Ancient Golf an investigation on the history of golf

On joue toujours avec des balles ellipsoïdes en bois et les bâtons en bois, pour frapper la balle, ont des têtes ou ferrées ou en bois. On pratique toujours ce jeu pendant l’hiver comme le faisaient autrefois les golfeurs, les colveurs et les joueurs de mail. On joue toujours dans les rues et sur les places des villes et des villages comme au golf joué au bas Moyen Age à Aberdeen et Edinburgh et le colf à Amsterdam et à Bruxelles, ainsi que sur les prairies et les champs sauvages comme on jouait autrefois sur les links de Leith et Saint Andrews et sur les champs de Haarlem.
Le jeu de crosse donne une image réelle et historique de la façon dont on jouait, il y a six à sept siècles, le golf en Ecosse, le colf dans les Bas Pays et le mail en France.

Le jeu de crosse est un jeu d’équipe. Il y a une seule balle (la choulette) en jeu. Une des équipes (les chouleurs) frappe la balle trois fois affilée et essaie d’atteindre une cible en un certain nombre de coups. L’autre équipe (les déchouleurs) frappe la balle une seule fois et essaie d’éviter que les chouleurs s’approchent de la cible.
Les chouleurs sont les vainqueurs d’une partie (un trou au golf), quand ils réussissent à toucher la cible en respectant le nombre de coups fixés au départ, les déchouleurs quand ils réussissent à empêcher les chouleurs d’atteindre leur objectif. Le match est fini quand une des deux équipes gagne cinq parties. Un match dure environ 4 à 5 heures.

Un dessin schématique du système de choule/déchoule du jeu de crosse. Après chaque série de trois frappes de l'équipe chouleur, les déchouleurs peuvent frapper une seule fois.

Au jeu de crosse, il y a trois variantes principales :

Jeu de crosse en plaine
Ce jeu de choule/déchoule, ainsi qu’il est expliqué ci–dessus, est pratiqué dans les plaines ouvertes de novembre jusqu’en avril.

Jeu de crosse au but
Ce jeu est un jeu de cible (au golf une sorte de concours de putting). On le joue en été comme en hiver.

Jeu de crosse en rue
Ce jeu de choule/déchoule ne se joue qu’à mardi gras, à mercredi des Cendres ou aux fêtes des saints, dans les rues des villes et des villages.

c01-03

Dans la ville ancienne de Chièvres en Belgique, plus d'un millier de joueurs s'y donnent rendez-vous pour pratiquer ce jeu traditionnel le mercredi des Cendres.

Le jeu de crosse en plaine est joué des deux côtés de la frontière franco-belge.Aujourd’hui, le jeu de crosse est joué en Wallonie Belgique, surtout dans l’ancienne région minière du Borinage, près de la ville de Mons dans la province du Hainaut. En France, le jeu est pratiqué dans le département du Nord, plus précisément dans la région d'Avesnois près de la ville de Maubeuge.
A quelques exceptions près, la crosse au but est jouée du côté français de la frontière. Le centre principal est la ville d’Assevent.
La crosse en rue est principalement jouée du côté belge de la frontière à Chièvres et Blaton comme centres très populaires.

Dans le dictionnaire, contenant des mots latins populaires du Moyen Age de la période comprise entre 800 et 1200, on explique le mot « choulla » comme « une balle frappée avec un bâton ». Au fil des siècles, le mot choule ou soule, en attendant un mot français, s’appliqua à une balle, jouée avec les mains et les pieds. Les jeux dans lesquels on utilisait un bâton étaient nommés « choule à la crosse ».
Dans le premier « Dictionnaire de l’Académie Françoise » de 1694, tous les jeux de balles et de bâtons se disent « jeu de crosse ».
Au 19ème siècle, on donna des noms spécifiques aux différents jeux de crosse, comme le football, le cricket, le hockey et le rugby. Le jeu de crosse n’a pas eu un nom spécifique, et il continue à être appelé « jeu de crosse ».

Dans le premier « Dictionnaire de l’Académie Françoise » ((1694), les mots « crosser » pour jouer à la crosse et « crosseur » pour le joueur de jeu de crosse étaient déjà inclus.

Le jeu de crosse en plaine est un jeu d’hiver. La plupart des terrains de jeu de crosse ne sont pas la propriété de crosseurs mais de fermiers qui permettent aux crosseurs de jouer sur leurs terrains quand les vaches sont rentrées dans leurs étables ou quand les champs sont moissonnés.
Par conséquent, la saison de crosse commence le 1er novembre (Toussaint) et finit le lundi de Pâques quand la « Grande Finale » des tournois importants se joue souvent.

Sur la plupart des terrains de crosse, en été, il est impossible de sortir sa balle de l'herbe haute, sans parler des difficultés pour retrouver sa choulette.

Le jeu de crosse en plaine n’est pas joué sur des terrains bien entretenus. Le jeu de crosse est joué sur la prairie ou terres à l’abandon, souvent possédées par des fermiers ou des communes.Il n’y a pas de tees, pas de « fairways » rasées et pas de « greens » tondues. Un parcours de jeu de crosse n’a ni « driving range », ni professionnels, ni boutique de pro.
Les crosseurs doivent partager le terrain avec des vaches et des chevaux et doivent jouer les choulettes dans les parties trempées et piétinées du terrain mouillé.

Les crosseurs de la société « Les Amis Réunis » à Gommegnies en France doivent partager leur terrain avec des vaches et des chevaux et doivent jouer les choulettes dans les parties trempées et piétinées du terrain.

Le club de crosse est constitué d’une tête en fer, d’un manche en frêne et d’une poignée.
La tête en métal a deux faces. La face « plate » est droite et est utilisée pour taper loin, quand la balle est dans une bonne position. La face du « pic » ou « bec » est extrêmement concave et est utilisée pour des positions difficiles et pour les coups d’approche. Une crosse combine les propriétés d’un fer long et d’un « pitching wedge » au golf.

Quand la choulette est dans une bonne position, on peut jouer avec le plat de la crosse. Dans les mauvaises situations, l'utilisations du pic est la seule possibilité.

