Legacies of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century gaming in modern attitudes towards gambling

Abstract

Focusing on England in the period between c. 1600 and 1750, this paper examines from a historical perspective the emergence of several influential ideas about gaming. First, it analyses the development of systematic legislation; this, it is shown, combined elements of player protection and prohibition and was influenced by concerns about large losses, crime and gaming among the poor. The second half of the paper explores what might now be called the ‘social consequences’ of gaming. Many ideas about the ways in which carding and dicing could be harmful to a player and his or her family developed in a seventeenth-century context; these included the perceived (and real) effects of losing time, money and, especially in the case of women, reputation. By the eighteenth century the prevalence of gaming was encouraging commentators to think in new ways about its wider effects on society; England, they feared, was becoming a nation of gamblers. Thus, while historically distant, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century responses to gaming help us to understand the development of modern ideas about gambling.

Centrado en Inglaterra entre alrededor de 1600 y 1750 este articulo estudia la emergencia de las diversas ideas influyentes en torno al juego desde una perspectiva histórica. Primero, analiza el desarrollo de leyes sistemáticas; que ha sido demostrado, combinaban elementos de protección y prohibición en cuanto a los jugadores y que fueron influenciadas a consecuencia de grandes perdidas, crimen y el juego entre los pobres. La segunda mitad del articulo estudia lo que hoy en día se reconocería como ‘consecuencias sociales’ del juego. Muchas de las ideas sobre las diferentes formas en las que los juegos de naipes o dados podrían ser dañosos al jugador o su familia se desarrollaron alrededor del contexto vigente en el siglo XVII; el cual incluye el efecto aparente y real de la pérdida de tiempo, dinero y, en el caso de las mujeres especialmente, la reputación. Hacia el siglo XVIII la prevalencia del juego animó a comentadores a pensar de nuevas maneras en cuanto a los efectos sociales del juego en general, quienes temieron que Inglaterra se estaba convirtiendo en una nación de jugadores. Así, aunque históricamente lejano, las repuestas obtenidas en los siglos XVII y XVIII en torno al juego, nos ayudan hoy en día a comprender como nuestros conceptos modernos fueron desarrollados.

Keywords:

• history of gambling
• gaming legislation
• social consequences
• eighteenth century
• moral attitudes
• women's gambling

Palabras Claves:

• la historia del juego
• la legislación del juego
• las consecuencias sociales
• siglo dieciocho
• las actitud moral
• el juego entre las mujeres

Notes

1. The British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007 found that 68% of the adult population gamble, with lottery gambling being the most popular game.

2. The history of gaming in England prior to the mid-nineteenth century has attracted very little scholarly attention. Tosney (2008) is the only book-length study of the period c. 1540–1760; Miers (2004) provides the best introductory overview of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Ashton (1898/1969) remains indispensable. Other works that are of direct relevance to the following discussion include: Crump (2003), Daston (1988), Miers (1980, 1989), Reith (1999) and Shoemaker (1991).

3. Roulet, also known as roly poly, was very similar to roulette.

4. And possibly in Bath. I say ‘possibly’ because although the development of Bath has attracted a substantial amount of interest from historians, little research has been carried out on gambling at Bath.

5. A number of contemporary writers refer to people being ‘addicted’ to gaming or use language that suggests addiction; I hope to investigate this topic in future research.

6. The Guardian's description of the ‘female gamester’ was perhaps the best known; as well as being included in the numerous versions and editions of the Guardian and collected works by Steele, it was also reproduced in Anonymous (1756, pp. 146–147), which itself had three editions.

7. Crump comments that she has ‘never come across any documented cases of such misdemeanours – though that is not to say these things might never have happened’ (Crump, 2003, p. 24). I, too, have not seen any evidence of sexual favours being used to pay gaming debts, but then I would not necessarily expect to: this was hardly something that would be recorded, unless it resulted in an allegation of assault or an illegitimate child and perhaps not even then.

8. French moralists also noted that female gamesters might become estranged from their husbands (Dunkley, 1985, pp. 74–75).

9. This issue came to a head in the ‘Faro's Daughters’ affair in the 1790s (see Russell, 2000).

10. White's was originally a chocolate house on St. James's Street. Destroyed by fire in 1733, it re-opened in 1736 and quickly became known for its betting and gambling (Ashton, 1898/1969, p. 90).

11. This point was also remarked upon by participants at the Gambling and Social Responsibility Forum, held at Manchester Metropolitan University on 2 September 2008.