his head resting on them. Another stands beside him repeating the rhyme,
whilst the others come one by one and lay their hands upon his back, or
jump upon it. When he has sent them all to different places he turns
round and calls, "Hickety, bickety!" till they have all rushed back to
the place, the last in returning being obliged to take his place, when
the game goes on as before.
Chambers adds, "The 'craw's nest' is close beside the eye-bandaged boy,
and is therefore an envied position." Newell, _Games_, p. 165, refers to
this game.
See "Hot Cockles."
Hickety-hackety
The game of Hop-scotch, played with a piece of tile, which has to be
kicked by the player with the foot on which he hops over lines into
various squares marked on the ground.--Somersetshire (Elworthy's
_Dialect_).
See "Hop-scotch."
Hick, Step, and Jump
The game of "Hop, step, and jump."--Somerset (Holloway's _Dict. of
Provincialisms_).
See "Half-Hammer."
Hide and Seek (1)
A writer in _Blackwood's Magazine_, August 1821, p. 36, mentions this as
a summer game. It was called "Ho, spy!" the words which are called out
by those boys who have hidden. He says the watchword of "Hide and seek"
was "hidee," and gives as the rhyme used when playing--
Keep in, keep in, wherever you be,
The greedy gled's seeking ye.
This rhyme is also given by Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 122).
Halliwell gives the rhyme as--
Hitty titty indoors,
Hitty titty out,
You touch Hitty titty,
And Hitty titty will bite you.
--_Nursery Rhymes_, p. 213.
At Ashford-in-the-Water the words used were--
One a bin, two a bin, three a bin, four,
Five a bin, six a bin, seven, gie o'er;
A bunch of pins, come prick my shins,
A loaf brown bread, come knock me down.
I'm coming!
--_Reliquary_, viii. 57.
The words are said by the one who has to find the person hidden.
In Scotland the game is called "Hospy," and is played by boys only, and
it can be played only in a village or hamlet in which there is the means
of hiding. A Spy is chosen, and a spot, called Parley, is fixed upon at
which the Spy stands till all the other players are hid, and to which he
can run when pursued. When the players are hid, the cry, "Hospy,"
_i.e._, "Ho! spy!" is raised by them. The Spy then sets out to find
them. The moment he detects one he turns and runs with all his might to
the Parley, pursued by the one he has discovered. If he is overtaken, he
must carry on his back the pursuer to the Parley. The same thing is gone
through till all the players are discovered.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
Jamieson says, "'Hy Spy,' a game resembling 'Hide and Seek,' but played
in a different manner. The station, which in England is called Home, is
here the Den, and those who keep it are the Seekers, and are called the
Ins. Those who hide themselves, instead of crying 'Hoop,' as in England,
cry 'Hy spy;' and they are denominated the Outs. The business of the Ins
is, after the signal is given, to lay hold of the Outs before they can
reach the den. The captive then becomes one of the Ins; for the honour
of the game consists in the privilege of hiding oneself." Jamieson adds,
"Hy is still used in calling after a person, to excite attention, or
when it is wished to warn him to get out of the way." Strutt describes
it as "Harry-Racket," or "Hide and Seek" (_Sports_, p. 381).
At Cork two sides are chosen for Spy; one side hides while the other
side hunts. When the hunters see one of the hidden players, they call
out, "I spy ----," and the child's name. The player called must run
after the Spy and try to catch him before he reaches his Den; if he
succeeds, the one caught must go to the opposite side of players, then
next time the spies hide, and those who have been hiding, spy (Miss
Keane). A more general form of the game is for one child to hide, and to
make a noise in a disguised voice to give notice of his whereabouts, or
to call out "Whoop!" or "Coo!" Until this noise or call is made, the
searchers may not seek him. If when spied or discovered the hider cannot
reach home before being caught, he again has to hide (A. B. Gomme).
(_b_) In the parish church of Bawdrip is a monument to Edward Lovell,
his wife Eleanor (_née_ Bradford), and their two daughters Maria and
Eleanor. The inscription touching the latter is:--"Eleanora . . . obiit
Jun. 14, 1681. Hanc, subito et immaturo (ipsos pene inter hymenæos) fato
correptam, m[oe]stissimus luxit maritus, et in gratam piamq. parentum
sororis et dilectissimæ conjugis memoriam, monumentum hoc erigi voluit."
