Tables: Ludus Anglicorum, Imperial and Provincial

A clearer image of the illustration is reproduced here.

The English Game
There are many games of tables with dice, the first being the long game, which is the English Game. It is common here, and is played as follows: he who sits on .am. side has 15 men on .&. point, and he who sits on the .n&. side has 15 men on .a. point. They play with three dice or with two, the third throw being always counted as a 6. He who sits on .am. side moves all his men placed on .&. through the pages .&t., .sn., .mg. and into the page .fa. and then bears them off.

He who sits on .n&. side moves all his men placed on .a. through the pages .af., .gm., .ns. and into the page .t&. and then bears them off. And he who first bears off all his men wins.

And note that he who sits on .am. side can secure any point from .mg. and .fa., except the .a. point, that is occupied by two or more opposing men, and when there is only one, he can take it. If an opposing man is undoubled, he can take it by moving with one or two dice, then the captured man has to return in .t&., and reenter with a 6 in .t., or with a 5 in .u., or with a 4 in .x., or with a 3 in .y, or with a 2 in .z., or with a 1 in .&., if these points are not occupied by his own men nor doubled by his opponent ones. And his opponent cannot play until he has reentered the captured man.

And note that in this play it is good to secure the .g. and .f. points. With three dice, the third one being always a 6 ; securing the .g. point prevents the opponent from crossing the bar with a 6. Also note that you can bring all the men you want on doubled points; from these doubled points, you can also hit the undoubled, and make them return in the table where they were placed at the beginning of the game.

Thus he who sits on .n&. side can secure any point in .ns. and .t&. except the .&. point that is occupied by two or more opposing men and when there will be only one, he can hit it. And, if an opposing man is undoubled, then he can hit it by moving with one or two dice. And then this captured man returns in .fa., and reenter with a 6 in .f., with a 5 in .e., with a 4 in .d., with a 3 in .c., with a 2 in .b., with a 1 in .a., if these points are not occupied by his own men nor doubled by the opponent ones. And the opponent cannot play until he has reentered the captured man.

Also note that in this play it is good to secure the .s. and .t. points, for the same reason mentioned above. And as soon as he who sits on .n&. side brings all his men in .t&., he bears them off as follows: if some men are on .t., they are born off with a 6 or an equivalent combination i.e 4-2, 3-3, 5-1, the points on .u. are born off with a 5 or its equivalent 4-1, 3-2, or with a 6 if there is no men on .t.; the points on .x. are born off with a 4 or its equivalent i.e 3-1, 2-2 or with a 6 or a 5 if there is no man in .t. nor in .u.; and if these men are in .y., they are born off with a 3 or its equivalent 2-1 or with a 6, 5 or 4 if there is no men in .t. nor in .u. nor in .x.; and if some men are in .z., there are born off with a 2 or with 1-1 or with 6, 5, 4, 3 if there is no man in .t. nor in .u. nor in .x. nor in .y.; and if some men are in .&., they are born off with a 1 or with 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 if there is no man in .u. nor in .x. nor in .y. nor in .z. Thus he who sits on .am. side bears his men in .fa., and he who bears his men off first wins.

He who sits on .n&. side has a great mastery of the game if he manages to secure .n. .o. .p. .q. .r. points, the .s. point being open, and if he forces his opponent to bring up eight men to .a., and to have one man on .t., another on .u., another on .x., another on .y., another on .z., another on .&. and also a seventh man not reentered yet ; and this victory is called lympoldyng.

Moreover if his opponent fills the whole .t&. page and also the .s. point, this victory is not called limpolding but lurching. He who sits on .n&. side must be careful to secure .n. .o. .p. .q. .r. points, the .s. point being opened, to allow the opponent to go into .mg. By moving one or even two of his own, he secures the .s. point and his opponent cannot cross all his men, which must be brought into .mg. and placed in .a. Then the .t. .v. .x. .y. .z. points are occupied by his opponent. The .s. point being opened, as his opponent can go into .mg., his opponent brings up to eight men in .a. Closing the .s. point forces his opponent to fill with his men the points .t. .u. .x. .y. .z, and two opposing men stay in .&. By releasing the .s. point, you take the opposing man in .t. and he takes you back with a 6, which always is the third assumed throw. You come back to .fa., .ns., until his opponent is forced to evacuate his second man from the .&. point, thus there is only one man in .&. and the remaining points .t. .u. .x. .y. .z. are occupied by one man, and then you take his seventh undoubled man and the opponent is limpolded.

