Improvements in Games and in Clubs and Balls for use therein.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Mar., 1890-Accepted, 26th Apr., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Games and in Clubs and Balls for use therein.
We, JOSUÉ MÉNARD, 13 Ardgowan Street West, Greenock, Teacher of Languages,
and SAMUEL Moss, 67 Ryle Street, Macclesfield, Silk Weaver & Silk-man, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
GAME No. 1, OR "ROYAL PÉRONNELLE."
To play this game, sixteen sticks or clubs, or fewer, and two balls, either soft or
hard, one white and one red, are required. Twelve holes, each about four inches in
diameter, are made on the circumference of a circle, described with lime-wash, or
with chalk dust, on a lawn. A white flag and a red one, alternately, are stuck at
each hole. There is also a hole in the middle of the circle without a flag. Half
the clubs may be white, and the other half of the number of a dark colour. There is
one player at each hole at the circumference, one in the middle, and one out of the
circle.
Play (see Figure 1): Player No. 13, at the centre, throws the ball to player No. 1,
who, with a stroke of his club, sends it out of the circle. If he misses it, there is
no changing of holes; if he hits it without making it go out of the circle, there is no
changing of holes either; if on the contrary, he sends it out of the circle, No. 13
cries out: "
triche de got," that is to say, "trick for a hole," or "forward," and
player No. 1 passes to No. 3, same colour as himself, from left to right; player No. 2
passes to No. 4, and so on, each one taking, if he can, the second hole next to that
where he is standing. But player No. 13 tries also to get a hole on the circumference;
if he succeeds in getting one, one of those who were at the circumference is left
without one.
Such a one goes out of the circle to pick up and send back the ball
when it goes out of it, and he who at first was out of the circle as an outfielder
comes in to No. 13. The new No. 13 throws the ball to the player No. 2, and the
play goes on as before.
«
If at any time No. 13 pots the ball, he cries out again: "triche de got," or
forward," and everyone changes place as before; but this time he who was at the
hole into which the ball fell goes out of the circle as if he had lost his holo, and
the outfielder goes to No. 13, the occupier of which passes to the hole into. which he
put the ball. The ball is thus thrown to each hole in succession, and, when the
game is over, that of the two camps which has most men, or ladies, at the circum-
ference wins.
The game may consist of once, twice, or three times the round of the circle. The
white and the red balls should be used alternately, because such a player as may
be good at. hitting a white ball may be a poor hand at hitting a red one, or
rice versa.
If
At every stage of a game the lady's partner always goes out' of the circle instead
of her, giving her his place at the circumference when she has lost her own.
the lady's partner is already the outfielder when the lady loses her place, he remains
out, and the lady goes to No. 13 to throw the ball.
If sixteen persons cannot be got, the game may be played' by fewer, by eight, for
instance. Then, in changing holes, No. 1 passes to No. 5, that is to say, to the fourth
hole next to his own, from left to right, on the man at the centre crying out" triche
de got," or "forward," or again "triche dé got four," or "forward four." There are
then six players at the circumference, one at the centre, and one outfielder. In this
case, the centre player, having no more than half the distance to travel which the

page_text: others have to get a hole, is sure to secure one if he likes before any of those
who are at the circumference can do so. Any even number of players plus four
may play, thus 10 + 4 = 14.
If six only are playing, No. 1 changes to No. 7, that is to say to the sixth hole
next to his own from left to right, and the man at the centre, passing by No. 4,
or 10, misses two numbers to get a hole, and thus travels the same distance as the
other players. This is the "Royal" Péronnelle.
The game may be played on a lawn, or in a field, and the rougher the ground
is, the better the game will be.
GAME No. 2, OR PÉRONNELLE PRINCIÈRE.
The game is played as above, only each gentleman is followed on the circle by
his lady whose club is of the same colour as his own. Thus the gentleman being
at No. 2, the lady must be at No. 1, and so on, from left to right. The ball is as
before thrown to No. 1; if No. 1 hits it and sends it either out of the circle, or
within, the ball is sent back to No. 13, and play begins again. If No. 1 misses it,
the outfielder who is supposed to be No. 14, returns it to No. 13 again, who then
throws it to No. 2, and so on. At the fourth ball, as soon as it has been hit or
missed, no matter what places the players may be at, the centre player cries out
❝triche de got 2, or "forward 2," and each then takes the hole named, that is to say
the second next to his own, or her own. The centre number tries also to get one on
the circumference; if he succeeds, he who is left without a hole goes out of the circle
to send back the balls, and he who was outside as an outfielder comes to the centre
and throws the ball to the different holes, beginning at the one next to that at which
there was a triche de got.
The ladies do not go out of the circle. As in the first game, their partners take
their place, that is to say, they go out as outfielders instead of them. If a lady's
partner is already out of the circle when she loses her place on the circumference, he
remains out, and she goes to the centre and throws the balls. See illustration 2.
The game may be played by sixteen players or more, or by 14, 12, 10, 8, or
even 6 persons.
GAME No. 3, OR SQUARE PÉRONNELLE.
Going from left to right, as shown in illustration 3, the centre player throws the
ball to player No. 1, who hits it out of the square. The outfielder returns it to the
centre player who throws it to player No. 2, and so on, till No. 4 is reached, when
there is a triche de got," or
" forward" movement.
If No. 1, or any other number, misses the ball which is thrown to him, the play is
begun again, that is to say, the ball is thrown to the same player four times in
succession. If he misses the fourth ball, there is a triche de got all the same, and
then the ball is thrown to the next hole. The triche de got, or forward movement,
takes place diagonally, and in changing holes each player must pass by the centre
and take diagonally a hole corresponding to his own, and all the ladies must be on
one side of the square, and all the gentlemen on the other.
