Part 11
1. The player, taking the checks and ball in the right hand, throws down the checks, keeping the ball in the hand. If any check fall outside the ring the player is "down." There is skill needed in the throwing of the checks in this and the following movements, so that they may be conveniently placed for taking up in the proper order. The checks being scattered, the player throws up the ball, takes up one check, and catches the ball as it comes down, or, as it is sometimes played, after it has bounced once from the step. This is repeated till all the checks are taken up.
2. As the last figure, but the checks are taken up two at a throw.
3. As the last, but at the first throw one check, called the Horse, is taken up, and at the second the remaining three checks at once, called the Cart.
4. As before, but all the checks taken up together.
5. Called Ups and Downs. The checks are taken up at one throw, and set down outside the ring at the next. This is done first with one, then with two, and so on.
6. Each check is touched in turn as the ball is thrown.
7. The checks are separately pushed out of the ring.
8. Each check in turn is taken up and knocked against the ground.
9. Each check is taken up and tapped upon another.
10. The checks are first arranged three in a line, touching each other, and the fourth placed at the top of that at one end of the row. This is called the Cradle. It has to be taken down check by check, and if, in taking one, another is moved, the player is out.
11. Like the last, but the checks are put one above another to make a Chimney.
12. Called the Dish-clout--I know not why, unless it be that it wipes up the game. The movement used in taking up the checks is thus described:--"Take hold of the sleeve of the right hand with the left; throw up the ball, and twist your right hand underneath and over your left, and catch the ball. With the hand still twisted throw up the ball and untwist and catch it." The checks are picked up in the course of the twisting.
These I am told are the orthodox movements; and I do not doubt that in them there is much of very old tradition, although the tenth and eleventh must have been either added or modified since pot checks came into use, for the figures could not be built up with the natural bones. Some other movements are sometimes used according to fancy, as for example the clapping of the ground with the palm of the hand before taking up the checks and catching the ball.--J. T. Micklethwaite (_Arch. Journ._, xlix. 327-28).
I am told that in the iron districts of Staffordshire, the round bits of iron punched out in making rivet holes in boiler plates are the modern representatives of hucklebones.--_Ibid._
In Westminster four stones are held in the right hand, a marble is thrown up, and all four stones thrown down, and the marble allowed to bounce on the hearthstone or pavement, and then caught in the same hand after it has rebounded. The marble is then thrown up again, and one of the four stones picked up, and the marble caught again after it has rebounded. This is done separately to the other three, bringing all four stones into the hand. The marble is again bounced, and all four stones thrown down and the marble caught. Two stones are then picked up together, then the other two, then one, then three together, then all four together, the marble being tossed and caught with each throw. An arch is then formed by placing the left hand on the ground, and the four stones are again thrown down, the marble tossed, and the four stones put separately into the arch, the marble being caught after it has rebounded each time; or the four stones are separately put between the fingers of the left hand in as straight a row as possible. Then the left hand is taken away, and the four stones caught up in one sweep of the hand. Then all four stones are thrown down, and one is picked up before the marble is caught. This is retained in the hand, and when the second stone is picked up the first one is laid down before the marble is caught; the third is picked up and the second laid down, the fourth picked up and the third laid down, then the fourth laid down, the marble being tossed and caught again each time. The stones have different names or marks (which follow in rotation), and in picking them up they must be taken in their proper order, or it is counted as a mistake. The game is played throughout by the right hand, the left hand only being used when "arches" is made. The marble should be thrown up about the same height each toss, and there should be little or no interval between the different figures.--Annie Dicker.
I saw this game played in Endell Street, London, W.C., by two girls. Their game was not so long nor so complete as the above. They did not throw all four stones down as a preliminary stage, but began with the second figure, the four gobs being placed in a square ::, nor were they particular as to which stones they picked up. They knew nothing of numbering or naming them. Their marble was called a "jack." They had places chalked on the pavement where they recorded their successful "goes," and the game was played in a ring.--A. B. Gomme.
An account sent me from Deptford (Miss Chase) is doubtless the same game. It begins with taking two "gobs" at once, and apparently there are eight stones or gobs to play with. The marble or round stone which is thrown up is called a "tally." The directions for playing are--
We take twoses, We take threeses, We take fourses, We take sixes, We take eights.
Chain eggs--_i.e._, to pick up one and drop it again until this has been done to each stone. Arches--_i.e._, gobs in a row. This was described by the player as "while the tally is up to sweep the whole row or line off the ground into the arch of the finger and thumb before catching the tally."
(_b_) These games are variants of one common original. It is the same game as that described by F. H. Low in the _Strand Magazine_, ii. 514, as played in the London streets. The marble there is called a "buck." "Pegsy" was the name of the No. 5 stage of the Wakefield version, and this varies too, inasmuch as it was the same gob which is picked up and then laid down before catching the buck.
