Chapter IX: Part 9

Mrs. Lincoln sends a diagram of the game from Dublin (fig. 6). Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) under the name of "Hop-score" says it is a game in which certain squares are drawn or _scored_ on the ground. The piece of stone which is pushed with the foot is called the "scotch." Elworthy (_West Somerset Words_) says a piece of tile is kicked over lines and into squares marked on the ground. It is called "Hickety-Hackety," also "Huckety." Cope (_Hampshire Glossary_) says it is played in Hants. Moor (_Suffolk Words and Phrases_) describes this game under the name of "Scotch-hob," by hopping and kicking a bit of tile from bed to bed of a diagram which he gives (fig. 5, here printed). Brockett (_North Country Words_) calls it "Beds." Barnes (_Dorset Glossary_) only says "hopping over a parallelogram of scotches or chalk-lines on the ground." F. H. Low, in _Strand Magazine_, ii. 516, says the divisions are respectively named onesie, twosie, threesie, foursie, and puddings. It is called "Hop-bed" at Stixwold in Lincolnshire (Miss Peacock), "Hop-score" in Yorkshire (Halliwell, l.c.), and "Hitchibed" in Cleveland, Yorks. (_Glossary of Cleveland Words_). Strutt describes it (_Sports_, p. 383); and Wood's _Modern Playmate_, p. 32, gives a diagram similar to one seen on a London pavement by A. B. Gomme (see fig. 7). Mr. Emslie has sent me figs. 9 and 10, also from London streets. Newell (_Games_, p. 188) speaks of it as a well-known game in America.

Mr. Elworthy (_West Somerset Words_) says, "Several of these (diagrams marked on the ground) are still to be seen, scratched on the ancient pavement of the Roman Forum." Mr. J. W. Crombie says, "The game of 'Hop-scotch' was one of considerable antiquity, having been known in England for more than two centuries, and it was played all over Europe under different names. Signor Pitré's solar explanation of its origin appeared improbable to him, for not only was the evidence in its favour extremely weak, but it would require the original number of divisions in the figure to have been twelve instead of seven, which was the number indicated by a considerable body of evidence. It would seem more probable that the game at one time represented the progress of the soul from earth to heaven through various intermediate states, the name given to the last court being most frequently paradise or an equivalent, such as crown or glory, while the names of the other courts corresponded with the eschatological ideas prevalent in the early days of Christianity." Some such game existed before Christianity, and Mr. Crombie considered that it had been derived from several ancient games. Possibly the strange myths of the labyrinths might have had something to do with "Hop-scotch," and a variety of the game played in England, under the name of "Round Hop-scotch," was almost identical with a game described by Pliny as being played by the boys of his day. Mr. Crombie also said he "believed that the early Christians adopted the general idea of the ancient game, but they not only converted it into an allegory of heaven, with Christian beliefs and Christian names; they Christianised the figure also; they abandoned the heathen labyrinth and replaced it by the form of the Basilicon, the early Christian church, dividing it into seven parts, as they believed heaven to be divided, and placing paradise, the inner sanctum of heaven, in the position of the altar, the inner sanctum of their earthly church."

See "Hap the Beds."

Hop, Step, and Jump

See "Half-Hammer."

Hornie

A game among children in which one of the company runs after the rest having his hands clasped and his thumbs pushed out before him in resemblance of horns. The first person whom he touches with his thumbs becomes his property, joins hands with him, and aids in attempting to catch the rest: and so on until they are all made captives. Those who are at liberty still cry out, "Hornie, Hornie."--Lothian (Jamieson).

Jamieson says: "Whether this play be a vestige of the very ancient custom of assuming the appearance and skins of animals, especially in the sports of Yule, or might be meant to symbolise the exertions made by the devil (often called 'Hornie') in making sinful man his prey, and employing fellow-men as his coadjutors in this work, I cannot pretend to determine."

See "Hunt the Staigie," "Whiddy."

Hornie Holes

A game in which four play, a principal and an assistant on each side. A. stands with his assistant at one hole, and throws what is called a Cat (a piece of stick, and frequently a sheep's horn), with the design of making it alight in another hole at some distance, at which B. and his assistant stand ready to drive it aside. The bat or driver is a rod resembling a walking-stick.

The following unintelligible rhyme is repeated by a player on the one side, while they on the other are gathering in the Cats, and is attested by old people as of great antiquity:--

Jock, Speak, and Sandy,
W' a' their lousy train
Round about by Errinborra,
We'll never meet again.
Gae head 'im, gae hang 'im,
Gae lay 'im in the sea;
A' the birds o' the air
Will bear him companee.
With a nig-nag, widdy- [_or_ worry-] bag,
And an e'endown trail, trail;
Quoth he.

--Jamieson.

The game is also called "Kittie-cat."

See "Cat and Dog," "Cudgel," "Tip-cat."

Horns

"A' Horns to the Lift," a game of young people. A circle is formed round a table, and all placing their forefingers on the table, one cries, "A' horns to the lift! Cat's horns upmost!" If on this any one lift his finger, he owes a wad, as cats have no horns. In the same manner, the person who does not raise his fingers when a horned animal is named is subjected to a forfeit.--Jamieson.

Hot Cockles

At Sheffield a boy is chosen for a Stump, and stands with his back against a wall. Another boy bends his back as in "Leapfrog," and puts his head against the Stump. The cap of the boy who bends down is then taken off, and put upon his back upside down. Then each of the other boys who are playing puts the first finger of his right hand into the cap. When all the fingers are put into the cap, these lines are sung--

The wind blows east, the wind blows west,
The wind blows o'er the cuckoo's nest.
Where is this poor man to go?
Over yond cuckoo's hill I O.

