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Part Two. STATUES Another game in which no equipment was needed. Such was 'Statues'. One child stood about twenty yards in front of a line of children. He looked ahead and then turning swiftly tried to catch someone moving towards him. If he did, the culprit had to go back to the line and start again. The object was to get close enough to the leader to touch him without being spotted. He who succeeded then became the leader. JACK-SHINE-A-MAGGY A similar game to Relievo, it was played after darkness had set in and everyone had a torch, and on the cry of 'Jack-shine-a-maggy' the hunted had to flash their torches, thus giving away their hiding places which meant a quick switch of hiding place. We ran miles in those games, so no doubt we slept well after them. LEAP FROG Several children would line up. The first one would run ten yards and bend forward. The others would run and jump over her, number two would bend then each one in turn would make 'a back' for the others to vault, putting their hands on the back to help them over. HOT RICE Another easy game. A child using a bat, an old tennis racquet or a piece of wood would hold it in front of her legs while others threw a ball to hit the leg below the knee. The successful child took over the bat, moving round to make it more difficult to be hit. DIABLO Some boys became expert at Diablo, a game which necessitated balancing and rolling an object like a double egg cup on a string between two sticks. Very few girls played diablo but they were quite happy to own a Yo-Yo. When it was Yo-Yo season every child could be seen throwing it forward, backward, between their legs and over their shoulders. FRENCH KNITTING This was a most popular diversion for girls. Made at home - a wooden bobbin had four tacks (tiny nails) knocked in the top, the girls used their right hands to weave the wool around the nails and down through the hole in the bobbin. Yards of braid was made in this way and it was cut off and given to the tiny children to be used as reins while playing 'horses', or made into teapot stands for home. CATAPULTS Most boys had catapults, and I am sorry to say, used them to shoot at birds but the majority were used against targets set up for the purpose. BOGIES Every boy longed to own a bogey. Pram wheels were treasured. Planks of wood sought and nailed between two sets of wheels. Rope reins were fastened to the front axle for steerage and the bogey was complete. Sometimes a wooden box was nailed to the planks and it became a 'posh' bogey as it had a seat. KAZOOS Most children had kazoos (sometimes called submarines because of their shape), while others produced the same sound by humming against a comb covered with tissue paper. Every year the large villages had a carnival and many bands entered. Each band had about thirty to fifty children smartly dressed and each one playing kazoos. The older boys in the village played 'the bones'. To play them, two bones were held in one hand with one or two fingers between them. By flicking the wrist a recognisable rhythm could be produced. FLICKER BOOKS were common, most were given as advertisement. These books were small with about a dozen pages and each page had a picture almost the same at the others. When you flicked the pages quickly however, the animals and people appeared to move. Many of these books were made at home with match-stick men drawings. My favourite was the Bovril advertisement which showed a bull chasing a man who just as he was about to be caught, jumped over a hedge. STAMPS Many readers may remember 'Billy Stampers'. These were transfers bought by the dozen and although they were meant to be transferred to paper, most were put on to wrists, children could be seen vigorously patting their wrists and chanting 'Bill. Billy stamper, stamp my hand'. Many will also remember being dragged to the washbasin (or tub) to have their arms scrubbed by an irate mother in an effort to get the ink off the arms before school time. FARMS A lot of the summer days were spent on the farm. It may seem incredible to, people today that we children played so far from home and yet mothers never worried. For crime was virtually non-existent. We roamed about the village, returning home when our tummies complained that it was past feeding time. On the farm we worked for nothing for it was pure joy. We helped with the threshing of the wheat and our reward was being allowed to take the big shires to drink and to the stables. Threshing was exciting, the steam hissing, smoke belching skywards, the great wheel turning and the belt flapping as it drove the smaller wheel operating the many parts. lf you were lucky you threw up the sheaves. Cut the string or took away the grain or straw. If you were not engaged in the actual threshing you chased the harvest mice which scampered from the sheaves, and the dogs with wagging tails eagerly ran from end to end, nosing out any mice or rates which were hiding in fear and bewilderment. Hay time was wonderful. The joy of riding on a hay bogey being pulled by a huge cart horse, chattering away to ones friends was bliss, Oh. - Those summer days. The sun shining. The sweet scent of new-mown hay, the colourful Red Admiral and Tortoiseshell butterflies and lovely Hawk Moths fluttering by, the hum of the lazy bees, and the ever-present skylark, all helped to make those days so memorable. Boys would get a jar and lid and go out to collect wasps or bees in the jar. They would carefully approach a wasp when it had landed on a flower and bringing the jar and lid together would trap the angry wasp in the jar. The first catch was easy, but as the number of captives grew it became really difficult to catch a prey without releasing one already in the jar. If you droped the jar you ran, often chased by a swarm of angry wasps. WINTER GAMES snow storms were quite common and six inches of snow was an accepted part of life. Most boys had sledges and these were well used after school was over. The main road if hilly, was used for sledging as the traffic was mainly horse and cart. Fields were also used and farmers had no objections as long as we did not break down the hedges. Snowball fights were common as one street