Forever a Lord
Page 27
Yardley glanced up, adjusting his son onto his other knee, and hollered across the room, “Ey! I heard that.”
“Leave us upstanding gents alone for one breathing moment. It’s Christmas!” With green eyes dancing, Henry snatched up a ball and playfully whipped it toward their direction.
Orphée, Bernadette, Georgia and Imogene darted out of the way, giggling.
Augustine, Imogene’s oldest child at almost ten, darted toward the tree, blond braids swaying, and swiped up another ball, whipping it toward Henry. “A ball for a ball!” she taunted, bouncing it off his leg.
Ballad Jane, Georgia’s oldest, also darted in and whipped another ball. “And here is another ball for a ball!”
Bernadette quickly pointed at Matthew and the duke before sweeping a finger toward Henry. “Gentlemen, throw this ruffian out. Before he gives the children any more ideas. This game of a ball for a ball sounds like a fire waiting to happen. Do you have any idea how many candles are on that tree? Queen Victoria ought to be scolded for introducing such a hazard into every household.”
“You needn’t worry,” Matthew called out to his wife. “I’ll throw the real ruffian out into the snow!” With a charging gruff roar, Matthew darted toward nine-year-old Augustine and tossed her up into his arms, sending her half-screaming and giggling.
Candles, bouncing balls and screaming children aside, it was another very Merry Christmas. Imogene grinned, knowing it had been yet another glorious year with not only the man she loved but the children she loved and the friends and family she loved. She couldn’t ask for more.
She paused. Well, no…she could ask for one more thing— her husband in their bed by the end of the night. A woman had to unwrap something on Christmas.
* * * * *
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Historical bare-knuckle boxing is a creature that took me quite a bit of time to understand. It isn’t even a breath near the boxing of today. The rules were very different and the men were very different. Chaos and the fist ruled without restraint. Mr. P. Egan’s Boxiana or the Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism, was a huge starting point as it was printed in the era which I was writing in. But it also only raised more questions I needed answered. I didn’t understand the terminology or the slang and had to learn everything from scratch.
Prior to 1743, there weren’t any set rules and men died even trying to box. It was a brutal sport that went back to the days of the Romans and Greeks and beyond. Rules were tacked here and there in the name of the sport itself, but none were officially adhered to or followed until a certain British gentleman by the man of Broughton came along and changed boxing history.
On August 10, 1743, Broughton introduced a set of rules meant to regulate the wild world of pugilism and its men. Although there were only seven rules written and set up by Broughton, it was an introduction to fair play which many felt the world of boxing was missing.
One of the most important rules of the seven was actually number seven itself, which read: “That no person is to hit his adversary when he is down, or seize him by the ham, the breeches or any part below the waist; a man on his knees to be reckoned down.” It’s obvious by the rule itself that prior to Broughton’s rules, men hit anything they could get their hands on. Even after the rules were set, holding on to your opponent’s hair was still considered legal because it was located above the waist.
These seven rules set by Broughton were adhered to until another change in boxing history occurred when the Marquess of Queensbury endorsed a boxing code drafted and written by Mr. Chambers in London in the 1860s. Rounds were set up to prevent exhaustion, no wrestling was allowed and gloves became standard.
In the era prior to the Queensbury rules, in New York City itself and the United States, bare-knuckle boxing was illegal due to its savageness. Fights were held in secret locations—usually near wharves—that were usually announced at the last minute. The rounds were determined not by time, but the moment one of the fighters hit the ground. The match didn’t end until someone couldn’t get up after a thirty-second period of time after hitting the ground or if one of the fighters called out, “Enough.” To say “Enough” before a boxing crowd, however, was like saying “I’m not good enough to fight, boys.” So it was rarely ever used by bare-knuckle boxers. In fact, I haven’t come across a single recorded fight prior to the 1860s that had a man call out “Enough.” Which says something about the men who were fighting. They didn’t kneel for anyone unless dead. And unlike the few rounds of today, men in the 1830s could fight well over seventy rounds, usually lasting as many as two or three hours, depending on how much fight there was in a man.
What fascinated me the most, however, was how the men of the 1830s had to train their hands to take hits without breaking them. Men strategically built calluses on their knuckles by training on trees. Yes. Trees. Trees were everywhere and they cost a man nothing. Think of a tree being used like a punching bag. Men would actually knock the bark off with their knuckles in order to pad their hands well with scars and calluses alike. Other men used axes to strengthen their swing and their muscles. Either way you look at it, these men were badass. They defined the hero I saw in my head.
Reading about boxing in the 1830s, I knew I had to throw my hero into being a boxer and mold him around it. I hope you enjoyed glimpsing the historical boxing world. I genuinely loved researching it. In fact, I hope to one day return to it, because there are still so many facets of historical boxing I have yet to explore and touch.
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ISBN: 9781460300367
FOREVER A LORD
Copyright © 2013 by Delilah Marvelle
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