Then the boy whose back is bent jumps up, and the others run away crying out, "Hot cockles." The boy who is caught by the one whose back was first bent has to bend his back next time, and so on.--S. O. Addy.

At Cork a handkerchief is tied over the eyes of one of the company, who then lays his head on a chair, and places his hand on his back with the palm uppermost. Any of the party come behind him and give him a slap on his hand, he in the meantime trying to discover whose hand it is that strikes.--Miss Keane.

"Hot Cockles" is an old game, practised especially at Christmas. One boy sits down, and another, who is blindfolded, kneels and lays his head on his knee, placing at the same time his open hand on his own back. He then cries, "Hot cockles, hot!" Another then strikes his open hand, and the sitting boy asks who strikes. If the boy guessed wrongly, he made a forfeit; but if rightly, he was released.--_Notes and Queries_, 4th series, ix. 262.

The sport is noticed by Gay--

As at hot-cockles once I laid me down,
I felt the weighty hand of many a clown;
Buxoma gave a gentle tap, and I
Quick rose and read soft mischief in her eye.

Halliwell describes it rather differently. The blindfolded boy lies down on his face, and, being struck, must guess who it is that hit him. A good part of the fun consisted in the hardness of the slaps, which were generally given on the throne of honour. He quotes from a MS. play as follows--

It is edicted that every Grobian shall play at Bamberye hott cockles
at the four festivals.
Indeed a verye usefull sport, but lately much neglected to the
mollefieinge of the flesh.

--Halliwell's _Dictionary_.

Nares' _Glossary_ also contains quotations from works of 1639, 1653, and 1697 which illustrate the game. Mr. Addy says "that this game as played in Sheffield is quite different from that described under the same title in Halliwell's _Dictionary_. Aubrey (p. 30) speaks of 'Hot Cockles' as a game played at funerals in Yorkshire, and the lines here given show that this was the game. The lines--

Where is this poor man to go?
Over yond cuckoo's hill I O,

embodies the popular belief that the soul winged its way like a bird, and they remind one of the passing of the soul over Whinny Moor (see funeral dirge in Aubrey's _Remains of Gentilisme_, p. 31). Grimm mentions the cuckoo hill (Gauchsberg). He says, 'Originally in Gauchsberg the bird himself may very well have been meant in a mystic sense which has fallen dark to us now' (_Teut. Myth._, ii. 681). We know, too, the old belief that the cuckoo tells children how many years they have to live. These lines are also sometimes said, in addition to those given above--

Elder belder, limber lock,
Three wives in a clock;
Sit and sing, and call a spring,
O-u-t spells out.

The boy who bends down is supposed to be undergoing a great penalty." Strutt (_Sports_, p. 394) describes this game, and gives an illustration which is here reproduced from the original MSS. in the Bodleian.

This game may have originated from a custom at funerals of practising spells for the safe and speedy passage of the departing spirit to its destination, or from divination mysteries to foretell who would be the next among the mourners to follow the dead body to the grave. The spirit of prophecy was believed to exist in a dying person. See "Handy Croopen."

How many Miles to Babylon

I. King and Queen of Cantelon,
How many miles to Babylon?
Eight and eight and other eight.
Will I get there by candle-light?
If your horse be good and your spurs be bright.
How mony men have ye?
Mae nae ye daur come and see.

--Chambers' _Popular Rhymes_, p. 124; Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

II. How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Will we be there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
Open your gates and let us go through.
Not without a beck and a boo.
There's a beck, and there's a boo,
Open your gates and let us go through.

--Nairn, Scotland (Rev. W. Gregor).

III. How far to Banbury Cross?
Four score and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, if your legs are long and light.
Please to let me go?
Not without you bend and bow [pronounced bo].
Here's my bend [curtseys],
And here's my bow [touches forehead],
Now will you let me go?

--Fernham and Longcot (Miss I. Barclay).

IV. How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Can we get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
Open your gates as wide as you can,
And let King George and his family go through.
Not without a back, not without a bow,
Not without a curtsey, and then I'll let you through.

--South Shields (Miss Blair).

V. How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Can I get there o' candle-light?
There and back again.
Here's my black [raising one foot],
And here's my blue [raising the other],
Open the gates and let me through.

--Annaverna, Ravendale, co. Louth, Ireland (Miss R. Stephen).

VI. How many miles to Barney Bridge?
Three score and ten.
Will I be there by candle-light?
Yes, if your legs are long.
A curtsey to you, another to you,
If you please will you let the king's horses go through?
Yes, but take care of your hindmost man.

--Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

VII. How many miles to Gandigo?
Eighty-eight almost, or quite.
Can I [we] get there by candle-light?
Yes, if your legs are long and light.
Open the gate as high as the sky,
And let the king and his queen go by.

--Dorsetshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 230, 231).

VIII. How many miles to Banbury?
Three score and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
But mind the old witch doesn't catch you.

--London (Miss Dendy).

IX. How many miles to Barley Bridge?
Three score and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, if your legs be long.
A courtesy to you, and a courtesy to you,
If you please will you let the king's horses through?
Through and through shall they go,
For the king's sake;
But the one that is the hindmost
Will meet with a great mistake.

--Halliwell's _Popular Rhymes_, p. 217.

X. How many miles to Barney Bridge?
Three score and ten.
Will I be there by Candlemass?
Yes, and back again.
A curtsey to you, another to you,
And pray, fair maids, will you let us through?
Thro' and thro' shall you go for the king's sake,
But take care the last man does not meet a mistake.