Le jeu de crosse se joue avec une balle elliptique, appelée « choulette », un diminutif de « choule », l’ancien nom de la balle. On ne sait pas pourquoi des balles elliptiques sont utilisées ni depuis quand.
En France, la choulette officielle est faite de charme. La surface a cinq rainures peu profondes pour améliorer les caractéristiques de vol.
En Belgique, les crosseurs cherchent librement et constamment des possibilités pour améliorer leur jeu par l’utilisation de différents matériaux pour les choulettes, comme du nylon extrêmement dur.

La choulette d'origine en bois (à gauche), comparée avec la balle officielle de charme et une balle de golf.

Aujourd’hui le jeu de crosse est toujours un jeu d'homme. On considère que les parcours dans les champs glacés et les terrains sauvages sont moins adaptés aux femmes.
Depuis que le jeu de crosse a été dessiné, peint ou décrit, les femmes n’ont guère été mentionnées ou représentées.
Le livre d’heures valenciennois « les heures de Guillaume Braque » contient une enluminure d’une femme, frappant vers une balle sur un tee.

La plus ancienne illustration d'une femme, jouant à un jeu de balles et de bâtons. - Avec l'aimable autorisation de Sam Fogg, London

Il n’y a pas de tenue réglementaire pour les joueurs de crosse. Les crosseurs ne portent pas de gants en cuir et n’ont pas de chaussures à pointes. Parce que le jeu se joue en hiver, les crosseurs portent des bottes imperméables et des pull-overs ou des blousons chauds et un bonnet.
A mardi gras et au mercredi des Cendres, on joue la crosse en rue dans de nombreux villages du Hainaut et aussi en Avesnois. Dans certains villages il est l’habituel de se déguiser pendant ces journées.

Les crosseurs portent des bottes imperméables, un blouson chaud et des gants pour éviter d'être trempés et d'avoir froid.

Le jeu de crosse est un jeu très traditionnel. Un des usages autour de ce sport est d’avoir des repas traditionnels.
Le jeu de crosse était toujours un sport pour la classe laborieuse. Les dîners copieux de haute cuisine ne faisaient pas partie de la vie des crosseurs. Les moules étaient la nourriture la moins chère et aussi la nourriture pour la classe laborieuse.

La manière dont on jouait le jeu de crosse en plaine (un jeu d’équipe) ne donnait ni un vainqueur unique ni une équipe gagnante. Une équipe défiait l’autre pour des boissons gratuites ou un repas gratuit pour les vainqueurs.
La différence entre de tels matches et des tournois résidait dans le fait qu’un tournoi demandait plusieurs journées (week-ends) pour éliminer des joueurs ou des équipes jusqu’aux petites et grandes finales. On jouait les tournois pendant l’hiver, et les finales avaient lieu souvent le lundi de Pâques.

En Belgique, une des références les plus anciennes, relative à des tournois, date d’une affiche de 1901, annonçant le tournoi à Belœil.

Depuis le Moyen Age, on parcourait les pâturages et les rues des villes et des villages. Le jeu dans les champs ne causait pas beaucoup de problèmes, mais à partir du moment où les crosseurs arrivaient en ville dans les rues (et les tavernes), le jeu dégénérait en bagarres et jurons. Les autorités municipales et cléricales étaient régulièrement forcées d’interdire, de limiter ou de modifier le jeu de crosse. En intégrant le jeu de crosse dans le calendrier liturgique, les autorités cléricales essayèrent de contrôler le jeu de crosse.

Pendant des centaines d’années, Saint-Antoine fut imploré à Havré contre les maladies contagieuses, comme la gangrène et surtout la peste.
Les pèlerinages à la chapelle d’Havré avaient lieu habituellement pendant la période hivernale, surtout les dimanches. Après les cérémonies religieuses, le peuple allait à la kermesse pour rencontrer les autres, pour boire, pour manger, pour danser et pour pratiquer des jeux. La porte de la chapelle de Saint-Antoine était le but final des crosseurs qui faisaient ce pèlerinage.
Quand au cours du 17ème siècle, les maladies comme la peste déclinèrent, le désir de participer au pèlerinage à Havré diminua, mais les crosseurs continuèrent à célébrer Saint-Antoine, qui était devenu leur patron.
Spécialement le 17 janvier, fête de Saint-Antoine, beaucoup de crosseurs continuaient à pratiquer leur jeu autour de la chapelle.

Au moyen âge, on jouait le jeu de crosse en ville : dans les rues et aux places. Parce que les crosseurs pouvaient facilement blesser le public et casser les vitres des maisons et des églises avec leur balle en bois, les conseils municipaux et cléricaux expulsaient le jeu vers les champs ouverts extra-muros.
Le carnaval est encore la seule occasion de jouer à la crosse en ville. La petite ville de Chièvres est un bon exemple de cette tradition du jeu de crosse carnavalesque.
Dans beaucoup de villes le jeu était chargé de traditions séculaires comme porter des costumes carnavalesques spéciaux, manger des repas traditionnels et chanter des chansons traditionnelles.

Dans le village français de Vicq, des équipes costumées discutent de la façon dont il faut jouer la balle en bois, située dans le caniveau.

Beaucoup de chercheurs sont d’avis que les guerres ont toujours joué un rôle important en introduisant des sports et des jeux dans différents pays et régions.
Une thèse très intéressante est celle du « voyage » du jeu de crosse de Flandres via la bataille de Hastings (1066) et de l’Angleterre vers l’Ecosse avec des chevaliers flamands.
Selon une autre théorie, le golf écossais pourrait dériver, directement ou par l’Angleterre, des batailles livrées en France pendant la guerre de Cent Ans.

A côté de la route près du champ de bataille de Crécy-en-Ponthieu, il y a un tableau pour attirer l'attention sur ces champs historiquement importants.

Au moyen âge et au début de la Renaissance, la plupart des expressions artistiques se limitaient aux thèmes religieux. Bien que les sports et les autres activités de loisir étaient souvent englobés dans la vie religieuse, il était très exceptionnel que ces activités fassent partie des représentations religieuses.
Plusieurs auteurs ont étudié ces illustrations rares afin de découvrir de quelles sortes de jeu de balles et de bâtons il s’agissait et afin de trouver des corrélations avec d’autres jeux de balles et de bâtons.

