Ideas of Leisure, Pleasure and the River
in Early Modern England
Karen V. Lykke Syse
Introduction
From the earliest stages of human development, rivers have been
central to the way in which we perceive life. From the Ganges to
the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates, rivers have been
worshipped and venerated. Civilisation has grown up around
rivers, tied societies together and kept cultures apart. Rivers
have always been highways and frontiers. They have had, and
continue to have, multivariate uses. They are sources of water
and energy, and the basis of social power. Their importance as
networks for transport and travel is undisputable. Although the
actual materiality of the river has always been useful to humans,
rivers are also associated with a rich symbolism. Rivers have
been used as metaphors for most aspects of being human. They
symbolise birth and rebirth, life and death, the passage from life
to death. Rivers are borders, not only material borders between
properties, counties or countries, but also borders between life
and death. In western mythology, the river Styx is perhaps the
best known example of this. The river is a body of water that is
forever flowing and never the same; as such, it is the
embodiment of liminality. In many cultures, rivers are divine. In
Britain, the Druids worshipped rivers, something which has been
noted by historians like Gildas as early as the 6th century (Gildas,
1841:355‐360). In Celtic culture, the river deities were often
female. The Anglo‐Celtic goddess Latis was associated with
water. She was originally a lake goddess who fell passionately in
love with a salmon.
Most Gallic rivers are named after mother‐goddesses, and
most Celtic river names are also female (Rekdal, 2006). Other
British rivers, like the Thames, for instance, were male deities. As
such, British rivers are also liminal with regard to the gender
35
with which they are associated. The rich symbolism and
liminality of rivers can be used to explain why, historically, they
have played such interesting roles as venues for leisure. Beyond
this, the leisure activities particular to the vicinity of rivers had
many unique characteristics. For example, leisure centred
around rivers involved more fluid borders between class and
gender than that which one would otherwise expect to find in
early modern England (Walton, 1983).
During early modern times, rivers were considered
dangerous. If the role of water in everyday life is taken into
account, this is not surprising. People needed to be in direct
contact with rivers, streams and other open sources of fresh
water in order to carry out their daily activities. Buckets and tubs
of water were needed for animals to drink, and for various
household chores in and around the house or farm. Children
were warned to stay away from rivers and their treacherous
currents; the risk of drowning was great, making riverbanks
dangerous places. Coroners’ records from the sixteenth century
show that as many as 53 per cent of all accidental deaths were
caused by drowning (Towner and Towner, 2000:102‐105).
Rivers themselves gave rise to damp chills, vapours and fog, all of
which were considered unhealthy and dangerous. Flood records
show that even meandering rivers, although most of the time
fairly benign, could suddenly swallow up fields and houses and
tear away bridges (Ackroyd, 2007:183 and 221). People who
worked on rivers were also considered dangerous. Not only did
they occasionally master something that frightened other people,
but they also had the river as an arena for their everyday lives.
The ferryman, although engaged in a most practical job, was also
a symbol of the crossing from the land of the living to the land of
the dead. River people knew where the treacherous currents
were, and they had the power to extend or withdraw services on
which many people living by the river were dependent. Bargees,
watermen and river gypsies existed as a separate and exclusive
caste, which, to outsiders, had a reputation for violence and theft.
Their members married and intermarried. They were known for
their unconventional fishing practices, they knew where
36
medicinal plants grew along the riverbeds, and were often
referred to in the same way as witches. Perhaps this was because
they held knowledge about the river that most people feared as
an unknown entity.
The river was physically unstable, and it eluded social
control. An example of this lack of social control is that on the
river everyone felt free to swear, and a term for swearing was
actually ‘water‐language’, comparable to ‘gutter language’ –
another metaphor linking class and water. One of the best‐
known references to the river’s questionable effect on one’s
vocabulary is perhaps in Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat:
‘The mildest tempered people, when on land, become violent and
bloodthirsty when in a boat. I did a little boating once with a
young lady. She was naturally of the sweetest and gentlest
disposition imaginable, but on the river it was quite awful to
hear her’ (Jerome et al., 1998:151).