fought against another street. INDOOR GAMES The board games we played seventy years ago are still played today. The favourites were Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Draughts, Dominoes and Cards. The very young ones played Snap. Sometimes several children converged on one house and played Schools or dressed up and made up plays. Mothers would look on smiling while they busied themselves mat making. DANCING GAMES In the evenings after school and on Saturdays when a group of children congregated, the big girls (thirteen or fourteen year olds) would organise a dancing game. This was orchestrated by all the children singing as they danced. The first dance a child learnt was RING-A-RING OF ROSES. the words were simple and were repeated over and over again pleased the little children. They sang:- "Ring-a-ring of Roses! A Pocket full of Posies. A-shoo, A-shoo! All fall down!" Here the children sat down and giggling rose to repeat the rhyme. The JOLLY MILLER Boys would dance around in a circle with girls dancing the other way round. When the song gets to 'grab' the boy grabs a girl and they dance around together singing "A hunting we gill go". When the song ends the boys turn round and the dance begins again. Here are the words:- "There was a jolly miller who lived by himself. As the wheel went round he made his wealth. With a hand on the hopper and the other in his bag. As the wheel went round he made his grab". LUBIN LOO This is now termed 'Hokey Cokey'. "Here we go Lubin Loo. Here we go Lubin Light. Here we go Lubin Loo. Upon a Saturday Night. Put your right hand in. Put your right hand out. Shake it a little. Then turn yourself about." Further actions were left to a leader who usually stood in the centre of the circle. sometimes choosing positions which caused great amusement. LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN (Some villages played it as Broken Bridges falling down). This was a very popular game. Two of the bigger girls faced each other and clasping hands, made an arch. The other children as they sang the first verse passed under the arch in single file, each child holding on to the one in front. Round the girls in and under the arch they went until "Here's a prisoner we have got" the two girls forming the arch brought down their arms and enclosed one of the children. During the second verse. they swing the prisoner and at the end of the song they took him (or her) aside and asked them to decide between an apple and a pear (the girls having decided beforehand which was which). The prisoner stood behind the appropriate girl and the game continued till every child had been captured. The game ended with a tug-of-war between the two teams - apple and pear. THE FARMERS IN HIS DEN This was a ring game. One player was left in the middle as a Farmer. The children move around in a circle singing. At the second verse the farmer chooses someone from the circle as his wife, who moves into the centre and in turn chooses a child. and so on until the last verse when all the children advance to the centre and slap the bone. Hey-O! My Daddy O! the farmer's in his den. The farmer takes a wife! The farmer takes a wife Hey O! the lily O! The farmer takes a wife. The wife takes a child The child takes a nurse The nurse takes a dog The dog takes a bone The bone lies still. NUTS IN MAY Players were arranged in two rows. One row advanced and retreated singing the first verse. The other players replied with the second verse, advancing and retreating likewise and so on alternately. At the end of the fifth verse, the plays named in the song stepped out and taking each others hands endeavoured to pull the other over a line on the ground. The loser joined the winner's row and the game began again. 2. Who will you have to gather in May. Nuts in May. Who will you have to gather in May. On a cold and frosty morning? 3. We'll gather Mary for Nuts in May. Nuts in May. Nuts in May We'll gather Mary for Nuts in May on a cold and frosty morning. 4. Who will you send to take her away. Take her away. Take her away. Who will you send to take her away on a cold and frosty morning? 5. We're sending Billy to take her away, Take her away. Take her away. We're sending Billy to take her away. On a cold and frosty morning. THE MULBERRY BUSH Sung to the above tune, the players in "The Mulberry Bush" took hands and moved round in a ring at the first verse, disengaged hands and performed various requisite actions in the succeeding verses. Here we go round the Mulberry Bush on a cold and frosty morning. 2. This is the way we wash our hands. etc. 3. This is the way we lace our stays. etc. 4. This is the way we comb our hair. etc. 5 This is the way the ladies walk., etc. 6. This is the way the gentlemen walk, etc. These are just a few of the games the big girls taught us. they had learnt them at school. Other games including:- Bobby Bingo - The Big Ship Sails Through The Alley O - We'll Push the Business on - Wallflowers, Wallflowers, Growing up so High - The Grand Old Duke of York. The mischievous boys had their own games. They played KNOCKY NINE DOORS. A boy would go up to a door, knock on it and then disappear to join his friends in hiding. Someone would answer the knock, open the door, and finding no one there would look outside. Once the person went back inside, the boy would knock again. This was repeated again and again till the man in the house came out to find the culprit, and the boys scattered laughing. Another 'game' was to fasten the 'snecks' (latches) of two adjoining doors with string, knock on both doors and then watch as people tried to open a door before finally leaving it and exiting by the back door walked round the block to the front door. Cut the string. The boys of course were no where to be seen. Every street had a downpipe to channel the water from the roof. The boys would stuff it with paper, set it alight and wait for the terrible noise which the burning paper made as it rose up the pipe. The noise inside the house was terrific, it was a ghostly wail. These boys were full of mischief, but it was all done for a laugh and no way would they destroy things maliciously - vandalism was unknown.
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