Marbles is a classic game that hasn’t changed much at all in over a hundred years. In fact, marbles were used for games as far back as Roman times. The object of the game is to see which player, shooting in turn from outside the ring, can knock and keep the most marbles out of the circle. This old-fashioned pastime was a great game for kids of all ages as well as adults. There are many versions of the game, but the version played in Seychelles is unique and not featured anywhere else in the world.
Marbles- Kannet
The game, which has sadly disappeared, was played by boys, and at times by girls, before school, after school, on the way to school, at break times, during weekends and school holidays and in fact during any spare time that we had. The adults also played the game mainly on Sunday afternoons and it was a serious game.
More marbles=more power!
When I was a young kid, having lots of marbles was a sign of power. Even if we did not have enough money, we tried to save our money to buy more marbles. We had different colorful marbles. Every boy in the village had a marble bag, empty cans or box or something to safely keep his marbles and shooter in. Some of us had more marbles than others, and the quantities depended on our skill when playing “keeps’. It was the desire of every player to have, after the game was over, more marbles in his pocket than he came to play with.
The Jargon of the Marble Game of Seychelles
In order to understand the marble game of the Seychelles, it is critical to have a knowledge of the jargon that is attached to it. I shall attempt to describe, below, as many as I can remember, and I am sure that there are a few more that I have forgotten over the years. The jargons are all in creole and the explanations are in English:
Bit – a term used to describe the line drawn in the soil that a player aims for before the start of the game, i.e. the lag line. The word bit derives from the French word ‘le but’. The player whose shooter marble lies the closest to the bit is the one who starts first.
Bite-(Fr. Buter) is the action of throwing the marble towards the lag line or bit. Players shoot or roll their marble to see who can get the closest to the line. This action is called lagging.
Bite lo ron – this means that the shooter marble of a player is stuck in the circle. If the happens the game is over for that player.
Biy – derives for the French word ‘billes’, meaning marbles. In Seychelles, the word applies to a metal ball bearing used as a shooter marble. A shooter marble is a marble that is usually bigger and heavier than other marbles in play and used by a player to hit marbles out of the ring or other players’ shooter marbles.
A shooter Marble
In the old days, the best shooter marbles were the ball bearings for old tractors. I used to make my own from lead or locally known as kaka diplon. Every now and then I would bribe our local blacksmith, with a few leaves of tobacco to get him to make me a few biy with iron. I knew him as Torti, and he had a small workshop not far from the Britannia Hotel in Grand Anse Praslin. At time, the biy was made of copper. The most sought after biy were those brought to the Seychelles by returning soldiers after the Second World War. They were probably obtained from damaged tanks!!
Bonpye devan– (Fr. Bon pied devant) when a player is aiming from a distance, he may shout bonpye devan, meaning keep clear, do not obstruct my shooter marble.
Dyabolo –A dyabolo is a large marble used as a shooter marble.
Fer kannet fol- this was one way in which the school bullies used to steal marbles during a game. They would wear a special clear plastic sandal that had gaps in the sole and would walk on a marble and the marble would stick under the sandal. They would then walk away with it.
Inn Kaptenn deryer/lo mwan- a term used where, while in the process of lagging or bite, you displace the shooter marble closest to the line or bit, and if your shooter marble has moved closer to the bit and you then play before the player whose shooter marble you have displaced.
Kale– Sometimes a player may feel that he is too far to be able to hit any marble and may decide to move closer and place his shooter marble in a more strategic location, usually close to the circle.
Kale- Placing the shooter marble close to the ring
Kale derives from the French word ‘caler’ which is a term that is used in a few other marble games but has a very different meaning to the kale. The French version of ‘caler’ is a method which gives the most power to the shooter marble. This is performed by your folding your thumb, pinkie, and ring finger into your palm, rolling your pointer finger around the marble and holding it against your thumb knuckle. When you’re ready to shoot, you flick your thumb out.
Kal ek Kanmarad– to place your shooter marble next to another player’s shooter marble. This happens quite frequently when the game starts. The first player (player A) may decide to kale and the second (player B) may decide to do the same, by placing his shooter marble next to his.