Although the river was perilous, it was also purifying; not
because its water was necessary for washing, but in a more
spiritual way. During witches’ trials, it was widely held to be
possible to assess whether or not the accused was guilty by
seeing whether she would float or sink when thrown in the river.
It is perhaps less well known that the river was also used to
purify bad language. A so called ducking chair (fig. 1) was
attached to a rope, and any foul mouthed ‘scold’ would be tied to
the chair and ducked in the water three times to ensure her
purification (Fletcher, 1995:273, MacFarlane, 1847:68).
Even if the river was, in this sense, considered purifying and
sometimes benign, it was mostly regarded as hazardous, and the
people who mastered it were viewed as disreputable
(Wiggelsworth and Foot, 1992:43). There was, however, one
exception; lock keepers were looked upon as jovial and amicable
characters. During the early period of industrialisation in Britain,
in cases where the river was directed, held, sluiced and thereby
tamed, it became less dangerous, and the people responsible for
harnessing it were similarly considered less threatening. This
37
might also be connected to
the period in which the river
became an important arena
for leisure in early modern
England.
Although use of the
concept ‘leisure’ in pre‐
modern historiography is
contested and often referred
to as an anachronism
(Burke, 1995, Rabinow and
Rose, 2003), the first
definition of leisure is
actually to be found in the
early fourteenth century. It
had the same meaning as
today, which is freedom
from work. Furthermore,
the term ‘weekend’ entered
the English language as
early as 1638 (Merriam‐
Webster, 2004). Even if
many people had little
freedom from work, if any at
all, Sunday had more or less
been a day of leisure since Fig. 1. Image of Ducking chair from
Curious Punishments of Bygone Days
Christianity
arrived
in (Earle, 1896).
England in the third century.
If we take a long‐term
perspective, we can in fact see the slow evolution of leisure‐
consciousness emerging amongst the privileged classes
sometime between 1300 and 1800. This development might be
related to social control and civilising processes (Elias and
Howell, 1999). Whatever the fundamental dynamics might be,
there were undoubtedly a range of specific arenas in which
leisure activities began to take place. The special lure of riverine
and riparian landscapes was clearly evident from the medieval
38
period onwards. Although Britain is an island, more people had
access to its rivers than its ocean. River swimming was well
established before the growth in resorts and spas by the sea
(Hembry, 1990). Certainly, benign rivers were necessary for
these early leisure pursuits. What happened when the river
became an increasingly popular venue for recreation, and what
kinds of recreation evolved? Below, I present three leisure
activities conducted alongside the river, on the river and in the
river.
Angling
Perhaps the most well known recreational pastime undertaken
alongside the river is angling. The first significant surviving work
we know of in relation to angling is the Treatyse of Fysshynge
Wyth an Angle, purportedly written by Dame Juliana Berners in
1496. The book contains beautiful illustrations of tackle, and a
sharp woodcut of an angler using a rod with line and float, which
is probably the first British illustration of the sport.
Contemporary sources argue that Dame Juliana did not write the
text herself. Even so, this is the first work that is a real manual
with detailed instructions on all the important aspects of making
tackle as well as using it. There are instructions on bait, hooks,
floats, and on the construction of lines and rods. She even
provides templates from which to make flies associated with the
different months of the year. Although Dame Juliana’s authorship
is questionable, her name is associated indisputably with this
first record of British angling (Radcliffe, 1921).
There are other works on fishing, such as John Dennys
Secrets of Angling (1613) and Gervase Markham’s section ‘The
Art of Angling’ in Cheape and Goode Husbandry (1614 ) but,
nevertheless, the most significant early modern book about
fishing is Izaak Walton’s Compleat Angler (1653). In fact, well
outside the angling community, The Compleat Angler is
considered to be one of the most important English books ever
written; only the Bible has been published in more editions.