Le mystérieux joueur de balles et de bâtons de La Martyre, France; il n’y a aucune preuve historique quant au jeu pratiqué.

Les jeux de balles et de bâtons, souvent nommés : chôle à la crosse, choule (soule) ou jeu de crosse furent un sujet de la littérature à travers les âges. Plusieurs auteurs n’ont pas donné de précisions sur le type de jeu auquel ils se référaient : Jacob van Maerlant, Jean Froissart, François Villon, François Rabelais, Gilles de Gouberville, Abbé Lebeuf, Charles Deulin, Emile Zola et Achille Delattre.

La statue de Jacob van Maerlant qui, en 1261, décrivit un jeu de balles et de bâtons.

Beaucoup d’expressions et proverbes, utilisés dans la vie quotidienne, ont une relation avec les sports populaires. Le jeu de crosse est aussi à la base de beaucoup d’expressions et proverbes, souvent dans le patois local.
Malheureusement, la plupart ne sont plus utilisées dans la vie quotidienne.
Le jeu de crosse a toujours été un jeu pour le peuple. Il est évident que beaucoup de chants de bistrot célèbrent la victoire ou la défaite.

En 2004, « Les Ménetriers » de Chièvres découvrirent un chant traditionnel du crosseur wallon, consacré à Saint Antoine.

En savoir plus sur le jeu de crosse soulève encore beaucoup de questions sur le jeu lui-même, mais aussi sur le grand nombre de similarités et de différences entre le jeu de crosse, le jeu de colf flamand/néerlandais, le jeu de golf écossais et le jeu de mail français. Nous espérons aussi, que nos recherches encourageront des historiens professionnels à prêter une attention académique à l’histoire de ce jeu de crosse et des autres anciens jeux, dont la plupart n’existe plus.

Illustration d'un ancien jeu anglais de balles et de bâtons, toujours pratiqué dans le comté du Yorkshire.

Games for Kings & Commoners

A different and sometimes confronting popular study about the history of and the inter-relationship between the kindred games of colf, crosse (choule), golf and mail (pall mall).
In 9 chapters on 260 pages including more than 200 pictures both in full colour and black and white the book explains, clarifies, and compares the different games. In several instances it questions and differs about what has been taken for granted until today.

The book

Summary of the chapters of the book

Clearly unsuitable for women

Until the feminist revolution in the 1960s neither women nor children have ever played a more than marginal role in European physical games. Were there ever women who in the previous centuries played the games of colf, crosse, golf or mail or were allowed by men to play these games among themselves or even in competition with men?

The most ancient picture of a woman playing a stick and ball game;
from a book of hours c.1520.

The fifth column

There is a battle which has already been going on for more than a hundred years about the origin of Scottish golf. Did golf develop on the links of Scotland or was the game imported from the continent? The Scottish cause supporters fiercely fight any allegation against the Scottish heritage. Their fight concentrates mainly on the ‘impostors’ and ‘swindlers’ from the continent. However, is this Hundred Years War a ‘European’ war or a Scottish or British civil war? Are the continentals the ‘aggressors’ or is there a fifth column in Scotland and England which is subverting the Scottish cause?

The ‘Crécy’ or ‘Golf’ man in the glass window in Gloucester Cathedral from 1350.
Historians consider this little man being a crosse (choule) player, a cambuca player,
a paganica player, a colf player and even a golf player.

The hole, the first line of defence

To defend the Scottish origin of golf many authors put forward the hole as the indisputable feature of golf that sets the game apart from any other club and ball game. Is using the hole as defence or counterattack the right strategy to fight the allegations from the outside world on the Scottish origin?

Detail of an illumination in a Flemish manuscript, called the 'Golf Book’,
c.1500 in which a colf player is putting the ball into a hole.

Mit ener coluen

In 1267, the Flemish poet Jacob van Maerlant composed a poem called ‘Merlijn’s Boec’. In the poem children play with colf clubs. Of late some authors are of the opinion that the words ‘mit ener coluen’ relate to an ancient game of hockey and not to the game of colf. On what grounds is this opinion based? Which are the documents used to prove their point?

From colf to kolf

The same word, a world of difference. For almost 250 years authors have been confused about the difference if any between the games of colf and kolf. What is the difference between these two games and why did the colvers swap their long game for the peculiar indoor game?

Pall mall in Great Britain

Mary Queen of Scots: it is said that she was the first ‘pall mall’ player in Scotland.

The ‘jeu de mail’ court game as the game was called in France was very popular with the French kings. It is said that the game called pall mall in Britain never caught on with Scottish/British royalty other than a legendary game played once by Mary Queen of Scots. Was British royalty so much occupied with golf that they did not have the time for playing this foreign game? Or was it perhaps the other way around?

This detail from a drawing of St James’s Palace and the Mall in London,
shows clearly that in

1720 the game of pall mall was still played.

Knocking wooden balls around

There seems to be a serious lack of knowledge about the earliest history of golf. No well-founded information exists, for example, about what kind of balls was used when the Scots started to play golf. Authors omit the ‘prehistory’ of golf in their books.
The absence of evidence is no evidence of absence. Could we learn from the continental kindred players who started playing their games with wooden balls?

Swapping woodies for leatheries

If indeed the Scots started their game with wooden balls why at a certain moment did they swap their ‘woodies’ for the far more expensive ‘hairies’ and ‘featheries’? Could one hit a leather ball further than a wooden ball or straighter? Was a feathery more vulnerable than a hairy ball? Could one hit a gutty further than a feathery?

The ’feathery’ replaced the ‘hairy’ leather ball and was again replaced by the ‘gutty’ ball.
The feathery was so expensive that it almost killed the game of golf for the common people.

Kings took to the links

According to most golf history books Scottish and later British royalty has always played a prominent role in golf, hence the name ‘the Royal and Ancient game’.
What was that close relationship? Were the royals passionate golf players or is the term ‘Royal’ just the result of kings and queens scattering royal patronage grants around upon humble requests of golf clubs? Was golf outside Britain a royal game?