--Dublin (Mrs. Lincoln).

XI. How many miles to Burslem?
Three score and ten.
Can we get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
Open the gates so wide, so wide,
And let King George aside, aside;
The night is so dark we cannot see,
Thread the needle and go through.

--Isle of Man (A. W. Moore).

XII. How many miles to Banbury Cross?
Three score and ten.
Shall we get there by midnight?
Yes, if you run well.
Then open your gates as wide as the sky,
And let King George and his men pass by.
It is so dark we cannot see, so thread the needle Nancy,
Thread the needle Nancy.
One, two, three.

--Warwick (from a little girl living near Warwick, through Mr. C. C. Bell).

XIII. How many miles to London?
Three score ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
Open the gate and let me through.
Not unless you're black and blue.
Here's my black and here's my blue,
Open the gates and let me through.
Dan, Dan, thread the needle; Dan, Dan, sew.

--_Suffolk County Folk-lore_, p. 63.

XIV. How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Shall I be there by candle-light?
Yes, there and back again.
Open the gates as wide as high,
And let King George and his family pass by.

--Wales (_Folk-lore Record_, v. 88).

{ Barley Bridge?
XV. How many miles to { Banbury?
{ London?
Four score and ten [_or_, Fifty miles and more].
Shall we be there by candle-light?
Oh, yes, and back again.
[_Or, at Market Drayton._
Shift your feet with nimble light,
And you'll be there by candle-light.]
Open the gates as wide as the sky,
And let King George and his lady go by.

--Market Drayton, Ellesmere, Whitchurch, (Burne's _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 522).

XVI. How many miles to Bethlehem?
Three score and ten.
Shall we get there by candle-light?
Yes, there and back again.
So open the gates and let King George and his family go
through.

--Hayton, near York (H. Hardy).

XVII. How far is it to Babylon?
Three score miles and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, there and back again.

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

XVIII. How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Can you get there by candle-light?
O yes, and back again.

--Hanbury, Staffordshire (Miss E. Hollis).

XIX. Open the gates as wide as high,
And let King George and I go by;
It is so dark I cannot see
To thread my grandmother's needle.

--Surrey (_Folk-lore Record_, v. 88).

(_b_) There are two methods of playing this game, one in which a King and Queen are represented, and the other in which gates of a city are represented. Of the first Chambers and Mactaggart practically give the same account. The latter says, "Two of the swiftest boys are placed between two 'doons' or places of safety; these, perhaps, are two hundred yards distant. All the other boys stand in one of these places or doons, when the two fleet youths come forward and address them with the rhyme. When out, they run in hopes to get to Babylon or the other doon, but many get not near that place before they are caught by the runners, who 'taens' them, that is, lay their hands upon their heads, when they are not allowed to run any more in that game, that is, until they all be taened or taken."

The Norfolk game seems to resemble the Scotch, though in a much less complete form. Miss Matthews describes it as follows:--"A line of children is formed, and the two standing opposite it sing the questions, to which the line reply; then the two start off running in any direction they please, and the others try to catch them."

The second method of playing is best described by the Rev. Walter Gregor, from the Nairn game, which is known as "The Gates of Babylon." Mr. Gregor writes as follows:--"This game may be played either by boys or girls. Two of the players join hands, and stand face to face, with their hands in front as if forming a gate. Each of these has a secret name. The other players form themselves into a line by clasping each other round the waist from behind. They go up to the two that form the gate, and the leader asks the first question, as in version No. 2. The dialogue then proceeds to the end. The two then lift their arms as high as they can, still joined, and the line of players passes through. All at once the two bring their arms down on one and make him (or her) prisoner. The prisoner is asked in a whisper, so as not to disclose the secret name, which of the two is to be chosen. The one so captured takes his (or her) stand behind the one chosen. The same process is gone through till all the players are taken captive, and have stationed themselves behind the one or the other of the two forming the gate. The last one of the line goes through three times. The first time the word 'breakfast' is pronounced; the second time 'dinner;' and the third time 'supper.' The player then chooses a side. The two sides have then a tug of war. The game ends at this point with girls. With boys the conquered have to run the gauntlet. The victors range themselves in two lines, each boy with his cap or handkerchief tightly plaited in his hand, and pelt with all their might the vanquished as they run between the lines. The boys of Nairn call this running of the gauntlet, 'through fire an' watter.'"

The method of playing the Warwick, Fernham, and Louth versions is practically the same. The children stand in half-circle beginning with the two tallest at either end. All clasp hands. The two at one end question those at the other end alternately (fig. 1). At the last line the two that have been answering hold their hands up to form a bridge, and all the others thread through, still holding hands (the bridge advancing slowly) (fig. 2). The Louth version is also sometimes played as "Oranges and Lemons." This is also the case with the Belfast, South Shields, Ellesmere, and Dublin versions. Miss Burne also gives a second method of playing this game at Ellesmere: she says, "The whole number of players stand in two rows facing each other, each player joining hands with the one opposite. The pair at the lower end parley with the pair at the top, and then run under the extended arms of the others, receiving thumps on the back as they go, till they reach the upper end, and become the top couple in their turn." The Hanbury version is played in a similar way. Two lines stand close together holding handkerchiefs across. The questions are asked and answered by the top and bottom players. Then two children run under the line of handkerchiefs. The Dorset version is played by as many as like standing, two and two, opposite each other, each of them taking with the right hand the right hand of the other; then the two that are the King and Queen say or sing the first question, to which the others reply, and the dialogue ends in this manner. Then all the other pairs hold up their hands as high as they can, and the King and Queen run through the archway and back again, and so on with the next pair, and other pairs in turn. The Isle of Man version is played, Mr. Moore says, the same as other "Thread the Needle" games.

