THE SPORT OF ROWING coach, historian and memoirist, Gilbert C. Bourne.160 Informal racing between the two public schools continued the next year. “The first [official] race between Eton and Westmin- ster and, so far as is known, the first race in which schoolboys appeared in public”161 took place in London on the Tideway at Putney on July 27, 1829, just six weeks after the first Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race at Henley. For Eton, more races with Westminster followed, along with competitions with boats from the Oxford colleges which make up the University. Eton first entered the Henley Royal Re- gatta162 in 1861 and became a regular entrant in the Ladies’ Challenge Plate for the next century. In modern times, they compete for the Princess Elizabeth Cup. Tradition Etonian rowers have always honored and revered their predecessors, right back to the dawn of sport rowing. All the various intramural rowing events had traditional courses of varying lengths somewhere along the reaches above and below Rafts, and The Eton Boating Book, first published in 1869, records the names of the boats and rowers in the Processions each year and the lineups and results of intramural competitions all the way back to 1825, with fragmentary infor- mation back to 1816.163 For two centuries, rowing at Eton has been a fraternity that lasts a lifetime and 160 Bourne, Memories, p. 8, See Chapter 16. 161 Byrne & Churchill, p. 169 162 See Chapter 5. 163 The Westminster School’s Water Ledger, begun in June, 1813, is purported to be history’s earliest written record of amateur sports activity, per Burnell, Swing, p. 4. Eton Boating Song Jolly boating weather, And a hay harvest breeze, Blade on the feather, Shade off the trees, Swing, swing together, With your bodies between your knees, Swing, swing together, With your bodies between your knees. – Captain Algernon Drummond Eton Rowing Today The Eton Boating Song, which goes on for many verses, was first sung in 1863, and it is still sung today. Tradition remains the life blood of Eton College rowing. One can never forget that half a millennium’s worth www.etoncollege.com more. Once an Etonian wet-bob, your place in society in later life was secured. 54
