This painting, called The Village Ba’ Game, is of international importance. It’s one of the earliest paintings of a football match in the world. The boisterous game you see here is between the 'Uppies' and the 'Doonies'. The match was held in Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders in 1817, and involved over 50 villagers. This was an annual match, which started in the 16th century. It’s said that originally, the ball was an Englishman’s head…though this story may be exaggerated. The artist presents us with 50 characters, some of whom are clearly the worse for drink. Alexander Carse is well known for his ‘genre’ paintings depicting scenes from Scottish social life. His pictures combine an honest realism with charm and wit. Football scenes like this were obviously popular, since Carse painted the subject at least three times – each depicting a different area of Scotland. Mass football games were played over much of Scotland during the nineteenth century. Even today, the game survives in Orkney, where a mass game is played on New Year’s Day by the Uppies and the Doonies.