The game of the Vintos of San Martiño dos Peros

The Vintos are a popular game of aim that, according to the documentation of Tradicións da Limia, is played only in two villages of the parish of San Paio de Abades, in the concello of Baltar: San Martiño dos Peros and Sabucedo ^[1]. The village is on the dry border: Portugal is about 500 metres away ^[1].

Who played it and how it was saved

In the past it was a game for adult men; children and women did not play, at least in theory. In practice children played when they took livestock to the hill, and the neighbour Enesio Fidalgo Nocelo, who guided the source’s author on 8 August 2021, said he learned the game from his grandmother, in secret ^[1]. With depopulation the village only comes alive in summer, when those who emigrated return ^[1].

So that the game would not disappear, the neighbours founded the Cultural Association Penacurva, named after a crag on the hill, curved in shape, beneath which, they say, wolves used to howl ^[1]. Before the pandemic it organised a festive day in August: they prepared the field, ate together, played cards and Vintos and ended with a water fight at the village’s trough fountain ^[1].

The equipment

• The vinto is a log of tree, cut on the hill, about 10 cm across and about 20 cm tall. It is worked with a knife so that the top is narrower and harder to hit ^[1].
• The barla is the throwing stone: smooth, of granite, schist or pebble, about three or four centimetres thick and about fifteen across. Each player has their own, because to throw well it is essential to know its weight and shape. Some players trim the stone so that it drags along the ground ^[1].

How it is played

Two vintos are placed about 16 paces (about 14 metres) apart. It is played in pairs: players take turns throwing the barla to knock down the vinto at the opposite end, and once the four barlas have been thrown the score is worked out. As the stones end up around the vinto, the players are already at the throwing zone of the vinto they have just left at the other end ^[1].

• Knocking down the vinto is worth 8 points.
• The barla that lands closest to the vinto is worth 4 points; if in doubt it is measured in feet.
• A player can score at most 12 points in a throw (knocks down the vinto and his barla ends up closest).
• The pair that first reaches 24 points wins, and the match is best of five.
• The owner of the closest barla starts the next round. Whoever knocks down the vinto must set it up again ^[1].

The supporting foot must stay behind the vinto or level with it; exceptions are made only for the elderly and children. There are two tactics: to throw the barla with a high arc so that it lands "flat" on the vinto, or low, so that it knocks it down by dragging ^[1].

The vocabulary of the game

Knocking down the vinto is killing it (matalo), and the partner encourages by saying "mata, mata!" ("kill it, kill it!"). Tirar os puntos (throwing for points) is throwing to leave the barla closer to the vinto than the opponent’s. Players wink as they follow the barla’s path ^[1]. The source also recalls the entry "vinto" in Isaac Alonso Estraviz’s dictionary, which describes the game with some variants ^[1].

Links

• Curiosities of A Limia
• Cantos de cego, the pot game and traditions
• Symbols and traditions of Xinzo
• Abades (San Paio), parish of Baltar

Sources

1. Tradicións da Limia, «Os Vintos. Un xogo popular no século XXI. San Martiño dos Peros, concello de Baltar». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/os-vintos-un-xogo-popular-no-seculo-xxi-san-martino-dos-peros-concello-de-baltar/