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1911.29.68.11

One of twelve wooden pegs used in the game of 'merry-peg'. [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 7/3/2005]

On display

1911.29.68.11

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Collection type
Object
Description
One of twelve wooden pegs used in the game of 'merry-peg'. [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 7/3/2005]
Long description
One of twelve wooden pegs used in the game of 'merry-peg'. The peg is tapered at one end. [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 7/3/2005]
Cultural groups
English
Person
Maker Unknown Maker
Field collector Percy Manning
PRM source Percy Manning
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1850
Date collected
By 1911
Acquisition information
Donated: 1911
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Process Carved
Dimensions
Length 70 mm approx
Object numbers
Accession number: 1911.29.68.11
Research and responses

Nine Men's Morris is a boardgame of great antiquity, most popular in Europe during the 14th century and played throughout the world in various forms [Encyclopædia Britannica Online]. [CF 7/2/2000]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_men's_morris: Nine Men's Morris is a two-player strategy board game with a long history in Europe. The pattern of the board is found twice, as graffiti, in the 1300 BC Egyptian temple, the Ramesseum in Kurna in Egypt. Each player has nine pieces which move between the twenty-four intersections of three interlocking squares. The game also goes under many other English names, including Nine Man Morris, Mill, Mills, Merels, Merelles, Merrills, as well as names in other languages such as Mérelles, Merrills, Mølle, Mühle, Molenspel, Jeu de Moulin, Tria, Malom. The object of the game is to remove all the enemy pieces. Every time a player forms a line of three (a mill) on any line drawn on the board, he is entitled to remove one enemy piece, with the proviso that a piece may not be removed from an enemy mill. [AP 22/09/2006]

Baldon on the green could be one of the Baldons south of Oxford between Garsington and Nuneham Courtenay but I cannot find it on multimap [AP 29/06/2006]

There is a video on You Tube demonstrating how to play the board game Nine Men's Morris (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INWIZH1FVx8) and there are versions of this game that have been developed to play online (see: http://www.kongregate.com/games/vensal/nine-mens-morris). [ZM 21/2/2017]

Associated publications
The pegs are mentioned in a museum trail: Percy Manning and the Pitt Rivers Museum that accompanies the temporary exhibition 'Oxfordshire Folklore and Customs: celebrating the centenary of folklorist and antiquarian Percy Manning (1870-1917) from the 20th February - 15th May 2017. The text is 'Here you will find 1911.29.68, shown above, twelve small wooden pegs, in a cardboard box, used in the game ‘merry peg’ from Baldon- on-the-Green (possibly Marsh Baldon), Oxfordshire. This game is more often called ‘nine men’s morris’. It has a long history--it is known to have been played in Ancient Egypt. Each player has nine pieces which move between the twenty-four intersections of three interlocking squares. The object of the game is to remove all the enemy pieces. Every time a player forms a line of three (a mill) on any line drawn on the board, he is entitled to remove one enemy piece.' [MJD (Verve) 27/2/2017]

Search terms: Toy and Game, Board Game, Game Accessory

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