There is a method of playing without dice where throws are chosen at will. But he who has the advantage of starting wins if he plays well, he first choses 6-6-5 to make two men cross outside the table where they are; at first move, he always can secure a point and take an opposing man that must come back and his opponent will lose the second die.

There is a third method of playing where one choses two dice and his opponent gives him 6 for the third throw, or, if he throws his dice, his opponent gives him a third throw.

Imperial
There is another game of tables called Imperial, and is played as follows. He who sits on the .n&. side has his men in three piles, i.e five on .p., the other third on .s. and the other third on .t. And he who sits on the .am. side has in the same way his men on .k. .g. .f. And he who sits on the .n&. side brings all his men on .&. then he wins. And his opponent wins if he brings them on .a. And this game is played with three dice.

Provincial
There is another game of tables called Provincial similar to Imperial except the starting position where all the men of one side are on .g. and .f.

BL Royal 13 A XVIII, ff 158r-160r. Transcribed in Fiske, Willard, and Horatio S. White. 1905. Chess in Iceland and in Icelandic literature, with historical notes on other table-games. Florence: Florentine Typographical Society. Transcription reproduced here. Translation copyright Will McLean 2015.

Nine Men's and Thee Men's Morris

On how nine men's morris is played without dice

This nine men's morris is played in another way, without dice by skill. The players take all their pieces in their hands and they roll to determine who plays first. And he that is to play first has an advantage because in placing the pieces he always takes the first space he likes, the quicker to make a mill as we said and take one piece from his opponent each time or prepare how to trap him so that he does not have anywhere to go with any of his pieces.

And if perchance the first player should err in placing his pieces well, he is defeated because one piece remains to the other player and puts it wherever he can cause hindrance to the other and line up his pieces just as we said and thereby wins the game

And this game they call nine men's morris because the pieces with which it is played with are nine of each color. And this is the diagram of the millboard and of its pieces, and this is its explanation.

This is another alquerque of three

There is another alquerque game and they call it that of the three and they call it thus because it is played with six pieces, three of one color and three of another. In this one dice do not have a part and he who plays first wins if he should know how to play it well.

And the play of it is this: he who should more quickly place his pieces in a row wins.

And since the one who plays first should place his piece in the center of the millboard, and the other player will place his wherever he should wish.

And he who played first should place his second piece in such a manner that the other player is perforce to place his in a row he has placed. Then the first to play will have to play perforce lined up with those two enemy pieces and all his pieces will be placed. And if in this way he should have placed them so that wherever the other player puts his remaining piece he loses. And if the one how  (sic) plays first should not play it like this, the other will be able to tie the game or defeat him.

And because of the tie and the markings where the pieces are placed tables and chess have a part there, because of the pieces with which it is played that resemble its pawns. And this is the diagram of the board and of the pieces.

Musser Golladay, Sonja. 2007. Los libros de acedrex dados e tablas: historical, artistic and metaphysical dimensions of Alfonso X's Book of Games. Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA: UMI Dissertation Services, from ProQuest Co. 

Alphonso's alquerque of three differs from Three Men's Morris  in that in the latter game players may continue to move pieces after all have been played.

"This document combines Sonja Musser Golladay's translation of the original text and Charles Knutson's facsimile copies of the original images. I originally prepared it as a teaching document to help me write a class on medieval games, but I have now posted it online for any and all who are interested to peruse and study as they wish."

Medieval Chess

The following is based on Caxton's The Game and Playe of Chesse from the 1470s, a translation of the late 13th c. Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium super ludo scacchorum of Jacobus de Cessolis, probably primarily a translation of a French translation of the original. The book uses chess as the starting point for an elaborate allegory about medieval society.

So, I edited out most of the allegory to get to the chess rules. But the work also uses the allegory as positional notation: each of the eight pawns on each side represents a specific type of commoner. So I needed to add some explanation of the movement rules in italics that doesn't depend on the allegory.

This is a slower game than modern chess. Queens and bishops (alphyns or judges in Caxton) are much slower and weaker than in the modern game. Their powering up for the modern game started around this time in Iberia, Italy and France, but took time to spread .