Afterword

In the course of time many books have been written about the history of golf. One could get the impression that the history of this intriguing game has been turned inside out. Still it seems possible to ask questions which cannot be answered by the many publications.
Are such questions relevant? Well, we think some are and others are not. But then we could ask ourselves what value is there in researching history? Shouldn’t we just go onto the fairways and fields and try to hit a ball or choulette to the faraway targets and have a pint afterwards?

The book has 260 pages including more than 200 pictures both in full colour and black and white and is published in a limited edition of 250 numbered copies.
The price is 20 € (GBP 15 or USD 25), packaging and posting included.
If you want to order a copy of the book please contact us at

Reactions & Reviews

Peter Crabtree, co-author of the international awards winning book,
'Tom Morris of St Andrews, The Colossus of Golf, 1821 - 1908' published in 2008
Let me say at once...it is truly excellent. What you have done is written an analytical survey of our present knowledge on the subject in an objective and non-speculative way. You have not romanticised in any way about the evidence you have presented and your writing shows an independent approach that is completely unbiased... a really refreshing stance and one that makes your commentaries all the more authorative.
It will undoubtedly be the seminal work for many years to come and I applaud all the research and hard-work, not to mention the time, that you have put into it.
It really is a great addition to the literature of golf and you are to be warmly congratulated.
May 2012

John Hanna, former captain of the British Golf Collector’s Society and
former president, today vice-president, of the European Association of Golf Historians & Collectors
It is most unlikely that there is another couple who have such a comprehensive knowledge of the history of the early stick and ball games played throughout Europe. What has helped Geert and Sara Nijs in their research is their ability to understand a number of different languages enabling them to carry out their research in many countries. This book is highly referenced and full of knowledge. There are over one hundred books in the bibliography which in itself would be of great interest to any golfing historian. In addition many websites have also been accessed.
Geert and Sara set out to answer a number of questions relating to the history and development of the various games such as Colf, Crosse, Mail and Golf. The text is slightly repetitive in places but this is unavoidable given the close connections between the various games. The introduction is just that, it introduces the reader to the basics of the three main stick and ball games. The role of women and children is looked at, beginning with the idea that they were unsuitable for these groups, but leading up to date where women now participate in them all, while children are still not taking part in some of them. Clearly this does not apply to golf. It is recognized that the hole is an indisputable feature in golf however the ‘targets’ of the other games are detailed. The early game of colf played as it was over open spaces and on frozen canals clearly had its limitations in a more crowded world, and the authors describe the transition from this outdoor game to the game of kolf which was played in enclosed spaces both indoors and outside. This was the game which was played by the Royals in England when it was called Pall Mall.
A common feature of all of these games is the ‘ball’, and its various forms are dealt with in detail. An interesting chapter deals with how ‘royal’ is the Royal and Ancient game. The involvement of royalty in a number of countries is written about. This is a most informative book.
Book review in Golfika, magazine of the EAGHC, April 2012

David Hamilton, former captain of the British Golf Collectors Society
The Nijs’ informative book ‘Choule’ (2008) on this European game, variously called choule or crosse, was well received and they now turn to the larger scene, and look at all such European club-and-ball games. A central aim stated at the outset is to re-open the never-closed debate on the origins of modern golf. Perhaps this is needed, since matters have moved on from the era when, in seeking its origins, the game of ‘golf’ was never defined and the quality of the historical methods was poor and the discourse hardly rose above patriotic banter. The Nijses know that it is the origin of the ‘long’ Scottish game of golf (played with expensive balls and clubs) that is sought, since it is clear now that the simpler economical ‘short’ golf of the Scottish towns was indeed similar to the Dutch game. Because these two games had the same name, this has impeded the debate. Their central thesis is a new and controversial one, namely that in Scotland’s long golf, use of wooden balls preceded the feathery and hence long golf was derived from those club-and-ball games in Europe which used wooden balls from earlier times.
In other aspects of the European games, new images of interest keep turning up and the Nijses have usefully found some more paintings showing holes in the ground being played to. They include many new illustrations and they have uncovered unfamiliar relevant texts. There is a good section on how the language of kolf entered into daily discourse, notably in proverbs, and some new early images of ladies at play in Europe. There is a long diversion on women’s golf in general, plus an essay on royalty’s interest in golf worldwide.
Book review in 'Through The Green', magazine of the BGCS, March 2012

Dirk Spijker, The Netherlands
Wat een schitterend boek hebben jullie er van gemaakt.
Als ik artikelen over colf of kolf lees, is het meestal het zelfde verhaal met weinig nieuws aan de horizon. Niet alleen als lezer krijgen we veel informatie over de vier spelen, maar jullie hebben veel onderwerpen behoorlijk uitgediept, zoals het spelmateriaal en in bijzonderheid: de ballen.
Goed dat jullie aandacht geven hebben aan de ‘onjuistheden’, verhalen die niet kloppen, maar steeds weer terug keren. Als schrijver of onderzoeker denk je soms ‘zo zal het wel geweest kunnen zijn', maar velen hebben met hun mening hiermee de geschiedenis vervalst.
Leuk is ook dat alles op een rijtje gezet is wat betreft de bakermat van golf en de discussie omtrent de herkomst.
Kortom, wij, de liefhebbers van stok- en balspelen, zijn een prachtig boek rijker geworden.
November 2011

Neil JB Laird, owner of the site Scottish Golf History, Scotland
[...] copy of your excellent book. it is really very impressive. I have only had a brief time to go through it, but it is clear that the history of golf will have to be rewritten. Your approach of putting all the evidence is very impressive and persuasive, as is you command of English. Obviously, the mention of the golf hole in the Tyrocinium Lingua Latinae is an extremely important piece of evidence which means that we Scots will have to rely on continuity and the rules of the first competition to maintain our claims. [...]
November 2011

