ii. 442) says, "I have a tune called 'A round dance to dance the bride

to bed.' It dates from about 1630, or earlier, and resembles that of 'The Hunt is up.'" Dancing was considered so essential at weddings (according to Grose) that if in a family the youngest daughter should chance to be married before her elder sisters, they must dance at her wedding without shoes. May not the custom of throwing of old and worn-out shoes after the bride have arisen from the practice of dancing? The danced-out shoes may have been the ones used. It is curious that the cushion is used in the marriage ceremonies of the Brahmins. Mr. Kearns, in his _Marriage Ceremonies of the Hindoos of the South of India_, p. 6, says that a stool or cushion is one of the preparations for the reception of the bridegroom, who on entering the apartment sits down on the stool which is presented to him. He says, "I step on this for the sake of food and other benefits, on this variously splendid footstool." The bride's father then presents to him a cushion made of twenty leaves of cúsa grass, holding it up with both hands and exclaiming, "The cushion! the cushion! the cushion!" The bridegroom replies, "I accept the cushion," and taking it, places it on the ground under his feet, while he recites a prayer. It is probable that we may have in the "Cushion Dance" the last relics of a very ancient ceremony, as well as evidence of the origin of a game from custom.

Cutch-a-Cutchoo

Children clasp their hands under their knees in a sitting posture, and jump thus about the room. The one who keeps up longest wins the game.--Dublin (Mrs. Lincoln).

(_b_) In _Notes and Queries_, x. 17, "E. D." says this amusement was fashionable sixty years ago, and from the low dresses worn then by ladies he mentions its indecency. He gives extracts from a satire called _Cutchacutchoo, or the Jostling of the Innocents_, 2nd ed., Dublin, in which the game and position are mentioned--

Now she with tone tremendous cries Cutchacutchoo. Let each squat down upon her ham, Jump like a goat, puck like a ram.

"Uneda," at same reference (x. 17), speaks of it as a known game in Philadelphia. The analogy which this game has to some savage dances is curious; a correspondent in _Notes and Queries_, ix. 304, draws attention to the illustration, in Richardson's _Expedition to Arctic Shores_ (vol. i. p. 397), of a dance by the "Kutchin-Kutcha" Indians, a parallel to the name as well as the dance which needs some research in America.

See "Curcuddie," "Hop-frog."

Cutters and Trucklers

A remembrance of the old smuggling days. The boys divide into two parties; the Trucklers try to reach some given point before the Cutter catches them.--Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 60).

Dab

Dab a prin in my lottery book; Dab ane, dab twa, dab a' your prins awa'.

A game in which a pin is put at random in a school-book, between the leaves of which little pictures are placed. The successful adventurer is the person who puts the pin between two leaves including a picture which is the prize, and the pin itself is the forfeit (_Blackwood's Magazine_, Aug. 1821, p. 36). This was a general school game in West London in 1860-1866 (G. L. Gomme).

Dab-an-thricker

A game in which the _dab_ (a wooden ball) is caused to spring upwards by a blow on the _thricker_ (trigger), and is struck by a flat, bottle-shaped mallet fixed to the end of a flexible wand, the distance it goes counting so many for the striker.--Ross and Stead's _Holderness Glossary_.

This is the same as "Knur and Spell."

Dab-at-the-hole

A game at marbles (undescribed).--Patterson's _Antrim and Down Glossary_.

Dalies

A child's game, played with small bones or pieces of hard wood. The _dalies_ were properly sheep's trotters.--Halliwell's _Dictionary_.

Evidently the same game as "Fivestones" and "Hucklebones."

Davie-drap

Children amuse themselves on the braesides i' the sun, playing at "Hide and Seek" with this little flower, accompanying always the hiding of it with this rhyme, marking out the circle in which it is hid with the forefinger:--

Athin the bounds o' this I hap, My black and bonny davie-drap; Wha is here the cunning yin My davie-drap to me will fin.

--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

The davie-drap is a little black-topped field-flower.

Deadily

A school game, not described.--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

Diamond Ring

My lady's lost her diamond ring; I pitch upon you to find it!

Children sit in a ring or in a line, with their hands placed together palm to palm, and held straight, the little finger down-most between the knees. One of them is then chosen to represent a servant, who takes a ring, or some other small article as a substitute, between her two palms, which are pressed flat together like those of the rest, and goes round the circle or line placing her hands into the hands of every player, so that she is enabled to let the ring fall wherever she pleases without detection. After this she returns to the first child she touched, and with her hands behind her says the above words. The child who is thus addressed must guess who has the ring, and the servant performs the same ceremony with each of the party. They who guess right escape, but the rest forfeit. Should any one in the ring exclaim "I have it!" she also forfeits; nor must the servant make known who has the ring until all have guessed under the same penalty. The forfeits are afterwards cried as usual.--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 223.

(_b_) This game was a general favourite at juvenile parties years ago. The hands were held in the posture described by Halliwell, but any child was pitched upon for the first finder, and afterwards the child in whose hands the ring was found had to be finder. There was no guessing; the closed hands were looked into (A. B. Gomme). Mr. Addy has collected a similar game called "My lady's lost a gold ring," and Mr. Newell (_Games and Songs of American Children_, p. 150) has another, "Hold fast my gold ring."

Dibbs

A game played with the small knuckle-bones taken from legs of mutton; these bones are themselves called "dibs" (Lowsley's _Glossary of Berkshire Words_). Holloway's _Dictionary_ says five of these bones are used by boys, with which they play a game called "Dibs" in West Sussex.

See "Check-stones," "Fivestones," "Hucklebones."

Dinah

[Music]

No one in the house but Dinah, Dinah, No one in the house I know, I know; No one in the house but Dinah, Dinah, Playing on the old banjo.

A ring is formed, and a girl stands blindfolded inside. As the verse is sung and finished, Dinah goes to any one in the ring, and, if successful in guessing her name, takes her place, the other taking the place of Dinah, the game going on as before.--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).

"Dinah" was a Christy Minstrel song in the "fifties." It is probable that the game, which resembles "Buff," has been played to the tune of the song. Singing a chorus would soon follow.

See "Buff," "Muffin Man."

Dip o' the Kit

A rustic game, undescribed and marked as obsolescent.--Peacock's _Manley and Corringham Glossary_.

