Battledore and shuttlecock, or jeu de volant, is a sport related to the professional sport of

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

. The game is played by two or more people using small rackets (battledores), made of

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...

or rows of gut stretched across wooden frames, and

shuttlecock A shuttlecock (also called a birdie or shuttle, or ball) is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. It has an open conical shape formed by feathers or plastic (or a synthetic alternative) embedded into a rounded cork (or ru ...

s, made of a base of some light material, such as cork, with trimmed feathers fixed around the top. The object is for players to bat the shuttlecock from one to the other as many times as possible without allowing it to fall to the ground. The modern game is closely related to the professional sport of

History

Games with a shuttlecock are attested to as early as 2,000 years ago, and have been popular in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and Siam. Various traditional shuttlecock games have been played by

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

, including the Kwakiutl, Pima, Salish, and Zuni; they are often played with a feathered shuttle made of corn husk or twigs and sometimes a wooden battledore. In

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, battledore and shuttlecock was played by children for centuries (the OED dates the words to 1598 and 1599 respectively), and ancient drawings appearing to depict the game have been found in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It was still being played in the College Garden,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland in August 1850, and Japan in 1890 and 1910.

Australia in the 1800s and early 1900s

Settled by Europeans in 1788, by 1804 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

town, at the home of Sergeant Packer on Pitt's Row, among foods and clothing being sold were... ', and music boxes, set to irregular airs, Battledores and shuttlecocks'; also commonly sold in the 1830s and 1850s. The sport was played at the Sydney's George Street Police Racket Ground in April 1850 by Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell and others for 1:47 hours. It was still being mentioned or played in 1910. Noting its origins with battledore and shuttlecocks, the new activity of badminton was introduced to the readers within the Australian colonies in 1874, gaining popularity in the 1920s. Its demise was signalled with the formation of state badminton associations such as in South Australia in February 1930.

Phrase

'Battledore and shuttlecock' was used as a figure of speech to describe a rallying argument, debate, or political game. An 1841 comment in the ''Hobart Town Advertiser'' stated 'Battledore and shuttlecock's very good game, when you the shuttlecocks and two lawyers the battledore, in which case it gets too to be pleasant'.

References

Racket sports {{game-stub

History

Australia in the 1800s and early 1900s

Phrase

See also

References