Prof. Dr. Dietrich R. Quanz, Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln, Deutsches Golf Archiv, Germany
Ich habe weiter in Eurem Buch '„geschnöft“ und staune wie viel Literatur/Autoren Ihr jeweils zu Euren Themen auf den Punkt gebracht habt. Und dann der Clou mit der Bunker-These. Die Herleitung der Bunker von den Dünenlandschaften pflegen wir schon länger, aber draus das Kriterium für Golf zu machen, ist nur Euch eingefallen. Man müsste es überprüfen, indem man die ersten auswärtigen Plätze danach untersucht, ob dies gleich so imitiert wurde. Auch die Differenzierung von Origin und Originalität könnte mit der obsoleten Frage nach dem Ursprung aufräumen. Bei den vielen Namen im Buch wäre ein Index für gezieltes nachschlagen sehr hilfreich gewesen. Man sähe auch an der Zahl der Seiteneinträge, wo Ihr Am meisten zugegriffen habt. Vielleicht beim nächsten Buch?...
Eure Kritik an den falschen Thesen der anderen ist immer sehr vornehm, etwa an H. Gill. ...
An Hand der Regelentwicklung im Fußball und seiner Vorgänger hat man die umstrittene These aufgestellt, dass Spielkultur über die Regeln zunehmend domestiziert wurde – bis hin zu ausdrücklich beim YMCA erfundenen, körperlosen Spielen wie Basketball, wo man ein Foul selber durch Armheben anzeigt, und zu Volleyball, bei dem man nicht ins Spielfeld der anderen darf. Da aber zu wenig Regelmaterial und Regelgeschichte bei Golf und den Vorläufern/Parallelen bekannt ist, wird man hier keinen entsprechenden Ansatz finden.
November 2011

Annette Klinkert, former president of the KNKB (Royal Netherlandish Kolf Federation), The Netherlands
Hierbij de welgemeende complimenten voor de volledigheid en de zorgvuldige samengestelling. Wat een plezier om te lezen. Een echte aanwinst voor de kolfbibliografie!
November 2011

CHOULE – The Non-Royal but most Ancient Game of Crosse

The book

Ordering

Reactions & Reviews

Summary of the chapters of the book

What is jeu de crosse

Just a Sunday club match

Expressions, proverbs, songs and poems

Afterword

Chapter I - What is jeu de crosse

The game of choule/jeu de crosse may be considered as the transition from the original rough and unregulated team hockey, as played in the early Middle Ages, to the more regulated, less violent, individual game, which evolved in the course of the centuries into sports like golf, colf and mail. For reasons unknown to us, choule/jeu de crosse has never or hardly ever evolved in the course of time.

The game remains a team sport with two players per team (like the original match play formula in early golf). The teams play with only one ball. They do not fight for the ball but one team tries to prevent the other team to reach its goal. The ball is hit in turn; a dangerous mêlée of players is therefore precluded. It is still played with wooden ellipsoid balls. The wooden clubs with which the ball is hit, have wooden or iron heads. The game is still played in winter period as golfers, colvers and mailers did in the long gone past. It is still played in the streets and on the squares of villages and towns as golf was played in the later Middle Ages in Aberdeen and Edinburgh and colf in Amsterdam and Brussels, and on the unprepared meadows and fields as was done in the past on the links of Leith, St. Andrews and on the fields of Haarlem. Choule/jeu de crosse gives a realistic ‘prehistoric' image of how, 600 – 700 years ago, golf was played in Scotland, colf in the Low Countries and mail in France. However, from the above one cannot draw any definite conclusion about a unique origin of the sports mentioned.

The crosse field in Baudour, Belgium, the only ‘course' where the game is played also in summer.

Chapter II - Just a Sunday club match

Jeu de crosse is a team game. Two teams of two crosseurs play against each other. The match consists of several parties (holes in golf). One team, the so called chouleurs, tries to reach the target within a certain number of strokes, decided upon beforehand. The other team, the so called déchouleurs, tries to prevent that by hitting that same ball in a different direction, away from the target. The teams play the ball in turn. The chouleurs hit the ball three times in a row, after which the déchouleurs hit the ball once. The chouleurs are the winners when they hit the target within the number of strokes agreed upon. The déchouleurs are the winners when they succeed in preventing the chouleurs to achieve their objective. A match is over when one of the teams has won 5 times. A match lasts approximately 4-5 hours.

The schematic drawing of the choule/déchoule system in the game of crosse.

There are five different variants of the game of crosse:

Field crosse (crosse en plaine)
        This game is played on the plain fields during the winter period.

Target crosse (crosse au but)
        The purpose of this game is to hit the target from a distance of 10 meters.

Street crosse (crosse en rue)
        This variant is played only during carnival in the streets of villages and towns. The target is a beer barrel,                     placed in front of a café.

Biathlon crosse (omnium crosse)
        A combination of field crosse and target crosse.

Bird crosse (crosse aux oiseaux)
        This game is a variant of the target game in which wooden blocks, decorated with feathers, have to be                     knocked from a metal frame.

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More than a thousand players play street crosse at carnival in the Belgian town of Chièvres.

Chapter III - Through the ages

Today the game of crosse is played in Belgian Wallonie, mainly in the old coal mining district of the Borinage around the city of Mons (Bergen) and in France in the department Nord, more precisely in the region Avesnois around the city of Maubeuge.
Jeu de crosse en plaine is played on both sides of the Franco/Belgian border. Crosse au but is played, with a few exceptions, on the French side of the border with the town of Assevent as the centre, while crosse en rue is most popular, with a few exceptions, on the Belgian side of the border, with the towns of Chièvres and Blaton as very popular centres.

In France the game of crosse is still played around the city of Maubeuge.

Chapter IV - The name

In the Middle Ages, learned people did not only speak their native language, but also Latin, the so called ‘low Latin'. In low Latin the name ‘choulla' was used for a ball struck with a stick. In the course of the years the meaning of the word choule (or soule), in the meantime a French word, changed to a ball, played with the hands and the feet. Games in which a stick was used became known as ‘choule à la crosse '. In the first dictionary of the ‘Académie Françoise' (1694), all stick and ball games were called ‘jeu de crosse'. In the 19 th century general rules were developed and the games received their own names, like football, cricket, rugby and hockey.
The game at issue did not develop general rules and preserved the old name Jeu de Crosse. The name choule, internationally used for the game of crosse, found its origin in the book ‘Golf' from the Badminton Library (1890), in which the game of crosse was incompetently explained and wrongly called choule. As a consequence, the game is still called choule in the Anglo-Saxon golf world.

The first edition of the ‘Dictionnaire de l'Académie Françoise', 1694.

