The game is played as in Shropshire. The dialogue in the Cornish game is similar to that of “Witch.” See “Wolf.”
One child stands alone, facing the others in a line opposite. The single child shouts, “Shepherds, shepherds, give warning.” The others reply, “Warn away! warn away!” Then she asks, “How many sheep have you got?” They answer, “More than you can carry away.” She runs and catches one—they two join hands and chase the rest; each one, as caught, joining hands with the chasers until all are caught.—Liverpool (Mr. C. C. Bell.) See “Stag,” “Warney.”
A writer in Blackwood’s Magazine, August 1821, p. 36, says: The boys attempt to drive with curved sticks a ball, or what is more common, part of the vertebral bone of a sheep, in opposite directions. When the object driven along reaches the appointed place in either termination, the cry of hail! stops the play till it is knocked off anew by the boy who was so fortunate as to drive it past the gog. In the Sheffield district it is played as described by Halliwell. During the game the boys call out, “Hun you, shin you.” It is called Shinny in Derbyshire.—Addy’s Sheffield Glossary. Halliwell’s description does not materially differ from the account given above except that when the knur is down over the line it is called a “bye.”—(Dictionary). In Notes and Queries, 8th series, viii. 446; ix. 115 et seq., the game is described as played in Lincolnshire under the name of “Cabsow,” which perhaps accounts for the Barnes game of Crab-sowl.
In Perthshire it is described as a game in which bats somewhat resembling a golf club are used. At every fair or meeting of the country people there were contests at racing, wrestling, putting the stone, &c., and on holidays all the males of a district, young and old, met to play at football, but oftener at shinty.—Perthshire Statistical Account, v. 72; Jamieson’s description is the same.
Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia says: A game described by Scotch writers by the name of Shintie; the shins, or under parts of the legs, are in danger during the game of being struck, hence the name from shin.—Dickinson, Cumberland Glossary, mentions Shinny as a boyish game, also called Scabskew, catty; it is also the name of the crook-ended stick used in the game. Patterson, Antrim and Down Glossary, under name Shinney, says, This game is played with shinneys, i.e., hooked sticks, and a ball or small block of wood called the “Golley,” or “Nag.”
In London this game is called Hockey. It seems to be the same which is designed Not in Gloucestershire; the name being borrowed from the ball, which is made of a knotty piece of wood.—Grose’s Glossary.
It has been said that Shinty and Hockey differ in this respect, that in the latter two goals are erected, each being formed by a piece of stick with both ends stuck in the ground. The players divide into two parties; to each of these the care of one of the goals belongs. The game consists in endeavouring to drive the ball through the goal of the opposite party.—Book of Sports (1810), pp. 11-13. But in Shinty there are also two goals, called hails; the object of each party being to drive the ball beyond their own hail, but there is no hole through which it must be driven. The ball, or knot of wood, is called Shintie.
See “Bandy,” “Camp,” “Chinnup,” “Crab-sowl,” “Doddart,” “Hockey,” “Scrush.”
A boy’s game. It is played in two ways—(1) Of a single character. One boy bends down against a wall (sometimes another stands pillow for his head), then an opponent jumps on his back, crying “Ships” simply, or “Ships a-sailing, coming on.” If he slips off, he has to bend as the other; but if not, he can remain as long as he pleases, provided he does not laugh or speak. If he forgets to cry “Ships,” he has to bend down. (2) Sometimes sides are chosen; then the whole side go down heads and tails, and all the boys on the other side have to jump on their backs. The game in each case is much the same. The “naming” was formerly “Ships and sailors coming on.”—Easther’s Almondbury Glossary. Mr. H. Hardy sends an account from Earls Heaton, which is practically the same as these.
A game usually played with marbles. One boy puts his hand into his trousers pocket and takes out as many marbles as he feels inclined; he closes his fingers over them, and holds out his hand with the palm down to the opposite player, saying, “Ship sail, sail fast. How many men on board?” A guess is made by his opponent; if less he has to give as many marbles as will make up the true number; if more, as many as he said over. But should the guess be correct he takes them, and then in his turn says, “Ship sail,” &c.—Cornwall (Folk-lore Journal, v. 59).
