CHAPTER XIII

IN THE PLAYING FIELDS

$Nickie, Nickie, Night.$--Before the period when lucifer matches came into general usage and were manufactured at a moderate price, our grandparents relied on the flint, the steel, and the tinder-box to produce fire. These implements have been very completely dealt with by various writers and illustrators, who have given us some idea of the importance they were to every household.

To the student, and to the curious who desire a more tangible acquaintance, we may remark that a very fine collection of tinder-boxes, flints, and steels can be seen both at the British Museum and at the Guildhall Museum of the City of London.

A very favourite boys' game, in the earlier part of the nineteenth century, which necessitated the possession of at least a flint and steel, the game being played in the after-dark of evening, was somewhat similar to the modern game of "Touch." The game was called "Nickie, Nickie, Night," and admitted any number of players. A boy was elected to the position of "Nickie," and he could only retain this position by fleetness of foot and dexterity in avoiding his pursuers, the pursuers being formed by the remaining number of players. The game was played in any open locality, and "Nickie" being allowed a start of perhaps thirty to forty seconds, disappeared into the darkness, shouts of "Nickie! Nickie! Night! show your light! show your light!" resounding from the waiting boys, whereupon Nickie struck a few sparks from his flint and steel, indicating to the others his position; these at once tore off in his direction; while he, as quickly and silently as possible, changed his locality to elude capture. Having baffled his pursuers, Nickie would, if a good player, again quickly chink flint and steel, drawing off the boys in a new direction; and so the game would continue amidst the greatest excitement, fun, and laughter; Nickie, like a Will-o'-the-Wisp, darting here, there, and everywhere, greeted with shouts of "Nickie! Nickie! Night! show your light!" until, being ultimately captured, he gave way to a new Nickie, and took his place amongst the pursuers.

Our illustrations of flint and tinder-box are selected from numerous patterns; in many cases--older readers will probably remember the immense variety of these--the tinder-box was round, and the steel consisted of an old file stuck in a wooden handle, the flint being frequently picked up from among the stones in the roadway.

$How to make a Kite.$--Take a lath, A, B, which should be three feet long and about an inch wide. One of the ordinary laths used by builders will be quite suitable if one of the lighter ones is selected, and if care is taken to choose a straight one. Next take a cane or other piece of light flexible wood, and bind the centre of it tightly at the point G an inch below A. Bend the cane into a semi-circle and connect C and D with string. If this has been done properly the distance from C to D will be two feet. Now connect D B C with string and the frame will be ready. Many years ago it was possible to cover a kite with ordinary newspaper, but the paper that is used now is not strong enough, and it is better to use calico. Place the frame upon the calico and cut round the frame with scissors, not close to the frame, but leaving a margin of calico. Turn this over string and cane and stitch it in position. This may be done with a sewing machine. At E midway between H G bore a hole with a pricker, and another at F, which is the same distance from H as E is. String a foot long should connect E and F, and this is kept in position by having knotted ends so that the ends cannot pass through the holes at E and F. This string will not be tight, but will hang loosely. At C and D tassels about eight inches long may be fixed.

The tail is made by folding paper. Take a number of pieces about five inches long and four broad, and fold them as though you were making spills for the lighting of candles. How long the tail should be is a matter for experiment. Try it with forty and a tassel at the end, and you will see afterwards when you try to fly the kite if that is the right length and weight. Attach your long flying line now to the string that connects E and F, about four and a half inches below E.

Choose a breezy day and ask someone to face the wind and hold the kite aloft. Keeping the line tight, run a few yards in the face of the wind to give the kite a start upon its upward journey. Now is the time to see if the tail is too heavy or too light. If the kite labours upwards and shows a tendency to come straight down, tail first, then it may be inferred that the tail is too heavy, and by reducing the number of "chickens" as they are called in some parts of the country, and by taking from the tassel the kite may be relieved of its too heavy burden. If, on the other hand, the tail is not heavy enough, the kite will plunge madly from side to side and will dive downwards head foremost, demanding more "chickens" or a heavier tassel. The kite may be flown in the dark with a Chinese lantern where the tassel is.

