player gets his name, he or she turns their back to the namer. When all
are named, and are standing with their backs to the namer, the namer
calls out, "Baker, baker, your bread is burnin'," or "Bakerie, bakerie,
your bread is burnin'." The guesser answers, "Will you give a corner of
it to me?" or "Give me a corner of it," and takes a stand beside the
namer. The namer then says--
Come, cheese me east,
Come, cheese me west,
Come, cheese me to "Rose."
The guesser points to one of the players. If the guess is right, the
player goes to the guesser's side; if wrong, to the namer's side, when
all the players except one are chosen. This one gets two names, say
"Needles" and "Preens." The namer then says to the guesser, "Needles"
or "Preens"? A guess is made. This is done three times, and each time
the names are changed. If the last guess is made correctly, then the
player goes to the guesser, if not, to the namer. Sometimes it is
decided by "the best o' three." Then comes the "tug of war." The gaining
side calls out "Rotten eggs, rotten eggs!"--Fraserburgh (Rev. Dr.
Gregor).
Needle Cases.
Needle cases, needle cases, in a silver saucer.
Who shall I direct it to but Captain ----'s daughter.
What will you give to tell her name, tell her name, tell her name?
A hundred pounds and a glass of wine.
(The girl's name is given, and she then asks)--
What will you give to tell his name?
(The others answer)--
Two hundred pounds and a glass of wine.
(Boy's name given by girl).
As I gaed down to borrow a pan,
I saw her sitting kissing her man;
She off with the glove and on with the ring.
To-morrow, to-morrow the wedding begins.
Clean the brass candlesticks, clean the fireside,
Draw up the curtains and let's see the bride.
All the players but one stand in a circle--this one goes round with a
handkerchief, singing the first lines. When the girl's name is mentioned
she tells her sweetheart's name to the girl with the handkerchief, sits
down in the centre, and covers her face with her hands. The one with the
handkerchief goes round again, asking, "What will you give?" and the
ring answers. Her name is then given, and the girl with the handkerchief
again asks, "What will you give to tell _his_ name?" The ring answers
again, and the sweetheart's name is then given. The girl with the
handkerchief goes round again and sings the last lines, the ring singing
with her. Then the one in the centre joins the ring, and the game begins
again.--Aberdeen (Rev. Dr. Gregor).
Nuts in May.
[Vol. i. pp. 424-433.]
Many versions of this have been sent me, but none differ materially from
those printed previously.
Odd Man.
A game played by two or three hundred persons who form a circle; every
one places his stick in the ground before him, by way of barrier. A
person called the odd man stands in the middle and delivers his bonnet
to any one in the ring. This is nimbly handed round, and the owner is to
recover it; and on succeeding, takes the place of the person whom he
took it from, and that person takes the middle place.--Pennant's "Voyage
to the Hebrides," p. 231.
Old Cranny Crow.
[Vol. i. p. 201; ii. pp. 404-405.]
This game resembles "Hen and Chickens," but though of that class of game
it is not, it will be seen, the usual form of "Hen and Chickens" at its
conclusion. The earlier part of the game and dialogue, if any, may,
however, have been similar. Mr. Rouse says: "I cannot recollect more of
Old Cranny Crow than that she entices children one by one out for a
walk, and steals them from their supposed mother. The mother is then
invited to dine by Old Cranny Crow, and has a pie (one of her children)
set before her, with pepper and salt, which she pretends to eat, and
when doing so discovers it to be just like her Tommy (or other child's
name). Then Cranny Crow puts another pie before her; this she discovers
to be just like her Katy. She finds out all her children one by one, and
they come to life again and run home."--M. L. Rouse, Blackheath. [See
"Mother, mother, pot boils over," "Witch."]
Old Johanny Hairy, Crap in!
