Read Ebook: Pedestrianism; or An Account of the Performances of Celebrated Pedestrians During the Last and Present Century. With a full narrative of Captain Barclay's public and private matches; and an essay on training. by Thom Walter

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Of all the Olympic games, the FOOT-RACE, as we have previously remarked, held the foremost rank. Homer distinguishes Achilles by the epithet "swift of foot;" and, whether as conducive to health, useful in the affairs of life, or important in the operations of war, pedestrian exercises must be considered as of the utmost consequence to mankind. The human frame is peculiarly calculated for activity and exertion; and it should be remembered, that it is by EXERCISE and LABOUR that man is enabled to preserve his health, increase his strength, improve the faculties of his mind, and procure his subsistence.

Among the ancient Greeks and Romans, there were runners of great celebrity; and the rapid marches of their armies on various emergencies, shew how much they were habituated to pedestrian exercises. Two thousand Lacedemonians marched from Sparta to Attica in three days--a distance of twelve hundred stadia--to assist the Athenians at the battle of Marathon. Phidippides ran seven hundred and fifty stadia in the space of two days, which was deemed a most extraordinary effort, until Philonides, the runner of Alexander the Great, accomplished twelve hundred stadia in one day, from Sicyone to Ellis. In the reign of Nero, a boy of nine years of age, ran seventy-five thousand paces, between noon and night.

Although the modern governments of Europe have not hitherto afforded any patronage to gymnastic exercises, yet pedestrianism has been brought to great perfection by spirited individuals, especially in Britain. Exploits more extraordinary than any on the records of antiquity have been accomplished in this country; and it shall be our duty in the next and succeeding chapters, to give a particular account of these astonishing performances.

MODERN PEDESTRIANISM.

Since the remote period of Greek and Roman prosperity, nothing analagous to the Olympic games has been exhibited in Europe, if we except modern horse-racing, which bears a faint resemblance; or, perhaps, the tournaments of the middle ages, which presented a nearer similitude.

Although the art of war be now different, in some respects, from that which was practised among the ancients, it is still not less requisite in the present than in former times, to strengthen the physical and intellectual powers of the soldier. To endure the vicissitudes of climates and seasons--to bear cold, hunger, and thirst--to perform long marches under the inclemency of the weather--and to preserve his spirit unbroken amidst the tumult of the battle, are the severe duties of his profession. It is by EXERCISE that the soldier is gradually inured to the hardships of the field; and the importance of preparatory training was well known to the ancients, who accordingly converted the amusements of the people into a course of military discipline. The exercises of the gymnasia prepared the youth for the fatigues of the campaign, by strengthening their bodies, and invigorating their minds; and they accomplished those brilliant achievements which stand unrivalled in the page of history.

It is justly remarked by Dr. West, "that a wise and prudent governor of a state may dispose the people to such sports and diversions as may render them more serviceable to the public; and that, by impartially bestowing a few HONORARY PRIZES upon those who should be found to excel in any CONTEST he shall think proper to appoint, he may excite in the husbandman, the manufacturer, and the mechanic, as well as in the soldier and the sailor, and men of superior orders and professions, such an emulation as may tend to promote industry, encourage trade, improve the knowledge and wisdom of mankind, and consequently make his country victorious in war, and, in peace, opulent and happy."

It is admitted, that the new levies in the British army are diminished more by fatigue, than by the sword of the enemy. Our regiments are gradually wasted by sickness and disease, for they are not fitted by a course of preparatory training, to undergo those hardships to which they are unavoidably exposed; and the sudden transition from a life of ease to that of great activity, too frequently proves fatal to men of feeble bodies and weak constitutions. Were the practice of the ancients imitated, by the erection of schools for gymnastic exercises, and our young soldiers subjected to a process of training, the lives of many of them would be saved to their country, and the efficient strength of our army greatly augmented.

"A military school should have annual competitions and prizes for foot-races, leaping, wrestling, fencing, and firing at a target. Though the prize need not be absolutely wreaths of oak or parsley, yet whatever they are, they should be more honorary than lucrative. The victors should be rewarded also with the applauses of the public, the countenance of the great, and sometimes, perhaps, with the patronage of the government."--"All sports," he farther observes, "without exception, that promote strength and agility, should be encouraged in our military schools."

"The essential advantages of exercise are the following: Bodily strength is increased; the circulation of the blood and all other fluids promoted; the necessary secretions and excretions are duly performed; the whole mass of the blood is cleared and refined, so that it cannot stagnate in the minutest capillary vessels; and if any obstruction should begin to take place, it will thus be effectually removed.