See “Handy Dandy,” “Neivvie-nick-nack.”
A boys’ game. Two persons are trussed somewhat like fowls; they then hop about on their “hunkers,” each trying to upset the other.—Patterson’s Antrim and Down Glossary.
See “Curcuddie.”
A dangerous kind of sport. A beam of wood is slung between two ropes, a person gets on to this and contrives to steady himself until he goes through a number of antics; if he can do this he shoes the auld mare, if he cannot do it he generally tumbles to the ground and gets hurt with the fall.—Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia.
A game in which the strongest acts as the Gled or Kite, and the next in strength as the mother of a brood of birds; for those under her protection, perhaps to the number of a dozen, keep all in a string behind her, each holding by the tail of one another. The Gled still tries to catch the last of them, while the mother cries “Shue! Shue!” spreading out her arms to keep him off. If he catch all the birds he wins the game.—Fife, Teviotdale (Jamieson).
See “Fox and Geese,” “Gled-Wylie,” “Hen and Chickens.”
This game is generally known as “Battledore and Shuttlecock.” The battledore is a small hand bat, formerly made of wood, then of a skin stretched over a frame, and since of catgut strings stretched over a frame. The shuttlecock consists of a small cork into which feathers of equal size are fixed at even distances. The game may be played by one, two, or more persons. If by one person, it merely consists of batting up the shuttlecock into the air for as long a time as possible; if by two persons, it consists of batting the shuttlecock from one to the other; if by more than two, sides are chosen, and a game has been invented, and known as “Badminton.” This latter game is not a traditional game, and does not therefore concern us now.
Strutt (Sports and Pastimes, p. 303) says this is a sport of long standing, and he gives an illustration, said to be of the fourteenth century, from a MS. in the possession of Mr. F. Douce. This would probably be the earliest mention of the game. It appears to have been a fashionable pastime among grown persons in the reign of James I. In the Two Maids of Moreclacke, 1609, it is said, “To play at Shuttlecock methinkes is the game now,” and among the anecdotes related of Prince Henry, son to James I., is the following: “His Highness playing at shittle-cocke with one farr taller than himself, and hittyng him by chance with the shittle-cock upon the forehead” (Harl. MS., 6391). Among the accounts of money paid for the Earl of Northumberland while he was prisoner in the Tower for supposed complicity in the Gunpowder Plot, is an item for the purchase of shuttlecocks (Hist. MSS. Com., v. p. 354).
But the popular nature of the game is not indicated by these facts. For this we have to turn to the doings of the people. In the villages of the West Riding the streets may be seen on the second Sunday in May full of grown-up men and women playing “Battledore and Shuttlefeathers” (Henderson’s Folk-lore of the Northern Counties, p. 80). In Leicester the approach of Shrove Tuesday (known amongst the youngsters as “Shuttlecock Day”) is signalised by the appearance in the streets of a number of children playing at the game of “Battledore and Shuttlecock.” On the day itself the streets literally swarm with juveniles, and even grown men and women engage in the pastime. Passing through a by-street the other day I heard a little girl singing—
—Notes and Queries, 3rd series, iii. 87.
The occurrence of this rhyme suggests that there is some sort of divination in the oldest form of the game, and it appears to me that the origin of the game must be sought for among the ancient practices of divination. An example is found among the customs of the children of Glamorganshire during the cowslip season. The cowslip heads are strung on a piece of thread and tied into a “posty,” and the play is to throw it up a tolerable height, catching it on the distended palm with a blow that sends it up again, while the player sings:—
Of course, if it falls to the ground uncaught, or even if caught in the clenched hand, there is an end of the player’s “life.” There is a good deal of emulation amongst the children as to who shall live the longest (Notes and Queries, 3rd ser., iii. 172). Miss Burne (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 530) mentions the same custom, giving the rhyme as—
and she says the cowslip is thence called a “tissy-ball.” In this custom we have no artificial aids to form a game, but we have a significant form of divination from natural flowers, accompanied by a rhyming formula exactly parallel to the rhymes used in the Leicestershire game of “Shuttlecock,” and I conclude therefore that we have here the true origin of the game. This conclusion is confirmed when it is found that divinatory verses generally accompany the popular form of the game.
