“How many miles to
Barbaree?”
“Three score miles and ten”;
“Can I get there
by candlelight?”
“Yes, and back again.”
“Eenie, meenie, miney mo
Catch a weasel by the toe;
If he hollers let him go –
Eenie, meenie, miney mo.”
I.
The
years they come the years they go, each quicker than the last
And
though old age is slow in gait, the years roll onward fast;
New
cares are born, new thoughts arise, new duties hold their sway,
But
now and then there comes a breath from some old by-gone day.
The
old day at the country school, the outdoor games we played,
The
arched streets, the daisy fields, where oftentimes we strayed;
The
playground with its well-worn “gool”, the ball ground handy by,
The
woodpile and the long board fence just fitted for “I spy”!
II.
“How
many miles to Barbaree?” We shouted ‘crost the way;
“Tis
three score miles and ten, good sirs.” they answered plain as day.
“Can
we get there by candlelight?” we shouted, bold and free,
“O,
yes and back again,” said they, in playing “Barbaree”!
Then
with a rush we’d try to gain the “gool” the other side
And
some got by, and some got caught within the rushing tide;
But
it was lively, harmless fun, a stirring thing to see,
And
O, to run the race once more, those “miles to Barbaree”!
III.
“Duck
on the Rock” for husky boys, a game old as the hills,
But
full of life and charged with skill, and full of boyhood thrills;
And
“Snap the Whip” was jolly fun if we could e’re prevail
A
lad to take the end, and send him spinning from the tail!
Then
“Mumble Peg” was often played beneath the shady trees,
And
modern art has failed to give us better games than these;
What
fun to see a fellow root down in the grass and loam
To
pull a plug out with his teeth that had been driven home!
IV.
“Puss
in the Corner”, “Hunt the Wolf”, were favorites as well,
Boy
chasing boy afar a field until the warning bell;
O’er
hill and dale, and jumping brooks to lead the merry chase,
Back
to the school with tousled hair and red and heated face!
“Leap
Frog” at recess was a game, especially for boys –
The
girls were dignified of course, and never sanctioned noise –
Then
“Sunday, Monday”, over hats, upon one leg we’d go,
A
down the line with twenty hats or more all in a row!
V.
Then
turning handsprings, on the grass, and cartwheels o’er and o’er,
And
standing on our heads in turn was fun enough galore!
The
broad jumps, and the races run, the tug of war and all,
Games
for the weak and for the strong, games for the large and small.
Baseball,
too, blessed our daily lives, except when come a day
We
had to weed the farmer’s beds, and couldn’t get away.
We
had the “first” and “second” nines, which played their games by rule,
But
“Scrub” and “Two Old Cat” was what we liked the best at school.
VI.
And
so the school day games went on, the same year after year,
The
old-time favorites recalled – recalled and some not mentioned here.
Time
in his swift, relentless round has borne us down his track,
But
ever and anon our minds will go a drifting back;
Back
to the playground by the school, and to the games we played,
To
“Barbaree” and “Mumble Peg” beneath the maple shade;
And
mayhap in our dreams we see the scholars and the school,
And
hear once more their voices cry to those upon the “gool”!
“How
many miles to Barbaree?”
“Three score miles and ten”
“Can
I get there by candlelight?”
“Yes, and back again!”
June 19, 1910
Duck on a Rock is a game that combined
tag and marksmanship. It is played by placing a somewhat large stone (known as
a "duck") upon a larger stone or a tree stump. One player stays near
the stone to guard it. The other players throw stones at the duck in
an attempt to knock it off of the platform.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_on_a_Rock
Barbarie, King of the
O will you surrender, O will you surrender To the King of
the Barbarie?
We won’t surrender, we won’t surrender To the King of the
Barbarie.
I’ll go and complaint, I’ll go and complaint To the King of
the Barbarie.
You can go and complaint, you can go and complaint To the
King of the Barbarie.
Good morning, young Prince, good morning, young Prince, I
have a complaint for you.
What is your complaint? What is your complaint?
They won’t surrender, they won’t surrender To the King of
the Barbarie.
Take one of my brave soldiers, Take one of my brave
soldiers.
—Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).
Will you surrender, will you surrender To the King of the
Barbarines?
We won’t surrender, we won’t surrender To the King of the
Barbarines.
We’ll make you surrender, we’ll make you surrender To the
King of the Barbarines.
You can’t make us surrender, you can’t make us surrender To
the King of the Barbarines.
We’ll go to the King, we’ll go to the King, To the King of
the Barbarines.
You can go to the King, you can go to the King, To the King
of the Barbarines.
—Clapham, Surrey (Miss F. D. Richardson).
Will you surrender, will you surrender The Tower of
Barbaree?
We won’t surrender, we won’t surrender The Tower of
Barbaree.
We will go and tell the Queen, Go and tell the Queen of
Barbaree.
Don’t care for the Queen, don’t care for the Queen, The
Queen of Barbaree.
Good morning, young Queen, good morning, young Queen, I
have a complaint to thee.
Pray what is your complaint to me?
They won’t surrender, they won’t surrender The Tower of
Barbaree.
Take one of my brave soldiers.
—Lady Camilla Gurdon’s Suffolk
County Folk-lore, p. 63.
You must surrend’ me, you must surrend’ me To the Queen of
Barbaloo.
