The most famous of table-top skittles games is indisputably the game known as Bar Skittles or Pole Skittles or just Table Skittles. It has also been called 'Devil Amongst the
Tailors' but I believe that this is a misnomer - a mistake due to some past mix-up with the older Table à Toupie spinning top game since the Devil has always been associated with things that whirl and spin rather than with balls. To avoid confusion with Table à Toupie, Northamptonshire Table skittles and other table-top skittles games, the terms Bar Skittles or Pole Skittles are less ambiguous.
Shown first is a Bar Skittles game that was sold by Masters Traditional Games in the early Noughties.
This distinctive version of the game of Skittles or Nine Pins was cleverly
miniaturised from the alley game, so that no throwing area is required at all - the nine pins standing on a square
plinth are knocked down by a ball which is swung around a pole, instead. It's one example of several types of miniaturised table skittles games that appeared from the mid 1850s onwards.
Beginners to the game are sometimes bewildered by how it is played. They swing the ball directly at the skittles or don't catch it after one swing, letting it rotate around the pole until it comes to a standstill. An embarrassing example of this appeared on the German TV show Schlag den Raab (participants try to beat the celebrity, Stefan Raab, at a variety of different games). The programme researchers failed to find out how to play the game properly resulting in forty minutes of rather unsatisfactory TV!
Although plenty of pubs have a Bar Skittles behind the bar or set out ready for play, it's sometimes viewed as more trivial than other skittle games, despite being a game of great skill, and so leagues are not particularly common. The East midlands used to be a hotbed for the game but the most famous league and probably the oldest is the Mendip Table Skittles League in Dorset which continues to thrive, as at 2024, although Covid was a disaster for the sport, reducing the number of teams who compete in 2024 to 11 down from 22, pre-epidemic. The older tables in this league are quite special - large and made from a dark and weighty timber that brings a sophisticated feel to the game. Sometimes a pear-shaped cheese hangs from the end of the chain instead of a ball.
Picture shows a classy old table from a pub in the Mendip area, Dorset, with a distinctive pear-shaped cheese. With kind permission of the Mendip Table Skittles League.
Like all pub games, Bar Skittles is very simple to to play but in this case, for the first turn, you do need to be told how. Stand facing the table with the pole on the left hand side, grasping the ball with your right hand and swing the ball to the left of the pole (keep the chain taught is a good tip for success). It should travel in an elliptical shape and as it returns towards you, strike the pin furthest away and then plough through the pins in a similar way to alley skittles, albeit in the reverse direction. Crucially, don't forget to catch the ball as it arrives back - if it goes around the pole twice, it is a foul throw. Aside from that, the game is played like any skittles, each turns consists of three balls, the pins are reset if they are all toppled so the maximum score is twenty seven. It is commonly played to 101 or sometimes a Cribbage board is used to keep score in which case, the target is more likely to be 61.
A fantastic clip from the classic 70s TV programme, The Indoor League, presented by Fred Trueman. Demonstration from two very skilfull players includes a flopper...
In common with Northamptonshire Skittles, pin combinations can be achieved that are impossible in forms of skittles where the balls are rolled from distance. For instance, one of the classic worst situations after the first or second throw is to have only the far left and far right pins remaining. This combination is sometimes called 'wingers' or 'coppers' and on an alley, it needs two balls to complete it. For Bar Skittles, a swing that travels in an extremely thin ellipse starting towards the left and returning left to right can topple both these pins.
There are no set dimensions but a full size pub league board is normally played on a table that is around 3 x 2 feet. For much of the twentieth century, various manufacturers also produced the game for the home market, generally at a smaller size of around 1 x 2 feet. Some of these were more like toys and were targeted at children. One great innovation was the 'cord skittle return', a device that connected the bottom of each pin to a cord each of which could then be pulled by a handle that automatically righted the skittles, reducing the amount of time to reset them by a considerable amount. Purists would claim that the cord attached to the bottom of a pin could affect the way that it falls or make it harder to topple but the effect is usually minimal and for the home market, the appeal of the game is greatly enhanced.
The manufacture of a decent Bar Skittles game is much more of a challenge than might be imagined. As with all skittles games, it should be possible for the ball to travel through the entire pin diamond without striking any pins (resulting in playful teasing from opponents and spectators or even a trip to the bar to buy the next round). On the other hand, skilful players will occasionally knock all nine down with one swing (called a floorer, a flopper or a strike). Obtaining the right balance of ball and pin size and weight plus distance between the pins so that it's not impossible or too easy to score a floorer is a challenge for makers of all varieties of skittles game. In addition, the skittles plinth must not be too high or the scattering pins will often fall out of the table but if it is too low, the ball must be equally low and may strike the table edges when swung near to the pole. The swivel at the top of the pole needs to be carefully constructed so that it does not catch, and travels smoothly without interruption - the best swivels use bearings to achieve this. And finally, if the popular 'Cord return' feature is included this adds further pitfalls - getting them to all rise at the same time is a tricky business, although it is offset somewhat by the elimination of the need for the skittle table to have sides that will catch the pins...
Shown are some of the author's Bar Skittles games. These ones are all 20th century designed for the home market and all feature a Skittle cord return. The one second from left is was made by Kay, London, in
the 1970's. I honed my skills on this board for many hours, as a boy.
Rules
Description and rules for Bar Skittles is available for free from Masters Traditional Games
Where to Buy Bar Skittles
It is thought that the only outlet selling new Bar Skittles games any longer is Masters Traditional Games.
Pubs
Please see the Bar Skittles Pubs & Leagues