neighbouring parts of Northamptonshire, the shepherds and other boys dig
up the turf with their knives to represent a sort of imperfect
chess-board. It consists of a square, sometimes only a foot diameter,
sometimes three or four yards. Within this is another square, every side
of which is parallel to the external square; and these squares are
joined by lines drawn from each corner of both squares, and the middle
of each line. One party, or player, has wooden pegs, the other stones,
which they move in such a manner as to take up each other's men, as they
are called, and the area of the inner square is called the pound, in
which the men taken up are impounded. These figures are by the country
people called _nine men's morris_, or _merrils_; and are so called
because each party has nine men. These figures are always cut upon the
green turf, or leys as they are called, or upon the grass at the end of
ploughed lands, and in rainy seasons never fail to be choked up with
mud" (Farmer). "_Nine men's morris_ is a game still played by the
shepherds, cow-keepers, &c., in the midland counties, as follows:--A
figure (of squares one within another) is made on the ground by cutting
out the turf; and two persons take each nine stones, which they place by
turns in the angles, and afterwards move alternately, as at chess or
draughts. He who can play three in a straight line may then take off any
one of his adversary's, where he pleases, till one, having lost all his
men, loses the game" (Alchorne).
The following is the account of this game given by Mr. Douce in the
_Illustrations of Shakespeare and of Ancient Manners_, 1807, i.
184:--"This game was sometimes called the _nine mens merrils_ from
_merelles_, or _mereaux_, an ancient French word for the jettons, or
counters, with which it was played. The other term, _morris_, is
probably a corruption suggested by the sort of dance which, in the
progress of the game, the counters performed. In the French _merelles_
each party had three counters only, which were to be placed in a line in
order to win the game. It appears to have been the _tremerel_ mentioned
in an old fabliau. See _Le Grand_, _Fabliaux et Contes_, ii. 208. Dr.
Hyde thinks the morris, or merrils, was known during the time that the
Normans continued in possession of England, and that the name was
afterwards corrupted into _three men's morals_, or _nine men's morals_.
If this be true, the conversion of _morrals_ into _morris_, a term so
very familiar to the country people, was extremely natural. The Doctor
adds, that it was likewise called _nine-penny_ or _nine-pin miracle_,
_three-penny morris_, _five-penny morris_, _nine-penny morris_, or
_three-pin_, _five-pin_, and _nine-pin morris_, all corruptions of
_three-pin, &c, merels_" (Hyde's _Hist. Nederluddi_, p. 202). Nares says
the simpler plan here represented (fig. 2), which he had also seen cut
on small boards, is more like the game than the one referred to in the
variorem notes of Shakespeare.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
Forby has, "_Morris_, an ancient game, in very common modern use. In
Shakespeare it is called 'nine men's _morris_,' from its being played
with nine men, as they were then, and still are called. We call it
simply _morris_. Probably it took the name from a fancied resemblance to
a dance, in the motions of the men. Dr. Johnson professes that he knew
no more of it than that it was some rustic game. Another commentator
speaks of it as common among shepherds' boys in some parts of
Warwickshire. It cannot well be more common there than here, and it is
not particularly rustic. Shepherds' boys and other clowns play it on the
green turf, or on the bare ground; cutting or scratching the lines, on
the one or the other. In either case it is soon filled up with mud in
wet weather. In towns, porters and other labourers play it, at their
leisure hours, on the flat pavement, tracing the figure with chalk. It
is also a domestic game; and the figure is to be found on the back of
some draught-boards. But to compare _morris_ with that game, or with
chess, seems absurd; as it has a very distant resemblance, if any at
all, to either, in the lines, or in the rules of playing. On the ground,
the men are pebbles, broken tiles, shells, or potsherds; on a table, the
same as are used at draughts or backgammon. In Nares it is said to be
the same as nine-holes. With us it is certainly different." Cope
(_Hampshire Glossary_) says that "Nine Men's Morrice" is a game played
with counters. He does not describe it further. Atkinson (_Glossary of
Cleveland Dialect_) says under "Merls," the game of "Merelles," or "Nine
Men's Morris." Toone (_Etymological Dictionary_) describes it as a game
played on the green sward, holes being cut thereon, into which stones
were placed by the players. Stead's _Holderness Glossary_ calls it
"Merrils," and describes it as a game played on a square board with
eighteen pegs, nine on each side, called in many parts "Nine Men's
Morrice." See also _Sussex Arch. Collections_, xxv. 234, and a paper by
Mr. J. T. Micklethwaite (_Arch. Journ._, xlix. 322), where diagrams of
this game are given which have been found cut in several places on the
benches of the cloisters at Gloucester, Salisbury, and elsewhere.
