Thesiger wrote:I'd often wondered about that piece of inter song chat on CSNY's Four Way Street about "mumbly peg". Now explained;
Q What do Crosby and Nash say at the beginning of "Right Between The Eyes" on 4 Way Street?
A Crosby screws up at the beginning, and the conversation between he and Nash goes something like this:
Crosby: "Sorry...I never would have believed that you could tune and start on the same note, but you could do it."
Nash: "I didn't believe it either..."
Crosby: "He's quicker than most normal human beings, and sometimes I forget. He is very quick. You don't want to play Mumbly-peg with him, he'll steal your leg!"
Graham Nash then goes on to explain the origins of the song "Right Between the Eyes".
Q What is Mumbly-peg?
A Mumbly-peg is a game that is actually talked about more than it is played. The purpose of the game is to toss a knife into the ground with the aim to land it with its point in the ground. If the participant loses, the opponent hammers a peg into the ground, which the loser must draw out with their teeth. There are several intercollegiate Mumbly-peg teams, the most famous of which is the Toothless Trouncers of St. Miniver's, Winnipeg. In one year alone, they came out 15 and 3, with only minor dental surgery required during off-season.
Don't know where you got that from, Thes, but surely they were taking the piss.
I think you'll find that this makes more sense (in more ways than one):
Wikipedia wrote:Mumblety peg, also known as mumblepeg and mumble-the-peg, is an old game generally played between two people with the aid of a pocket knife. In one version of the game, two opponents stand opposite one another with their feet shoulder-width apart. The first player then takes the knife and throws it to "stick" in the ground as near his own foot as possible. The second player then repeats the process. Whichever player "sticks" the knife closest to his own foot wins the game.
If a player "sticks" the knife in his own foot, he wins the game by default, although few players find this option appealing because of the possibility of bodily harm. The game combines not only precision in the knife-throwing, but also a good deal of bravado and proper assessment of one's own skills.
A variant of mumblety peg has evolved as a drinking game where several matches of mumblety peg are played successively. At the end of each, the loser must take a penalty—generally taking a shot of alcohol. Consequently, the precision with which the knife is thrown often decreases as the game progresses. Whichever player backs away from the game first is declared the loser.
Another variant of the game called Split or Split the Kipper involves each player throwing the knife at the other player.