All players sit round the fire and put out their right feet. The Master
of the game repeats--
Onery, twoery, dickery dary,
Wispy, spindey, spoke of the lindey,
Old Johanny Hairy
Crap in![17]
Each word is repeated to a man; and when the leader comes to "Crap in,"
the man specified draws in his foot. When all have drawn in their feet
but one, this one must then kneel down, and his eyes being blindfolded,
the master of the game puts his elbow on his back and strikes him with
his elbow or fist, saying--
Hurley, burley, trump the trace,
The cow ran through the market-place.
Simon Alley hunt the buck,
How many horns stand up?
At the same time holding up several fingers. The man kneeling down has
to guess the number. If he guesses correctly, the master of the game
takes his place. If he fails to guess he is kept down, and another man
goes and strikes his back, and so on.--Kiltubbrid, Co. Leitrim (L. L.
Duncan.)
A version of "Hot Cockles," with interesting variations.
Mr. Duncan, when sending me the games he collected, said--"It is very
possible that the people may have brought some of the games from England
when returning from harvesting. This, however, does not apply to 'Old
Johanny Hairy, crap in,' as it is now called in English. Crap isteach is
the Irish for 'draw in,' as in Mr. O'Faharty's 'Sports of the Winter'
there is a Gaelic version. This, I should imagine, makes it certain
that, although well known elsewhere, the game also obtained in the West
of Ireland."
[17] Crap--draw.
Paper of Pins.
Paper of pins to you I bring;
Say is my love worth anything?
Gold and silver to you I bring;
Say is my love worth anything?
No, I'll not have anything;
or,
Yes, I will have what you bring.
A ring is formed, and one player walks round outside saying the first
four lines, stopping at any child she chooses who answers "Yes" or "No."
If "Yes," the two go into the ring and kiss.--Marylebone, London (A. B.
Gomme).
This is interesting, as a possible fragment of the old Keys of
Canterbury [Halliwell's "Nursery Rhymes," No. cccclxvi.] and of the
Paper of Pins, described so fully by Mr. Newell in "Games and Songs of
American Children," pp. 51-55.
See "Keys of Heaven," _ante_, p. 437.
Pickie. A form of Hopscotch.
[See "Hopscotch," vol. i. pp. 223-227.]
[Illustration]
One player commences first by winning the toss. The pick (a small flat
stone) is pitched into No. 1 bed. It is then moved out of this first
place, backward across the front line, and not otherwise by touching or
forcing it with one foot, the other foot being kept up; that is, the
player must hop and use the foot on the ground to strike "pick." No line
must be touched. If this happens, or if the pick, when being driven
towards the pitching line, gets away otherwise than across the front
line, the player is "out," and the next boy goes in. All the beds are
done likewise, and all must be then done in a reverse way, beginning
with No. 10. The first player who completes the game wins.--Waterville,
Co. Kerry (Mrs. B. B. Green).
Poor Widow.
[Vol. ii. pp. 62, 63.]
Here's a poor widow from Babylon,
All her sons and daughters are gone.
Come choose to the east, come choose to the west,
Come choose you the very one that you like best.
Now they are married I wish them joy,
Every year a girl and boy.
Loving each other like sister and brother,
A happy new couple may kiss together.
--Laurieston School, Kircudbrightshire (J. Lawson).
A circle is formed, two children in the centre, one of whom kneels, the
other walks round singing--
I am a poor widow go walking around,
Go walking around, go walking around, my own.
And all of my children are married but one,
Are married but one, are married but one, my own.
I put on a nightcap to keep her head warm,
To keep her head warm, to keep her head warm, my own.
Then rise up my daughter and choose whom you please,
And choose whom you please, and choose whom you please, my own.
The mother then joins the circle, and the daughter becomes poor widow.
On the mention of the nightcap a white handkerchief is spread over the
head, the circle walking around slowly, and chanting the words slowly
and dismally.
--Penzance (Miss Courtney).
See "Widow," _ante_, p. 381.
Rashes.
