The Online Guide to Traditional Games
Aunt Sally
Aunt Sally is played by players throwing batons at a wooden skittle known as a doll and goes back at least as far as the 17th Century. It may have been introduced by Royalist soldiers during the English Civil war when Charles set up court in Oxford. It is one of those pub games which is played only in a very confined locale and hardly at all outside of this area. In the case of Aunt Sally, the location is Oxfordshire and despite being restricted only to pubs in and around Oxford it is a very popular game indeed which is taken very seriously by regulars and for which there are a number of leagues of some longevity.
Here is a drawing from the 1911 edition of Whiteley's General Catalogue
(with thanks to Stewart Russ). The author is not sure of the context of
the picture but it is interesting to notice that the doll has been dressed
up to look like a woman. This alarming portrayal brings a new perspective
to the Aunt Sally story:- is it no more than a vulgar fairground manifestation
of misogeny?!
There are two 14th century manuscripts which show a game called club kayles (from the French "quilles" or skittles) which depict a skittles game in which one skittle is bigger, differently shaped, and in most cases positioned so as to be the most difficult to knock over. The throwers, in the pictures, are about to launch a long club-like object at the skittles underarm. Aunt Sally appears to be a development of skittles whereby this "Kingpin" became the sole interest of the game and the other skittles were dispensed with.
An alternative theory ascribes Aunt Sally as a development of a game which was essentially a humane version of a barbaric blood sport called "throwing at cocks". In this horrible pastime a cock was tied by one leg to a stake in the ground and the participants would then pay for a turn at throwing a "cok-steles" (small club) at the bird. Whoever killed the bird got to take it home for dinner. If the bird's leg was broken, the sad creature would be supported on sticks until the bitter end. Joseph Strutt noted in 1801 that humane versions of this had been seen as fairground amusements wherein the cock was replaced by a wooden replica and people paid a small sum to attempt to hit it. He thought that this had died out but this theory believes it persisted and became Aunt Sally.
In Aunt Sally, the single white stubby skittle, about 6 inches high and 2 and 3/4 inches in diameter, is called "dolly" and the round-ended projectiles, of which there are six, are 18 inches long, 2 inches in diameter and are called "sticks". The doll is positioned on top of a hollow rod (the "iron") driven into the earth so that the top is two and a half feet above the ground and the players throw the sticks at it from behind a line known as the "hockey" which is 10 yards from the iron. Each turn consists of six throws and a point is only counted as long as the stick hits the doll before the iron. Normal league play has two teams each consisting of eight players and three legs or "horses" are played. Each horse consists of each member of each team having one turn so that each team makes 48 throws. It is believed that the record for a horse stands at 40 so it can be seen that hitting the doll is quite tricky.
Where to buy
Masters Traditional Games has Aunt Sally equipment for sale.
Pubs & Leagues
To most people Aunt Sally is only a vague recollection or completely unknown but in Oxfordshire, it is REALLY popular. See here for the large list of Aunt Sally pubs and leagues.
jm at tradgames.org.uk