Egg tapping

Egg tapping

Two boys egg tapping

red wins

Egg tapping, or also known as egg fight, egg knocking, egg pacqueing, or egg jarping is a traditional Easter game. In English folk traditions, the game has variously been known as "shackling", "jarping" or "dumping".

The rule of the game is simple. One holds a hard-boiled egg and taps the egg of another participant with one's own egg intending to break the other's, without breaking one's own. As with any other game, it has been a subject of cheating; eggs with cement core, alabaster, and even marble eggs have been reported.

History

The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in Pagan celebrations of spring and was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the rebirth of man at Easter.

During medieval times, egg tapping has been practised in Europe. For instance, the practice was mentioned to have played an important part in the 14th-century in Zagreb in relation to the Easter festival. A study of folklore quotes an early reference from 15th-century in Poland.

Competition

In England, the game is played between pairs of competitors who repeatedly knock the pointed ends of their eggs together until one of the eggs cracks; the overall winner is the one whose egg succeeds in breaking the greatest number of other eggs. The world egg-jarping championships have been held each Easter Sunday at Peterlee Cricket And Social Club County Durham, England, since 1983. Proceeds from the event are donated to the Macmillan Cancer Support charity. The joint world champions are Ann Watson from Peterlee and Dave McMahon from Pelton Fell.

In many places in Louisiana, egg-tapping is a serious competition event. Marksville claims to be the first to make it into an official event in 1956. In the past some cheaters used guinea hen eggs, which are smaller and have harder shells. Nowadays guinea egg knocking is a separate contest category. Preparation for this contest has turned into a serious science. People now know which breeds of chicken lay harder eggs and at what time. The chickens must be fed with calcium-rich food and have plenty of exercise. Proper boiling of the contest eggs is also a serious issue. Some rules are well-known, such eggs must be boiled tip down, so that the air pocket is on the butt end. There is also the rule that the champion must break and eat their eggs to prove they are not a fake.

In other cultures and languages

In Assam (a state of India in which the easternmost indigenous Indo-European language is spoken) the game is called Koni-juj (Koni = Egg; Juj = Fight). It is held every year on the day of Goru Bihu (the cattle day) of Rongali Bihu, which falls mid of April and on the day of Bhogali Bihu, which falls mid of January.^{[citation needed]}

In Croatia, both coloured eggs and uncoloured Easter eggs are used as everyone picks an egg to tap or have tapped; every egg is used until the last person with the unbroken egg is declared the winner, sometimes winning a money pool.

In Holland the game is called eiertikken. Children line up with baskets of coloured eggs and try to break those in another person’s basket. But players must only break ones of the same colour as their own.

In Romania, visitors strike red eggs against one held by the head of the household and exchange the greetings "Christ is risen!" and "He is risen indeed!" The person who keeps an unbroken egg is said to enjoy the longest life.

Christians in Bulgaria have a similar custom and may believe that the winner of the egg tapping contest will have the most health until the next Easter. The first painted, red egg may be preserved until the next year as a token of luck and good health.

Ruthenians have a tradition of rolling the eggs in a game called čokatisja. The boys roll eggs on the meadows. If an egg is cracked, then it belongs to the boy whose egg cracked it.

Greeks call the practice tsougrisma (τσούγκρισμα), meaning to clink together.

See also

• Egg rolling
• Egg hunt
• Egg dance
• Pace Egg play
• Conkers, a similar British game with horse-chestnuts