The disadvantage with this move is that another player may aim for both marbles and ‘kill’ both players in one go. Or, there is also a possibility that if player A shoots into the ring and removes one or a few marbles and his shooter marble comes to rest next to player B’s shooter marble, he can aim for player B’s shooter marble and eliminate him. In that case player B has to give player A all the marbles that he has won since the beginning of the game.
Another strategy that was often used was that if player B wants to eliminate player A by hitting his shooter marble, he may decide to kale away from the ring in the line of play of player A, hoping that if the player A aims for the ring and misses all the marbles, there is a possibility that shooter A’s shooter marble may come to rest next to that of his shooter marble. Player B, when his turn comes, has an opportunity to aim for player A’s shooter marble and eliminate him and win over all the marbles that player A has won since the start of the game. If this proves too risky and player B’s shooter marble has landed too far, he can still aim for the marbles in the ring and leave player A alone.
Kole-(Fr. coller-meaning to stick or to glue) is a term used when shooter marble hits another shooter marble, and it stays in the spot where the other shooter marble was. Some marble players are so good that they can hit a shooter marble, knock it out of its position and make their shooter “stick” in the spot.
kole dan ron-this happens when a player shoots at the marbles in the ring and his shooter marble sticks in the ring. When this happens, the player has to stop playing.
Kol ou pa– (Fr. Coller ton pas) this is an instruction to a player by another player not to move from the spot (do not move your feet) that he is supposed to play from, i.e.. where his shooter’s marble came to rest after the last play. This is not allowed since it gives the player an advantage.
Limen– (Fr. limer) a term used for when a player hits a shooter marble or any other marble without his shooter marble touching the ground first and the marble gets dented. Sometimes referred to as ‘bombing’. Limen literally means to polish or to file and, in this case, it means the opposite, i.e.. create dents in your opponent’s marble.
lo bit-to play from the lag line
Mazet (inaccurate in aim). Originate from French ‘mazette’ meaning a weakling and is applied to a player who is very inaccurate at hitting a target or in this case the marbles.
Mon kannet inn kouloulous– this is a term used for marbles that are very new, still shining with no dents.
Napa lepa. In some game, one of the rules is that if the shooter marble falls close to another player’s shooter marble, and if the distance between the two marbles is shorter than a human’s foot, the player cannot kill the other player by hitting his shooter marble because there is not enough distance between the two marbles.
Oun pi- you have lost all your marbles and are going home empty-handed.
Oun balye– to win, from the French ‘balayer’ meaning to sweep.
Ounn anvoy pa– you have moved forward before your shooter marble has left your hand.
Oun Grater– This is when a player is ’kale’ next to the ring and when it is his turn to play, moves forward and with a sweeping movement collects the marbles from the ring instead of hitting them out of the ring. This is not recommended as it is cheating!
Pike– to hit a marble
Pran lerim: Sometimes, a player may not like the angle that he is supposed to shoot from and, if permitted, may move to find the best angle from which to shoot. However, the player cannot move closer to the circle.
Zwe bit- the happens when a player decides to play from the lag line. When this happens, the player loses a turn.
Touy li– This term derives from the French word ‘tuer’ meaning to kill and is applied when a player aims and hits another player’s shooter marble with his shooter marble.
Vize– This is a term used when you are aiming at another player’s shooter marble or at the marbles in the circle.
Types of marbles
The most popular marble was the cat’s eye which is a transparent glass with central eye-shaped coloured insert. There are many different types of cat’s eye. It is wrongly known in Seychelles as kannet korlalin the name of which is derived from the French ‘cornaline’ or carnelian in English which is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone.
A variety of Cat’s Eye Marbles
Before we had glass marbles, we used to get clay marbles or kannet later rouz. These marbles were the easiest to produce and millions still exist. Unfortunately, clay marbles did not have nearly the eye-appeal of any other marbles and were not liked on the island.
How to Play the Seychellois Marble Game
Preparing the game area
- Agree who is playing. It is possible to play marbles with anywhere from two to about half a dozen players.
- Sweep the area where the play will take place to ensure that there is no debris or other rubbish that could interfere with the marbles. The sweeping is done usually with a zig broom, a broom made from the ribs of the coconut leaves. The play area has to be flat so that the marbles do not roll on their own.