"That exercise is enjoined by Nature, we may learn from the whole structure of the human body; the number of muscles formed for motion; and the mechanism in the circulation of the blood itself. There are indeed no healthier people than those who take strong daily exercise. Man in a state of health is instinctively excited to muscular exertion; and children that are perfectly healthy, are constantly running about, and in almost uninterrupted motion."

PEDESTRIANISM affords the best species of exercise, and may be said to include much that is valuable to mankind. Those distinguished persons, therefore, who by their example, have rendered this branch of the gymnastic art FASHIONABLE and GENERAL, deserve the highest praise. To Captain Barclay, Captain Agar, Captain Acres, Lieutenant Fairman, and many other gentlemen, this country is greatly indebted for their improvement of this art. It is only the thoughtless and inconsiderate part of the community that does not discover the benefits resulting from the exploits of such celebrated professors, because they cannot estimate the ultimate consequences of individual exertion. But reflecting people must perceive that, in time, desultory efforts may be reduced into a system founded on principles calculated to strengthen and preserve both the health of our bodies, and the energy of our minds, thus facilitating the acquisition of human knowledge.

Early and constant practice gradually forms the pedestrian for the accomplishment of the greatest undertakings: but even in the common intercourse subsisting in society, facility of walking is requisite for individual conveniency and comfort. It should, therefore, be the study of people of all ranks, to adopt the best method of performing either short or long journies, by imitating the GAIT and MANNER of those celebrated men, who, of late years, have so eminently distinguished themselves in the annals of the sporting world.

The extraordinary exploits of modern pedestrians have been generally encouraged by the patronage of men of fortune and rank; and FOOT-MATCHES being made the subject of discussion, a difference of opinion gives occasion for wagers. Although it was maintained by Sir Charles Banbury, and some other eminent sportsmen, that a bet should not be taken on a FOOT-RACE; yet, in reason, there can be no legitimate objection to such things, as whatever may be deemed doubtful, or of uncertain result, must be a fair subject of betting.

Many astonishing feats of pedestrianism have been accomplished during the last and present century; but it does not suit the limits of this work to record the whole of them, or even to enumerate all the exploits of every person who has been distinguished.--We can only relate the most conspicuous performances of those who have acquired celebrity by their general success, and whose matches, either against others, or against time, have attracted public attention. It would fill volumes to particularize every WALK or RACE that exceeds the power of ordinary men; and, therefore, we shall confine our narration to matches of difficult accomplishment. Accordingly, and for the purpose of perspicuity, we have thought proper generally to arrange them into different classes.

First, Matches of several days continuance, and which required great strength and perseverance.

Secondly, Those which were accomplished in one day, and shewed great strength and agility.

Thirdly, Those which were performed in one or more hours, and required good wind, and great agility; and,

Lastly, Those completed in seconds, or in minutes, and showed great swiftness.

In accomplishing long matches against time, it must be observed, that considerable speed is fully as requisite as strength; for no man could walk a hundred miles in one day, if he were not able to go for several hours at the rate of six miles an hour; and it will be found, in general, that those who have performed great distances, were also remarkable for agility and swiftness.

Robert Bartley, of Hutford in Norfolk, who was born anno 1719, was distinguished in his youth for extraordinary speed; and, when an old man, frequently walked from Thetford to London in one day--a distance of eighty-one miles--and returned the next. He was well known among the sporting men of Newmarket as a great walker, and died in the sixty-sixth year of his age.

Reed, the noted pedestrian of Hampshire, in 1774, ran ten miles within an hour, at the Artillery Ground, London. In 1787, he walked one hundred miles in one day at Gosport; and on the sands of Weymouth, in 1791, he performed fifty miles in little more than nine hours.

In May 1762, Child, the miller of Wandsworth, walked forty-four miles in seven hours and fifty-seven minutes, on Wimbledon Common; and in August the same year, Mr. John Hague of Binns near Marsden, performed one hundred miles in twenty-three hours and fifteen minutes.

