Shove ha'penny

In parts of Southern England, primarily Somerset, Dorset and Hampshire, the board is made of slate and lubricated with arrowroot powder or French chalk, which makes the polished ha'pennies glide with a very light touch.

In times past, considerable sums could be wagered on games of shove ha'penny, and influencing the referee – whether actual or suspected – could result in sudden and violent confrontations.

Because of this, some public houses have a strong antipathy to games of shove ha'penny and will only allow trusted locals to play, sometimes keeping the board in a back room and denying its existence to strangers.

The points are scored with chalk marks in the squares at either end of the bed on the edge of the board, one player owning the right side, the other, the left.

The game has its own body of specialised jargon, providing a host of colourful names for particular scoring opportunities, shots and board features, as well as special rules of etiquette.

Trelawney Dayrell-Reed asserts (tongue in cheek) that the appropriate penalty for someone unfortunately wetting the board with a drink ring (and thus compromising its playing surface) is to be "painfully destroyed without benefit of clergy.

Indeed, the condition of the surface is considered so critical that a shortage of arrowroot from St. Vincent due to crop failures proved problematic, as supplies from alternative sources did not perform well.