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.
To illustrate the ancient origin of the game, and its serious import as
a local contest rather than a sport, some examples may be given. It is
still (1877) keenly contested at Workington on Easter Tuesday on the
banks of, and not unfrequently in, the river Derwent (Dickinson's
_Cumberland Glossary_). At Derby there was a football contest between
the parishes of All Saints' and St. Peter's. The ball was thrown into
the market-place from the Town Hall. The moment it was thrown the "war
cries" of the rival parishes began, and the contest, nominally that of a
football match, was in reality a fight between the two sections of the
town; and the victors were announced by the joyful ringing of their
parish bells (Dyer's _Popular Customs_, p. 75). At Chester-le-Street the
game was played between what were termed "up-streeters" and
"down-streeters," one side endeavouring to get the ball to the top of
the town, whilst their opponents tried to keep it near the lower or
north end. At one o'clock the ball was thrown out from near the old
commercial hotel, the Queen's Head, in the centre of the town, and it
has often been received by over three and four hundred people, so great
was the interest taken in this ancient sport. At Asborne the struggle
was between the "up'ards" and "down'ards." At Dorking the divisions were
between the east and west ends of the town, and there was first a
perambulation of the streets by the football retinue composed of
grotesquely dressed persons. At Alnwick the divisions were the parishes
of St. Michael's and St. Paul's. At Kirkwall the contest was on New
Year's Day, and was between "up the gates" and "down the gates," the
ball being thrown up at the Cross. At Scarborough, on the morning of
Shrove Tuesday, hawkers paraded the streets with parti-coloured balls,
which were purchased by all ranks of the community. With these, and
armed with sticks, men, women, and children repaired to the sands below
the old town and indiscriminately commenced a contest. The following
graphic account of Welsh customs was printed in the _Oswestry Observer_
of March 2, 1887: "In South Cardiganshire it seems that about eighty
years ago the population, rich and poor, male and female, of opposing
parishes, turned out on Christmas Day and indulged in the game of
'Football' with such vigour that it became little short of a serious
fight. The parishioners of Cellan and Pencarreg were particularly bitter
in their conflicts; men threw off their coats and waistcoats and women
their gowns, and sometimes their petticoats. At Llanwenog, an extensive
parish below Lampeter, the inhabitants for football purposes were
divided into the Bros and the Blaenaus. A man over eighty, an inmate of
Lampeter Workhouse, gives the following particulars:--In North Wales the
ball was called the Bêl Troed, and was made with a bladder covered with
a Cwd Tarw. In South Wales it was called Bél Ddu, and was usually made
by the shoe-maker of the parish, who appeared on the ground on Christmas
Day with the ball under his arm. The Bros, it should be stated, occupied
the high ground of the parish. They were nicknamed 'Paddy Bros,' from a
tradition that they were descendants from Irish people who settled on
the hills in days long gone by. The Blaenaus occupied the lowlands, and,
it may be presumed, were pure-bred Brythons. The more devout of the Bros
and Blaenaus joined in the service at the parish church on Christmas
morning. At any rate, the match did not begin until about mid-day, when
the service was finished. Then the whole of the Bros and Blaenaus, rich
and poor, male and female, assembled on the turnpike road which divided
the highlands from the lowlands. The ball having been redeemed from the
Crydd, it was thrown high in the air by a strong man, and when it fell
Bros and Blaenaus scrambled for its possession, and a quarter of an hour
frequently elapsed before the ball was got out from among the struggling
heap of human beings. Then if the Bros, by hook or by crook, could
succeed in taking the ball up the mountain to their hamlet of Rhyddlan
they won the day; while the Blaenaus were successful if they got the
ball to their end of the parish at New Court. The whole parish was the
field of operations, and sometimes it would be dark before either party
scored a victory. In the meantime many kicks would be given and taken,
so that on the following day some of the competitors would be unable to
walk, and sometimes a kick on the shins would lead the two men
concerned to abandon the game until they had decided which was the
better pugilist. There do not appear to have been any rules for the
regulation of the game; and the art of football playing in the olden
time seems to have been to reach the goal. When once the goal was
reached, the victory was celebrated by loud hurrahs and the firing of
guns, and was not disturbed until the following Christmas Day. Victory
on Christmas Day, added the old man, was so highly esteemed by the whole
countryside, that a Bro or Blaenau would as soon lose a cow from his
cow-house as the football from his portion of the parish."