A game played by children with rushes in Derbyshire, which is a relic of
the old custom of rush-bearing. In the warm days of May and June the
village children proceed in parties to the sedges and banks of dyke and
brook, there to gather the finest and best rushes. These are brought
with childish ceremony to some favourite spot, and then woven into
various articles, such as baskets, parasols, and umbrellas. Small
arbours are made of green bushes and strewn with rushes, inside which
the children sit and sing and play at "keeping house" with much lordly
ceremony. At these times they play at a game which consists in joining
hands in a circle, and going round a heap of rushes singing or saying--
Mary Green and Bessy Bell,
They were two bonny lasses;
They built a house in yonder hill,
And covered it with rashes.
Rashes, rashes, rashes!
At each repetition of the word "rashes" (rushes) they loosen hands, and
each picking up a lot of rushes, throw them into the air, so that they
may fall on every one in the descent. Many of the articles made with
rushes are hung over the chimney-piece in houses, and in children's
bedrooms, as ornaments or samples of skill, and there remain until the
next season, or until the general cleaning at Christmas.--Thomas.
Radcliffe, in "Long Ago," vol. i. p. 49 (1873).
Queen Anne.
[Vol. ii. pp. 90-102.]
Lady Queen Anne, she sits in her pan,
As fair as a lilly, as white as a lamb;
Come tittle, come tattle, come tell me this tale,
Which of these ladies doth carry the ball?
My father sent me three letters, please deliver the ball.
If a correct guess is made by the opposite side, the queen and the child
who had the ball say--
The ball is mine, it is not yours,
You may go to the garden and pick more flowers.
--Isle of Man (A. W. Moore).
Sally Water.
[Vol. ii. pp. 150-179.]
Sally, Sally, Walker, sprinkling in a pan,
Rye, Sally; rye, Sally, for a young man,
Come, choose to the east, come, choose to the west,
And come choose to the very one that you love best.
The choice is made here, and the two stand in the centre as usual.
Now there's a couple married in joy,
First a girl and then a boy.
---- made a pudding nice and sweet,
---- took a knife and tasted it.
Taste, love; taste, love, don't say no,
Next Monday morning is our marriage day.
Seven years after, seven years to come,
This young man shall be kissed and be done.
--Fochabers, N. E. Scotland (Rev. Dr. Gregor).
Sally, Sally, Water, sprinkled in a pan,
Rise, Sally; rise, Sally, for a young man.
Choose the best, leave the worst,
Choose the prettiest you can.
Now you're married we wish you joy,
First a girl and then a boy,
Seven years after son and daughter,
Kiss before you go over the water.
--London (Dr. A. C. Haddon, from Miss E. A. Passmore).
Played in usual way.
Shuffle the Brogue.
[See "Hunt the Slipper," vol. i. pp. 241, 242.]
The boys sat on their haunches in a circle. One of the players takes a
small object, and hands it from one to another under the legs from
behind. The players as they pass the brogue repeat the words--
Shuffle the brogue once,
Shuffle the brogue twice,
Shuffle the brogue thrice.
The object has always to be passed along in the same direction. One
player who is blindfolded has to catch it as it is passing along. The
one in whose hand it is found becomes the catcher. --Crossmichael,
Kirkcudbrightshire (Rev. Dr. Gregor).
Soldiers, Soldiers.
Soldiers, soldiers, march away,
Monday morning's here again;
The drums shall rattle, the pipes shall play
"Over the hills and far away."
Now you're married I wish you joy,
First a girl and then a boy;
If one don't kiss, the other must,
So kiss, kiss, kiss.
--Girton Village, Cambridgeshire (Dr. A. C. Haddon).
A circle is formed, and the children sing the first four lines. One
chooses a partner, and they dance round in the ring.
Three Dukes.
[Vol. ii. pp. 233-255.]
In a version of the Three Dukes, collected by Dr. A. C. Haddon, the
first lines are--
Here comes one duke a riding by, a riding by,
A riding by (repeat).
