As the presence of smalls becomes more noticeable at SCA events, it becomes more important to find something to occupy their time and keep them out of mischief. While I don't feel it is proper to simply provide babysitting - due to the mundane liabilities involved, we can provide period games and toys for their enjoyment, as well as our own.
While there are not too many existing samples of period toys that are readily available to us, we can learn a lot from period woodcuts, songs and writings of the past.
Children, as well as adults, had a wide variety of toys to play with. I will describe as many as possible with ideas how to make some of them. I hope you find this article helpful, and please send any suggestions, ideas or information for future articles my way.
The simplest toy to begin with would be the ball. Balls are known to have existed for thousands of years. Period European townsfolk were so fond of ball games that they built special high-ceilinged arenas called "ball houses." They could play here despite the weather. These same halls were used for singing and dancing contests, resulting in the words ballad, ballet, and ball - songs and dances that derived their names from the place in which they were performed.(2)
Balls are readily available and lend themselves to a great variety of games. Earlier balls would have been wooden, clay, or shaped polished stones, among other things. A sample of a stone ball that is 5,000 years old, is exhibited in London's British Museum.(2)
Wooden balls of all sizes and colors can be purchased from many stores. You should decide what you want to do with the balls first so that you will know what size to look for, or you can try your hand at making your own ball with leather, clay, wood, etc.
A good example of a period ball would be a pig's bladder ball. You would get a pig bladder while it's still fresh and soft. Get a piece of cane and stick it up where that bladder empties. Blow till the bladder stretches to the size you want. A strong bitter smell may come, just keep working it. When it's full, tie off the opening with string. Rocks, marbles or other objects may be inserted into the bladder to add rattle sounds. These balls will dry out after a while, but till they do, they make extremely period toys. These balls are still made in the Appalachian Mountains. I would recommend cleaning the bladder thoroughly first, but of course this is a personal preference.
Children, being what they are, will tend to grow bored quickly with whatever activity or games you provide. The best idea is to carry as few supplies as possible while having a number of different things to do with those supplies. Following are some ideas for a number of games to be played with one leather ball stuffed with rags and perhaps some sticks that could be found at the location. Many hitting, kicking and throwing games were played with a leather or bladder ball. I hope you will try your hand at making these balls and creating lots of fun activities with them.
STICKBALL(12): This was the forerunner of baseball. A player would throw the ball into the air and try to hit it with a stick. If successful, he would run to a specified place. Exact rules for this game are not known, so be creative. Try not to make it as formal and regulated as today's baseball. Remember that the object is for all players to have fun and be creative!
HURLING(12) or SHINNY(9): A forerunner of Field Hocky, this game played an important role in Irish heroic epics. The roots to this game are universal, including Greeks in 500 B.C., 12th century Anglo-Saxons and 15th century Dutch. The British took the name "Hockey" from the Old Norman word for a shepherd's crook. This game is a rough and tumble game, providing great fun and exercise for adults, families and children. You establish a field and two goals. The object would be to get the ball into the opposing teams goal area. You should be able to find sticks in any given area to use for hitting the ball, please remember to hit the ball and not other players!
FOOTBALL(12): This game is played like soccer and not what most Americans know as football. The field and goal areas would be established as in Hurling, but instead of hitting the ball with sticks, you would kick the ball trying to guide it to the opposing teams' goal. I believe the soccer rule of not being allowed to touch the ball with your hands would probably have been applied.
HANDBALL, or FIVES(12): This was an early form of tennis and volleyball. It was played by batting the ball with your bare hands. The term "tennis" is first mentioned in an English ballad from about 1400, referring to a game played with racquets. The game of volleyball was not created until 1895 in America. It was created as an easier alternative to basketball. It seems that many games can claim their beginnings on this simple game of Handball.
It should be noted that in the 14th and 15th century, English laws were passed restricting or prohibiting a number of games. Handball was 1st on the list in 1365. These were the some of the first English laws restricting games that might interfere with practicing archery. Football and Tennis were banned for working people in 1388. In 1410 the punishment of 6 days imprisonment was established for breaking the gaming laws. As there are no current laws against these games, I hope you will have fun!
BOWLING(1): game uses a ball (wooden or leather) and 7 skittles (pins, bones or other upright shape). Seven skittles would be put in a line. Each person would take turns standing a distance away, in line with the shapes, and try to knock them down with as few throws as possible. The ornateness of the pins would vary depending on the wealth of the owner. A pauper would use sheep bones or sticks, while someone of noble rank might have balls and pins carved from ivory or precious stones or metals.
