LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
PELOTA
SIR,—The amusing article by Richard Usborne on pelota gives a faulty picture of the celebrated game. I would like to point out that a match where seats are sold is a match for tourists. In the villages away from the overrun coast no charge is made, the onlooker giving a contribution when wine is (or was) handed round.
Pelota is not " played three aside." It is the generic name for all ball games played on a fronton. Neither is the rhistera (basket) game the " big game " as Mr. Usborne supposes. The Basques themselves, prefer blaid a main nue and churches, not omitting Bayonne Cathedral, often show Debekatua as Pleka haritzea, Defense de jouer au blaid, written on their walls. In the trinquets (covered courts with a small penthouse roof down one side) it is main nue which brings the crowds and excites the heavy betting.
The wooden bats mentioned are galas and are chiefly used by gentle- men amateurs and not seen much in the villages ; then come little and big chistera, the latter played by professionals such as the famoas Chiquito de Cambo, for the delight of foreigners. There is also the difficult game of rebot, growing in favour and demanding a team of five a side. There are other varieties also, and never yet have I seen such accidents as occurred . on the Guetary place. I recommend the late Rodney Gallop's A Book of the Basques and its chapter on pelota to those who would like expert information.—Yours faithfully,
28 Duchess Road, Clifton, Bristol 8. Viol= ALFORD.
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