God's house in this way we are at a loss to discover. The reward of
the victors was a tansy-cake, so called from the bitter herb tansy,
which was supposed to be beneficial after eating so much fish during
Lent. Of the various kinds of games with balls I propose to treat in
another chapter.

At Easter there were numerous sports in vogue in different parts of
the country. In olden times almost every county had its peculiar
sport, which was regarded as a monopoly of that district. People did
not work so hard in those days, and seem to have had more time and
energy for ancient pastimes. Many of these old games have entirely
vanished; others have left their old neighbourhoods, and received a
hearty welcome all over the country. Berkshire and Somersetshire
were the ancestral homes of cudgel-play, quarter-staff, and
single-stick. Skating and pole-leaping were the characteristic
sports of the fen country. Kent and Sussex were famous for their
cricket; the northern counties for their football. Scotland rejoiced
in golf, curling, and tossing the caber; while Cumberland and
Westmoreland, Cornwall and Devon, were noted for their vigorous and
active wrestlers. Curling, tossing the caber[8], and wrestling have
clung to their old homes; but the other sports have wandered far and
wide, and are no longer confined to their native counties.

At Easter the local favourite sport was renewed with zest and
eagerness, and almost everywhere foot-races were run, the prize of
the conqueror being a tansy-cake. Stoolball and barley-brake were
also favourite games in this month, as Poor Robin says in his
_Almanack_ for 1677. Barley-brake seems to have been a very merry
game, in which the ladies took part, and of which we find some very
bright descriptions in the writings of some old English poets. The