The Game and Playe of Chesse

And in this playe we ought to knowe by the nature of hit how the kynge meueth hym and yssueth oute of his place/ For y'e shall vnderstande that he is sette in the fourth quadrante or poynt of theschequer. And whan he is black/ he standeth in the white/ and the knyght on his ryght side in white/ And the Alphyn and the rooke in black/ And on the lifte side the foure holden the places opposite/

For whan he wele meue hym/ he ought not to passe at the first draught the nombre of .iii. poynts/ And whan he begynneth thus to meue from his whyt point/ He may move ii ponts either right or cornerly/ And hit happen that the aduersarie be not couered in ony poynt in the seconde ligne/ All these yssues hath y'e kyng out of his propre place of his owen vertue whan he begynneth to meue. But whan he is ones meuyd fro his propre place/ He may not meue but in to one space or poynt/ and so from one to an other/After that the kynge begynneth to meue he may lede wyth hym the quene/ after the maner of his yffue

Whan the Quene whiche is accompanyed vnto the kynge begynneth to meue from her propre place/ She goth in dowble manere/ that is to wete as an Alphyn on her first draught she may jump two points cornerwise. And whan she is meuyd ones oute of her place she may not goo but fro oon poynt to an other and yet cornerly whether hit be foreward or backward takynge or to be taken/

The manere and nature of the draught of the Alphyn is suche/ that he that is black in his propre fiege is sette on the right side of the kynge/ And he that is whyt is sette on the lifte side/ And ben callyd and named black and white/ But for no cause that they be so in subftance of her propre colour/ But for the colour of the places in whiche they ben sette/ And alleway be they black or white/ whan they ben sette in theyr places/ the alphyn goynge oute of his place comyth two spaces cornerly.

After the yssue of the Alphyns we shall deuyse to yow the yssue & the moeuynge of the knyghtes/ And we saye that the knyght on the right syde is whyt/ And on the lifte syde black/ And the yssue and moeuynge of hem bothe is in one maner whan so is that the knyght on the ryght syde Is whyt/ The lyfte knyght is black/ The moeuynge of hem is suche/that they may jump three poynts, one ryght forth going and the last at an angle. 

The moeuynge and yssue of the rooks whiche ben vicairs of the kynge is suche/ that the ryght rook is black and the lifte rook is whyte/ And whan the chesse ben sette as well the nobles as the comyn peple first in their propre places/ The rooks by their propre vertue haue no wey to yssue but yf hyt be made to them by the nobles or comyn peple/ For they ben enclosed in their propre sieges/ And as fer may they renne as they fynde the tablier voyde whether hit be of his aduersaryes as of his owen felowship/ And whan the rook is in the myddell of the tablier/ he may goo whiche way he wyll in to foure right lignes on euery side/ and hit is to wete that he may in no wyse goo cornerwyse/ but allway ryght forth goynge.

 One yffue and one mouynge apperteyneth vnto alle the peple/ For they may goo fro the poynt they stande in at the first meuynge vnto the thirde poynt right forth to fore them/ & whan they haue so don they may afterward meue no more but fro one poynt ryght forth in to an other/ And they may neuer retorne backward And thus goynge forth fro poynt to poynt They may gete by vertue and strengthe/ that thynge that the other noble fynde by dignyte/ And yf the knyghtes and other nobles helpe hem that they come to the ferthest lygne to fore them where theyr aduersaryes were sette. They acquyre the dignyte that the quene hath graunted to her by grace/ And y'e shall vnderftande/ whan thyse comyn peple meue right forth in her ligne/ and fynde ony noble persone or of the peple of their aduersaries sette in the poynt at on ony side to fore hym/ In that corner poynt he may take his aduersarye wherther hit be on the right side or on the lifte.

 Jacobus, de Cessolis, William Caxton, and William E. A. Axon. 1883. Caxton's Game and playe of the chesse, 1474. London: E. Stock.

Passage, Hazard and Raffle

Of PASSAGE.
Passage is a Game at Dice to be plaid at but by two, and it is perform'd with three Dice. The Caster throws continually till he hath thrown Doublets under ten, and then he is out, and loseth, or Doublets above ten, and then he passeth and wins.

HAZZARD.
Hazzard is a proper Name for this Game; for it speedily makes a Man or undoes him, in the twinkling of an Eye either a Man or a Mouse. This Game is play'd but with two Dice, but there may play at it as many as as can stand round the largest round Table. 

