Dwyle Flunking

Mepal Beer Festival

Wednesday 29 July 1981

Today's competition is to be played in accordance with the Waveny Rules of 1585 A.D.

Apparel

Players should be dressed in smocks and straw hats (or similar rustic clothing) and carry a straw in the corner of the mouth. The flunker (see below) must wear a bucket on his head.

Sides

A side consists of twelve members.

Flunking-off (or start of play)

The captains of each side toss for innings. The fielding side forms a circle (or girter) around a single member from the batting side (the batsman or flunker) who stands next to a centrally-placed vessel containing stale beer (the ullager). The flunker places a beer-soaked cloth (or dwyle) on the end of his pole (or swadger). (None of the sixteenth century Waveny swadgers has survived: today the game is being played with the modern equivalent - half a broomstick.)

The referee then shouts "hear y" and "t'gether", the flunker cries "dwyles away", the musicians start to play, the girter rotates in a clockwise direction, and the flunker moves anticlockwise. The flunker must stay within one swadger's length of the ullager; the penalty for straying will be determined by the referee and will depend upon the severity of the offence.

When the music stops, the flunker must propel (or flunk) the dwyle towards a member of the rotating girter; this should be done without hesitation.

Runs may be scored in the following ways:

A hit on the head (a wanton) = 3;
A body hit (a merther) = 2;
A hit on a limb (a ripper) = 1.

Each batsman is allowed 2 flunks; failure to score any runs results in him being potted: a chamber-pot full of fresh beer (in deference to the sensitive spectator a pint mug may be used) must be consumed during the time it takes the girter to pass the dwyle from hand to hand. The fielding side chants "pot, pot" during this part of the proceedings. If the flunker is unable to drink the ale in the time available, the opposition is awarded 2 points. A member of the girter who is hit in the face must consume one pint of beer in sixty seconds.

Each batsman flunks in turn and the score for the batting side is added up. The other side then flunks. A game consists of two innings per side.

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