Hockey Invented In England ... Not Canada

Iain Fyffe

Hockey fact-checker
Canada played at the 1920 and 1948 Olympics but the games were not held in Canada.

MOD My point is that the Canadian version of hockey does not require an indoor arena to be played.

The PCHA owes it foundation to indoor rinks. This is not in any dispute. Patricks built arenas so that hockey could be played without interruption from the elements.
Yes, that's right. A league that did not exist until 36 years after the time period in question relied on indoor rinks. This is not in dispute, nor is it relevant.

Throw in skaters like Marcel Pronovost, Jean-Guy Talbot, André Pronovost - quick list and the impact of arenas or indoor ice hockey is telling on organized hockey, even to this day.
This is an excellent argument against someone who has said that indoor arenas have had no impact on the development of Canadian hockey. But I don't recall seeing anyone make such a statement in this thread.

Actually Guay did not miss the spectator element in his book. He chronicles the growth of paid attendance in his book in a very informative fashion.
I specifically refer to his discussion of sport versus game. It certainly does not include spectators as a defining factor of a sport.
 
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Theokritos

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Apr 6, 2010
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In various past threads. I'm not going to pimp my book again here though.

I think Canadiens1958 is mostly aiming at my attempts in this thread to link "football" with rugby. And he's right on that one. As he has shown (and you too BTW) "football" it's not exactly a self-explanatory term in the context of our debate since there were several varieties of football. Will have to look into newspaper sources from the time.
 

Iain Fyffe

Hockey fact-checker
I think Canadiens1958 is mostly aiming at my attempts in this thread to link "football" with rugby. And he's right on that one. As he has shown (and you too BTW) "football" it's not exactly a self-explanatory term in the context of our debate since there were several varieties of football. Will have to look into newspaper sources from the time.
You may be right, now that I look at it again.
 

Theokritos

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Apr 6, 2010
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Henry Joseph in 1943:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zXYtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fpgFAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=5595,4611730

clearly refers to "...pattern the game after English Rugby...". yet later in the article reference is made to a Montreal Football Club. So there was a clear distinction between English Rugby, Football and Rugby Football.

Henry Joseph also happened to be among the McGill footballers who played against Harvard in 1874. According to Frank G. Menke's Encyclopedia of Sports, quoted in the Montreal Gazette:

When the McGills, accepting the Harvard challenge for play at football, showed up at Cambridge and started practicing for the game on May 5, 1874, the Harvards looked askance - and something else. The McGills were both kicking the ball and running with it under an arm. The Harvard captain, David Roger, pointed out politely that this violated a basic rule. The McGill captain, Arthur Ellis, replied by saying that it didn't violate any rule of their game. "What game do you play?" asked the Harvard captain. "Rugby," was Ellis's reply. The Harvard captain said he never had heard of it.

So when asked to play football the McGill University people expected a game of rugby. The terms "football" and "rugby" were interchangeable in their eyes.

That said, 1870s "rugby" and 1870s "soccer" don't necessarily mean exactly the same games and rules we'd have in mind when we use the terms. Different sets of rules were used in different places:

The Cambridge football rules had the offside rule at least back into the 1850s. The Sheffield rules, which were apparently more popular than the Cambridge version, was not an onside game in the 1850s. Can't be sure about rugby, the earliest set of rules I've seen is from 1871, when the Rugby Football Union was formed, but since the purpose of the union was to bring together clubs that played versions of rugby football, the offside rule must have been present in at least most versions.

McGill's game, which featured an oval ball, permitted kicking the ball as in soccer, but the participants could also pick the ball up and run with it whenever they pleased.

Harvard's syle of play incorporated a round ball and a kicking style of play known as "the Boston game" and was also closely related to what we today call "soccer". However, a curious feature of that game was that a player could run and throw or pass the ball only if he were being pursued by an opponent. When the opposing player gave up pursuit he called out to the runner, who had to stop and kick the ball.

The 1874 McGill-Harvard series, which featured 11 men per side, was played with a round ball and "Boston" rules in the first game. The next day, they played under McGill rules, which included McGill's oval ball and the ability to pick up the ball and run with it.

Football as played at McGill University was obviously more associated with & closer related to rugby than soccer. But given the variety and inconsistency of football rules existing during the time in question we can't draw any stringent conclusion from the University Gazette statement:

The rules of hockey ('The Halifax Hockey Club Rules' as they are called) are modelled after the football rules. 'Offside' is strictly kept. 'Charging' in anyway but from behind is allowed and so on.
 

Justinov

Registered User
Apr 30, 2012
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This is probably far fetched, but it could explain some original differences between the use of “bandy“ and “hockey“. This is more an etymological idea; than how it was actually played. Multiple local variants will arise probably combining these two “names“.

Hockey = you can drive the puck/ball in front of you (if it is from “Hooking“ the ball/puck rather than striking it).
So more individual skill game with each ball possessor trying to move towards the opponents goal (until tackled).

Bandy = if it is from french “bander“ means to “strike back and forth“. So you could maybe only strike the ball/puck.
A more “team“ based game with passing.

Difference probably not limited to number of players or maybe even what subsurface you play on. But maybe playing style.

As far as I know Lacrosse history the Iroquois didn't pass the ball at all as you do in modern Lacrosse to day. It was individual skill until you got smashed then scramble and the next man in ball possession moved forward. “Hockey“ could be something like this style?

Also early football types where you only seemed to dribble individually with “passing“ first being mentioned in the football association 1863; according to wikipedia at least.

So early on when teams met (from different towns) they probably had to agree on the precise rules before every match started.
 

JA

Guest
The other area of interest is that the spelling "hawkey" pops up in New England around the 1840's in at least one novel, in "hawkey-stick", being used clearly to denote the stick used to play hockey. Well, I'd think it unlikely this came in from England after the 1760's. I'd think rather - again it's just interpretation but it remains that either way - that it came with the Puritans. Why would a relatively obscure game, not even commonly called hockey in England until the 1800's, be played as a recent import in New England? The odd spelling, similar to the West Sussex hawkey, suggests to me a common old provincial origin in England. True, for whatever reason, the term bandy was used for a long time to describe the game, but this alternate (as I apprehend) regional term finally took over, it's hard at this juncture to say why. "England" in New England was called that for a reason…

Gary
Yes thanks. The "Caleb" books were an American childrens' book series written by Jacob Abbott. The earliest one where hawkey is mentioned seems to be from 1839 and the term is used to describe the stick, as in hawkey-stick, but also as a noun for the stick, a "hawkey" (or hawky). Also, if you look at the references in the various books, it is described as cane-length, which is interesting because some of those old British and Dutch paintings or illustrations show a stick like that sometimes raised from above the shoulder. Some hurly sticks were like that and crosse sticks from what I've seen online in old images. This is the mallet-type, closer to what is used for croquet or shuffleboard or even polo than hockey today. The old hawkey-stick clearly evolved into a longer stick held with two hands. This is another reason I think the term in New England must be very old because it doesn't resemble in all respects the longer stick which was being used by the mid-1800's in England and Canada for ice hockey.

Gary
In the January 2, 1829 issue of the New-England and United States Literary Advertiser (1820-1836), there's an article titled "Boston Boys" in which the author, signed N.N.K., discusses the activities of the children of the community. Boston (United States) is listed as the place of publication of this magazine. It appears "hockey" was a part of their vocabulary.
BOSTON BOYS
N N K. The New - England Galaxy and United States Literary Advertiser (1830-1836) 11.586 (Jan 2, 1829): 2.

Boston Boys

It has been often remarked, that one of the surest methods of judging of a community is to observe the children. If they are neat and orderly, you may rest secure that the community as such an be safely held up as a model ; if they are riotous and dirty, you may be sure the fault rests with their elders and betters. But Boston boys go a touch beyond this old adage. A Boston boy meddles with higher things, and a youth of ten or twelve will frequently be found quite a politician. Whatever is the spirit of the age is at once adopted into the sports of our boys. They don't 'make game' of serious subjects, but they make a game out of every thing serious or fantastical.

...

Next came party politics, elections and ward caucusses. Every little urchin caught the cry, and whether trundling hoop in a 'press gang,' or kicking foot-ball for sides, 'Hurrah for Jackson' became the watchword and reply. -- They hoard somewhere about Hickory sticks, and in a few days the old English game of Hockey was revived, to give every youth a chance of wielding a hickory, or an imitation hickory, which last was after the pattern of most of our Jackson office-seekers, considerably crooked and stumpy, but well enough adapted to 'keep the ball a going.' You can hardly turn a corner now without meeting a host of school boys with satchel in one hand, and knotty club for hocky and Jackson in the other."

...

N.N.K.
It's not ice hockey, but I suppose my purpose with this post is to say that "hockey" as a term existed in New England. and clearly N. N. K. recognizes it as "the old English game of Hockey." That said, he also spells it "hocky" in the same paragraph.

He refers to the sticks as "Hickory sticks."

Some trivia:
According to one of Lord Byron's Harrow School schoolmates, in a May 29, 1924 article in The Mirror of literature, amusement, and instruction, Byron was a fan of the English game of hockey:
The following Extract from a Letter written by a Schoolfellow of Lord Byron, contains some interesting recollections of his early life:
The Mirror of literature, amusement, and instruction, Nov. 1822-June 18473.86 (May 29, 1824): 358-358.

"I am almost alarmed when I think how many years ago it is since I was sent, a little urchin, to improve my morals and accomplishments at Harrow School. There were then, in that commonwealth of letters, about three hundred sturdy fellows who had roughed the accidents of a public school, and were for the most part diligently pursuing the cause of cricket and football, as a relief to the minor occupations of the classics. Some of these boys have since acquired some reputation as men. There was, first, Lord Hardwicke's son . . . There was the late Duke of Dorset . . . Mr. Peel, the now Under-secretary of State . . . the Hon. George Dawson, and his brother Lionel . . . Procter, who has since written verses under another name, as you know; and above all the celebrated George Gordon, Lord Byron.

...