(_c_) The game is evidently dramatic in form, and perhaps is illustrative of some fact of history, such as the toll upon merchandise entering a walled town. The changes in the words of the different versions are not very great, but they show the influence of modern history upon the game. The appearance of King George evidently points to the date when it was frequently played, though the older versions are doubtless those in which his Majesty does not do duty. Mactaggart has the following quaint note which perhaps may supply the origin, though it seems a far cry to the Crusaders:--"This sport has something methinks of antiquity in it; it seemeth to be a pantomime of some scenes played off in the time of the Crusades. 'King and Queen o' Cantilon' evidently must be King and Queen of Caledon, but slightly changed by time. Then Babylon in the rhyme, the way they had to wander and hazard being caught by the infidels, all speak as to the foundation of the game" (Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_).

In the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for December 1849, in a review of the _Life of Shirley_, it is stated that in many parts of England the old game of "Thread the Needle" is played to the following words, which refer to the gate of the city of Hebron, known as the "needle's eye."

How many miles to Hebron?
Three score and ten.
Shall I be there by midnight?
Yes, and back again.
Then thread the needle, &c.

The game is also described in _Notes and Queries_, iv. 141, as played in the same way as above, and the writer adds there are subsequent evolutions by which each couple becomes in succession the eye of the needle.

Howly

A street game played by boys in a town, one of them hiding behind a wall or house-end, and crying "Howly" to the seekers.--Atkinson's _Cleveland Glossary_.

See "Hide and Seek."

Huckie-buckie down the Brae

Children in Lothian have a sport in which they slide down a hill, sitting on their hunkers (Jamieson). The well-known custom at Greenwich is probably the same game, and there are examples at Tumbling Hill, a few miles from Exeter, at May Pole Hill, near Gloucester, and other places.

Huckle-bones

Holloway (_Dict. of Provincialisms_) says that the game is called "Huckle-bones" in East Sussex and "Dibs" in West Sussex. Parish (_Dict. of Sussex Dialect_) mentions that huckle-bones, the small bone found in the joint of the knee of a sheep, are used by children for playing the game of "Dibs;" also Peacock's _Manley and Corringham Glossary_. Barnes (_Dorset Glossary_) says, "A game of toss and catch, played mostly by two with five dibs or huckle-bones of a leg of mutton, or round pieces of tile or slate." Halliwell's description is clearly wrong. He says it was a game formerly played by throwing up the hip-bone of some animal, on one side of which was a head of Venus and on the other that of a dog. He who turned up the former was the winner (_Dictionary_). Miss J. Barker writes that "Huckle-bones" is played in Hexham; and Professor Attwell (Barnes) played the game as a boy, and is still a proficient in it; he played it recently for my benefit with his set of real huckle-bones (A. B. Gomme); and see _Notes and Queries_, 9th ser., iv. 378, 379.

The figures or sets are practically the same as those described under "Fivestones." The game is very ancient. In the _Sanctuarie of Salvation_, &c., translated from the Latin of Levinus Lemnius by Henry Kinder (8vo, London, printed by H. Singleton), p. 144, we read, "These bones are called 'huckle-bones' or 'coytes.'" For further information relating to this game, as played by the ancients, the reader may consult _Joannis Meursii Ludibunda, sive de Ludis Græcorum, Liber singularis_ (8vo, Lugd. Bat. 1625), p. 7, and _Dan. Souterii Palamedes_, p. 81; but more particularly, _I Tali ed altri Strumenti lusori degli antichi Romani, discritti da Francesco de 'Ficoroni_, 4to, Rom. 1734. Against the suggestion that the modern game is derived directly from the Romans, is the fact that it is known in countries never traversed or occupied by the Romans. Thus Dr. Clarke, in his _Travels in Russia_, 1810, p. 106, says: "In all the villages and towns from Moscow to Woronetz, as in other parts of Russia, are seen boys, girls, and sometimes even old men, playing with the joint-bones of sheep. This game is called 'Dibbs' by the English. It is of very remote antiquity; for I have seen it very beautifully represented on Grecian vases; particularly on a vase in the collection of the late Sir William Hamilton, where a female figure appeared most gracefully delineated kneeling upon one knee, with her right arm extended, the palm downwards, and the bones ranged along the back of her hand and arm. In this manner the Russians play the game."

See "Dalies," "Fivestones."

Hummie

The game otherwise called "Shinty." The shinty or hummie is played by a set of boys in two divisions who attempt to drive with curved sticks a ball, or what is more common, part of the vertebral bone of a sheep, in opposite directions (_Blackwood's Magazine_, August 1821, p. 36). If one of the adverse party happens to stand or run among his opponents, they call out "Hummie, keep on your own side."--Jamieson.

Hundreds

A game at marbles, which is carried on until one of the players scores 100 or some other high number agreed upon. Any number can play, but it is best described for two players, A. and B. First the players taw up to a hole; if both get in, they repeat the process until one is left out, say B.; then A. counts 10. Should both fail, the nearest goes first. He may now lay his taw about the hole or fire at the other, on hitting which he counts another 10. He now goes for the hole again, and failing, lies where he happens to stop. If he misses, B. from his present position tries to get into the hole, and failing, lies still; but if he reaches the hole, he counts 10, and proceeds as A. had done. The one who first gets the 100 (or other number) now goes in for his "pizings," which performance takes place thus:--The loser, so far, is lying about, and the winner goes back to "drakes," and again tries to lodge in the hole; and if he succeeds, the game is up. If not, he lies still, and the loser tries for the hole; if he gets in he counts another 10, or if he should succeed in hitting the winner he scores his adversary's 100 to his own number, and then goes on for his "pizings" as the other had done. In failure of either securing the game thus, the process is repeated at "drakes." When, however, the one who is on for his "pizings" manages to taw into the hole, the game is concluded.--Easther's _Almondbury and Huddersfield Glossary_.

