ”

“ George (intent on his own feelings) . "Don't ask me to, darling, I couldn't touch it!"
[Pg 150]
A REGATTA RHYME
On Board the "Athena," Henley-on-Thames
I like, it is true, in a basswood canoe
To lounge, with a weed incandescent:
To paddle about, there is not a doubt,
I find it uncommonly pleasant!
I love the fresh air, the lunch here and there,
To see pretty toilettes and faces;
But one thing I hate—allow me to state—
The fuss they make over the Races!
I don't care a rap for the Races!—
Mid all the Regatta embraces—
I'm that sort of chap, I don't care a rap,
A rap or a snap for the Races! ”

“ There are challenge prizes for the house fours and for the sculling and pulling, as the pair-oar outrigger race is called. The number of races had to be curtailed owing to the time taken to train the eight for Henley. The four and eight-oared races start from Rushes, and are rowed down stream; total distance 1 mile 6 furlongs. The pulling and sculling races start from Brocas and go round a ryepack at Rushes and back, a distance of 3 miles 4 furlongs. The winning point is always Windsor Bridge. ”

“ In the previous year, after their victory in London, the Oxford boat had gone to Henley, but had withdrawn, in consequence of a decision of the stewards, allowing a man to row in the Cambridge crew who had already rowed in a previous heat, in another boat. So the cup remained in the possession of the Cambridge Rooms, a London rowing club, composed of men who had left college, and of the best oarsmen still at the University. If the Cambridge Rooms could hold the challenge cup this year also, it would become [69] their property. ”

“ Here was erected an ornate scaffolding to which the different prizes were attached. The first boat carried off a red banner; the next received a green flag; the third, a blue; and the fourth, a yellow one. With each of these was given a purse, and with the last was added, by way of gibe, a live pig, a picture of which was painted on the yellow banner. Every regatta included five courses, in which single and double oared boats, and single and double oared gondolas successively competed,—the fifth contest being that in which the women participated with two-oared boats. ”