Chapter V - The season

Crosse en plaine is a winter game. Most crosse societies have no playing field of their own. In summer the fields where they usually play, are occupied by cows and horses or are sowed in for maize, etc. In case the field is owned by the crosseurs, the field cannot be played in summer because of the weed, in which you cannot hit or retrieve your ball. Crosse societies have no mowing equipment. When the winter starts and the animals have returned to their sheds and stables, and the crop has been harvested, the friendly farmers open their fields to the crosseurs till spring. The crosse season starts with matches and tournaments on the 1 st of November (All Saints' Day) and end in general at Easter Monday when often the grand finals of tournaments are held.

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In summer the dandelions and other weeds grow so high that playing crosse is impossible.

Chapter VI - The playing field

Contrary to the well groomed golf courses, the game of crosse is played on plain fields, mostly owned by farmers who, in winter, put their fields at disposal of the crosseurs. A crosse field does not have tees, fairways and greens. There are no driving range, no proshop, and no teaching pro's. There is a clubhouse, in most cases the nearby café. The target is a metal plank of approximately 2 metres high and 20 centimetres wide. In the past different targets were used, like a tree, a hole, or a door, depending on the local situation.

The crosse playing field in the heart of the small French town of Gommegnies.

Chapter VII - The crosse (club)

A crosse consists of a wooden shaft, made of ash wood. The head is made of iron and has to faces. One face, the ‘plat', is straight and fixed onto the shaft under an angle of 5 to 15 degrees, and is used for distance when there is a good lie (3 to 5 iron in golf). The other face, the ‘pic', is extremely concave and is used for difficult lies and approach shots (pitching wedge in golf). The grips are often made of strokes of bicycle tyre, to reduce the impact of the ball. In street crosse, heavy, crude looking wooden crosses with a multi-face wooden head are used. Target crosse is played mainly with field crosses. Some players make use of golf putters or ‘midget' golf clubs.

The iron head of a crosse with two faces, one for distance and one for problem solving.

Chapter VII - The choulette (ball)

The word choulette is the diminutive of choule, the original name for a ball hit with a stick. The original choulette was made mostly of boxwood. It was very small (4 x 3 centimetres ) and weighed less than 20 grams.
Nowadays, in France , balls are made of hornbeam. The official size is now 4.5 x 3,5 centimetres. The weight is between 25 and 30 grams. Belgian crosseurs experiment a lot with different materials. Today, they also use extremely hard nylon. Good players achieve with this choulette distances of over 200 metres. Most striking is that the choulette is not spherical but ellipsoid. During play, the ball may be placed upright at the exact spot where it landed. In Belgium the choulette may be replaced by a different kind of ball (bigger, smaller, lighter, heavier), depending on the lie.

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The ancient boxwood ball and the modern hornbeam ball compared to a golf ball.

Chapter IX - The players

Considering the many crosse makers and choulette makers in the past, jeu de crosse must have been very popular. After the second World War and when the coalmines were closed in the 1960's, the popularity of the game and the number of players reduced dramatically. Today there are less than a thousand crosseurs left.
Youngsters are not interested in the game of their fathers and grandfathers. They prefer playing football, basketball, cycling, etc. There is no glory in being a champion of an almost forgotten game. The game of crosse has always been and still is a men's game. The rough going through the frozen fields is considered (by men) to be less suitable for women. Although there are some representations from the 16 th century of women playing crosse, their participation in the game has always been very limited. Only in crosse au but, women are well represented.

Women are reasonably well represented in the crosse au but variant.
This game is played the whole year round.

Chapter X - Clothing

There is no special dress code for crosseurs as there still is in many golf societies. Crosseurs wear no leather gloves and no spiky shoes. Because the game is played in winter, the players are dressed in warm sweaters or coats and trousers. A hat and last but not least watertight boots complete the outfit of the crosseurs. At the carnival street games in various towns and villages, the players wear fancy clothes. Very traditional is wearing the ‘sarrau', the workman's old smock.

The game of crosse has no dress code. Warm clothing and watertight boots
are essential when playing crosse during the winter.

Chapter XI - Food

Jeu de crosse is a very traditional game. One of the customs in this sport is having meals together with traditional food on special occasions.
As crosse has always been a workman's game, sumptuous ‘haute cuisine' dinners were not part of the crosseur's life. Normally the players had herring or mussels, the cheapest food at that time, with a good glass of wine or beer. After special festive days, crosseurs had pork chops or even rabbit. The weekly donations during the year supplied sufficient money for such a meal.

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Mussels were a cheap food for the working class.

Chapter XII - Tournaments

The game of crosse is mainly played in the week-end between friends, fellow villagers and nowadays with club members. In the ‘olden days' when there were no crosse societies, it was often the church, and later the innkeepers who organised tournaments where crosseurs from different villages or regions played against each other on special days. Longest drives and target crosse were very popular. The crosse en plaine matches could not have a winner or a winning team in one day. Like match play in golf, such competitions had (and have) to be held over several days or weekends. Today these ‘ crosse match play ‘ tournaments are very popular. There are two kinds of match play, team match play in which players enter the competition as a team and individual match play in which players enter the tournament as individuals. The organisation committee assigns every playing day a different team mate. The individual who wins the most matches is the overall winner.

A poster from 1901 announcing an important tournament in Belœil, Belgium.

Chapter XIII - Religion

From the Middle Ages on, the game of crosse ran through the fields and in the streets of the towns and villages. Playing in the fields did not cause much harm, but by the time the crosseurs reached the streets (and the taverns) the game often caused swearing and fighting. Counsel and Church authorities were regularly forced to forbid, limit and/or alter the playing of the game. The Church authorities tried to control the game by incorporating crosse into the religious calendar.
At the end of the 19th century, with the rise of liberalism, socialism and the increase of secularisation, the influence of the Church diminished. Crosseurs organised themselves in crosse societies, as they were previously organised in parishes.

In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries contagious diseases like gangrene and the plague broke out regularly. Many people in the crosse region went frequently on pilgrimages to the chapel of Saint Anthony near the city of Mons (Bergen) to pray for protection against these diseases. After the celebrations in the chapel, people start to meet each other, to dance, to eat, to sing and to play. Crosseurs played around the chapel and used the door of the chapel as the final target.
When the contagious diseases diminished, people stopped to go on a pilgrimage to the chapel. The crosseurs however continued to go to the chapel of Saint Anthony. who had become in the meantime their patron saint. In his honour, they continued to play their game of crosse around the chapel, especially on the 17 th January, his name day. Because of the fading interest in the game, and the building activities around the chapel, this wonderful tradition stopped in 1971.