At Wakefield the children playing “Battledore and Shuttlecock” take it in turn, and say the following sentences, one clause to each bat, and repeated until the shuttlecock falls:—
1st. This year, next year, long time, never.
2nd. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
3rd. Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar-man, thief.
4th. Silk, satin, cotton, rags.
5th. Coach, carriage, wheelbarrow, donkey-cart.—Miss Fowler
At Deptford the rhymes were—
In the same way the following questions are put and answered:—
Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, potter’s boy, flour boy, thief.
Silk, satin, cotton, muslin, rags.
Coach, carriage, wheelbarrow, dungcart.
On their buttons they say: “Bought, given, stolen,” to show how acquired.—Miss Chase.
In London the rhymes were—
This year, next year, some time, never, repeated.
A, B, C, D, E, &c., repeated for the initial letter of the future husband’s name.
Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, apothecary, ploughboy, thief, for future husband’s vocation.
Monday, Tuesday, &c., for the wedding day.
Silk, satin, cotton, rags, for the material of the wedding gown.
Coach, carriage, wheelbarrow, dungcart, for conveyance on wedding day.
Big house, little house, pigsty, barn, for future home.—(A. B. Gomme.)
It will be seen that many of these divination formulæ are used in other connections than that of “Shuttlecock,” but this rather emphasises the divinatory character of the game in its original form.—See “Ball,” “Teesty-tosty.”
A boys’ game at marbles. A small hole is made in the ground, and marbles are pushed in turn with the side of the first finger; these are won by the player pushing them into the shuvvy-hawle.—Lowsley’s Berkshire Glossary.
[Play]
—Leicester (Miss Ellis).
[Play]
—Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy).
—Leicester (Miss Ellis).
—Lancashire (Notes and Queries, 5th series, iv. 157).
—Isle of Man (A. W. Moore).
—Carleton’s Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, p. 107.
—Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy).
—Dublin (Mrs. Lincoln).
(c) The children form a ring, joining hands. A child, usually a boy, stands in the middle. The ring dances round and sings the verses. The boy in the centre chooses a girl when bidden by the ring. These two then stand in the centre and kiss each other at the command. The boy then takes a place in the ring, and the girl remains in the centre and chooses a boy in her turn. In the Dublin and Isle of Man versions a girl is first in the centre; in the Manx version (A. W. Moore) the two children hold hands when in the centre.
(d) In the Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, Mr. Carleton gives this game as one of those played by young people of both sexes at funeral wakes. It is played in the same way as the game now is; boys and girls stand alternately in a ring holding hands, choosing each other in turn, and kissing. The other versions do not differ materially from each other, except that the Lancashire version described by Miss Dendy has evidently been corrupted quite lately, because a purer form is quoted from the same county in Notes and Queries. The game seems to be one of the group of marriage games arising from the fact that at any gathering of people for the purpose of a ceremonial, whether a funeral or a festival, it was the custom to form matrimonial alliances. The words are used for kiss-in-the-ring games, and also in some marriage games when the last player is left without a partner.
One boy takes his stand in an upright position at a wall. Another boy stoops with his head in the breast of the one standing upright. A third boy jumps stride-leg on his back, and tries to “crown,” i.e., put his hand on the head of the boy at the wall. The boy on whose back he is tries every means by shifting from side to side, and by throwing up his back, to prevent him from doing so, and to cast him off. If he succeeds in doing so, he takes his stand behind the stooping boy in the same position. Another boy then tries to do the same thing over the two stooping boys. If he succeeds in crowning the standing boy, he takes his station at the wall. If not, he takes his stand behind the two stooping boys. The game goes on till a boy “crowns” the one standing at the wall.—Banchory (Rev. W. Gregor).
See “Saddle the Nag.”