Dish-a-loof

A singular rustic amusement. One lays his hand down on a table, another clashes his upon it, a third his on that, and so on (fig. 1). When all the players have done this, the one who has his hand on the board pulls it out and lays it on the one uppermost (fig. 2): they all follow in rotation, and so a continual clashing and dashing is kept up; hence the name "Dish." Those who win the game are those who stand out longest--viz., those who are best at enduring pain. Tender hands could not stand it a moment: one dash of a rustic "loof" would make the blood spurt from the tip of every finger. It is a piece of pastime to country lads of the same nature as "Hard Knuckles" (Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_). This is a well-known game for small children in London. After each child's hands have been withdrawn and replaced on top as many times as possible without deranging the order, a general scramble and knocking of hands together ends the game (A. B. Gomme). Jamieson (_Etymological Dict._) gives this as a sport of children.

See "Dump," "Green Grass," "Hot Cockles."

Doddart

A game played in a large level field with a bent stick called "doddart." Two parties, headed by two captains, endeavour to drive a wooden ball to their respective boundaries (Halliwell's _Dictionary_). Brockett (_North Country Words_) adds to this that the captains are entitled to choose their followers by alternate votes. A piece of globular wood called an "orr" or "coit" is thrown down in the middle of the field and driven to one of two opposite hedges--the alley, hail-goal, or boundary. The same game as "Clubby," "Hockey," "Shinney," "Shinneyhaw."

Doncaster Cherries

One boy kneels, holding a long rope, the other end of which is held by another boy; the other players stand round about with handkerchiefs in hands, knotted. The one who holds the rope-end and standing cries out--

Doncaster cherries, ripe and sound; Touch 'em or taste 'em-- Down, you dogs!

--Earls Heaton, Yorkshire (H. Hardy).

This is evidently a version of "Badger the Bear," with a different and apparently degraded formula.

Dools

A school game. The dools are places marked with stones, where the players always remain in safety--where they dare neither be caught by the hand nor struck with balls. It is only when they leave these places of refuge that those out of the doons have any chance to gain the game and get in; and leave the doons they frequently must--this is the nature of the game. Now this game seems to have been often played in reality by our ancestors about their doon-hills.--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

Down in the Valley

I. Down in the valley where the green grass grows Stands E---- H----, she blows like a rose. She blows, she blows, she blows so sweet. In came F---- S---- and gave her a kiss. E---- made a pudding, she made it nice and sweet, F---- took a knife and fork and cut a little piece. Taste of it, taste of it, don't say nay, For next Sunday morning is our wedding day. First we'll buy a money box, Then we'll buy a cradle; Rock, rock the bottom out, Then we'll buy another. Bread and cheese all the week, cork on Sunday, Half a crown on Saturday night, and a jolly good dance on Monday.

--Cowes, Isle of Wight (Miss E. Smith).

II. Down in the meadows where the green grass grows, To see ---- blow like a rose. She blows, she blows, she blows so sweet. Go out, ----; who shall he be? ---- made a pudding, She made it so sweet, And never stuck a knife in Till ---- came to eat. Taste, love, taste, love, don't say nay, For next Monday morning is your wedding day. He bought her a gown and a guinea gold ring, And a fine cocked hat to be married in.

--West Haddon, Northamptonshire; Long Itchington, Warwickshire (_Northants Notes and Queries_, ii. 105).

III. Down in the valley the violets grow. Dear little ----, she blows like a rose. She blows, she blows, she blows so sweet. Come along in. Buy a shawl, buy a new black shawl, A bonnet trimmed with white and a new parasol. Oh dear, oh dear, what can I do, For next Monday morning is my wedding due.

--Shipley, Horsham; _Notes and Queries_, 8th series, i. 210 (Miss Busk).

(_b_) The children form a ring by joining hands, one child standing in the centre. They dance round. At the mention of the second name one from the ring goes into the centre. The two kiss at the end of the verse, and the first child takes the place in the ring, and the game begins again.

See "All the Boys," "Oliver, Oliver, follow the King."

Drab and Norr

A game similar to "Trippit and Coit."--Halliwell's _Dict._

Draw a Pail of Water

[Music]

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

I. Draw a pail of water For my lady's daughter; My father's a king and my mother's a queen, My two little sisters are dressed in green, Stamping grass and parsley, Marigold leaves and daisies. One rush, two rush, Pray thee, fine lady, come under my bush.

--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, Games, cclxxxvii.

II. Draw a pail of water, Send a lady a daughter; One o' my rush, two o' my rush, Please, young lady, creep under the briar bush.

--Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).

III. Draw, draw water, For my lady's daughter; One in a rush, Two in a bush, Pretty my lady, pop under the bush.

--Berrington and Ellesmere (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 521).

IV. Draw a bucket o' water For a lady's daughter; One and a hush, two and a rush, Please, young lady, come under my bush.

--Fochabers (Rev. W. Gregor).

V. Draw a bucket of water For a lady's daughter; One in a bush, Two in a bush, Three in a bush, Four in a bush, And out you go.

--Crockham Hill, Kent (Miss Chase).

VI. Drawing a bucket of water For my lady's daughter; Put it in a chestnut tree, And let it stay an hour. One of you rush, two may rush, Please, old woman, creep under the bush; The bush is too high, the bush is too low, Please, old woman, creep under the bush.

--Hampshire (Miss Mendham).

VII. Draw a pail of water For a lady's daughter; Give a silver pin for a golden ring-- Oh pray, young lady, pop under.

--Northants (Rev. W. D. Sweeting).

VIII. Draw a bucket of water For my lady's daughter; One go rush, and the other go hush, Pretty young lady, bop under my bush.

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

IX. Draw a bucket of water For the farmer's daughter; Give a gold ring and a silver watch, Pray, young lady, pop under.

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

X. Draw a bucket of water For my lady's daughter; A guinea gold ring And a silver pin, So pray, my young lady, pop under.

--Haydon (Herbert Hardy).

XI. Draw a bucket of water To wash my lady's garter; A guinea gold ring And a silver pin, Please, little girl, pop under.

--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).

XII. See-saw, a bucket of water, To wash my lady's garter. One in a rush, and two in a bush, To see a fine lady pop under a bush.

--Anderby, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire near the Trent (Miss Peacock).

XIII. One we go rush, Two we go push; Lady come under the corner bush.

--Shepscombe, Gloucestershire (Miss Mendham).

XIV. Sift the lady's oaten meal, sift it into flour, Put it in a chest of drawers and let it lie an hour. One of my rush, Two of my rush, Please, young lady, come under my bush. My bush is too high, my bush is too low, Please, young lady, come under my bow. Stir up the dumpling, stir up the dumpling.

--Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

XV. Sieve my lady's oatmeal, Grind my lady's flour; Put it in a chestnut, Let it stand an hour. One may rush, two may rush; Come, my girls, walk under the bush.

