Here in the middle of England, to be specific, Derbyshire, we call jacks ‘snobs’. I tried to look ‘snobs’ up on the Internet but there was no entry for the game, just the definition about the sort of person who feels himself superior.

I did not even know the other names such as ‘jacks’ but I asked my grandson to find some ‘snobs’ for me back in England (I live in Mozambique). Now I’m back in England for Christmas I find he’s got me some from a shop and I’ve only now heard the names ‘jacks’, ‘bones’ and so on.

When I was a kid in Derbyshire, the snobs were of rather rough pot (i.e. fired clay) and cubical. I think I remember some or all of them had lines on the side but I don’t remember enough to know if these had some numerical significance. (This was about sixty years ago now.)

The ball was also of fired clay.

Cheers, Keith Warren