$Rackets.$--A racket ground is in the form of a parallelogram, not less than fifty yards long and twenty-five broad. Sometimes a wall of a garden may be adapted by fixing boards and net-work along the top, if there is space enough below. The wall should be painted black, and the ground be divided into four equal divisions, distinctly marked. The flooring of the court should be paved. The divisions are, two close to the wall, A and B, and two in front of them, C and D. These divisions are occupied by those who play the game. The wall should be marked by a broad line of white paint E at forty-two inches from the ground, and above this line each ball should strike. The ball weighs one ounce, and should be white. When it becomes dirty its whiteness is renewed by dipping it into a bag of chalk, so that it may be seen against the black wall. The game may be played by two or more players. When it is played by four, one stands in each of the compartments, A, B, C, D; those near the wall being called in-hand, and those furthest from it out-hand players. When two play, each player has two of the divisions, and the one who takes the A and B is called in-hand player, and the other out-hand player. Having decided who is to begin the game, the in-hand player nearest the wall strikes his ball against the wall; if it strikes under the line, goes over the wall, does not rebound into the out-hand spaces, or goes beyond the racket ground, the striker is out, and the out-hand player takes his place; but if the player is successful, and the ball rebounds into the out-hand spaces, and as it rises is sent back to the wall, to rebound into one of the in spaces, the game proceeds. In a close-court game the "server" who serves the ball properly above the line but not into his adversary's court is allowed three trials before his "hand" is out. The game is, that the in-player should send the ball in such a manner against the wall that, on its rebound, the opposite player, or players, shall be able to pick it up or strike it. When this happens, he who struck the ball counts one point, or an ace, and the play proceeds until one player or players scores eleven, or fifteen, as the players decide.

This game may be played either in an open court, that is in a court with only one wall, against which the game is played, or in a closed court surrounded by four walls. Sometimes there is an ordinary high front wall, and a smaller back wall, omitting the side walls. The close-court game is the best, but the expense compels many to adopt the open-court game.

$Fives$.--This game needs a high wall, free from abutments, and under it a smooth, dry, paved ground. A line is drawn on the wall, about three feet from the ground; another line is drawn upon the ground itself about 10 feet from the wall, A; and two others are drawn on each side as boundaries, B, C. The player needs a ball of tightly-sewn leather and a fives-bat. This has a long handle, and an oval bowl of wood. The ball is hard, capable of bouncing, small and white. The game may be played by two or four people; in the last arrangement, two on each side. The game may be played either single-handed or with partners. When it is played with partners, the players toss up for first innings. The first player takes the ball, and strikes it against the wall with his bat above the line on the wall, and so that it may fall outside the line on the ground. The other then strikes it, and the players continue to hit it against the wall, either before it comes to the ground or at the first rebound, until one of them missing it, or driving it out of bounds, or beneath the wall-line, loses or goes out. The ball may fall anywhere within the side boundaries, after being once struck up by the player who is in. The game is usually fifteen, but is sometimes extended to twenty-five. This is bat-fives, and is not unlike rackets, except that it may be played in any open court, and that another kind of bat and a larger ball are used. Fives was originally played with the hand, instead of a racket.

