Boxed wooden game of squails made in England by John Jaques & Sons Ltd in the late 1880s

Design: 16 slightly domed wooden discs painted in various patterns; metal jack; measuring implement called a swoggle; mahogany box
No. of pieces: 16 discs
No. illustrated: none

Given by Mrs D. E. Sawyer

Squails, which is played on a smooth table top, is a combination of shove ha'penny and bowls. First a jack is flicked along a smooth surface, and then the discs are flicked. Those discs of one player that are closest to the jack win the game.
green label on lid of box - REGISTERED NO. 190,650, AGREEABLY TO ACT 5 & 6 VIC. CAP 100.
JAQUES REGISTERED THIS GAME IN 1884.
CGG-Games & Puzzles, 1991

Rewards: points awarded for the nearest to the jack. The one farthest away, one point, the next two and so on with the maximum score going to the squail closest to the jack.
Forfeits: normal play gives two points to the opposition if a player knocks the jack off the table or within 3in of the edge.
any squail going off the table or within 3in of the edge is out of play for that round.
No. of Players: any
Equipment required: 6 pairs of disc
smooth table top

Rules: Squails is a type of table bowls that was popular in Britain in the last century. Players are divided into two teams and seek to position wooden discs, called Sqauils as near as possible to a metal target called the Process or Jack.

1. Squails can be played on any table top, but a fairly strong, smooth round one is best.
2. The game may be played with wooden discs, raised in the centre, however, coins, wooden counters, coasters or plastic tddleywinks could all be used. Each team's squails should be clearly differentiated by colour or a number. Each player has an equal number of squails.
3. Old targets were usually made of metal-eg a small medal or stumpy lead cylinder. The target is placed or flicked into the centre of the table to start a round.
4. Squails is a game for any even number of players, but four to eight is probably good. Players are divided into two teams and team members take alternate places around the table.
5. Choice of playing order goes to the player who gets his squail nearest the target in a preliminary play. Turns pass clockwise around the table, alternating between teams. Each player plays one squail in a turn.
6. Playing a Squail is when the player plasces his squail partly over the edge of the tableand then pushes it with the palm of his hand as in Shove Ha'penny.
7. The objective is the players attempting to position their squails as near as possible to the target. Playing one squail into another to move it toward or away from the target is permitted.
8. If a squail pushes the target more than 6in away from the centre of the table the target must be put back in its original position. Two points are gnerally awarded to the opposition if a player knocks the target off the table or within 3in of the table edge.
9. A Dead Squail is one that goes off the table or stops within 3in of the table edge; it is dead for that round.
10. SCORING. Points are scored after all the players have played all their squails for a round. The squail farthest from the target scores one point, the next farthest two points and so on to the squail nearest the target.
11. A game consists of an agreed number of rounds.

BOYS' OWN, P.601 shows the game on a shove ha'penny board layout with the following description:-

SQUAILS. This is a new name for the old game of shovel board or push penny. A party of players sit around a table, in the centre of which is a circle marked in divisions. Each player is provided with a coin or metal or ivory disc, which he pushes with the palm of his hand from the side of the table towards the circle, and the object of the game is to lodge your coin in the centre, and at the same time to force the coins of your opponents away from it.
Another plan is to mark the table in divisions, as shown (round ended ladder marked 1 to 6). Each player has three coins. The first player pushes his coin into division 1; then the second goes on and tries to knock the first player's coin away; and so on till each division has been passed, and one of the players succeeds in lodging his three coins in the last division, 6, and thus wins the game. A good deal of skill is required in avoiding the lines and leaving a coin in the separate divisions.F

Squails, which is played on a smooth table top, is a combination of shove ha'penny and bowls. The number of players has to be an even one, because they are usually divided into two teams. First a jack is flicked along a smooth surface, and then the discs are flicked. The discs of the player that are closest to the jack win the game.

The game was very popular in the late 19th century. Some very fine sets were made with which to play the game. The squails themselves are usually round with raised centres, but any flat circular object can be used. The jack, or target, is a metal object, usually a coin. To avoid arguments about who is nearest, a special measuring device, called a swoggle, is used. This particular example of Squails was made by John Jaques, one of the most famous names in games manufacture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

MISC.19-1967