In regard to the last mentioned, and the most renowned of these Harrow boys, he, though he was lame, was a great lover of sports, preferred hockey to Horace, relinquished even Helicon for 'duck-puddle,' and gave up the best poet that ever wrote hard Latin for a game of cricket on 'the common.'..."
The English game of "hockey" appeared to be pretty well known. Field hockey, that is. I agree with the theory that field hockey on skates developed into ice hockey. Perhaps it was brought over by emigrants from the motherland, especially as the British Empire pushed immigration to Canada throughout the 1800s. I think it's fair to argue, though, that field hockey was brought to Canada from England, as hockey was already a known sport. Whether it was adapted into ice hockey in England or Canada first is still up for debate. Skating was a popular sport in Britain, and in the 1800s the English thought quite highly of skaters from Holland.

I don't know why Lord Stanley would marvel at the uniqueness of the game of hockey in Canada. There are numerous articles from the 1870s which describe people in England playing hockey on skates outdoors. There were even skating guides that said skating needed power, and there was an 1871 article that talked about using outside and inside edges. The author of that particular January 16, 1871 article, a skating guide, complains that there is no place for sticks on the ice because they are dangerous. People must have been playing hockey on skates for at least a while before then, and based on documents such as Darwin's letter to his son, it seems that they were.
Works Cited

N, N. K. "BOSTON BOYS." The New - England Galaxy and United States Literary Advertiser (1830-1836) Jan 02 1829: 2. ProQuest. Web. 13 July 2015 .

"The Following Extract from a Letter Written by a Schoolfellow of Lord Byron, Contains some Interesting Recollections of His Early Life:" The Mirror of literature, amusement, and instruction, Nov.1822-June 1847 3.86 (1824): 358. ProQuest. Web. 13 July 2015.
 
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JA

Guest
Following up on the last post:
ON SKATING .
The Standard (London, England), Monday, January 16, 1871; pg. 2; Issue 14495. 19th Century British Library Newspapers: Part II.

ON SKATING.

As winters go, skaters may consider their pastime to have been tolerably well cared for this year by the clerk of the weather. We have had three weeks of good skating in a real old-fashioned Christmas season, not to mention a few hours secured by the lucky ones during the earlier frost, and at odd times since. And there is yet a chance that we shall have good ice again when the north and south winds, which have been doing vigorous battle for the last day or two, have settled their differences.

The year has been prolific in beginners, that is, if the skates sold and the difficulty of getting them in country towns is any test. To our own knowledge there is this season a great increase in the number of lady-students of the poetry of motion, in whose class-lists we hope they may take a high place, and it may be presumed that the male tyros outnumber them considerably, as they certainly have done for years past. We would be understood to bar entirely from our recognition, as we would from our pond, those young persons whose only aim is to run more or less awkwardly up and down a piece of ice. No advice or hints will avail them. Ten years hence they will still be the nuisances they now are. . . . We crave the patience of practised skaters, only hoping to elicit from them their experience and methods of learning their beautiful art.

...

Her own skating-boots should be laced up, very little longer than her foot, and with soles neither too thick nor too wide. Her skates should be destitute of that network of straps which, though popularly supposed to strengthen the foot and ancle, are difficult properly to tighten, keep the feet cold, and whose numerous ends are a fruitful cause of tumbles. We would recommend her almost any of the new patterns, requiring merely a toestrap and some mechanical adjustment at the heel ; and would advise the irons to be rather low, rounded at both ends, and of a moderate curve -- say to a radius of six feet. Once upon the ice, she must learn the art of skating forwards as best she may -- probably by merely trying to walk forwards, turning out each toe, and pressing it down as it leaves the ice. . . . When the fair learner can skate forwards, remaining upon each foot alternately for a distance of one yard, she should commence her "outside edge forwards." . . . The simple 8 will not take long with confidence, unfettered hands, and comfortable feet, and once achieved the forward skating must be all rolling.

...

To the gentlemen we would say, next to the outside forwards and the simple 8, the 3's must be learnt. Of these there are four for each foot, forwards and backwards, starting on the inside and outside edges. Threes require more nerve and determination than any other new thing, but without them there is no figuring. They should all be made as large as possible, that is, the first curve should be at least three or four yards long, then the turn, and the final edge kept up through a spiral to a standstill. In opposition to the usual practice we prefer first to teach the 3, beginning on the "inside forwards ;" for it may be done at starting with a kind of spread-eagle stroke which is perfectly safe, though ugly, and it immediately gives the "outside back." But in all of them we like to see a beginner hop clear off the ice, and take his second edge firmly and fairly, for it shows nerve and a steady ancle, and must give power and avoid fudging. . . . The serpentine, or change of edge, backwards and forwards, on each foot, and in bold curves added to the threes, will enable a man to do most of the marvels he sees others performing.

The great secrets in good skating are quietness and power. Confidence and practice give the first and the second. . . . Particularly good boots and the best of skates are essential if anything is to be done properly. Sticks are hideously out of place on the ice, and very dangerous to others in case of a fall ; and of course no one pretending to be a skater will join or permit hockey when skating is going on.

...
LITERATURE .
The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), Wednesday, January 23, 1867; Issue 7028.

Merry and Wise. January. London: JACKSON, WALFORD, and HODDER, 27, Paternoster-row.

The editor of Merry and Wise has a perfect undeniable right to his title. This is certainly the best part of his humble but ever welcome magaziner we have seen. "Old Merry" contributes "A Homily ;" Mr. Hodder gives sensible lessons on skating ; and "Evening Marry-Makings" will afford amusement at any time. Mr. Hodder writes upon a subject which is very popular just now, and here is the gist of his instruction:--

To hesitate in skating, as in beginning to swim, is to ensure failure. As soon as you have got the "feel of your feet," and you can stand upright on the ice, first with the aid of a chair, and then taking hold of the hand of a friend, strike out boldly, bend slightly forward, incline on the inside edge of the skate if you feel your legs running away from you, and when you want to stop, lift up your toes, and drive your heels into the ice. . . . Avoid the rough ice, and get into an open space with as few obstructions as possible. Above all have confidence, and the first time you go on the ice determine that you will skate tolerably well before the day is out ; make light work of your falls, however heavy they may be, and there is no reason why every boy should not in two or three practices make a good skater.
People must have been playing hockey on skates for at least a while before then, and based on documents such as Darwin's letter to his son, it seems that they were.

By the late 1870s, hockey was one of the most popular winter activities on British ice along with casual skating.
Christmas Sports and Christmas Fatalities .
The Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times (London, England), Saturday, December 28, 1878; pg. 427; Issue 909.

SKATING IN LONDON.

...

On the Long Water, according to the books of the [Royal] Humane Society, 9000 persons enjoyed skating and sliding on Sunday. There were several immersions and two lads suffered so much from chill that they were taken to the receiving-house, where stimulants were administered to them. In Regent's Park 20,000 people are returned as having been on the ice on Sunday. Some slight immersions, cut heads, and bruises are reported. The same number, 20,000, was reported as having gone on the ice in St. James's Park, and on Sunday night many were on the ice by torchlight. In Finsbury Park 3500 skated and slided ; but at three p.m., the ice being dangerous, the people were clerred off. At eight p.m. on Sunday many thousands of people were on the south side of the Serpentine, but the police, under Inspectors Fraser and Bradley, kept them from risking their lives. During the night there was another very hard frost ; and skating was indulged in on Monday, not only on the aforementioned lakes; but also on the Crystal Palace, Hendon, and other suburban skating-fields, the fine sheet of ice covering Virginia Water offering, perhaps, the clearest field to skaters.

ICE CASUALTIES IN THE COUNTRY

Snow likewise commenced falling in the Windsor district on Sunday morning, and in a few hours the castle, town, and surrounding country presented an extremely wintry appearance. Upon the Royal demeane the numerous lakes, rivulets, and ponds are covered with thick ice, which provided skating surfaces for hundreds of people. On Saturday skating and hockey were the principle amusements, the ponds at Bear's Rails and elsewhere in the Great Park and the Home Park being the favourite resorts ; the ornamental water at Eton College and Ditton Park, Datchet, the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, affording additional sport. In the Staines, Uxbridge, and Maidenhead districts skating was also in vogue.

...
Multiple Arts and Popular Culture Items .
The Dundee Courier & Argus and Northern Warder (Dundee, Scotland), Friday, January 17, 1879; pg. 42; Issue 7954. 19th Century British Library Newspapers: Part II.

A VOLUNTEER PARADE ON THE ICE. -- On Saturday the members of the [1st?] Lincolnshire (City of Lincoln) Volunteers assembled for a parade on one of the number of flooded and frozen meadows near the city. The novel feature of the assembly was that the officers and men wore skates, and performed all of their evolutions on the ice. The scarlet tunics of the men presented a warm relief to the dazzling whitoners of the parade ground, and a large number of persons assembled to witness the parade. The corps went past in line and in column at the "quick" in good style, but "marking time" and "keeping step" were matters rather difficult of accomplishment. Afterwards refreshments were supplied, and a game of hockey was improvised. Altogether this parade formed one of the most exhilarating and interesting of the season.
SKATING .
The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Monday, December 8, 1879; Issue 12999.

SKATING.

Now that old-fashioned winters seem to have returned to us, skating has, of course, become once more a favourite exercise. Considering how much we do in England towards improving our wickets, and making our lawns available for lawn-tennis, it is remarkable how very little is done for skating beyond the pale of the very exclusive and stringent Skating Club, to which admission can only be gained by those who can describe circles on the outside edge of at least a certain minimum diameter, and perform various feats to which the skaters of one or two seasons' standing cannot hope to aspire. But even were the ordeal through which the competitors must pass very much less trying, there would still be an immense number who are very fond of this healthy amusement and who yet could not possibly gain admission to an institution which is necessarily limited to a very small number. For the crowds of outsiders who do not want to be knocked down by roughs playing hockey, or familiarly addressed by the numerous 'Arrys frequenting our public parks, nothing is done, and there is no one inclined to do anything.

...

Both at Vienna and at Berlin there are skating clubs, to which admission is gained by a small fee without any preliminary examination, because the frozen area over which these clubs can disport themselves is so large that no overcrowding is to be feared. The Viennese Eislauf-Vercin has a lease of a large field close to the Ringstrasse. This is hired out for grazing purposes in the summer ; as the winter approaches the grass is carefully removed, and the surface prepared with cement for the reception of water. When the thermometer falls, the barometer rises, and the sky clears, a steam-pump is at once set to work, and the whole surface is covered with water to the depth of about one inch. One night's severe frost is enough to produce a sheet of ice as smooth as glass and as black as ink. Every evening, as soon as the skaters have retired, the operation is again repeated.