Rasima, Tasima, Tisima tay;
Pray what is your will, sir?
My will is to get married.
Will any of my fair daughters do?
They're all as stiff as pokers.
We can bend as well as you, sir.
The duke goes round, chooses one, and sings--
I go to the kitchen, I go to the hall,
I pick the fairest one of all (as previous versions).
--Girton Village, Cambridgeshire (Dr. A. C. Haddon).
Three Knights from Spain. [Vol. ii. pp. 257-279.]
A version of this game called "Gipsies," varies slightly from those
previously printed.
Here comes one gipsy come from Spain,
To call upon your daughter Jane;
Our daughter Jane is far too young,
To be controlled by flattering tongue.
Oh, very well, I must away;
I'll call again some other day.
Come back, come back,
Your tails are flag,
And choose the fairest one you see.
The gipsy then chooses a girl from the line of players, and asks her to
come. The girl asked replies, "No." Then the gipsy turns round and
dances, saying, "Naughty girl, she won't come out (repeat), to help me
in my dancing." Again the gipsy asks the girl, when she replies, "Yes,"
and goes to the gipsy, who says, "Now we have got the flower of May,
the flower of May, &c., to help us with our dancing."--Auchencairn, N.
B. (Mary Haddon).
Tug-of-War Game.
Apples and oranges, two for a penny,
Come all ye good scholars, buy ever so many.
Come choose the east, come choose the west,
Come choose the one you love the best.
Played like "Oranges and Lemons." One child is "Apple," and another
"Orange."--Ross-shire (Rev. Dr. Gregor).
Played in the same way is--
Pancakes and flitters is the wax of cantailers,[18]
I owe you two farthings, I'll pay you to-morrow;
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
Here comes a hatchet to chop off your head.
--Isle of Man (A. W. Moore).
[18] Mr. Moore says he does not know the meaning of this word.
We are the Rovers.
[Vol. ii. pp. 343-360].
In a version sent me by Dr. Haddon, there is a slight variation. The
first lines of each verse are--
Have you any bread and wine?
We are the Romans.
Have you, &c.
Yes, we have some bread and wine,
We are the English.
Yes, we have, &c.
Will you give us some of it, &c.
No; we'll give you none of it, &c.
We will tell our magistrates, &c.
We don't care for your magistrates, &c.
We will tell our new-born prince, &c.
We don't care for your new-born prince, &c.
Are you ready for a fight?
Yes, we're ready for a fight.
Tuck up sleeves and have a fight.
General scrimmage follows.--Girton Village, Cambridgeshire (Dr. A. C.
Haddon).
When I was a Young Girl.
[Vol. ii. pp. 362-374.]
The first lines are--
When I was a naughty girl, &c., and this way went I (shrugging
shoulders),
When I was a good girl, &c. (folding arms, walking soberly),
When I was a teacher (beating time or whacking, optional),
When I went a-courting (walking arm in arm),
When I had a baby (nursing apron as baby),
When my baby died (crying),
When my father beat me (hitting one another),
When my father died,
How I did laugh! (laughing).
--Girton Village, Cambridgeshire (Dr. A. C. Haddon).
MEMOIR ON THE STUDY OF CHILDREN'S GAMES
Children's games have not hitherto been studied in the same way as
customs and superstitions and folk-tales have been studied, namely, as a
definite branch of folk-lore. It is well however, to bear in mind that
they form a branch by themselves, and that, as such, they contribute to
the results which folk-lore is daily producing towards elucidating many
unrecorded facts in the early history of civilised man.
Although games have been used by Dr. Tylor and others as anthropological
evidence, these authorities have mostly confined themselves to those
games of skill or chance which happen to have parallels in savage life;
and the particular point of their conclusions rests rather upon the
parallels, than upon the substantive evidence of the games themselves.
