Name of quaint game played in Midsomer?
Isabelle Cecchini
All right, I know that I'm not supposed to think that Midsomer is an
accurate reflection of British contemporary life.
Still, has the game in question ever been played by any of the British
members of the panel?
The object of the game seems to be to throw off a very small skittle
placed on top of a stick by throwing blocks of wood at it.
Here is a snapshot of the scene from "Midsomer Murders", which might
help, as I feel that my description of the game was totally obscure:
http://cjoint.com/?fDwV3geJHg
(this link is valid for three weeks only)
--
Isabelle Cecchini
Paul Wolff
Sally (the game called Aunt Sally, not my actual Aunt Sally). I'm sure
there was an Aunt Sally league with teams entering from pubs in and
around Oxford (naturally) in the recent past, if not even still running.
Yes:
http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Aunt-Sally.htm
and Google will let you find much more, including the Aunt Sally reports
from the sports section of the Oxford Mail:
http://www.oxfordmail.net/sport/auntsally/
and you shouldn't miss this one:
John Dean
> They play funny games in Midsomer.
>
> All right, I know that I'm not supposed to think that Midsomer is an
> accurate reflection of British contemporary life.
>
> Still, has the game in question ever been played by any of the British
> members of the panel?
>
> The object of the game seems to be to throw off a very small skittle
> placed on top of a stick by throwing blocks of wood at it.
>
> Here is a snapshot of the scene from "Midsomer Murders", which might
> help, as I feel that my description of the game was totally obscure:
>
Yep. A pub down the road has this and the kids used to love it when we first
moved here. But there is a very serious side and there are leagues and stuff
and rules and oh my.
It's called Aunt Sally - NOT to be confused with the fairground stall.
I'm not aware that it's played outside Oxfordshire except by mad expats.
Buy your kit here:
http://www.mastersgames.com/cat/pub/aunt-sally.htm
Rules here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A199514
(NB the "thin bar" is actually a metal swivel so it's not hard to judge if
it's been hit)
Meet the legend:
http://www.auntsallylegend.co.uk/index2.html
Catch up with the league news:
http://www.oxfordmail.net/search/display.var.2166162.0.aunt_sally_duo_going_for_glory.php
--
John Dean
Oxford
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
<boun...@two.wolff.co.uk> wrote:
>Isabelle Cecchini <isabe...@wanadoo.fr.invalid> wrote
>>They play funny games in Midsomer.
>>
>>All right, I know that I'm not supposed to think that Midsomer is an
>>accurate reflection of British contemporary life.
>>
>>Still, has the game in question ever been played by any of the British
>>members of the panel?
>>
>>The object of the game seems to be to throw off a very small skittle
>>placed on top of a stick by throwing blocks of wood at it.
>>
>>Here is a snapshot of the scene from "Midsomer Murders", which might
>>help, as I feel that my description of the game was totally obscure:
>>
>>
>>http://cjoint.com/?fDwV3geJHg
>>(this link is valid for three weeks only)
>>
>I think the description is better than the picture. It sounds like Aunt
>Sally (the game called Aunt Sally, not my actual Aunt Sally).
The phrase is also used figuratively.
OED:
Aunt Sally
c. fig. An object of unreasonable or prejudiced attack.
1898 G. B. SHAW in Sat. Rev. 30 Apr. 592/2 This comes of an
author making no serious attempt to get to the point of view
of the character he professes to have dramatised{em}of
simply conspiring with the stupid section of the pit to make
an Aunt Sally of it.
1958 Oxf. Mag. 1 May 398/2 Palpable gross hits at a
favourite Aunt Sally, modern psychology.
> I'm sure
>there was an Aunt Sally league with teams entering from pubs in and
>around Oxford (naturally) in the recent past, if not even still running.
>
>Yes:
>
>http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Aunt-Sally.htm
>
>and Google will let you find much more, including the Aunt Sally reports
>from the sports section of the Oxford Mail:
>
>http://www.oxfordmail.net/sport/auntsally/
>
>and you shouldn't miss this one:
>
>http://www.oxfordauntsally.co.uk/
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Isabelle Cecchini
links about "Aunt Sally".