Through his main character, Piscatore, Izaak Walton conveys
Renaissance ideals built on the concept of the pastoral. Piscatore,
39
Izaak Walton’s angler, approaches the river as both a
philosopher and scientist. One of his many philosophical
contemplations lingers on the pleasure and importance of
leisure. ‘Twas an imployment for his idle time, which was not
idly spent’ (Walton, 1653:33) . The ideal angler is a wise man,
just as Bishop Joseph Hall describes in 1631: ‘he is both an apt
scholler and an excellent master; for both everything he sees
informes him, and his mind enriched with plentiful observation,
can give the best precepts. His free discourse runs backe to ages
past(…)’ (Joseph Hall after Røstvig, 1954:159). For Walton,
angling was not only the idle pursuit of catching fish. Rather, it
was an occasion for contemplating nature, and obtaining
supporting evidence for observations and reflections on nature
through engagement with the natural sciences. Nature, as God’s
creation, was explained to the reader through science. This
connection between the theology of nature and natural science
makes The Compleat Angler particularly interesting;
understanding nature was an acknowledgement of the
significance of God’s creation (Mostue, 1999:53). As such,
engaging with the river and explaining it through natural science
became both a pleasure and a calling. Walton also justifies
angling as a form of idleness that can be justified as
contemplation as well as food‐gathering. Following this, we
might ask who is going fishing, as the constituency for the book
in class terms is evidently Isaak Walton’s circle of literate
contemporaries rather than one of fishermen or milkmaids.
Walton’s choice of genre reflects his own and his reader’s social
placement and literary knowledge. It is perhaps fitting that he
uses the pastoral genre while explaining how a utilitarian task
such as fishing for food can become the epitome of leisure. Isaak
Walton regarded angling as the perfect compromise between the
social need for peace and civility, and the individual need for
excitement and fraternity (Franklin, 2001). This perfect
compromise is conducted beside the water but nonetheless
involves significant interaction with it (fig. 2).
40
Fig. 2. Angling by the river. From Walton’s The Complete Angler (1808).
Although the gendered term ‘fraternity’ was often used in texts,
angling was considered a suitable riverside pastime for both men
and women. Even if the early literature on angling only hints at
this, there are several other sources that emphasise female
41
participation in angling in Britain from the early seventeenth
century onwards. This is discussed thoroughly in Nicholas D.
Smith’s article ‘Reel Women: Women and Angling in Eighteenth‐
Century England’ (Smith, 2003). Smith’s historiography of female
anglers extends back to mid‐ seventeenth‐century England and
offers the basis for an understanding of the social milieu of
eighteenth‐century angling culture. Smith’s work demonstrates
the existence of an essential ambivalence regarding the social
and cultural position of female anglers. He argues that the
legitimacy of angling as a leisure pursuit for women began to be
questioned towards the end of the eighteenth century. The
questions that evolved related to the idea of humanity towards
animals and whether women in general ought to partake in cruel
amusements. Sentiments like this were, according to Keith
Thomas (1984), part of the transition to a more modern
perception of nature. Without dismissing either questions of
sensitivity towards nature or the evolving differences between
‘suitable’ leisure activities for men and women, it is possible to
argue that, through angling, the river was mastered by both
sexes in early modern England, and that female angling has been
common for a long time (Smith, 2003). As discussed, it is
accepted that the river has long been a place for food gathering
by different classes and both genders. However, early modern
sources also demonstrate how the river became an established
venue for contemplative leisure in pre‐industrial England.
Swimming
Learning how to swim was another leisure‐time way of
mastering the river. In the present, swimming is an activity
readily associated with sunny holidays and rural venues. In what
ways were rivers used for swimming in the past? Sources that
might help unveil the cultural and social history of swimming in
pre‐industrial England are difficult to locate. This is surprising,
because swimming is such a widely practiced activity. In an
attempt to remedy the situation, the historian Nicholas Orme
conducted some impressive ground research in 1983 with Early
British Swimming (Orme, 1983), but few others have been
42
inspired to augment the historiography. The next major work on
swimming was Christopher Love’s A Social History of Swimming
in England 18001918. Although Love fills in many gaps in our
understanding of swimming during this later period, the
swimming habits of the English during in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries are still relatively unexplored.