Tradition connects this sudden death--"ipsos pene inter hymenæos"--with
the story of the bride playing at "Hide and Seek." It is curious that,
in Haynes Bayly's song, the bridegroom's name should be Lovell. There is
no mention on the monument of the name of the bereaved husband. The
father, Edward Lovell, was fourteen years rector of Bawdrip and fellow
of Jesus College, Cambridge, and died in 1675, and so could not have
been present at the wedding, as represented in the song. He came from
Batcombe, near Castle-Cary; at which latter place the Lovells were
seated in very early days.--_Notes and Queries_, 4th Ser., ix. 477.
Cope (_Hampshire Glossary_) calls the game "I spy I." Lowsley
(_Berkshire Glossary_) says, "In playing this game, the seeker has to
call out 'I spy!' to the one he finds before he may start for home." It
is called "Hy Spy" in Patterson's _Antrim and Down Glossary_; Evans'
_Leicestershire Glossary_, "Hide and Wink;" Barnes' _Dorset Glossary_,
"Hidy Buck."
In Pegge's _Alphabet of Kenticisms_ the game is given as "Hide and Fox."
_Cf._ "Hide Fox, and all after," _i.e._, let the fox hide and the others
go to seek him; Hamlet, iv. 2, 32. In Stead's _Holderness Glossary_,
"Hed-o." In the North Riding it is "Lam-pie-sote-it," also called
"Felto" in Robinson's _Whitby Glossary_. He also mentions that the
hidden child cries "How-ly" to the finder. Apparently the same as the
south country "Whoop," a signal to the finder to begin the search. Addy
(_Sheffield Glossary_) says this game is called "Felt and Laite."
Holland (_Cheshire Glossary_) speaks of it as "I Spy."
See "Davie Drap."
Hide and Seek (2)
[Music]
--London.
I. Beans and butter,
Come home to supper,
'Tis all ready done.
--Hampshire (Miss Mendham).
II. Little pigs come to supper,
Hot boiled beans and ready butter.
--Northall's _Folk Rhymes_, p. 409.
III. Hot beans and butter!
Please to come to supper!
--Much Wenlock (_Shropshire Folklore_, p. 525).
IV. Hot boiled beans, and very good butter,
Ladies and gentlemen, come to supper.
--London (A. B. Gomme).
V. Vesey vasey vum,
Buck aboo has come!
Find it if you can and take it home,
Vesey vasey vum.
--Newlyn West, near Penzance (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 49).
One child hides an article, while those who are to search for it go in
another room (or out of the way somewhere). When it is hidden, they are
called to find it by one of the above rhymes being sung or said. The
searchers are enabled more readily to find the hidden article by being
told "hot," "very hot," "scorching," "burning," or "cold," "very cold,"
and "freezing," when near to or far from the hidden article. Sometimes
several may agree to hide the article, and only one to be the finder. In
the Penzance game one child is blindfolded, other children hide
something, then shout the words. Search is then made for the hidden
object: when found, the finder in his turn is blindfolded. There appears
to be some mistake in the description of this game.
Hinch-Pinch
The name of an old Christmas game mentioned in _Declaration of Popish
Impostures_, 1603.
Hinmost o' Three
A game played on village greens.--Dickinson's _Cumberland Glossary,
Supplement_.
Hirtschin Hairy
The players (boy or girl) cower down on their haunches, "sit doon
curriehunkers," and hop round and round the floor like a frog, clapping
the hands first in front and then behind, and crying out, "Hirtschin
Hairy." It is sometimes called "Hairy Hirtschin." In Lothian the players
try to knock each other over by hustling against one another.--Rev. W.
Gregor.
Same game as "Harie Hutcheon."
See "Curcuddie," "Cutch-a-cutchoo," "Hop-frog."
Hiry-hag
A boys' game, in which several, joining hands, endeavour to catch
another, who, when caught, is beaten with caps, the captors crying out--
Hiry-hiry-hag,
Put him in a bag, &c.
--Ross and Stead's _Holderness Glossary_.
Hiss and Clap
All the boys are requested to leave the room, when the girls take their
seats, leaving a vacant place on the right side of each girl for the
gentleman of her choice. Each boy in turn is then summoned by another
who acts as doorkeeper, and asked to guess which lady he imagines has
chosen him for her partner. Should he guess rightly he is allowed to
take his seat by the lady who has chosen him, while the other girls
loudly clap hands. Should he guess wrongly he is hissed, and sent out of
the room by the doorkeeper.--Cork, Ireland (Miss Keane).
At Long Eaton in Nottinghamshire Miss Youngman records a similar game to
this, with a rhyme that is probably taken from a popular song or ballad.
The successful candidate for the girl's choice claims a kiss, but if
unsuccessful he is beaten out of the room with knotted handkerchiefs.
