October 20, 1998. Copyright, 1998, Graphic News. All rights reserved

CONFLICTING LEGENDS BEHIND THE ASHES 
By Julie Mullins

LONDON, October 20, Graphic News- The Ashes Ð a small terracotta urn less than five inches (12cm) high Ð enjoys a unique importance in the cricketing world as the traditional symbol of rivalry between England and Australia.
Believed for many years to contain the burnt remains of a wooden bail, a descendent of the then England captain has now said that the urn contains the remains of a veil worn by her mother-in law, Florence Rose Murphy.
In the late 19th century England was used to cricketing pre-eminence. The countries of the Empire might occasionally beat the masters on their own home territory but superiority in England itself was unthinkable.
But in 1882, on a rain-sodden pitch at the Oval and an English victory again appearing to be a formality Ð they required only 85 runs in their second innings to maintain their unbeaten home record Ð Australia bowled them out just seven runs short of the target.
EnglandÕs dismal record of late may make it difficult to appreciate the sense of stunned disbelief. A mock obituary notice appeared in the Sporting Times proclaiming the death of English cricket. The ÔbodyÕ was to be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.
That winter, an English team captained by the Hon. Ivo Bligh, later the 8th Earl of Darnley, toured Australia determined to restore national pride by recovering these imaginary ashes. Australia won the first match but England took the following two. And, the story goes till now, at the conclusion of the third match a group of Melbourne ladies, including a Miss Florence Rose Murphy, burnt one of the match bails, put the ashes into a small brown pottery urn and presented it to Ivo Bligh, whom she later married.
However, according to their daughter-in-law, Rosemary, Dowager Countess of Darnley, now 82, Florence told her she had burned a veil she was wearing while watching Ivo play and had presented this to him in the urn after he and his team regained Ôthe ashesÕ. The similarity between the words ÔveilÕ and ÔbailÕ may perhaps be responsible for a misunderstanding. 
Whatever the truth of the story, Florence presented the Ashes to the Marylebone Cricket Club at LordÕs following IvoÕs death in 1927. They are kept in the Memorial Gallery regardless of which country is the current holder Ð a permanent reminder of a piece of cricketing history. 

Source: Reuters, LordÕs Museum