In a book entitled Ernest Bracebridge or Schoolboy Day by WHG Kingston published in 1860 (from The Hockey Museum collection, pictured), the author gives details of both hockey and golf being played in school in the mid 19th century. Do the academic details added to the description of the sports give us grounds to suggest that hockey predates golf?
In one statement the author says of golf, “Two centuries ago it was a fashionable game among the nobility: and we hear of Prince Henry, eldest son of King James the First, amusing himself with it”. This would have been circa 1610. In those days golf was called ‘bandy ball’, very similar in name to ‘bandy’ an accepted early version of hockey that was being played before this date.
Moreover, our author kindly delves further back to say that, “In the reign of Edward the Third the game [of golf] was played and known by the Latin name of Cambuca”. This was circa 1327 and Cambuca, although a Latin word, was also an early name for hockey.
These early references to stick and ball games will be researched further and fleshed out to form part of an authoritative study of hockey that is being carried out by The Hockey Museum and will be published in some years’ time.
