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Post by Steve King (Admin) on May 14, 2007 22:12:00 GMT -6
by Dave Farrer
Miners, when not at work, were very often involved with their hobbies, with whippet racing, pigeon racing, bowling, gardening and football being among the most popular.
Sadly, heavy drinking and gambling were all too common as well with the resulting shortfall in family income making the wife’s task of feeding the family even more difficult than usual.
Gambling with coins must be as old as the advent of coin usage; in this country even during the reign of Elizabeth I it was a punishable offence under the Vagrancy Acts of the day. These Vagrancy laws, regarding street gambling, have been steadily tightened and in particular during the reign of Queen Victoria.
Pitch and Toss was the most common form of coin gaming, especially popular within the mining communities were it has been played at least since the 18th century, Pounds were staked on every toss and even gold changed hands.
The game of ‘Pitch and Toss’ also known as ‘The Hoy’, was usually played by men only, started with a ring of players being formed called a school. A quiet corner of a field was usually chosen, according to locals one popular spot was near ‘The Blast’ area of Dawdon in Seaham. Scouts or look-outs were posted to keep an eye out for the Poliss [police], who employed a wide variety of methods and ruses in an attempt to catch the culprits.
If caught the miscreants were brought before the local magistrates and fined quite heavily, this probably had a greater effect on the players wife and family than the man himself. There are reports from local sources that there was a sliding scale of fines employed by the courts, the more times a man appeared in front of the bench the higher the fine eventually after 4 or 5 appearances a term in jail of usually 28 days was given.
Given the risks, the general rules of the game were, barring some local variations, that a man known as the 'Hoyer'or'Chucker' placed two pennies (old pre-decimalisation pennies) on his fingers ready to throw into the air. The 'Chucker'sometimes had an assistant called a 'Bevver' and for his 'bevving' might get a little tip from the 'Chucker' if he made a profit.
There were three possible outcomes to the coin throw – 2 Heads ['Chucker' wins], 2 Tails ['Chucker' loses] or 1 Head and 1 Tail [No-one wins and the stakes ride] this last combination was sometimes called ‘2 Bikes’.
If more than one gambler wanted to be the 'Chucker', the choice was made by having the candidates throw a penny towards a marker on the ground. The mark might be a piece of paper, a little mound or a stone showing through the soil.
An alternative set of rules – one man, not participating in the gambling, acted as the 'Chucker'; he balanced two pennies on his two spread fingers and threw them into the air. If this resulted in 2 Heads, then those betting on heads were paid from the pot – the stakes of the losers. If the result was 2 Tails then those betting tails were paid likewise. In the case of 1 Head and 1 Tail being thrown then the pot or stakes were allowed to ride onto the next throw.
During my research and from talking to people who have taken part in a School of Pitch and Toss, it appears that the peak of its popularity was during the Fifties and from then on it rapidly declined, if not stopped, in the early and mid-Sixties.
This decline could have been due in part to the rise in the ownership of televisions and the showing of televised sporting events. The contraction of the coal industry with the closure of many local collieries from where the players were drawn could not have helped.
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Some of the source material for this article was drawn from conversations with ex-miners who have memories playing or having friends or family members that played and gambled at Pitch and Toss events in and around the Seaham / Murton area.
Other sources:-
Clapson, M. A bit of a flutter : Popular gambling and English society c. 1823 – 1961. Manchester University Press 1992.
South Tyneside Today newspaper article – Playing outside the law, found on their website.
Gorse, Les – Internet article called ‘Pitch and Toss’ found on ‘The Story of Seaham’ website.
Miners, when not at work, were very often involved with their hobbies, with whippet racing, pigeon racing, bowling, gardening and football being among the most popular.
Sadly, heavy drinking and gambling were all too common as well with the resulting shortfall in family income making the wife’s task of feeding the family even more difficult than usual.
Gambling with coins must be as old as the advent of coin usage; in this country even during the reign of Elizabeth I it was a punishable offence under the Vagrancy Acts of the day. These Vagrancy laws, regarding street gambling, have been steadily tightened and in particular during the reign of Queen Victoria.
Pitch and Toss was the most common form of coin gaming, especially popular within the mining communities were it has been played at least since the 18th century, Pounds were staked on every toss and even gold changed hands.
The game of ‘Pitch and Toss’ also known as ‘The Hoy’, was usually played by men only, started with a ring of players being formed called a school. A quiet corner of a field was usually chosen, according to locals one popular spot was near ‘The Blast’ area of Dawdon in Seaham. Scouts or look-outs were posted to keep an eye out for the Poliss [police], who employed a wide variety of methods and ruses in an attempt to catch the culprits.
If caught the miscreants were brought before the local magistrates and fined quite heavily, this probably had a greater effect on the players wife and family than the man himself. There are reports from local sources that there was a sliding scale of fines employed by the courts, the more times a man appeared in front of the bench the higher the fine eventually after 4 or 5 appearances a term in jail of usually 28 days was given.
Given the risks, the general rules of the game were, barring some local variations, that a man known as the 'Hoyer'or'Chucker' placed two pennies (old pre-decimalisation pennies) on his fingers ready to throw into the air. The 'Chucker'sometimes had an assistant called a 'Bevver' and for his 'bevving' might get a little tip from the 'Chucker' if he made a profit.
There were three possible outcomes to the coin throw – 2 Heads ['Chucker' wins], 2 Tails ['Chucker' loses] or 1 Head and 1 Tail [No-one wins and the stakes ride] this last combination was sometimes called ‘2 Bikes’.
If more than one gambler wanted to be the 'Chucker', the choice was made by having the candidates throw a penny towards a marker on the ground. The mark might be a piece of paper, a little mound or a stone showing through the soil.
An alternative set of rules – one man, not participating in the gambling, acted as the 'Chucker'; he balanced two pennies on his two spread fingers and threw them into the air. If this resulted in 2 Heads, then those betting on heads were paid from the pot – the stakes of the losers. If the result was 2 Tails then those betting tails were paid likewise. In the case of 1 Head and 1 Tail being thrown then the pot or stakes were allowed to ride onto the next throw.
During my research and from talking to people who have taken part in a School of Pitch and Toss, it appears that the peak of its popularity was during the Fifties and from then on it rapidly declined, if not stopped, in the early and mid-Sixties.
This decline could have been due in part to the rise in the ownership of televisions and the showing of televised sporting events. The contraction of the coal industry with the closure of many local collieries from where the players were drawn could not have helped.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some of the source material for this article was drawn from conversations with ex-miners who have memories playing or having friends or family members that played and gambled at Pitch and Toss events in and around the Seaham / Murton area.
Other sources:-
Clapson, M. A bit of a flutter : Popular gambling and English society c. 1823 – 1961. Manchester University Press 1992.
South Tyneside Today newspaper article – Playing outside the law, found on their website.
Gorse, Les – Internet article called ‘Pitch and Toss’ found on ‘The Story of Seaham’ website.