The centre number takes the place, if he can, of the gentlemen, but not that of
the ladies. At each triche de got the outfielder goes to the centre, and he who is
left without a hole goes out of the circle as outfielder, no matter where he was
before.
The
The centre player changes place only in passing by No. 15 or 16.
Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, 14, 16 form one camp, and numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
and 15, the other camp. There is a triche de got whenever the centre player pots
the ball.
1 16.
Any number plus four of players can join in a game, thus 12 +4
The side with most men or ladies in a line wins; but it may be arranged that
that side shall win that has had fewer men serving outside the circle; or, again, it
may be agreed upon that the side that has hit most balls wins.

page_text: GAME No. 7, OR GRANDE PÉRONNELLE MOUVANTE, THAT IS TO SAY, Great
MOVING PÉRONNELLE.
The game is played on two moving lines. There are sixteen holes around a
field, about ten yards distant from each other; and two camps; one on each side
of the pots, the head of each side being carefully kept at least ten or twelve yards
away from the pots to which the ball is thrown. There are two outfielders, one on
each side. Lots are drawn as to which side shall go to the hole first.
No. 1 player
from one side taking his place at the first hole, No. 1 from the other side, at a distance
of at least ten yards, throws the ball to bim. A smart blow with the club sends the
ball to the other side of the opposite line of players, and there is a triche de got
in a straight line, i.e., No. 2 of the one side exchanges with No. 2 of the other,
3 with 3. etc.; the outfielders also change place, each going behind his respective
side, and play is recommenced, the two numbers 1 remaining to play where they
were, but then sending and receiving the ball in the opposite direction. If No. 1, at
the first hole, misses the ball, or does not send it beyond the opposite line, the same
play is begun again up to four times, when there is a triche de got. This time, he
that missed the ball becomes outfielder, and the first outfielder takes his place at the
tail of his side; the outfielder of the opposite side remains where he is, and the No. 1 who
was throwing the ball passes to the hole. It is now the turn of the number 2 of the
opposite side, who is at the head of his line, to throw the ball. If he who throws the
ball pots it (or hits the flag with the ball, when there is no hole made, which ball
must always be thrown one yard high), there is a triche de got as if the ball had been
thrown up four times without being hit out of the lines. Before passing from one
hole to another there must have been four. hits out of the lines. The balls hit are
cried out one, two, three, etc., and the side that has made most balls. at the last
hole wins.
An endless variety of games of a similar nature can be played on the triche de
got principle.
THE PERONNELLE CLUB.
The Péronnelle club, or stick, is made of ash, or of any other tough wood. It is forty
inches long, and one inch and a quarter in diameter at the thick end, for ladies, and
one inch and three eighths for gentlemen, and three fourths of an inch in diameter, for.
gentlemen or ladies, at the small end, below the knob. There is a knob at the smaller
end, which is one inch and one sixteenth of an inch in diameter, by half an
inch in thickness. This knob is necessary to prevent the club from slipping out of the
.hands of the player. The club, from the thick end to the knob, must be a continuous
straight taper. This continuous straight taper and the knob, as well as the particular
size and length of the stick, and of every part of it, as described above, constitute the
Péronnelle Club, or stick. This club is a novelty and is the invention of the undersigned
and aforesaid Josué Ménard for the purpose of playing the above described new games.
↓.
THE PÉRONNELLE BALLS.
=
The Péronnelle ball must be soft for short distances, or for lawns, so that it may
not injure the players; and it must be hard for long ranges, or large fields, so that it
may fly to the required distance. The soft balls are two inches and one fourth of an
inch in diameter, and are made of spongy or honeycombed india-rubber and ground
cork mixture, with a smooth surface, or of an india-rubber, or of a leather, skin filled
with wool dipped in a light tar-and-sand bath. The hard balls are one inch and seven
eighths, or one inch and six eighths in diameter, and are made of a mixture of india-
rubber and chalk, or of gutta-percha and chalk, and of ground cork, so that they may
be somewhat light in colour and in weight. These balls, as described above, with
their particular size and manufacture, constitute the Péronnelle balls, as tried and
used by the undersigned for 'the new games called the 'Péronnelle, games above
described.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention
of the aforesaid and undersigned Josué Ménard, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, we declare that what we claim is :
1st. That each one and all the Péronnelle games are new games; that the general
name of Péronnelle games, and each particular name, viz., the "Royal Péronnelle,"
the Péronnelle Princière," the "Martial Péronnelle" (a form of which may be
called the "Cavalier Péronnelle") the "Square Péronnelle," the "Grande
Péronnelle," and the "Grande Péronnelle Mouvante," as well as the manner in which
each one of these games is to be played, have been invented by the aforesaid and under-
signed Josué Ménard.
2ndly. That the club, or stick, suitable to play these games, or varieties of the same
games, on the same principle, is a new club invented by Josué Ménard aforesaid and
undersigned, and that the novelty of the club consists in its offering from end to
end a perfect and straight taper, and in its terminating at the smaller end by a knob to
prevent its slipping out of the hands of the player, and also in its length of exactly
forty inches, and thickness, as described.
3rdly. That the principle upon which all the games above described are played is
the triche de got, that is to say, the trick for a hole, or forward movement, from left
to right, or change, a new principle also invented by Josué Ménard aforesaid and
undersigned.
4thly. That the manner of playing on circles, or on oblong squares, or on triangles,
or on lines, with pots and flags, In-Balls and Out-Balls, as described, is also new,
and is the invention of the aforesaid and undersigned Josué Ménard.
5thly. That the balls to be used for these games, as described, have not been
manufactured by any one, except by the undersigned, to the best of their knowledge.
Dated this 24th day of February 1890.
J. MENARD.
SAMUEL MOSS.