THE ART OF SOCIAL BATHING.
THE spontaneous, unpremeditated bathe is best of all, when sunbeams light the water, and the rocks are dry and hot. Yet it has drawbacks inseparable from its character. In all forms of civilised bathing there are three periods, each of which offers room for failure,—that of undressing, of bathing, and of dressing. In the spontaneous bathe, the first is usually too rapid for criticism, the second too exhilarating for desorip- tion, and the third too depressing for recollection, from lack of towels. Moreover, even on the most unfrequented shore it is seldom sacred from interruption. Hence the predicaments of bathers, which mainly occur to those who indulge in this delightful but inartistic form. Besides, it is limited to male bathers, and if the development of sea-bathing as a social institution is to make the progress it deserves, this solitary and selfish enjoyment of its pleasures, so dear to the English male mind, must be discouraged by the offer of something equally delightful to the swimmer, and more attractive to both sexes.
Bathing, in the present month, means as a rule sea-bathing, and as generally practised, it follows the custom of fifty years ago, without change, and, it must be added, without much enjoyment either. The art of bathing in society, as a delight. ful marine amusement for all ages and sexes, was never contemplated when sea-bathing first became an English institution. It was looked upon as a wholesome but some- what unpleasant duty, by most men, and nearly all women, to be got over as quickly as possible before making a toilet and appearing in general company. The bathing-machine was for the moment the Englishman's, or Englishwoman's, "castle," with a private piece of sea attached to it, limited so far as rights of ownership could be exercised, to a width corresponding to that of the "machine," and in point of time to the utmost which could be had for sixpence. "Trespassing" was indignantly resented, and it was, and in many places is still, very "bad form" even to look at your neighbours, a feeling which in cases where ladies and gentlemen were bathing in juxtaposition was hardly to be wondered at. For the costume of the former was as hideous as it was uncomfortable. A tunic, of the roughest and coarsest dark-blue serge, tied round the waist with a string, a pair of sacks, reaching half-way between the knees and ankles, and a cap of oilskin, suited for the head-gear of a fish-wife landing herrings, being supplied, with the two sandy towels, as part of the outfit included in the hire of the "machine." The name given to this marine contrivance argues a Scotch or French origin, though it possesses neither the comfort which is suggested by the first, nor the elegance inferred from the second. Its merits, if any, were those of comfort, for it kept out wind and rain, and though its damp, sandy, cold, gritty floor was disagreeable, and the wooden steps on its " sea-face " were the cause of sad disaster to tender feet and shins in ascending before the im- pulse of a breaker, it enabled clothes to be kept dry, and its cracked looking-glass gave some aid in completing a rough toilet. On the other hand, its moving powers were seldom each as to enable the bathers to take a header in deep water ; and the order by which a proprietor endeavoured to comply with the demand for its removal into deeper water, —" Gent. says he wants to have a header,' take him out into the drain,"—is believed to be based on the actual practice of a well-known Sussex seaside town.
If bathing is to take a place among social institutions, the question of costume takes perhaps the first place. There is nothing so indelicate as clothes, when they are "off," as the author of "Troy Town" justly observes, and nothing so charming when they are on, and are suitable and becoming ; and as this is mainly, though not entirely, a ladies' question, the adoption of a pretty sea-dress is all-important. Form and material have already been settled, so far as authority can do so, in the pages of the volume of the "Badminton Library" devoted to " Swimming ; " and the pretty picture of ladies bathing in costume, which there appears, should recon- cile the most exacting to its use. "The best material," we read, "is Turkey twill," and the cut of the dress is quite charming. "The costume should be tight-fitting, and made with knickerbockers and a short skirt ; if for speed- swimming, the absence of skirt is preferable. The dress should be trimmed with the club colours, and made neatly but not elaborately. Waterproof-caps are worn by many ladies ; while for men the University costume is best." By this is meant, not a cap and gown, but a close-fitting cotton garment, made in one piece, and reaching from the shoulders to above the knee. These can be bought of almost any colour, and to judge by the variety worn where social bathing is in vogue, there is no lack of care displayed by the other sex in the selection of a becoming costume. It is said that even the Radley boys, who, like the Etonians, much resented the idea of any costume at all when bathing in the Thames, were induced to wear it by the judicious provision of suits adorned with the colours of their " houses" and elevens, and soon became as eager to obtain them as they had before been contumacious in refusal. With a "neat and appropriate" costume provided for both sexes, the difficulty of joint enjoyment of the greatest pleasure of the sea-side disappears. The rest is a matter of detail which can easily be arranged ; for that exuberance of marine attire by which Continental and American lady bathers sometimes defeat their object, is likely to be sternly discouraged by the practical good sense of English women when engaged in an amusement which they seem to enjoy even more than men. The following extract from an American magazine of fashion is, however, perhaps worth quoting by way of warning :— "The unbecoming appearance of many lady-bathers has led us to ask the particulars of the toilet of one whom we have remarked as looking equally well dressed, when in the water and on shore. She first dons a thin woollen under-garment, and over this she wears a corset with most of the 'bones' removed. She then puts on a pair of black stockings, and the bathing-dress, which should have an upper skirt reaching almost to the tops of the bathing-shoes, which should be of white canvas. The bathing-dress should be dark, blue or black, as it makes the figure look better than a light one. The details should be left to taste, but a few white embroidered anchors or a little white or red fringe will give lightness. She plaits her hair underneath a close-fitting bathing-cap, but in order to avoid the unbecoming appearance which this lends to the head, she fixes a false plait, pinned on below the hair, to fall below the bathing-cap behind, and a few little curls, arranged in a neglige fashion, are sewn inside the bathing-cap to fall over the forehead." The effect of this over-thoughtful attention to detail, and especially of the long dark skirt, when soaked with sea-water, must have tended to produce the vision of that— "Wet shroud wrapped round lady gay," which so appalled the seer of Ravensheuch in prophetic mood; for it is a fact that long clinging costumes have a far more " undressed " appearance in the water than the shorter dress now generally adopted by lady swimmers. The other means and appliances for the art of bathing pro- perly understood, are suitable dressing-rooms and a moveable spring-board. The old bathing-machines, drawn up above high- water mark, are available in most sea-side towns. But tents, pitched on the shingle, so as to avoid a sandy floor, are more convenient, and easily removeable at the end of the season. At "Sea View," in the Eastern corner of the Isle of Wight, these pairs of "family tents" are pitched in a long row just beneath the trees which overhang the beach, and make a very pretty background to the bright line of the bay. A moveable spring-board is easily made by fixing the board on to a pair of wheels, which can be run out into the water as far as is wished, and withdrawn before the flowing tide. Diving from the board is a source of endless amusement, and makes a change from the monotony of swimming in deep water. Ladies, now that a weekly visit to the swimming-bath in summer has become a recognised part of the routine of girls' schools, are often equally good, or better, swimmers than men, and are at least as enthusiastic in the pursuit of their pet amusement. One well-knowu hostess has for some years made fresh-water swimming one of the features of her 'country-house hospitality, and usually holds a " water-com- petition " as the closing entertainment for her guests' amuse- ment. Such water-parties, held daily between breakfast and luncheon, would be the greatest possible attraction which Could be arranged by those whose country-houses lie near the Heap and make the morning hours between breakfast and luncheon a time of active enjoyment instead of a period of rather bored lounging, or not too successful efforts to kill -tune in groups, or in the anti-social occupations of reading and correspondence.
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