Early literary sources such as Ovid and Cicero describe
swimming as a healthy and manly activity, and a pleasurable way
of passing time (Orme, 1983:5). Anglo‐Saxon and Viking sources
show that the Roman tradition of swimming continued to be
practiced in England. However, by the medieval period there was
probably a decline in the number of people who mastered the
skill. Throughout this period, it seems as if swimming was mainly
a male activity, even if there are occasional references to female
participation. In the sixteenth century, the Renaissance
stimulated interest in swimming, and it is in the same period that
we get the first treatises on swimming (Orme, 1983:6‐40).
Swimming techniques and venues did not seem to change
during the centuries that followed the Roman period, but the
interest in swimming grew. According to Orme there are three
reasons for this new interest. One was biblical scholarship, which
allowed more people to understand and interpret biblical
references to swimming. Secondly, overseas expansion leading to
contact with cultures and nations where swimming was
practised also supported the new interest in mastering aquatic
skills. Finally, and probably most importantly, classical studies
reemphasised swimming as a skill one ought to master (Orme,
1983:51). Heroes swim, and warriors swim. In Utopia (published
1516‐17), Thomas More refers to the armour of Utopia’s soldiers,
which was so light and strong that it was possible to swim in it
(More et al., 1852:168). Only two years later, the headmasters of
Eton and Winchester published a series of sentences that were
considered easy for boys to translate to Latin; one of them was
Children do learn to swim leaning upon the rind of a tree, and
another was learn to swim without a cork (Orme, 1983:51). The
River Thames was probably the closest venue for teaching young
Etonian boys to swim. Later, during Tudor times, the tutor Sir J.
43
Elyot advised young boys to take part in various forms of
amusement including tennis, wrestling, running and swimming
(Thornbury, 1856:402).
Nevertheless, the earliest swimming manual written in
English is by Everard Digby who wrote A short Introduction for to
learne to Swimme in Latin in 1587. An English translation
followed in 1595 (Digby, 1587, Digby and Middleton, 1595). For
the purposes of this chapter, the beautiful and at times amusing
illustrations and commentaries in A short Introduction for to
learnne to Swimme are perhaps just as interesting as the actual
swimming instructions themselves. In all of the plates, the venue
for swimming and swimming instruction is a river. In fact, there
are no references to the sea at all. Digby is exhaustive in his
explanation of the ideal place in to learn to swim:
‘In the place is two things especially to be respected. First, that
the banks be not overgrown with rank thick grass where oft
times do lie and lurk many stinging serpents and poisoned toads;
not full of thorns, briars, stubs or thistles which may offend the
bare feet, but that the grass be short, thin and green, the bank
beset with shady trees which may be a shelter from the wind and
shadow from the parching head of the sun. Next, that the water
itself be clear, not troubled with any kind of slimy filth which is
very infectious to the skin; that the breadth, depth and length
thereof be sufficiently known; that it be not muddy at the
bottom, lest by much treading, the filth rising up from the
bottom thicken the water, and so make it unfit for that purpose’
(Digby and Middleton, 1595:1516).
Digby’s riparian venue is also the pastoral ideal. Indeed, the
illustrations show both men in ruffs pulling off their garments
and cattle grazing along the riverbanks.
44
Fig. 3. Swimmers from Percey’s Compleat Swimmer in 1658.
45
In the seventeenth century, judging by the number of sources
that mention swimming, it seems as if the delights of the river
were becoming increasingly popular. Digby’s A short Introduction
for to learnne to Swimme was in part plagiarised by William
Percey, who published the Compleat Swimmer in 1658, an
unacknowledged English translation of Digby’s manual that
included some of Percey’s own comments (fig. 3):
‘To proceed to declare the ends of swimming, they are many:
some delight herein, to cool themselves from the parching beams
of the Sun, to clearifie their bodies of sweat, to whiten and
purifie the skin: others use this excellent Art for the delight and
pleasure of the exercise, others practise this Art to fortifie
themselves for the danger of waters (…)’ (Percey, 1658:3)
The passage above identifies three aspects of the river (and of
swimming). Firstly, there is a recreational value associated with
delight, pleasure and exercise. Secondly, that the clearifying,
whitening and refreshing water itself has purification qualities,
and finally, that it is dangerous. However, Percy also shows how,
if one follows the rules set out in the book, it is possible to
conquer the dangerous aspects of the river. These rules include
timing; only swim during the months of May, June, July and
August (ibid:9) and only swim during daytime ‘because the Devil
lurks in deep waters, and other dangers do also occur’ such ‘as
fumes and thick poisonous vapours in the Air by reason of the
absence of the Sun’ (ibid: 11). One must not swim every day, nor
when it rains. The days and hours of the change or new moon are
also particularly bad for swimming. Like Walton before him,
Percy conveys how natural science, and acute observation of
one’s surroundings, can be used to understand and overcome the
dangers of the river.