There are two Things chiefly to be observed, that.is Main and Chance; the Chance is the Caster's, and the Main theirs who are concerned in Play with him. There can be no Main thrown above nine and under five, so that five, six, seven, eight, and nine, are the only Mains, and no more which are flung at Hazzard; Chances and Nicks are from four to ten, thus four is a Chance to nine, five to eight, six to seven, seven to fix, eight to five;  and nine and ten a Chance to five, six, seven and eight; in short, four five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten, are Chances to any Main, if any of these Nick it not: Now Nicks are either when the Chance is the same with the Main, as five and five, six and six, seven and seven, and so on, or six and twelve, seven and eleven, eight and twelvej where note, that twelve is out to nine, seven and five; and eleven is out to nine, eight, six and five; Ames-Ace and Deuce-Ace (2 or 3) are out to all Mains whatever. 

That I may the better illustrate this this Game, it will not be amiss to give one Examble for your better Information; Seven's the Main, the Caster throws five, and that's his Chance, and so hath five to seven; if the Caster throw his own Chance, he wins all the Money was set him, but if he throw seven, which was the Main, he must pay as much Money as is on the Board, if again seven be the Main, and the Caster throws eleven, that is a Nick, and sweeps away all the Money on the Table; but if he throws a Chance, he must wait which will come first. Lastly, if seven be the Main, and the Caster throws Ames-Ace, Deuce-Ace or twelve, he is out, but if he throw from four to ten, he hath a Chance, though they are accounted the worst Chances on the Dice, as seven is reputed the best and easiest Main to be flung  thus it is in eight or six, if either of them be the Main, and the Caster throws either four, five, seven, nine or ten, this is is Chance, which if he throw first, he wins, otherwise loseth, if he throw twelve to eight, or six to the same Cast with the Main, he wins; but if Ames-Ace or Deuce-Ace to all he loseth or if twelve, when the Main is either five or nine. Here note, that nothing nicks five but five, nor nothing nine but nine.

THIS IS THE GAME OF RIFFA (raffle?)
There is another kind of game which they call riffa that is played in this way: he who first rolls the dice should roll them as many times until he rolls a pair on two, then he should roll the other one. Then the pips of this third die are to be counted with the pips of the other first two dice. And if the other who is playing  with him, in rolling the dice in this same way rolls more points he wins, and if as many he ties, and if less he loses.

Cotton, Charles. 1725. The compleat gamester: or, Full and easy instructions for playing at above twenty several games upon the cards with variety of diverting fancies and tricks upon the same now first added ; as likewise at all the games on the tables, together with the royal game of chess and billiards. London: J. Wilford.

Musser Golladay, Sonja. 2007. Los libros de acedrex dados e tablas: historical, artistic and metaphysical dimensions of Alfonso X's Book of Games. Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA: UMI Dissertation Services, from ProQuest Co.

Plucke-Buffet

Plucke-buffet is an archery game described in the 15th century ballad A Geste of Robyn Hode. Two poles are set up beneath the trees a considerable distance apart: "By fyfty pase, our kynge sayd, The merkes were to longe". A rose garland hung from each pole, and archer who shot outside the garland both forfeited that arrow and received a buffet from his opponent, a heavy blow to their bare head. What larks!

If you shot within the garland, hitting the pole was best. The ballad reports with approval that Robin and "Gylberte with the Whyte Hande" " ever...cleved the wande" except when Robin missed. Presumably, if shots were within the garland but missed the pole, the closest shot would win.

The game only appears in the one ballad, and may be entirely fictional, but it does give an idea of how medieval archers might have shot at a garland. Shots outside the garland were useless at best: the winner would be the shot that came closest to a mark within it.

Archery for Pleasure or Practice in 14th-16th Century England

There were at least two different ways of shooting bows for recreation or practice in fourteenth-century England. The first was shooting at the butts. The mark to be shot at was set in front of or on the front of a bank of turf or earth. Butts were most useful at shorter ranges since they stopped a flat trajectory miss from passing far beyond the target. In the 18th century butts were shot at distances from 30 to 120 yards.

