Dwiling away the hours

Hitting each other with ale-soaked rags sounds exactly like something we Brits would have done for fun in centuries past… or is it? Melissa Cole goes on the hunt for the truth behind this folk tradition.

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Melissa Cole

Photos: Alan Hall

Saturday 27 June 2026

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This article is from

British Summer Time

issue 132

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When the Suffolk town of Halesworth, deep in barley-growing country, announced it was launching its second annual Ale Day showcasing the town’s deep connection to the brewing industry, my immediate thought was ‘how lovely’. I nearly moved on, but amid mention of brewing demonstrations, a special release by Tindall Brewery and tours of defunct maltings, the term ‘dwile flonking’ caught my attention.

It was nestled amid similarly obscure terms like ‘jabanowl’, ‘wanton’, and ‘marther’, each seeming its own relic of bygone times. Some quick research revealed that dwile flonking refers to a point-scoring drinking game — which seems more like a drinking sport at times — involving two teams of eight or more, running around, flinging ale-soaked rags at one another.

I got a slightly warm and fuzzy feeling about the whole business, and had to learn more. According to Alan Hall, the 86-year-old dwile flonking champion, “it was brought back in the 60s by a couple of guys from Beccles. They were printers, who apparently found something in an old newspaper.”

It would seem that any and all records of dwile flonking attempt to wrestle with its origin story, and almost unanimously contribute to the lore surrounding it in the process. There is, to the best of my research, absolutely no mention of dwile flonking before the 1960s and despite local papers like Peterborough Evening Telegraph claiming the drinking game goes back to the year 0000 (an odd use of date in itself) and that royal figures like "Rufus the Red" was "dwiled to death by Thomas the Tender" — it’s all nonsense.

Any and all records of dwile flonking attempt to wrestle with its origin story, and almost unanimously contribute to the lore surrounding it in the process

For the record, Rufus the Red was shot by an arrow in a somewhat suspicious hunting accident and was barely mourned due to being a godawful human, if history is to be believed.

There are also claims that you can see a version of the game being played in Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting 'Children’s Games', however, as much as I forensically analyse it, I can’t see something that looks specifically like a mop on the end of a stick being wielded in a ring of hand-holding players anywhere in the painting.

My dad always says that an entertaining embellishment of facts needs just enough truth to make people suspend disbelief, and with 'dwile flonking' sounding enough like a term from Lewis Carroll’s 'The Jabberwocky', it's credible that such a drinking game was once enjoyed in Britain. After all, we are the nation that still likes to chase a 3-4kg wheel of cheese down a hill at great risk of broken limbs.

Whatever the truth, I’m prepared to be charmed by this utterly bonkers drinking game, and speaking further to Alan himself does nothing to disabuse me of the notion.

“A group of us at the social club came across an advert in the paper saying ‘dwile flonking teams wanted’.

“We found out they were doing a try-out in Ditchenam and so we went along. We didn’t do any good at all, but then for the next two years we won and then no one would challenge us! We went round doing exhibitions and raising money for things.

THE RULES: This extract from Dwile Flonking; As revived and played by The Blythe Valley Dwile Flonkers Association was shared with us by Alan Hall.

“The trophy was a pewter chamber pot given to us by Adnams, and it went missing for 20 years after the Blythe Valley Dwile Flonkers stopped. Many local pubs claimed to have had it and people said they’d seen it but I knew they were all lying because I had it!”

A few years ago Alan donated the trophy to the Halesworth Museum, which is where Kelly Parker, the council’s marketing and events officer, first encountered it, and by extension, was introduced to dwile flonking. She decided it was the perfect game to bring back for Halesworth Ale Day.

Sadly, Alan feels that he is no longer able to flex his flonking arm, but he said with a big nostalgic grin that if those taking part have half as good a time as he and his friends did, "they’ll have a jolly good time indeed!" And if you happen to ever meet him, he may very sweetly sing the song that goes along with the game. If you fancy your chances of downing a pewter chamber pot’s worth of beer before he finishes — good luck! — I hope you don't have to pour the rest over your head.

And whatever the truth behind dwile flonking, let’s not forget that until Lewis Caroll gave us 'The Jabberwocky', we didn’t have the word ‘chortle’ or ‘galumph’, so made up things can be truly magical and even the tallest of tales can bring us daily joys.

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