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Miscellaneous stick and ball games
This sector of
the website is meant for information, publications and illustrations which have
only an indirect relationship with the ancient history of the European games colf/kolf,
crosse, golf and mail or golf-like games from outside Europe.
Also publications about the
more recent history of the various games will find a place in this section.
Publication |
Author |
Published (in) |
| The Italian traditional games of fiolet and rebatta  |
Geert Nijs |
2012 September |
| Did Yuan Dynasty Mongols bring Golf Game Into Europe? |
Wu Linqi |
2011 September - Golfika no. 8 (Magazine of the European Association of Golf Historians and Collectors) |
Knur and spell & nipsy |
Gordon Taylor |
2009 February |
Nipsy |
James Masters |
2009 January |
Geert Nijs, France
The game of fiolet
Since
time and age a club and ball game called ‘fiolet’ is played in the Italian
region of the ‘Valle d’Aosta’, a very mountainous region surrounded by the
highest peaks of the Alps in the extreme north-west of Italy, bordered by
France and Switzerland.
In this game a player hits a ball with a club as far as possible into the field. A real ‘longest drive contest’. The main differences between fiolet and colf, crosse, golf and mail is that the ball is not hit from the ground but in the air. There is no specific target whereto the ball has to be hit. It is only the distance that counts.
The equipment used
in the game of fiolet: the pira (tee), the fiolet (flattened oval ball) and the
eima or mas(s)ette or maciocca (club with the half oval club head). (Photo: www.comune.oyace.ao.it)
The
fiolet (ball) used to be a pebble stone with one flat side. Today, the fiolet
used in this game is made of boxwood covered with nails to achieve a weight of
35-40 grams. The ball has an ovoid form of which one side is flat (half oval
form). Nowadays, fiolets are also made of aluminium.
The eima or mas(s)ette) or
maciocca (club) is 40 to 70 centimetres long. At one end the club is somewhat
thicker, or equipped with a square or cylindrical or half cylindrical bulge.
The
pira (tee) is a smooth stone placed on a piece of cement of approximately 25 centimetres.
The playing field is a triangular stretch of grass between 150 and 200 meters.
The field is divided from the tee on in stretches of 15 meters.
The
triangular field in which the player hits the ball is up to 200 meters long.
The ball should stay within the side lines of the triangle. (Photo: www.deepfun.com)
The
game is played between two teams of several players or individually. Players try
to hit the ball (in turn) into the field. They place the ball with the flat
part up on the pira. With the thick end of the club they give a smart rap on
the end of the ball. The ball then spins upward. The player then tries to hit
the airborne ball one handed with his club as far as possible into the field.
Depending on the 15 meter stretch were the ball came down the player receives a
number of points. The further he hits the ball the more points he receives.
When all players have had their 10 or more attempts (depending on the kind of
tournament) all points of the teams or the individuals are counted together to
decide which team or which player is the winner.
Today
there are roughly 450 active fiolet players. The game is played mainly in
spring. The most important meetings is the team ‘Spring Championships’ starting
around the second week of March and finishing at the beginning of May. The main
individual tournaments are the ‘Baton d’Or championship held on the first of
May and another single contest held in mid-May.
On
the 17th July 1924 the first association, together with some other
traditional games, was founded (Federaxon Esports de Nohtra Tera). This
federation is again part of the nationwide ‘Federazione Giochie e Sport
Traditionale’. Today the final of the championship is played in Brissogne on
the first of May. The winner receives the ‘Baton d’Or. The game is played
during spring after the snow has melted and before the weeds start to grow and
the cattle (bovines) enter the meadows again. A certain Mr Germano Cheillon
d’Allein who was born in 1873 explained: ”I played fiolet already during the
last years of the previous (19th) century, not only with my friends
but also with much older players”.