(_b_) In Gomme's _Village Community_, pp. 241-44, the position of
football games as elements in the traditions of race is discussed, and
their relationship to a still earlier form of tribal games, where the
element of clan feuds is more decidedly preserved, is pointed out.
Forfeits
Forfeits are incurred in those games in which penalties are exacted from
players for non-compliance with the rules of the game; "Buff,"
"Contrary," "Crosspurposes," "Fire, Air, and Water," "Follow my Gable,"
"Genteel Lady," "Jack's Alive," "Old Soldier," "Twelve Days of
Christmas," "Turn the Trencher," "Wadds," and others. These games are
described under their several titles, and the formula for forfeits is
always the same. Small articles belonging to the players must be given
by them every time a forfeit is incurred, and these must be redeemed at
the close of the game. They are "cried" in the following manner:--One of
the players sits on a chair having the forfeits in her lap. A child
kneels on the ground and buries his face in his hands on the lap of the
person who holds the forfeits. The "crier" then takes up
indiscriminately one of the forfeits, and holding it up in the sight of
all those who have been playing the games (without the kneeling child
seeing it), says--
Here's a very pretty thing and a very pretty thing,
And what shall be done to [_or_, by] the owner of this very pretty
thing?
The kneeling child then says what the penance is to be. The owner of the
forfeit must then perform the penance before the other players, and then
another forfeit is "cried."
The more general penances imposed upon the owners of the forfeits are as
follows, but the list could be very much extended:--
Bite an inch off the poker.
Kneel to the prettiest, bow to the wittiest, and kiss the one you
love best.
Stand in each corner of the room, sigh in one, cry in another, sing
in another, and dance in the other.
Put yourself through the keyhole.
Place two chairs in the middle of the room, take off your shoes, and
jump over them.
Measure so many yards of love ribbon.
Postman's knock.
Crawl up the chimney.
Spell Opportunity.
Miss Burne mentions one penance designed to make the victim ridiculous,
as when he is made to lie on his back on the floor with his arms
extended, and declare--
Here I lie!
The length of a looby,
The breadth of a booby,
And three parts of a jackass!
--_Shropshire Folk-lore_, pp. 526-27.
(_c_) Halliwell gives, in his _Nursery Rhymes_, pp. 324-26, some curious
verses, recorded for the first time by Dr. Kenrick in his Review of Dr.
Johnson's Shakespeare, 1765, on "rules for seemly behaviour," in which
the forfeits imposed by barbers as penalties for handling razors, &c,
are set forth. Although "barbers' forfeits" are not of the same nature
as the nursery forfeits, it is possible that this general custom among
so important a class of the community in early times as barbers may have
suggested the game. Both Forby in his _Vocabulary of East Anglia_ and
Moor in his _Suffolk Words_ bear testimony to the general prevalence of
barbers' forfeits, and it must be borne in mind that barbers were also
surgeons in early days. A curious custom is also recorded in another
East Anglian word-list, which may throw light upon the origin of the
game from popular custom. "A forfeit is incurred by using the word
'water' in a brew-house, where you must say 'liquor;' or by using the
word 'grease' in a chandlery, where it is 'stuff' or 'metal.' The
forfeit is to propitiate the offended _genius loci_" (Spurden's _East
Anglian Vocabulary_). The element of divination in the custom is perhaps
indicated by a curious note from Waldron, in his _Description of the
Isle of Man_ (_Works_, p. 55), "There is not a barn unoccupied the whole
twelve days, every parish hiring fiddlers at the public charge. On
Twelfth Day the fiddler lays his head on some of the wenches' laps, and
a third person asks who such a maid or such a maid shall marry, naming
the girls then present one after another; to which he answers according
to his own whim, or agreeable to the intimacies he has taken notice of
during this time of merriment. But whatever he says is as absolutely
depended on as an oracle; and if he happen to couple two people who have
an aversion to each other, tears and vexation succeed the mirth. This
they call cutting off the fiddler's head; for after this he is dead for
the whole year." Redeeming the forfeits is called "Crying the Weds," in
Burne's _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 526. See "Wadds."