--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, Games, cclxxxviii.

(_b_) The Berrington version of this game is played as follows:--Two girls face each other, holding each other by both hands. Two others face each other, holding both hands across the other two. They see-saw backwards and forwards, singing the lines (fig. 1). One girl gets inside the enclosing hands (fig. 2), and they repeat till all four have "popped under" (fig. 3), when they "jog" up and down till they fall on the floor! (fig. 4). At Ellesmere only _two_ girls join hands, and as many "pop under" as they can encircle. The Lincolnshire and Norfolk versions are played practically in the same way. In the Liphook version the children stand in two and two opposite to each other; the children on one side of the square hold hands up at the third line, and the other two children run under the hands of the first two. There is no pause, but the verse is sung time after time, so that the four children are nearly always moving. In the other Hampshire version four girls stand in a square, each holding the hands of the one opposite to her, pulling each other's hands backwards and forwards singing the lines. Two arms are then raised, and one girl comes under; this is repeated till all four girls have come under the arms, then their arms encircle each other's waists and they dance round. In the Scottish version there are only two girls who join hands and pull each other backwards and forwards, repeating the words. Halliwell describes a different action to any of these. A string of children, hand in hand, stand in a row. A child stands in front of them as leader; two other children form an arch, each holding both of the hands of the other. The string of children pass under the arch, the last of whom is taken captive by the two holding hands. The verses are repeated until all are taken.--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, cclxxxvii.

(_c_) The analysis of the game rhymes is as follows:--

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Halliwell's Version. | Liphook (Hants). | Shropshire. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Draw a pail of water. |Draw a pail of water. |Draw, draw water. | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.|For my lady's |Send a lady a |For my lady's | | |daughter. |daughter. |daughter. | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.| -- | -- | -- | | 8.|My father's a king and| -- | -- | | |my mother's a queen. | | | | 9.|My two little sisters | -- | -- | | |are dressed in green. | | | |10.|Stamping grass and | -- | -- | | |parsley. | | | |11.|Marigold leaves and | -- | -- | | |daisies. | | | |12.|One rush, two rush. |One o' my rush, two o'|One in a rush, two in | | | |my rush. |a bush. | |13.| -- | -- | -- | |14.|Pray thee, fine lady, |Please, young lady, |Pretty my lady, pop | | |come under my bush. |creep under the |under the bush. | | | |_briar_ bush. | | |15.| -- | -- | -- | |16.| -- | -- | -- | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.|Fochabers (Scotland). | Hampshire. | Northants. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Draw a bucket o' |Drawing a bucket of |Draw a pail of water. | | |water. |water. | | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.|For a lady's daughter.|For my lady's |For a lady's daughter.| | | |daughter. | | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- |Put it in a chestnut | -- | | | |tree. | | | 7.| -- |Let it stay an hour. | -- | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|One and a hush, two |One of you rush, two | -- | | |and a rush. |may rush. | | |13.| -- | -- |Give a silver pin for | | | | |a golden ring. | |14.|Please, young lady, |Please, old woman man,|Pray, young lady, pop | | |come under my bush. |creep under the bush. |under. | |15.| -- |The bush is too high, | -- | | | |the bush is too low. | | |16.| -- |Please, old woman, | -- | | | |creep under the bush. | | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Norfolk (1). | Norfolk (2). | Haydon. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Draw a bucket of |Draw a bucket of |Draw a bucket of | | |water. |water. |water. | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.|For my lady's |For the farmer's |For my lady's | | |daughter. |daughter. |daughter. | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.| -- | -- | -- | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|One go rush and the | -- | -- | | |other go hush. | | | |13.| -- |Give a gold ring and a|A guinea gold ring and| | | |silver watch. |a silver pin. | |14.|Pretty young lady, bop|Pray, young lady, pop |Pray, young lady, pop | | |under my bush. |under. |under. | |15.| -- | -- | -- | |16.| -- | -- | -- | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Earls Heaton. | Lincolnshire and | Gloucestershire. | | | | Nottinghamshire. | | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Draw a bucket of |See saw, a bucket of | -- | | |water. |water. | | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.|To wash my lady's |To wash my lady's | -- | | |garter. |garter. | | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.| -- | -- | -- | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.| -- |One in a rush and two |One we go rush, two we| | | |in a bush. |go push. | |13.|A guinea gold ring and| -- | -- | | |a silver pin. | | | |14.|Please, little girl, |To see a fine lady pop|Lady, come under the | | |pop under. |under a bush. |corner bush. | |15.| -- | -- | -- | |16.| -- | -- | -- | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Belfast. | Halliwell's Version | Crockham Hill. | | | | (No. 2). | | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.| -- | -- |Draw a bucket of | | | | |water. | | 2.|Sift the lady's |Sieve my lady's | -- | | |oatmeal. |oatmeal. | | | 3.|Sift it into flour. |Grind my lady's flour.| -- | | 4.| -- | -- |For a lady's daughter.| | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.|Put it in a chest of |Put it in a chestnut. | -- | | |drawers. | | | | 7.|Let it lie an hour. |Let it stand an hour. | -- | | 8.| -- | | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|One of my rush, two of|One may rush, two may |One in a bush, two in | | |my rush. |rush. |a bush, three in a | | | | |bush, four in a bush. | |13.| -- | -- | -- | |14.|Please, young lady, |Come, my girls, walk | -- | | |come under my bush. |under the bush. | | |15.|My bush is too high, | -- | -- | | |my bush is too low. | | | |16.|Please, young lady, | -- | -- | | |come under my bow. | | | |17.|Stir up the dumpling. | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- |And out you go. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

The analysis shows that the majority of the variants retain four principal incidents of what must have been the original form of the game, and the fact of the Gloucestershire version having come down with only two of the incidents, namely, the two most common to all the variants (12 and 14), shows that the game has been in a state of decadence. The four principal incidents, Nos. 1, 4, 12, and 14, point distinctly to some water ceremonial; and if it may be argued that the incidents which occur in only one or two of the variants may be considered to have belonged to the original type, we shall be able to suggest that this game presents a dramatic representation of ancient well-worship. The incidents which occur in one version only are those given by Mr. Halliwell, and unfortunately the locality from which he obtained this variant is unknown. Still it is an earlier version than those which are now printed for the first time, and may without doubt be looked upon as genuine. Taking all the incidents of the various versions as the means by which to restore the earliest version, it would appear that this might have consisted of the following lines:--

Draw a pail of water For a lady's daughter; Her father's a king, her mother's a queen, Her two little sisters are dressed in green, Stamping grass and parsley, marigold leaves and daisies; Sift the lady's oatmeal, sift it into flour, Put it in a chestnut tree, let it lie an hour; Give a silver pin and a gold ring, One and a hush! two and a rush! Pray, young lady, pop under a bush; My bush is too high, my bush is too low, Please, young lady, come under my bow!

