Aunt Sally - The Game

The Game

The game was traditionally played in British pubs and fairgrounds. An Aunt Sally was originally a figurine head of an old woman with a clay pipe in her mouth, or subsequently a ball on a stick. There are also other theories on how the game started, one such theory is that a live chicken was placed on the stick, and people would throw sticks at it. Whoever killed it won the game and took home the chicken. Another theory is that in Oxfordshire Port meadow at the time of the cavaliers, the cavaliers were bored with nothing to do and formed a game with sticks and makeshift materials similar to what the game is today. The object was for players to throw sticks at the head in order to break the pipe. The game bears some resemblance to a coconut shy or skittles.

Today, the game of Aunt Sally is still played as a pub game in Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. The ball is on a short plinth about 10 cm high, and is known as a 'dolly'. The dolly is placed on a dog-legged metal spike a metre high and players throw sticks or short battens at the dolly, trying to knock it off without hitting the spike. Successfully hitting the dolly off is known as a "doll", however if the spike is hit first then the score does not count and is called an "iron".