The St Andrews Seed Sessions – Part Two

As no headless wasp bodies could be found, it was decided to organize a contest and have judges to act as independent witnesses. When the Wasp Protection League objected to the possible massacre of these insects in St Andrews it was decided that people should instead aim at matchsticks stuck in wax.

For the distance contests jute sacks from nearby Dundee are used as the playing area covered an area 100 yards square. The distances were marked at every foot and the distance was counted as where the pip finished up rather than where it initially landed, thus allowing the exponents of the ‘bouncing bomb’ technique to compete on equal terms against the high trajectory spitters, flickers and squeezers.

Once orange pips were added to the contest in 1920 then the landing area had to be trebled in area due to their extra weight and more rounded shape. Soon cherries, olives and watermelons were added to the list of seeds. In subsequent years, larger stones such as those found in apricots, nectarines and avocadoes were tried as ‘guest’ seeds but have never been accepted into open competition. This is due to the large amounts of phlegm accompanying the seeds when they were spat out of a contestant’s mouth. There was also a near tragedy in 1956 when a contestant, Archie McFadden, swallowed an avocado stone he was meant to be spitting and had to be rushed to hospital because of breathing impairment.

This story is from the book 40 Humourous British Traditions available for $0.99 for a limited period.