Fox
Fox, a fox, a brummalary
How many miles to Lummaflary? Lummabary?
Eight and eight and a hundred and eight.
How shall I get home to-night?
Spin your legs and run fast.
Halliwell gives this rhyme as No. ccclvii. of his _Nursery Rhymes_, but
without any description of the game beyond the words, "A game of the
fox." It is probably the same game as "Fox and Goose."
Fox and Goose (1)
In Dorsetshire one of the party, called the Fox, takes one end of the
room or corner of a field (for the game was equally played indoors or
out); all the rest of the children arrange themselves in a line or
string, according to size, one behind the other, the smallest last,
behind the tallest one, called Mother Goose, with their arms securely
round the waist of the one in front of them, or sometimes by grasping
the dress.
The game commences by a parley between the Fox and Goose to this effect,
the Goose beginning.
"What are you after this fine morning?"
"Taking a walk."
"With what object?"
"To get an appetite for a meal."
"What does [will] your meal consist of?"
"A nice fat goose for my breakfast."
"Where will you get it?"
"Oh, I shall get a nice morsel somewhere; and as they are so handy, I
shall satisfy myself with one of yours."
"Catch one if you can."
A lively scene follows. The Fox and Mother Goose should be pretty evenly
matched; the Mother with extended arms seeking to protect her Brood,
while the Fox, who tries to dodge under, right and left, is only allowed
in case of a successful foray or grasp to secure the last of the train.
Vigorous efforts are made to escape him, the Brood of course
supplementing the Mother's exertions to elude him as far as they are
able, but without breaking the link. The game may be continued until all
in turn are caught.--_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 217-18.
In Lancashire the children stand in line behind each other, holding each
other by the waist. One stands facing them and calls out--
My mother sits on yonder chimney,
And she says she _must_ have a chicken.
The others answer--
She _can't_ have a chicken.
The one then endeavours to catch the last child of the tail, who when
caught comes behind the captor; repeat until all have changed
sides.--Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy).
A version of this game played at Eckington, Derbyshire, is played as
follows:--A den is chalked out or marked out for the Fox. A larger den,
opposite to this, is marked out for the Geese. A boy or a girl
represents the Fox, and a number of others the Geese. Then the Fox
shouts, "Geese, Geese, gannio," and the Geese answer, "Fox, Fox,
fannio." Then the Fox says, "How many Geese have you to-day?" The Geese
reply, "More than you can catch and carry away." Then the Geese run out
of the den, and the Fox tries to catch them. He puts as many as he
catches into his den (S. O. Addy).
(_b_) This game is a very general one at Christmas time. It is
practically the same as "Gled Wylie," and "Hen and Chickens," and the
"Hawk and Chickens" of Mr. Newell's _Games and Songs of American
Children_, pp. 155-56. By referring to these games it will be seen that
the whole group are mimic representatives of farmyard episodes, though
the animal characters are giving way to more domestic affairs, as shown
in the Pins and Needles version of "Hen and Chickens." It is possible
that the different animals which are victims to the Fox appearing in the
different games may arise from local circumstances, and that in this
case a real distinction exists between the various names by which this
game is known. A game called "Wolf and Deer," similar to "Fox and
Geese," is given in _Winter Evening Amusements_, by R. Revel. The last
one at the end of the tail may, if she has no other chance of escape,
try and place herself before the Deer or Hen. She is then no longer to
be hunted; all the others must then follow her example until the deer
becomes the last of the line. The game then terminates by exacting a
forfeit for each lady whom the Wolf has suffered to escape his clutches
(pp. 64, 65).
See "Gled Wylie," "Hen and Chickens," "Old Dame."
Fox and Geese (2)
A game known by this name is played with marbles or pegs on a board on
which are thirty-three holes, or on the pavement, with holes scraped out
of the stones. To play this game there are seventeen pieces called
Geese, and another one either larger or distinguished from the Geese by
its colour, which is called the Fox. The Fox occupies the centre hole,
and the Geese occupy nine holes in front, and four on each side of him.
