Origins of the English Flying Tipplers
Jack Prescott
(Internet Published) February 2006
If you were unlucky enough to be born in
England around the mid-1800's, the best thing that you could do, was to
sail to America. The conditions in our mines and other industries were
absolutely appalling. Poverty, malnutrition, ignorance, disease, and all
of the other pleasantries were rife.
As a last resort, a young man of 18, could join the British Army and sign
up for 7 years service in India. For a shilling a day, he gave up all his
rights and became a soldier of the Queen.
He was kitted out and drilled and generally knocked into shape. Arriving
in India to keep the peace, he would probably be killed in an ambush or
left out wounded upon India's plains. The women, then, would come out and
carve up his remains...........unless he could roll to his rifle and blow
out his own brains. Die, die, die like a soldier, a soldier of the Queen.
And so, it came to pass that my great grandfather joined the Yorkshire
Light Infantry at the age of 18. Weighing only 112 pounds and only 5 feet
2 inches tall. On army grub.........he soon got to be 20 pounds heavier.
He was posted in Northern India, where he served for 7 1/2 years. He told
of the impact of seeing many wonderful things in India, not least of all
the curious acrobatic pigeons which also flew extremely high.
I wish, that I could tell you, that my own great grandfather brought these
pigeons home to Sheffield, after his soldiering. In fact, he did not, but
other men did. If you were a sergeant or an officer or even if you could
get authority from an officer.........you could crate such pigeons up and
bring them back to England.
Therefore, it came to pass that a lot of various pigeons came from India,
with the troops. Men, of course, in those days, had to make their own
pleasures and any novelty with spectacular performance was regarded with
great interest. The men of Sheffield and other areas soon got to work on
these strange new pigeons.
The acrobatic aspect was cultivated as well as the high flying aspect. It
was not too long before the two talents were separated. For High Flying
and Long Times...........the acrobatics had to be selected out and the
result was.....the Tippler. The early specimens were often seen to tumble.
The local dialect word for "Tumble" was "Tipple".
In Sheffield today, just ask any very old person what it means to
"tipple". You will be told that it simply means to fall down, head over
heels. Now, don't bother asking the young folks. Our dialect has changed
and the word "tipple" is seldom heard or written. Yet, the railroad
enthusiasts will be able to tell you, that in the rail-rolling stock list,
there is a rail car known as a "Tippler". It is a special wagon that can
be tipped over to spill its load of coal, coke, sand or gravel into a
delivery area. So, you see how this rail wagon has retained the very old
description......even today....1997.
Anyway, I'm saying that's how Tipplers got their name and kept that name
in spite of the tippling or tumbling being bred out.
It came to pass that the Sheffield area became the strongest hot bed of
Tippler flying. Thirty eight (38) miles away in Macclesfield, a different
type of Tippler was cultivated.....but very widely used in the cocktail of
types, that produced the Sheffield Tippler.
My great grandfather actually purchased some Tipplers......but not those
of the first early Indian imports. What he had were Macc crosses that flew
very, very high......but were rather unreliable. My grandfather did a lot
better and flew with the old Carbrook club..........long before the NTU
was formed and right up to 1937 or 1938.
For a time, after 1912 when the NTU was formed, a lot of East End men flew
locally and would not join the NTU.
The top man and absolute leader was Ben Stamp or Ben Stampe........I an
not sure how it was spelled. He declared that Tippler flying only made
sense as a very local sport when men refereed each other's birds.
"Gentleman", said he, "if we allow outsiders, the refereeing will become
too subject to interpretation. The day will come when an isolated man will
compete....using his own grandmother as his referee".
It sounded like a joke in 1906 but I ask.....is it so much a joke in 1997
in the NTU?? I've asked several NTU men and they are not ready to laugh.
Jack Prescott
P.S.-----Soldiers were not the only ones to bring livestock and plants,
etc., back from India. There were many civilians working in India; police,
administrators, business people and a lot of British soldiers were
detached for service with that company to protect the trade and deal with
bandits and other hostiles. A lot of soldiers and hostiles were killed.
[Internet Published Febrary 2006 at http://www.tipplers.com/jack/]
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