See "Noughts and Crosses."
Nip-srat-and-bite
A children's game, in which nuts, pence, gingerbread, &c, are
squandered.--Addy's _Sheffield Glossary_.
Nitch, Notch, No-Notch
Children cut a number of slices from an apple, extending from the eye to
the tail, broader on the outside than on the inner, which reaches nearly
to the core; one piece has a part cut out, making a notch--this is
called "Notch;" another is not cut at all--this is called "No-Notch;"
while a third has an incision made on it, but not cut out--this is
called "Nitch." The pieces when thus marked are replaced, and the game
consists in one child holding the apple, and pointing to one of the
pieces, asking another child which he will have, "Nitch, Notch, or
No-Notch;" if he guesses right, he has it and eats it; if wrong, the
other eats it.--Sussex (Holloway's _Dict. of Provincialisms_).
Not
A game where the parties, ranged on opposite sides, with each a bat in
their hands, endeavour to strike a ball to opposite goals. The game is
called "Not," from the ball being made of a knotty piece of
wood.--Gloucestershire (Holloway's _Dict. of Provincialisms_).
See "Hawkey."
Noughts and Crosses
[Illustration]
This game is played on slates by school-children. The accompanying
diagram is drawn on the slate, and a certain figure (generally twenty)
is agreed upon as "game." There are two players, one takes noughts [o],
the other crosses [x]. The three places drawn on the slate above the
diagram are for the players each to put down marks or numbers for the
games they win, the centre place being for "Old Nick," or "Old Tom." The
object of the game is for each player to occupy three contiguous places
in a row or line with either noughts or crosses, and to prevent his
opponent from doing so. The diagram is of course empty when play
begins. One player commences by putting his mark into either of the
vacant places he prefers, the other player then places his in another,
wherever he thinks he has the best opportunity to prevent his opponent
getting a "three," and at the same time to get a three himself; then the
first player plays again, and so on alternately until all the squares
are occupied, or until one of the players has a "three" in line. If
neither player gets a "three," the game is won by "Old Nick," and one is
scored to his name. In the diagram the result of the game is shown when
won by "Old Nick." Whichever player first wins a game adds "Old Nick's"
score to his own. In some games "Old Nick" keeps all he wins for
himself, and then most frequently wins the game.--London (A. B. Gomme).
See "Corsicrown," "Kit-Cat-Cannio," "Nine Men's Morris."
Nur and Spel
A boys' game in Lincolnshire, somewhat similar to "Trap Ball." It is
played with a "kibble," a "nur," and a "spell." By striking the end of
the spell with the kibble, the nur, of course, rises into the air, and
the art of the game is to strike it with the kibble before it reaches
the ground. He who drives it the greatest distance wins the
game.--Halliwell's _Dictionary_.
Strutt (_Sports and Pastimes_, p. 109) describes this game as
"Northern-spell," played with a trap, and the ball is stricken with a
bat or bludgeon. The contest between the players is simply who shall
strike the ball to the greatest distance in a given number of strokes.
The length of each stroke is measured before the ball is returned, by
means of a cord made fast at one end near the trap, the other being
stretched into the field by a person stationed there for that purpose,
who adjusts it to the ball wherever it may lie.
In a work entitled the _Costumes of Yorkshire_ this game is described
and represented as "Nor and Spell." The little wooden ball used in this
game is in Yorkshire called the "Nor," and the receptacle in which it is
placed the "Spell." Peacock (_Manley and Corringham Glossary_) gives
"knur," (1) a hard wooden ball, (2) the head. Addy (_Sheffield
Glossary_) says "knur" is a small round ball, less than a billiard ball.
It is put into a cup fixed on a spring which, being touched, causes the
ball to rise into the air, when it is struck by a trip-stick, a slender
stick made broad and flat at one end. The "knur" is struck by the broad
part. The game is played on Shrove Tuesday. Brogden (_Provincial Words
of Lincolnshire_) gives it under "Bandy." It is called "Knur, Spell, and
Kibble" in S.-W. Lincolnshire.--Cole's _Glossary_.
The following letter relating to this game is extracted from the
_Worcestershire Chronicle_, September 1847, in Ellis's edition of
Brand:--"Before the commons were taken in, the children of the poor had
ample space wherein to recreate themselves at cricket, _nurr_, or any
other diversion; but now they are driven from every green spot, and in
Bromsgrove here, the nailor boys, from the force of circumstances, have
taken possession of the turnpike road to play the before-mentioned
games, to the serious inconvenience of the passengers, one of whom, a
woman, was yesterday knocked down by a _nurr_ which struck her in the
head."