Hitch Jamie; Hitch Jamie, Stride and Loup
The boyish play of "Hop, Step, and Jump."--Atkinson's _Cleveland
Glossary_.
Brockett (_North Country Words_) calls this "Hitch."
See "Half-Hammer," "Hick, Step, and Jump."
Hitchapagy
An undescribed Suffolk game.--Halliwell's _Dictionary_.
Hitchy Cock Ho
An undescribed Suffolk game.--Moor's _Suffolk Words_.
Hity Tity
The Somerset name for "See-Saw."
Hoatie, Hots
When a number of boys agree to have a game at the Pearie or peg-top, a
circle is drawn on the ground, within which all the tops must strike and
spin. If any of them bounce out of the circle without spinning, it is
called a Hoatie. The punishment to which the Hoatie is subjected
consists in being placed in the ring, while all the boys whose tops ran
fairly have the privilege of striking--or, as it is called, "deggin"--it
till it is either split or struck out of the circle. If either of these
take place, the boy to whom the Hoatie belonged has the privilege of
playing again.--Upper Lanarkshire (Jamieson).
See "Gully," "Hoges."
Hob-in-the-Hall
An old game mentioned by Wycherley (_Plain Dealer_, 1677).
Hockerty Cokerty
The same game as "Cockerty-hooie."
Hockey
This game is played with a solid indiarubber ball from two to two and a
half inches in diameter. The players each have a bent or hooked stick or
"hockey." They take opposite sides. The object of the game is for each
side to drive the ball through their opponents' goal. The goals are
each marked by two poles standing about eight to ten feet apart, and
boundaries are marked at the sides. The ball is placed in the middle of
the ground. It is started by two players who stand opposite each other,
the ball lying between their two sticks. They first touch the ground
with their hockey-sticks, then they touch or strike their opponents'
stick. This is repeated three times. At the third stroke they both try
to hit the ball away. The ball may only be played by a hockey-stick, and
a goal is gained when the ball is played between the posts by the
opposing party.--Barnes (A. B. Gomme).
(_b_) In Ross and Stead's _Holderness Glossary_ this game is described
under the name of "Shinnup." Robinson (_Mid Yorkshire Glossary_) gives
it under "Shinnops," a youth's game with a ball and stick, heavy at the
striking end, the player man[oe]uvring to get as many strokes as
possible and to drive the ball distances. "Shinnoping" is also used for
the game in operation. "Jowling," or "Jowls," is given in Robinson's
_Whitby Glossary_, as a game played much the same as "Hockey." "Baddin"
is the name given to it in Holland's _Cheshire Glossary_. Another name
is "Doddart" (Brockett, _North Country Words_).
(_c_) An old custom in vogue in bygone days was Rotherham Fair, or what
was called "Whipping Toms," which took place in the Newarkes every
Shrove Tuesday. So soon as the pancake bell rang men and boys assembled
with sticks having a knob or hook at the end. A wooden ball was thrown
down, and two parties engaged in striving which could get the ball by
striking it with their sticks to one end of the Newarke first--those who
did so were the victors. This game was called "Shinney," or "Hockey."
About one o'clock the Whipping Toms appeared on the scene of action.
These were three men clad in blue smock frocks, with very long waggon
whips, who were accompanied by three men with small bells. They
commenced driving the men and boys out of the Newarkes. It was very
dangerous sometimes; they would lash the whip in such a manner round the
legs of those they were pursuing as to throw them down, which produced
laughter and shouting. Some would stop, and turn to the whipper and
say, "Let's have a pennyworth," and he would guard and parry off the
lashes with his shinney stick. When the whipper was successful in
lashing him he demanded his penny, and continued lashing until he paid.
This was continued until five o'clock, then the game terminated. This
was suppressed, I believe, in 1847. At that period it was a prevalent
idea that it could not be abolished, as it was connected with an "old
charter." It is believed in the town that this custom was to commemorate
the driving out of the Danes from the Newarkes at the time they besieged
Leicester.--Leicester (Robert Hazlewood).
See "Bandy," "Camp," "Football," "Hood," "Hurling."
Hoges
"The hoges," a boy's game played with "peeries" (peg-tops). The victor
is entitled to give a certain number of blows with the spike of his
peerie to the wood part of his opponent's.--Patterson's _Antrim and Down
Glossary_.
See "Gully," "Hoatie."
Ho-go
A game played with marbles. The first player holds up a number in his
closed hand and says, "Ho-go;" the second says, "Handfull;" the first
then says, "How many?" The other guesses. If he should guess correctly
he is entitled to take them all; but otherwise he must give the
difference between the number he guessed and the number actually held up
to make.--Lowsley's _Berkshire Words_. It is also called "How many eggs
in a basket?"--London (J. P. Emslie).
