Talk:Quoits

1911 EB content
QUOITS (0. Fr. coiter, quoiter, to incite), a pastime resembling the ancient discus-throwing which formed one of the five games of the Greek pentathlon (see Discus), the two main differences between the ancient and modern sports being that the quoit is ring-shaped (one surface being rounded, the other - the back - being flat) and is lighter than the discus, and its throwing is a test rather of accuracy than strength. Few traces of a game resembling quoits can be found on the continent of Europe, and its origin may be sought for on the borderland of Scotland and England. There are references to it in the Midlands dating from the beginning of the ,5th century, and it was one of the games prohibited in the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II. in favour of archery. Ascham, in his Toxophilus (1545), says that "quoiting be too vile for scholars," and in old times it was chiefly played by the working classes, who often used horseshoes for want of quoits, a custom still prevailing in country districts. According to the modern rules, slightly modified from the code drawn up in 1869, two iron or steel pins 18 yds. apart are driven into the ground, leaving i in. exposed. Each is situated in the centre of an "end," a circle of stiff clay 3 ft.

in diameter. The quoits, made of iron, may be of any weight, but are usually about 9 lb each. They must not exceed 82 in. in diameter, or be less than 31 in. in the bore, or more than 24 in. in the web. When delivering his quoit a player must stand within 4 ft. 6 in. of the centre of the end and at its side. Matches are played between teams or individuals, the object of the game being to throw the quoit as near to the pin as possible, a "ringer," i.e. a quoit actually surrounding the pin, counting two, and a quoit nearer to the pin than any of the adversary's, counting one. A match may be for any number of points, the team or player scoring that number first being the winner. In championship matches all quoits farther than 18 in. from the end, are foul and removed. All measurements are made from the middle of the pin to the nearest edge of the quoit. If one or more quoits are lapped, the one most accessible is first measured and withdrawn. All quoits on their backs are a foul. The general principle of curling, to drive the opponents' quoits away from the pin and place one's own near or on it, is followed.

Scotland, Lancashire and the Midlands are the principal centres of quoiting in Great Britain. In Scotland the game is patronized by the Curling Clubs, and this is also the case in the United States and Canada. Billy Hodson was champion of Great Britain in the middle of the r9th century, and his trip to America in the early 'sixties is of historical interest, as it resulted in two contests for the championship of the world with James McLaren of Newark, N. J., a native of Scotland, who was champion of America. One hard-fought match was won by each, the deciding one remaining unplayed. The championship of America is rewarded by the "Bell Medal," presented by the Grand National Curling Club of America.

Popularity in Edmonds, WA
As a lifelong resident of Edmonds, WA, I have never heard of the game of quoits, or of any park benches being broken in order to make quoit boxes. After consulting several friends who also live in Edmonds and have never heard of the game, I removed the statement from the article. I am curious as to who in Edmonds plays this game?24.17.77.57 06:57, 26 November 2006 (UTC) So there go away please

Voltaire
Voltaires novel Candide (1759) features children playing the game of Quoits in South America.

Ring toss
Are these games one and the same? ChildofMidnight (talk) 17:36, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Don't understand Obscurasky (talk) 19:24, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Ring toss and Quoits. ChildofMidnight (talk) 22:17, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Not exactly. Look at the picture on this article, and compare to this. However, Quoits could be a possible subset of Ring Toss, I guess. --58.174.73.169 (talk) 07:20, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

do brits actually USE the term "ring toss" at all, whether for this game or for the overall superset?

i have never once heard quoits in the US. if there are indeed distinctions between the terms, they are clearly lost on us.

"quoits" to a yank is literary/archaic -- are you saying that brits use it in the here and now?

what about canadians, australians, etc? 67.150.85.245 (talk) 06:37, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

Rubber Quoits Variation
In the late 60's & early 70's in South Florida for physical education we played a game with about a 6 inch diameter ribbed, rubber quoit in a setup similar to badminton. If you caught the quoit you threw it back with an upward flick of your wrist; if you didn't catch it and it fell in-bounds, you lost a point. Possibly Tenniquoits/Ring-Tennis or Tennikoit. The setup for Ring-Tennis appears to be slightly different than for Tennikoit. See http://ringtennis.blogspot.com/2009/02/ring-tennis-coming-to-your-neighborhood.html Ileanadu (talk) 03:30, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

In Australian schools, this game (a version of deck-quoits) was known as Circlos. 124.189.9.57 (talk) 02:30, 4 February 2013 (UTC) Ian Ison

Coits
Quoits is another spelling of Coits ("anything thrown at a certain mark"). The word coit (and Quoit) was often used for the the ancient Greek's discus. It was with a coit that Apollo slew Hyacinth according to the ancient Greek myth. Similarly, Perseus accidentally killed Acrisius with a discus. The serial story "Candide, or, the Optimist" (1759) told of children throwing gem-encrusted coits. Coit probably from the old French "coite" meaning flat stone. "Coit" was indeed used in the 18th century to describe broad stones "whose breadth and length greatly exceeded their thickness. 98.249.185.122 (talk) 02:24, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

In Central NY and Pennsylvania (at least in my experience) it is pronounced like "kwaits"Saxophobia (talk) 22:07, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20090926191021/http://www.quoits.info:80/history/history.html to http://www.quoits.info/history/history.html
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20080509133608/http://www.quoitsdirect.com/OrganizedLeagues/BushkillValleyQuoitLeague.htm to http://www.quoitsdirect.com/OrganizedLeagues/BushkillValleyQuoitLeague.htm
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20110715140514/http://www.quoitsdirect.com/OrganizedLeagues/EastonCityQuoitLeague.htm to http://www.quoitsdirect.com/OrganizedLeagues/EastonCityQuoitLeague.htm
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20080514115412/http://www.quoitsdirect.com/OrganizedLeagues/SlateBeltQuoitLeague.htm to http://www.quoitsdirect.com/OrganizedLeagues/SlateBeltQuoitLeague.htm
 * Added tag to http://www.quoitsdirect.com/OrganizedLeagues/CohnsLeague.htm
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20090706070942/http://www.quoitsdirect.com:80/QuoitRules.htm to http://www.quoitsdirect.com/QuoitRules.htm

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