(_d_) This restoration of the words, though it probably is far from complete, and does not make so good a game rhyme as the reduced versions, nevertheless shows clearly enough that the incidents belong to a ceremonial of primitive well-worship. The pulling of the hands backwards and forwards may be taken to indicate the raising of water from a well. If this is conceded, the incidents might be grouped as follows:--

(1.) Drawing of water from a well. (2.) For a devotee at the well. (3.) Collecting flowers for dressing the well. (4.) Making of a cake for presentation. (5.) Gifts to the well [the silver pin, gold ring, and probably the garter]. (6.) Command of silence. (7.) The presence of the devotee at the sacred bush.

All these are incidents of primitive well-worship (see Gomme's _Ethnology and Folk-lore_, pp. 82-103). Garland dressing is very general; cakes were eaten at Rorrington well, Shropshire (Burne's _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 433); pins and portions of the dress are very general offerings; silence is strictly enforced in many instances, and a sacred tree or bush is very frequently found near the well.

The tune of the Hampshire game (Miss Mendham's version) is practically the same as that of the "Mulberry Bush."

Newell (_Games of American Children_, p. 90) gives a version of this game.

Drawing Dun out of the Mire

Brand, quoting from "an old collection of satires, epigrams, &c.," says this game is enumerated among other pastimes:

At shove-groat, venter-point, or crosse and pile, At leaping o'er a Midsummer bone-fier, Or at _the drawing Dun out of the myer_.

So in the _Dutchesse of Suffolke_, 1631:

Well done, my masters, lends your hands, _Draw Dun out of the ditch_, Draw, pull, helpe all, so, so, well done. [_They pull him out._]

They had shoved Bishop Bonner into a well, and were pulling him out.

We find this game noticed at least as early as Chaucer's time, in the _Manciple's Prologue_:

Then gan our hoste to jape and to play, And sayd, sires, what? _Dun is in the mire._

Nares (_Glossary_) says this game was a rural pastime, in which _Dun_ meant a dun horse, supposed to be stuck in the mire, and sometimes represented by one of the persons who played.

Gifford (_Ben Jonson_, vol. vii. p. 283), who remembered having played at the game (doubtless in his native county, Devonshire), thus describes it:--"A log of wood is brought into the midst of the room: this is Dun (the cart horse), and a cry is raised that he is stuck in the mire. Two of the company advance, either with or without ropes, to draw him out. After repeated attempts they find themselves unable to do it, and call for more assistance. The game continues till all the company take part in it, when Dun is extricated of course; and the merriment arises from the awkward and affected efforts of the rustics to lift the log, and sundry arch contrivances to let the ends of it fall on one another's toes."

Drop Handkerchief

This is a game similar to Cat and Mouse, but takes its name from the use of the handkerchief to start the pursuit. Various rhyming formulæ are used in some places. In Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy), no rhyme is used.

The children stand in a ring. One runs round with a handkerchief and drops it; the child behind whom it is dropped chases the dropper, the one who gets home first takes the vacant place, the other drops the handkerchief again.

In Shropshire the two players pursue one another in and out of the ring, running under the uplifted hands of the players who compose it: the pursuer carefully keeping on the track of the pursued (Burne's _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 512).

The Dorsetshire variant is accompanied by a rhyme:

I wrote a letter to my love; I carried water in my glove; And by the way I dropped it-- I dropped it, I dropped it, I dropped it, &c.

This is repeated until the handkerchief is stealthily dropped immediately behind one of the players, who should be on the alert to follow as quickly as possible the one who has dropped it, who at once increases her speed and endeavours to take the place left vacant by her pursuer. Should she be caught before she can succeed in doing this she is compelled to take the handkerchief a second time. But if, as it more usually happens, she is successful in accomplishing this, the pursuer in turn takes the handkerchief, and the game proceeds as before.--Symondsbury (_Folk-lore Journal_, vi. 212).

Jack lost his supper last night, And the night before; if he does again to-night, He never will no more--more--more--more.

I wrote a letter to my love, And on the way I dropt it; Some of you have picked it up, And got it in your pocket--pocket--pocket--pocket.

I have a little dog, it won't bite you-- It won't bite you--it won't bite you-- It _will_ bite you.

--Leicestershire (Miss Ellis).

The Forest of Dean version is the same as the Dorsetshire, except that the child who is unsuccessful in gaining the vacant place has to stand in the middle of the ring until the same thing happens to another child.--Miss Matthews.

In Nottinghamshire the children form in a ring; one walks round outside the ring singing and carrying a handkerchief:

I wrote a letter to my love, and on the way I dropt it; One of you has picked it up and put it in your pocket. It isn't you, it isn't you, &c. &c.; it is you.

The handkerchief is then dropped at some one's back, the one at whose back the handkerchief was dropped chasing the other.

Or they say:

I lost my supper last night, I lost it the night before, And if I lose it again to-night, I'll knock at somebody's door. It isn't you, it isn't you, &c. &c.; it's you.

--Miss Winfield.

At Winterton and Lincoln the children form a circle, standing arms-length apart. A child holding a handkerchief occupies the centre of the ring and sings:

Wiskit-a-waskit, A green leather basket; I wrote a letter to my love, And on the way I lost it; Some of you have picked it up, And put it in your pocket. I have a little dog at home, And it shan't bite you,

(Here the singer points to each child in turn)

Nor you, nor you, nor you; But it shall bite _you_.

Then she drops the handkerchief before her chosen playmate, who chases her in and out of the ring under the arms of the other children until she is captured. The captor afterwards takes the place in the centre, and the original singer becomes a member of the circle.--Miss M. Peacock.

The Deptford version of the verse is as follows:--

I had a little dog whose name was Buff, I sent him up the street for a penny'orth of snuff, He broke my box and spilt my snuff, I think my story is long enough-- 'Tain't you, and 'tain't you, and 'tis you!

--Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).

A Staffordshire and Sharleston version gives some altogether different formulæ:--

What colour's the sky? Blue. Look up again. Like a W. Follow me through every little hole that I go through.

--Staffordshire (Rev. G. T. Royds, Rector of Haughton).

