Fives
Fives is an English handball sport derived from jeu de paume, similar to the games of handball, Basque pelota, and squash. The game is played in both singles and doubles teams, in an either three- or four-sided court.
Etymology
The origin of the name "fives" for the game is uncertain, but two main theories are commonly presented. The first is that it is derived from the slang expression "a bunch of fives" ; the other that an earlier form of the game, as described by Nichols, used five-a-side teams.History
Fives is generally considered to have originated from early forms of the French Jeu de paume. Games were most often played against the walls of the north ends of churchyards, or against the walls of belltowers. This often damaged window glazing, so many churches adapted their exteriors to protect against the game. This often came in the form of shutters and pintles inserted into walls, as well as latticework over the windows themselves. The sport also influenced the layout of several churches; at some churches, saplings were planted where Fives would have been played, at the Church of St James, Ashwick, a cross was moved "to the Vifes place... to prevent the Young People from spending so much idle time in that sort of exercise."As such, many of the earliest written testaments of the game are directives by clergy taken to prevent playing of the game. Actions against the game have been found as early as 1287, when the Synod of Exeter banned the game due to the damage it caused to church buildings. Other notable examples of wall ball games being banned include Robert Braybrooke, Bishop of London, who in 1385 prohibited the game "Necnon ad pilam infra et extra ecclesiam ludunt."
The name "fives" was applied to the game by 1591, as when Elizabeth I visited the village of Elvetham in Hampshire, she was entertained by the Marquess of Hertford by a game played by his servants:
"about three o'clock, ten of his lordship's servants, all Somersetshire men, in a square greene court before her majesties windowe, did hang up lines, squaring out the forme of a tennis-court, and making a cross line in the middle; in this square they played five to five with hand-ball at bord and cord as they tearme it, to the great liking of her highness" – John Nichols, The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, Volume II.
The version of fives played here is an example of Wessex fives, the common ancestor to all modern fives games. The first known fives court was built at the base of the church tower in West Pennard, Somerset, in 1813. By this time, fives had achieved some popularity in Wales, where it was referred to as "Ffeifs" – many courts and matches were referred to as "fives courts", although whether these were for playing Welsh handball is unclear.
In the beginning of the 19th century, fives was played as a pub game especially in Somerset, and many courts were built alongside pubs, attracting large numbers of spectators. Gambling was often present at these matches. The courts at these pubs were different from those used later in the century, consisting of a free standing wall, occasionally with a buttress attached.
During this period, John Cavanagh, reputed to be the greatest fives player of all time, gained popularity. However, after around 1855, the sport experienced a serious loss of players, due to the prominence of other "more sophisticated" sports, such as squash, and was seen as old-fashioned due to its agrarian roots. As described the Badminton Library:
The number of those who continue fives players after the age of twenty-five is very small; and, for obvious reasons, these veterans are usually schoolmasters. Again, fives is entirely a game for amateurs. It has no professors who make their living and their renown as its teachers or exponents. It has no matches to be reported in newspapers with a minuteness of detail suitable to events of international importance. No fives player, as such, has ever had his portrait published in an illustrated journal, or has had the meanest article of dress in the hosiers' shops named after him. Indeed, the game is not one that tends to exalt the individual player.
At the end of the 19th century, fives was gentrified from its origins as a rural sport to an elitist sport at public schools; codified forms of the game such as [|Eton fives] and Rugby fives were introduced in the 1870s, which spread to schools such as Highgate, Westminster, Charterhouse and Harrow. By the end of the 19th Century, fives had become a well-established sport for British public schools. In the 1920s, the sport began to be played at Cambridge University. The first recorded fives match was played between Eton and Harrow in 1885.
Fives continued to be played through the 20th century, but failed to develop a large nation standing. This was because it had a tradition of being a recreational sport played in free time, the large number of varieties of the game in play, and because the "more sophisticated" game of rackets was already established.