The second was shooting at a mark or "prick" without a butt behind it. This avoided the trouble of cutting and maintaining butts, but worked best for longer range shooting when the arrows fell at a steep angle, far enough that significant draw and strength was required. A twelvescore prick could be 240 yards from the shooter, and some marks were even further. In 1478 twelve married staplers of Calais challenged a like number of bachelor freemen of the Staple, with the challenge recorded in the Cely papers:

“If it would please you for your sport and pleasure to meet with us next Thursday (on) the East side of this town in the place called 'the Pane', you shall find a pair of pricks (marks), the length betwix the one and the other being thirteen score tailor’s yards, mete out (measured) with a line. There we, the underwritten, shall meet with as many of your order and shoot with you at the same pricks for a dinner or supper, price 12d a man. And we pray you for your goodly answer within twenty-four hours. Written at Calais the 17 day of August, anno Jesu, ‘78”

Recorded marks of London’s Finsbury archers during the 1500s ranged from 180 to 380 yards. Butts and pricks often used a pair of marks as in the 1478 Calais challenge, so the archers could shoot from one mark to the other and then back again, to reduce the time spent walking.

Other formats were recorded in the 1400s, and may have been used earlier. In shooting at rovers, archers would shoot from mark to mark, choosing the second mark when they reached the first, selecting some feature within range to shoot at like a tree or bush. Because the distance varied at each shoot, rovers was seen as better training for combat or hunting.

Henry VIII's law of 1541, 33 Henry VIII c. 9, attempted to mandate archery practice that required both long ranges that required powerful bows useful on the battlefield and the ability to shoot at varied ranges useful in war.

"That no Man under the Age of twenty-four Years shall shoot at any standing Prick, except it be at a Rover, whereat he shall change at every Shoot his Mark, upon Pain for every Shoot doing the contrary, iv. d. and that no Person above the said Age of twenty-four Years shall shoot at any Mark of eleven Score Yards or under, with any Prick-shaft or Flight, under the Pain to forfeit for every Shoot, six Shillings Eight-pence"

The mark itself could take a number of forms. The early fourteenth-century Luttrell Psalter shows a garland or circlet set against the butt about chest-high, and garlands were also the mark in the fifteenth-century Gest of Robin Hood. Other early marks were small circular pieces of paper or pasteboard, fixed to the butt or a post in front of it by a wooden pin or wand, or peeled willow or hazel wands set up as marks. An alternative mark was the “clout” (cloth), a piece of white fabric large enough to be seen from the shooting distance, fastened to a sharpened stick driven upright into the ground so that the bottom of the clout almost reached the ground. The modern archery target of concentric circles seems to have been a seventeenth-century innovation.

For most marks the winner was simply the closest arrow to the mark, and at longer ranges, the mark itself would rarely be hit. The garland was probably scored similarly to eighteenth-century “shooting within the inches”: each shot that hit within a twelve-inch diameter circle counted at thirty yards. At sixty yards the circle was twenty inches. Typically, each archer shot two arrows at the mark, the arrows were collected and scored, and then the bowmen would shoot at the next mark. The heads of arrows for shooting at marks had a specialized shape that differed from heads used for hunting or war: barbless and streamlined with a swelling shoulder so the archer could consistently draw to full length by feel. When shooting at rovers, archers might carry more than one pair of arrows so they could have arrows suited for different ranges.

In shooting at the popinjay, archers took turns attempting to knock an artificial parrot off the top of a church steeple or tall pole. This was popular on the continent perhaps as early as the 13th century, and Stowe reports that crossbow-makers had brought the sport to London by the 16th.

Alternatively, arrows could be purely for distance, either with lightweight flight arrows or the heavier standard arrow.

Blowing Bubbles

Detail from the Isabella Breviary, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), late 1480s and before 1497, British Library, Additional 18851, f. 470v


Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Children's Games (detail) 1560


Hendrick Goltzius Quis Evadet? 1594


Karel van Sichem: Homo Bulla, around 1617


Attributed to Jaques de Gheyn II (Antwerp 1565-1629) A vanitas allegory: Homo Bulla Est, a boy blowing bubbles while another watches and a young woman holds a skull by candlelight


Bartolomeus van der Helst Homo Bulla: A Boy Blowing Bubbles, c.1665

Here are more.