Brockett says of this game, as played in Durham: It is called "Spell and
Ore," Teut. "spel," a play or sport; and Germ. "knorr," a knot of wood
or ore. The recreation is also called "Buckstick, Spell, and Ore," the
buckstick with which the ore is struck being broad at one end like the
butt of a gun (_North Country Words_). In Yorkshire it is "Spell and
Nurr," or "Knur," the ore or wooden ball having been, perhaps,
originally the knurl or knot of a tree. The _Whitby Glossary_ also gives
this as "Spell and Knor," and says it is known in the South as "Dab and
Stick." The author adds, "May not 'tribbit,' or 'trevit,' be a
corruption of 'three feet,' the required length of the stick for pliable
adaptation?"
Robinson (_Mid-Yorkshire Glossary_), under "Spell and Nur," says: "A
game played with a wooden ball and a stick fitted at the striking end
with a club-shaped piece of wood. The 'spell' made to receive and spring
the ball for the blow at a touch, is a simple contrivance of wood an
inch or so in breadth and a few inches long. . . . The players, who
usually go in and out by turns each time, after a preliminary series of
tippings of the spell with the stick in one hand, and catches of the
ball with the other, in the process of calculating the momentum
necessary for reach of hand, are also allowed two trial 'rises' in a
striking attitude, and distance is reckoned by scores of yards. The long
pliable stick, with a loose club end, used in the game, is called the
'tribit' or 'trivit' stick. . . . The trevit is, in fact, the trap
itself, and the trevit-stick the stick with which the trap is struck."
The tribbit-stick is elsewhere called "primstick," "gelstick,"
"buckstick," "trippit," and "trevit." Atkinson says that "spell" is
O.N., "spill" meaning a play or game, and the probability is that the
game is a lineal descendant from the Ball-play of the Old Danes, or
Northmen, and Icelanders. "Spell and knor" is a corruption of "spell a'
knor," the play at ball. Nurspel is simply ball-play, therefore which
name, taken in connection with the fact that the game is elsewhere
called "Spell and Knor," and not "Knor and Spell," is significant. There
is one day in the year, Shrove Tuesday, when the play is customarily
practised, though not quite exclusively.--Atkinson's _Cleveland
Glossary_.
Easther (_Almondbury Glossary_) describes it as played with a wooden
ball, a spel, and a pommel. Two may play, or two sides. When a player
goes in he drives the knor for, say, 100 yards, _i.e._, five score, and
he reckons five. Each person has the same number of strokes previously
agreed upon, but generally only one innings. The "spell" is a kind of
stage with three or four feet, to drive it into the ground. On the top
of this stage is a spring made of steel, containing a cup to receive the
"knor," which is about one or two inches in diameter, and is made of
holly or box. The spring is kept down by a sneck, which is tapped by the
pommel when the knor is intended to be struck. The pommel is thus
formed--the driving part is frequently of ash-root or owler, in shape
like half a sugar-loaf split lengthwise, but only three or four inches
long, and the handle is of ash, wrapped with a wax band where held,
which is in one hand only.
See "Kibel and Nerspel," "Trap Ball," "Trippit and Coit."
Nuts in May
[Music]
--Shropshire (Miss Burne).
I. Here we come gathering nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
Here we come gathering nuts in May,
On a fine summer morning.
Whom will you have for nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May?
Whom will you have for nuts in May,
On a fine summer morning?
We'll have ---- for nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
We'll have ---- for nuts in May,
On a fine summer morning.
Who will you send to fetch her [or him] away,
To fetch her away, to fetch her away?
Who will you send to fetch her away,
On a fine summer morning?
We'll send ---- to fetch her away,
Fetch her away, fetch her away,
We'll send ---- to fetch her away,
On a fine summer morning.
--Liphook and Winterton, Hants (Miss Fowler).
II. Here we come gathering nuts and May
[Nuts and May, nuts and May],
Here we come gathering nuts and May,
On a cold and frosty morning.
Pray who will you gather for nuts and May,
Pray who will you gather for nuts and May,
On a cold and frosty morning?
We'll gather ---- for nuts and May,
We'll gather ---- for nuts and May,
On a cold and frosty morning.
Pray who will you send to take her away,
Pray who will you send to take her away,
On a cold and frosty morning?
