Sauball
Sauball is a historical ball game . Already the Oekonomische Krünitz-Lexikon from 1773 to 1858 describes the game as rare and presumes that it could soon be classified in the series of expired games . In the Bergisches Land and Solingen the game is said to have been called Muttehauen .
overview
In this game , the goal of the so-called driver is to drive a ball (the sow) into a large hole (cauldron), which a number of opponents prevent him from by hitting the ball back. At the beginning of the game, however, the opponents have their sticks in small holes and must be careful that the driver or a comrade does not occupy the hole with his stick while they are hitting , because whoever does not have a hole must become a driver.
regulate
The game is played by six to ten people (larger groups are also conceivable, although the overview can suffer as a result). The material used is a ball about 20 cm in diameter and sticks in the form of broomsticks in the number of players. A hollow is dug in the middle of a large circle and as many holes as the number of players minus one are dug on the edge of the circle at approximately equal intervals. Then it is counted who has to be the first sow driver .
The ball is thrown from the cauldron and everyone tries to bounce it away with the stick. The driver tries to drive him into the cauldron. If he succeeds, the game is over and a new one can begin. His teammates prevent this by keeping the sow away from the circle. However, the sow driver also tries to fill a possibly vacated hole with his stick. If he succeeds, he is relieved of his position as driver and the game continues with the new driver.
In the economic encyclopedia of Krünitz the rules are as described follows:
- Each player must keep his hole and only try to drive the ball away when he comes near him, otherwise he is in danger if he dares to go too far over to the kettle for his hole to be taken; because since all the clubs are trying to drive the ball out of the circle again and not to let it get into the bowl, most of the players are in motion with their trowels, and everyone then looks for a hole when his own is already occupied get, which then creates the most amusing confusion, which the sow driver always uses, and is released from his post; therefore every player has to be careful not to hit him.
- The driver has to do everything possible to get the ball into the bowl, which is all the more difficult for him because everyone has united against him, or all players are against him that he does not bring it in. He must now make use of this; for by always acting as if he busily drives the ball into the kettle or tries to get it into it, he distracts the players from his intention to their holes, and can then all the more easily catch a hole; but if he tries very hard at the beginning, they will pay attention and be careful, and it will then be made far more sour for him to put both the ball in the cauldron and his ladle in a hole of his tormentors. These would be all the rules for the driver and the person driving the ball.
Counting out
The determination of the first driver is done as follows: All players stand around the cauldron, hold their stick in it and walk in one direction in a circle around it. At the command of a fellow player (he calls out an agreed word or a certain number) everyone runs to one of the holes on the edge of the circle. Whoever couldn't catch a hole is the boar driver.
Customs
Franz Felix Adalbert Kuhn describes in his work North German sagas, fairy tales and customs a custom before Easter, in which this game is played by young men until the sow is destroyed (the balls were made of leather and a filling and were only sewn)