Mr. Foster Powell was the most celebrated pedestrian of his time; and in the performance of long journies has seldom been equalled.--In 1773, he walked from London to York, and back again, in six days, for a wager of one hundred guineas. In the same year, he beat Andrew Smith, a famous runner, on Barham Downs, in a match of one mile. In 1776, he ran two miles in ten and a half minutes, on the Lea-bridge road, but lost his match by half a minute. In September 1787, he walked from the Falstaff Inn at Canterbury to London Bridge, and back, in ten minutes less than twenty-four hours, being a distance of one hundred and nine miles. On the 8th June 1788, he set out from Hicks' Hall on a second journey to York, and back again, which he accomplished in five days, nineteen hours, and fifteen minutes. In the July following, he walked one hundred miles in twenty-two hours. In 1790, he took a bet of twenty guineas to thirteen, that he would walk from London to York, and return, in five days and eighteen hours, which he performed in less time than was allowed, by one hour and fifty minutes. He was so fresh on his return, that he offered to walk a hundred miles the next day for a considerable wager. In the same year, he went from Hyde Park corner to Windsor, and back, in seven hours. In July 1792, he undertook to walk from London to York, and back, in five days and fifteen hours, which he accomplished within his time by an hour and twenty-five minutes. In 1792, when in the fifty-seventh year of his age, he offered to walk six miles in one hour; to run a mile in five minutes and a half; and to go five hundred miles in seven days. He required a bet of one hundred guineas on the last undertaking, and twenty guineas on either of the other two. But no person appearing to accept his offer, he afterwards declined all pedestrian performances for wagers.

This celebrated pedestrian was born in the year 1736, at Horsforth, near Leeds, in Yorkshire. He was bred to the profession of the law, and was clerk to an attorney in New Inn, London. He was beat by West of Windsor, in walking forty miles on the western road, for a wager of forty guineas. He was, however, a first-rate walker for either a long or a short journey; and his stature was no more than five feet eight inches; but his legs and thighs were stout, and well calculated for performances of this kind.

Mr. Joseph Edge, of Macclesfield in Cheshire, in 1806, when at the age of sixty-two, walked one hundred and seventy-two miles in forty-nine hours and twenty minutes. He started from the Angel Inn at Macclesfield, at twelve o'clock on Wednesday night, and arrived at the Swan with Two Necks, Ladlane, London, at twenty minutes past one on Saturday morning. This performance is remarkable from the age of the pedestrian, who walked at the rate of three miles, three furlongs, thirty-five perches, and 11/74ths feet per hour.

Long journies have been frequently performed at the rate of from fifty to eighty miles a day, for four, six, eight, ten, or more successive days, which have evinced the great strength and perseverance of the pedestrians.

In July 1788, John Batty, when fifty-five years of age, walked seven hundred miles in fourteen days on Richmond Course. He performed this long journey at the following rate: first day, fifty-nine miles: second, fifty-five and three-quarters: third, fifty-two and three-quarters: fourth, fifty-one: fifth, fifty-one: sixth, fifty-one: seventh, forty-three: eighth, forty-two and three-quarters: ninth, forty-four and three-quarters: tenth, fifty-one: eleventh, fifty-one: twelfth, fifty-four and a half: thirteenth, fifty-one: and on the fourteenth day, thirty-six miles and a quarter, having finished the whole distance within five hours of the time allowed.

In 1792, Mr. Eustace walked from Liverpool to London in four days. He was then seventy-seven years of age, and the distance exceeds two hundred miles. On a journey from Chester to London, when eleven years younger, he went ninety miles the first day.

Mr. Downes is well known as a first-rate pedestrian. In February 1808, he walked four hundred miles in ten days for a bet of a hundred guineas. He was greatly fatigued by the exertion; and his weight was reduced more than two stones. He performed thirty-five miles a day for twenty successive days, without much difficulty. He walked twenty miles in two hours and forty minutes, on the 11th of July 1809. He matched himself to go thirty miles in three hours and a quarter, for a bet of one hundred guineas; but the task was evidently beyond his power, and he failed in the undertaking. He was more fortunate, however, in a match with the celebrated Captain Aiken, which took place this year, on the 26th September, at Thorpe, in Hampshire. The bet was, which of them should go the greater distance in forty-eight hours. They started together at the extremities of a piece of ground of five miles, and met each other. Mr. Downes walked ninety miles the first day, and rested two hours. His adversary went eighty-eight miles, and had only an hour to rest. On the second day, Mr. Downes had accomplished seventy-two miles, and had five hours to spare. Captain Aiken had done only fifty-six in the same time, and therefore resigned the match.

In April 1808, Mr. Podgers walked four hundred miles in eight successive days, for a wager of two hundred guineas. He started at Basingstoke, and from Hampshire went into the counties of Wilts, Gloucester, Somerset, Sussex, and Kent, finishing at Maidstone. He walked twelve hours each day, and slept eight. His weight was fourteen stones, and he did not appear the least fatigued at any period of the journey.