Mr. Kinahan says, "'Jackstones,' played with three or four small stones that are thrown up in the air and caught again, seems to have been a very ancient game, as the stones have been found in the _crannogs_ or lake-dwellings in some hole near the fireplaces, similar to where they are found in a cabin at the present day. An old woman, or other player, at the present time puts them in a place near the hob when they stop their game and go to do something else" (_Folk-lore Journal_, ii. 266). In the Græco-Roman saloon, British Museum, is a statue originally composed of two boys quarrelling at the game of "Tali" (see _Townley Gallery_, i. 305; Smith's _Dict. Greek and Roman Antiq._, s.v. _Talus_), and it is interesting to note that in the Deptford game the marble is called a "Tally."
Mr. Kinahan's note suggests that "Fivestones" may be an independent game, instead of a derivative from "Hucklebones." If this is so, we have interesting evidence of the spread or transmission of one game from at least two centres. Professor Attwell, in _Notes and Queries_, 8th ser., iv. 201, suggests that "Hucklebones" was introduced into Europe by the Romans, and was spread throughout the countries which formed the empire by means of Roman colonists and soldiers. Mr. Newell (_Games_, pp. 190-93) describes a similar game to "Fivestones" played in Boston under the name of "Otadama," or "Japanese Jacks." This game is of Japanese origin, "Tedama" (that is, "Handballs") being its proper name. He says there can be no doubt that the two forms of this amusement are branches of the same root; and we thus have an example of a game which, having preserved its essential characteristics for thousands of years, has fairly circumnavigated the globe, so that the two currents of tradition, westward and eastward, from Europe and Asia, have met in America.
See "Checkstones," "Dibs," "Hucklebones," "Jackstones."
Flowers
Sides are chosen; each side must have a "home" at the top and bottom of the ground where the children are playing. One side chooses a flower and goes over to the other side, the members of which stand in a row facing the first side. The first side states the initial letters of the flower it has chosen, and when the second side guesses the right flower they run and try to catch as many of the opposite side as they can before they reach their home. The captives then become members of the side which captured them.--Bitterne, Hants (Mrs. Byford).
Follow my Gable
[Music]
--Earls Heaton, Yorkshire.
[Music]
--Redhill, Surrey.
I. Follow my gable 'oary man, Follow my gable 'oary man, I'll do all that ever I can To follow my gable 'oary man.
We'll borrow a horse and steal a gig, And round the world we'll have a jig, And I'll do all that ever I can To follow my gable 'oary man.
--Earls Heaton, Yorks (Herbert Hardy).
II. Holy Gabriel, holy man, Rantum roarum reeden man, I'll do all as ever I can To follow my Gabriel, holy man.[3]
--Redhill, Surrey (Miss G. Hope).
III. I sell my bat, I sell my ball, I sell my spinning-wheel and all; And I'll do all that ever I can To follow the eyes of the drummer man.
--Luton, Bedfordshire (Mrs. Ashdown).
(_b_) In the Yorkshire version a ring is formed with one child in the middle as the 'Oary Man. Whatever he, or she, does, all in the ring must mimic, going round and singing at the same time. Any one found late in changing the action or idle in obeying the caperings of the central child becomes the 'Oary Man in place of the child taking that part. Both girls and boys play. In the Redhill version, Holy Gabriel kneels in the middle of the circle. He acts as leader, and always had the fiddle as his instrument, though he now usually plays the pianoforte as his first instrument. The other children choose any instrument they like. Holy Gabriel pretends to play the fiddle, and all the other children play their own instruments until Holy Gabriel changes his to one of theirs, when that one must immediately begin to play the fiddle, and continue until Holy Gabriel takes another instrument or returns to the fiddle. This is done in vigorous pantomime. In the Luton variant the children sit in a semicircle, the Drummer faces them. He plays the drum; all the other children play on any other instrument they like. If the other players do not at once change their instrument, or neglect to sing the lines, a forfeit is demanded.
(_c_) Mr. Hardy says some sing this game, "Follow my game an holy man." Mr. Hardy once thought it was the remnant of a goblin story of a hoary man of the gable or house-roof, who presided over the destinies of poor cottagers, and he had begun to make out the folk tale. The fairy would sometimes come down, and, playing his antics, compel whomsoever observed him to follow him in a mimicking procession. Miss Hope writes of "Holy Gabriel" that the game is played at Mead Vale, a small village in Surrey, but is unknown at larger villages and towns a few miles off. Some of the women who played it in their youth say that it began in the Primitive Methodist school at Mead Vale. It is played at Outword, also a remote village, and was introduced there by a stonemason, who stated that he had learned it from a cousin who had been in America. Further inquiry by Miss Hope elicited the fact that the cousin had learned the game, when a boy, in his native place in Lancashire. He did not know whether it was a well-known game there. This information points perhaps to a modern origin, but in such cases it must be borne in mind that people are very fond of suggesting recent circumstances as the cause of the most ancient traditions or customs. The obvious analogy to the incident in the myth of the Pied Piper, and to the Welsh custom at St. Almedha Church, near Brecknock, recorded by Giraldus Cambrensis, where the imitation of a frenzied leader is carried out as a religious ceremony, rather suggests that in this game we may have a survival of a ceremonial so common among early or uncultured people, the chief incident of which is the frenzied dancing of a god-possessed devotee.