--
Isabelle Cecchini
Peter Morris
"Isabelle Cecchini" <isabe...@wanadoo.fr.invalid> wrote in message
news:g1n8jr$66e$1...@registered.motzarella.org...
> They play funny games in Midsomer.
>
> All right, I know that I'm not supposed to think that Midsomer is an
> accurate reflection of British contemporary life.
>
> Still, has the game in question ever been played by any of the British
> members of the panel?
>
> The object of the game seems to be to throw off a very small skittle
> placed on top of a stick by throwing blocks of wood at it.
it's called shies.
Most common as coconut shies, knock the coconut off the pole to win it.
Isabelle Cecchini
Thanks for the links and for the name of that game played in funfairs,
which derives, according to Wikipedia, from the traditional Aunt Sally,
now a pub game, at which Sergeant Troy was having a hand in /Midsomer
Murders/.
--
Isabelle Cecchini
Nick
> They play funny games in Midsomer.
>
> All right, I know that I'm not supposed to think that Midsomer is an
> accurate reflection of British contemporary life.
>
> Still, has the game in question ever been played by any of the British
> members of the panel?
>
> The object of the game seems to be to throw off a very small skittle
> placed on top of a stick by throwing blocks of wood at it.
>
> Here is a snapshot of the scene from "Midsomer Murders", which might
> help, as I feel that my description of the game was totally obscure:
To widen the discussion (as others have covered Aunt Sally very well)
England still has some very local traditions of competitive games,
usually based around pubs.
Some are well known games - such as cribbage, darts and dominoes
(double-9 dominoes was the big thing where I grew up), others less well
known (skittles of various forms) and some utterly obscure outside their
native territory (aunt sally).
Skittles itself comes in at least three still popular formats although
all consist of nine pins - in the West Country it's played by bowling
along an alley, in "long alley skittles" (more of a Midlands game - I've
played it in Long Eaton) the ball is thrown, has to bounce once in the
right place (there's a tin tray to detect if you get it wrong) and in
Northampton and surrounding counties "cheeses" are thrown at small
skittles in a leather upholstered frame.
http://www.tradgames.org.uk/features/pub-games.htm
seems - at a quick glance - to be a good guide to these games.
It's worth noting that in the areas they are played they are very
popular: there are leagues divided into multiple divisions and the
results are reported in the local papers.
In any other country in Europe this would be gloried in as part of our
folk heritage.
Nick Spalding
on Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:42:48 +0100:
There is also Table Skittles:
<http://www.mastersgames.com/cat/pub/table-skittles.htm>
> It's worth noting that in the areas they are played they are very
> popular: there are leagues divided into multiple divisions and the
> results are reported in the local papers.
>
> In any other country in Europe this would be gloried in as part of our
> folk heritage.
--
Nick Spalding
BrE/IrE
Prai Jei
In any other country in Europe they would be drafting a directive to abolish
it as it is part of our British (and proud of it) folk heritage.
--
ξ:) Proud to be curly
Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply
Prai Jei
continuum:
> I think the description is better than the picture. It sounds like Aunt
> Sally (the game called Aunt Sally, not my actual Aunt Sally). I'm sure
> there was an Aunt Sally league with teams entering from pubs in and
> around Oxford (naturally) in the recent past, if not even still running.
So who was the original Aunt Sally after whom the game was named?
No, don't tell me, the name is a corruption of something in Latin / Celtic /
Middle English / Scandspeak.
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
<pvsto...@zyx-abc.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
>Paul Wolff set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time
>continuum:
>
>> I think the description is better than the picture. It sounds like Aunt
>> Sally (the game called Aunt Sally, not my actual Aunt Sally). I'm sure
>> there was an Aunt Sally league with teams entering from pubs in and
>> around Oxford (naturally) in the recent past, if not even still running.
>
>So who was the original Aunt Sally after whom the game was named?
>
>No, don't tell me, the name is a corruption of something in Latin / Celtic /
>Middle English / Scandspeak.
At the risk of conjuring up a troublesome spirit, I think Izzy
would explain that it comes from ancient Hebrew.