RolleyHoleMan

Hey Folks, after 3 years I finally found the full song "Rolley Hole Man" on an unopened cassette in the archives. I was trying to move a box that was above my head, and since it had some weight to it I just popped the lid, felt around, and pulled out the first thing I could get a grip on. It was a sealed copy of this tape, followed by over 20 others. Here is the link: Rolley Hole Man

Now the thing about holes is no matter how you get them, it’s not to everyone’s preference. Some holes have more wiggle room and different depths from yard to yard. What I was taught was wet the area you want a hole, and push your marble into it until it’s half way in. From there you can smooth down the sharp edge made. A fresh hole may make it harder to knock a marble out of. Once the edges are worn it’s a bit better. Depth can of course cause issues as well. But as Bobby would say, it’s as fair to one as it is to the other.

So yes, a player can make a hole and decide to “lay” in that hole as defense. This has mixed results since players are usually darn good at knocking those marbles back out of the hole. Staying in the hole is also dangerous because if a player is for that hole, they can lightly hit the marble defending the hole, and lean their marble against it, making that hole. Once they lean against and “make” that hole, they’ll usually blast the opponents marble out of the hole. Pt2 of that. You could hit the marble defending the hole, and ride up to the next hole. This will give you another shot letting you get even closer to your desired hole. This is why players defending a hole are more likely to be a couple feet away. It reduces the risk of giving an advantage and extra turn if the marble is hit. About spanning, you do not have to shoot. The “span” is a hands length in a circle around your marble. Anywhere in that circle you can place your marble without shooting. The key rings are a great idea. I might have to start using that one when teaching Rolley Hole in a couple weeks. That would be better than string loops and better than quarters. Hopefully that wasn’t confusing. I’ll also point out that the term “lay” is used usually when a player decides to not take a turn. As in they’ll say “I’ll lay”. Another thing is the shooting order. When you lay, you are not giving the next turn to your teammate, you are giving it to your opponent. Now different yards might have different orders, but at standing stone is: A1 B1 A2 B2 Some places do: A1 A2 B1 B2 But when I talk about rules and whatnot, I only talk about Standing Stone since it is a “standardized” tournament.

I’m the newest ranger for the Cumberland trail. My role so far is mostly trail building and folklife. During my off time I work on this channel and have a ton of videos on a posting schedule to keep a steady stream. Some videos I’ve posted, like the Dumas Walker interviews, I’m already working on making into a longer length and higher quality. Seems as I make and post things, I learn to make them better. Some of these videos are not just good, but they’re teaching me things I didn’t know, or had long suspected. For instance marble size was reduced according to one of the sources, which finally confirmed it. Another interview also talks about two players having very similar looking marbles but of slightly different sizes. One of the players thought it would be funny to sneakily swap marbles, and both players started missing shots and wondering what was wrong. Bobby taught me a lot about marbles and it all came from these interviews, all of which are stored here at the CT and will be on the channel. No one can ever replace Bobby, but the best we can do is save and share what he did.

Hey folks, here is something related to Rolley Hole to keep an eye on. Here at the Cumberland Trail we have the lifelong work of Bobby Fulcher who is the father of the tournament at Standing Stone. What I’ve done is create a YouTube channel where I will be uploading the recorded interviews he has with folks for the Tennessee state parks folklife project. This will cover many amazing things, but starting out (since I have photos of these folks for the video), I am posting interviews with legendary marble player Dumas Walker (made famous by the Kentucky Headhunters song of the same name).Next on the list is Bud Garret, who was a famous marble maker who gave us the way we make marbles today. https://m.youtube.com/@JPWCTA I don’t know how often I’ll post on there since each video takes a long time to make. I first find the audio cd, heavily edit to remove the sound of the tape machine and tape hiss, then convert it to a video format. I then edit the video where the only visual is a photo of the person being interviewed. From there I post it. Each step takes a very long time unfortunately, and I do this on my own time after work. So far I’ve heard many amazing bits of Rolley Hole lore from folks who were there. It really helps paint a full picture of the last 100 or so years of Rolley Hole. I will warn you all though, this is Tennessee/Kentucky dialect and can be hard to understand. I’ve got a bit of an accent myself so I can understand these videos well, but folks talking to me often have no idea what I’m saying. So be warned.

They’re very hard to find outside the area, but a few of the marble makers sell online on Etsy and I’ve done both eBay and Etsy. The market is pretty though so most just sell in person at the event. There are always marbles for sale in the Standing Stone State Park gift shop though. Typically these are more polished and pretty. Players all have different needs when it comes to finish, with some preferring a slick marble that slips from the hand with ease, while other want a gritty marble that gives more grip. So you’ll have to find what size you like, and what finish works best. I play with one that’s maybe 100 grit, and polish them up to 6000. Those 6000 ones are like glass.

