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Wimpleton Croquet Match - July 6th, 1850
Wimpleton Croquet Match - July 6th, 1850
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On July the Sixth, Eighteen Hundred and Fifty, the inhabitants of Stopsfield, Massachusetts assembled upon the Wimpleton Common for a croquet match announced earlier in the week. The ground was marked, the hoops set, and several mallets produced from private homes, one being borrowed under provisional agreement. Play commenced shortly after noon beneath skies noted as uncertain but serviceable, with Mrs. Abigail Wimpleton of Wimpleton Manor present among the early observers.
Disagreement arose during the first passages concerning the proper order of turns and whether a ball striking a hoop without full passage might be advanced. Before these matters were resolved, a rain fell upon the field, at first lightly and then with greater insistence. As the clouds gathered and darkened, Mrs. Wimpleton was heard to say, “The clouds are wroth, and they will have their way upon us,” after which the chalked boundaries dissolved and the balls no longer rolled with intention.
After waiting some time at the edge of the Common, the match was declared postponed, no future date being set. The mallets were gathered, one hoop later recovered, and no score recorded. The town papers conclude only that the Common had been rendered unfit by weather, and the proceedings suspended.
Disagreement arose during the first passages concerning the proper order of turns and whether a ball striking a hoop without full passage might be advanced. Before these matters were resolved, a rain fell upon the field, at first lightly and then with greater insistence. As the clouds gathered and darkened, Mrs. Wimpleton was heard to say, “The clouds are wroth, and they will have their way upon us,” after which the chalked boundaries dissolved and the balls no longer rolled with intention.
After waiting some time at the edge of the Common, the match was declared postponed, no future date being set. The mallets were gathered, one hoop later recovered, and no score recorded. The town papers conclude only that the Common had been rendered unfit by weather, and the proceedings suspended.
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