Thursday 18 June 2009

Still Thursday.


Nine men's morris board to illustrate comment on earlier blog today. Hope it helps.
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5 comments:

Lori Skoog said...

Thanks! I still don't have a clue as to how you play it...more power to you!

Crowbard said...

That board looks fearsomely Gothic Mike. Or is it one of your own pieces of craft-work?
The Nine Men of the title obviously refer to the 9 pegs of each player. Does the term Morris (Moorish) refer specifically to the black pegs, perhaps? Does the player with the black pegs start the play, as in draughts?
I believe there are still a few stately gardens which have a Morris-lawn, upon which the game may be played by teams of people instead of pegs. That could be chaotic if each player decided his own moves!

Crowbard said...

The nine-men's-morris is filled up with mud And the quaint mazes in the wanton green, For lack of tread are undistinguishable
(Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream)

Crowbard said...

The nine-men's-morris is filled up with mud And the quaint mazes in the wanton green, For lack of tread are undistinguishable
(Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream)

Unknown said...

Hi Lori. The easiest way of learning the game is to watch it. Just checked it on Google, and there's so much about it there that I think it might be possible to learn it from Google.
I don't know if the derivation of the name is Moorish, as in morris dancers, although the reference to it in A Midsummer night's dream might seem to indicate that.
Black team starts as in draughts.
Our board is, I think, an old bread board, with the lines cut on it, although I do know of a few stools with the tops cut as nine men's morris boards.
I don't know of any early outdoor morris lawns, although you may be right.
Cheers, Mike.