$Prisoners' Base.$--Appoint the two best players captains, and let them choose their men alternately. Next mark the homes and prisons. Two semicircles are drawn, large enough to hold the two sides, the distance between the semicircles being about twenty yards. These are the "homes," or "bounds." Twenty yards in front of these, two other semicircles, of a rather larger size, are drawn. These are the prisons, and the prison of each party is in a line with the enemy's home. Having settled which side shall commence the game the captain of that side orders out one of his own side who must run at least beyond the prisons before he returns. As soon as he has started, the Captain of the other side sends out one of his men to try to touch him before he can regain his own home. If this is accomplished, the successful runner is permitted to return home while the boy who has been touched must go to the prison belonging to his enemies' side; from which he cannot move until someone from his own side releases him, by evading the enemy and touching him. This is not easy, because in order to reach the prison, the player must cross the enemy's headquarters. It is allowable for the prisoner to stretch his hand as far towards his rescuer as possible, but he must keep some part of his body within the prison; and if a number of prisoners are captured, it is sufficient for one to remain within the prison, while the rest, by joining hands make a line towards the boy who is trying to release them. When this is done, both the prisoner and his rescuer return home, no one being able to touch them until they have reached their home and started off again. The game, however, is not only confined to the two originally sent out. As soon as a captain sees his man in difficulty he sends out a third, who is in his turn pursued by another from the other side; each being able to touch any who have preceded, but none who have left their home after him. The captains direct, and hold themselves ready in case of an emergency, and the side wins which imprisons the whole of the boys upon the other side.

$French and English.$--Choose two sides in the usual way. One side takes hold of one end of a stout rope, and the other side of the other end. A line is made midway between the sides, each strives to pull the other over it, and those who are so pulled over, lose the game.

Two captains should be appointed, and each should have a code of signals to communicate with his own side, that he may direct them when to stop, when to slacken, or when to pull hard.

In this game sometimes a good captain may win even when he has an inferior team. For instance, if he sees all the boys are pulling their hardest, the captain of the other side sees that his opponents are leaning back too much, that is they are trusting to their weight rather than to their strength. He gives the signal to slacken, when down go the enemy, and are then dragged over the line with the greatest ease. If the enemy begins to be tired a united and sudden tug will generally bring them upright, and once moved, the victory is easily gained. No knots are to be allowed on the rope, nor is the game won, unless the whole side has been dragged over the line.

$Fight for the Flag.$--A game played from a mound, and any number may play. Each party chooses a captain, and having done this, divide themselves into attackers and defenders. The defending party provide themselves with a small flag, which is fixed on a staff on the top of the mound, and then arrange themselves round it so as to defend it from the attacks of their opponents, who advance towards the hillock, and try to throw down those who oppose them. Those who are so thrown on either side, are called "dead men," and must lie quiet till the game is finished. This happens either when all the attacking party are dead, or when the flag has been carried off by one of them. The player who carries off the flag is called the knight, and is chosen captain for the next game.

$Hop-Scotch.$--A game played by hopping on one foot and kicking an oyster-shell or piece of tile or stone from one compartment to the other, without placing the lifted foot, except in one case, upon the ground, and without allowing the shell or tile to rest on any of the lines. A diagram is first drawn consisting of twelve compartments, each being numbered, and at its further end the picture of a plum pudding with knife and fork. In commencing the game, the players take their stand at the place marked by A, and throw for innings. He who can go nearest to the plum in the centre of the pudding, plays first.

The winner begins by throwing his shell into No. 1; he then hops into the space, and kicks the tile out to A; he next throws the tile into No. 2, kicks it from No. 2 to No. 1, and thence out. He then throws it into No. 3, kicks it from 3 to 2, from 2 to 1, and out. He next throws it into No. 4, kicks it from 4 to 3, from 3 to 2, from 2 to 1, and out; and so he goes on till he has passed the cross and comes to No. 7, when he is allowed to rest, by standing with one foot in No. 6 and the other in No. 7; but he must go on hopping before he kicks the tile home. He then passes through the beds 8, 9, 10 and 11, as he did those of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc., and so on, till he gets to plum pudding, when he may rest, and placing his tile on the plum, he is required, while standing on one foot, to kick it with such force as to send it through all the other beds to A at one kick. If one player throws his tile into the wrong compartment, or when he is kicking it out, he loses his innings, as he does also if the tile or his foot at any time rests on a line, or if he kicks his tile out of the diagram.

We give also diagrams for simpler forms of the game.

