MR. PLATER'S ENTERTAINMENT.

On Thursday, March 2nd, we were delighted a second time by a vocal concert, given by Mr. Edward Plater's Glee Union; and a greater treat than we then experienced, it is hardly possible to imagine. Glee-singing must have reached its highest perfection, if for a whole evening an audience such as ours can be kept attentive, listening to the performance of glee after glee, with not much of the comical element in the programme. This, however, Mr. Plater succeeded in doing, and certainly, through every part of the school the performance was enjoyed extremely. The Glee Union, which enjoys a high reputation in London, consists of Mr. Plater, an Old Marlburian; Mr. Brown, who possesses an alto voice of great finish and culture; Mr. Henry Taylor, a very robust tenor; and last, but by no means least, Mr. Horscroft, a powerful and pleasing bass, who gave a strong firm basis (a lapsus calami) to all the glees. These four voices combined so beautifully in their delivery, that we could almost imagine it was one voice that was producing the chords and harmonies.

The fine effect was due to the expression and beautiful finish with which each glee was put forth; and as our glee competition is soon coming on, each individual member of every house ten should mark how glees can be sung and what effects can be produced by four voices, unaided by any instrument.

The concert opened with "Strike the Lyre," which was very artistically sung; the part that struck us most was the first part of the second verse :

"I love the proud and solemn sweep

Of harp and trumpet's harmony.”

where all four voices came out with grand effect. This was followed by a quaint old madrigal of the 16th century, so very curious, yet at the same time so very pretty, that it is to be hoped that the Royal College of Music will succeed in bringing to light many other pieces of like merit; and undoubtedly there exist many extremely beautiful old airs which have never travelled beyond a certain locality.

After this, while Mr. Plater and his colleagues were resting themselves and recruiting their voices, J. B. Carruthers, who made his debut last concert, gave us a song "Time Was" (Lady Arthur Hill); he seemed nervous, but nevertheless showed us the scope of his good voice, being especially noticeable

on the high notes. He was encored, and then sang "Minster Windows" (Pinsuti), which it will be remembered, he sang at concert, and in which he seemed much more at home. Following the programme the next item is à glee, "Discord Diro Sister." In this the harmonies are intended to suit the words, there being a most lovely change, from the minor in the first verse, to the major in the second. Mr. Bambridge then delighted us with a "Polonaise" by Chopin, but we were all greatly disappointed, that not all the long and loud applause which followed, could make him change his fixed determination not to be "done" into an encore. When the cheering had subsided, a very pretty and pathetic part-song by Smart, “The Homeward Watch," was given, the last verse being especially striking.

Mr. Horscroft then sang the "Powder Monkey" (Watson) with great taste, and he had the graciousness to yield to the shouts that followed for encore. He then sang Molloy's "Bo'sun's Yarn," which has been heard before at Penny Readings and elsewhere. This song suited his voice far better; and the audience listened attentively to the marvellous, not to say incredible, adventures of the truthful (very) boatswain. In the next glee, "I wish to tune my quiv'ring lyre" (Walmisley), Mr. Henry Taylor took the tenor solo, shewing to advantage his excellent voice and his power of commanding it. Next the College Choir appeared on the boards, and sang a fonr-part song, "Good-night," arranged by Mr. Bambridge, which we think we have heard before. It was rendered with much expression, but, if we may be allowed to make the remark, both in this and the other piece sung by the College Choir, there seemed to be hardly sufficient bass: the basses stand at the back, and are not high enough up to be heard distinctly some indeed tried to obviate this difficulty by standing on forms. However, not be too severe the glee was well sung on the whole. As an end to the first part of the programme came an old friend, "The Tar's Song," which was sung with great zeal, as if the words "Then we'll serve the grog, boys," were shortly to be realised.

And now we expected that Mr. Plater and his friends would take a good long rest, but almost immediately after Part I was ended, Part II opened with a nice little glee "In the Pleasant Summer

Day," Beale; the composer of this glee has written many others, a volume of which, we may add, has lately been edited by Mr. Plater. A solo followed "Phyllis is my only joy" sung by Mr. Brown. His voice is an alto, highly finished, and cultivated, yet we hardly think he was pleasing as a soloist, though admirably adapted to take the top part of a glee. After a glee All hail! thou Queen of night,' we heard for the first time in a vocal solo Webber, who is a great acquisition to the school in the musical line, as he not only excels in the singing department, but is also a clever pianist, as we already know from his performance at last concert. He sang one of the finest Old English Melodies that we know, the refrain of which

'O, return love, tho' thou burn love'

is very striking. He rendered the song very pluckily with great pathos, and in reply to a loud encore obliged us with "She wandered down the Mountain Side," an exceedingly pretty song by F. Clay. Then followed another "Sailor's song," but of a rather more elaborate kind, by Hatton. It is needless to say that in the rendering of this glee, as in the previous ones, expression and feeling were combined. After this we again heard a native attempt in the chorus out of Madame Angot "The song of the Brotherhood." The well-know tune and its swing quite removed criticism, and it was repeated in reply to an encore. Then at the end of the programme came all the comic glees. We were first amused by the awful slanders against poor "Phyllis." After this followed an old favourite "Peter Piper," which was demanded again, and kindly repeated. The last item was the part song by Mackenzie, "Littel Byngo," the words of which are taken from the Ingoldsby Legends. In it the Bass seemed to have no doubt as to its being a prettie song by Jyngo'; the other voices however seemed rather more dubious. No sooner had it been concluded, than loud shouts and cheers clamoured for its repetition. After this request had been complied with, we all dispersed, thinking what a very pleasant evening we had spent.

