appear regularly in the Midland Counties' Herald.
Jumping.—At the Lower Grounds in July, 1881, Mr. P. Davine, of Belfast, jumped 6ft. 3in. the highest previous record having been 6ft. 2½in., the performance of Mr. M. J. Brookes, (Oxford U.A.C.) at Lillie Bridge, March, 1874.
Lacrosse, a popular Canadian game, was introduced here June 23, 1883, by a team of Canadian Amateurs and Iroquois Indians, who exhibited their prowess at the Lower Grounds.
Lawn Tennis, at first known as Lawn Racquet, was the invention of the late Major Gem, who played the first game in 1865 with his friend Mr. Perera, of Great Charles Street.
Pedestrianism.—Among the earliest noted achievements of local, peds. is that of George Guest, who having wagered to walk 1,000 miles in 28 days finished his task Feb. 1, 1758, with five hours to spare, doing six miles in the last hour he footed it.—Mr. E. P. Weston, the walker par excellence, was at Bingley Hall in April, 1876, and at the Lower Grounds in Jan., 1884, when on his walk of 5,000 miles in 100 days.—A six days "go-as-you-please" match came off at Bingley Hall in Sept., 1882, and a ridiculous exhibition of a similar nature occurred in the following year, when women were induced to walk for the sport of gaping idiots.
Pigeon-flying has been for several generations the favourite amusement of numbers of our workers, and the flyers have a club of their own, which dates from August, 1875.
Pigeon-shooting is a cruel sport, not much favoured in this locality, and now that a cheap clay pigeon has been invented for use in this game, instead of the live birds, it is to be hoped that the disgraceful practice will be confined to the Hurlingham boys.
Prize-fighting was long the popular sport of high and low life blackguards, and Birmingham added many a redoubtable name to the long list of famous prize-fighters, whose deeds are recorded in "Fistiana" and other chronicles of the ring. Among the most conspicuous of these men of might, were Harry Preston, Davy Davis, Phil Sampson, Topper Brown, Johnny and Harry Broome, Ben Caunt, Sam Simmonds, Bob Brettle, Tass Parker, Joe Nolan, Peter Morris, Hammer Lane, and his brothers, with a host of other upholders of fisticuffs, the record of whose battles will not be handed down to posterity in the pages of Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham, though, as a matter of history, it may be noted that the earliest account we have of a local prize-fight is of that which took place in Oct. 1782, for 100 guineas a side, between Jemmy Sargent, a professional, and Isaac Perrins, one of the Soho workmen. Jemmy knuckled under after being knocked down thirteen times, in as many rounds, by the knock-kneed hammerman from Soho, whose mates, it is said, won £1,500 in bets through his prowess. Attempts have lately been made to revive the old sport, but the sooner the would-be adepts learn that their occupation is gone the better it will be for them, and all men.
Racing and Steeplechasing was not unknown to the Brums of the 18th century, as the Gentleman's Magazine makes note of the races at Birmingham, May 27 to 29, 1740, but where the old racecourse was situated it is impossible to tell. Indeed it is doubtful whether any special course has ever long been in existence, as at various dates we read of races being held at Aston, Bordesley, Deritend, Walmer Lane, and other places. The Four Oaks Park, adjoining Sutton Park, formerly the property of a private gentleman, was bought by a company in June, 1879, for the purpose of laying out a racecourse in this neighbourhood, of a similar nature to that of Ascot, and other great racing centres. In addition to the Hall, the buildings comprise a grand stand (the memorial stone of which was laid June 2, 1880), and a club stand, each 70ft. by 66ft., with two galleries of seats