See "Hairry my Bossie."
Hoilakes
The name of a game of marbles which are cast into a hole in the
ground.--Easther's _Almondbury and Huddersfield Glossary_.
Holy Bang
A game with marbles, which consists in placing a marble in a hole and
making it act as a target for the rest. The marble which can hit it
three times in succession, and finally be shot into the hole, is the
winning ball, and its owner gets all the other marbles which have missed
before he played.--London (_Strand Magazine_, ii. 519).
See "Bridgeboard," "Capie Hole," "Hundreds."
Honey Pots
[Music]
--London (J. P. Emslie).
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
A number of children stoop down in a row, clasping their hands under
their legs. One child stands in front of them, and acts as owner or
seller; another acts as purchaser (fig. 1). The purchaser inquires--
Have you any honey pots for sale?
Yes, plenty; will you walk round and taste them?
The purchaser goes round, pretending to taste each one in turn,
inquiring the price and weight; finds fault with several, one being too
sweet and the other not fresh enough, and so on. When one honey pot is
discovered to the purchaser's taste, she is lifted by the purchaser and
owner, or by two children who act as weights or scales, and then swung
by her arms backwards and forwards to estimate her weight and price
(fig. 2). As long as the child can keep her hands clasped, so long is
the swinging kept up; and as many times as they count, so many is the
number of pounds she weighs. The seller sometimes said, when each one
was bought--
Take her and bake her,
And into pies make her,
And bring her back
When she is done.
They were not brought back, and the "owner" had to catch and bring back
each one. When sold, the honey pot is taken to the other side, or "home"
of the purchaser. The game goes on till all the honey pots are
sold.--London (A. B. Gomme).
In Sporle, a girl clasps her hands under her legs to form a seat, and
two others swing her by the arms, saying--
Honey pot, honey pot, over the river;
When the old cat dies you shall have the liver.
--Miss Matthews.
In a version sent by Miss Chase, and told her by a London maidservant,
the children sit as in "Hunt the Slipper." One steps in a corner out of
earshot; the rest are named "Gooseberry Tart," "Cherry Tart," &c., by
another, who recalls the child in the corner with--
Fool, fool, come to school,
Pick me out a [cherry tart, as the case may be].
If he chooses the wrong one he is told--
Go back and learn your A, B, C.
If rightly--
Take him and bake him,
And give me a piece
When he's done.
The child is then led off in a squatting position. Later the one who
named them pretends tasting, and says, "Very nice," or "You must be
baked longer," when another squatting walk and wait takes place.
A version sent by Mr. J. P. Emslie is similar to the other London
versions--
"Buy my fine honey to-day.
Which shall I buy?
Taste 'em and try.
The child would then go round, pretending to taste, saying, 'Don't like
that one,' till one was approved. That one was then swung round to the
tune given, the words being--
An apple for the king and a pear for the queen,
And a good jump over the bowling green.
At the last bar they swung the child higher and higher, and at the last
note they swung it as high as they could. I believe the last note in the
music should be G, but it was raised to give effect."
In Scotland the game is called "Hinnie Pigs," and is played as follows.
The boys sit down in rows, hands locked beneath their hams. Round comes
one of them, the honey merchant, who feels those who are sweet and sour,
by lifting them by the arm-pits and giving them three shakes. If they
stand these without the hands unlocking below they are then sweet and
saleable, fit for being office-bearers of other ploys.--Mactaggart's
_Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.
In Ross and Stead's _Holderness Glossary_ this is described as a girls'
game, in which two carry a third as a pot of honey to market. It is
mentioned by Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) and by Holland (_Cheshire
Glossary_). Mr. Holland adds, "If the hands give way before twenty is
reached it is counted a bad honey pot; if not, it is a good one."
In Dublin the seller sings out--
Honey pots, honey pots, all in a row,
Twenty-five shillings wherever you go--
Who'll buy my honey pots?
--Mrs. Lincoln.
The game is mentioned by a writer in _Blackwood's Magazine_, August
1821, p. 36, as being played in Edinburgh when he was a boy.
Hood
A game played at Haxey, in the Isle of Axholme, on the 6th of January.