Mr. Dowler, a publican at Towcester, Northamptonshire, walked five hundred miles in seven successive days, for a bet of one hundred guineas. He started on the 3d of November 1808, and finished on the 9th, at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Captain Howe is a celebrated pedestrian, and walked three hundred and forty-six miles in six days, for a wager of two hundred guineas. He started on the 8th of March 1808, at four in the morning, to go from London to Exeter, and made out sixty-four miles by nine at night, having stopped at Basingstoke for an hour. On the following day he walked seventy miles; and on the third day, arrived at Exeter to dinner, where he stopt three hours, but returned to Honiton to sleep. On the fourth day, he reached within nine miles of Salisbury; and on the fifth night, slept at a public house near Basingstoke. He had now forty-nine miles to perform on the sixth day, which accomplished by six o'clock in the evening. Captain Howe, on the 28th of the same month, gained a match of two hundred guineas against Captain Hewetson, having walked eighty miles in less than twenty-four hours.--He also beat Mr. Smith in a twenty mile race on the Uxbridge road, about the end of October 1809. Mr. Smith was the favourite before starting; but Captain Howe performed the distance in two hours and twenty minutes, beating his adversary by half a mile.

On the 9th of June 1812, Captain Howe undertook to go sixty miles in twelve hours for a wager of two hundred guineas. He started at four o'clock in the morning, and did half the distance in twelve minutes less than six hours. He continued at the rate of five miles in the hour, and won the match within ten minutes of the time allowed.

Mr. Canning, a gentleman in Hampshire, walked three hundred miles in less than five days. He started at the turnpike road four miles from Basingstoke, at four in the morning, and went sixty miles in fourteen hours. He finished his task two miles from Yeovil in Somersetshire, by eleven at night, on the fifth day. He was apparently so little fatigued, that probably he could have continued for several days; but in the course of the journey, he lost twenty-six pounds in weight.

Mr. Rimmington, a farmer at Holt near Dorchester, in October 1811, walked five hundred and sixty miles in seven days, at the rate of eighty miles a day, for a wager of two hundred guineas. He was much emaciated by this extraordinary exertion, and became very lame towards the close.

Lieutenant Halifax, of the Lancashire militia, walked two miles an hour for one hundred successive hours, near Tiverton in Devon, in March 1808. This was a great performance, as he could not have more than fifty minutes rest at one time, during four days and nights. He was much distressed: his legs were swollen, and his whole frame was exhausted. His courage, however, never failed him; and he completed the task amidst the shouts of the multitude that this extraordinary experiment had attracted.

Thomas Savager, who died in 1809, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, was a noted pedestrian, although only five feet and four inches in stature, and lame from his youth. In 1789, he undertook to walk four hundred and four miles, in six days. The scene of his performance was on the turnpike road from Hereford through Leominster to Ludlow; and he won his wager within five hours of the time allowed. When the superfluous ground over which he walked to his lodgings at Hereford, Ludlow, &c. was added, it was found that he had walked not less than four hundred and twenty-nine miles in five days and nineteen hours.

On the 18th of September 1811, Mr. Mealing, a gentleman of fortune in Somersetshire, started to go five hundred and forty miles, at the rate of thirty miles a day, for eighteen successive days, and to perform the distance in eighteen different counties, which he accomplished, and won five hundred guineas. He was reduced from fourteen stone eight pounds, to twelve stone four pounds.

To walk one hundred miles within twenty-four hours may be considered an extraordinary exertion; but that distance has been performed in that time by several people: and a great deal more has been accomplished by some of our most celebrated pedestrians.

Mr. Oliver, in July 1811, walked one hundred miles in twenty-three hours and fifty minutes. He was much fatigued, but that he was not entirely exhausted, was apparent from his going the last ten miles in two hours.--Mr. Edward Millen, in July the previous year, accomplished the same distance in twenty-three hours and twenty-five minutes.--But we shall have occasion afterwards to record more difficult performances than these; and, in the meantime, shall take notice of the feats of such pedestrians as have evinced uncommon strength and agility, and who have been distinguished by walking a long distance in a short time.

In September this year , Jonathan Waring, a Lancashire pedestrian, performed one hundred and thirty-six miles in thirty-four hours, for a wager of one hundred guineas. He started from London to go to Northampton, and return. He went the first fifty-five miles in twelve hours, and half the distance in fourteen hours and a half. After resting an hour and a half, he started on his return, and accomplished the whole distance in three minutes less than the time allowed. He was excessively fatigued.