The vacant holes behind are for the Geese and Fox to move in. The game
is for the Geese to shut up the Fox so that he cannot move. All the
pieces can be moved from one spot to another in the direction of the
lines, but cannot pass over two holes at once. The Geese are not
permitted to take the Fox. The Fox's business is to take all, or as many
of the Geese as will prevent him from being blockaded. The Fox can take
the Geese whenever there is a vacant space behind them, which he passes
to, then occupies.
This game has been very popular among schoolboys in all ages. Mr.
Micklethwaite, in a paper on the Indoor Games of School Boys in the
Middle Ages (_Arch. Journ._ xlix. 322), gives instances of finding
figures of this game cut "in the cloister benches of Gloucester
Cathedral and elsewhere, and there are several on the twelfth century
tomb at Salisbury, miscalled Lord Stourton's," and also at Norwich
Castle. For the date of these boards, Mr. Micklethwaite says for the
last three centuries and a half cloisters everywhere in England have
been open passages, and there have generally been schoolboys about. It
is therefore not unlikely that they should have left behind them such
traces as these play-boards. But if they are of later date they would
not be found to be distributed in monastic cloisters with respect to the
monastic arrangement, and we do find them so. Strutt describes the game
(_Sports_, p. 319).
See "Nine Men's Morris," "Noughts and Crosses."
Fox in the Fold
"The Tod (Fox) i' the Faul (Fold)." This game is commonly played by
boys. Any number of boys join hands and stand in a circle to form the
Faul. The boy that represents the Tod is placed within the circle. His
aim is to escape. To effect this he rushes with all his force, increased
by a run, against the joint hands of any two of the players. If the rush
does not unloose the grasp, he hangs on the two arms with all his
weight, pressing and wriggling. If he fails he makes a rush at another
two, always selecting those players he thinks weakest. When he does
break through he rushes off at the top of his speed, with all the
players in full cry, till he is caught and brought back. The game
begins anew with another boy as Tod.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
See "Bull in the Park," "Frog in the Middle."
Fox in the Hole
All the players are armed with handkerchiefs. One of the players is
chosen for Fox, who has his den marked out. The Fox hops out on one leg,
with his handkerchief ready to strike. The players gather round him and
attack him. If he can strike one of his assailants without putting his
foot to the ground from his hopping position, the player so struck is
chased by the others into the den, and he then becomes the Fox for
another round of the game.--Cork (Miss Keane).
Halliwell (_Nursery Rhymes_, p. 228) describes the game in practically
the same manner, but adds that when the Fox is coming out he says--
The Fox gives warning
It's a cold and frosty morning,
after which he is at liberty to hop out and use his handkerchief.
_(b)_ This game is alluded to in _Soliman and Perseda_, 1599; _Florio_,
p. 480; _Herrick_, i. 176. See Halliwell's _Dictionary_. Professor Mayor
communicated to the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of 1848 (ii.), p. 147, the
following early allusions to the game from old dictionaries:--
Gouldman, London, MDCLXIV.--"_Ascoliasmus_, Empusæ ludus: a kind of play
wherein boys lift up one leg and hop with the other, where they beat one
another with bladders tied to the end of strings. Fox to thy hole."
Holyoke, MDCLXXVII.--"_Empusa_. [Greek: para to heni podizein], quòd uno
incedat pede. Hence _empusam agere_ is used for a play, hopping on one
leg; with us, Fox to his hole."
Id. "_Ascoliasmus._ A kind of play that children use when they hop on
one leg, called Fox to thy hole."
Cambridge Dict. MDCXCIII.--"_Ascol._ A kind of play wherein boys hopping
on one leg beat one another with gloves or pieces of leather, and is
called Fox to thy hole."
Coles, 7th ed. 1711.--"_Ascol._ The play called Fox to the
hole.--_Empus._ Ludus Empusæ. Scotch hoppers, or Fox in the hole."
A similar game to this is played at Earls Heaton, Yorkshire (Mr. Hardy),
and called "Goose and Gander." Two players, the Goose and the Gander,
stand in a ring, each on one leg. They hop out in turn, and try to catch
one of the other players without letting their other leg touch the
ground. If they fail in this they get "strapped" back to the ring. When
either are successful, the player who is caught takes the place of
either Goose or Gander in turn. The game is also mentioned in _Useful
Transactions in Philosophy_, 1708-9.