I will first point out the nature of the material for the study. It will
be seen that the greater number of games printed in these two volumes
have been collected by myself and many kind correspondents, from
children in the present day--games that these children have learned from
other children or from their parents, and in no case, so far as I am
aware, have they been learned from a printed source. To this collection
I have added all printed versions of the traditional game, that is,
versions of games written down by the collector of folk-lore and
dialect--in some cases unconscious collectors of folk custom--from any
available source. A distinctive feature of the collection is, therefore,
that I have printed all versions of each game known to me which show
differences of words or methods of play. The importance of having all
the principal variants from different parts of the country will be
obvious when definite conclusions as to the origin and significance of
traditional games are being considered.
Strutt mentions many games played by boys in his day, but his remarks
are confined principally to games of skill with marbles, tops, &c., and
games like "Prisoner's Base," "Scots and English," "Hot Cockles," &c. He
records none of those interesting dialogue games which we know now as
singing games. It may be that these games were in his day, as now, the
property more of girls than of boys, and he may not have looked for or
thought of recording them, for it can hardly be imagined that he was
unaware of their existence. He records swinging and ball and shuttlecock
playing as girls' amusements, but very little else, and it cannot even
be suggested that the singing game and dialogue game have arisen since
his time. Indeed, an examination of the games will, I hope, prove for
them a very remote origin, showing traces of early beliefs and customs
which children could not have invented, and would not have made the
subjects of their play unless those beliefs and customs were as familiar
to them as cabs, omnibuses, motor cars, and railways, are to the
children of to-day, who use these things as factors in games which they
make up.
I do not pretend to have made a complete collection of all versions of
games to be found in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It will be seen
from my list that some counties are entirely unrepresented; but I think
examples enough have been brought together from a sufficient number of
different places to show that, even could I obtain the games of every
county, I could not reasonably hope to obtain any that would be
completely different from those appearing here. Versions differing, more
or less, in words from these would, doubtless, appear, but I do not
think an entirely different game, or any variants that would materially
alter my conclusions, will now be found. All those sent me during the
progress of the volumes through the press--and these are a considerable
number--show no appreciable differences.
A detailed examination of each game has led me to draw certain
conclusions as to the origin of many of the games. These conclusions
differ materially from those advanced by Halliwell, Strutt, or the
earlier writers, when they have attempted to suggest the origin of a
game. I also differ from Mr. Newell in many of the conclusions advanced
in his admirable collection of American children's games, although I
fully recognise the importance of his method of research. I believe,
too, that hitherto no attention has been paid to the manner or method in
which the game is played. It is to the "method" or "form" of play, when
taken together with the words, that I wish to draw particular attention,
believing it to be most important to the history of the games.
I do not, of course, claim that all the games recorded in these two
volumes are traditional in their present form, or have had independent
origins; many of these now known under different names have a common
origin. There is, probably, not one game in the same condition,
especially as regards words, as it was fifty or a hundred years ago; but
I consider the "form" or "method" would remain practically the same even
if the words get materially altered.
All games seem primarily to fall into one of two sections: the first,
dramatic games; the second, games of skill and chance. Now the game
proper, according to the general idea, must contain the element of
winning or losing. Thus, the games of skill and chance are played either
for the express purpose of winning property of some sort from a less
fortunate or skilful player, or to attain individual distinction. Games
of this kind are usually called boys' games, and are played principally
by them; but beyond these generally recognised games is the important
section of dramatic games, which are regarded as the property of the
girls, and played principally by them.
These two sections are generally considered as the peculiar
and particular property of each sex. Although this idea is borne out by
a study of the traditional game, it will be found that the boys have
dramatic games of their own, and the girls have special games of skill
and chance. It has so happened, however, that the development in the
case of the boys' dramatic games has been in the direction of
increasing the rules or laws of a game, introducing thereby so much
variety that it is difficult to recognise them as descendants of the
dramatic originals. This has probably been the result of their use in
school playgrounds, while the girls' dramatic games, not being utilised
as a means of exercise, have been left alone, and are dying a natural
death.