No, we’ll not surrend’ you, no, we’ll not surrend’ you To
the Queen of Barbaloo.
We’ll complain, we’ll complain, &c .[To the Queen of
Barbaloo.]
You can complain, you can complain, &c. [To the Queen
of Barbaloo.]
—Penzance (Mrs.
Mabbott).
(b) Two
children stand together joining hands tightly, to personate a fortress; one
child stands at a distance from these to personate the King of Barbarie, with
other children standing behind to personate the soldiers (fig. 1). Some of the
soldiers go to the fortress and surround it, singing the first verse (fig.
2). The children in the fortress reply, the four first verses being thus sung
alternately. The soldiers then go to the King singing the fifth verse (fig. 3),
the remaining verses being thus sung alternately. One of the soldiers then goes
to the fortress and endeavours by throwing herself on the clasped hands of the
children forming the fortress to break down the guard (fig. 4). All the
soldiers try to do this, one after the other; finally the King comes, who
breaks down the guard. The whole troop of soldiers then burst through the
parted arms (fig. 5).
This
is the Deptford version. The Clapham version is almost identical; the
children take hold of each others’ skirts and make a long line. If the brave
soldier is not able to break the clasped hands he goes to the end of the line
of soldiers.[21] The soldiers do not surround the
fortress. In the Suffolk version the soldiers try to break through
the girls’ hands. If they do they have the tower. The Cornwall version is
not so completely an illustration of the capture of a fortress.
 |
| Snap the Whip by Winslow Homer 1872 |
Crack the
Whip is
a simple outdoor children's game that involves physical coordination, and
is usually played in small groups, either on grass or ice. One player, chosen
as the "head" of the whip, runs (or skates) around in random
directions, with subsequent players holding on to the hand of the previous
player. The entire "tail" of the whip moves in those directions, but
with much more force toward the end of the tail. The longer the tail, the more
the forces act on the last player, and the tighter they have to hold on.
As the
game progresses, and more players fall off, some of those who were previously
located near the end of the tail and have fallen off can "move up"
and be in a more secure position by grabbing onto the tail as it is moving,
provided they can get back on before some of the others do. There is no
objective to this game other than the enjoyment of the experience.
Mumblety peg is generally played
between two people with the aid of a pocket knife. In one version of the game,
two opponents stand opposite one another with their feet shoulder-width apart.
The first player then takes the knife and throws it to "stick" in the
ground as near his own foot as possible.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumblety-peg
Puss in the Corner - A yard, court, room,
or other square area with four corners, posts, or trees equidistant from one
another is chosen as the playing arena. One player is nominated
"Puss" and takes his place in the center of the arena. Each of the
other four players selects one of the corners and takes his place there. Play
begins with the four corner players attempting to exchange places with each
other in any direction. "Puss" attempts to gain a corner during the
exchange. Should he succeed, the player then left without a corner becomes
"Puss" and takes his place in the center of the arena. Play resumes
in a similar manner. Should players A and B attempt to exchange corners and A
gains B's corner but A's corner is gained by "Puss", then B becomes
"Puss" rather than A.
Monday, Tuesday - A game played with a
ball. There are seven players, who each take a name from one of the days of the
week. One (Sunday) begins by throwing the ball against a wall, calling out at
the same time the name of one of the days, who has to run and catch it before
it falls. If this one fails to catch the ball, the first player picks up the
ball and tries to hit one of the six with it, who all endeavour to escape being
hit. If the player succeeds, he again throws the ball against the wall, calling
out another day of the week to catch it. If a player gets hit three times, he
is out. The winner is he who has either not been hit at all or the fewest
times, or who has been able to stay in the longest. The same game is played
with twelve children, who are named after the twelve months of the year.—London
and Barnes (A. B. Gomme); Strand Magazine, ii. 519 (F. H. Low).
Scrub Baseball - This simplified version of baseball
has been enjoyed since the game was first played in the nineteenth century.
There are no teams in scrub baseball – players simply take turns rotating
between batting and fielding.
Old cat (also known as ol' cat or cat-ball)
games were bat-and-ball, safe haven games played in North
America The games were numbered according to the number of bases. The
number of bases varied according to the number of players. Only one old cat
continues to be commonly played in the 21st century.
One old
cat, one eyed cat, or the contracted one-o'-cat was the basic
version of the game, with a pitcher or giver; a batter or striker; a catcher,
and sometimes another fielder or two. The striker, upon hitting the ball thrown
by the giver, attempted to run to a single base (often the giver's position)
and back again. The fielders tried to sting the striker-runner with a thrown
ball while he or she was not touching the base. The striker would also be put
out if the struck ball were caught in the air, or if they swung three times at
the giver's deliveries and missed. One old cat, like scrub baseball, was a
game of individuals—one against all—and not a team sport. Each base touched
before 'out' (or just home) would score a point, although score was often not
kept.
In his book Base-Ball, John
Montgomery Ward wrote that to initiate a game of one old cat, players
called out a number to claim a position: one, two, etc.—one being the striker,
two being the pitcher, and three the catcher. When an out was made the striker
moved to the last position (e.g. five), five became four, four moved to three,
three moved to two, and two took a turn as striker—the coveted position. Ward
said that if more players were available for the game, there would be two
batters opposite each other (as in cricket), and they ran to the opposite
base when the ball was hit. This was two
old cat.
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