French Jackie
This game is played either by boys or girls or by both together. One is
chosen to stand alone; the other players join hands and form a circle.
The one outside the circle goes round it and touches on the back one of
the circle. He then runs off round the circle, and the one who was
touched runs off in the opposite direction round the circle. The aim of
each player is to reach the vacant place in the circle first. The one
left out has to repeat the same action. The game may go on for any
length of time.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
At Barnes this game is called "Gap." It is known as "French Tag" in the
Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Miss Matthews), and "Tap-back" at
Bitterne, Hants (Mrs. Adam).
French and English
The children choose sides under a leader, and a boundary line is made in
the middle of the ground dividing the French and English territory. A
handkerchief is then placed in the back part of each territory to
represent a flag. The object is to obtain as many flags from the
opposite side as possible. If a person is captured before having seized
a flag, he is taken prisoner, and must be rescued by one of his own
side. Thus, for instance, an Englishman enters the French territory and
tries to reach the flag. If he is seen by the French before he reaches
the flag, he is taken prisoner and is placed near the flags, and the
next Englishman rescues him instead of taking a flag. As soon as the
flag is taken, one of the party must put another handkerchief in its
place. A player cannot be taken prisoner after having obtained the
handkerchief or flag. The winning side is decided by counting the flags
and prisoners.--Bitterne, Hants (Mrs. Byford).
This is a very general game, and is known as "Scotch and English" in the
north, where some interesting details occur, for which see "Scotch and
English."
French Blindman's Buff
The children kneel in a circle, one standing blindfolded in the middle.
The kneeling children shout, "Come point to me with your
pointer."--Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy).
See "Buff," "Dinah," "Muffin Man."
Friar-rush
A Christmas game, mentioned in the _Declaration of Popish Impostures_,
1603.
Frincy-francy
A game played between the dances at balls in farm-houses. A chair was
placed in the middle of the barn or room; the master of the ceremonies
led to the chair a young woman, who sat down and named the young man
whom she was willing should kiss her. This he did, and then took the
seat which the lady vacated. He then called out the name of some
favourite girl, who was led up to him; there was another kiss. The girl
then took the seat, and so on (county of Down). The same game is called
"Frimsey-framsey" in parts of the county of Antrim.--Patterson's _Antrim
and Down Glossary_.
Compare "Cushion Dance."
Frog-lope
Name for "Leap-frog."--Addy's _Sheffield Glossary_.
Frog in the Middle
One child is seated on the ground with his legs under him; the other
players form a ring round. They then pull or buffet the centre child or
Frog, who tries to catch one of them without rising from the floor. The
child who is caught takes the place of the centre child. Another method
of playing the game is similar to "Bull in the Park." The child in the
centre tries to break out of the ring, those forming it keeping the Frog
in the ring by any means in their power, while still keeping their hands
clasped. They sometimes sing or say--
Hey! hey! hi! Frog in the middle and there shall lie;
He can't get out and he shan't get out--hey! hey! hi!
[Illustration]
They dance round when saying this, all keeping a watch on the Frog, who
suddenly makes a rush, and tries to break through the ring.--London (A.
B. Gomme).
Strutt describes this game, and gives an illustration from a fourteenth
century MS. which is here reproduced from the original (_Sports_, p.
303). Newell (_Games of American Children_, p. 171) also mentions it,
and gives the rhyme as--
Frog in the sea, can't catch me!
Gap
The same as "French Jackie." This game is called "Tap-back" or
"Tat-back" at Bitterne, Hants.
Garden Gate
Children join hands and form a ring. One child stands inside the ring;
this child walks round and asks one of the circle, called the Keeper--
Have you the key of the garden gate?
Open and let me go through.
The Keeper replies--
My next-door neighbour's got the key;
Ask him and he'll give it to you.
This is repeated by each one in the circle. Then the inside child comes
again to the Keeper and says--
None of the neighbours have got the key,
So you must let me go through.
The Keeper answers--