We'll send ---- to take her away,
We'll send ---- to take her away,
On a cold and frosty morning.
--Penzance (Mrs. Mabbott).
III. Here we come gathering nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
Here we come gathering nuts in May,
May, May, May.
Who will you have for nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May?
Who will you have for nuts in May,
May, May, May?
[Bessie Stewart] for nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
[Bessie Stewart] for nuts in May,
May, May, May.
Very well, very well, so you may,
So you may, so you may,
Very well, very well, so you may,
May, may, may.
Whom will you have to take her away,
Take her away, take her away?
Whom will you have to take her away,
Way, way, way?
---- ---- to take her away,
Take her away, take her away,
---- ---- to take her away,
Way, way, way.
--Belfast (W. H. Patterson).
IV. Here we come gathering nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
Here we come gathering nuts in May,
On a cold and frosty morning.
Where do you gather your nuts in May?
On Galloway Hill we gather our nuts.
Who will you gather for nuts in May?
We'll gather ---- for nuts in May.
Who will you send to fetch her away?
We'll send ---- to fetch her away.
--Bocking, Essex (_Folk-lore Record_, iii. 169).
V. Here we go gathering nuts away,
Nuts away, nuts away,
Here we go gathering nuts away,
On a cold and frosty morning.
[Then follow verses beginning--]
Whose nuts shall we gather away?
We'll gather [Minnie Brown's] nuts away.
Whom shall we send to fetch them away?
[And the final verse is--]
We'll send [Johnny Cope] to fetch them away,
Fetch them away, fetch them away,
We'll send [Johnny Cope] to fetch them away,
On a cold and frosty morning.
--Newbury, Berks (Mrs. S. Batson).
VI. Who will go gathering nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May?
Who will go gathering nuts in May,
At five o'clock in the morning?
--N.-W. Lincolnshire (Rev. ---- Roberts).
VII. Here we come gathering nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
Here we come gathering nuts in May,
On a cold and frosty morning.
Who will you have for your nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May?
Who will you have for your nuts in May,
On a cold and frosty morning?
We will have a girl for nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
We will have a girl for nuts in May,
On a cold and frosty morning.
--Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy).
VIII. Here we come gathering nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
Here we come gathering nuts in May,
This cold frosty morning.
Who will you have for your nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May?
Who will you have for your nuts in May,
This cold frosty morning?
We will have ---- for our nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
We will have ---- for our nuts in May,
This cold frosty morning.
Who will you have to pull her away,
Pull her away, pull her away?
Who will you have to pull her away,
This cold frosty morning?
We will have ---- to pull her away,
Pull her away, pull her away,
We will have ---- to pull her away,
This cold frosty morning.
--Settle, Yorks. (Rev. W. S. Sykes).
IX. Here we come gathering nuts to-day,
Nuts to-day, nuts to-day,
Here we come gathering nuts to-day,
So early in the morning.
Pray, whose nuts will you gather away,
Gather away, gather away?
Pray, whose nuts will you gather away,
So early in the morning?
We'll gather Miss A----'s nuts away,
Nuts away, nuts away,
We'll gather Miss A----'s nuts away,
So early in the morning.
Pray, who will you send to take them away,
To take them away, take them away?
Pray, who will you send to take them away,
So early in the morning?
We'll send Miss B---- to take them away,
To take them away, take them away,
We'll send Miss B---- to take them away,
So early in the morning.
--Symondsbury, Dorsetshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 226-7).
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
(_b_) The children form in two lines of equal length, facing one
another, with sufficient space between the lines to admit of their
walking in line backwards and forwards towards and away from each other,
as each line sings the verses allotted to it (fig. 1). The first line
sings the first, third, and fifth verses, and the opposite line the
second and fourth. At the end of the fifth verse a handkerchief or other
mark is laid on the ground, and the two children (whose names have been
mentioned, and who are as evenly matched as possible), take each other's
right hand and endeavour to pull each other over the handkerchief to
their own side (fig. 2). The child who is pulled over the handkerchief
becomes the "captured nut," and joins the side of her capturers. Then
the game begins again by the second line singing the first, third, and
fifth verses, while advancing to gather or capture the "nuts," the first
line responding with the second and fourth verses, and the same finish
as before. Then the first line begins the game, and so on until all the
children are in this way matched one against the other.
