The Dickinson press., 1899-02-04

x 50 @f~R sB
THE GAME OFQUOIIS.
CAN BE PLAYED ANY PLACE AND is
SPLENDID EXERCISE.
1t Ii q Very Ancient English Tas-
time. and It's B~esinninss Are Lost
In the Mist of A:scs-Fine Training
For the Eye and Arm.
There are some games which have
never had their boom, and quoits is one
Of them. Still, as nothing happens but
the unexpected, it may be that the time
is nearly ripe for quoits to be takentout
of its undeserved obscurity, to be exalt-
ed to the status of a national game, to
have weekly papers named after it and
to have columns in the sporting press
devoted to the doings of its champions.
Stranger things have happened. Who,
for instance, would have said when at
the end of the sixties a few energetic
sportsmen Went wobbling about on bone
shaking bicycles which it would have
been far easier to push than to ride
that at the end of the century consider
ably more than 100, 900 bicycles would
be manufactured annually in Great
Britain alone and that a great part
of the population would adopt this
means of locomotionf sOne5cannot i'm.
agine that quoits will aver attain such
popularity as the bicycle, but the un-
prejudiced person can see no reason
why it should not become as favorite a
pastime as golf, which a very few years
ago was almost unheard Of south of the
Tweed.
Quoits is a very fine, game, especially
in the winter time. It Is splendid e1er-
else and trains the eye and the hand to
act together in a way that few other
sports can do, for the very essence of it
is accuracy of aim at a mark placed be-
low the levelof the hand. It has been
objected that Observation-Disclosures
the player lopsided,s but, sitter Sall;sFthat
is easily remedied, Notwithstanding
to prevent the player throwing the
quot with his left hand if he so pleases,
and such a change would make a varia-
tion in the game and also afford an ak
cellent methodaf hx1ndicspmingsfhe men
of unequal skil&sQ hoi4s strengthens the
arms and shoulders, but it is not a pas
time which primarily demands strength.
Agreat advantage of the game is that
it a be played in any small space and
that the ground need not be particular
lylevel. Any rough field or waste bit
of ground isSgood enough for quoits
pitch, and nd, rolling or cutting 'isre-
quired ito sAtisfyy the demands Of the
mostsengent. For cricket you. need .
carefully ) prepared wicket, sfor lawn
tennis and croquet a piece Of turf like
a billiard table and for golf the best
part of q country all to, yourself, but for
quoits you only need a, few yards Of
rough ground, and You have as good q
place for throwing as any one a pos
sibly require.
People certainly might play auoits
more than they do, but the taking mp
of a game is usually . matter Of fancy,
and perhaps two things stand In the
way Of quoits. First, there is an idea
that it is a ''rustic" sport and can only
be played by, the. rough. country lads,
and, second, there lis4the legend that
the game is derived from the classical
discus throwing, a suspicion which it
must be confessed is enough to throw a
slur on. well regulated game.
No Treatise ionsQuoits can begin with
out the ..timeshonored pedigree gof the
quot from the discus. Strut, who lived
at the end of the last century, of course
dealt with it, and equally of course he
dragged in the discus even if he did not
invent the descent Of quoits from the
sports Of ancient Greece. The thing, of
course, is absurd. To make a discus,
the&artisan did not, in the words Of the
immortal Irishman, take a hole and put
some iron around it. The discus was
more Ikea fattened Dutch cheese and
vas a solid missile. Moreover, 1t was
not held. in the anne manner as a QUOT,
but was bowled underhand, in which
indeed it alone differs from putting the
weight. That quoits is now played
chiefly in the country is the fault Of
those who do not play it and bring Il
into fashion.
1t is no doubt a very ancient Englisl
game, and its beginnings are lost in tn,
mist ofSSsges. Hakluyt mentions it il
his book Of Voyages" so 1t was vel
known in Queen Elizabeth's time, whe1
it probably was one Of the favoritt
sports of Merrief England In SOM
parts Of the country the rustics used Il
employ horseshoes for want Of aproperl.
which the QUOT is called '.shoe" eve,
to this day, This gives us the clew t
the most probable origin Of the spor
and hints that the first game Of quot
was started by throwing old horseshoe
at the hob or mark, and from this grad
ually grew. up the practice Of havin
quoits specially made for throwing. 8
much for the discus legend. As for tn
word ''quoit" itself, its etymology 1
more than doubtful, and 1t gives us n
clew whatever to the origin Of til
game. 49, : 4a3$3E.
Shakespeare, who mentions ever,
thing except tobacco, Of course has
reference to the sport, and as Haiku,
sHassa contemporary Of fhis itssmay |
bald 70 show that the spacious times,
Great Elizabeth were the palmy peril
- An10ttGr 1tisytrue- that he doesen
fheAsfort-4n 1erylrepuss6
connection. for the only mention Of
ss 0ccurs IA the scene in which Prin
srr- Taletae poing and the n