in the church the day of Saint-Étienne. However, in spite of the importance of the play, nobles and members of the clergy gave up participation during the 18th century. Playing areas Traditional games seem not to have had any particular pitch or defined playing field. Soule was practised in meadows, woods, moors, and even ditches or ponds. The goal was to bring back the ball to a place indicated; the hearth of a house or any other place chosen by the players. In certain cases, it was even necessary to soak the soule in a spring or pool of water before placing it in ash. The play was thus only one immense scrimmage intersected with more or less keen frays. The ball could be made of leather, fabric, or wood, a pig bladder filled with hay, or even a wooden block. Fixed playing grounds were not necessary because the game was played in a wide, variable area. However, the game's start was always in a fixed area; the town square, a cemetery, castle, or meadow. Rules were not always precise. The dates of play were set often early in the new year, before springtime. After this time many of the souleurs would be busy in the fields. Modern revivals The last recorded games seem to date from between 1930 and 1945. One of the last recorded games was between the villages of Saint-Léger-aux-Bois and Tracy-le-Mont in the Oise department of Picardy which is situated 35 miles north of Paris. There have been several attempts to revive the game in some form or other: Since 2011, a championship has been held in Normandy with six teams. A festival is held in Jersey, Guernesey or Normandy every year, normally involving some re-enactment of choule. An attempt to revive choule to celebrate the Football World Cup 1998, held in France. Tricot, a village in the Oise, still plays la soule on the Sunday after Shrove Tuesday. Soule was played in 1994 in Vouillé in Vienne Since 2003, the villages around Vendôme (between Le Mans and Blois) have been playing the game annually in early September. An open invitation was extended by the Vendômois French in order to increase numbers and popularity and players from the Bulldogs Rugby Club, Twickenham, UK, have taken part since 2008. Games of soule at Vendôme typically take place in a flooded woodland area with two teams each of