As a good side note here, the folks never would call me a marble player. They know I’m plain no good. But they would openly call me a marble maker. Some folks who want a marble are picky. I swear they can feel a thousandth of an inch. Those folks know by holding a marble if it’ll be any good for them.

Oh man, now that’s the question right there. When I started asking this question I was usually told “about a quarter inch”. What it comes down to is the preference of the player. You’ll find that players with more meaty hands favor a smaller marble , and players with more slender hands will often have a larger marble to bridge the gaps. I went around measuring marbles when I could, and it ranged from .75 to .80, with legend Russell Collins playing with the .80. Personally I’m favoring .78 marbles. I made a bunch of .81 and .80, and I can’t really play with them. I keep a bag of 10 marbles in my pocket at all times and keep larger ones since folks like to see them, but my designated shooter is .78 I think. Now for the time being I’m leaving out the “youth” marbles for teaching children. Usually those are more in line with the regulations for ringer marbles since those kids play both. For ringer the standard size is 5/8”.

I should have read it a little better, I didn’t realize it was compacted. When I teach it indoors I have a massive room that lets me do the full size yard. What we use indoors for the holes are quarters, which is pain but what the marble players use. As for the camping spots, Standing Stones campgrounds will be closed for renovations unfortunately. There’s a camper campground outside the park that isn’t all that bad, ans about an hour away is Rock Island State park which has wonderful campgrounds (I used to work there and maintain them, so I can say with certainty they’re some of the best). I plan on being at the next Rolley Hole to spread marbles a bit.

Also here is a link to a newly posted Rolley hole video I digitized. It has a snippet of “Rolley Hole Man”. So far this is the only recording of it I know of. It’s one of those songs that’s stuck in my head a good bit. Maybe it’s the obsession with marbles, but it’s one good tune. As a fun side note, I’ve got marbles going at Cumberland Mountain State Park. So far signups and general interest are promising.

The loops are a pretty cool idea. I’m going to try that method when teaching folks to play on carpet. The 4” is decent for giving folks an idea, but I’d go with a lot smaller since the original holes are the size of a marble. That’s just my personal preference though.

Figured I’d add something here Rolley Hole related. I may need to start a thread when I scan in some of these documents, and believe me there’s a lot. Rolley Hole is an important piece of folklife and has endless lore, but I finally found something after years of searching. When the American team went to face the British at the Tinsley Green marbles tournament, Bobby Fulcher wrote a song to the tune of Johnny Hortons “battle of New Orleans”. The song itself is lost, with only a snippet remaining in an old news broadcast (which I will digitize when I get the parts for my equipment). In the files here, I found a couple lyric sheets. We don’t know which was used, but with a willing musician it can be remade. For many years this song dominated the local airwaves until it slowly faded away. Many old timers have asked to hear this song again.

As time has gone on I’m still making marbles, though time is limited and I’m always rushing around. I’ve been busy promoting Rolley Hole across the state and have a list of folks wanting marbles. They know my schedule and know it’ll take a while. Hopefully they’re done by September. It’s been maybe a month since I’ve worked on any marbles.

That’s a pretty good write up. Where did you find your info? I’m really impressed with it. As part of my job now I have access to the largest collection of Rolley Hole info ever collected, so someday I’ll start posting some really good stuff again. Right now folks are always coming by work to ask about Rolley Hole. The popularity has significantly risen in the last couple years, however the father of the tournament at Standing Stone said that’s how it is. Rolley Hole popularity is like the tide, it comes in and goes out again, but it’s never gone. It has something special tied up into it that makes it endure when other crafts have gone. Every year there’s more marble makers, younger folks playing, and more people looking to see what it’s all about. “Predicting the future of Rolley Hole is like predicting the weather, and only a fool would do either one” - Bobby Fulcher Keep on doing what you’re doing. Now is a good time for it.

I have been at my new park since May 8th or so (kinda forgot). Compared to my last park, this place is a resort with many on site amenities like 3 restaurants, tons of boat ramps (13k acre lake), Nature Center, etc. Out here I have converted the abandoned pool area to the "Tims Ford Marbles Superdome" since the pool is no longer there. So far no one has attended any marbles programs including Cherokee Marbles. Compared to Standing Stone, it's been extremely busy. This park is better setup for interpretation (by having a Nature Center), and has a more attractive selection of activities and campgrounds that really bring the people in. Out here I have a higher-position and much more responsibility between making programs, coordinating staff, doing projects, and running camps. It's been busy, and I still do some mild spreading of Rolley Hole. I have been loaning out the "noodling for catfish" book for the Rolley Hole chapter. Out here my main strategy is to have a selection of colorful and interesting marbles to really get the attention. Out here, the bag of white marbles just doesn't do it.