MARLBOROUGH NOMADS.

(Continued).

November 12th, v. Haileybury College, was our next appointment. We played on their new ground, a great improvement on their old one, which used

to resemble our big game under the most unfavorable circumstances. We had much the best of the game throughout, being much the heavier forward team, and having a very good lot behind, including our Captain, who made his appearance after a long absence, and the Hon. Sec., who had travelled all night to be present. The game was a very enjoy. able one, and ended in our favour by two goals and three tries, A. K. Butterworth dropping one goal and placing another, while Wilkins got three tries, and Thursby one, to one goal. Our team was C. M. Wilkins, F. Duncan (three-quarter), A. K. Butterworth, E. J. Gunner (half-back), J. D. Vans-Agnew, H. Scott (backs), F. C. Kimber, C. Hawkins, G. G. Hawkins, C. E. Powell, F. Thursby, H. M. Elder, A. Ll. Davies, A. F. Sieveking, G. M. Butterworth, and Rev. J. Ll. Dove (forward).

November 19th-We had to meet Richmond on the Old Deer Park there. Losing the toss we at first had to act on the defensive owing to the determined play of the two Gurdons and Wells. However Wilkins relieved us by a useful run, and our forwards, having got a bit together, with a united effort, managed to turn the tables, and for a time we penned our opponents. Wells however proved himself invaluable to his side, and the play was removed to the centre, when the two Gurdons and Twynam for Richmond, and the two Butterworths and Gunner for us in turn distinguished themselves. Indeed the latter played splendidly all through, and proved himself a most valuable acquisition to the Club. Shortly before half time Clifton very nearly succeeded in scoring for Richmond, and we had to touch down in self-defence. The second half of the game was almost a repetition of the first, Richmond having slightly the best of the game, but being unable to score. Stephenson, Duncan, and Wilkins all played a most stubborn defensive game, and the forwards, headed by Kimber, Powell, and the two Hawkins, frustrated all the efforts of their opponents to score, and after an hour's very hard play, a most interesting match ended in a draw, neither side having gained any distinct advantage. Richmond had a very fine team, but we cannot help thinking that we might have won, had our backs and threequarters thought proper to kick occasionally, instead of always running. The Nomads were C. M. Wilkins (capt.), F. Duncan (), A. K. Butterworth, E. J.

Gunner (-back), B. C. Stephenson, J. E. Square (backs), J. D. Vans Agnew, F. C. Kimber, F. Thursby, C. E. Powell, C. Hawkins, G. G. Hawkins, G. M. Butterworth, A. F. Sieveking, and C. S. Rashdall, Richmond-L. R. Colledge and H. R. Ladell (backs), F. E. Speed, H. T. Twynam (threequarter backs), F.Wells, W. K. Arber (half-backs), E. T. Gurdon (Capt.), C. Gurdon, J. I. Ward, A. Ward, W. W. Northcott, H F. Gwatkin, W. Clifton, H. Ogilvie, and A. Wickham (forwards).

Another team of Nomads beat Bart.'s Hospital II by one goal (placed by F. B. Windeler from try by A. S. B. Oakley) to 3 tries, after a very hard game; where our team won by sheer hard play, Bart's appearing to have much the better team on paper.

November 26th.-Our defeat by the College is too well remembered to call for any details here. Though far from grudging the school their victory, we must express a wish, that next season the representive team of the Nomads (or at any rate most of them) will not show such inexplicable reluctance to visit their old school as they did this season, and that the hon. sec. will not find more difficulty in getting a team for this match than for any other. Verb. sap.

December 3rd, v. Old Cheltonians at Blackheath. The fact that the Cheltonians though beaten had made a very close fight with Blackheath on the previous Saturday brought a large crowd of spectators to witness this match. We were without Wilkins who was doing duty for the South at Huddersfield; however, a very able substitute was found in Square, who was elected Deputy captain of the club. We started the ball down the hill against the wind. At first stubborn scrimmages were the order of the day, but good runs by Butterworth, Duncan, and Gunner, soon forced them to touch down, and they had shortly to repeat the performance on Butterworth's taking a shot at goal. All our efforts to score proved fruitless, and a good rush by the visitors, aided by a mistake on the part of our backs, made us touch down for the only time in the match. After change, Duncan made several brilliant runs, indeed his fine play throughout was the feature of the match, but though we penned them closely, the tackling of their backs was too sure to allow us to get in. Butterworth next dropped over the line, and following it up touched it down first (as we thought),

but as the umpires could not see, and they disputed We continued to pen them it, Square gave way.

