Even as Thring began his headmastership, the Athenian ideal was subjected to an athletic tilt, and the allegiance to Sparta increased as the mid-Victorian years receded. The headmasters at Harrow School and Marlborough College led the way, using sport to subdue unruly pupils; Tom Brown’s Schooldays and William Cory’s verse eulogised school sport; and the universities provided the new games masters. H. H. Almond at Loretto School, Edward Bowen at Harrow and R. A. H. Mitchell at Eton College made games compulsory, promoted Spartan living and raised esprit de corps as the new ideal. Uppingham was not immune to these developments, but an outbreak of typhoid and evacuation to Wales limited their influence.