A game of battledore and shuttlecock, as illustrated in an 1804 edition ofYouthful Sports
Battledore and shuttlecock, orjeu de volant, is a sport related to the professional sport ofbadminton. The game is played by two or more people using smallrackets (battledores), made ofparchment or rows ofgut stretched across wooden frames, andshuttlecocks, 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 ofbadminton.
William Beechey, Kenneth Dixon playing with a shuttlecock, c. 1790.
Games with a shuttlecock are attested to as early as 2,000 years ago, and have been popular inIndia,China,Japan, andSiam.[1] Various traditional shuttlecock games have been played byNorth Americanindigenous peoples, including theKwakiutl,Pima,Salish, andZuni; they are often played with a feathered shuttle made ofcorn husk or twigs and sometimes a wooden battledore.[2] InEurope, battledore and shuttlecock was played by children for centuries (the OED dates the words to 1598 and 1599 respectively),[clarification needed] and ancient drawings appearing to depict the game have been found inGreece.[1]
It was still being played in the College Garden,Glasgow, Scotland in August 1850,[3] and Japan in 1890 and 1910.[4][5]
Settled by Europeans in 1788, by 1804 inSydney town, at the home of Sergeant Packer onPitt's Row, among foods and clothing being sold were... 'Tamborines, and music boxes, set to irregular airs, Battledores and shuttlecocks';[6] also commonly sold in the 1830s[7] and 1850s.[8]
The sport was played at the Sydney's George Street Police Racket Ground in April 1850 by SirThomas Livingstone Mitchell and others for 1:47 hours.[9] It was still being mentioned or played in 1910.[10]
Noting its origins with battledore and shuttlecocks, the new activity of badminton was introduced to the readers within the Australian colonies in 1874,[11] gaining popularity in the 1920s.[12] Its demise was signalled with the formation of state badminton associations such as in South Australia in February 1930.[13]
'Battledore and shuttlecock' was used as a figure of speech to describe a rallying argument, debate, or political game.[14][15] An 1841 comment in theHobart Town Advertiser stated 'Battledore and shuttlecock's very good game, when you arn't the shuttlecocks and two lawyers the battledore, in which case it gets too excitin' to be pleasant'.[16]
^"Scotland".South Australian Register. Vol. XIV, no. 1197. South Australia. 14 August 1850. p. 4. Retrieved25 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Holidays In Japan".The Horsham Times. No. 3059. Victoria, Australia. 22 April 1890. p. 1 (Supplement). Retrieved26 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Classified advertising".The Hobart Town Courier. Vol. IV, no. 181. Tasmania, Australia. 9 April 1831. p. 3. Retrieved25 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising".The Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. XXVII, no. 4003. New South Wales, Australia. 16 March 1850. p. 1. Retrieved25 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Obesity".The Star. No. 319. New South Wales, Australia. 19 March 1910. p. 6. Retrieved26 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Badminton".Hamilton Spectator. No. 1304. Victoria, Australia. 26 September 1874. p. 1 (Supplement to the Hamilton Spectator). Retrieved26 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Badminton".The Mail (Adelaide). Vol. 16, no. 781. South Australia. 14 May 1927. p. 2. Retrieved26 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Legislative Council".Adelaide Times. Vol. X, no. 1713. South Australia. 28 May 1856. p. 3. Retrieved26 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Miscellaneas".The Hobart Town Advertiser. No. 167. Tasmania, Australia. 10 August 1841. p. 4. Retrieved25 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Battledore and Shuttlecock".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 534.