[lit-ideas] Re: If you had your druthers...
- From: epostboxx@xxxxxxxx
- To: Lit-Ideas <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2016 08:46:16 +0100
On 12 Dec 2016, at 03:18, david ritchie <profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
…would you prefer that Jane Austen had been called Jane Bigg-Wither?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/11/jane-austens-famous-cup-ball-game-sale-complete-family-tips/
The internet link above leads to an article headlined "Jane Austen's famous cup
and ball game for sale - complete with family tips” which includes photos of
said game.
I had heretofore only known this game in its Inuit version (which according to
Wikipedia, was in some regions played "with a rabbit's skull in place of the
ball, with extra holes bored into it, which had to be caught on the handle like
a skewer”).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup-and-ball
Wikipedia also states that "In North America, the game was both a child's toy
and a gambling mechanism for adults, and involved catching a ring rather than a
ball. In some Native American tribes it was even a courtship device, where
suitors would challenge the objects of their interest to a polite game of ring
and pin.”
This mention of the game as “a courtship device” leads one to wonder whether
Ms. Austen played the game with Mr. Bigg-Wither, and whether his skill at the
game (or lack thereof) played a role in the retraction of her acceptance of his
marriage proposal.
Photos of native American versions of the game (more ring-and-pin than
cup-and-ball) can be seen at
http://www.beyondthechalkboard.com/activity/ring-and-pin/
I have found no material speculating as to whether the game originated in North
America and spread to Europe or vice versa. Wikipedia states only that the
game "was created in the 16th century” but gives no geographical area as its
point of origin. The Wikipedia entry also mentions a Japanese version that is
popular today but mentions only that it “arrived” there in the 18th century
without stating from where.
Is any list member more familiar with the game’s provenance?
Chris Bruce,
who was never any good
at that sort of thing, in
Kiel, Germany------------------------------------------------------------------
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