1840s.31
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Lem: Juvenile Fiction's Boy Who Loved Round-ball
| Salience | Noteworthy |
|---|---|
| Tags | Fiction, HolidaysFiction, Holidays |
| Location | New EnglandNew England |
| City/State/Country: | [[{{{Country}}}]] |
| Modern Address | |
| Game | Round Ball, Massachusetts GameRound Ball, Massachusetts Game |
| Immediacy of Report | |
| Age of Players | JuvenileJuvenile |
| Holiday | Fast Day |
| Notables | |
| Text | Lem may be fiction's only round-ball hero. On pages 93-97, the novel lays out the game that was played by Lem [born 1830] and his playmates, which seems to follow the customs of the Massachusetts game, but without stakes as bases. The passage includes a field diagram, some terminology ["the bases . . . were four in number, and were called 'gools,' a word which probably came from 'goals.'"], and ballmaking technique. Lem is, alas, sidelined for the season when he is plugged "in the hollow of the leg" while gool-running [Page 97] Other references: On spring, pp 92-93: "Ball-playing began early in the spring; [p92/93] it was the first of the summer games to come out. On Fast Day, p. 93: "I am afraid that Lem's only notion of Fast Day was that that was the long-expected day when, for the first time that year, a game of ball was played on the Common." On the pleasant effects of a change in the path of the Gulf Stream, pp. 228-229: "no slushy streets, and above all, no cold barns to go into to feed turnips to the cold cows! A land where top-time, kite-[p228/229] time, and round-ball-time would always be in season. Think of it!" On making teams for simulating Revolutionary War tussles, p. 107: "We can't all be Americans; and we have agreed to choose sides, as we do in round ball."
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| Sources | Noah Brookes, Lem: A New England Village Boy: His Adventures and his Mishaps (Scribner's Sons, New York, 1901). Accessed 11/15/2008 via Google Books search "Lem boy." |
| Warning | |
| Comment | Edit with form to add a comment |
| Query | We welcome comment on the authenticity of Brooks' depiction of ballplaying in the 1840s, and whether how the game depicted compares to the MA game. Edit with form to add a query |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
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| Has Supplemental Text |
1840s.31 Lem: Juvenile Fiction's Boy Who Loved Round-ball"
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