- Agree on the rules. Before starting the game, all players should agree on the rules. The main one is whether they are playing “for keeps,” in which, at the end of the game, all players who are still in play keep the marbles they have won, or “for fair,” which requires all marbles to be returned to their owners at the conclusion of the game. In most cases we played for keeps. The game ends when there is no more marble in the ring or there is only one player left.
Draw the playing area.
- Draw a circle, locally known as ron, 90cm to about 150cm in diameter wide in the sand. The marble was almost always played in the yard in the sand or in the middle of roads. Most roads then were earth roads and vehicles were rare. The size of the circle is dictated by two factors. Firstly, the children would draw a small circle, but the adults will go for a wider circle. Secondly, the size and weight of the shooter marbles. If all players are using heavy or metal shooter marbles, then they will go for a wider circle.
- Once the circle is drawn, draw one short line about 10cm above the circle and another longer line parallel to the first one, about 3 meters away. This one is called the bit or lag line. There is no hard and fast rule on how far apart the lines are supposed to be.
Starting the game
- Each player puts the same number of marbles into the circle. The number of marbles placed by everyone is agreed before the game and every player places a similar amount. Space the marbles so that they evenly fill the ring but try to place the majority nearer to the center. How many marbles you choose depends on how long a game you want. The more you place, the longer the game will last.
Players placing equal amount of marbles in the ring to start the game
- Choose your shooter marble. Your shooter marble will be what you use to knock other marbles out of the circle later. Choose a marble bigger than all your other marbles so it has plenty of power. Qualities of a good shooter marble also include a heavier weight and balanced symmetry.
- The first step in playing marbles is called the lagging or ‘bite.’ The players stand on the line closer to the circle and either roll, toss or throw their shooter marble towards the lag line. The player whose shooter lands nearest the line will have the first shot, an advantageous position. Then the second closest goes second etc. All players must lag before each game.
Sequence of play in relation to lag line
- The winner of the lagging shoots their shooter marble toward the marbles already in the ring. Although the aim of the game is to knock as many marbles from the circle, the person who starts first may decide to either shoot from the lag line or place his shooter marble next to the circle, a move called locally known as kale. This strategy is appropriate if you are not good at aiming and hitting a marble from a distance.
- Once the first player has kale, it is now the turn of the player who was the second closest to play and so forth.
- If you knock a marble from the ring, you pick up that marble and get another shot from wherever your shooter marble landed. Grab any marbles you knock out. Don’t wait until the end of the game to gather your marbles, as you might not remember which ones your shooter got out. Pick them up right after your turn and gather them in a neat pile or better still put them in your pocket.
- If the first player knocks a marble out of the circle, they are awarded another turn. If they don’t knock a marble out, the turn goes to the next player. So long as a player continues to hit marbles out of the circle, it remains their turn. Once the circle is empty of small marbles, the game is over. It is possible to win the game by shooting all of the marbles out of the ring in consecutive shots, without giving your opponent(s) a shot. If you fail to knock a marble out of the ring, it is the next person’s turn
- You can shoot your marble from anywhere outside of the ring, but has to be where your shooter marble came to rest in the last play. Sometimes a game may allow a shooter to move parallel to the lagging line to get the best shot and this is called pren lerim.
Getting knocked out of the game
There are two ways for a player to get knocked out of the game.
- The first way is to have his shooter marble shot/ hit by another player’s shooter marble. If this happens, then the player who has been hit has to stop playing and hand over all marbles that he has won since the beginning of the game.
- The second way is for the shooter marble to get stuck in the ring while trying to hit the other marbles. If this happens then the player has to throw back in the circle all the marbles that he has won since the beginning of the game.
The end of the game.
The game can end in two ways. The first way is when the players have shot all marbles out of the circle. The second way is for a player to ‘kill’ other players by aiming at and hitting their shooter marble and is the only person who still has his shooter in play. If this happens, all players who have been ‘killed’ have to hand over the marbles that they have won in the game.
There is also a possible third way, and this is when there are two players left and one player hits a marble in the circle and his shooter marble gets stuck in the circle. The other player wins the game by default and acquires all of the other player’s marbles that he has won.
Post author’s note: Apologies for being gender biased
Sources
WikiHOW
Nation Newspaper
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