1720c.4

Game of Base was "A Peculiar Favorite"

Salience	Noteworthy
Tags
Location
City/State/Country:	Scarborough, ME, United States
Modern Address
Game	BaseBase
Immediacy of Report
Age of Players	YouthYouth
Holiday
Notables
Text	"Notwithstanding bloody affrays [in war times] between the English and Indians, they were generally of familiar terms in times of peace, and often mingled together in athletic sports. The game of 'base' was a peculiar favorite with our young townsmen, and the friendly Indians, and the hard beach of 'Garrison Cove' afforded fine ground for it."
Sources	W. Southgate, The History of Scarborough, 1633 - 1783, Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Volume III (Portland, 1853), page 148. G-Books search <"bloody affrays like these">, 4/2/2013.
Warning	One wishes there was more evidence that this form of "base" was a ball-game, and not a game like tag or capture-the-flag. If "base" was a ball-game, this report of native American play nearly 3 centuries ago is certainly remarkable.
Comment	Scarborough Maine is about 8 miles SW of Portland ME (then still a part of Massachusetts). Edit with form to add a comment
Query	Edit with form to add a query
Source Image	[[Image:\|left\|thumb]]
External Number
Submitted by	David Block
Submission Note	email of 2/12/2013
Has Supplemental Text

Comments