Aunt Sally

[1] Leagues of pub teams still play the game,[2] throughout the spring and summer months, mainly in Oxfordshire and some bordering counties.

[4][5] It was suggested by James Redding Ware that the term was based on a blackface doll, itself inspired by a low-life character named "Black Sal," which appeared in an 1821 novel entitled Life in London by Pierce Egan, a contemporary of Charles Dickens.

[1] The term Aunt Sally is used for an argument or idea that is easily refutable and set up to invite criticism.

Another theory is that in Port Meadow in Oxfordshire, at the time of the English Civil War, the Cavaliers (soldiers loyal to King Charles I) were bored and formed a game with sticks and makeshift materials similar to the game as understood today.

[3][9] On 24 August 2019, the first world championship for Aunt Sally pairs was held in the Bull, Launton, Oxfordshire and was won by the pub team from The Bell, Bicester.

Players throw sticks or short battens, about 18 by 2 inches (450 x 50 mm) at the dolly, from ten yards away,[10] trying to knock it off without hitting the spike.