Some unimportant matters

From the wiki:

John Hetherington was an English haberdasher who supposedly modified the riding hat of the day into a Top Hat, widening the brim and lengthening it. In 1797, he caused a riot in the streets of London. People are said to have run in terror, dogs barking, women fainting. The crowd broke the arm of an errand boy as they ran past. Hetherington was charged in court with wearing "a tall structure having a shining luster calculated to frighten timid people", and was fined £50.

And from the ever useful www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk:

Others believed that charging, hacking and tripping were important ingredients of the game. One supporter of hacking argued that without it "you will do away with the courage and pluck of the game, and it will be bound to bring over a lot of Frenchmen who would beat you with a week's practice."

He'd be saying I told you so if he wasn't long dead.