Public-domain ebook
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Subjects
In: Children & Young Adult Reading·Mythology, Legends & Folklore·British Literature
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #41728.
The work is a scholarly catalogue of traditional children’s games from England, Scotland and Ireland, compiled by Alice Bertha Gomme and published in 1898. It opens with a set of transcriber’s notes that explain how the original typographic conventions, italics, bold, footnotes, illustrations and musical transcriptions, are rendered for the reader. After a brief bibliographic description of the first volume, the prefatory material situates the second volume as a continuation of Gomme’s “Dictionary” of folk games, noting the loss of her collaborator, the Rev. Dr Gregor, and the addition of new variants collected since the first volume appeared. The introductory “Memoir” outlines the analytical framework she employs, describing how games reveal ancient customs, beliefs and social practices, and it promises a comprehensive list of games, from “Oats and Beans” to “Tug of War,” each accompanied by relevant verses, tunes and instructions.
Written in a Victorian‑era academic voice, the text combines meticulous documentation with a genuine enthusiasm for folklore. Its style is formal yet accessible, peppered with detailed footnotes, regional citations and occasional lyrical excerpts of the games themselves. Readers with an interest in historical anthropology, folklore studies, or the cultural history of play, particularly scholars, teachers, or hobbyists exploring nineteenth‑century British customs, will find Gomme’s exhaustive enumeration and analysis both informative and evocative.
The opening · free to read
Both volumes contain some uncertain references to (other) games, caused by the naming and/or spelling of game names. Where these differences were trivial (for example, Wolf and Lamb versus Wolf and the Lamb), their identity has been assumed silently. Following is a list of less trivial references.
The game Stag is often referred to as Stag Warning, but occasionally they are listed as thought they were separate games.
Page xiv: Lubin, Looby Loo is listed as game in the Addenda, but not present there; Hulla-balloo-ballee is not listed, but present in Addenda (including references to Lubin and Looby Loo).
Page 56: reference to the Scottish version. From the text and the analysis this is probably version XVIII.
Page 145: reference to Tag. This game is not listed as such, but according to the description it could be a version of French Jackie, which is called French Tag in some places.
Page 282: reference to See the Farmer Sow his Seed, which is not a separate game, but one version of Oats and Beans and Barley.
Page 307 and 421: reference to Twos and Threes, which is not a separate game, but a local name for Round Tag.
Page 383: reference to Silly Young Man, which is probably a mistake for Silly Old Man.
Page 436: reference to Jolly Lads, which is not a separate game (probably the game intended is Jolly Sailors).
Page 467: reference to Drummer Man; no such game listed, the only Drummer Man occurs in one of the variants of Follow my Gable.
Page 470: reference to Lugs; there is no such game listed, possibly this should be Luggie.
Page 476: reference to Old Widow; there is no such game listed, it could be a reference to Poor Widow; Baste the Bear, ditto, this is mentioned under Badger the Bear; Old Woman, ditto, this could refer to Dumb Motions.
At least some of the quotations presented by the author are not verbatim quotations, they have been edited by the author (for example Aubrey on cockle-bread).
In the Addenda, the original work uses Arabic rather than Roman numerals for different variants; this has not been changed.
The original work uses both 2-4 and 2/4 to indicate musical time; this has not been standardised.
Page 199: Love another like sister and brother is probably a mistake (Love one another like sister and brother).
Page 336/7: The original work does not give a source or authority for variation XXV.
Footnotes have been moved to end of the description of the game or to immediately underneath the relevant paragraph (in the Memoir).
Sources (when printed in smaller type in the original work) have been moved to a separate line where necessary.
In the Addenda, the references to games have been moved to the next line.
First page: mustergiltig changed to mustergültig (exemplary)
Page vii: Pocklington Coltman changed to Pocklington-Coltman
Page xiii: Teesty-Totsy changed to Teesty-Tosty as in text
Page xv: Game Hulla-balloo-ballee added to list
Page 35: the other player's changed to the other players
Page 56-60: some rows consisting of dashes only were combined in the original work, these have been split into separate rows
Page 66: Hurstmonceaux changed to Hurstmonceux as elsewhere
Page 67: Hurstmonceaux changed to Hurstmonceux as elsewhere
Page 88: galop changed to gallop as elsewhere
Page 100: square brackets moved from line of verse to explanation, as elsewhere [I pray ... the ball], putting ... three girls. changed to I pray ... the ball, [putting ... three girls.]
Page 101: square bracket after yield up the ball. removed
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