...
The writer of this article complains in a lengthy rant about the exclusivity of England's skating club and the inadequate system. He examines skating clubs in Austria and Germany that allow people to join for a small fee. It seems those skating clubs leased various parks to ensure that the size of their skating surface were adequate for a huge number of people.

Those in England who weren't part of the skating clubs had to skate in public areas, where hockey players were a nuisance.
PRINCE'S AND THE SKATING RINKS
Belgravia : a London magazine 7 (Jul 1875): 144-148.

PRINCE'S AND THE SKATING RINKS

Labour in some shape is the doom of all men, rich and poor alike, with this simple difference : the rich man toils that he may have an appetite for his dinner, the poor man for a dinner for his appetite. 'Your daughter wants a tonic, you say, madam,' said Sir James Clarke. 'True, but work is nature's tonic ; in default of that tonic she must swallow mine.' Much more said the doctor about living by proxy, and not like our grandmothers, with our full share of household occupation. It may be that as houses multiply much faster than servants, those primitive ways may come round again ; but as this may take no little time, to brace ladies' nerves, in the mean while, a worthy American benefactor has appeared in the inventive Mr. Plimpton, who, in conjunction with Mr. Prince, has achieved for Belgravian ladies that for which the Eastern prince of old offered a reward, namely, the discovery of one pleasure or amusement more.

The most infatuating of all wintry sports has been placed within our reach at all seasons of the year. Yes, the most infatuating. I have been a Skater, man and boy, for fifty years ; but for the greater part of that time my pleasure has been in imagination only, so many winters have passed without ice, or where ice was spoilt by snow, or perhaps by roughs and hockey, or where ponds were not, or even when illness interfered with the few, the very few, wished-for days. Winter after winter, every brother skater has hailed me as a kindred soul, and we both vowed to look out for ice and give each other the earliest information ; and yet how often has the sun regained its power, and with lengthening days left us to dream of skating for the year to come !

With this taste for the real thing -- for skating proper -- with what feelings did I receive the tidings of this new invention ?-- Most incredulously ; even with contempt !

...
This man wants to skate all year round, and so he complains in the article about roller skating and Henry Kirk's old artificial ice rink. In the 1870s it seemed artificial ice rinks could be made a reality, which excites him. He mentions hockey players being a nuisance over the course of his fifty years as a skater.

Hockey was already being played on the ice, and certainly was popular among regular folk by the 1870s. People in Britain called their version of the game "hockey." The 1871 skating guide is an example of someone being upset about people bringing hockey to the ice, as the author expressed concerns about its dangers. I bracketed "[1st]" ahead of the Lincolnshire Volunteers because the article is faded (as is most of the article) and I couldn't tell if that was the number or not.

One thing of note with regards to indoor rink history: in 1841 Mr. Henry Kirk presented his patented indoor artificial ice surface to some of England's best skaters. It received news coverage.
SKATING .
Preston Chronicle (Preston, England), Friday, December 24, 1841; Issue 1530.

SKATING.

In a recent number of George Cruikshank's Oinnibus there is an amusing squib -- literary and pictorial -- entitled "The Skating Room." A servant ploughing his way over the iced floor of a drawing-room, through a crowd of figurans and figuranted, who are skating a quadrille, seems more like the creation of the humorist's eccentric fancy than a sketch, but slightly exaggerated, of what enterprise and science has already actually accomplished. We had the pleasure last evening of passing an hour in a very comfortable room, enjoying the sight of some excellent skaters "cutting figures" on a sheet of ice large enough for the full enjoyment of the recreation, and small enough to be adopted as readily as a billiard-table amongst the resources of a gentleman's mansion!

This extraordinary exhibition is open at Jenkins's nursery grounds on the New-road, where a small room is most tastefully fitted to represent a frozen pond lying in a nook of a very picturesque landscape, covered with icicles and boar frost. The object of the patentee, Mr. Henry Kirk, is at present to prove the practicability of applying artificial ice to the purposes of skating. He has for this purpose covered the floor of a large room or pavilion, where the experiment was yesterday tested by some of the best skaters in England. Nothing could be more satisfactory than the result. The ice yields sufficiently to the skate to enable it to run freely, while it yet cuts so little that we can easily believe in the durability for which the patentee vouches. To the skater, the surface is in many respects more agreeable than what he most frequently finds upon our rivers and large sheets of water, while it appears to be deficient in none of the advantages. To all intents and purposes the substance laid down may be regarded as ice, for rather more than 60 per cent of it is water held by chemical agency in a state of congelation. It is not more than an inch in thickness, and yet its durability, it is calculated, is such as to be able to resist the effects of from one to to years' incessant skating. We understand, too, that it is renewable with the greatest facility. In a prospectus which was handed to us it is stated that, with the view of subjecting the artificial ice to the severest criticism, a quantity of it was laid down at the Baker-street Bazaar, and the members of the "Skating Club" were invited to test its properties -- who, after repeated trials, expressed their great admiration of the invention, and their conviction that the project, apparently so chimerical, of enabling the skater to enjoy his favourite amusement at all seasons, had been completely realized. The temperature to which the artificial ice was exposed, and in which it was used, on this occasion, with perfect success, was upwards of 80 degrees.

The visitors had also an opportunity of inspecting a model, designed and exeented under the direction of Mr. W. D. Bradwell, of a "Frozen Lake," upon which it is proposed to carry out the experiment upon a scale of great magnitude. We have seldom seen anything of the kind more beautiful ; and it certainly seems to us that an exhibition of the kind will form one of the most delightful sources of recreation, as well as attractive promenades, in the metropolis. The perfect safety of this mode of skating is amongst the greatest recommendations. A part of the present plan is to allot rooms to the use of learners, in which they may acquire sufficient dexterity to appear without danger or discredit upon "the great lake." -- Morning Chronicle of Tuesday week.
http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/articles/artificial_ice_rink.html
Skating in 19th century London.

The first artificial ice rink was made in London, England, in December 1841. It was chemically produced, not made from water. The very small ice rink, 12 ft by 6 ft, was created in the most unlikeliest of places, in a seed-room in the grounds of a nursery, near Dorset Square, London, and designed as a demonstration to attract investors for a much larger ‘Glacarium and Frozen Lake' which would be opened to the paying public.

The two men behind this scheme were its inventor Henry Kirk who had patented his 'Substitute for Ice for Skating and Sliding Purposes', and William Bradwell, an architect.

After further demonstration at the Colosseum, Regents Park, they went onto the Baker-Street Bazaar, Portman Square. Here they created a rink with "a surface of 3000 feet". The rink was decorated with painted alpine scenery, and music to skate by was provided by a promenade band. Visitors included Prince Albert and Prince Alexander of the Netherlands. The rink later moved to another premises near Tottenham Court Road.

However, it was not a financial success and the novelty wore off. The surface was costly to produce and maintain, and the quality of the ice was not good enough.

It was not until May 1876 in the King's Road, Chelsea, that the world witnessed the opening of the first water based artificial ice rink: The Glaciarium. It had been tested at a gentleman's club a few months before, and had raised immediate interest. Its inventor, Professor John Gamgee, had hit upon the idea while engaged in experiments on the production of refrigeration for the preservation of meat.

The process involved flooding the floor of the rink with water to a depth or 2-3 inches over flattened copper pipes. A combination of ether, glycerine and water, was then pumped through the pipes. Chemical reactions produced intense cold in the pipes which then froze the water. He went on to open two further rinks. The first was a 3000 square foot rink at the floating swimming baths on the Thames in London, and a rink at Rusholme, Manchester.

But there were problems with Gamgee's system as well. The intense cold of the ice meant skaters having to deal with a thick mist rising off the surface of the ice. Despite this, one rink using his system was opened in Southport, Manchester and it operated successfully for over ten years. However, this then closed.

It was going be several more decades before the technology of creating artificial ice for skating on would be perfected.
Lots of people were playing hockey on ice in Britain. It was a popular winter sport.

I suppose our next step is to look at the settler population of Nova Scotia and see who introduced hockey to James Creighton. The most logical theory is that immigrants from Britain brought the game to Nova Scotia.
Works Cited

"Christmas Sports and Christmas Fatalities." The Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times (London, England) Dec 28, 1878: 427. Gale Cengage. Web. 13 July 2015.

"On Skating." The Standard (London, England) Jan 16 1871: 2. Gale Cengage. Web. 13 July 2015.

"PRINCE'S AND THE SKATING RINKS." Belgravia : a London magazine 7 (1875): 144-8. ProQuest. Web. 14 July 2015.

"Merry and Wise." The Derby Mercury (Derby, England) Jan 23 1867. Gale Cengage. Web. 13 July 2015.

"Skating." Preston Chronicle (Preston, England) Dec 24, 1841. Gale Cengage. Web. 13 July 2015.

"Skating." The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England) Dec 8, 1879. Cale Cengage. Web. 13 July 2015.
 
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JA

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This is probably far fetched, but it could explain some original differences between the use of “bandy“ and “hockey“. This is more an etymological idea; than how it was actually played. Multiple local variants will arise probably combining these two “names“.

Hockey = you can drive the puck/ball in front of you (if it is from “Hooking“ the ball/puck rather than striking it).
So more individual skill game with each ball possessor trying to move towards the opponents goal (until tackled).

Bandy = if it is from french “bander“ means to “strike back and forth“. So you could maybe only strike the ball/puck.
A more “team“ based game with passing.

Difference probably not limited to number of players or maybe even what subsurface you play on. But maybe playing style.

As far as I know Lacrosse history the Iroquois didn't pass the ball at all as you do in modern Lacrosse to day. It was individual skill until you got smashed then scramble and the next man in ball possession moved forward. “Hockey“ could be something like this style?

Also early football types where you only seemed to dribble individually with “passing“ first being mentioned in the football association 1863; according to wikipedia at least.