For several centuries Saint Anthony has been the patron saint of all crosseurs.

Chapter XIV - Carnival

In the long gone past games like golf and colf were played in the streets of the towns. In the course of the centuries, those games were banned to the fields outside the towns because of the danger of flying balls causing harm to the public and breakage of windows from churches and houses. Crosseurs however still play in the towns itself, be it only during carnival. In many villages and towns in the crosse region, players from all over Wallonie come together in places like Chièvres and Blaton. On these festive days, cars are banned from the streets and windows of the houses and shops are protected with wire mesh or panels against the bouncing wooden balls. The crosseurs play towards targets, being beer barrels placed in front of the taverns, where they drink to their victory or their defeat of the partie (hole). In some towns, players wear fancy clothes and when the games have finished, they have often traditional meals and they sing traditional songs.

At street crosse during carnival, in various towns crosseurs
wear fancy clothes as they do here in the French Vicq.

Chapter XV - Battles

Several researchers are of the opinion that wars have played an important role in the introduction of sports into different regions and countries.
The battle of Hastings in 1066, between William the Conqueror and the Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, could have been an event, where Flemish knights introduced jeu de crosse into England, from where it moved to Scotland to become in the course of time the game of golf.
The Hundred Years' War between France and England on French soil culminated in some major battles, of which we mention Crécy (1346), Poitiers (1356) and Baugé (1421). These battles were fought between the English soldiers on the one side and the French, supported by Scottish soldiers, on the other side. During the campaigns the English and Scottish soldiers could have seen French people playing the game of crosse. They liked the game so much, that when they returned to their home countries they took this game with them, where it eventually developed into the game of golf.

A panel near the site of the Crécy battle field attracts the attention of passers-by.

Chapter XVI - Images

In the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the Renaissance, artistic expressions were mainly restricted to religious themes. Presentations of sports were exceptional. Later on, especially in the Low Countries , more profane illustrations were made. Also sports were depicted.
Various authors have researched these portrayals to find out which sports were shown. The ‘Crécy man' in Gloucester (England), the ‘ La Martyre man' in French Brittany and the ‘Airvault man' in French Poitou-Charente, have caught the attention of historians. The research results were very diverse. The Crécy man is called in the meantime: a golfer, a cambuca player, a crosseur and a bandy player.
The same goes for the stick and ball players on the painting of Paul Bril (1624) in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The painting has been called ‘Landscape with golf players, with colf players, with choule players and with stick and ball players'. What is right?

The mysterious ‘ La Martyre man' in Brittany. Who is he, what game is he playing?

Chapter XVII - Literature

Since the Middle Ages, sports have been written about in poetry, novels, etc. The game of crosse is no exception. Because of the variations in terminology it is often difficult to decide if crosse or another stick and ball game is meant. Already in the 13th century Jacob van Maerlant, the famous Flemish author wrote about ‘mit ener coluen' (with a colf). Also Jean Froissart (1337-1410), François Villon (1431-1463), Rabelais (1494-1553), Gilles de Gouberville (1521-1578), Jean Lebeuf (1687-1760), etc. mentioned choule-like games in their works. However, it is very difficult if not to say impossible, to conclude which stick and ball games are meant.
From the 19th century onwards, it was the game of crosse, which was mentioned in the works of Charles Deulin (Le Grand-Choleur, 1873), Emile Zola (Germinal, 1885) and Achille Delattre (La bonne partie de crosse, 1939).

Statue of Jacob van Maerlant who wrote about ‘mit ener coluen' in 1261

Chapter XVIII - Expressions, proverbs, songs and poems

Many expressions and proverbs used in daily life are related to popular sports. Also jeu de crosse has enlarged the language, though mainly the local dialect. Some examples are:

Laisser la soule dans l'haie, meaning: It is better to end a discussion
Autant pour les crosses, meaning : All has been in vain
Mettre la crosse en l'air, meaning : Surrender

Regrettably most of them have fallen in disuse the last decades because the game has lost so much of its popularity.

The game of crosse has always been a working man's game. You hardly find songs and poems on a high literary level. Crosseurs sing about victory and defeat, about Saint Anthony, their patron saint, about their sport, their society and about their country. The texts of these songs are not the height of poetry. But just imagine: after a cold afternoon on the crosse field, returning to the tavern, singing their songs, a glass in the one hand and the other around the shoulders of their crosse friends. At such occasions there are no better songs than crosseur songs. The level of these songs exceed by far the quality of football songs in the stadiums.

The ‘Ménétriers' from Chièvres who brought the Saint Anthony song back to life.

Chapter XIX - Afterword

After years of research you come to the conclusion that you have raised more questions than you have found answers. Questions about the differences between crosse and its sister games golf, colf and mail. Questions about the region were the game was and still is played; why there and not elsewhere? Questions about the relationship between crosse and colf, played in neighbouring regions, where the language seems to be a frontier. Questions about the death of colf and mail, the tremendous growth of golf and the crosse fight for survival. Hopefully this book will be a starting point for professional historians to find answers to these and many other questions about this wonderful game. We are sure, the ‘Choule book' hasn't finished yet!

An unknown English stick and ball game played in the 18th century, probably in Yorkshire. –
By courtesy of Brian Clough, United Kingdom

Ordering

The book CHOULE – The Non-Royal but most Ancient Game of Crosse is published in the English language and printed in black and white. The book contains 200 pages and is illustrated with 200 photographs and depictions of paintings, drawings and illuminations. Because of the restricted number of copies printed, the book is not available from the bookshop, but can be obtained directly from the authors. Via

The price of the book is 20 € (GBP 15 or USD 25), including packaging and posting.
Payments can be made via PayPal or via an international bank transfer.