Variants
Several regional varieties of fives exist; however, most games played are either Rugby fives or Eton fives. Of the two, Etonian fives is the older, being played since the 17th century. The two major variants of the game differ primarily in the construction of the court, with Eton fives including a buttress and inside the court, and an open back wall.Other variants of the game include Warminster and Winchester fives; Winchester fives has similarities to both Rugby and Etonian fives in regards to court construction, while Warminster fives dates to the late 18th century, and uses a specialised set of rules. The majority of fives-playing schools have only one type of court, although three schools have historically had both Eton and Rugby courts: Cheltenham, Dover, and Marlborough.
Eton fives
Eton fives is a form of the game which, unlike Rugby fives, is played only in doubles form. The sport was first created at Eton College by boys playing handball between two buttresses of the school chapel with rules for the game being created in 1877 under the title "Rules of the Game of Fives as played at Eton".Eton fives is played in three-sided courts around the size of a squash court mimicking the sides of the school chapel, with a buttress on the left-hand wall, and a raised step at the front of the court, extending around 80 cm into the court, at a height of 15 cm, creating the "upper" and "lower" parts of the court. A sloping ledge runs around the walls of the court, roughly four and a half feet from the floor, of which the bottom line is dubbed the "playline", above which shots have to be played. The upper limit of the court is the "coping" – stonework that lines the top of the walls.
The first purpose-built fives courts were built at Eton College in 1840, by then headmaster Edward Craven Hawtrey, who constructed four courts mimicking the sides of the school chapel. These courts varied in a few specifications; the distance between the front wall and the buttress was increased, and the floor's slope was reduced, which quickened play speed. The courts were built of sandstone, to reproduce the effect's of the chapel's walls, which are made of Taynton stone.
The first Eton fives match was played on 12 February 1885, between Eton and Harrow School, playing at Harrow's fives courts. Eton fives began to be played at the University of Cambridge in 1920, with varsity matches beginning in 1927. The sport is regulated by the Eton Fives Association, which promotes the sport and runs tournaments annually. While Eton fives has historically been a male-dominated game, due to the public schools it was played in being single-sex, in recent years, women have begun to take a larger role in the sport, accounting for approximately 20% of games played as of 2016.
Rugby fives
Rugby fives, nominally developed at Rugby School in Rugby is the most common variant of the sport, played in both singles and doubles. The variant is derived from Wessex fives, and was brought to Rugby in the 19th century by Thomas Arnold, the then headmaster of Rugby School, who had learnt the game playing at Warminster School. Rugby fives is attested to in Thomas Hughes' 1857 Tom Brown's School Days, centered on the author's own experiences at Rugby, which align with the period in with Arnolds was headmaster. The sport is governed by the Rugby Fives Association, which stages multiple tournaments for the sport annually.Rugby fives uses an enclosed court free from "hazards", with a hollow board running across the front wall, similar to that of squash. The court has a width of 18 feet and a length of 28 feet, with the front wall having a height of 15 feet. The Rugby fives court uses a shortened back wall, which has a height of 4'10
Fives is played at several public schools throughout England, including Rugby School, Bedford School, and St Paul's School, as well as by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which participate in an annual varsity match in the sport. As of 2022, Rugby fives is played in two state schools, namely Stoke Newington School and Derby Moor Academy.
Winchester fives
Winchester fives is a version of fives very similar to Rugby fives, played originally at Westminster School. The sport has been played at Westminster since July 1886, when two courts were opened at the site. The court used is almost identical to that used in Rugby fives, except for a 45° change in wall direction for almost 10 inches on the left wall. This makes the back of the court narrower, and creates a very small buttress similarly to that of Eton fives. This buttress also serves to diversify gameplay by allowing winning shots to be made more easily: sharp changes in direction are created by bouncing the ball off the buttress. The game is played in doubles, with matches being played to either 11 or 15 points.The sport has no organisation of its own, but The Schools' Winchester Fives Doubles tournament is run yearly by the Rugby Fives Association.