So early on when teams met (from different towns) they probably had to agree on the precise rules before every match started.
Funnily enough, prior to the revision of the field hockey rules by the Hockey Association in Britain by Frank S. Creswell and co. in the late 1880s, field hockey in Britain was a dribbling game similar to what you've described as "hockey."

The Hockey Association was formed once in 1874 but disbanded in 1881. It was revived in 1886. This publication comes from 1890, written by Creswell himself, the Honorable Secretary of the Hockey Association at the time.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=PXwXAAAAYAAJ&lpg=RA1-PA6&ots=bgQ-o2ZeBC&dq=life%20of%20saint%20louis%20chicane&pg=RA3-PA72#v=onepage&q=hockey&f=false
HOCKEY

INTRODUCTION.

AMONG the many popular games which have come into fashion of late years, hockey can claim a foremost place. It is not a new game, as probably every one who has been to school during the past thirty years can testify. But the schoolboy hockey of yore, although the forerunner of the present game, was very different from it as now played according to the Association rules. Had players the unqualified option of striking their opponents across the shins with their sticks, whenever these said opponents happened to get on the wrong side (a practise long known as "shinning," we believe), it would become such a terrible means of chastisement that few men would care to face it and its consequences. As a rule you find that hockey-players are busy men -- I mean men who have some daily occupation, and to such men accidents are all the more serious, as it means that their business must suffer should they be laid up, be it only for two or three days. Therefore it stands to reason that the safer the game can be made the more popular it must become, provided you do not rob it of some of its best points. It is easy to make a game safe, no doubt, but the question is whether, are having secured the safety, you have not entirely spoiled the original game. For instance, in the case of hockey, let us substitute a soft hollow indiarubber ball, and a light cane in place of a proper hockey-stick. Security is probably attained, but how about the game?

The question of safety is, however, a very important one, and has occupied the minds of the committee of the Hockey Association for the past two or three seasons very seriously, in trying to correct existing elements of danger as well as to combat growing ones.

...

Whilst on the subject of danger, I must mention one of the worst and most fertile sources of accidents. This is the reckless lifting of wielding of the stick above the shoulder when in the act of striking the ball. This is provided against in the rules ; but, nevertheless, the rule is only too often broken, though for the most part unintentionally. This I will touch upon later, but take this opportunity of making a few remarks, not on the subject exactly of "lifting the stick above the shoulder," but as regards the long mowing or scythe sweeping stroke, adopted to enable the striker to obtain as hard a hit as it is possible to do, without running the risk of being pulled up by the umpire when appealed to for "sticks." This mowing stroke is an innovation to be strongly deprecated, notwithstanding that some players now make a practice of cultivating it. The stroke has little to recommend it, and there is much in it to condemn.

...

Combination Play

Hockey up to two seasons ago was exclusively a dribbling game. The player who happened to have the ball kept it pretty much to himself as long as he could do so, without any thought of combination in passing the ball to another player on his own side, very much in the same way as some of us remember football was played in our school days, before the Football Association adopted the more scientific methods of playing by combination. For the past two seasons, however, a desired change has been made in hockey. The combination game is becoming more and more known, and recognized as a decided improvement by experienced players.

...
Now, on our own Iain Fyffe's blog he states that the "Montreal Rules" were declared on February 7, 1876 in The Gazette.

http://hockeyhistorysis.blogspot.ca/2014/01/on-his-own-side-of-puck-excerpt_16.html
The Montreal Gazette of February 7, 1876 contains the first reference to an actual set of rules that were used in the third recorded game of organized hockey, reporting that the game “was conducted under the 'Hockey Association' rules.” We will address the Hockey Association in more detail later, suffice it to say it was an association of English field hockey clubs formed in 1875. Finally, a report in the February 27, 1877 edition of the same paper finally provided complete details of the rules themselves. These rules have since become known as the Montreal Rules, and are as follows:

The Montreal Rules - 1877

Rule 1: The game shall be commenced and renewed by a Bully [faceoff] in the centre of the ground. Goals [ends] shall be changed after each game [goal].

Rule 2: When a player hits the ball, any one of the same side who at such moment of hitting is nearer to the opponents’ goal line is out of play, and may not touch the ball himself, or in any way whatever prevent any other player from doing so, until the ball has been played. A player must always be on his own side of the ball.

Rule 3: The ball may be stopped, but not carried or knocked on by any part of the body. No player shall raise his stick above his shoulder. Charging from behind, tripping, collaring [grabbing the sweater], kicking or shinning [slashing on the shins] shall not be allowed.

Rule 4: When the ball is hit behind the goal line by the attacking side, it shall be brought out straight 15 yards, and started again by a Bully; but, if hit behind by any one of the side whose goal line it is, a player of the opposite side shall hit it out from within one yard of the nearest corner, no player of the attacking side at that time shall be within 20 yards of the goal line, and the defenders, with the exception of the goal-keeper, must be behind their goal line.

Rule 5: When the ball goes off at the side, a player of the opposite side to that which hit it out shall roll it out from the point on the boundary line at which it went off at right angles with the boundary line, and it shall not be in play until it has touched the ice, and the player rolling it in shall not play it until it has been played by another player, every player being then behind the ball.

Rule 6: On the infringement of any of the above rules, the ball shall be brought back and a Bully shall take place.

Rule 7: All disputes shall be settled by the Umpires, or in the event of their disagreement, by the Referee.
You can actually read the Hockey Association's field hockey rules in the Google Books link above. They are the same rules, for the most part, using the same terminology. The same rule about sticks having to remain below the shoulder, etc, etc.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=PXwXAAAAYAAJ&lpg=RA1-PA6&ots=bgQ-o2ZeBC&dq=life%20of%20saint%20louis%20chicane&pg=RA3-PA63#v=onepage&q=hockey&f=false
THE PLAY

There is much to be said on the subject of playing the game of hockey, and although views of eminent players have altered considerably since the game first came into notice, and, for that matter, are still undergoing change, I think a few remarks may not be out of place as regards the positions and duties of each different player.

...

The captains of the respective sides having tossed for choice of goals, the game is commenced by a "bully." The ball is placed on the centre mark A. The centre forward of each side stands between it and his own goal-line, and strikes the ground and his opponent's stick alternately three times, after which the ball is in play, and may be hit at once by either of them.

The ball being once started, the forwards of each side endeavour, by dribbling and passing, to carry it into the opponents' striking-circle, and then if possible to score a goal.

When a "bully" occurs, every player must be between his own goal-line and the ball.

If the ball be hit behind the goal-line by one of the attacking side, it is dead, and must be brought out and placed twenty-five yards from the goal-line, at a spot in front of where it crossed the goal-line, and there restarted by a "bully."

If the ball be hit behind the goal-line by one of the defending side, or if it be hit by one of the attacking side and cross the goal-line after striking or glancing off a player of the defending side or his stick, a corner hit is claimed. When a 'corner' is allowed, all the defending side must retire behind their own goal-line, the attacking side taking up their position on the outer edge of the striking-circle. When all are in their places, the ball is hit by one of the attacking side from a spot within a yard of the corner flag-post, on whichever side the ball went behinds, towards his own side on the edge of the striking-circle, so that one or other of them may endeavour, by a sharp and quick stroke, to drive the ball between the goal-posts. As soon as the ball is it, the defending side may rush forward and try to prevent the attacking side from having a cool and steady shot at goal.

Neither side may rush in before the ball has been hit.

No goal can be scored unless the ball be hit by one of the attacking side from within the striking-circle. Nor can a goal be scored if one of the attacking side hit the ball from outside the circle, even though it may have struck or glanced off the stick or person of one of the defending side.

Corners do not count as points scored.

Back-handed play. No player may strike or stop the ball with the back or round side of his stick. A player so offending is liable to have a "back-hander" claimed against him, the penalty for which is a free hit for the opponents.

When a "free hit" is allowed, none of the offending side must be within five yards of the spot where the hit is made. A free hit must be made at the spot where the offence occurred, for which the penalty is claimed (see Rules).

The ball is dead when it crosses the side boundary line B B. It must be rolled in along the ground by one of the opposite side to that which hit it out, in any direction except forwards, and no player may hit it till it is five yards within the boundary line.

Offside. A player is offside if he is in advance of the ball when it is hit to him by one of his own side, and when there are not three of his opponents between him and the opponents' goal at the moment of his hitting the ball. He may not touch it till it has been hit by another player. The penalty is a free hit.

The usual duration of the game is an hour and ten minutes. The sides change goals at half-time.
You can see that all seven of the Montreal Rules can be found in the Hockey Association Rules. Some of these Hockey Association rules were added after 1875, but all seven of the Montreal Rules are present among a list of 19-plus Hockey Association rules at the time (the 1890 publication states Rule 19 is that both umpires are now in charge of only one half of the field each).

So the Montreal Rules plagiarize the Hockey Association rules. The Hockey Association started to move away from individualistic play in 1888. The sticks were changed, as was the ball. This is where I think both the Canadian brand starts to differ from the British brand because the British were trying to change their game for the purpose of safety. Hockey as played on ice for decades prior in Britain would have been exactly what you've described as hockey, Justinov. It's very likely that the game James Creighton grew up with was imported from Britain. I don't think there's any chance that the inhabitants, especially recent immigrants, would not have known the game of hockey as it was played in Britain.

The 1861 Nova Scotia census shows that the population there increased from 276,117 in 1851 to 330,857 in 1861. In total in 1861, 36,151 people were listed as being born outside of the province.

People in Britain were calling the game "hockey" for quite a long time before any "hockey" appeared in Canada. People were playing hockey on ice in Britain as well, driving some of the casual skaters insane. Skating was a major pastime in Britain as well as in other European countries. With people moving back and forth between Canada and Britain, the game was likely introduced in its pre-codified state to Canadians. Then, when the Hockey Association created rules for non-ice hockey in 1874, Creighton probably wanted to follow suit the following year with the on-ice version, taking rules straight from the Hockey Association rulebook.