Making soap bubbles goes back at least as far as the 14th century: it was one of Froissart's boyhood amusemants

The King Who Doesn't Lie

The Roi que ne ment was popular game of the 13th and 14th century. It was played by adults, particularly those of an age to seek courtship, but also, according to Froissart, by children under twelve.

A ruler for the game was chosen, who might be male or female, a king or queen of the game. Their court, when the record was clear, was always a mixture of male and female.

In most accounts the ruler asked everyone present a question, and was then required to answer their questions in return. One account had the ruler ask questions without being questioned in return, and another has the reverse. The questions were frequently courtly but sometimes bluntly sexual. A response might provoke a follow up question ("Good madam, be what reson?") or debate.

For late 15th c. demandes d'amour in the Winchester Anthology, see pp. 95 r to 107 v.

Courtly literature: culture and context ; selected papers from the 5th Triennial Congress of the International Courtly Literature Society contains an interesting article on the game by Richard Firth Green, who makes a convincing argument that the demandes d'amour that survive in several manuscripts were play aids for the game.

International Courtly Literature Society, Keith Busby, and Erik Kooper. 1990. Courtly literature: culture and context ; selected papers from the 5th Triennial Congress of the International Courtly Literature Society, Dalfsen, the Netherlands, 9-16 August, 1986. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub. Co.

Games Young Froissart Played

Froissart's childhood amusements in his L'espinette Amoureuse included making mud pies, round loves, cakes and tartlets in a little oven made from four tiles, riding a stick horse named Griselle, Hot Cockles, Prisoner's Base, The King Who Doesn't Lie, whipping a top and making soap bubbles with a little pipe.

Also hide and seek, blind-man's bluff, and pitching pennies (using lead pennies or stones)

Plus a lot of games I can't identify.

Rovers and Ayme for Finsburie Archers

Shooting at rovers was a form of medieval archery, reported in the 15th century and described in 16th. Like sporting clays, a group of shooters would move from position to position, taking turns at each station to shoot at a target intended to give a realistic test of the shooter’s skill. The weapon was the long English bow rather than a shotgun, and the targets were stationary rather than clay pigeons in flight, but both sports tried to achieve a more realistic simulation of field conditions. The stationary targets for rovers were challenging in their own way, since they were shot at ranges up to 380 yards.

In shooting at rovers, archers would shoot from mark to mark, choosing the second mark when they reached the first, selecting some feature within range to shoot at like a tree or bush, or choosing one of several marks positioned in advance. Because the distance varied at each shoot, rovers was seen as better training for combat or hunting. At anything but short range the ability to estimate distance and choose the correct elevation was critical, and this was not fully tested by ordinary shooting at butts, where the archer shot repeatedly at a known distance.

The long ranges shot also had practical, if indirect value. To be effective in battle a bow needed a heavy draw to have a chance of penetrating armor. The estimated draw of bows recovered from the wreck from Henry VIII’s Mary Rose ranged from 98 to 185 lbs, with the median values 115 -124 lbs.

Recorded marks of London’s Finsbury archers during the 1500s ranged from 180 to 380 yards, distances that required a heavy bow. The archers had set up a series of prepositioned marks in Finsbury fields outside London, so that archers could shoot from mark to mark, and at every position the group of archers would have a choice of several marks at different ranges. For each round, the archer who came closest to the mark the preceding round would select the next mark. It was customary that the chosen mark would be one that every archer in the group could reach. At rovers the winner of each shoot was simply the closest arrow to the mark, and at longer ranges, the mark itself would rarely be hit. Typically, each archer shot two arrows at the mark, the arrows were scored and collected, and then the bowmen would shoot at the next mark. When shooting at rovers, archers might carry more than one pair of arrows so they could have arrows suited for different ranges.

The Finsbury marks were wooden or stone posts or pillars. An alternative target was the “clout” (cloth), a piece of white fabric large enough to be seen from the shooting distance, fastened to a sharpened stick driven upright into the ground so that the bottom of the clout almost reached the ground.

The heads of arrows for shooting at marks had a specialized shape that differed from heads used for hunting or war: barbless and streamlined with a swelling shoulder so the archer could consistently draw to full length by feel.

Rules have survived in the 1628 pamphlet by James Partridge, Ayme for Finsburie Archers. Earlier editions were published in 1594, 1601 and 1604. I have added some explanations in parentheses. They may be compared with Aime for the Archers of St. George's Fields, London 1664.