Hunt the Hare

A game among children, played on the ice as well as in the fields (Brockett's _North Country Words_). Strutt (_Sports_, p. 381) says "Hunt the Hare" is the same game as "Hunt the Fox." In this game one boy is permitted to run out, and having law given to him--that is, being permitted to go to a certain distance from his comrades before they pursue him--their object is to take him, if possible, before he can return home.

See "Hare and Hounds."

Hunt the Slipper

[Music]

--Lancashire (Mrs. Harley).

All the players but one sit on the floor in a circle with their legs crossed (Turkish fashion), one acting as Chief, all pretending to work at making or mending shoes. The other player brings a slipper to the Chief Cobbler, and desires it to be mended, saying--

Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,
Get it done by half-past two.

The child walks away, and returns in a few moments and asks whether the shoe is ready. The Cobbler says, "Not quite; call again in an hour's time," or makes any other excuse which occurs to him. When the child calls again, she is told it has been sent home. After several pretences the child declares an intention to search for it. The Cobblers in the ring then all place their hands under their knees, and pass the slipper secretly from one to another in such a way as to prevent the owner of the shoe getting it for some time. The Cobbler from whom the slipper is taken becomes the owner next time (Barnes, A. B. Gomme). In the Nottinghamshire version (Miss Peacock) the rhyme is--

Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,
Give it a stitch and that will do.

Versions from Wakefield, Liphook, Ellesmere, and other places are practically the same as the Barnes game, but Mr. Udal gives an elaboration of the Dorsetshire game in the _Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 238. One Lancashire version (Miss Dendy) reverses the characters by making the Cobbler run round the ring, and the children requiring the shoe to be mended, call out, "Blackie, come mend my slipper." Mrs. Harley, in another Lancashire version, gives the words sung to the tune printed as--

Pass on, pass on, passy on the slipper;
The best fun we ever had was passing on the slipper.

Holloway (_Dict. of Provincialisms_) says this game was well known in Somerset, Hants, Sussex, but now is almost out of fashion. He describes it as being played without words. The child who has to find the shoe stands in the centre of the circle. The chief amusement arises from the one in the circle who has the slipper striking the one who stands up (the searcher) while he or she is steadily looking for it in an opposite direction. Strutt (_Sports_, p. 387) also describes this game.

Hunt the Staigie

A boys' game. One is chosen to be the Staigie (little stallion). The other players scatter themselves over the playground. The Staigie locks his fingers into each other. He then repeats the words--

Hunt the Staigie,
Huntie, untie, staige,
Ailleman, ailleman, aigie,

and rushes off with his hands locked, and tries to touch one of the players. He must not unlock his hands till he has caught one. When he has captured one, the two join hands and hunt for another. When another is caught, he joins the two. This goes on till all are hunted down.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).

See "Chickidy Hand," "Whiddy."

Hunting

[Music]

--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).

[Music]

--Epworth (C. C. Bell).

I. Oh, a-hunting we will go, a-hunting we will go;
We'll catch a little fox and put him in a box,
And never let him go.

--Bath (Miss Large).

II. Hunting we will go, brave boys,
Hunting we will go;
We'll catch an old fox
And put him in a box,
For a-hunting we will go.
Halt! shoulder arms! fire!

--Horncastle, North Kelsey, Lincoln (Miss Peacock).

III. O have you seen the Shah,
O have you seen the Shah?
He lights his pipe on a star-light night,
O have you seen the Shah?
For a-hunting we will go,
A-hunting we will go;
We'll catch a fox and put him in a box,
A-hunting we will go.

--Epworth, Doncaster (C. C. Bell).

(_b_) The players march two by two, all singing. The first pair let go hands, separate, and skip widely apart, still singing. Gradually, in this manner, two separate lines are formed, until, following each other and singing, the pairs come together again, join hands, and march and sing in couplets linked.

The Bath game is played by the children standing in two rows facing each other, and clapping hands and singing the verse. At the same time the two children facing each other at the top of the lines join hands and trip down and up between the lines. Their hands are unclasped, and the two children run down the outside of the lines, one running on each side, and meet at the bottom of the lines, where they stand. The two children now standing at the top proceed in the same way: this is continued until all the children have done the same. A ring is then formed, when the children again clap and sing. Any number can play at this game.

In the Epworth version the children range themselves in double rank at one end of the room or playground, and march down to the other end hand in hand. At the bottom they loose hands and divide, the first rank turning right, the second left, and march back in two single files to the other end again, where they re-form as at first, and repeat their man[oe]uvre, singing the verses alternately.

The Lincolnshire game is played by the children walking two and two in a circle round one of their companions, singing. The players then stand facing the child in the centre, and place their hands on their partners' shoulders. After the lines are sung the centre child cries out, "Halt! Shoulder arms! Fire!" at which words each child kisses his partner. If the commander sees any one hesitate, or avoid kissing, he runs forward and takes the defaulter's place, leaving him to fill the middle position.