At Sharleston the centre child says, "What colour is t' sky?" The other answers, "Blue." Centre child says, "Follow me true." Here the centre child runs in and out between the others until the one who was touched catches her, when they change places, the first joining the children in the ring.--Sharleston (Miss Fowler).

At Beddgelert, Wales (Mrs. Williams), this game is called Tartan Boeth. It is played in precisely the same manner as the English game, but the words used are:

Tartan Boeth, Oh ma'en llosgi, Boeth iawn Hot Tart. Oh, it burns! very hot!

At the words, "Very hot!" the handkerchief is dropped.

(_b_) In this game no kissing takes place, and that this is no mere accidental omission may be shown by Mr. Udal's description of the Dorsetshire game. He was assured by several persons who are interested in Dorset Children's Games that the indiscriminate kissing (that is, whether the girl pursued runs little or far, or, when overtaken, whether she objects or not) with which this game is ordinarily associated, as played now both in Dorset and in other counties, was not indigenous to this county, but was merely a pernicious after-growth or outcome of later days, which had its origin in the various excursion and holiday fêtes, which the facilities of railway travelling had instituted, by bringing large crowds from the neighbouring towns into the country. He was told that thirty years ago such a thing was unknown in the country districts of Dorset, when the game then usually indulged in was known merely as "Drop the Handkerchief" (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 212).

In other cases the rhymes are used for a purely kissing game, for which see "Kiss in the Ring."

Dropping the Letter

An undescribed Suffolk boys' game.--Moor's _Suffolk Words_, p. 238.

Duck under the Water

Each child chooses a partner, and form in couples standing one before the other, till a long line is formed. Each couple holds a handkerchief as high as they can to form an arch. The couple standing at the end of the line run through the arch just beyond the last couple standing at the top, when they stand still and hold their handkerchief as high as possible, which is the beginning of the second arch; this is repeated by every last couple in succession, so that as many arches as are wanted can be formed.--East Kirkby, Lincolnshire (Miss K. Maughan).

Miss Baker (_Northamptonshire Glossary_) says the game is played in that county. Formerly in the northern part of the county even married women on May Day played at it under the May garland, which was extended from chimney to chimney across the village street.

Duck at the Table

A boys' game, played with round stones and a table-shaped block of stone.--Patterson's _Antrim and Down Glossary_.

Probably the same as Duckstone.

Duck Dance

[Music]

--London (A. B. Gomme).

I saw a ship a sailin', A sailin' on the sea, And oh, it was laden With pretty things for me [thee].

There were comfits in the cabin, And apples in the hold; The sails were made of silk, And the masts were made of gold.

Four and twenty sailors That sat upon the deck, Were four and twenty white mice With chains about their necks.

The captain was a duck, With a packet on his back; And when the ship began to move, The captain cried "Quack! quack!"

--Northamptonshire, _Revue Celtique_, iv. 200; Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, No. ccclxxvii.

(_b_) A number of little girls join hands and form a ring. They all jump round and sing the verses. The game ends by the girls following one of their number in a string, all quacking like ducks.--Northamptonshire.

(_c_) Halliwell does not include it among his games, but simply as a nursery paradox. The tune given is that to which I as a child was taught to sing the verses as a song. We did not know it as a game. The "Quack, quack!" was repeated as another line to the notes of the last bar given, the notes gradually dying away (A. B. Gomme).

Duck Friar

The game of "Leap-frog."--_Apollo Shroving_, 1627, p. 83.

Ducks and Drakes

A pastime in which flat stones or slates are thrown upon the surface of a piece of water, so that they may dip and emerge several times without sinking (Brockett's _North Country Words_). "Neither cross and pile nor ducks and drakes are quite so ancient as hand dandy" (Arbuthnot and Pope, quoted in Todd's _Johnson_).

Halliwell gives the words used in the game both formerly and at the present day. If the stone emerges only once it is a duck, and increasing in the following order:--

2. A duck and a drake, 3. And a halfpenny cake, 4. And a penny to pay the old baker, 5. A hop and a scotch is another notch, 6. Slitherum, slatherum, take her.

--Halliwell's _Dictionary_.

Hen-pen, Duck and mallard, Amen.

--Somersetshire (Holloway's _Dict. of Provincialisms_).

A duck and a drake And a white penny cake.

--Hampshire (Holloway's _Dict. of Provincialisms_).

A duck and a drake And a penny white cake, And a skew ball.

--Peacock's _Manley and Corringham Glossary_.

Moor (_Suffolk Words and Phrases_) gives the names for the number of times the stone emerges, as (1) "a duck;" (2) "a duck an' a drake;" if thrice, "a duck an' a drake an' a fi'epenny cake;" four times is "a duck an' a drake an' a fi'epenny cake, an' a penny to pah the baker." If more than four, "a duck," "a duck an' a drake," &c., are added. These distinctions are iterated quickly to correspond in time as nearly as may be with the dips of the stone. A flattish stone is evidently the best for this sport.

(_b_) This game is also given by Mr. Addy in his _Sheffield Glossary_, and by Holland (_Cheshire Glossary_), Brogden (_Provincial Words, Lincolnshire_), Lowsley (_Berkshire Glossary_), Nares' _Glossary_, and Baker's _Northants Glossary_. Miss Courtenay gives "Scutter" and "Tic Tac Mollard" as Cornish names for the game (_West Cornwall Glossary_). See also Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 139, and Strutt's _Sports and Pastimes_, p. 326.

Butler, in his _Hudibras_ (p. ii. canto iii. l. 302), makes it one of the important qualifications of his conjurer to tell--

What figur'd slates are best to make On wat'ry surface _duck_ or _drake_.

The following description of this sport is given by Minucius Felix, ed. 1712, p. 28, which evinces its high antiquity: "Pueros videmus certatim gestientes, testarum in mare jaculationibus ludere. Is lusus est, testam teretem, jactatione fluctuum lævigatam, legere de litore: eam testam plano situ digitis comprehensam, inclinem ipsum atque humilem, quantum potest, super undas irrorare: ut illud jaculum vel dorsum maris raderet, vel enataret, dum leni impetu labitur; vel summis fluctibus tonsis emicaret, emergeret, dum assiduo saltu sublevatur. Is se in pueris victorem ferebat, cujus testa et procurreret longius, et frequentius exsiliret."

