The Field Book: or, Sports and Pastimes of the United Kingdom (published 1833)

[Greg Hohman]

Is anybody familiar with this book in which golf is not mentioned? The compiler, W. H. Maxwell, was born in 1792 in Newry, Ireland and died in 1850 in Musselburgh, Scotland. It is viewable at Project Gutenberg. Topics are presented alphabetically. Maxwell seems to have aimed for comprehensiveness, but he does not offer, unless I missed it, an explanation for the omission of golf.

[Jim_Kennedy]

I believe that the answer lies partially in its main title, "The Field Book", as field sports mostly pertain to hunting, shooting, and fishing. The last three paragraphs of the "Introduction" also hold some clues, one being that the book was meant to be "...an object to embrace British sports generally".

[Greg Hohman]

I scanned the alphabet and think I saw cricket.

[Peter Pallotta]

With you two interested in this, I had to go look it up -- but then got sidetracked with Maxwell himself:

A Trinity College-educated novelist who wrote military fiction, but apparently without the benefit of actually having served (as he claimed) during the Battle of Waterloo and the Peninsular War; and a non fiction writer born in Ireland who penned a History of the Irish Rebellion that was hostile to (and meanly caricatured) the rebels. [The caricatures themselves were drawn by illustrator George Cruikshank, who gained fame for his drawings in several books by Charles Dickens -- a friend, until he wrote a letter to The Times claiming credit for the plot of 'Oliver Twist'!]

I'm not sure I trust either of them -- especially as there's no evidence that Maxwell himself ever participated in ANY sport or pastime, unless it was (judging from the one photo) as a dandy walking the fields with his dog. 

I think there's probably much-much more to this story (i.e. of golf's exclusion from the book). My apologies for not being able to add even a single bit to it!

[Neil Regan]

Why Maxwell chose to ignore golf, I do not know.
But you may be interested to read about the game in an earlier classic and one of Maxwell’s sources,


The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England By Strutt


Look for “goff”, that’s G O F F

[Greg Hohman]

Your sidetrack is understandable, Peter.


Thanks for the referral, Neil.


Jim, I express scrolled to G to ensure that I had not overlooked Goff. I can also confirm the presence of cricket—and Écarté, a card game. Yet I take your point. Lots and lots of hunting, shooting and fishing. Fore!

[Jim_Kennedy]

Peter,

Maxwell and Cruikshank missed their calling,  You would think their penchant for fraud and deception would have been more rewarding to them if they went into politics. 

Greg,

It all 'sounded' good when I was typing it (p.s. I did the goff search too). Leave it to Neil!