Percy also emphasises the importance of finding the right
sort of riverbanks. He argues that they should be of gravel rather
than sand or mud, which was dangerous, and that they should
preferably be adjacent to pleasant meadows of green grass. This
is because after one’s swim, it is beneficial to run around in the
46
grass while chewing on a piece of bread to satisfy the hunger one
always gets from swimming. The texts conveys how ‘many things
may be done in the water, that cannot be performed on land’.
Fig. 4. Paring ones toes in the river. From Christofer Middleton's 1595
translation of Everard Digby's De Arte natandi (1587).
47
The author has tried to kiss his toes while standing on the land
and found it impossible, yet he claims it can be done with ease in
the water. This is depicted, along with instructions on using the
river as a place in which to cut toenails (fig. 4):
‘holding a knife in your right hand, lift up your left legg, and
with it draw your foot to your right knee: being thus ordered,
take hold of it with your left hand; and being thus held, take hold
of your Toes with your right hand; touch them and handle them
as you please, and pare them at pleasure; for you may safely do
it, and without danger’ (ibid:62).
Although Percey’s swimming was a leisure activity, the action
described above also integrated an aspect of utility. Water was
an aid to cleanliness and hygiene in a hands‐on, practical way.
Moreover, the passage above reflects how the art of swimming
provides total control of both the element and the body. Reading
the Compleat Swimmer shows how the river has been used as a
place of enjoyment by children and adults unable to swim, but
nonetheless able to bathe in it. Although we have no statistics of
swimming ability in early modern England, it was arguably not
general knowledge. Texts like the Compleat Swimmer and the Art
of Swimming contain the first written traces of an ideology aimed
at physically mastering nature. Swimming was literally a full
immersion of the river. Such immersion was also considered
beneficial to health, and so the history of swimming cannot be
isolated from the ongoing discourse regarding the benefits of
water in general.
The physician Sir John Floyer (1649‐1734) recorded the
remedial use of certain springs by the countrymen in his
neighbourhood, and explored the history of coldwater bathing. In
1702, he published Psychrolousia, Or, the History of Cold Bathing,
both Ancient and Modern. Interestingly, the book makes a
rational connection between religious ideas of healing and
evidential science, tracing the history of both medicinal and
magical, or sacramental, healing to ancient times:
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‘Natural Religion, invented by our Rational Faculties, and
grounded on the Vertues of Cold Immersion, which might by
some accident be then discovered; the use of Water being so
frequent, and the most natural and easy Method for cleansing of
the Body, and that was thought by the Common People to
cleanse away Sin; but by the Philosopher to represent and
produce an inward Purity in the Mind; for which reason all
Mankind used to wash themselves before their Sacrifices, and
both Religious and Medicinal Immersions must be as ancient as
Sacrifices themselves’ (Floyer and Baynard, 1715:2).
Floyer’s evidential historiography became popular. Within a few
years, the book ran through six editions. Other writers continued
the tradition. Dr John Summers of Bath wrote A short account of
the success of warm bathing in paralytic disorders (Summers,
1751). Dr John Fothergill set up his Rules for the Preservation of
Health Being the Result of Many Years Practice (Fothergill, 1762).