1. First, for finding your mark it must be within every man’s reach. Also the precise notion of the mark proveth which is shot. (The mark should be named clearly to avoid confusion or argument.)
2. Secondly, for whites you may have as many as you will, so they be all forwards: and if you shoot at any white - if it is stricken out of sight, it is no mark. (This seems to refer to clouts as alternative marks.)
3. Thirdly, for the highest of stakes, although the wood be above the pin, you are to measure at the pin if there be any, because it is put in for the same purpose.
4. Fourthly, if you find a bush or a black, whatsoever you find highest in it, being within the compass of the mark, you are to take it for the height.
5. Fifthly, for the trees you are to measure at foot and pole, excepting the naming of it you say, at the nail in such a tree or hole in such a tree, or being a tree of so small a height, that you may reach the top of it with half your bow, then you may take the highest. (For foot and pole you must measure a foot above the highest ground which joins the tree)
6. Sixthly, if in measuring of a shot, by haste the mark is stirred, he is to lose the shot that measureth it.
7. Seventhly, when you come to the mark and claim two, and the contrary sides draw their arrows, and when your mate cometh he saith, his would win too, you are to win no more than you claimed.
8. Eighthly, if you aim (or name) one mark and shoot another, you are to lose your shoot, and they are to follow at the mark named.
9. Lastly, if your arrow breaks you may measure to the nearest piece that hath wood and head, or wood and feather.

Given sufficient open space and due consideration of the actual maximum ranges of the archers taking part, rovers could be an interesting contest for modern archers.

Aime for the Archers of St. George's Fields

Hannis, Richard Aime for the Archers of St. George's Fields, London 1664. Excerpted in Urban, Sylvanus, The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Chronicle, London 1832

Rules to be observed and practiced by all those that exercise shooting in the Long Bow
1. For finding your mark it must be within every man's reach.
2. For whites or blacks you must have but one in a game, unless they be all content; and if you shoot at any loose white, and it be stricken out of sight, it is no mark.
3. For the height of stakes, although the wood be above the pin, yet you are to measure at the pin, if there be any, because it is put in for that purpose.
4. Shooting at a bush or black, whatever you find highest in it (being within the compass of the mark) you are to take that for the height.
5. If in measuring a shoot the difference be too small it cannot be described, then that competitor shall win the shoot that is best at the next mark.
6. If in measuring a shoot the mark be stirred out of its place, he loseth the shoot that removed it.
7. If at coming to your mark you claim two or more, and the opposite side draw their arrows, you can have no more then you first claimed, although your partner when he comes challengeth more.
8. If you name one mark and shoot at another, you are to lose your shoot, and the others are to follow at the mark named.
9. If your arrow break, you may measure at the nearest piece that hath wood and head, or wood and feather.
10. If you have any mishap, as nocking amiss, if you can reach your arrow with your bow you may shoot again; if it flee further, it is a shoot.
11. In shooting at rovers you must stand no further from your mark than you can reach with half your bow: but at pricks you are permitted to stand two bows before your mark, and as much behind it as you please.

New Fair

Here is a jolly amusement that is mentioned in Piers Plowman. Later, the same game seems to have been known as Handicap. The details I've filled in from later descriptions are marked (thus).

Clement the Cobbler casts off his cloak, and offers to "Sell it at New Fair" Hick the Hackneyman offers his hood against it. Robin the Roper offers himself as noumpere (umpire). He will try to broker a fair trade. The two items aren't worth the same amount, so one side must offer "amends" to make the trade even. The noumpere will determine the amends. In this case, he rules that Clement must "fill the cup" to make the trade even.

(Clement, Hick, and Robin each put up a stake. For example, a penny. Clement and Hick hide their hands in their cap or hood, and then show that they either hold, or don't hold the coin. Holding the coin shows that they are willing to trade.

If both show, they trade and Robin keeps the stake.
If neither shows, they don't trade and Robin keeps the stake.
If one shows and the other doesn't, the one that shows keeps the stake and there is no trade.

It follows that it is very much in the interest of the noumpere to make amends as fair as he is able. Side bets on whether the trade will happen can be made by bystanders)

That amends between the hood and cloak are a drink implies that both articles are very drasty indeed.

(But later examples are for more valuable stakes. A horse against a gold watch, chain, and fob, for instance)