The 5th Royal Irish Lancers could boast to having some
of the best horseman within the British Army during
the 19th Century and their prowess on the sports field
is testimoney to this. Many equestrian events were practised
by memebers of the regiment during the 19th and early
20th Century.
The Equestiran sport of tent-pegging - the noble sport
of Lance and Sword was introduced to Britian from India
by members of the 5th RIL. Apprently, as a mischevous
pastime, members of the regiment in India would gallop
in among the tents at camp and cut the guy ropes with
their sword or uproot the tent pegs with lances causing
the tents to collapse (not to mention the indingation
the of the tent's occupants!). The officers decreed
that the pegs be put into the ground seperately and
the pastime could continue with out disrupting the camp.
Thus the game of tent-pegging was born.
The following extract is from the Illustrated London
News of 1875, in which it claims that the 5th Royal
Irish Lancers are the supreme practicioners of the art:
TENT-PEGGING AT HURLINGHAM
The company of fashionable spectators,
who on Saturday assembled in the grounds of the Gun
Club at Hurlingham, saw the first public exhibition
in England of a manly exercise and game, which has been
imported from Asia by the 5th Royal Irish Regiment of
Lancers. The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke
and Dutchess of Edinburgh were present, with other Princes
and Princesses, in the Royal pavilion. Tent- Pegging
has been thus described by a contemporary:- A wooden
tent-peg, similar to those ordinarily used in Indian
camps, is driven firmly into the ground, and the object
of the horseman is to draw this with the point of his
lance as he passes at full speed. In description the
thing sounds simple enough; you have only to lower the
lance at the right moment , and the trick is done. Nor
is the difficultly more apparent as one watches the
graceful motion and easy precision of a skilful practitioner;
but if those who doubt that there is any art in it will
only mount a horse and try for themselves, they will
soon confess that there are more qualities needed than
a good seat and a quick eye for the distance to transform
them into accomplished tent-peggers. The hand must be
light as a feather, the grip close as steel, the eye
true, and the aim
unerring. As a training for cavalry whose arm is the
lance, and whose chance of success in battle depends
on a sure use of that weapon, tent-pegging has long
been assiduously cultivated among the horsemen of nearly
every province of India, and in the native cavalry regiments
of our Eastern army forms as much a part of the drill
as the bayonet exercise lately did in our infantry regiments.
When and where tent-pegging originated are questions
upon which everybody has a theory, and all the theories
differ. The North-West Provinces, however, seem to be
the home of art, and, though it is practised alike by
horsemen of Mysore and Scinde, by the accomplished,
and in all probability neze-baze, as the natives name
it, is but one of the many warlike feats in which the
Mohammedan tribes from over the Indus and the wild fearless
riders of Afghanistan excelled centuries ago. The 10th,
12th, and 15th Native Regiments are perhaps the most
brilliant tent-peggers of the irregular cavalry, and
they are nearly all Mussulmans. It was while stationed
at Sealkote, away up on the
Cashmere frontier, in, that the 5th first practiced
the art. Some English regiments, among others the 4th
Hussars, had previously attempted it, at the suggestion
of Lord Napier, who, appreciating the value of such
training, had offered prizes to be competed for by European
cavalry only. Then the result was not a great success;
and up to the present the 5th
Royal Irish Lancers
have held a proud supremacy, though both the 4th and
11th Hussars have a few tent-peggers whose workmanship
is not by any means to be despised. The 5th
Lancers have, of privates and non-commissioned
officers, some forty or fifty who can handle their pegging-lances
as such horsemen only can, and ten or a dozen officers
who are at least equally skilled.
Polo
Polo is a sport that has been enjoyed by cavalry regiment
sof the British Army ever since it was brought over
from India in the 19th Centruy.
The 5th Royal Irish Lancers had a great reputation as
being master polo players winning may of the tournaments
played during the late 19th century. Below are some
of the regiments victorious tournaments and the teams
that took part:
Inter-Regimental, Hurlingham
1878 & 1879
Team:
Capt. S.S. Benyon
Capt. E.G. Payley
Lieut. J.Spicer
2/Lt. A.C. Little
2/Lt. L.H. Jones
1882
Capt. Spicer
Capt. Jones
Lieut Jones
Lieut Little
All Ireland Tournament
1884
Team:
Capt. Spicer
Capt Tufton
Lieut Jones
Lieut. Combe
Lieut. Hill
Lieut. Hulse
Lieut Jardin
Lieut Brown-Clayton
All Ireland Tournament
1881
Team:
Capt. Spicer
Capt. Jones
Lieut. Jones
Lieut. Combe
Ladysmith Tournament
1889
Team:
Lieut Fraser
Lieut. Jardin
Lieut Hill
Col. Scott-Chishlome