Pall Mall(22): This game would use a stick with a crook end and a wooden ball. Each player could have their own stick and ball, or they could take turns with one set. Two arches should be set up at opposite ends of the field. The object of the game is for each player to drive the ball through the arches in fewer strokes than the opponent. In time, changes were made to the game including changing the club to a mallet, putting a peg behind the arches, and adding more arches. A form of this game later became known as croquet.
Ringball(22): Another spin off of Pall Mall. There is a 3rd ring added in the center of the field. This center ring is longer on one side to secure in the ground while allowing it to swivel around. If a ball hits the arch instead of going through it the arch would swivel. The arch had 2 differently colored sides. If the ball went through the wrong colored side, then the player had to drive it back and repeat the shots till it is done correctly.
Camp(2): Another form of football played in England as early as the 14th century. It was similar to the Greek and Norse game of Common Ball, or Ball Battle. These games were very brutal and are not recommended for play today. There were a number of deaths caused by these games as well as many injuries. The game probably derived it's name from the German word "Kemp" which meant Champion or Warrior. A game of this sort was played into the 19th century. It consisted of two teams of men. They would hurl wooden balls, filled with lead, at each other. I suppose the object of the game was simply to survive and take out as many men as possible from the other team. This game was one of many that prompted laws barring its play. King Edward III attempted to do so in 1349. King James I also wrote laws in the 17th century forbidding such games stating that: "From this court I debarre all rough and violent exercises, as the foot-ball, meeter for lameing than making able the users thereof."32
Jeu de Boules and Boccie8: Bowling games in which the target is another ball have been played for over 2000 years. The Greeks and Romans both had ball throwing games which are believed to be the forerunners of Jeu de Boules and Boccie. These games can be played on any level terrain. They are usually played outdoors on grass or in sand. There is a bowling green in the Southampton Town Bowling Club, in southern England, that is believed to have been laid down during the reign of Edward I (1272 - 1307). In these games all players would have their own ball(s) called boules, each marked for identification. There would be another ball slightly smaller, called the Jack or cochonnet. The object of the game is to roll the boules nearer to the Jack than the opposition. A form of this game can be purchased at some large sports stores about $30.00.
Most of you are aware of general games like chess, backgammon, Pachasi, Fox and Geese and Taflta among others that are widely known for their presence in period history as well as before. How about a game that's not so well known?
Patolli(6): This game originated with the Aztec Indians and records of the game were brought over to spain in 1521 when the Spaniards conquered the Aztecs. There are 4 early descriptions of the game: Father Sahagun, 1545; Gomara, 1553; Father Diego Duran, 1560; and Torquemada, 1615.
By these accounts this was a favorite gambling game for the Aztecs. The gamesters carried their mats and bowls of markers around everywhere. The Aztecs were so serious in their play that they offered sacrifices of food and incense to the dice before each game. The mexicans also preyed to Macuilxochitl, their God of sport and gambling, each time they rolled. They took their gambling very seriously and often played for very high stakes.
The exact rules for the game are not known since the Christian priests destroyed all the native records and manuscripts in their effort to spread Christianity and destroy all opposition to Christianity. This should present an excellent challenge for some of you, to take the description and what is known and try to create rules for play.
The board is a thin mat. Paint an open diagonal cross reaching each corner with liquid rubber. Each arm is divided into 16 spaces with 4 squares in the center. Mark 2 blocks near the outer end of each arm. Richard Bell suggests, based on rules for other games of the period, that one or both of these marked areas on each arm might be some sort of penalty box causing either a lost turn, paying a fine, or both. The mats were decorated with the figure of fortune or its symbol, two clubs.
Twelve small painted stones are used as markers, 6 red and 6 blue. Two players take 6 stones each. Five large black beans (called Patolli) have one hole partially drilled in one side to act as a pip.
The players would rub the beans, shout "Macuilxochitl" and throw the beans onto the mat. The stones were moved according to how many pips showed. If all five pips were up the player would move 10. -- That's all they wrote folks! Now see if you can get a good game from this!
The word die (dice) comes from the Low Latin "dadus", meaning "given". In ages past it was believed that all things were "given" from the god(s). The throw of the dice was not seen as a random happening, but as guidance ("given") from the gods. In some areas the goddess Fortuna was believed to control the die. In other European areas the invention and control of die was contributed to Oden, the god of wisdom, prophecy and the dead. Even the board games are believed to have come from the gods. In northern Europe "Hnefatafl" was believed to have been sent by Oden himself, and in Ireland "Fidcheall" (another form of Hnefatafl) was said to have come from the god Lugh, the Irish equivalent of Oden.
Dice can be traced back to Assyria, before Christ. Some of the earliest forerunners to dice were the knuckle bones of various animals. Cubic dice have been found in Egyptian tombs dating from before 2000 BC. In Assyria there were at least two forms of dice used: 1) knuckle bones, known as "kisallu", and 2) clay dice, known as "puru".
