See “Joggle Along.”[Addendum]
[Play version 1 (as printed), version 2]
—Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).
—Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).
(b) A long row of children walk to and fro. One child, facing them on the opposite side, represents the Rover. He sings the first, third, and fifth verses. The row of children sing the second and fourth in response. After the fifth verse is sung the Rover skips round the long row, singing the sixth verse to the tune of “Nancy Dawson,” or “Round the Mulberry bush.” He chooses one of them, who goes to the opposite side with him, and the game goes on until all are rovers like himself.
See “Here comes a Lusty Wooer,” “Jolly Hooper.”
I.
—Warwick (from a little girl, through Mr. C. C. Bell).
II.
—Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Miss Matthews).
III.
—Northants (Rev. W. D. Sweeting).
IV.
—Raunds (Northants Notes and Queries, i. 232).
V.
—Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy).
—Shipley, Horsham (Notes and Queries, 8th series, i. 210, Miss Busk).
(b) This game is played at Warwick as follows:—The children form a large ring, clasping hands and standing still. One child walks round inside the ring, singing the verses. This child then chooses another from the ring, bending on one knee and kissing her hand. The lines are then repeated, the two walking arm in arm round the inside of the ring. Another child is chosen out of the ring by the one who was chosen previously. This goes on until all are chosen out of the ring, walking two by two round inside. When the ring will no longer hold them, the two walk round outside. At Northants the ring walks round, and the child is outside the ring. Partners are chosen, and the two walk round outside the ring. The first two walk together till there is a third, then the three walk together till there is a fourth, then they go in couples. In the Northants version, from Raunds, four boys stand in the centre of the ring. When the verses are sung they choose four girls, and then take their places in the ring. The four girls then choose four lads, and so on. At Earls Heaton the children stand against a wall in a line. Another child walks up and down singing the verses, and chooses a partner. He spreads a handkerchief on the ground, and they kneel and kiss.
(c) The Shipley version is a “Kiss in the Ring” game. A version sent by the Rev. W. Slater Sykes from Settle, Yorkshire, is almost identical with the Earls Heaton version. Northall (Folk Rhymes, p. 369) says “to kiss on the floor”—i.e., not in secret. He gives the words of a sort of musical catch, sung in the Midlands, similar in character to this game, which may once have been used in some courting game. Mr. Newell (Games, p. 124) gives a version sung in the streets of New York, and considers it to be a relic of antiquity, a similar round being given in Deuteromelia, 1609.[Addendum]
A game played by boys, much the same as “Hockey,” and taking its name, no doubt, from the mode of playing, which consists in striking a wooden ball or knorr from the ground in any given direction with a sufficiently heavy stick, duly curved at the striking end.—Atkinson’s Cleveland Glossary.
It is also given in Yorkshire Glossary (Whitby).
See “Bandy,” “Doddart,” “Hockey.”
A game played with a hazel nut bored and run upon a string.—Dickinson’s Cumberland Glossary.
Probably the same game as “Conkers.”
See “Conkers.”
Brockett mentions that a friend informed him that he had seen a game played amongst children in Northumberland the subject of which was “Keeling the Pot.” A girl comes in exclaiming, “Mother, mother, the pot’s boiling ower.” The answer is, “Then get the ladle and keel it.” The difficulty is to get the ladle, which is “up a height,” and the “steul” wants a leg, and the joiner is either sick or dead (Glossary North Country Words). A sentence from Love’s Labours Lost, “While greasy Joan doth keel the pot,” illustrates the use of the term “keel.”
See “Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils over.”
In former times it was customary every year, at Easter and Whitsuntide, for the mayor, aldermen, and sheriff of Newcastle, attended by the burgesses, to go in state to a place called the Forth, a sort of mall, to countenance, if not to join in the play of “Keppy ba” and other sports. This diversion is still in part kept up by the young people of the town (Brockett’s North Country Words). It is also mentioned in Peacock’s Manley and Corringham Glossary, and in Ross and Stead’s Holderness Glossary.
Mr. Tate (History of Alnwick) says that a favourite pastime of girls, “Keppy ball,” deserves a passing notice, because accompanied by a peculiar local song. The name indicates the character of the game; “kep” is from cepan, Anglo-Saxon, “kappan,” Teut., “to catch or capture;” for when the game was played at by several, the ball was thrown into the air and “kepped,” or intercepted, in its descent by one or other of the girls, and it was then thrown up again to be caught by some other. But when the song was sung it was played out by one girl, who sent the ball against a tree and drove it back again as often as she could, saying the following rhymes, in order to divine her matrimonial future:—
The numbers being continued as long as the ball could be kept rebounding against the tree.