as

closely until the call of time; but were unable to score any definite point, and the match was drawn. For them Summers and Clark collared very surely while for us Square's dropping, and Stephenson's Nomads were tackling were much admired. follows:-J. E. Square (capt) (back), F. Duncan, B. C. Stephenson, H. Scott ( back), E. J. Gunner, A. K. Butterworth (backs), J. D. Vans-Agnew, F. C. Kimber, C. E. Powell, C. Hawkins, G. G. Hawkins, G. M. Butterworth, F. Thursby, A. F. Sieveking, C. S. Rashdall (forward). Old Cheltonians, F. S. Clark, R. Brereton (back), R. H. Summers, J. H. Pruen (backs), C. Bellairs, F. C. Day (back), A. C. McKewan, G. S. Clark, A. J. Christian, Money, Forrest, Daunt, Johnstone, Margetson, and McEwen (forwards).

This was the last match Duncan played with us before setting out to join his regiment in Ireland, and his loss is a very severe one to the Nomads; both this season and last he has been most useful as -back, his tackling always sure, and his running. sometimes very brilliant. We all wish him every success in his profession.

On December 10th, we had to meet the Clapham Rovers on our ground at Blackheath. In spite of a coating of half thawed snow on the ground we were unwilling to lose a day's play, so after some delay we began. It was next to impossible to hold the ball, much less to run with it, so after about half an hour's play, during which we succeeded in gaining three tries we stopped, and then proceeded with a friendly game at association. We only had twelve men on our side, but were too strong for them. J. E. Square (back), C. M. Wilkins, B. C. Stephenson (2), A. K. Butterworth, E. J. Gunner (), J. D. Vans Agnew, F. Thursby, C. Hawkins, G. G. Hawkins, G. M. Butterworth, C. S. Rashdall, and H. T. Ravenhill, played for us.

On December 17th, Walthamstow were our next opponents, and we had got a splendid team together, but pelting rain compelled us to abandon the game much to the disappointment of both teams, as Walthamstow have been very successful for the last two seasons.

(To be continued).

Marlborough 11 15 8 9 12

We were thus six points behind them in the total of points, as we were thirty-five points ahead of them in the previous match. This result was mainly due to the difference between the courts-that at Wellington being very slow, ours very fast. In their court our service was decidedly inferior to theirs. Buckland again scored many points in very pretty style, but also made a good number of random strokes-an error which is apt to grow on a player without his knowing it, unless he is constantly on the watch. Leaf, though he got up a lot, was unequal to administering the coup de grâce to many balls to which his partner would have shown no mercy. But in fairness to our fellows it must be said that they had the worst of what luck there was, and that they played as hard for their last points as their first, never losing heart. The last game in fact was called 8 all, 9 all, 10 all, and 12 all. If they play with equal resolution and take pains each to correct his special deficiencies, they will not discredit us in London. But they cannot afford to rest on their oars. Last year we scored 149 to Wellington's 85 in eleven games, this year 120 to their 91 in nine games.

The Common Rooms on each day had a match before the School match began. Unfortunately Mr. Leaf was at the last moment taken ill and unable to play on either day. We were defeated here by four

THE ATHLETIC SPORTS, 1882.

The races of 1882 have been the most interesting in the memory of the present Marlburian reporter. Apart from the fact that there were none of last year's winners left to compete in these sports, there existed in many cases up to the last second a state of blissful uncertainty as to who the winners of the various events were to be. Moreover several innovations were this year introduced by the energetic Race Committee, with most decidedly beneficial results. The entries were secured in a novel and effectual way: fellows had to give in their names to the captains of their respective houses, who forwarded them to head quarters. Thus not only did a large number of competitors give in their names, but as all the entries were bona fide, it was possible to threaten to fine those who did not come up to the scratch; we say "threaten," for as far as we know the fine has not yet been exacted from the few defaulters.

Two new events which were decidedly attractive were added to the programme. A slow bicycle race was instituted at the suggestion of a letter in the Marlburian. And a Rifle Corps race in full uniform was run on the last day; Capt. and Adjutant Lowndes having kindly offered a first prize, and Capt. W. J. Ford a second.

PRICE 6d.

Padwick was throughout the favourite for the Champion Cup, because he combined considerable pace with great jumping powers. Many regarded him as almost certain to win the short races even after the trials had been run. These however, together with the broad jump, were carried off by Lewis, who was also second in each of the hurdle races, thus running Padwick very close for the Champion Cup. The marks for the Champion Cup were: Padwick 35, Lewis 30. For the long races Stewart was decidedly the favourite, and should be a good runner in the quarter mile, for which however he did not compete.

The Sack Race and the Three-Legged Race had to be postponed till Monday, March 27th, partly owing to want of time and partly to the bad weather on Friday. They were run on the Eleven this year, which was also the scene of the high jump competitions, and it is not unlikely that next year the quarter-mile will be run round it.

We always used to think that the Deputy Stewards were more for use than ornament; the majority however of that illustrious body, (there were one or two good exceptions,) appear to have thought differently. The primary object of those neat ashen sticks was to clear the course. Yet in