"From this pastime," says Moor, "has probably arisen the application of the term to a spendthrift--of whose approaching ruin we should thus speak: 'Ah, he'ave made fine ducks and drakes of a's money, that a' have.'"--_Suffolk Words._

Duckstone

A large stone called the Duckstone or Duck-table is placed on the ground, generally with a wall for a background, but this is of little consequence. Several boys take a stone each, and a place pretty near the Duckstone is chosen for "home." One of the boys puts his stone on the Duckstone, and he is called the Tenter. He has to guard the home and catch the other boys if he can. Each boy in turn throws his stone at the stone on the Duck-table and immediately runs home. The Tenter tries to catch him before he can touch the wall or post or whatever is chosen for the home. If the Tenter can catch him he becomes Tenter, and puts his stone on the Duckstone, and the original Tenter takes his turn in throwing. One rule of the game is that the Tenter's stone must always be on the Duck-table when he is trying to catch a boy, so if it is knocked off it must be replaced before he can try to catch the boy running "home." The chance of getting home is increased for the boy who knocks it off.--North-West Lincolnshire (Rev. ---- Roberts and Miss Peacock).

(_b_) Similar versions are from Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy), Ireland (_Folk-lore Journal_, ii. 265), Peacock (_Mauley and Corringham Glossary_). Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) gives this game with the following addition: If a duck falls short of the Duckstone, and the one whose duck is on the stone sees that he can _wand_ or _span_ with his hand the distance between the duck thus thrown and the Duckstone, he shouts out "Wands," and if he can wand or span the distance he takes his duck off, and the duck thus thrown is put on. Holland (_Cheshire Glossary_), Darlington (South Cheshire), Baker (_Northants Glossary_), and Brogden (_Provincial Words, Lincolnshire_), also give this game. Elworthy (_West Somerset Words_) calls it "Duck," and "Ducks off" and "Cobbs off" in Dorsetshire. In London the boy repeats the words, "Gully, gully, all round the hole, one duck on," while he is playing (_Strand Magazine_, November 1891). Newell (_Games_, p. 188) calls it "Duck on a Rock."

Duffan Ring

Name for "Cat and Mouse" in Cornwall.--_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 57.

Dumb Crambo

An undescribed game mentioned in Moor's _Suffolk Words_, p. 238.

Dumb Motions

Two sides are chosen, which stand apart from each other inside the line of their den. One side chooses a trade, and goes to the opposite side imitating working at the trade and giving the initial letters of it. If the opposite side guesses the name of the trade, the players run to their own den, being chased by their opponents. If any of the players are caught they must go to the opposite side. In turn the opposite side chooses a trade, and imitates the actions practised.--Cork, Ireland (Miss Keane).

This is called "An Old Woman from the Wood" in Dorsetshire. The children form themselves into two ranks.

The first rank says: Here comes an old 'oman from the wood. The second party answers: What cans't thee do? First Party: Do anythin'. Second Party: Work away.

This the children proceed to do, some by pretending to sew, some to wash, some to dig, some to knit, without any instruments to do it with. If the opposite side guess what they are doing, they change sides. This game, Miss Summers believes, is very old, and has been played by several generations in the village of Hazelbury Bryan.--Dorsetshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 230).

See "Trades."

Dump

A boys' amusement in Yorkshire, in vogue about half a century ago, but now believed to be nearly obsolete. It is played in this manner. The lads crowd round and place their fists endways, the one on the other, till they form a high pile of hands. Then a boy, who has one hand free, knocks the piled fists off one by one, saying to every boy as he strikes his fist away, "What's there, Dump?" He continues this process till he comes to the last fist, when he exclaims:--

What's there? Cheese and bread, and a mouldy halfpenny! Where's my share? I put it on the shelf, and the cat got it. Where's the cat? She's run nine miles through the wood. Where's the wood? T' fire burnt it. Where's the fire? T' waters sleekt (extinguished) it. Where's the water? T' oxen drank it. Where's the oxen? T' butcher killed 'em. Where's the butcher? Upon the church tops cracking nuts, and you may go and eat the shells; and them as speaks first shall have nine nips, nine scratches, and nine boxes over the lug!

Every one then endeavours to refrain from speaking in spite of mutual nudges and grimaces, and he who first allows a word to escape is punished by the others in the various methods adopted by schoolboys. In some places the game is played differently. The children pile their fists in the manner described above; then one, or sometimes all of them, sing:

I've built my house, I've built my wall; I don't care where my chimneys fall!

The merriment consists in the bustle and confusion occasioned by the rapid withdrawal of the hands (Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 225). Compare Burne's _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 529.

Northall (_Folk Rhymes_, p. 418) gives the following rhymes as said in Warwickshire while the fists are being piled on one another:--

Here's one hammer on the block, My men, my men; There's one hammer, &c., my man John. Dibble the can, blow bellows, blow, Fire away, lads, for an hour or so.

See "Dish-a-loof," "Sacks."

Dumps

A game at marbles or taw, played with holes scooped in the ground (Roxburgh, Jamieson). Grose gives _dump_ as signifying "a deep hole of water" (_Provincial Glossary_).

Dust-point

A game in which boys placed their points in a heap, and threw at them with a stone. Weber and Nares give wrong explanations. It is alluded to in Cotton's Works, 1734, p. 184.

I'll venter on their heads my brindled cow, With any boy at dust-point they shall play.

--Peacham's _Thalia's Banquet_, 1620.

Nares (_Glossary_) suggests that this game and blow-point resembled the game of Push-pin. See also Halliwell's _Dictionary_.

Eller Tree

A number of young men and women stand in a line, a tall girl at one end of the line representing the tree. They then begin to wrap round her, saying, "The old eller tree grows thicker and thicker." When they have all got round her (the tree), they jump all together, calling out, "A bunch of rags, a bunch of rags," and try to tread on each other's toes.--Sheffield, Yorks (S. O. Addy).

(_b_) The tree is the alder. It abounds in the North of England more than in any other part of the kingdom, and seems always to have been there held in great respect and veneration. Many superstitions also attach to the tree. It is possible from these circumstances that the game descends from an old custom of encircling the tree as an act of worship, and the allusion to the "rags" bears at least a curious relationship to tree worship. If this conclusion is correct, the particular form of the game preserved by Mr. Addy may be the parent form of all games in which the act of winding is indicated. There is more reason for this when we consider how easy the notion of clock-winding would creep in after the old veneration for the sacred alder tree had ceased to exist.

See "Bulliheisle," "Wind up the Bush Faggot," "Wind up the Watch."

Ezzeka

Old Ezzeka did one day stand Upon a barrel top; The bung flew out, and all at once It went off with a pop.

--Dronfield (S. O. Addy).