Reactions

Pete Georgiady, USA
I have had your book on my desk since it arrived and I pick it up regularly and read a few more pages. It is a magnificent work and I salute you for the excellent research and the high quality manner in which you presented it. It is very well illustrated (I love most the photo of the boys on p. 77). I would quickly say yours is an important work on the history of non-golf stick and ball games of western Europe and one that I will refer to frequently in the future.
July 2011

Literati of the Links, Meeting at St Andrews - Report on the site of the British Golf Collectors Society
Around a dozen of us sat down in the Byre Theatre to listen to papers presented by David Hamilton, John Pearson, Philip Knowles and Peter Georgiady in the afternoon of 14th October 2009.
David had recently visited France & Belgium where he witnessed the Ancient but not so Royal game of Choule being played. He brought with him several specimens of the balls with which the game is played and an example of the club.
He described the rules, whereby one team of two "wager" to get the ball from the teeing off area to a target in a given number of series. A series comprises three consecutive alternate strokes by the "wagering" team and then the opposing team being allowed to hit the ball into any other part of the course. This can be the nearest pond, cow pat, rough grass, or cabbage patch. The double faced club that is used consists of a flat face to achieve distance and another with a sharp angle to extract the ball from deep lies.
Whether this game of Chole is an ancestor of golf is debatable. But Geert & Sara Nijs have produced a wonderful book "Chole The Non-Royal but most Ancient Game of Crosse" which is a fascinating read.
October 2009

Gordon Taylor, England
Early in the New Year I received your excellent book on Choule.
I am a collector of golfing memorabilia and have in my collection a metal crosse club. When I first purchased my club, I did a little research as to what the game was about and became fascinated with the rules and how it was played. Your book on which I congratulate you has now filled in a lot of information which I find intriguing and which quite obviously has cost you some painstaking research.
February 2009

W. Rönnebeck , Germany
A very interesting book and I congratulate you on this scholarly work. It closes a gap, for as you mention, so far most publications on this topic copied one another. Here, with your book, comes authentic information.
December 2008

John Hanna, Northern Ireland - Review in Through the Green, December 2008
Rarely can a highly researched book have been inspired by the finding of a rusty hickory golf club in a small 'brocante' in the Netherlands . However this is just the beginning to a most informative book written by two BGCS and EAGHC members Geert & Sara Nijs. Their book of nearly 200 pages is a most comprehensive look at the stick and ball game Choule. As they say 'The Non-Royal but most Ancient Game of Crosse'
In the opening chapters they give an overview on what is Jeu de Crosse, and its various formats as to whether it is played cross-country or on a smaller scale. It is surprising that this type of game appears to have been limited to quite a small area in northern France and southern Belgium , predominantly in mining areas. Further chapters deal in detail with the different playing layouts that depend on the size and shape of the land available for them to play on. The construction of clubs and balls and the patterns of play are also described.
Geert and Sara express their concern that this game is only played now by a small more elderly part of the society and may be in danger of dying out. They describe the efforts being made to try to maintain its popularity. Like golf the game has a close relationship with food and the different clothing worn by the players. They also explore many other cultural links with the game, including: religion and particularly its nominated patron St. Anthony; carnivals, feasts and battles; other early 'golf' images such as the 'Crécy Man' in the east window of Gloucester Cathedral; and a wide span of literature, songs and poems. I think it would be hard to find two more enthusiastic writers.
December 2008

Prof Dr. Dietrich R. Quanz, Germany - Letter to the authors, also published in English in Golfika no. 3 2008
Ihr habt mit Fleiß auch nichts ausgelassen, was auf praktische Spielweise und religiös-literarische Bedeutung des Jeu de Crosse einen Lichtschimmer bringen könnte. Das Titelbild und seine Metamorphose in Holzpantinen zieht sich auch thematisch durch: eben kein Spiel der Oberklasse, sondern im wirklichen Sinne ein unkompliziertes Volksspiel. Unkompliziert, weil Ihr es uns im historisch-nationalen Kontext erklärt. An Imagination fehlt es auch nicht und wird wohl zu Diskussionen Anlass geben. Darüber hinaus kommt Ihr am Ende zu vergleichenden Betrachtungen und Fragestellungen aus internationaler Sicht. Es gelingt auch terminologische Verwirrungen aufzulösen und Ordnung zu schaffen zwischen Feld-, Straßen- und Zielorientierung. Ihr räumt mit manchen oberflächlichen-assoziativen Deutungen auf. Gerade bei den 100-jährigen-Kriegsanalysen erinnerte ich mich an Barbara Tuchmanns Buch über das schreckliche 14. Jahrhundert, daß sie an interessanten zeitgenössischen Quellen entwickelt. Ihr habt nicht nur ein historisch anspruchsvolles Arbeitsbuch geschaffen, sondern zeigt und belegt bildlich auch wie lebendig das Spiel in der Gegenwart ist und stellt auf Zukunft ab. Was aus wissenschaftlicher Sicht besonders auffällt: Da wo nicht eindeutig das eine oder andere Stockballspiel gemeint sein kann, gebt Ihr solchen Zweifeln Ausdruck. Das hebt sich besonders von solchen Golfbüchern ab, die für coffe table interessenden und deren Finanzkraft geschrieben und ausgestattet sind.

October 2008

foot

Jeu de crosse - Crossage

A travers les âges

Le livre

Games for Kings & Commoners

The book

Summary of the chapters of the book

Clearly unsuitable for women

The fifth column

The hole, the first line of defence

Mit ener coluen

From colf to kolf

Pall mall in Great Britain

Knocking wooden balls around

Swapping woodies for leatheries

Kings took to the links

Afterword

Reactions & Reviews

CHOULE – The Non-Royal but most Ancient Game of Crosse

The book

Summary of the chapters of the book

Chapter I - What is jeu de crosse

Chapter II - Just a Sunday club match

Chapter III - Through the ages

Chapter IV - The name

Chapter V - The season

Chapter VI - The playing field

Chapter VII - The crosse (club)

Chapter VII - The choulette (ball)

Chapter IX - The players

Chapter X - Clothing

Chapter XI - Food

Chapter XII - Tournaments

Chapter XIII - Religion

Chapter XIV - Carnival

Chapter XV - Battles

Chapter XVI - Images

Chapter XVII - Literature

Chapter XVIII - Expressions, proverbs, songs and poems

Chapter XIX - Afterword

Ordering

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