The following from Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes, p. 298, is also used for ball divination. To “cook” is to toss or throw.
See “Ball,” “Cuckoo,” “Monday.”
This game was played at Stixwold seventy years ago. It resembled “Trap, Bat, and Ball.” Kibel = bat, ner = ball of maplewood, spel = trap, with a limock (pliant) stick fastened to it. The score was made by hitting the ner a certain distance, but not by the striker running, as in “Rounders.”—Miss M. Peacock.
See “Nur and Spell.”
“A playe that children have, where one sytting blyndefolde in the midle, bydeth so tyll the rest have hydden themselves, and then he going to seeke them, if any get his place in the meane space, that same is kynge in his roome.”—Huloet, 1572.
See “Hide and Seek.”
One player is chosen to be King Cæsar by lot or naming. All the others stand in two rows, one row at each end of the ground. A line is drawn on the ground in front of them to mark “dens.” All the players must keep within this line. King Cæsar stands in the middle of the ground. Any number of the players can then rush across the ground from one den to another. King Cæsar tries to catch one as they run. When he catches a boy he must count from one to ten in succession before he leaves hold of the boy, that boy in the meantime trying to get away. If King Cæsar succeeds in holding a boy, this boy stays in the centre with him and assists in catching the other players (always counting ten before a captive is secured). The dens must always be occupied by some players. If all the players get into one den, King Cæsar can go into the empty den and say, “Crown the base, one, two, three,” three times before any of the other players get across to that den. If he succeeds in doing this, he can select a boy to run across from one den to the other, which that boy must do, King Cæsar trying to catch him. Other and bigger boys can help this one to get across, to save him from being captured, either by carrying him or running across with him. The game ends when all have been captured and are in the centre. King Cæsar and the other captured boys can leave the centre if they each successively catch three players.—Barnes (A. B. Gomme).
This game is called “King-sealing” in Dorsetshire.
See “King of Cantland,” “Lamploo.”
A game played by boys. Two sets of boys, or sides, strive which can secure most prisoners for the King.—Shetland (Jamieson).
A game of children, in which one of a company, being chosen King o’ Cantland, and two goals appointed at a considerable distance from each other, all the rest endeavoured to run from one goal to the other; and those whom the King can seize in their course, so as to lay his hand upon their heads (which operation is called winning them), become his subjects, and assist him in catching the remainder.—Dumfries (Jamieson). Jamieson adds: “This game is called ‘King’s Covenanter’ in Roxburgh.” He also refers to the game of “King and Queen of Cantelon,” recorded by Mactaggart. He considers the origin of this game to be representative of the contentions about the “Debatable Lands” on the border. This game was played at University Coll. School, London, under the name of “Kings” (A. Nutt).
See “How many miles to Barley Bridge?” “King Cæsar.”
One boy is chosen as King. He mounts on any convenient height, a knoll, or dyke, or big stone, and shouts—
The players make a rush at the King, and try to pull him down. A tussle goes on for a longer or a shorter time, according to the strength of the King and his skill in driving off his assailants. The boy that displaces the King becomes King, and is in his turn assaulted in the same way. The game may go on for any length of time. Another form of words is—
—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
Other words sung by the Scotch children are—
Chambers (Popular Rhymes, p. 114) records the tradition that when Oliver Cromwell lay at Haddington he sent to require the governor of Home Castle, in Berwickshire, to surrender; the governor is said to have replied in the above quatrain of juvenile celebrity.
The London version is for the boys to run up a hillock, when one of them declares as follows—
whereupon he pushes down his companions. If another boy succeeds in getting his place he becomes King, and repeats the doggerel (G. L. Gomme). This is a very popular boys’ game. Newell (Games, 164) mentions it as prevalent in Pennsylvania.
See “Tom Tiddler’s Ground.”
The players are a King and his three sons named White Cap, Red Cap, Brown Cap. Red Cap says, “Plaster Palacey had a son, whose name was old daddy White Cap.” White Cap, in an injured voice, says, “Me, sir?” The King says, “Yes, sir.” White Cap answers, “You’re a liar, sir.” The King then says, “Who then, sir?” White Cap answers, “Old daddy Red Cap.”—Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).
The game as given above is obviously incomplete, and no description as to how the game was played was sent me. Newell (Games, p. 145), describes a game, “The Cardinal’s Hat,” which is probably a variant of the original game, of which the above is only a fragment. I remember once witnessing a game in which a ball was passed from player to player, and in which the dialogue was similar. When one player was told that the ball was in his possession, the answer was, “What, me, sir?” “Yes, you, sir.” “Not I, sir.” “Who then, sir?” “White Cap, sir;” the questions and answers were again repeated for Red Cap, and Blue Cap. When it was Black Cap’s turn, I think the ball was thrown by this player to some one else; whoever was hit by the ball had to chase and capture one, who became questioner; but my recollection of the game is too slight for me to be certain either of the dialogue or the way the game terminated (A. B. Gomme). A game described in Suffolk County Folk-lore, p. 62, is apparently a version of this. It is there described as a forfeit game.