$Turnpike.$--Although turnpike-keepers upon the roads have long since been abolished, there is no reason why the game of turnpike, played with hoops, should be played no longer. Any number of boys may play, but we will suppose there are six. One should have a hoop and the others will then be turnpike-keepers. These take two stones or two bricks and place them about two inches apart upon the ground. We may call each pair of stones or bricks the toll-bar, and each toll-bar should be some distance from the others. It is the task of the boy with the hoop to pass between the stones without touching them, and if he goes through the five then he turns and comes through them again from the other side, and so on until he fails. If he touches a toll-bar then the keeper of the bar takes that hoop, and he who had hitherto been driving the hoop becomes the keeper of that particular toll-bar at which he failed. If the hoop driver touches his hoop with his hands, or allows it to fall he must give it to the nearest toll-bar keeper and take his place while the toll-bar keeper becomes a hoop driver. Each keeper must stand upon that side of his toll-gate which is towards the right hand of the hoop driver, so that when the hoop driver returns he must cross to the other side of his toll-bar. If he is on the wrong side the hoop driver need not trouble to pass through his toll-bar at all. If the boys prefer it there may be more hoop drivers and fewer toll-bar keepers.

$Posting.$--Places called posting-stations are formed at regular intervals in a large circle or oval, and at each place a player takes his stand. Every player, except the hoop driver, has charge of one of these stations. Suppose there are seven players--A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, and that G holds the hoop. The other six players having taken their places, G starts from the station belonging to F, and drives the hoop towards A, who waits, with hoop-stick in hand, ready to relieve G of his hoop. G stops at the posting-station, while A runs the hoop to B, who takes charge of it, and delivers it to C. C trundles the hoop to D; D takes it to E; E to F, and F conveys it to the first player, G. In this way the game continues, until all the players have worked round the circle five or six times. The game is rendered more boisterous by increasing the numbers of players, and having two or three hoop drivers. Do not touch the hoop with your hands, and do not let the hoop fall.

$Fox.$--One player is called Fox, and he has a den where none of the players may annoy him. The other players arm themselves with knotted handkerchiefs, and wait for Reynard's appearance. He is also armed with a knotted handkerchief, and hops out of his den. When he is out, the other players attack him with their handkerchiefs, and he endeavours to strike one of them without putting down his other foot. If he puts down his foot he has to run back as fast as he can, without the right to strike the other players, who flog him the whole way. If, however, he succeeds in striking one without losing his balance, the one so struck becomes Fox; and, as he has both feet down, is thrashed to his den.

$Drop Ball.$--A line must be drawn three feet from the wall at which this game of ball is to be played. The player must kneel outside this line, and never cross it; if the ball falls inside the line it is reckoned a miss. Each time the player throws up the ball and catches it it counts a point. There are many ways of playing this game.

1. Throwing the ball and catching it before it touches the ground.

2. Clapping the hands after throwing, before the ball touches the ground.

3. Putting one knee to the ground before catching the ball.

4. Putting one knee to the ground and clapping the hands before catching the ball.

5. Circling round on one heel before catching the ball.

6. Circling round on one heel and counting 1, 2, 3, or any number agreed upon, before catching the ball.

7. Strike the player nearest you before catching the ball.

There should not be too many players, for they would have to wait too long for a turn.

$Jingling.$--The game should be played on soft grass inside a large circle, enclosed with ropes. The players should not exceed ten. All except one of the nimblest, who is the jingler, have their eyes blindfolded with handkerchiefs. The jingler holds a bell in his hand, which he is obliged to keep ringing. The aim of the jingler is to elude the pursuit of his companions, who follow him by the sound of the bell within the boundaries of the rope, for he is forbidden to pass beyond it. If he be caught in the time allotted for the game, generally twenty minutes, the player who caught him wins the match; if they are not able to take him, he is proclaimed the victor.

$The Fugleman.$--The Fugleman places himself in a prominent place, and arranges the other boys before him in a line. He then begins with grotesque gestures, which all the boys are compelled to copy. Those who are seen to laugh are immediately ordered to stand out of the line, and when half the number of players are so put out, the others are allowed to ride them three times round the playground, while the Fugleman with a knotted handkerchief beats the steeds from behind.