Dr James Currie (1756‐1805) of Liverpool followed with his
Medical Reports on the Effects of Water, Cold and Warm, as a
Remedy in Fevers and Other Diseases (1797). Currie also
discussed scientifically the benefits of water. Societies to
promote the benefits of water immersion were by this point
being formed across Britain. Hydrotherapy became highly
popular, and, in the eighteenth century, a vast number of water‐
based health regimes evolved. Whole towns were erected on the
basis of the health‐giving properties of water, most of which
were located in southern England. Epson was highly popular
between 1690 and 1710, as was Tunbridge Wells. Scarborough
and Bath came into vogue in the 1720’s (Hembry, 1990:355‐
360). A series of spas were established in the early eighteenth
century, with sea‐bathing emerging as an elite practice in the
1720s (Pimlott, 1947:51‐52).
By the end of the seventeenth century, even the philosopher
John Locke could extol the health benefits of swimming in terms
of its provision of exercise and exposure to the open air (Locke,
1693). During the early eighteenth century, practical and
scientific discussions on the benefits of swimming were coupled
with a new literary interest in the ‘noble savage’ living in barely
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explored territories across the globe (Orme, 1983). By the early
eighteenth century, the river was well established as a place for
bathing and swimming, with bathing stations and bathing
machines easing access from the riverbanks. The fashion‐
conscious had followed the river’s current out towards the
seaside resorts, and swimming in the sea became all the rage.
The health benefits of salt water lured the leisure‐seeking public
towards the coast, while rivers, if not polluted by industry,
remained a venue for bathing, dipping and swimming for a cross‐
section of social classes. Water was now controllable not only by
the human mind, as with the building of bridges, mills and canals
through engineering, but by the body. Previously, most bathing
had been passive ducking, but through swimming the element
was more actively embraced. On entering the liminal element of
the river, one showed full mastery of the natural world. English
rivers seemed perfectly suited for swimming, and perhaps this is
why swimming as a sport was first established here. In the
nineteenth century – the high period of sporting development –
formally organised swimming emerged in England ahead of any
other country. As early as 1837, the first swimming competitions
were established (Love, 2007). The first Women’s Championship
was instituted in 1901, and, in the 1912 Olympics, female
swimmers competed for the first time. Women’s swimming did
much to advance women’s rights, as many early female
swimmers set overall world records, overtaking their male
counterparts in terms of both speed and distance, something that
put extra emphasis on the question of equality of the sexes.
Rowing and Sculling
The first reference to a ‘regata’ appeared in Venetian
documentation; Venice’s dependence on water transport
provided a natural venue for the evolution of medieval and
Renaissance water festivals. By 1315, the Venetian regatta
included boat races amongst other forms of aquatic display and
entertainment (Dodd, 1992). Although a great number of rivers
intersect England, and although these rivers were imperative for
transport in mediaeval and early modern times, boating for
50
leisure was established later than either angling or swimming. In
other words, rowing for leisure differs from the two other
activities described above. Although both angling and swimming
were useful activities of sorts, they did not develop out of a
profession. As explained above, angling was a well‐established
pastime in the late fifteenth century, and swimming and bathing
were relatively common pastimes in the late sixteenth century.
Yet it was probably not until the eighteenth century that rowing
emerged as a leisure activity, certainly in terms of being
organised in any formal way (fig. 5). Rowing was an activity
connected to transport (and fishing) across the sea and on rivers.
There are several references to such transport in English history
throughout Roman, Saxon and Viking times. King Harold’s defeat
at Stanford Bridge is well known, and in later sources there are
many references to the importance of rowing.
In the sixteenth century, the inland waterway trade was
already thriving, and extra navigation channels had been cut to
ease access throughout the island. London’s river‐based
transport system was expansive in comparison to other British
cities. It was the biggest city in Europe, a Venice of the North. The
River Thames had its own estuarine peculiarities. Even so, the
technology and usage that developed here was not isolated from
the rest of the island. Samuel Pepys’ diary shows how the
Thames was used as a highway; there are more references to
Pepys ‘going by water’ than by coach on his various businesses.
On the 1st of May in 1664 he wrote:
‘(Lord's day). Lay long in bed. Went not to church, but stayed at
home to examine my last night's accounts, which I find right,
and that I am 908l creditor in the world, the same I was last
month. Dined, and after dinner down by water with my wife and
Besse with great pleasure as low as Greenwich and so back,
playing as it were leisurely upon the water to Deptford, where I
landed and sent my wife up higher to land below Halfway
house. I to the King's yard and there spoke about several
businesses with the officers, and so with Mr. Wayth consulting
about canvas, to Halfway house where my wife was, and after
51
eating there we broke and walked home before quite dark. So to
supper, prayers, and to bed’ (Pepys and Latham, 1985:382).