Check out this illustration from 1864.
"SCENE ON THE ICE AT VIRGINIA WATER ON THE DAY OF THE PRINCESS OF WALES'S ACCOUNCHEMENT: HER ROYAL HIGHNESS WATCHING THE PRINCE PLAYING AT HOCKEY." Penny Illustrated Paper [London, England] 16 Jan. 1864: [33].
SCENE%20ON%20THE%20ICE%20AT%20VIRGINIA%20WATER%20ON%20THE%20DAY%20OF%20THE%20PRINCESS%20OF%20WALES_S%20ACCOUNCHEMENT%20HER%20ROYAL%20HIGHNESS%20WATCHING%20THE%20PRINC_zpsn1ctlage.jpg


Albert Edward, Prince of Wales is depicted as holding a hockey stick, wearing skates, and clustered among other players while the Princess of Wales and many others watch him play.

Hockey on ice was no secret.

It seems that, even though James Creighton brought the Hockey Association rules to Canada, people in Britain may have already been applying the Hockey Association rules themselves to their on-ice version of the game.

1878:
HOCKEY. W. H. BROUGHAM.
The Sporting Gazette (London, England), Saturday, December 21, 1878; pg. 1219; Issue 867. (405 words)


HOCKEY.-- The severe weather we have experienced during the week has made the ice fairly safe for skating. On Friday, the 13th inst., a good game at hockey between eleven residents from Brigg and an equal number of Elsham Wanderers was witnessed on the ponds of Sir J. D. Astley, M.P., of Elsham Hall, the banks of which were honoured with a good sprinkling of the fair sex. The game commenced slightly in favour of Brigg, but the Wanderers, under the captaincy of F. Astley, Esq, getting warm to their work, soon placed the verdict beyond doubt, two goals being secured in half an hour. When half time was called a change of goals occurred. The Brigg team with varied and strenuous attempts vainly endeavoured to lower the Elsham standard, a very pleasant game terminating at call of "time" in an easy victory for the home team by five goals to nil. A few slight casualties occurred during the game, but none serious. The warriors from Brigg, if not honoured with success, bore home with them reminiscences of valour by slight duckings and varied bruises to crown them with glory for wiser, if not better, men. Appended is a list of players:-- Elsham : F, Astley, Esq. (captain), Rev. R. C. Casson, H. Cartwright, R. Davy, F. Dunn, W. Hill, J. Marshall, J. Phillips, E. Spencer, G. Varley, and H. Waters. Brigg: J. Andrews (captain), J. Baker, F. Heneage, W. Knight, E. Sandall, J. Shirtcliffe, T. Smith, J. Spight, S. Walker, W. Blackeye, and G. Strong.--Stamford Mercury.
About spectators:
HOCKEY ON THE ICE.
Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (London, England), Saturday, January 25, 1879; pg. 12; Issue 3,056.

HOCKEY ON THE ICE.--BLUNTISHAM v SWAVESEY.--This match, under the captaincy of Messrs S. Tebbutt and F. Clarke, took place at Swavesey in the presence of a large number of spectators, on Wednesday last. The ice was in very fair condition, and some capital play took place, especially by the Bluntisham representatives, whose dribbling was generally admired, and penned their opponents throughout the whole game, but after two hours' play, when "no side" was called, neither side had scored, the match thus ending in a draw. The following are the players :--Bluntisham: F. Jewwson, S. Tebbutt, C. P. Tebbut, sen., C. G. Tebbutt, J. Key, J. Harper, J. Rawlins, Doe, Barnes, Wesson, Murphy, and E. Batch.--Swavesey: Messrs G. Long, S. Whittome, H. Beaumont, E. Braisher, E. B. Holmes, J. Parsons, F. Carter, J. Carter, A. Metcalf, S. Dodson, J. Netherwood, J. Ellis, T. Coote, and J. Garner.
You may see C. G. Tebbutt listed on the Bluntisham side. That's Charles Goodman Tebbutt, a member of the Bury Fen Bandy Club and the man responsible for defining the rules of bandy in 1882. He went on to teach the game to the rest of Northern Europe, and founded the National Bandy Association in 1891.

There are few sources at the time calling the game bandy; even this game involving the bandy club is identified as hockey. There are a few sources that refer to both as the same thing, so perhaps they are just different names. One source refers to the game as "hockey" because of the hooked blades; another, Edward B. Tylor, posits that the word "bandy" refers to the curved stick but then uses "hockey" as the term throughout the rest of the publication, explaining its Persian origin as ancient polo or "chugan."

https://books.google.ca/books?id=pQip4KoigVkC&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=chugan+sport&source=bl&ots=tbh8NVtXho&sig=QV76UY5p41TQckuefU3O9qJdznU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCsQ6AEwBGoVChMInozStqDaxgIVxNUeCh2cqwnK#v=onepage&q=chugan%20sport&f=false

The rules for Bury Fen bandy and Canadian hockey both are derived from the rules of the Hockey Association. "Bandy" and "hockey" were names for the same game of hockey until Tebbutt determined that "bandy" would be its own game in 1882. "Bandy" wasn't the preferred term for hockey, although it seems to have been an informal or alternate term. The Bandy Association appears to have pushed for the "bandy" name to stick, especially since Tebbutt started to push for his own brand of the game. The promotion of bandy is when the course of Britain's future with hockey is completely altered. Up until then, the game of hockey was developing along the same path in both Britain and Canada -- Montague Shearman's proposal in 1883 is a glimpse at what could have been.

Here's Tebbutt promoting his game in a section of a book he co-wrote, published in 1892. He spends much of the article talking about how terrific Bury Fen is at bandy and about how much better bandy is than hockey. He wants to promote the legacy of Bury Fen so that he may promote his game, which he established rules for in 1882. All of the bandy games he talks about involve him and his brothers. At the same time, he tries to distance the term "hockey" from "bandy" by saying that 'hockey refers to field hockey while bandy refers to the on-ice equivalent.' He ignores the fact that people have been playing hockey on the ice and calling it "hockey" for a very long time. People were calling his matches "hockey" before Tebbutt started labeling them "bandy."

http://www.dermott.ca/skate1892/bandy.html
BANDY
BY C. G. TEBBUTT

THE game of bandy, otherwise known as hockey and shinney, or shinty, is doubtless one of the earliest pastimes of the kind ever known. In its most primitive form it is simply played down the middle of a village street by boys who, armed with bent sticks, make themselves warm on a winter's evening by knocking a * cat ' about, all against all. At other times sides are chosen and it becomes a more regular game, the hedges or houses forming the side boundaries, and a couple of stones, some hundred yards apart, marking each goal.

From this rough-and-ready frolic, however, the present games of hockey and bandy are derived.

The word ' hockey ' is now given to a well-established game under definite rules, played with boundaries and goals as football is on grass, while ' bandy ' has long been identified with a game played like hockey, but on ice; and it is with this game we are now concerned.

...

Concurrently with skating races, bandy matches have long been held in the fens. It is certain that during the last century the game was played and even matches were held on Bury Fen, and the local tradition that the Bury Fenners had not been defeated for a century may not be an idle boast. But it was not until the great frost of 1813-14 that tradition gives place to certainty. I propose to furnish a short account of the Bury Fen players ; for, excepting a few games played on private waters in different parts of England, bandy has been confined to that district, and its history is a history of the game.

...

The defence of goal is of great importance. A hit at goal by a player near is very dangerous, but if from a little further off so that the goal-keeper can ' spot ' the ball, it is of little importance. With goals 12 feet wide, instead of 6 feet as formerly, it is now impossible to block them up by lying down as the six-foot goal-keeper from Chatteris once did. The goalkeeper should, unless very much pressed, always first stop the ball before hitting it. Hitting a rapidly moving ball is too risky. The Virginia Water team, composed mostly of hockey players, showed in their match with the Bury Fen Club how effective skilful hitting at goal can be, and how dangerous it is to leave the ball in front of goal.

...

The best skates are the flat-bladed skates with a sharp heel, as used in the Fens ; but any skate which has not very curved blades will do. It is a mistake to suppose that great speed for a short distance is only possible on Fen skates ; it is activity that is of greater importance. But where the advantage of Fen skates comes in is in the greater firmness and steadiness of players on them. A Fenman seldom falls or loses control of himself, even when going at great speed. On curved blades it Is impossible to keep quite a straight course or to prevent rolling slightly from side to side. The sharp heels should be of use for suddenly stopping and turning.

The best practice for playing bandy is to play hockey, for the wonderful hitting and passing of hockey players must give them great advantage in the use of the bandy stick.

There is no need for bandy to be rough or dangerous, nor does the game deserve the character sometimes given to it. If the frost king, Thialf, could only be bribed to send plenty of frost and skating, bandy has all the elements to make it a most popular game, and would become so. We may expect that in countries blessed with a colder climate the game will develop in the same way as hockey and football have done in England. Play is more rapid and exciting than in any other game. It requires the nicest combined use of eye, hand, and foot, and calls forth the greatest enthusiasm from those who have once played, while to the spectator the rapid and tricky dribbling, accurate passing, and sure shooting, make it a most fascinating spectacle.

http://www.dermott.ca/skate1892/bandy.html

As for the shape of hockey sticks...
FORREST, GEORGE. "HOCKEY." Every Boy's Magazine [London, England] [1 Apr. 1862]: 180. 19th Century UK Periodicals. Web. 14 July 2015.
HOCKEY. GEORGE FORREST.
Every Boy's Magazine (London, England), [Tuesday], [April 01, 1862]; pg. 180; Issue 3.

HOCKEY.

By George Forrest.

IN all the general principles, hockey bears a great resemblance to football, the game consisting in driving a ball through a goal. The ball, however, is of much smaller dimensions, even where a ball, and not a bung, is used, and it is impelled, not by the foot, but by certain ticks, or clubs, called hockeys, or hookeys, because the end with which the ball is struck is more or less hooked.

The shape and dimensions of the hockey-stick are entirely arbitrary, being left to the peculiar taste of the owners. Some like their hockeys to be sharply hooked, while others prefer them merely bent over at the end. Some players like a very thick, heavy stick, which can be put down in front of the ball in order to neutralize the blows of the opposite side, while others can play best with a slight and springy weapon, that can be used with one hand, and is employed to tape the ball away just as an opponent is about to strike and coax it, as it were, towards the goal through the mass of adverse sticks.

The four sticks shown in the engraving are very good samples of the forms best adapted for use. Fig. 1 is much in favour with some players, and is therefore given ; but for my own part I never could play to my own satisfaction with it, the large and deep curve deceiving the eye and causing the player to let the ball pass through the hook, besides running the risk of entanglement in the opponent's stick.

