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There are, of course,
many other theories on the history of tennis. Roger Morgan's book 'Tennis,
The development of the European ball game' is another source of
information and conflicts with the above theories. The forward,
written by H.R.H. Prince Edward, himself a keen Real Tennis player,
says "Many myths and inaccuracies are dispelled; chief among
these that tennis owes its origins to the monasteries of France".
Morgan also says that the origins were from a ball game played in
the streets during the Middle Ages, which is a nice idea, but as the
streets were also used as sewers, I don't think it would have been
much fun, so I shall stick to the more romantic 'monasteries' theory
for the time being. Perhaps in the future I shall devote some space
to the various other conflicting theories.
Fortunately, I have
just received a copy of "THE TRUE ORIGINS OF ROYAL TENNIS" from a
correspondent in Australia. I would urge you to read this in order
to reach a decision on the subject. AUG DE JONG also has a very
interesting account of The History of tennis in the Netherlands,
which is certainly worth reading.
The Equipment -
Originally the game was played with the bare hand, later with a
glove, then someone had the bright idea of attaching cord or tendons
to the fingers. It was a short step to attaching these cords to a
frame and adding a handle to form a racket. Today Grays of Cambridge
are the only Real Tennis racket makers. The ball although similar in
appearance to a lawn tennis ball is made with a core of cork,
covered in cloth, tightly bound in string and covered in felt. The
balls are all hand stitched and last for about 2 weeks. This method
has been used throughout history, although other substances such as
hair or wool were used for the centre, and the balls were a good
deal lighter (1oz as opposed to nearly 3oz), before the advent of
the racket.
The modern version of
the game is virtually indistinguishable from the 16th century
version, indeed the actual court that Charles I built at Hampton
Court in 1625, is still used for championship play today. Visitors
to Hampton Court Palace can view the Real Tennis court.
 The
16th and 17th centuries were a golden age for Real Tennis, it was
played by the nobility throughout England and France. There were
reputably as many as 1800 courts in Paris during the game's heyday,
although many of these were probably quite rough structures. It is
even recorded that a court was built on a 2,000 ton French ship in
the 16th century. The court at Versailles was built in 1686 at a
cost of 45,403 Francs. By the 1700's the game had began to decline.
Almost 100 years later, The ‘Serment du Jeu de paulme’ (oath of the
Real Tennis court) was signed in the Real Tennis court at Versailles
on the 20th June 1789. The court at Versailles is now a museum (see
image). 11 months earlier on 21st July 1788, in Vizille castle’s
"real tennis" room, the assembly of the three orders of the Dauphiné
held the meeting that gave birth to the revolutionary process, It
contains today the museum of the French Revolution. By 1800, partly
due to the Revolution the game in France was practically non
existent.
In England in the
Tudor and Stuart periods tennis flourished, Henry VII loved the game
and his successor Henry VIII was an accomplished player and had the
original court at Hampton Court Palace built. Sadly he was an
addicted gambler and many of his financial problems were due to his
massive wagers on the Real Tennis court. James I lost his life due
to Real Tennis, as he tried to evade his assassins by hiding down
the drains his path was blocked by Real Tennis balls! Charles I and
Charles II both enjoyed the game and tennis thrived during this
period, apart from some awkwardness between their reigns. Like
France, the 18th century saw a decline in the game of Real Tennis,
although some courts were built in this period. An example of this
was the court built in Bath in 1777. Sadly this court was used for
only 37 years, but the building still survives as the Bath
Industrial Heritage Centre.
 In
the mid 19th century there was a revival of the game and a flurry of
court construction, primarily as additions to estates, most of the
courts in use today are products of this period. The first courts in
the USA and Australia were built in 1876 and 1882 respectively. The
first World War cast a deep shadow over the game from which it has
only just began to emerge. The current state of play is : Australia
- 4 active courts (with new courts planned), France - 3, the UK 19,
(new courts have recently been built at The Oratory School and the
Harbour Club in London, refurbished in New market and further courts
planned for Clifton and Bridport ) and the USA - 9 (with further
courts being planned). The Dutch Real Tennis Association have hopes
to build a Real Tennis court in The Hague. Even the Russians have
plans to restore the Real Tennis court in St. Petersburg. Apparently
the court, which was built around the 1790's, is now a gym. There
are a small group of devotees keen to get the court going again,
including Prince Nicholas Galitzine (I didn't know that there were
any Russian prince's left). Judging by the amount of email from
different parts of the world (including Moscow! but not St.P) that I
have received already from this site, I would suspect that Real
Tennis really is growing in popularity.
HENRY JOHNS, who died earlier this year, was the world's senior real
tennis professional. |