The Hood is a piece of sacking, rolled tightly up and well corded, and
which weighs about six pounds. This is taken into an open field on the
north side of the church, to be contended for by the youths assembled
for that purpose. When the Hood is about to be thrown up, the
Plough-bullocks or Boggins, as they are called, dressed in scarlet
jackets, are placed amongst the crowd at certain distances. Their
persons are sacred, and if amidst the general row the Hood falls into
the hands of one of them, the sport begins again. The object of the
person who seizes the Hood is to carry off the prize to some
public-house in the town, where he is rewarded with such liquor as he
chooses to call for. This pastime is said to have been instituted by the
Mowbrays, and that the person who furnished the Hood did so as a tenure
by which he held some land under the lord. How far this tradition may be
founded on fact I do not know, but no person now acknowledges to hold
any land by that tenure.--Stonehouse's _Isle of Axholme_, p. 291.
W. J. Woolhouse (_Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, v. 95) says when the
Hood is thrown up by the Chief of the Boggons or by the officials, it
becomes the object of the villagers to get the Hood to their own
village, the other eleven men, called Boggons, being stationed at the
corners and sides of the field, to prevent, if possible, its being
thrown out of the field; and should it chance to fall into any of their
hands, it is "boggoned," and forthwith returned to the chief, who again
throws it up, as at the commencement of the game. The next day is
occupied by the Boggons going round the villages singing as waits, and
they are regaled with hot furmenty; from some they get coppers given
them, and from others a small measure of wheat. The day after that they
assume the character of Plough-bullocks, and at a certain part of
Westwood-side they "smoke the Fool"--that is, straw is brought by those
who like, and piled in a heap, a rope being tied or slung over the
branches of the tree next to the pile of straw; the other end of the
rope is fastened round the waist of the Fool, and he is drawn up and
fire is put to the straw, the Fool being swung to and fro through the
smoke until he is well-nigh choked, after which he goes round and
collects whatever the spectators choose to give him. The sport is then
at an end till the next year. The land left by Lady Mowbray was forty
acres, which are known by the name of "Hoodlands," and the Boggons'
dresses and the Hood are made from its proceeds.
In the contiguous parish of Epworth a similar game is played under the
same name, but with some variations. The Hood is not here carried away
from the field, but to certain goals, against which it is struck three
times and then declared free. This is called "wyking" the Hood, which is
afterwards thrown up again for a fresh game.--_Notes and Queries_, 6th
series, vii. 148.
See "Football," "Hockey."
Hoodle-cum-blind
Name for "Blind Man's Buff."--Baker's _Northamptonshire Glossary_.
Hoodman Blind
Name for "Blind Man's Buff." Mentioned in _Hamlet_, iii. 4; _Merry Devil
of Edmonton_; and _Wise Women of Hogsden_.
Hooper's Hide
Name for "Blind Man's Buff."--Nares' _Glossary_.
Hop-crease
The game of "Hop-scotch."--Halliwell's _Dictionary_.
Hop-frog
The players bend as though about to sit on a _very low_ stool, then
spring about with their hands resting on their knees.--Dorsetshire
(_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 234).
Miss Peacock says that a game called "Hop-frog over the Dog" is played
at Stixwould, Lincolnshire, in the same way as "Leap-frog."
See "Curcuddie," "Cutch-a-cutchoo," "Harie Hutcheon," "Hirtschin Hairy."
Hop-score
Game of "Hop-scotch."--Hunter's _Glossary of Hallamshire_.
Hop-scotch
A game, the object of which is to eject a stone, slate, or "dump" out of
a form linearly marked on the ground in different directions, by hopping
without touching any of the lines.--Halliwell's _Dictionary_.
In the plan (fig. 8) the players first lay the stone on the back of the
hand, and _walk_ through the plan, stepping into each division, throw it
up and catch it. Then the stone is _thrown_ back from No. 7 outside No.
1. Now it is placed on the toe, and the child walks through again,
throwing up the foot when out, to catch the stone in the hand. Another
way, done on the same plan, is for the player to place the stone in No.
1, leave it there, and hop into each division and back, then place it in
No. 2, and repeat the hopping, and so on through all the figures. There
is no _kicking_ of the stone, as is usual in London.--Roxton, St. Neots
(Miss Lumley).
[Illustration: Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.]
From Crockham Hill, Kent, Miss Chase sends four versions. In the first
plan (fig. 1) the game is:--Throw stone into No. 1. Hop from No. 1 to
No. 5 and back. Then pick it up. So on successively. After having thrown
it into No. 5, begin to reverse by throwing stone into No. 1 while
standing at No. 5--return with it on your thumb. Throw into No.
2--return with stone on your eye. Throw into No. 3--return with stone in
your palm. Throw into No. 4--return with stone on your head. Throw into
No. 5--return with stone on your back. In each case, upon reaching the
goal without dropping it, throw up and catch it as it falls.