It will be convenient if, at this point, the games are classified as I
shall use them in discussing the question of origin. The first necessary
classification will relate to the incidents which show the customs and
rites from which the games have descended; the second classification
will relate to the dramatic force of the games, as it is from this that
I hope to construct the ladder by which the game can be shown to have
descended from a long past stage of culture.
The classification, according to incident, is as follows, the name of
each game referring to the title-name in the dictionary:--
MARRIAGE GAMES.
All the Boys.
Babbity Bowster.
Cushion Dance.
Down in the Valley.
Galley, Galley, Ship.
Glasgow Ships.
Hear all! let me at her.
Here comes a Virgin.
Here's a Soldier left alone.
Here stands a Young Man.
Isabella.
Jolly Miller.
King William.
Kiss in the Ring.
Mary mixed a Pudding.
Merry-ma-tanza.
Nuts in May.
Oats and Beans.
Oliver, Oliver, follow the King.
Pretty little Girl of Mine.
Queen Anne.
Rosy Apple.
Round and round the Village.
Sally Water.
Silly Old Man, he walks alone.
Three Dukes.
Three Knights.
Three Sailors.
Widow.
COURTSHIP AND LOVEMAKING GAMES.
Curly Locks.
Dig for Silver.
Gallant Ship.
Here comes a Lusty Wooer.
Here I sit on a Cold Green Bank.
Hey Wullie Wine.
Jolly Hooper.
Jolly Sailors.
Knocked at the Rapper.
Lady on the Mountain.
Paper of Pins.
Pray, pretty Miss.
Queen Mary.
Ring me Rary.
Salmon Fishers.
Shame Reel.
Soldier.
Sun Shines.
Three Old Bachelors.
Wind, The.
FORTRESS GAMES.
Barbarie, King of the.
Canlie (Addenda).
How many Miles to Babylon.
King of the Castle.
London Bridge.
Tower of London.
Willie Wastell.
FUNERAL GAMES.
Booman.
Green Grass.
Green Gravel.
Jenny Jones.
Old Roger.
Wallflowers.
HARVEST GAMES.
Oats and Beans and Barley.
Would you know how doth the Peasant?
TRADE GAMES.
Dumb Motions.
Trades.
GHOST GAMES.
Deil amo' the Dishes.
Ghost at the Well.
Mouse and Cobbler.
WELL WORSHIP GAME.
Draw a Pail of Water.
RUSH-BEARING GAME.
Rashes.
TREE WORSHIP GAME.
Eller Tree.
WINDING UP GAMES.
Bulliheisle.
Port the Helm.
Snail Creep.
Tuilzie Wap.
Wind up the Bush Faggot.
TABU GAME.
Old Soldier.
DIVINATION GAMES.
Dan'l my Man.
Hot Cockles.
Jack's Alive.
Keppy Ball.
'Ot millo.
Priest Cat.
Ragman.
Ringie Red Belt.
Shuttlefeather.
Swinging.
VICTIMISING OR PENALTY GAMES.
(_Forms of Torture._)
Block, Hammer, and Nail.
Bonnety.
Carrying the Queen a Letter.
Cat Beds.
Cobbin Match.
Cry Notchil.
Dump.
Ezzeka.
Father's Fiddle.
Heap the Cairn.
Hecklebirnie.
Hewley Puley.
Hickety Bickety.
Hiry Hag.
Hot Cockles.
Jack's Alive.
Magic Whistle.
More Sacks to the Mill.
Namers and Guessers.
Priest of the Parish.
Pun o' mair Weight.
Ronin the Bee.
Sacks.
Salt Eel.
Shoe the Auld Mare.
Wild Birds.
CHARM GAMES.
Cockeldy Bread.
Thun'er Spell.
EFFIGY GAME.
Drawing Dun out of the Mire.
IMITATION OF SPORT GAMES.