The game of ‘la
rebatta’
A
comparable game, ‘la rebatta’ is played in the same region of the Valley of
Aosta, be it in different communities. Also in this game players try to hit an
airborne ball with a club as far as possible into the field. In this game use
is made of a boxwood ball (rebatta) with a diameter of 28-30 millimeters,
weighing 25-40 grams. The ball is covered with iron or copper nails and painted
white to make it more easily found in the field. Nowadays these balls are also
made of aluminium (provided with dimples)
The
ball is placed on a small wooden lever in the shape of a pipe. In the head of
the pipe (pipa or fioletta) a small hollow is made in which the rebatta is
placed. When the player hits on the other end of the pipe, the ball will jump
up. The player then tries to hit the airborne ball with his baton (club), as
far away as possible into the field. The club is 100 – 140 centimetres long,
made of ash wood and has a cylindrical part at one end (matchocca or masseta).
Contrary
to the comparable game of fiolet, the ‘baton’ is held with two hands in a
reversed (left hand above right hand) baseball grip. The left arm is straight,
the right elbow is held close to the body. (Photo: http://www.scuole.vda.it)
The
baton is held with both hands in a kind of reversed baseball grip. It is
interesting to see that the left arm is straight and the other bent arm is not ‘flying’
but hold close to the body. It really looks like a rather flat golf swing. The
playing field is a triangular stretch of grass up to 250 meters long and
approximately 60 meters wide at the end. This field is divided in straight line
stretches of 15 meters. Each stretch stands for a certain number of points. The
farther you hit (straight) the rebatta the more points you earn. Tournaments
are played with teams with 5 players each. Every player has 20 attempts, the so
called batua or tsachà. At the end of the tournaments all points per team are
added together and the team who gained most points is the winner.
The
tournaments, both team and individual contests, are held during spring after
the snow has melted and before the cattle are taken over the meadows and in the
autumn, when the cattle have returned to their cowsheds. This sport has
approximately 400 players divided over 14 sports clubs. These clubs are members
of the ‘Federaxon Esport de Nohtra Tera’, like the fiolet players.
If
you would like to see how fiolet is played or rebatta, have a look at YouTube.
Information
derived from:
http://www.deepfun.com/fun/2012/08/tocati-2012/ : Giardini
Cesare Lombroso.
http://www.figest.it
http://www.jugaje.com
http://aoste.ialpes.com
Knur and spell & nipsy
Gordon Taylor, England
As a young boy some seventy years ago growing up in
Yorkshire there were two games of which I was vaguely familiar, which I feel
sure you will have come across in your researches. They were both played in the
coal mining area where I was living.
The first was known as knur and spell and was
played by the more prosperous people who could afford the equipment. This consisted
of a spring loaded device which when released threw a small round object into
the air which was then struck with a stick. I believe from memory that distance
seemed to be the main object but what the rules were I am not familiar.
The second was a poorer version of knur and spell
which was known locally as nipsy and sometimes shinty.
This was played without the expensive launcher but comprised a small hard piece
of shaped wood with one end shaped into a rough point. The player tapped the
pointed end which caused the mouse as it was called to flip up in the air from
where it was then struck with a stout stick.
Both games could be played on any spare bit of ground
and did not need special playing areas. They were known as poor man’s golf and
they helped to pass on a few hours and make life and times a little more
interesting.
Nipsy
James Masters, England - www.tradgames.or.uk/games/knur-spell.htm
The picture in the 'Afterword' of CHOULE - The Non-Royal but most Ancient Game of Crosse representing a group of players with special bats around a small
seesaw, shows people playing a game called 'nipsy'. This game was
fairly popular, especially in southern Yorkshire in England. Variants
are still played in the areas around Bolton and Barnsley in Lancashire.
The picture is made by a certain George Walker in 1817. The game is a
kind of 'longest drive'. A ball is placed on one side of a small
seesaw. When you hit on the other side, the ball will jump up. The
player will then hit with his bat the ball as far as possible. The
little stake is one of a series for measuring the distance achieved.
Good players can hit the ball as far as 200 meters. The shape and
size of the bat and the rules of the game vary from region to
region as do the little seesaws. Also in France, more specific in the
Picardie region (north-western France) a variant of the game was
popular in days long gone, under the name of 'jeu de la
tapette'.
