Knur & Spell
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ส.ค. 2024
- www.yfaonline.com/ As late as the 1970s, a sport peculiar to the north of England was still being played in the Calder Valley.
Knur and spell -- more usually billets or billeting, a variation of the ancient game played locally, attracted huge support in its heyday, with hundreds of pounds changing hands.
Knur and spell is believed to have originated in medieval times and was often played on Shrove Tuesday and Good Friday.
The game was at the height of its popularity in the 19th century, played mainly in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Billets, or billeting, acquired an equally enthusiastic following in the Calder Valley area where players congregated on any large open field and competed for prizes such as copper kettles.
Interest dwindled as wages rose and working men were able to afford to indulge in sports such as poncey space wasting golf. There are still many, however, who have fond memories of knur and spell, truly game of the English working class.
![Extremely rare, spectacular film about London during WW-II in color [A.I. enhanced & colorized]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QLbPYQcUcgM/mqdefault.jpg)
If only this sport could be part of the London 2012 Olympics - it would make it a whole lot more interesting...
What a really fascinating game! I love the intricacies of it, the little ball, the odd clubs, and the marvelously rigged contraption that holds the ball. It reminds me of something that a bunch of kids would've come up with in their free time, but then the grown-ups came along and turned it into something else entirely. I have never been to the UK, but I hope I can come visit my ancestral homeland one day and visit some of these places.
I knew of this old sport but never had a chance to play it with the equipment shown. Instead when I was about 12-15 years old I would play a version of the game known as “piggy”. The equipment for piggy is a simple wooden branch of a comfortable length according to your own height and about 3/4 inch in diameter used as a bat or club. As a projectile you would use a short piece of wood about 4 to 6 inches long and the same diameter as the bat, which had both ends carved into cones. The final piece of kit that was required was one or two flattish stone’s, which were laid on top of each other and the projectile balanced on top but hanging over the stones at both ends. To play the game you had to tap the projectile on the sharpened end, causing the “piggy” to jump in the air, then whilst it was still in the air you had to bat the pig as far as you could. Each player would then have to estimate how many throws it would take to return their own “pig” to the launching point, whoever made the best estimate was the winner. The game could also be made easier or harder depending upon the playing area chosen, a flat field being the easiest and a piece of shrubbery or woodland being harder and the slope of the field left/right, up hill or down changing the odds yet again baring in mind that the target to return to was just two flat stones.
There seems to be multiple versions of the game you call “piggy” throughout the world, all of which use a longer stick to strike a shorter one. In India, they play gilli danda; here in the US, there is a game called dainty, which is played in the German American community of Louisville, Kentucky.
my father played that in 1944 in foulridge lanckishire with out the rules and regulations and a dialect not as strong as you'rs.
sounds pritty ghomles to me.
first time seeing it since it was played in 44 , thanks for posting dad had a good laugh.
Transcript for you:
Cowlin's haufway between Keighla an Skipton, it's nobbut a little Yorkshire village an Aw don't suppose you knaw much abaat it. Aw bet tha didn't knaw that t'reight honourable Philip Snawden, t'furst labour chancellor o t'exchequer wor born i Cowlin, well he wor, here i this varry house. Tha knaws, his job wor laikin abaat wi other fowk's brass, an fowk are still laikin abaat wi brass here i Cowlin.
Nearly ivvery wickend t'locals goa aat laikin Knur an Spell, up here we call it "tippin", it's a soort o poor man's golf but tha wudn't call it poor if tha saw t'brass swappin hands when t'match is ower. Fowk have bin tippin for ower hundred year an today some o t'young-uns are as kean as mustard. It's summat like golf wi-aat any hoils to knock t'ball into. Tha belts a reight hard little pot ball call'd a knur as far as tha can wi a long stick summat like a golf club wi t'heead streighten'd aat instead o bein bent ower. T'tipper who hits it t'farest is t'winner, but let's go back to t'start.
Furst of all, they draw for places, like they do in a fishin match. He's markin aat wheer each tipper's baan to stand. Then they fix this article up, one for each tipper, some on em heve a spirit level on t'crosspiece an on t'end o t'crosspiece a lump o band hings daan wi a loop at t'end to put t'knur in (Joe's putten his best clogs on for t'job!).
If ther's a wind blawin, they stop t'knur fra swingin abaat wi a piece o thin weft fasten'd to t'bottom o t'loop an t'tother end held daan wi a stone.
Ivvery tipper marks aat wheer he's baan to stand when he's tippin, he does this wi a piece o band pegg'd aat in a triangle. T'reight foot hardly ivver moves, that peg goes at t'back of his heel an later on tha'll see he puts two moor pegs in at t'side soa he can allus put that fooit i t'same place ivvery time he strikes (he's bashin t'graand to mak it flat). Sitha, he's puttin them two other pegs in naa. Some on em chuck a few little stoans daan to stop theirsens thra slippin when they're beltin t'knur, if it's wet th'art liable to slip cos t'left fooit steps forrard when that's strikin (he's belt a bag o cinders for t'job).
When tha's drawn thi knur tha can allus tell which is thine cos ivvery knur hes a different number on it. If it's a deacent match ther's sure to be a bucket theer lain odds on ivvery tipper. When t'match is on, six on em tak it i turns to strike, t'furst-un goes when this whistle blaws, then ivverybody watches wheer t'knur's goan an a couple on em who allus stan at t'back o t'striker, rush aat when he's belted t'knur an shaat to t'seekers at t'bottom o t'hill tellin em wheer it's goan - "it's daan bi t'gate-hoil", or "it's ower bi t'bog-hoil", (that's a reight sloppy corner o t'field). Then ivverybody daan theer looks abaat till they finnd t'knur an when they've fun it, they mark t'spot wi t'tipper's number (he's keepin caant of haa many turns they've all hed).
T'best shots are when tha hits t'knur fair an square i t'middle o t'spell heead. After a shot or two, some on em fix a new heead onto t'spell, they'll leet a fire an whip t'new heead on wi thin band an cobbler's wax (he's rubbin t'face wi resin to stop t'knur thra slippin to one side when he hits it.
That's Betty, shoo's collectin for t'club throo fowk who've bin watchin t'match (aye, an throo onybody else an all if yo can cop em). In a reight match like this, ivvery tipper hes ten turns. Some on em, who've hed a bad shot or two, mark aat another strikin spot (ther's Betty theer caantin up), an when it's all ower, t'referee gets a long cheyn an measures aat who's belted t'longest shot. That fello at t'farend wi t'white flag stans bi each knur so that t'ref measures in a streight line, they measure t'last yard or two wi a tape measure. T'local bucket allus meks a bit o wage aat o this job for hissen an when they've all been paid aat ivverybody goes raand to t'pub to heve a pint or two an talk it all ower.
They say at t'spoort's deein aat but Aw'll bet thee they'll be tippin here i Cowlin, aye, in another hundred year!
Fantastic! Thanks for posting this.
Absolutely great - thanks so much for posting. As an enthusiast of old and pub-orientated games I found this utterly fascinating. Where ON EARTH did you find this from?!!
Okay... I won't tell. Thanks for letting me know.
@4beatlefans I nicked it from The Yorkshire Film Archive.
And I thought cricket had ludicrous rules.
Knur Krzysztof Kononowicz