Fig. 5. Explaining rowing. From Walker's Manly Exercises (1856). Rowing was
first described in the third edition, from 1835.
Samuel Pepys and his contemporaries were utterly dependent on
the watermen and barges for transport. Even so, we hear of no
recreational races in the late sixteen hundreds. However, in 1715
Thomas Doggett established a race for watermen on the Tideway
in London, with a prize of a coat and a special badge (Halladay,
1990:8). The race established by Doggett was for the
professional watermen themselves to participate in, in
competition against each other. ‘Dogget’s coat and badge race’ is
still held annually. Not until 1775 do we find sources that refer to
a major water festival and regatta in England. This first formal
regatta with open participation for amateurs took place in 1775,
and the participating boats were referred to as ‘vessels of
pleasure’, which means that these were not working boats
(ibid:254). In 1793, the first recorded Procession of the Boats
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was held at Eton College, and the custom of organizing groups of
boys from the same master’s house to obtain a boat for pleasure,
exercise or to compete with another house, was institutionalized.
Rowing races became festive occasions and rowing itself became
a spectator sport. The Henley regatta, established in 1839, is
perhaps the best known of these races. Since the amateur rowers
had no chance of beating the professional watermen at racing,
they formed their own clubs, excluding those who performed
manual labour. Although class bias excluded watermen from
participating in these particular races, they still raced against
each other, as they could not be excluded from the river itself.
‘Wager’ racing could supplement a waterman’s income, and as
they were paid about the same as household staff, they would
supplement this income by extra gratuities for fast passages
(Wiggelsworth and Foot, 1992:17).
As early as 1814, only 40 years after male amateurs started
competing formally, a regatta held in Chester included a race for
women. The following year, the first college boat club was
organized at Oxford University, and in 1829, the universities of
Oxford and Cambridge began to compete against each other. By
1839, the Henley Regatta was formalised by the newly‐
established Amateur Club. (Wigglesworth, 1986:205).
Interestingly, these amateurs ‘took on’ the suspect and
dangerous element of the watermen, and began to master the
danger of the river while at the same time pursuing what had
now become a laudable pastime. Rowing and sculling was
healthy for body and soul, and did not involve drinking or other
vices. In 1886, F.J. Furnivall founded the Hammersmith Sculling
Club for Girls and Men due to his belief that ‘the exclusion of
women from aquatic sport was pernicious’. He encouraged
working‐class women to row, and espoused the merits of
sculling over the moral perils of alternative pastimes such as
gambling (Wigglesworth, 1986:107). In 1880, Lady Grenville
believed it ‘essential that every English girl should learn to row
since now that everything is changed it is seen to be the very best
thing for her’ (Grenville, 1880). The date 1880 is significant,
because women’s intellectual and political emancipation had
53
started to emerge in the 1870’s, most notably with the Women’s
Property Act of 1870 and the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1878
(Wigglesworth, 1986:107). Even though it is easy to trace
women’s entry into the sport of rowing, it is also easy to
distinguish the prejudice and exclusion flagged up by the
standpoint taken by various amateur rowing clubs. Nevertheless,
women elbowed their way in, thereby challenging the biased
ideological status quo.
Conclusion
With respect to leisure, the river has been a site of special social
significance in many ways. However, it has been of particular
importance where ideas of gender are concerned. A point worthy
of consideration is that of the river’s symbolic liminality and its
‘otherness’, which might have served to enable its use as an
arena for leisure across established social structures. The river
was, and is, the front to another world, a world where social class
and gender are differently ordered. The river was central to the
way in which the idea and ideologies of leisure unfolded in
Britain from the 1300s onwards. This has not been sufficiently
recognised, and the omission needs rectifying, particularly since
the examination and contemplation of the extent and nature of
river‐based leisure activities can shed new light on the wider
socio‐cultural landscape of Britain.
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