Similar versions are played at Earls Heaton (Mr. Hardy), Forest of Dean (Miss Matthews), Ellesmere (Burne, _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 574), Derbyshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, i. 386).

Hurling

A game played with a ball. The players are divided into two equal parties, each of which tries to secure and keep the ball in their possession. The prize is a ball made of cork, covered with silver.--Courtney's _West Cornwall Glossary_.

In Taylor's _Antiquitates Curiosæ_, p. 144, it is stated:--"The game of hurling consisted in throwing or hurling a ball of wood about three inches in diameter, and covered with plated silver, sometimes gilt. On the ball was frequently a Cornish motto allusive to the game, and signifying that fair play was best. Success depended on catching the ball dexterously when dealt, and conveying it away through all the opposition of the adverse party, or, if that was impossible, to throw it into the hands of a partner, who, in his turn, was to exert his utmost efforts to convey it to his own goal, which was often three or four miles distant from that of his adversaries."

T. Durfey's _Collin's Walk through London_, 1690, p. 192, says: "Hurling is an ancient sport us'd to this day in the countys of Cornwall and Devon, when once a year the hardy young fellows of each county meet; and a cork ball thinly plated with silver being thrown up between 'em, they run, bustle, and fight for it, to the witty dislocating of many a shrew'd neck, or for the sport of telling how bravely their arms or legs came to be broke, when they got home." It is fully described by Carew in his _Survey of Cornwall_, 1602, p. 73.

It is also a very ancient Irish game, and Mr. Kinahan says: "Many places are called after it: such as, Killahurla, the hurlers' church; Gortnahurla, the field of the hurlers; Greenanahurla, the sunny place of the hurlers; this, however, is now generally corrupted into hurling-green. The hurling-green where the famous match was played by the people of Wexford against those of Cather (now divided into the counties of Carlow and Wicklow), and where the former got the name of yellow bellies, from the colour of the scarfs they wore round their waist, is a sunny flat on the western side of North Wicklow Gap, on the road from Gorey to Trinnahely. There are also many other different names that record the game."--_Folk-lore Journal_, ii. 266.

See "Bandy," "Camp," "Football," "Hockey," "Hood," "Shinty."

Hurly-burly

An undescribed boys' game. In it the following rhyme is used--

Hurly-burly, trumpy trace,
The cow stands in the market-place;
Some goes far, and some goes near,
Where shall this poor sinner steer?

--Patterson's _Antrim and Down Glossary_.

For a similar rhyme see "Hot Cockles."

Huss

Children play a game which is accompanied by a song beginning--

Hussing and bussing will not do,
But go to the gate, knock, and ring--
Please, Mrs. Brown, is Nellie within?

--Parish's _Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect_.

Hustle Cap

A boys' game, played by tossing up halfpence. It is mentioned in _Peregrine Pickle_, cap. xvi. Cope (_Hampshire Glossary_) says, "Halfpence are placed in a cap and thrown up, a sort of 'pitch-and-toss.'"

Hynny-pynny

A peculiar game at marbles, sometimes called "Hyssy-pyssy," played in some parts of Devon and Somerset. A hole of some extent was made in an uneven piece of ground, and the game was to shoot the marbles at some object beyond the hole without letting them tumble into it. The game occasionally commenced by a ceremony of no very delicate description, which sufficed to render the fallen marble still more ignominious.--Halliwell's _Dictionary_.

Isabella

[Music]

--Ogbourne, Wilts (H. S. May).

[Music]

--Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).

[Music]

--London (A. B. Gomme).

I. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when we parted
I left you broken-hearted,
And on a green mountain,
There stands a young man.

Could you love him?
Could you love him?
Could you love him? Farewell!

Choose one, love,
Choose one, love,
Choose one, love, Farewell!

Take a walk, love,
Take a walk, love,
Take a walk, love, Farewell!

In the ring, love,
In the ring, love,
In the ring, love, Farewell!

Put the ring on,
Put the ring on,
Put the ring on, Farewell!

Go to church, love,
Go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

Take a kiss, love,
Take a kiss, love,
Take a kiss, love, Farewell!

Shake hands, love,
Shake hands, love,
Shake hands, love, Farewell!

--Enborne, Newbury (M. Kimber).

II. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when I departed
I left her broken-hearted;
Upon the steep mountain
There stands a young man.

Who'll you choose, love?
Who'll you choose, love?
Who'll you choose, love? Farewell!

Go to church, love,
Go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

Say your prayers, love,
Say your prayers, love,
Say your prayers, love, Farewell!

Put your ring on,
Put your ring on,
Put your ring on, Farewell!

Come back, love,
Come back, love,
Come back, love, Farewell!

Roast beef and plum pudding,
Roast beef and plum pudding,
Roast beef and plum pudding,
For our dinner to-day.

Kiss together, love,
Kiss together, love,
Kiss together, love, Farewell!

--Ogbourne, Wilts (H. S. May).

III. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when I departed
I left you broken-hearted
Broken-hearted on the mountain,
On the mountain, Farewell!

Choose your loved one, choose your loved one,
Choose your loved one, Farewell!

Kiss your hand, love, kiss your hand, love,
Kiss your hand, love, Farewell!

Go to church, love, go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

Say your prayers, love, say your prayers, love,
Say your prayers, love, Farewell!

Come to dinner, love, come to dinner, love,
Come to dinner, love, Farewell!

What have you for dinner, for dinner, for dinner,
What have you for dinner, for dinner to-day?

Roast beef and plum pudding, plum pudding, plum pudding,
Roast beef and plum pudding, plum pudding to-day.