But Glanville, a Shropshire man, accomplished a more extraordinary performance in the year 1806. He walked one hundred and forty-two miles on the Bath road in twenty-nine hours and three-quarters. He started from the 14th mile-stone to go to the 85th, and back, at seven in the morning, on the 26th of December, and arrived at his journey's end next day, at a quarter before one o'clock in the afternoon. He went off at the rate of six miles an hour, and reached Twyford at five minutes past ten, where he took a basin of soup. He refreshed again at Marlborough, and arrived at the 85th mile-stone at ten minutes past eight in the evening. This part of his journey was performed at the average rate of nearly five miles and a half an hour. He returned a few miles on his way back, and refreshed himself on a bed for an hour and a half, and reached Reading at a quarter past six in the morning of the 27th. He had now twenty-five miles to go in five hours and three-quarters, and appeared to be much fatigued. After remaining twenty minutes, he renewed his task, and arrived at his journey's end at a quarter before one o'clock--winning, with great difficulty, by a quarter of an hour.

This performance is the most extraordinary upon record, and bets were seven to four, and two to one against him; but his strength and perseverance overcame every difficulty, and thus enabled him to accomplish the astonishing exploit.

On Friday, the 20th July 1804, John Bell, Esq. engaged to walk from Brook Green to Hammersmith--a distance of fifty-eight miles--in fourteen hours, for a bet of two hundred guineas; which he performed, with apparent ease, in thirteen hours, and forty-five seconds.--A distance of sixty miles was performed on the 18th of September, the same year, by a butcher of Whitechapel, in eleven hours and a quarter, for a bet of seventeen guineas.

In August 1809, Captain Walsham, of the Worcestershire regiment of militia, walked the distance of sixty miles in twelve hours, with ease; and afterwards rode thirty miles on two curricle horses, in two successive hours, for a wager of one hundred and twenty guineas.

Mr. Hopper of Canterbury, walked sixty-three miles in eleven hours and thirty-nine minutes. He started from the turnpike on St. Martin's Hill, and at the end of the first hour he had gone seven and a half miles: second hour, eleven miles, including stoppage for breakfast: third hour, and five minutes, twenty miles: fourth hour, twenty-six miles: fifth hour, thirty-four miles: sixth hour, including dinner, thirty-five miles: seventh hour, forty-one miles: eighth hour, forty-five miles: ninth hour, fifty-one miles: tenth hour, fifty-five miles: eleventh hour, sixty miles: and at thirty-eight and three-fourth minutes past the eleventh hour, he finished sixty-three miles, apparently much fatigued.

A distance of fifty miles was performed in nine hours, on the 28th of March 1811, by Clough, a groom, on the Bath road, for a wager of fifty guineas. He regularly walked six miles an hour for the first five hours; and his average rate of travelling was five miles, one half, and one ninth part of a mile, per hour.--Eighty miles, at two starts, were performed by Shoreham, a publican, on the 22d of April the same year. He started from Paddington to go to Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, and to return. He went forty miles in six hours and a half, and after resting three hours, he accomplished the other forty miles in six hours and forty minutes, having completed the distance in thirteen hours and ten minutes, which was at the rate of more than six miles per hour.

On the 15th of April 1812, Lieut. Groats undertook for a wager of two hundred guineas to go seventy-two miles in twelve hours. He went from Blackfriars road to Canterbury, and thence back to Stroud. He performed the first fourteen miles in two hours. When he had gone sixty miles he was much fatigued, but by the aid of refreshment and rubbing, he was enabled to proceed, and accomplished the distance within six minutes of the time allowed.

Six miles per hour, for any distance from twenty-four to forty miles, must be considered as very superior walking, although several of the most celebrated pedestrians have exceeded that rate.--Mr. Pearson performed thirty-seven miles in five hours and twenty-seven minutes, for a wager of one hundred guineas. He started from Pimlico to go to Datchet-bridge near Windsor, and return, at three o'clock in the morning of the 11th July 1807. He went off on a shuffling walk, and stopt at Honslow at a quarter past four, where he refreshed. He halted again at Colnbrook, at twenty-five minutes past five, and reached Datchet-bridge in fifteen minutes; half the distance having been performed in two hours and forty minutes. As he had only gained a few minutes on time, bets were three and two to one against him; but in returning, he quickened his pace, and arrived at Honslow, at twenty-seven minutes past seven o'clock, much fatigued.

On the 13th of January 1810, William Staniland walked fifty-four miles in seven hours and three-quarters, for a wager of eighty guineas. He set off from Driffield at seven in the morning to go to Hull, where he arrived at half-past ten, and having gone round the statue in the market-place, he returned to Driffield at a quarter before three, being fifteen minutes within the time allowed.

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