Fig. 2 is usually a favourite, but the angle of the head with the handle is arranged according to the fancy of the player. Some like the head to be made of horn, backed with lead like a golf stick ; but this formation is hardly necessary, costing a rather large sum, and not conveying correspondent advantages.

...

The ball used for this game is sometimes an ordinary cask bung. As this would speedily be knocked to pieces, it is generally quilted with string, as shown in the illustration, for the better preserving its integrity. Sooner or later, however, it goes to pieces, for the string is sure to be cut or worn through, and the cork soon gives way. Balls, too, are apt to get their jackets knocked off, and, if struck hard, will sometimes fly in the face of a player, who cannot avoid it at so short a distance, and do no small damage. A hollow india-rubber ball is very good ; but the best that I have yet seen, was a common globular india-rubber bottle, such as can be procured at any stationers, with the neck cut off, and partly filled up by leaving a strip of the neck and securing it by the proper varnish.

It made a capital ball. Nothing could hurt it and it could hurt no one. I have had it driven into my face at two yards' distance, and felt little the worse for it five minutes afterwards.

...

The following two are small sections from George Forrest's explanation of the game of hockey in 1862.

HOCKEY%20GEORGE%20FORREST%20Every%20Boy_s%20Magazine%20London%20England%20Tuesday%20April%2001%201862%20pg%20180%20Issue%203_zpsazbcaegk.jpg


Familiar?

HOCKEY%20GEORGE%20FORREST%20Every%20Boy_s%20Magazine%20London%20England%20Tuesday%20April%2001%201862%20pg%20180%20Issue%203_2_zpsohjmfq2i.jpg


By the way, there are codified rules for the pre-Hockey Association rules game. They were published multiple times in the 1860s and involved whacking someone in the shin when they committed a penalty. More on that later.

Brits also saw polo as "hockey on horseback." The "hockey on horseback" craze begins in the late 1860s, early 1870s when they notice Calcutta natives playing the game. Apparently hockey and tennis can be traced back to ancient polo, as the thirteenth-century scholar Jean de Joinville saw that the Persians/Byzantines had played a similar stick-and-ball on horseback game, a dismounted version of which was shared with Europeans. That game apparently is the origin of stick-and-ball sports such as tennis and hockey equivalents. Could that have potentially been shared with the mapuche of South America, becoming "palín?" More on that later as well.

The big takeaway from this, though, is that bandy seems to be just another name for hockey; that is, until Charles Goodman Tebbutt begins to create differences.

Here's an 1892 article from The Globe in Toronto.
SPORTS OF ALL SORTS: The Hamilton Thistles Beaten at Gait SOLDIERS WIN AT HOCKEY The Latest Derby Speculation POSSIBILITY THE WINNERS MAY BE OWNED BY A CANADIAN-- METROPOLITAN INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP BY THE WAY
The Globe (1844-1936) [Toronto, Ont] 25 Jan 1892: 6.

...

In England hockey on the ice, which is the only style known here, is called "bandy," and the Bandy Association for the government of the game has just been formed. A team consists of eleven players instead of seven as here, but the rules of play are much the same as ours.

...
Before the Tebbutt standardization of what ice hockey in England was supposed to be, some organizers still liked to choose for themselves the size of the teams.

Here's Montague Shearman, co-founder of the Amateur Athletics Association in 1880, providing some recommendations for rules in ice hockey in an 1883 article. He recommended seven to eight players per side and the allowance of forward passing in addition to numerous other rules.
SKATING. MONTAGUE SHERMAN, Late President O. U. A. C.
The Union Jack: Every Boy's Paper (London, England), Tuesday, February 27, 1883; pg. 347; Issue 22.

SKATING.
BY MONTAGUE SHEARMAN,
Late President O. U. A. C.
Chapter IV. -- HOCKEY ON SKATES.

No game so healthy, exhilarating, and exciting gives more opportunity for the exhibition of individual excellence and scientific skill than that of hockey on the ice. Few, I suppose, are totally unacquainted with the game. There are probably not many of my readers who, when they have seen a "bung" or ball knocked about the ice, have never joined in the fun, nor have any pleasurable recollections of the helter-skelter rush after the ball, the loud scraping of the skates on the ice when the game changes its direction, the collisions, the thumping falls, the laugh which rings out when a player finds he has slid ten yards away from his hat, the triumphant goal obtained by the last hit before the balance is lost, and the "breather" and mopping of the manly brow. Unfortunately, however, the great majority of those who get an hour's fun and exercise out of the sport, seem to be unaware that the game can be made as scientific as football, lacrosse, or hockey on a playing-field, and join in indiscriminately with little idea of the direction in which they are expected to hit, or of the rules and regulations to which they should conform.

...

But, of course, the better hockey-stick (or "bandy," as it is usually called) you use, the better and more skilfully the game will be played.

...

But to return to the subject of the size of the ground of play. I believe in the fen district that it is usual to play twelve or fifteen a side, on a ground 200 yards or so in length, and about eighty or a hundred yards in breadth. But independently on the difficulty of getting a large enough space, it would be extremely hard in most cases to get together at short notice so many players... As good a game as any one could desire can be obtained on a piece of ice 100 yards long and fifty wide, the players being seven a side and no more.

In most of the matches in which I have engaged, seven or eight has been the number. Of these, two are placed somewhat behind the others, and one told off to defend the goal. If there are five forwards, let two keep one side of the ice, two on the other, and one in the middle. If there should be only four forwards, they must divide the ice between them, two being allotted to each side. The width of the goals should be about ten feet. If goal-posts specially made for the purpose, standing upon rests like jumping-posts, are used, they should not be more than seven feet in height, but if the goals are merely marked out by coats, or something else of that description, as is often the case, it should be understood that no goal can be scored if the ball flies up in the air and out of reach of the goal-keeper's arm. I need scarcely say, however, that such hits are not likely to occur.

In general features, the game should be made to resemble football under Association rules, with this exception that there should be, I think, no off-side rule of any description. While the player is travelling at very great speed over the ice, it is not only impossible for him to avoid getting off-side, but it is most difficult for an umpire, or the captains of the teams, to decide the exact position of the hitter at any moment.

...

In saying that the game should be made to resemble Association football, I have really given all the possible directions for playing it well. Hard hitting is useless for a forwards of the attacking side, as the ball is sure to be hit back again at once ; "dribbling" and "passing" should be the order of the day, and successful combination is more effective than brilliant individual play. The best way to score a goal is to take the ball down one side or other of the ground, and then to "middle" to a player of the opposite wing, who by a smart and deft shot will send it through.

....

We beg to offer, then, the following rules for the guidance of those who play seven or eight-a-side hockey on the ice.

...
Early in the article he writes that it's difficult for hockey players to find a huge space to accommodate the game as played in the fen district (where the Tebbutts play). He also writes that figure-skaters in the public rinks get upset because of the hockey-players who they feel intrude. He believes they can get along like bicyclist and horseman.

Here are Montague Shearman's rules:
[Hockey on the Ice Rules according to Montague Sherman, February 1883]

...

1. The ground shall be a rectangular quadrangle, 100 yards in length and fifty in breadth, or thereabouts, and goal-line and touch-line shall be marked out with flags, or otherwise.

2. The width of the goal shall be ten feet : a goal is counted to the attacking side when the ball shall be sent between the posts, at a height not greater than seven feet from the ground.

3. The game shall be started by the umpire tossing the ball in the air in the centre of the ground. As soon as the ball touches the ice, the game shall be considered to have begun, and the ball may be hit by any player without restriction until a goal is scored. After a goal is scored the game shall be started again in the same manner.

4. The duration of the game shall be one hour, or such time as shall be agreed upon by the opposing captains, and sides shall be changed at half-time.

5. When a ball is knocked over the touch-line, a player of the opposite side shall throw or hit the ball into play again in a direction at right angles to the touch-line. The ball shall not be in the play until it has touched the ice.

6. When the ball is struck behind the goal-line, the player of the defending side shall have a free hit off from the point where the ball crossed the line, and the players of the opposite side must retire fifteen yards, at least, from the goal-line.

7. No hockey-stick shall be lifted above the shoulder.

8. A player may catch a ball with his hand if it is in the air, but may not run with it ; he must let it fall at once in the place where he has caught it.

9. All disputes shall be settled by the umpires or by the captains of the two sides.

10. In any cases not provided for by the rules, the rules of the English Football Association shall be appealed to.

...

I have tried in the foregoing papers to point out to novices and inexperienced skaters how they have health and pleasure without any alloy at hand as soon as the ice will bear. To experienced performers, I have been unable in the space at my command to say much that they have not known already ; but if I have persuaded any one to give up "sliding" for skating, to learn to cut a figure, to run a race, or play a game of hockey on the ice, I shall not have written in vain ; and shall be content if any of my readers are wishing, with me, in the words of the bard,-- "Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky."
It looks like the Tebbutts are responsible for their version of the game becoming popular. After the creation of the Bandy Association, they described what they considered to be a "regulation stick."

Ice hockey in Britain followed the same development path as hockey in Canada. They both started as an informal game (although various British articles do outline some rules, which I will post later), then when the Hockey Association outlined its rules they were adapted by organizers both in Canada and in Britain. While they eventually developed along different paths, particularly due to Bury Fen, the game came from the same place. Hockey as played on ice has roots in Britain and was very popular. It was a part of Britain's wintertime sporting culture, so popular that even Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, future King of the United Kingdom, took part in its enjoyment.
Works Cited

BROUGHAM, W. H. "HOCKEY." Sporting Gazette [London, England] 21 Dec. 1878: n.p. 19th Century UK Periodicals. Web. 14 July 2015.

"HOCKEY ON THE ICE." Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle [London, England] 25 Jan. 1879: n.p. 19th Century UK Periodicals. Web. 14 July 2015.

"NOVA SCOTIA STATISTICS." The Globe (1844-1936): 2. Mar 31 1862. ProQuest. Web. 14 July 2015 .

