- Tumbling.—XIII. Century
This engraving represents a woman bending herself backwards, from a MS. of the thirteenth century, in the Cotton Library - Stilt Dancing.—XIII. Century
Materials for Dancing, specifies masques, castanets, and a ladder of ten rounds. I apprehend the ladder-dance originated from the ancient pastime of walking or dancing upon very high stilts. A specimen of such an exhibition is here given from a MS. roll in the Royal Library, written and illuminated in the reign of Henry III. The actor is exercising a double function, that is, of a musician, and of a dancer. - Remarkable Dance.—XIII. Century
Here we perceive a girl dancing upon the shoulders of the joculator, who at the same time is playing upon the bagpipes, and appears to be in the action of walking forwards. - Launching a sea-plane from a wire
By another method, shown in figure, the sea-plane is launched from a cable suspended between two masts, and can come to rest upon the cable again after a flight has been made. The machine is hung upon the cable prior to making an ascent; then the pilot starts his engine, and as his machine glides forward along the cable he releases a catch and soars into the air. Upon returning he flies beneath the cable, and makes his craft rise until the “V”-shaped apparatus above his head is caught by the cable and the catch becomes operative; then he stops his motor, and his craft hangs from the cable as it did before. A. Sea-plane B. Cable C. The “V”-shaped apparatus which guides the cable into the clip (D.) and so suspends the machine from the wire. - Club-Ball.—XIII. Century
The next specimen of ball, taken from a drawing more ancient than the former, a genealogical roll of the kings of England to the time of Henry III. in the Royal Library, presents two players only, and he who is possessed of the bat holds the ball also, which he either threw into the air and struck with his bat as it descended, or cast forcibly upon the ground, and beat it away when it rebounded; the attention of his antagonist to catch the ball need not be remarked, it does not appear in either of these instances how the game was determined.