[3] A variant of the second line is, "Ranting, roaring, heely man." "I suppose he was Irish," said my informant, "as he was named 'Healey'" (Miss G. Hope).
Follow my Leader
This is a boys' game. Any number can take part in it. It requires a good extent of country to play it well. The boy who is the swiftest runner and the best jumper is chosen as Leader. He sets out at a good speed over the fields, tries to jump as many ditches or burns, jumping such from one side to the other again and again, to scramble over dykes, through hedges, over palings, and run up braes. The others have to follow him as they can. This steeplechase continues till the followers are all tired out.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
This is a very general game among schoolboys, but in Hereford it was a town custom occurring once in seven years on 11th October (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 75).
Fool, Fool, come to School
This game is played under the name of "Foolie, Foolie" at Duthil, Strathspey. The players are placed in a row, either standing or sitting. Two are chosen, the one as Namer and the other as Foolie. Foolie withdraws, if not out of sight, at least out of range of hearing. The Namer then gives a name secretly to each player. When this is done, he calls on Foolie--Foolie, Foolie, come to your schoolie.
Foolie pays no attention to this call. It is again repeated, but with the same results. This goes on for several times. At last the Namer calls out--
Foolie, Foolie, come to your schoolie; Your bannocks are burnin' an' ready for turnin'.
Foolie always obeys this call, comes and stations himself beside the Namer. A little chaffing generally goes on against Foolie. The Namer says, "Come chise me oot, come chise me in, tae" so and so, naming one by the assumed fancy name. Foolie makes choice of one. If the choice falls right, the one so chosen steps from the line and stands beside Foolie. If the choice falls wrong, the one named remains in the line. All the players' names are called out in this way. If any stand unchosen by Foolie, the Namer then goes up to each and asks if he wants, _e.g._, "an aipple," "an orange," "a kirk," "a cottage," &c. Each one whispers what he wants. The same question is put to Foolie. If he answers, _e.g._, "orange," the one so named steps out and stands beside Foolie. All not first chosen are gone over in this way. Those left unchosen take their stand beside the Namer. There is then a tug-of-war, with the Namer and Foolie as the leaders.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
In Hants the children stand _vis-à-vis_, as in a country dance. One of the number is sent out of earshot, and the others decide with the Captain as to the name of the bird each wishes to personate. The Captain then calls to the child who is out, "Tom Fool, Tom Fool, come home from school, and pick me out a blackbird," "cuckoo," or other bird. If Tom Fool is wrong in his guessing after three trials, he is condemned to run the gauntlet, being pelted with gloves or handkerchiefs not too mercifully.--Bitterne, Hants (Miss Byford).
In Sussex there is the same action with the following words, but there is no chasing or hitting--
Of all the birds in the air, Of all the fishes in the sea, You can pick me out [ ]
If the children fail to do so, they say--
Poor fool, been to school, Learn more in a week; Been there seven years And hasn't learnt a bit.
--Hurstmonceux, Sussex (Miss Chase).
The same game is played indoors in Cornwall, the reply being--
Fool, fool, go back to school And learn your letters better.
--Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 99-80).
See "Namers and Guessers."
Foot and Over
One boy out of a number stoops in the position for "Leap-frog" at an agreed fixed line. From the players he chooses a Leader and a Foot. The Leader first leaps over the stooping boy at a foot from the line; the other players then leap in turn each at a foot further from the line, the stooping boy moving forward from the line for each player; finally the Foot leaps as far as the distance leapt by the last boy. If this is accomplished, the Leader hops from the line and then leaps; the followers hop and leap each a foot further than each other; finally the Foot hops and leaps as far as the distance covered by the last boy. If this is accomplished, the Leader hops twice and then leaps; the same process going on until one of the boys fails, who then takes the place of the stooping boy, and the game begins again. If the Foot covers any longer distance than the Leader, the Leader stoops down.--Earls Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).
This game is general. Mr. Emslie describes the London version somewhat differently. After all the boys had jumped over the first boy's back, a cry of "Foot it" was raised, and the boy who had given the back placed one of his feet at a right angle to the other, and in this way measured a "foot's length" from the starting-place. All the boys then "overed" his back from the original line, the last one crying "Foot it," and then the measuring ceremony was again gone through, and the game commenced again, and continued in the same manner until one of the boys failed to "over" the back, when he became Back.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: 1st position]
[Illustration: 2nd position]
[Illustration: 3rd position]
Football
The modern game of "Football" is too well known to need description here, and, like "Cricket," it has become no longer a children's game. As to its origin, there are many ball games, such as "Camping," which have been suggested as the original form of "Football." Every school almost had some peculiarity in the method of playing, and Eton, Winchester, Uppingham, and Rugby are well-known examples. It is not a little interesting to note, now that "Football" has settled down into a national game organised by county committees, that one of the forms of play officially recognised is the old Rugby game, the other form, known as the "Association," being arrived at by agreement of those interested in the game.