--Southampton (Mrs. W. R. Carse).

IV. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night I met you downhearted and sad,
And down by the river I met your young man.

Choose a lover, choose a lover,
Choose a lover, Farewell!

Walk to church, love, walk to church, love,
Walk to church, love, Farewell!

Come to the ring, love, come to the ring, love,
Come to the ring, love, Farewell!

Give a kiss, love, give a kiss, love,
Give a kiss, love, Farewell!

--West Grinstead, Sussex (_Notes and Queries_, 8th Series, i. 249, Miss Busk).

V. Arabella!
Arabella!
Arabella! Farewell!

Last night when we parted
I left you broken-hearted
Down by the mill-side.

Who'll you have, love?
Who'll you have, love?
Who'll you have, love? Farewell!

Go to church, love,
Go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

Come back, love,
Come back, love,
Come back, love, Farewell!

Shake hands, love,
Shake hands, love,
Shake hands, love, Farewell!

Take a kiss, love,
Take a kiss, love,
Take a kiss, love, Farewell!

--Platt School, near Wrotham, Kent (Miss Burne).

VI. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when we parted
I left you broken-hearted,
And on the green meadow
You was standing alone.

Choose a sweetheart, choose a sweetheart,
Choose a sweetheart, fair maid.

Take her hand, love, take her hand, love,
Take her hand, love, fair maid.

Kneel down, love, kneel down, love,
Kneel down, love, fair maid.

Take a kiss, love, take a kiss, love,
Take a kiss, love, fair maid.

Now you're married I wish you joy,
First a girl and then a boy,
Seven years after son and daughter;
Pray, young couple, come kiss together.

Kiss her once, kiss her twice, kiss her three times over.

--From a London nursemaid, 1878 (A. B. Gomme).

VII. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when we parted
I believed you broken-hearted,
As on the green mountain
You stands [_qy._ sang] like a lark.

Go to church, love, go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

In the ring, love, in the ring, love,
In the ring, love, Farewell!

Give a kiss, love, give a kiss, love,
Give a kiss, love, Farewell!

Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!

--Fernham and Longcot (Miss I. Barclay).

VIII. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when I departed I left her broken-hearted;
On the hill yonder there stands your young man.

Fetch him here, love, fetch him here, love,
Fetch him here, love, Farewell!

Shut the gates, love, shut the gates, love,
Shut the gates, love, Farewell!

Open the gates, love, open the gates, love,
Open the gates, love, Farewell!

Go to church, love, go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

Show your ring, love, show your ring, love,
Show your ring, love, Farewell!

--Hanbury, Staffs. (Miss E. Hollis).

IX. The trees are uncovered, uncovered, uncovered,
The trees are uncovered, Isabella, for me!

Last night when we parted we were all broken-hearted,
Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, for me!

Then give me your hand, love, your hand, love, your hand,
love,
Then give me your hand, love, and a sweet kiss from you.

--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).

X. When the trees are uncovered, Isabellow, for me.
Last night when we parted
She was nigh broken-hearted,
Isabellow, Isabellow, Isabellow, for me.

Your hand, love, your hand, love,
Then give me your hand, love,
Take a sweet kiss from me.

--Winterton, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire (Miss Peacock).

XI. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when we parted I left you broken-hearted,
And down by the river you saw your young man.

In the stream, love, in the stream, love,
In the stream, love, Farewell!

Go to church, love, go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell.

In the ring, love, in the ring, love,
In the ring, love, Farewell!

--Long Eaton, Nottinghamshire (Miss Youngman).

XII. Elizabella, Farewell!
Last night as we parted
She left me broken-hearted,
And on a green mountain
She looked like a dove.

Choose your loved one,
Choose your loved one,
Choose your loved one, Farewell!

Go to church, love, Farewell!
Say your prayers, love, Farewell!
In the ring, love, Farewell!

Shake hands, loves,
Shake hands, loves, Farewell!

Give a kiss, loves,
Give a kiss, loves, Farewell!

--Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).

XIII. Last night when we parted
She was nigh broken-hearted,
To-morrow we gather
And a bright welcome be.
Then give me your hand, love,
Your hand, love, your hand, love,
Then give me your hand, love,
Isabella for me.
Isabella, Isabella,
Isabella for me.

--North Derbyshire (S. O. Addy).

(_b_) In the Enborne, Newbury, version (Miss Kimber) a ring is formed by the children (boys and girls) joining hands. Another child stands in the centre. The ring of children walk round while singing the verses. The singing is confined to the ring. When the centre child is told to "choose," she selects a boy from the ring, who goes into the centre and they stand together. At the next verse these two children walk out of the ring arm-in-arm. When the next verse is sung they return, and again stand in the centre. At the next verse the boy pretends to put a ring on the girl's finger. They walk out of the ring when told to go to church (two children in the ring unclasping hands to let them walk out, and again clasping hands after they return), and kiss each other and shake hands when the two next verses are sung. The child who was first in the centre then joins the ring, and the game proceeds in the same way with the second child, who chooses in his turn. All the other versions follow the same rules, suiting their actions to the words, except Ogbourne, Wilts, in which the two children in the centre sing the verse, "roast beef and plum pudding." They stand face to face, take hold of each other's hands, and sway their arms from side to side. The ring then sing the concluding verse. In those versions where "say your prayers" and "kneel down" occur, the two centre children kneel, and hold their open hands together in front of them to imitate a book. In the London version (A. B. Gomme) a handkerchief was laid on the ground, and the two children stood on each side of it and clasped hands across it. In the Fernham and Longcot version the one child leads the other out of the ring at "go to church," with a graceful half-dancing motion, and back again in the same way. The first child joins the ring while the refrain is sung. In the Hanbury version the centre child pretends to be weeping; another child stands outside the ring and goes into it; when the two meet they kiss. In the North Derbyshire version (Mr. S. O. Addy) a ring is formed of young men and women, a young man being in the centre. He chooses a young woman at the singing of the fifth line, and then joins the ring, the girl remaining in the centre.

