st "speech" heard in Eden in a
manner that must have stirred the blood of Professor Blackie. As the
history of Association Football, with which I have only to deal under
the present circumstances, is so well-known and a thing of yesterday,
its origin, like that of the Gaelic language, is not shrouded in
mystery, but actually known (or should be known) to all who take an
interest in the game. In my previous article, I tried to trace the
origin of football in its rudest form as played by our forefathers, when
goal-posts and bars, to say nothing of corner-flags, were unknown.
Football now, however, has been reduced to something like a scientific
game, and to the credit of England be it said, the Association Rules
there first saw the light. Scotch players in the Western District soon
emulated their Southern brethren, and from the Parent Club, which had a
humble and unassuming origin on the recreation ground at Queen's Park,
sprang hundreds of clubs, spreading over the length and breadth of the
land with remarkable rapidity. The wave soon rolled all over Glasgow and
suburbs, submerged the whole country, and eventually invaded the Heart
of Midlothian itself, where the Rugby code had hitherto reigned supreme.
The schoolboys who played cricket and rounders in the summertime came
out on a wintry afternoon to see their seniors engaged in Association
football, and soon felt the desire creep over them to be members of a
club containing lads like themselves. The young men engaged in the city
all day thought on the health-imparting exercise it afforded, and had
the necessary funds raised to form a club. The artisans, too, from the
dusky foundry, the engineer shop, and the factory, soon began to dribble
about. The young ones, and even the seniors themselves, had many a
collision with mother earth ere they could rely on keeping their pins
with any degree of accuracy, and it was rare fun to see a bearded man
turning a somersault as he missed the ball in trying to make a big
kick. Football is easily acquired in so far as the rudimentary part is
concerned, but a great deal of probation is required to convert one into
a crack player. Among those who now practice football, and their name is
legion, the superior players can be numbered in (to give it a wide
scope) hundreds. In fact, to be able to master all the details requisite
to win a first-class match, one has to be capable of dribbling,
middling, heading, and passing in a way that would d