THE SPORT OF ROWING sometimes powerful, but there his eulogy, such as it was, stopped. They were, he said, universally of an appalling ignorance modified by an almost insane rashness. “Style had perished from the land. Where, for instance, were the straight backs, the polished feathers, the long and massive body-swings, the crashing strokes of the brothers Menzies and other demigods of the past? They were gone, and only movements fit for an asylum of the halt and the maimed had taken their place. “Talk to him about the In that sliding seat?407 © The Estate of Ernest H. Shepard Reprinted with the permission of Simon & Schuster observed from the grounds of Abney House404 by Mr. Charles Hammersley. More than fifty years before, these two had been at Eton together,405 and Mr. Hammersley recognized his former companion. He also remembered his nickname, and hailed him by it. “‘Skum!’ he called out; and the whilom king of the O.U.B.C. meekly answered to the call, made fast his skiff, and stayed a fortnight in his old friend’s hospitable house.406 “It was there that I met him and hung upon his lips. Mr. Shadwell certainly had strong views. He was willing to admit that modern oarsmen were usually heavy and 404 near Lehmann’s own home in Bourne End, near Cookham, midway between Henley and Eton on the River Thames. 405 Hammersley had been coxswain of the Eight in 1835, a year before Shadwell held the same position. 406 This is nothing less than Chapter II of The Wind in the Willows! invention of the devil, you had the root of all our ills. Men had forgotten all about the true science of boatbuilding and relied on a seat that moved backwards and forwards. They ought to be screwed to their thwarts, sir, yes, screwed to them; but instead of that, they shuffled to and fro like a row of louts at a fair. “I tried to reason with the angry old gentleman. I got into a boat to show him how we understood the matter and executed it. His peals of scornful laughter woke the echoes and startled the remotest waterfowl of the Cookham reach. “Then he ordered me out and took my place, and for five minutes showed me the true style. Several times, having failed to adjust the straps to his feet, he fell backwards in the boat, but his ardour and his contempt were proof against catastrophe; he waved it aside and proceeded with his demonstration. It was a remarkable lesson, and I have never forgotten it.”408 407 See Chapter 8. 408 Lehmann, pp. 97-8 112
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