(_c_) The tunes of all versions are very similar. The tune of the Newbury game (Miss Kimber) is the same as the _first_ part of the Ogbourne tune printed (Mr. H. S. May); that from Nottingham (Miss Youngman) is the same as the first part of the London version. This is also the case with the Hanbury, Staffs. (Miss E. Hollis) and Fernham and Longcot game. What difference there is is very slight. The Platt, Kent, game (Miss Burne), is sung to the same tune as "Green Gravel," given _ante_, p. 170. The _first_ portion only of the tune is repeated for all verses sung after the first verse. The Barnes game is sung to the same tune as the Earls Heaton (Mr. Hardy), which is printed _ante_. A version played at Barnes is almost identical with the Southampton version, and another collected by Miss Thoyts in Berkshire (_Antiquary_, vol. xxvii. p. 193) is similar to the Hanbury version. The first lines run--Choose your lover; Open the gates; Go to church, love; Kneel down, love; Say your prayers, love; Put on the ring; Stand up, love; In the ring, love; Kiss together, love.

(_d_) The words of all the versions are sufficiently similar to analyse without a special form. The game appears to be purely a love and marriage game, and has probably had its origin in a ballad, and this idea is strengthened by the fact that only one version (London) has the marriage formula sung at the end, and this is probably an arbitrary addition. The lover is represented as lonely and disconsolate, and the remedy suggested is to choose a sweetheart. The marriage ceremony is of the simplest description--the clasping of hands and the kissing within the circle probably implying the betrothal at a spot sacred to such functions, similar to the Standing Stones of Stenness. Whatever may have been the original intention of these stones, they came in more recent times to be the resort of lovers, who joined their right hands through the hole in the altar stones in the belief that this ceremony would add additional solemnity to the betrothal. Miss Gordon Cumming, in her _Tour in the Hebrides_, mentions the fact of the marriage ceremony being of the simplest--a man and woman standing facing each other and clasping hands over a particular stone. Walking arm-in-arm is a sign in Dorsetshire that a couple are married. The mention of the "roast beef and plum pudding" for dinner has probably had its origin in the wedding dinner or breakfast, and the inviting of friends to assemble for the wedding dinner. The word "Isabella" may have been originally something quite different from the name of a girl. I am inclined to think the word was not the name of a person at all; possibly it was something addressed to a particular person in words the sense of which are now lost, and the nearest idea to it was this name. The same thing may also apply to the word "farewell," and hence the incongruity of the first few lines in nearly all versions.

Jack's Alive.

A number of people sit in a row, or on chairs round a parlour. A lighted wooden spill or taper is handed to the first, who says--

Jack's alive, and likely to live;
If he dies in your hand you've a forfeit to give.

The one in whose hand the light expires has to pay a forfeit. As the spill is getting burnt out the lines are said very quickly, as everybody is anxious not to have to pay the forfeit.--Addy's _Sheffield Glossary_.

At Egan, in Derbyshire, a number of persons sit round a fire; one of them lights a stick, twirls it round, and says--

Little Nanny Cockerthaw,
What if I should let her fa'?

The others reply--

Nine sticks and nine stones
Shall be laid on thy bare back bones
If thou shouldst let fa'
Little Nanny Cockerthaw.

If the ember or lighted stick goes out whilst any one is twirling it round, and whilst the lines are being said, he has to lie on the floor, when stones, chairs, or other articles of furniture are piled upon him.--S. O. Addy.

Mactaggart calls it "Preest Cat," and says that it is an ingleside game. A piece of stick is made red in the fire; one hands it to another, saying--

About wi' that, about wi' that,
Keep alive the preest cat.

Then round is handed the stick, and whomsoever's hand it goes out in, that one is in a wad, and must kiss the crook, the cleps, and what not, ere he gets out of it.

Lilly cuckoo, lilly cuckoo,
Sticks and stanes lie at thy weary banes
If thou fa', for a' I blaw,
Lilly cuckoo, lilly cuckoo.

This rhyme is common in the "Preest Cat" sport toward the border. Anciently, when the priest's cat departed this life, wailing began in the country side, as it was thought it became some supernatural being--a witch, perhaps, of hideous form--so to keep it alive was a great matter.--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

He also refers to a game called "Robin-a-Ree," much like "Preest Cat," only in passing the burnt stick round the ring the following rhyme is said--

Robin-a-Ree, ye'll no dee wi' me,
Tho' I birl ye roun' three times and three;
O Robin-a-Ree, O Robin-a-Ree,
O dinna let Robin-a-Reerie dee.

Robin-a-Ree occurs in an old song.--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

In Cornwall it is known as "Robin's a-light," and is played around the fire. A piece of stick is set on fire and whirled around rapidly in the hand of the first player, who says, "Robin's a-light, and if he go out I will saddle your back." It is then passed to the next, who says the same thing, and so on. The person who lets the spark die out has to pay a forfeit.--Scilly (Courtney's West _Cornwall Glossary_). A rhyme at Lostwithiel is known as follows--

Jack's alive, and likely to live;
If he die in my hand a pawn (forfeit) I'll give.

--(J. W.)