In addition to gaming and gambling these ancient dice were used to allot shares from an inheritance, to apportion shares of income in the temples, for the election of officials and to determine the ownership of land. In electing officials the die would be inscribed with the names of the candidate(s) for a certain position, a prayer would be said to the gods and the die would be cast.
An example of ownership coming from the throw of a dice would be King Olaf of Norway and the King of Sweden in 1020. These two kings met at Konungahella in Norway and threw dice to determine the ownership of the Hising district. According to the story, both Kings threw a six twice, but on the third try the Norwegian King's dice split in two, showing four and three giving him seven. The throwing of the dice was definitely a much better way to determine ownership than to shed blood in battle.
Two games to play with dice would be "Shut the Box" and "Put and Take".
"Shut the Box"- This game has many forms. It can be as simple as a large box drawn on the ground divided into 9 equal boxes with numbers 1 - 9, or it can be a beautifully decorated wooden box with 1 - 9 decorating the top having fancy shutter doors to close over them and an open area below to cast your dice. All that you really need to have for this game is a set of dice. Draw your board or use a pre-made one. This game can be played by one person or many. The object is to throw the dice and cover the number(s) shown. If you throw something and cannot cover any thing else then the game is over for you. The person having the highest amount covered wins.
"Put and Take"#8 - This is a very simple gambling game played with a driedle or teetotum, but a die can be used instead. If the driedle has four sides, it should have P, T, A, or N on the sides - meaning P-put in pot, T-take out from pot, A-take all from pot, N-do nothing. The driedle would be spun and the person would do as it directed. If the driedle has 6 sides (or if using a die): 1- Spinner/thrower takes one from pot, 2- Everyone put one in pot, 3- Spinner takes all from pot, 4- Spinner puts 2 in pot, 5- Spinner takes 2 from pot, 6- Spinner puts 1 in pot. Everyone takes turns spinning and doing as the spin dictates until they are out of money/tokens. People can come and go in this game continually, without effecting the fun.
I hope that you have enjoyed this article and will find it useful.
#1 - AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF TOYS, by Karl Ewald Fritzsch & Manfred Bachmann, Abbey Library London
#2 - THE WORLD BOOK OF CHILDREN'S GAMES, by Arnold Arnold, 1972, ISBN# 0-529-007809, The World Publishing Company, Times Mirror, New York
#6 - BOARD AND TABLE GAMES FROM MANY CIVILIZATIONS, by R. C. Bell, 1960, 1969, 1979, ISBN# 0-486-23855-5, Dover Publications, Inc., 180 Varick Street, NY, NY, 10014
#8 - THE WORLD OF GAMES, by Jack Botermans, Tony Burrett, Pieter van Delft & Carla van Splunteren, 1989, ISBN# 0-8160-2184-8, Facts on File, Inc. 460 Park Avenue South, New York, NY, 10016
#9 - THE GAMES TREASURY, by Merilyn Simonds Mohr, 1993, ISBN# 1-881527-24-7, ISBN# 1-881527-23-9(pbk), Chapters Publishing Ltd., Shelburne, Vermont
#10- SECRET GAMES OF THE GODS, ANCIENT RITUAL SYSTEMS IN BOARD GAMES, by Nigel Pennick, 1989, 1992, ISBN# 0-87728-752-8, Samuel Weiser, Inc. Box 612, York Beach, Maine 03910
#12 - DICTIONARY OF THE MIDDLE AGES, VOLUME 5, p 347-354, published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
#22 - MEDIEVAL GAMES, by Salamallah the Corpulent, 1982, ISBN# 0-943228-03-4, Raymond's Quiet Press
#23 - THE TRADITIONAL GAMES OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND, by Alice B. Gomme, 1894-98, reprinted 1984, ISBN # 0-500-27316-2, Thames and Hutson Ltd, London
#24 - MUSIC, AN APPRECIATION, by Roger Kamien, 1988, ISBN # 0-07-033543-5, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company
#25 - STRANGE STORIES, AMAZING FACTS, by Reader's Digest, 1978, ISBN # 0-89577-028-8
#32-THE SPORTS AND PASTIMES OF THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND, by J. Strutt, 1801, Thomas Tegg and Sons.
FIGURE #1 - a scanned section of Ill. #4, Games of the young Emperor Maximilian. Woodcut by Hans Burgkmair, 1516. Drawing from Grober in An Illustrated History of Toys.1
FIGURE #2 - pattern for leather ball by Gail Ann
FIGURE #3 - illustration from The World Book of Children's Games(2)
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