played at the pub - the pub games of Britain by Arthur r. Taylor
Arthur
R. Taylor has been researching pub games for nearly forty years and has recently
published his ultimate work on the subject Played at the Pub – The pub games
of Britain.
Arthur’s first excursion into pub games
publishing was Pub Games (St. Albans: Mayflower Books) in 1976.
Sixteen years later ‘son of Pub Games’ was published in the form
of The Guinness Book of Traditional Pub Games (Enfield: Guinness
Publishing, 1992), a massively expanded and extended version of his earlier book
with much more information and many more illustrations and photographs. But
Played at the Pub, quite honestly, kicks both of them into a cocked hat.
Over the years Arthur has travelled the land
(and other lands too) researching, playing games and expanding his knowledge.
After four decades of research into hundreds of pub pastimes he now takes us all
on his marvellous journey of discovery.
His subjects range from the immensely
popular pandemic game of darts through skittles and quoits, ring games, bowling
games, games where you shove something, games where you push something else,
games involving throwing, cobbing (that’s clog cobbing of course), spinning and
twisting and ends up with the modern craze for pub quizzes and the most recent
‘traditional’ game of dwile flonking. (I had no idea how many different types
of skittle games there were/are and Arthur doesn’t think he’s found them all
yet.)
Of course of specific interest to visitors
to this website will be Chapter Two in which Arthur minutely covers the history
and development of the sport of darts which is given pride of place as it is the
first pub game examined in detail in his book. Arthur’s coverage of regional
dartboards will be of particular interest and I invite everyone to check out
these boards and let me know (via my Guest Book) if some of them that
appear to have disappeared (such as the Club Board) are still being played on in
some hidden corner of the country.
Arthur Taylor covers the whole history of
the great sport of darts from its origins to the present day and features an
exclusive interview with Stanley Lowy MBE, son of the founder of Unicorn
Products, Frank Lowy, which I found totally absorbing. For the darts chapter, as
with the rest of the book, the images are of top quality and compliment Arthur’s
knowledge perfectly. In my opinion Played in the Pub is worth buying for
the darts chapter alone.
There is a very poignant chapter titled
‘Lost games’ where Arthur bemoans the loss of once popular pub pastimes
including ‘Knur and Spell’, ‘Nipsy’, ‘Peggy’ and ‘Lawn Billiards’. How I would
love for people reading this to tell me that at least some of these games are
not lost, not ‘merely resting’ but still being played in some out of the way
public houses just waiting to be rediscovered. Talking of lost (or nearly lost)
ironically, the book launch for Played at the Pub was held in August at
the Freemason’s Arms, Hampstead in the last surviving skittle alley in the
capital (see photo).
‘Skittle alley at Freemason’s Arms, Hampstead; the only surviving alley in the
capital’ (Photo: Arthur Taylor)
Played at the Pub
is a unique work. In it Arthur has preserved for posterity
details of numerous games that have now disappeared from pub bars and back yards
and rigorously researched many others (still played) so that their true origins
(and how to play them) are permanently recorded. Without Arthur’s research much
of the information would undoubtedly have been lost. This book, which is
lavishly illustrated, is clearly a labour of love but it is also the
definitive work on British pub games.
And, by the way, when I wrote ‘ultimate’
earlier in this review I could well be wrong. I understand that Arthur’s
research continues apace and that he is currently working on a new book in which
he majors on skittles. Perhaps this is the start of a whole new series!
My recommendation then is
BUY IT! READ IT! ENJOY IT!
Played at the Pub – The pub games of
Britain is published by English Heritage (as part of
its Played in Britain series, edited by Simon Inglis). It costs £14.99
and is available from all good bookshops and via
www.amazon.co.uk.
© 2009 Patrick
Chaplin
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