Francis Willughby's Book of Games

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Francis Willughby's Book of Games is a book published in 2003 that printed for the first time a transcription of a seventeenth-century manuscript written by Francis Willughby that was held in the library of the University of Nottingham. The modern edition was edited by Jeffrey L Forgeng, Dorothy Johnston, and David Cram and was published by Ashgate Publishing Company with ISBN 1-85928-460-4.

The manuscript was left incomplete when Willughby died at the age of 36, but even in its unfinished state it provides an unrivalled insight into the sports and games of his period.

Among the features of the book include descriptions of card games that are otherwise only known from reference in literature. It also includes the first formal study of children's board games to be written in a European language, investigation of the original manuscript has revealed that some of the descriptions of children's game were actually written by an unknown child with later corrections being made by Willughby.

Games in the work include,

A Fool Who Bobbed Thee Archery Back Sword Backgammon Bandy-Ball Barley-Breaks Bearbaiting Beast Billiards Blindman Buff Blind Buck a Davie Bone Ace Bowls Bullbaiting Bum to Busse Buying Bees Buying Mustard Call and I Call Capping of verses Card games Charter House Cherry-Stone Cherry-Pit Chess Chock-Stone Christmas Gambols Cob-Castle Cobnut Cockfighting Cook Stool Copshole Cribbage Cropping Oaks Cross and Pile Cross Purposes Cross Questions Crossing of Proverbs Dice Dogfights Doublets Draughts Drawing Cuts Drawing Dun Out of the Mire Drollery Drop Glove Drop pin Drudge Cat

Duelling Dust Point England and Ireland Even or Odd Father Fritchard fencing Fire and No Smoke Fisticuffs Football Fox and Geese Gig Ging Gleek Gliffs Half Almond Handiback Hannikin Cannst Abide It Hawks Heads and Points Hide and Seek Hockback Hockcockles Hop-Frog Horn Billers Horsing Hummers Hunting a Deer in My Lord's Park Hurling In and In Inch Pinch Irish Jack Art Asleep Kibble Heft Kicking King Heywood's Park Kit-Cat Laugh and Lie down Leaping Lend me your skimmer Lilman Loadum Long Laurence Ludus Astronomicus Milking Mill Stones Nine Holes Nine Men's Morris

Nine Pegs Noddy One-and-Thirty Pelmel Penny Prick Pitching the Bar Post and Pair Pray Dame Coals Prison Bars Purposes Put Put-Pin Puzzle of the Ship Quoits Riddles Rhyming Robin Alive Ruff and Trump Scotch Hopper Selling of Bargains Selling of Mill Stones Seven Cards Shuttlecock Shoeing the Wild Colt Shovel Board Skittle Pins Span-Counter Stoolball Stowball Sword and Buckler Tables Ten pegs Tennis Throwing at Cocks Tick Ticktack Tiring Irons Top Troll Madam Truss-a-Fail Tutball Upper or Nether Choose you Whether Vaulting Whehee Whirligig Wrestling Whole Almond