(_c_) Other versions have been sent me, with slight variations: NUTS IN
MAY, with the verses ending, "On a fine summer morning," from Lincoln
and Nottinghamshire (Miss M. Peacock); "So early in the morning,"
Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews); "Six o'clock in the morning,"
Nottingham (Miss Wenfield); "On a cold and frosty morning," East Kirkby,
Lincolnshire (Miss K. Maughan); Barnes (A. B. Gomme), Colchester (Miss
G. M. Frances). NUTS AND MAY: "On a bright and sunny morning" (Mr. C. C.
Bell); "On a cold and frosty morning," Forest of Dean (Miss Matthews);
"Every night and morning," Gainford, Durham (Miss Edleston); "We've
picked [Sally Gray] for nuts in May," "All on a summer's morning,"
Sheffield (Mr. S. O. Addy). A version by Miss Kimber (Newbury, Berks,
and Marlborough, Wilts) ends each verse, "Nuts and May." In other
respects these variants are practically the same. Printed versions not
given above are Hersham, Surrey (_Folk-lore Record_, v. 85); Burne's
_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 516; Sulhampstead, Berks (_Antiquary_, vol.
xxvii., Miss E. E. Thoyts); and Dorsetshire, "Gathering nuts away"
(_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 225). From Longcot, Berks, a version sent me
by Miss I. Barclay has no fourth line to the verses.
(_d_) This game is probably, unless we except "Mulberry Bush," the most
popular and the most widely played of any singing game. It might almost
be called universal. This is shown by the fact that there are few
counties where it is not known, and also that important variants, either
in the words or in the method of playing, are rarely met with. In all
the versions which have been sent there are only the following
variations in the words, and these are principally in the refrain, or
last line of each verse: "On a cold and frosty morning" ends by far the
greater number of versions; "On a fine summer's morning," "So early in
the morning," "All on a summer's morning," "Five o'clock in the
morning," "On a cold and sunny morning," coming next in number. The
Belfast version ends, "May! May! May!" and a Newbury and Marlborough
fourth line is simply a repetition of the second, "Nuts in May, nuts in
May."
In the first line of the verse the only important variant seems to be
the Symondsbury "Gathering nuts away" and "Gathering nuts to-day."
"Gathering nuts away" also occurs in one version from Newbury (Berks),
"Nuts and May" appearing in the larger number after the more usual "Nuts
in May." In only one version is a specific place mentioned for the
gathering. This is in the Bocking version, where Galloway Hill is named,
in reply to the unusual question, "Where do you gather your nuts in
May?" A player is usually gathered for "Nuts in May." In three or four
cases only is this altered to gathering a player's "nuts away," which is
obviously an alteration to try and make the action coincide exactly with
the words. The game is always played in "lines," and the principal
incidents running throughout all the versions are the same, _i.e._, one
player is selected by one line of players from their opponents' party.
The "selected" one is refused by her party unless some one from the
opposite side can effect her capture by a contest of strength. In all
versions but two or three this contest takes place between the two; in
one or two all the players join in the trial of strength. In another
instance there appears to be no contest, but the selected player crosses
over to the opposite side. Two important incidents occur in the Bocking
and Symondsbury versions. In the Bocking game the side which is
victorious has the right to begin the next game first: this also occurs
in the Barnes version. In Symondsbury, when one child is drawn over the
boundary line by one from the opposite side she has to be "crowned"
immediately. This is done by the conqueror putting her hand on the
captured one's head. If this is not done at once the captured one is at
liberty to return to her own side. In some versions (Shropshire and
London) the player who is selected for "Nuts" is always captured by the
one sent to fetch her. Some Barnes children also say that this is the
proper way to play. When boys and girls play the boys are always sent to
"fetch away" the girls. In Sheffield (a version collected by Mr. S. O.
Addy) a boy is chosen to fetch the girl away; and in the Earls Heaton
version the line runs, "We'll have a girl for nuts in May."
(_e_) There is some analogy in the game to marriage by capture, and to
the marriage customs practised at May Day festivals and gatherings. For
the evidence for marriage by capture in the game there is no element of
love or courtship, though there is the obtaining possession of a member
of an opposing party. But it differs from ordinary contest-games in the
fact that one party does not wage war against another party for
possession of a particular piece of ground, but individual against
individual for the possession of an individual. That the player sent to
fetch the selected girl is expected to conquer seems to be
implied--first, by a choice of a certain player being made to effect the
capture; secondly, by the one sent "to fetch" being always successful;
and thirdly, the "crowning" in the Symondsbury game. Through all the
games I have seen played this idea seems to run, and it exactly accords
with the conception of marriage by capture. For examples of the actual
survivals in English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish customs of marriage by
capture see Gomme's _Folk-lore Relics of Early Village Life_, pp.
204-210.