Strutt says (Sports, p. 383), “This amusement is probably very ancient. Boys often contend for superiority of skill in this game, and he who passes the rope about most times without interruption is the conqueror. In the hop season a hop-stem, stripped of its leaves, is used instead of a rope, and, in my opinion, it is preferable.” On Good Friday on Brighton beach the fisher folk used to play at skipping, six to ten grown-up people skipping at one rope.
Apart from the ordinary, and probably later way of playing, by one child holding a rope in both hands, turning it over the head, and either stepping over it while running, or standing still and jumping until the feet catch the rope and a trip is made, skipping appears to be performed in two ways, jumping or stepping across with (1) more or less complicated movements of the rope and feet, and (2) the ordinary jumping over a turned rope while chanting rhymes, for the purpose of deciding whether the players are to be married or single, occupation of future husband, &c.
Of the first class of game there are the following variants:—
“Pepper, salt, mustard, cider, vinegar.”—Two girls turn the rope slowly at first, repeating the above words, then they turn it as quickly as possible until the skipper is tired out, or trips.
“Rock the Cradle.”—In this the holders of the rope do not throw it completely over, but swing it from side to side with an even motion like the swinging of the pendulum of a clock.
“Chase the Fox.”—One girl is chosen as a leader, or fox. The first runs through the rope, as it is turned towards her, without skipping; the others all follow her; then she runs through from the other side as the rope is turned from her, and the others follow. Then she runs in and jumps or skips once, and the others follow suit; then she skips twice and runs out, then three times, the others all following in turn until one trips or fails. The first one to do this takes the place of one of the turners, the turner taking her place as one of the skippers.
“Visiting.”—One girl turns the rope over herself, and another jumps in and faces her, while skipping in time with the girl she visits. She then runs out again without stopping the rope, and another girl runs in.
“Begging.”—Two girls turn, and two others run and skip together side by side. While still skipping they change places; one says, as she passes, “Give me some bread and butter;” the other answering, “Try my next door neighbour.” This is continued until one trips.
“Winding the Clock.”—Two turn the rope, and the skipper counts one, two, three, up to twelve, turning round each time she jumps or skips.
“Baking Bread.”—Two girls turn, and another runs in with a stone in her hand, which she puts down on the ground, and picks up again while skipping.
“The Ladder.”—The girls run in to skip, first on one foot and then the other, with a stepping motion.
Two other games are as follows:—(1.) Two ropes are used, and a girl holds either end in each hand, turning them alternately; the skipper has to jump or skip over each in turn. When the rope is turned inwards, it is called “double dutch,” when turned outwards, “French dutch.” (2.) The skipper has a short rope which she turns over herself, while two other girls turn a longer rope over her head.
The second class of games consists of those cases where the skipping is accompanied by rhymes, and is used for the purpose of foretelling the future destiny of the skipper. These rhymes are as follows (all collected by Miss Chase):—
Letters—initial of one to whom you’ll be married.—Hurstmonceux, Sussex.
—Crockham Hill, Kent.
[The children now add that when singing
is the full couplet.]—Deptford.
Girl named running out, and another girl running in directly.—Marylebone.
—Paddington Green.
As they run thus, each calls in turn, “Red, yellow, blue, white.” Where you are tripped, the colour stopped on marks that of your wedding gown.—Deptford.
Each of the two girls turning the rope takes a colour, and as the line of children run through, they guess by shouting, “Red?” “Green?” When wrong nothing happens; they take the place of turner, however, if they hit upon her colour. Another way is to call it “Sweet stuff shop,” or “green grocers,” and guess various candies and fruits until they choose right.—Deptford.
When several girls start running in to skip, they say,
and as they leave at a dash, they cry—
While “in” jumping, the turners time the skippers’ movements by a sing song.
—Deptford.
At pepper turn swiftly.
—Marylebone.
—From “A London Maid.”
—Deptford.
—Deptford.
—Deptford.
A, B, C, &c., to X, Y, Z.—Deptford.
—Deptford.
They sometimes make a girl skip back and forth the long way of the rope, using this dialogue—
Girl skipping.—“Father, give me the key.”
Father.—“Go to your mother.”
Girl jumping in opposite direction.—“Mother, give me the key.”
Mother.—“Go to your father.”