This game is usually played in a house or schoolroom, by boys and girls. A boy or girl is chosen who is considered to be able to stand a joke. He sits on a chair. A stool is put behind, upon which a boy called "Ezzeka" stands. Then the other boys and girls in the room sing the lines. As they are finished, Ezzeka, who has a bottle of water in his hand, takes out the cork, and pours the water upon his victim's head. This game may be compared with the game of "King Arthur" mentioned by Brand (_Pop. Antiq._, ii. 393).

Father's Fiddle

This is a boys' game. One boy says to another, "Divv (do) ye ken (know) aboot my father's fiddle?" On replying that he does not, the questioner takes hold of the other's right hand with his left, and stretches out the arm. With his right hand he touches the arm gently above the elbow, and says, "My father had a fiddle, an' he brook (broke) it here, an' he brook it here" (touching it below the elbow), "an' he brook it throw the middle," and comes down with a sharp stroke on the elbow-joint.--Keith, Fochabers (Rev. W. Gregor).

This is probably the same game as that printed by Halliwell, No. cccxxxv., to which the following rhyme applied:--

My father was a Frenchman, He bought for me a fiddle; He cut me here, he cut me here, He cut me right in the middle.

Feed the Dove

An undescribed game mentioned in an old poem called _Christmas_ (i. 285), quoted in Ellis's Brand, i. 517: "Young men and maidens now at 'Feed the Dove' (with laurel leaf in mouth) play."

Find the Ring

O the grand old Duke of York He had ten thousand men, He marched them up the hill ago And he marched them down again. And when they were up they were up, And when they were down they were down, And when they were half-way up the hill They were neither up nor down.

--Sheffield (S. O. Addy).

A ring of chairs is formed, and the players sit on them. A piece of string long enough to go round the inner circumference of the chairs is procured. A small ring is put upon the string, the ends of which are then tied. Then one of the players gets up from his chair and stands in the centre. The players sitting on the chairs take the string into their hands and pass the ring round from one to another, singing the lines. If the person standing in the centre can find out in whose hand the ring is, he sits down, and his place is taken by the one who had the ring. The game is sometimes played round a haycock in the hayfield.

Miss Dendy sends a similar rhyme from Monton, Lancashire, where it is known simply as a marching game. For similar rhymes, see Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 3.

See "Paddy from Home," "Tip it."

Fippeny Morrell

"Twice three stones, set in a crossed square, where he wins the game that can set his three along in a row, and that is fippeny morrell I trow."--_Apollo Shroving_, 1626.

See "Nine Men's Morice," "Noughts and Crosses."

Fire, Air, and Water

The players seat themselves in a circle. One of the players has a ball, to which a string is fastened. He holds the string that he may easily draw the ball back again after it is thrown. The possessor of the ball then throws it to one in the circle, calling out the name of either of the elements he pleases. This player must, before ten can be counted, give the name of an inhabitant of that element. When "Fire" is called, strict silence must be observed or a forfeit paid.--Cork, Ireland (Miss Keane).

The players were seated in a half-circle, and the possessor of the ball faced the others. There was no string attached to the ball, but it was necessary that it should hit the child it was thrown to. When "Fire" was called, "Salamander" and "Ph[oe]nix" were allowed to be said. The third time "Fire" was called, silence was observed, and every player bowed the head. We called it "Earth, Air, Fire, and Water." A forfeit had to be paid for every mistake.--London (A. B. Gomme).

It seems probable that a survival of fire-worship is shown by this game.

Fivestones

This game was played by a newspaper boy at Richmond Station for me as follows:--He had five square pieces of tile or stone about the size of dice. He took all five pieces in the palm of the hand first, then threw them up and caught them on the back of the hand, and then from the back of the hand into the palm. Four of the stones were then thrown on the ground; the fifth was thrown up, one stone being picked up from the ground, and the descending fifth stone caught in the same hand; the other three pieces were next picked up in turn. Then two were picked up together in the same manner twice, then one, then three, then all four at once, the fifth stone being thrown up and caught with each movement. All five were then thrown up and caught on the back of the hand, and then thrown from the back and caught in the palm. When he dropped one, he picked it up between his outstretched fingers while the other stones remained on the back of the hand; then he tossed and caught it likewise. Then after throwing up the five stones and catching them on the back of the hand and the reverse, all five being kept in the palm, one was thrown up, and another deposited on the ground before the descending stone was caught. This was done to the three others in turn. Then with two at a time twice, then one and three, then all four together, then from the palm to the back of the hand, and again to the palm. This completed one game. If mistakes were made another player took the stones. Marks were taken for successful play. This boy called the game "Dabs."--A. B. Gomme.

In South Notts this game was called "Snobs." It was played with small stones or marbles. There were nine sets of tricks. First One-ers (of which there were five in the set), then Two-ers (two in set), Three-ers (three in set), Four-ers (four in set), Four Squares (four in set), Trotting Donkeys (eight in set, I believe), Fly-catchers (six or seven in set), Magic (five in set), and Magic Fly-catchers (five in set). One-ers is played thus:--The five stones are thrown into the air and caught on the back of the hand. If all are caught they are simply tossed up again and caught in the hollow of the hand, but if any are not caught they have to be picked up, one by one, another stone being at the same time thrown into the air and caught with the one picked up in the hand. Two-ers, Three-ers, and Four-ers, are played in the same way, except that the stones not caught on the back of the hand have to be arranged in twos, threes, and fours respectively by the hand on which the caught stones are lying meanwhile, and then each lot has to be picked up altogether. If the number that fall when the stones are first thrown up won't allow of this, the player has to drop the required number (but no more) from his hand. In Magic the play is just the same as in One-ers, except that instead of only throwing up a single stone and catching it as the others are in turn picked up, the whole number, except those remaining to be picked up, are thrown and caught. In Four Squares, four of the stones are arranged in a square, each of them is then picked up, whilst the remaining stone is flung upwards and caught; the one picked up is then tossed up, and the one originally tossed up is put down in the place of the other, which is caught as it descends, and the process repeated "all round the square." Trotting Donkeys is similarly played, except that the four stones are arranged in a line--not in a square--and I believe there is some other slight difference, but I forget what. Fly-catchers is played like One-ers, except that the stone thrown into the air while the others are being picked up, is not simply caught by being allowed to fall into the hand, but by an outward movement of the hand is _pounced on_, hawk-fashion, from above. Magic Fly-catchers is played in precisely the same way, except that as in simple Magic, not one stone, but all are thrown up and caught--that is, if there are four on the ground one only is thrown up for the first, two for the second, three for the third, and so on until they are all picked up. This is, of course, the most difficult part of all, and, in fact, only experts were expected to do it. Every failure means "out," and then your opponent has his turn. The winner is the one who gets through first. Such is the game as I remember it, but I have an uneasy suspicion that I have missed something out. I seem to remember one trick in which all the stones on the ground had to be picked up at once _where they lay_--scrambled up so to speak. Or it may be (and, in fact, I think it was) that sometimes, to add to the difficulty of the game, we picked up the groups of two, three, and four in Two-ers, Three-ers, and Four-ers in this fashion, instead of first placing them together.--Epworth, Doncaster (C. C. Bell).