SHERMAN, MONTAGUE, Late President O. U. A. C. "SKATING." Union Jack: Every Boy's Paper [London, England] 27 Feb. 1883: n.p. 19th Century UK Periodicals. Web. 14 July 2015.

"SPORTS OF ALL SORTS." The Globe (1844-1936): 6. Jan 25 1892. ProQuest. Web. 14 July 2015 .
 
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JA

Guest
I would love to hear some thoughts.

By the way, in a hockey match between Canada and England at the National Skating Palace in 1896 (the illustration also shows a puck instead of a ball), England beat Canada 4-2.
The Hockey Match Played on the Ice Between England and Canada at the National Skating Palace produced play of a very high order indeed.
The Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times (London, England), Saturday, February 22, 1896; pg. 120; Issue 1813.

The Hockey Match Played on the Ice Between England and Canada at the National Skating Palace produced play of a very high order indeed, the result being in the nature of a surprise, for few could have anticipated that the Canadians, reared as they are half their lives on ice-fields would have succumbed. Yet our countrymen by very excellent play managed to score a sensational victory, the result standing four goals to two. A few words anent the new Recreation Hall of London. A marvellous transformation strikes the visitor on entering the old Hengler's Cirque. In the place of the old cirque one finds a perfect fairy palace, the illusion being enhanced by dainty electric lights peeping out from every conceivable form of flower and plant. The ice is the most perfect of its kind ever produced artificially.

HOCKEY ON THE ICE AT THE NATIONAL SKATING PALACE : CANADA V. ENGLAND.
Works Cited

"The Hockey Match Played on the Ice Between England and Canada at the National Skating Palace produced play of a very high order indeed." Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times [London, England] 22 Feb. 1896: 120. 19th Century British Newspapers. Web. 14 July 2015.
 
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JA

Guest
Thanks for bringing all those details to the attention of the forum. May I ask where you got the info from (the piece from Iain Fyffe's blog aside)?

There's a great database service called Gale NewsVault for old 17th, 18th, and 19th century British and American periodicals. Gale Cengage is good for that too. ProQuest offers various databases including The Globe and Mail, dating back to 1844 (when it was The Globe and The Toronto Mail and The Empire), in addition to the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, all dating back to the 1800s.

I've also done some digging around on Google Books. I took a look at Statistics Canada for the 1861 Nova Scotia Census information, then followed up with a periodical search.

There are a lot of good resources out there for research.
 
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JA

Guest
The reason for the decline of hockey in England appears to have been the standardization of the game by Charles Tebbutt, its rebranding as "Bandy," and the requirement that the game be played on a 150 yard x 100 yard rink (137.16 meters x 91.44 meters) with particular conditions; consequently, the sport could not grow and in fact probably became more difficult to play; it may have also been less appealing than the old game, depending on what the rules might have been. People probably didn't need nearly as much space to play hockey before as they did in the Bandy Association era. Then you needed regulation sticks. With multipurpose hockey arenas being built in Canada, more feasible conditions for the 7-man game, and no bandy arenas being built in Britain, the new "bandy" suffered relative to hockey. Bandy grew in popularity in the Scandinavian countries and in Eastern Europe as a result of Tebbutt's introduction of the games to those countries. That might have encouraged people in Britain to continue playing the game. Additionally, they appear to have only had a National Bandy Association and no other governing body to promote an alternative version of the game. I'll do more work in the upcoming days to figure out why they couldn't just pick up hockey again. A few decades later, the English team was embarrassed 11-1 in a hockey match against Canada.

1280px-Arena_V%C3%A4nersborg_-_November_2010.jpg


https://books.google.ca/books?id=lpDdBwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA11&ots=A9kAPgUjwx&dq=bandy%20popularity%20england&pg=PA11#v=onepage&q=bandy%20popularity%20england&f=false

No indoor bandy arenas were built anywhere in the world until 1980 because of the required dimensions for the game. C. G. Tebbutt's Bandy game needed to be played outdoors on natural ice surfaces that were large enough to accommodate his vision.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2006/02/15/bandy_sport_feature.shtml
The Norris Museum in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, has a copy of the Bandy Code of Rules, developed in 1882. As an example, Bob cites rule number 11 which states: If you drop your stick during a game of Bandy then any of your opponents is entitled to pick it up and throw it away.
 
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Sanf

Registered User
Sep 8, 2012
1,943
902
Lot of interesting stuff. Origins of hockey is not really my pet subject, but I have sometimes played with archives and oldest mentioning of hockey like game from English papers I have seen is from 1829 (though the article doesn´t mention if they were using skates).

London Morning Post
Thursday, December 31, 1829

The Serpentine river

The ice yesterday presented a solid body, four inches in thickness, and transparent where the snow had been removed from the surface. The concourse, of skaiters and of persons enjoying the sight from the banks were very numerous. Many Ladies were prevailed upon to trust themselves on the ice, and, after trying the experiment for a few minutes, were satisfied that there was no more cause for apprehension than on terra firma. Hundreds of men and boys, principally of the lowest class, were pursuing the game of hockey, namely, striking a bung with knobbed stick. As usual, many laughable scenes arose from parties coming in contact, and some falls were the consequence. This sport, however, is a terrible nuisance to the genteel portion of the visitors. The skaiters were more numerous, by the accession of many young holiday folks ; and we saw some among the performers of great tact; but the generality did not go beyond the roll on the outside edge. The same Gentlemen as on the preceding day were there, performing in circles cleanly swept, below the boat-house. The stalls and booths were more numerous.

During the early part od Sunday, the number of persons on the ice was comparatively small, but towards afternoon a continued stream of persons of both sexes, ans all classes in life, kept pouring through every inlet into the park. Until about three o´clock, the number on the ice, and on the banks, the bridge, &c., it was computed exceeded 20,000. The Principal sourse of amusement to the commonalty was, however, the games of Hockey-bung and football, to which to be attributed the occurance of lamentable accident in which a life has been lost.
 

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
There's a great database service called Gale NewsVault for old 17th, 18th, and 19th century British and American periodicals. Gale Cengage is good for that too. ProQuest offers various databases including The Globe and Mail, dating back to 1844 (when it was The Globe and The Toronto Mail and The Empire), in addition to the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, all dating back to the 1800s.

I've also done some digging around on Google Books. I took a look at Statistics Canada for the 1861 Nova Scotia Census information, then followed up with a periodical search.

Thanks. Are you aware of the publication that is the cause this thread came into being?
 

JA

Guest
Thanks. Are you aware of the publication that is the cause this thread came into being?

At the time of my above posts, I had only read the article in the OP about the researchers. I have not read their book yet.

There is a YouTube video of their presentation, though. I watched this just now.



They cover some of the same topics (and run into some of the same evidence), although they don't quite explore the history of Charles Tebbutt's connection to the game in the presentation. They also conclude that hockey and bandy are the same game, and that hockey was brought to Canada from Britain.
 
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Fugu

RIP Barb
Nov 26, 2004
36,952
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At the time of my above posts, I had only read the article in the OP about the researchers. I have not read their book yet.

There is a YouTube video of their presentation, though. I watched this just now.

<snip>

They cover some of the same topics (and run into some of the same evidence), although they don't quite explore the history of Charles Tebbutt's connection to the game in the presentation. They also conclude that hockey and bandy are the same game, and that hockey was brought to Canada from Britain.

Forgive me if I missed it, but do you agree with their conclusion?
 

JA

Guest
Forgive me if I missed it, but do you agree with their conclusion?

I do. I think they make a lot of good points, and their conclusion is consistent with mine.

Here's an interesting excerpt from an article:
Winter Games in Canada.
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser (Manchester, England), Saturday, January 12, 1895; pg. 2; Issue 11911.

WINTER GAMES IN CANADA.

"As for the games and the competitions of all sorts which were going on, I could not attempt to describe them. Hockey, the premier winter game of Canada, was, of course, well to the fore, exciting the wonted enthusiasm of its devotees, through the roughness which accompanies it when the full excitement of the game is aroused tends to detract from its charms and from one's admiration of the skill with which it is played ; curling, another Scottish game adopted so thoroughly by Canadians that they almost consider it their own ;

...
The author identifies both curling and hockey as Scottish games. While he may or may not be correct, the fact that he relates the recognizes the game of hockey played in Canada as the game played in Britain is significant. This is a British observer in 1895 calling hockey in Canada a game from Britain.

Although the following article is undated, E. T. Sachs was a contemporary of Charles Tebbutt and, in fact, played at least one recorded game with Tebbutt.
Bandy; or, Ice Hockey. E. T. SACHS.
Young England: An Illustrated Magazine for Young People throughout the English-Speaking World (London, England), [Date Unknown]; pg. 36.

Bandy ; or, Ice Hockey.
BY E. T. SACHS

Until one has played hockey on skates one can have no idea of the enjoyment of it. The Fenmen found out the fact long, long years ago, and Bandy, as they called the game, has been played by them from time immemorial. The Fenmen, having plenty of room on their large sheets of ice, and wearing skates adapted to skating distances, played with goals some three hundred yards apart. But theirs was not much of a game of combination, but rather a case of one man getting the ball to himself and skating away with it at top speed. Very few places have the same amount of ice as the Fen country, and people have learned to play on very much smaller places than three hundred yards in length. Many a capital game have I seen played on a piece of ice a hundred yards long, especially when the numbers on each side were seven or eight.

In the old days, and to within quite recent years, the game was played with a bung. A couple of miles from where I am writing, I found a small print of a youth on the ice on skates, with a hockey stick in the hand, and a bung lying on the ice at his feet. This print is more than a hundred years old, which shows that our great-great-grandfathers knew how to enjoy themselves in the winter quite as well as we do.

Indiarubber balls were not made and sold at two-pence apiece in those days, or I think they would have been used. Tee bung was thought to be a very good object to dribble along the ice, and so it is. But one has very often to give up dribbling, and hit ; and when one hits a bung hard, what human being can say in which direction it will fly? For hitting things round the corner it would beat the Irishman's gun hollow.

To play the game accurately one must have a ball ; and for ordinary purposes a solid one of indiarubber; not very hard, is as good as anything. Bandy is governed by an association which provides for a regulation stick ; but until one belongs to a regular club it is not necessary to go in for these. The light hazel hockey stick, costing a few pence, is ample. It is better for the play to have the stick light, for the ball travels so easily on the ice that hard blows are not necessary.