[Play]
—Earls Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).
I.
—Hanging Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).
II.
—Sheffield (S. O. Addy).
(b) In Sheffield a ring of young men and women is formed. A man goes inside the ring and walks round within it, whilst the others sing the verse. The young man then chooses a sweetheart, and the two walk round arm-in-arm within the ring, whilst the same verses are sung. When the singing is ended, the girl picks a young man, and so they all pair off.
(c) Mr. Addy entitles this game “Kiss in the Ring.” It appears, however, from this description to lack the two principal elements of most “kiss-in-the-ring” games—the chase between pursued and pursuer, and the kissing in the ring when the capture is made. In the Hanging Heaton version two children kneel and kiss in the middle of the ring. Mr. Newell (Games, p. 73), in describing a game with a similar rhyme, mentions a version which had been sent him from Waterford, Ireland. He says, “We learn from an informant that in her town it was formerly played in this peculiar manner. Over the head of a girl who stood in the centre of a ring was held a shawl, sustained by four others grasping the corners.” The game then proceeded as follows—
Then followed the game-rhyme, repeated with each stanza—
apparently the same as last four lines of Sheffield version. King William is then supposed to enter—
He then recognises the disguised girl—
“He had gone to the war, and promised to marry her when he came back. She wrapped a shawl about her head to see if he would recognise her.” This was all the reciter could recollect; the lines of the ballad were sung by an old woman, the ring answering with the game-rhyme.
This version seems to indicate clearly that in this game we have preserved one of the ceremonies of a now obsolete marriage-custom—namely, the disguising of the bride and placing her among her bridesmaids and other young girls, all having veils or other coverings alike over their heads and bodies. The bridegroom has to select from among these maidens the girl whom he wished to marry, or whom he had already married, for until this was done he was not allowed to depart with his bride. This custom was continued in sport as one of the ceremonies to be gone through after the marriage was over, long after the custom itself was discontinued. For an instance of this see a “Rural Marriage in Lorraine,” in Folk-lore Record, iii. 267-268. This ordeal occurs in more than one folk-tale, and it usually accompanies the incident of a youth having travelled for adventures, sometimes in quest of a bride. He succeeds in finding the whereabouts of the coveted girl, but before he is allowed by the father to take his bride away he is required to perform tasks, a final one being the choosing of the girl with whom he is in love from among others, all dressed alike and disguised. Our bridal veil may probably originate in this custom.
In the ballad from which Mr. Newell thinks the game may have originated, a maid has been given in marriage to another than her chosen lover. He rides to the ceremony with a troop of followers; the bride, seeing him approach, calls on her maidens to “take off her gold crown and coif her in linen white,” to test her bridegroom’s affection. This incident, I think, is not to test “affection,” but the ordeal of recognising his bride, however disguised, and the fact that “the hero at once recognises his love, mounts with her on horseback, and flees to Norway,” may be considered to support my view.
See also Brand, vol. ii. p. 141, under “Care Cloth.”
Two children join hands, by crossing their arms, so as to form a seat. A third mounts on the crossed arms, and clasps the carriers round their necks, while they move on saying—
This game is played at Keith, without the words. The words are used at Fochabers.—Rev. W. Gregor.
Jamieson says, “Lothian children, while carrying one of their number in this manner, repeat the following rhyme—
He says this method of carrying is often used as a substitute for a chair in conveying adult persons from one place to another, especially when infirm. In other counties it is called “Queen’s Cushion” and “Queen’s Chair,” also “Cat’s Carriage.”
Brockett (North Country Words) says, “‘King’s Cushion,’ a sort of seat made by two persons crossing their hands, in which to place a third. The thrones on the reverses of the early Royal Seals of England and Scotland consist of swords, spears, snakes, &c., placed in the manner of a ‘King’s Cushion.’”
The method used is for both children to grasp the wrist of his left hand with the right, while he lays hold of the right wrist of his companion with his left hand. This way of hoisting or carrying is still used by schoolboys when they desire to honour a boy who has distinguished himself in the playground or schoolroom.
See “Carry my Lady to London.”
A sort of play. The Gussie is a large ball, which one party endeavours to beat with clubs into a hole, while another party strives to drive it away. When the ball is lodged in the hole it is said to be “Kirkit.”—Jamieson.