In Wakefield the set of pot checks, which represents five hucklebones, now consists of four checks and a ball about the size of a large marble. The checks are something like dice, but only two opposite sides are plain, the other four being fluted. The table played on is generally a doorstep, and it is made ready by drawing a ring upon it with anything handy which will make a mark. There are twelve figures or movements to be gone through as follows. Some have special names, but I do not learn that all have.

1. The player, taking the checks and ball in the right hand, throws down the checks, keeping the ball in the hand. If any check fall outside the ring the player is "down." There is skill needed in the throwing of the checks in this and the following movements, so that they may be conveniently placed for taking up in the proper order. The checks being scattered, the player throws up the ball, takes up one check, and catches the ball as it comes down, or, as it is sometimes played, after it has bounced once from the step. This is repeated till all the checks are taken up.

2. As the last figure, but the checks are taken up two at a throw.

3. As the last, but at the first throw one check, called the Horse, is taken up, and at the second the remaining three checks at once, called the Cart.

4. As before, but all the checks taken up together.

5. Called Ups and Downs. The checks are taken up at one throw, and set down outside the ring at the next. This is done first with one, then with two, and so on.

6. Each check is touched in turn as the ball is thrown.

7. The checks are separately pushed out of the ring.

8. Each check in turn is taken up and knocked against the ground.

9. Each check is taken up and tapped upon another.

10. The checks are first arranged three in a line, touching each other, and the fourth placed at the top of that at one end of the row. This is called the Cradle. It has to be taken down check by check, and if, in taking one, another is moved, the player is out.

11. Like the last, but the checks are put one above another to make a Chimney.

12. Called the Dish-clout--I know not why, unless it be that it wipes up the game. The movement used in taking up the checks is thus described:--"Take hold of the sleeve of the right hand with the left; throw up the ball, and twist your right hand underneath and over your left, and catch the ball. With the hand still twisted throw up the ball and untwist and catch it." The checks are picked up in the course of the twisting.

These I am told are the orthodox movements; and I do not doubt that in them there is much of very old tradition, although the tenth and eleventh must have been either added or modified since pot checks came into use, for the figures could not be built up with the natural bones. Some other movements are sometimes used according to fancy, as for example the clapping of the ground with the palm of the hand before taking up the checks and catching the ball.--J. T. Micklethwaite (_Arch. Journ._, xlix. 327-28).

I am told that in the iron districts of Staffordshire, the round bits of iron punched out in making rivet holes in boiler plates are the modern representatives of hucklebones.--_Ibid._

In Westminster four stones are held in the right hand, a marble is thrown up, and all four stones thrown down, and the marble allowed to bounce on the hearthstone or pavement, and then caught in the same hand after it has rebounded. The marble is then thrown up again, and one of the four stones picked up, and the marble caught again after it has rebounded. This is done separately to the other three, bringing all four stones into the hand. The marble is again bounced, and all four stones thrown down and the marble caught. Two stones are then picked up together, then the other two, then one, then three together, then all four together, the marble being tossed and caught with each throw. An arch is then formed by placing the left hand on the ground, and the four stones are again thrown down, the marble tossed, and the four stones put separately into the arch, the marble being caught after it has rebounded each time; or the four stones are separately put between the fingers of the left hand in as straight a row as possible. Then the left hand is taken away, and the four stones caught up in one sweep of the hand. Then all four stones are thrown down, and one is picked up before the marble is caught. This is retained in the hand, and when the second stone is picked up the first one is laid down before the marble is caught; the third is picked up and the second laid down, the fourth picked up and the third laid down, then the fourth laid down, the marble being tossed and caught again each time. The stones have different names or marks (which follow in rotation), and in picking them up they must be taken in their proper order, or it is counted as a mistake. The game is played throughout by the right hand, the left hand only being used when "arches" is made. The marble should be thrown up about the same height each toss, and there should be little or no interval between the different figures.--Annie Dicker.

I saw this game played in Endell Street, London, W.C., by two girls. Their game was not so long nor so complete as the above. They did not throw all four stones down as a preliminary stage, but began with the second figure, the four gobs being placed in a square ::, nor were they particular as to which stones they picked up. They knew nothing of numbering or naming them. Their marble was called a "jack." They had places chalked on the pavement where they recorded their successful "goes," and the game was played in a ring.--A. B. Gomme.

An account sent me from Deptford (Miss Chase) is doubtless the same game. It begins with taking two "gobs" at once, and apparently there are eight stones or gobs to play with. The marble or round stone which is thrown up is called a "tally." The directions for playing are--

We take twoses, We take threeses, We take fourses, We take sixes, We take eights.

Chain eggs--_i.e._, to pick up one and drop it again until this has been done to each stone. Arches--_i.e._, gobs in a row. This was described by the player as "while the tally is up to sweep the whole row or line off the ground into the arch of the finger and thumb before catching the tally."

(_b_) These games are variants of one common original. It is the same game as that described by F. H. Low in the _Strand Magazine_, ii. 514, as played in the London streets. The marble there is called a "buck." "Pegsy" was the name of the No. 5 stage of the Wakefield version, and this varies too, inasmuch as it was the same gob which is picked up and then laid down before catching the buck.

Mr. Kinahan says, "'Jackstones,' played with three or four small stones that are thrown up in the air and caught again, seems to have been a very ancient game, as the stones have been found in the _crannogs_ or lake-dwellings in some hole near the fireplaces, similar to where they are found in a cabin at the present day. An old woman, or other player, at the present time puts them in a place near the hob when they stop their game and go to do something else" (_Folk-lore Journal_, ii. 266). In the Græco-Roman saloon, British Museum, is a statue originally composed of two boys quarrelling at the game of "Tali" (see _Townley Gallery_, i. 305; Smith's _Dict. Greek and Roman Antiq._, s.v. _Talus_), and it is interesting to note that in the Deptford game the marble is called a "Tally."

Mr. Kinahan's note suggests that "Fivestones" may be an independent game, instead of a derivative from "Hucklebones." If this is so, we have interesting evidence of the spread or transmission of one game from at least two centres. Professor Attwell, in _Notes and Queries_, 8th ser.,