For goals, which may be placed a hundred yards apart and upwards, a couple of uprights on stands are necessary, though I have seen sticks stuck in heaps of snow used on emergency ; but the uprights are better, as the snow might easily stop the ball.

One of the side must act as a goal-keeper, and if one has the full number of eleven, two backs should stand a dozen yards or more in front of him, and in front of these again are the three half-backs, the positions being exactly the same as at Association football.

Two of the forwards, one from either side, begin the game, just as in ordinary hockey, with the ball between them, and cross sticks three times. Then the quickest with his stick, after the third cross, hits the ball first. It is a good thing to have the fastest skaters on the wings. A quick skater, once off with the ball, is very difficult to catch. But he, on his part, must take great care not to lose the ball by dribbling it too far or by overrunning it, for the very pace he is going at makes it impossible for him to pull up for some distance, and by the time he has wheeled round, the ball is at the other end of the field of play.

...
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hockhist/conversations/messages/1608
Extracted from "Sporting Life" (London, UK), 10th February 1891

HOCKEY ON THE ICE

A meeting was held yesterday evening at Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street, of members of bandy clubs, to try and arrange a code of rules that would be acceptable to all. Mr. Arnold Tebbutt, Bury Fen Bandy Club, was in the chair, and the following were present : - Messrs. C.G. Tebbutt, L. Tebbutt, W. Minson, R.W. Goodman, T.B. Tarring (Bury Fen Bandy Club), G.E.B. Kennedy, J.A. Milner, H.O. Milner, H. Davenport, E.T. Sachs (Molesey Hockey Club), H.T. Catley, E.W. Sargeant (Surbiton Hockey Club), A.L. Allen (Chislehurst Hockey Club), J.G. Wylie (Putney Hockey Club), C.B. Barrow, P. Laming, J.I. Ward, Harold Blackett, S.King-Farlow, A.R. King-Fralow (Virginia Water Hockey Club) and H. Ellington (London Rowing Club). It was decided to form an association for the promotion of bandy or hockey on the ice, to be called "The Bandy Association" and that a ball, and not a bung, be played with. Also that the stick be not more than two inches wide at any part. Messrs. C.G. Tebbutt and W. Minson from the Fen District, and Messrs. G.E.B. Kennedy, H. Blackett and J.G. Wylie, from the Metropolitan, were appointed as a committee, to draw up general rules for the game. Mr. H. Blackett is the hon. Sec. Pro tempore. The size of the ball and all other matters except the stick, will be settled by them, they having power to add to their number.
Tebbutt himself still used the term "hockey" in 1891, probably to indicate to people that the game of bandy he was teaching was in fact still the game of hockey. As mentioned, Tebbutt initiated a rebranding of the game as "bandy" with the creation of the Bandy Association and the creation of rules for his version of the game of hockey.
Teaching the Dutchmen Hockey.
Tebbutt, C. G. Cambridge Independent Press (Cambridge, England), Saturday, January 17, 1891; pg. 5; Issue 3896.

TEACHING THE DUTCHMEN HOCKEY.
BY C. G. TEBBUTT.

ON January 3rd, in the midst of mist and thaw, and with the five hours' hoarse bellowing of the fog horn still ringing in our ears, we, twelve members of Bury Fen Bandy Club, steamed away from the old country to seek glory and venture in Holland. The fifty pairs of skates and the 40 bandies betrayed our mission. We were off to play in that land of skaters the first game of bandy or hockey, and to add this prince of games to their list of sports. For years the writer had traversed the highways of Holland on skates, and envied their canals, rivers, rinks, lakes, and boundless expanse of ice.

...

MATCH AT HAARLEM.

ON Monday, January 5th, at two p.m., on the splendid ice rink plaued, polished, swept, and decorated, the first bandy game was started in Holland, and the first International match commenced. The band played, "God save the Queen," and the crowd cheered as the indiarubber was tossed in the air by T. Tebbutt. The Bury Fenners wore their red badges on the right arm, and another ribbon on the bandy, whilst the Haarlemites wore light blue ribbons.--Mr. W. Mulier, their captain, a true sportsman, clever artist, and good athlete, at first sight of our formidable bandies, thought hockey must be a smiting game, and feared that an ambulance was necessary ; but when he saw the rapid dribbling, passing, dodging, centreing, and in-and-out play, he and his team were delighted with the new game. Of course, it was a walk over for the English, who scored twelve goals to one, and that one was made when our goal-keeper, shivering with cold, and quite out of it, was careering around, off duty. To equalise sides, C. G. Tebbutt and L. Tebbutt changed sides at half time.

...

Three cheers and consumption of refreshments provided, and "God save the Queen," and the Dutch National Anthem sung, and we are off back to Amsterdam. The following were the teams:--Bury Fen Club: Goal, W. Minson ; backs A. Tebbutt, C. G. Tebbutt (captain), and L. Tebbutt ; half-backs, N. Tebbutt and B. Parring ; forwards, M. Warren, J. Goodman (right), S. Tebbutt (centre), F. Jewson and H. Wagsworth (left). Haarlem: Goal, Ples ; backs Koothoven and V. Walcheren ; half-bacsk Schoren, Klinkhamer, Graadt V Roggen ; forwards, W. Mulier (captain), Mayer, Meuten, FV. Mauren, and de Haag.

...

Haarlem friends longed for another game, so we played a return match at Amsterdam. . . . This was the best game. Our opponents were rapidly learning the game, and if we gave them a worse beating, twelve goals to none, it was because they stimulated us to play better. . . . A few more games, and Holland will be all a-fire with interest in the new game. . . . May the cry for more, fed by a constant supply, spread over the whole country, until every village has its bandy club.

...
Hockey.
Country Life Illustrated (London, England), Saturday, March 12, 1898; pg. 298; Issue 62.

Hockey.

OXFORD v. CAMBRIDGE.

HOCKEY is a game which, under the names of "bandy," "stick-a-bandy," or "shinty," is of great antiquity. . . . At the Universities, and particularly at Oxford, hockey has a long way to travel before it obtains recognition as a warrantable occupation.

...
This match in 1991 was played with six skaters, and presumably no goalie. The positions are listed: back, h-back, right wing, left wing, centres (x2).
HOCKEY.
The Yorkshire Herald, and The York Herald (York, England), Monday, January 19, 1891; pg. 8; Issue 12364.

HOCKEY.

MR DODSWORTH'S TEAM v. YORK.

The above match took place on Saturday on St. Peter's Lake, York, in the presence of a fashionable gathering of spectators. The ice was in excellent condition, and thanks to the proprietor a piece was roped off especially for the match. A start was made soon after 3 p.m., Dodsworth knocking off for the visitors. Almost immediately the visitors scored a goal, one of their opponents knocking it through. Goals followed each other in quick succession, the score at half time standing at 10 goals to nil in favour of Mr Dodsworth's side. The second half was only a repetition of the first, and the match resulted in a substantial win for Mr Dodsworth's team by 17 goals to nil. The visitors thoroughly deserved the victory, as their great combination and also their individual skill was most praiseworthy. For the losers Ringrose strove hard to avoid defeat. Sides:--

Mr. Dodsworth's Team.--S Lowe, back ; G Palmes, h-back ; E T Whitehead, right wing ; Capt A Hughes Onslow, left wing ; L Dodsworth and Hon H Dawney, centres.

York--F Palmes, back ; A Finley, h-back ; E. G. Lees, right wing ; A S Broadbent, left wing; W Ringrose and R L Wood, centres.
This organized game took place in January 1891. The other article indicates that the Bandy Association was formed in February 1891. This means that, with the Bandy Association's promotion of the Tebbutts' version of the game (rules borrowed from Association football, formulated in 1882 and made "official" in 1891) and the standardization of the rules across Britain according to one governing body, the game of hockey was forced to be played as the Bandy Association wanted it to be played and people started to call the game "bandy" more so than ever before.
Works Cited

"HOCKEY." Yorkshire Herald, and The York Herald [York, England] 19 Jan. 1891: 8. 19th Century British Newspapers. Web. 14 July 2015.

"Hockey." Country Life Illustrated [London, England] 12 Mar. 1898: n.p. 19th Century UK Periodicals. Web. 14 July 2015.

SACHS, E. T. "Bandy; or, Ice Hockey." Young England: An Illustrated Magazine for Young People throughout the English-Speaking World [London, England] n.d.: n.p. 19th Century UK Periodicals. Web. 14 July 2015.

Tebbutt, C. G. "Teaching the Dutchmen Hockey." Cambridge Independent Press [Cambridge, England] 17 Jan. 1891: 5. 19th Century British Newspapers. Web. 14 July 2015.

"Winter Games in Canada." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser [Manchester, England] 12 Jan. 1895: 2. 19th Century British Newspapers. Web. 14 July 2015.
 
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Robert Gordon Orr

Registered User
Dec 3, 2009
978
2,039
It is good to see that there are other people catching on.
All the sources you posted JA are wellknown to us researchers, and there is a lot more. In fact England is full of early references to hockey, hundreds of them.
Scotland also have their share, with shinty on skates being played in the 18th and 19th century.

Canadians shaped it to what it is today, but there is no doubt that the seed was planted in England and to some degree Scotland.

Ice hockey rules were already published in The Boy's Own Book from 1868 (published in London), six in total. Already in the earlier version from 1849 it talked about the rules of the game and that "with a party of good skaters, this game affords fine sport, but of course can only be played on a sheet of ice of great extent."

Keep on digging.
 

Ohashi_Jouzu*

Registered User
Apr 2, 2007
30,332
11
Halifax
At the very least, I'm comfortable tying hockey much more closely to bandy at its roots than field hockey. Am not surprised that Scotland, the colder more rugged north, garners more association than the southern "mainland" Britain, either.

This part was also interesting to me, as this remained a "standard" for informal hockey (what I knew as 'shinny' growing up in Nova Scotia) right through my childhood up to today:

"Two of the forwards, one from either side, begin the game, just as in ordinary hockey, with the ball between them, and cross sticks three times. Then the quickest with his stick, after the third cross, hits the ball first."

Excellent work, JA.
 

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