[Play]
[Play]
[Play]
—Dorsetshire (Folk-lore Journal, vii. 213); Penzance (Mrs. Mabbott).
—Much Wenlock (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 512).
—Berrington (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 512).
—Chirbury (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 512).
—Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).
—Dorsetshire (Folk-lore Journal, vii. 213).
—Cornwall (Folk-lore Journal, v. 52).
—Hersham, Surrey (Folk-lore Record, v. 87).
—Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).
—Settle, Yorkshire (Rev W. S. Sykes).
—Bexley Heath (Miss Morris).
—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
—London (A. B. Gomme).
—Wolstanton, North Staffs. Potteries (Miss A. A. Keary).
(b) In Dorsetshire a ring is formed by all the players joining hands except one. The odd player, carrying a handkerchief, commences to walk slowly round the outside of the ring, repeating the words; then, touching each one with her handkerchief as she passes, she says, “Not you,” “not you,” “not you,” &c., &c., till the favoured individual is reached, when it is changed to “But you!” and his or her shoulder lightly touched at the same time. The first player then runs round the ring as fast as he can, pursued by the other, who, if a capture is effected (as is nearly always the case), is entitled to lead the first player back into the centre of the ring and claim a kiss. The first player then takes the other’s place in the ring, and in turn walks round the outside repeating the same formula.—Folk-lore Journal, vii. 212; Penzance (Mrs. Mabbott).
In Shropshire, as soon as the player going round the ring has dropped the handkerchief on the shoulder of the girl he chooses, both players run opposite ways outside the ring, each trying to be the first to regain the starting-point. If the one who was chosen gets there first, no kiss can be claimed. It is often called “Drop-handkerchief,” from the signal for the chase. The more general way of playing (either with or without words), as seen by me on village greens round London, is, when the handkerchief has been dropped, for the player to dart through the ring and in and out again under the clasped hands; the pursuer must follow in and out through the same places, and must bring the one he catches into the ring before he can legally claim the kiss.
Elworthy (West Country Words), in describing this game, says: “The person behind whom the handkerchief is dropped is entitled to kiss the person who dropped it, if he or she can catch him or her, before the person can get round the ring to the vacant place. Of course, when a girl drops it she selects a favoured swain, and the chase is severe up to a point, but when a girl is the pursuer there often is a kind of donkey race lest she should have to give the kiss which the lad takes no pains to avoid.” Mr. Elworthy does not mention any words being used, and it is therefore probable that this is the “Drop-handkerchief” game, which generally has no kissing. It also, in the way it is played, resembles “French Jackie.” In the Wolstanton game, Miss Keary says: “If the owner of the handkerchief overtakes the one who is bitten as they run round, they shake hands and go into the middle of the ring, while the others sing the marriage formula.” In Berkshire (Antiq. xxvii. 255) the game is played without words, and apparently no handkerchief or other sign is used. Miss Thoyts says the young man raises his hat when he embraces the young woman of his choice. To “throw (or fling) the handkerchief” is a common expression for an expected proposal of marriage which is more of a condescension than a complimentary or flattering one to the girl. “Kiss in the Ring” is probably a relic of the earliest form of marriage by choice or selection. The custom of dropping or sending a glove as the signal of a challenge may have been succeeded by the handkerchief in this game. Halliwell, p. 227, gives the game of “Drop Glove,” in which a glove is used. For the use of handkerchiefs as love-tokens see Brand, ii. 92.
See “Drop Handkerchief,” “French Jackie.”
A game played by boys. Three small holes are made in the ground, triangularly about twenty feet apart, to mark the position of as many boys, each of whom holds a small stick, about two feet long. Three other boys of the adverse side pitch successively a piece of stick, a little bigger than one’s thumb, called Cat, to be struck by those holding the sticks. On its being struck, the boys run from hole to hole, dipping the ends of their sticks in as they pass, and counting one, two, three, &c., as they do so, up to thirty-one, which is game. Or the greater number of holes gained in the innings may indicate the winners, as at cricket. If the Cat be struck and caught, the striking party is out, and another of his sidesmen takes his place, if the set be strong enough to admit of it. If there be only six players, it may be previously agreed that three put outs shall end the innings. Another mode of putting out is to throw the Cat home, after being struck, and placing or pitching it into an unoccupied hole, while the in-party are running. A certain number of misses (not striking the Cat) may be agreed on to be equivalent to a put out. The game may be played by two, placed as at cricket, or by four, or I believe more.—Moor’s Suffolk Words; Holloway’s Dict. of Provincialisms.
Brockett (North Country Words, p. 115) calls this “‘Kitty-Cat,’ a puerile game.