Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Welcome to Fascinating Facts and Tantalizing Trivia

A Hartson Dowd Column

August 26, 2006

‘CONKERS’

The fruit of the Horse Chestnut Tree: Horse Chestnuts are more often called ‘Conkers’ except in the USA where they are called ‘Buckeyes’

The Horse Chestnut Tree

The Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) was first introduced to Britain from the Balkans in the late 16th century, but it was not until about 200 years later that the fruits of the horse chestnut trees were used to play "conkers". Before that, "conkers" was played with hazel or cobnuts or snail shells. The Horse Chestnut is a popular ornamental tree in parks, gardens, town and village squares, and churchyards and in streets. The tree flowers abundantly from April to mid-May and the flower-spikes (white and sometimes red) are popularly known as 'candles', since they seem to light up the tree.

The fruits of this tree resemble those of the (Sweet) Chestnut tree. They develop in prickly cases, and are ripe in September and October - the 'conker' season.

The “horse” connection is twofold: (1) Horse Chestnuts were fed to horses in the East as a stimulant and to make their coat shine. (2) The leaf-scars on the twigs have the shape of a horseshoe, including the nail holes. Check it out next time you get the chance!

The wood of the Horse Chestnut is of a poor quality and it is used for purposes such as making packing cases. As a firewood it will both make heat and flame, but it tends to spit a lot.
The nuts are rich in starch but they are not suitable for human food due to the presence of saponins, which are soap-like chemicals. They have been made into a food for horses and cattle in the past, by soaking them first in lime-water so reduce their bitterness. Alternatively they were soaked in water overnight and then boiled for half an hour and the water thrown away. Then they were ground up and added to the rest of the fodder.

Conkers have been carried in the pocket to help prevent piles and rheumatism, and used in wardrobes to keep away moths, also conkers placed in the corners of a room and behind pieces of furniture, reduces the number of spiders venturing into the room. However, over a period, the conkers dry up and lose their efficacy.

The most well-known use of the Horse Chestnut is of course the game of Conkers.

Playing Conkers (Traditional)

The game of conkers probably evolved from a game called ‘conquerors’, which was originally played with snail (conch) shells. A variant of the game was later played with hazelnuts, on strings. By the 20th century these earlier games had almost universally been replaced by the version we now know using horse chestnuts.

The autumn is the beginning of the season for the game when all over the country children start collecting conkers. You will find them on the ground around horse chestnut trees. They come in prickly green cases. Collect a number of these and break open the cases to reveal the shiny brown conkers.

Choose one conker (a nice big round shiny one) and then bore a hole through the middle of it. Be VERY careful as you do this! Most people use a skewer, but don't hold it in your hand because you could end up skewering your hand (I remember using a metal compass when I was at school, but these days they all seem to be made of plastic and not strong enough for this job). Thread a piece of string through the hole and tie a knot at one end, so that it doesn't pull through. The string should be long enough to wrap twice around your clenched hand and still have about 10 inches (25 cm) left.

A toss of the coin usually decides who starts first - Each player has a conker on its knotted string. Players take turns at hitting their opponent's conker. If you are the one whose conker is to be hit first, let it hang down from the string which is wrapped round your hand. A 10 inch (25 cm) drop is about right. You must hold it at the height your opponent chooses and you must hold it perfectly still.

Your opponent, the striker, wraps their conker string round his hand just like yours. He then takes the conker in the other hand and draws it back for the strike. Releasing the conker he swings it down by the string held in the other hand and tries to hit her/his opponent’s conker with it. If he misses he is allowed up to two further goes. If the strings tangle, the first player to call “strings” or “snags” gets an extra shot. Players take alternate hits at their opponent's conker. The game is won when one player destroys the other's conker. If a player drops his conker or it is knocked from his hand, the other player can shout “stamps” and immediately stamps on the conker; but should its owner first shout “no stamps” then “stamps” are disallowed and the conker hopefully remains intact.

In playground tournaments a winning conker can then go on to do battle with other conkers, each victory adding to the conker’s score. A conker which has won one battle is called a “one-er”, two battles a “two-er” and so on.

The kudos of having a high-ranked winning conker is not limited to the playground and there have been many traditional ways of (illegally) hardening conkers before battling. Hardening methods include soaking or boiling the conkers in vinegar or salt water; soaking in paraffin; partially baking them for about a half hour in the oven to case-harden them; coating them with clear nail-varnish; filling them with glue or simply storing them in the dark for a year. My favorite however is that described by two-times World Conker Champion Charlie Bray who says, “There are many underhanded ways of making your conker harder. The best is to pass it through a pig. The conker will harden by soaking in its stomach juices. Then you search through the pig’s waste to find the conker.” Yuk!

Hartson Sager Dowd

hsdowd@telus.net