Devil among the tailors
Encyclopedia
Devil among the tailors is a pub game
which is a form of table skittles.
The game involves 9 small skittles arranged in a 3 x 3 square, usually within a shallow open-topped wooden box sitting on a table-top. The wooden ball (about the size of a golf ball) hangs from a string or chain attached to the top of a vertical wooden post rising from one corner of the box. The aim of the game is to knock down the skittles by swinging the ball in an arc round the post (rather than aiming directly at the skittles).
It is also the name of a game in which each player spins a spinning top with a string, to knock down skittles, earning points for doing so. This game is quite a large table game, around 1M x 1.5M The game may be referred to as "De'il Among the Tailors" in Scotland. An example of this game is on display in Osterley Manor in London.
The game can be seen in a pub setting in the Beatles movie 'A Hard Day's Night
' at the 1 hour 4 minute mark. Ringo goes AWOL from a gig and ends up annoying people playing various pub games.
, was presented at the theatre, then known as The Little Theatre in the Hay. The London tailors took exception to this satire on their craft, and thousands rioted, both inside and outside the theatre. The special constables were helpless against the overwhelming odds, so a troop of Life Guards was called. Sixteen prisoners were taken and the rest dispersed. The Life Guards did their job so effectively that it was likened to a skittle ball ploughing through the skittles. Thereafter, the game of Table Skittles (or Bar Skittles) was often referred to as‘Devil Amongst the Tailors’ (or Devil Among the Tailors).
In the picturesque name, the 'devil' refers to the ball and the 'tailors' are the skittles.
Pub games
Pub games are games which are or were played in pubs, bars, inns, and taverns, particularly traditional games played in English pubs. Most are indoor games, though some are played outdoors Pub games are games which are or were played in pubs, bars, inns, and taverns, particularly traditional games...
which is a form of table skittles.
The game involves 9 small skittles arranged in a 3 x 3 square, usually within a shallow open-topped wooden box sitting on a table-top. The wooden ball (about the size of a golf ball) hangs from a string or chain attached to the top of a vertical wooden post rising from one corner of the box. The aim of the game is to knock down the skittles by swinging the ball in an arc round the post (rather than aiming directly at the skittles).
It is also the name of a game in which each player spins a spinning top with a string, to knock down skittles, earning points for doing so. This game is quite a large table game, around 1M x 1.5M The game may be referred to as "De'il Among the Tailors" in Scotland. An example of this game is on display in Osterley Manor in London.
The game can be seen in a pub setting in the Beatles movie 'A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
' at the 1 hour 4 minute mark. Ringo goes AWOL from a gig and ends up annoying people playing various pub games.
Name origins
On 15 August 1805 a play called The Tailors: A Tragedy for Warm Weather, starring William DowtonWilliam Dowton
William Dowton was a British actor.- Early life :Dowton, the son of an innkeeper and grocer at Exeter, was born in that city on April 25, 1764. At an early age he worked with a marble cutter, but in 1780 was articled to an architect...
, was presented at the theatre, then known as The Little Theatre in the Hay. The London tailors took exception to this satire on their craft, and thousands rioted, both inside and outside the theatre. The special constables were helpless against the overwhelming odds, so a troop of Life Guards was called. Sixteen prisoners were taken and the rest dispersed. The Life Guards did their job so effectively that it was likened to a skittle ball ploughing through the skittles. Thereafter, the game of Table Skittles (or Bar Skittles) was often referred to as‘Devil Amongst the Tailors’ (or Devil Among the Tailors).
In the picturesque name, the 'devil' refers to the ball and the 'tailors' are the skittles.