Pub Games
History of Pub Games
Pub games have been around since the early days of the pub and they have evolved with the times. Today you will find pub quizes, video games and much more depending on your local pub.
The English pub has always been a venue for games and sports. The nature and type of games played may have changed over the centuries, but the purpose has not. Friendly rivalry and competition, washed down with a pint of ale, creates bonds and breaks monotony. Early pub games may seem simplistic and naive, but compared with the humdrum life of a farm hand or factory worker, they provided light relief. Some were as simple as flipping a coin through a hole in a box, sliding coins along a board or throwing a stick at a target. Games using dice or cards, such as cribbage, dominoes or 'shut the box', required little in the way of equipment or space, and therefore were within the reach of most pubs.
It’s hard to say where these pastimes came from originally. Many familiar English games have foreign origins; draughts (similar to U.S checkers) was introduced by the Romans, dominos arrived from China, via Italy; marbles came from ancient Egypt and several more were introduced following the Norman invasion of 1066, including quoits, bowls and skittles. Whilst some of these imports were new, it’s likely similar ‘home grown’ games already existed, so there would have been some integration.
Outdoor games such as quoits and bowls have become deeply ingrained in our culture and are still played around the country. The British weather is probably responsible for the proliferation of indoor games, such as darts, an indoor adaptation of archery, whilst table skittles and indoor quoits have been scaled down to fit into the pub. All these games have regional variations, played with different rules and equipment.
Some weird and wonderful pub games, with incredible names such as Dwyle Flunking, have survived in small pockets, but even more have been lost and forgotten. Others however, have flourished to become national ‘sports’ such as snooker and darts. Modern ten pin bowling owes it origins to skittles, this ancient game still popular and surprisingly strong, particularly in the West Country, although in London, most pub skittle alleys have closed.
If it's Popular, Ban It
Whatever the regional differences, one common theme pub games have, is that at some point, they have all been banned. Both Edward III and Henry VIII were eager to ban pub games, particularly if they were enjoyed by the lower classes, even though they themselves played and enjoyed them. The Puritans, during the Commonwealth rule, were keen to ban all games, but then again; they were keen to ban anything frivolous.
The reasons for the bans vary from moral corruption to dereliction of duty; the theory being that competitive games encouraged gambling and drinking, and therefore must be wrong. Also, those involved in them should be undertaking more responsible activities, such as practising their long bow skills.
Although gaming machines have been legal in pubs for half a century, the law on gambling in pubs was relaxed relatively recently, allowing poker and prize bingo to be played for money for the first time. The stakes are limited to £5 per game with a £100 limit on winnings.
Yes, but is it a sport?
There are however many pub related ‘sports’ that have been banned, or at least controlled, which are abhorrent to us now. Seemingly quaint pub names reflect a dark and sinister side of the ‘sporting’ Englishman. The Bear, the Dog & Bull and the Cock are so called not because of the English obsession with animals, but the excitement of seeing them fight to the death. Bears and bulls were savaged by dogs, and cock hens pecked each other apart. These were not spectacles enjoyed only by the mob, but by the gentry and even monarchs.
The human equivalent was bare-fist fighting, which left many participants blind, brain damaged or dead. A few pubs have boxing training rings or names which celebrate prize fighters, such as the Tom Cribb in Haymarket and the Thomas A Beckett in Old Kent Road, where Henry Cooper trained in its boxing gymnasium; alas the pub closed several years ago.