The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland Volume I Part 39

Then all the ring say-

You must stop all night within the gate, Unless you have strength to break through.

The child inside then attempts to break through, and if he succeeds in breaking any of the clasped hands the one who first gives way has to take the place in the centre.-Roxton, St. Neots (Miss Lumley).

See "Bull in the Park."

Gegg

"To smuggle the Gegg," a game played by boys in Glasgow, in which two parties are formed by lot, equal in number, the one being denominated the Outs, the other Ins. The Outs are those who go out from the den or goal, where those called the Ins remain for a time. The Outs get the Gegg, which is anything deposited, as a key, a penknife, &c. Having received this, they conceal themselves, and raise the cry, "Smugglers!"

On this they are pursued by the Ins; and if the Gegg (for the name is transferred to the person who holds the deposit) be taken, they exchange situations-the Outs become Ins and the Ins Outs. This play is distinguished from "Hy-spy" only by the use of the Gegg. One of the Ins who is touched by one of the Outs is said to be taken, and henceforth loses his right to hold the Gegg. If he who holds the Gegg gets in the den, the Outs are winners, and have the privilege of getting out again.

The Outs, before leaving the den, shuffle the Gegg, or smuggle it so between each other that the Ins do not know which person has it. He who is laid hold of, and put to the question, is supposed to deny that he has the Gegg: if he escapes with it, he gets out again.-Jamieson.

Genteel Lady

A player begins thus:-"I, a genteel lady (or gentleman) came from that genteel lady (or gentleman) to say that she (or he) owned a tree." The other players repeat the words in turn, and then the leader goes over them again, adding, "with bronze bark." The sentence goes round once more, and on the next repet.i.tion the leader continues, "with golden branches." He afterwards adds, "and silver leaves," "and purple fruit,"

"and on the top a milk-white dove," and, finally, "mourning for the loss of his lady-love."

If a player should fail in repeating the rigmarole, there is a fine to pay. A "pipe-lighter" is stuck in her hair, and she must say "one-horned lady" instead of "genteel lady." When a second horn is added, of course she says "two-horned," and so forth. Some players wear half-a-dozen before the conclusion of the game. The game is called "The Wonderful Tree."-Anderby, Lincolns.h.i.+re (Miss M. Peac.o.c.k).

In some parts of Yorks.h.i.+re it is customary to say "no-horned lady"

instead of "genteel lady" at the beginning of the game.

When we played this game we said "always genteel" after "genteel lady,"

and varied the formula. For instance, the first player would say, "I, a genteel lady, always genteel, come from a genteel lady, always genteel, to say she lives in a house with twelve windows," or words were used beginning with the letter A. Each player must repeat this, and add something else in keeping with a house; or sentences had to be made in which words beginning with the letter A must be said, the other players doing the same alphabetically.-London (A. B. Gomme).

Mr. Newell, in writing of this game, says that the "lamp-lighter" or "spill" was lighted when placed in the hair of the players who made mistakes. He does not mention forfeits being exacted.-_Games_, p. 139.

Ghost at the Well

One of the party is chosen for Ghost (if dressed in white so much the better); she hides in a corner; the other children are a mother and daughters. The eldest daughter says:-

"Mother, mother, please give me a piece of bread and b.u.t.ter."

M. "Let me (or 'leave me') look at your hands, child. Why, they are very dirty."

E. D. "I will go to the well and wash them."

She goes to the corner, the Ghost peeps up, and she rushes back, crying out-

"Mother! mother! I have seen a Ghost."

M. "Nonsense, child! it was only your father's nights.h.i.+rt I have washed and hung out to dry. Go again."

The child goes, and the same thing happens. She returns, saying-

"Yes! mother! I have seen a ghost."

M. "Nonsense, child! we will take a candle, and all go together to search for it."

The mother picks up a twig for a candle, and they set off. When they come near to the Ghost, she appears from her hiding-place, mother and children rush away in different directions, the Ghost chases them until she has caught one, who in her turn becomes Ghost.-West Cornwall (Miss Courtney, _Folk-lore Journal_, v. 55).

This game was "Ghost in the Copper" in London. It was played in the same way as above. Chairs formed the copper, and the ghost crouched down behind. The "Mother" was "was.h.i.+ng" at a tub, also formed with two chairs. The eldest daughter was told she could not go to school to-day; she must stop at home and help hang up the clothes. The other children go to play. The Mother said, "Here, Jane, take this (pretending to give her a garment out of the wash-tub) and put it in the copper, and push it down well with the stick." Jane goes to the copper and pretends to take off the lid. When she puts the washed garment in, and pokes down with the stick, the Ghost jumps up. She cries out as above, the Mother saying, "Nonsense, child! it's only some of the boiling clothes." The child goes again, and the game proceeds as above. It is generally played now as "Ghost."-A. B. Gomme. It is mentioned by Newell (_Games_, p.

223).

Giants

A Giant is chosen, and he must be provided with a cave. A summer-house will do, if there is no window for the Giant to see out of. The others then have to knock at the door with their knuckles separately. The Giant rushes when he thinks all the children have knocked, and if he succeeds in catching one before they reach a place of safety (appointed beforehand) the captured one becomes Giant.-Bitterne, Hants (Mrs.

Byford). See "Wolf."

Giddy

Giddy, giddy, gander, Who stands yonder?

Little Bessy Baker, Pick her up and shake her; Give her a bit of bread and cheese, And throw her over the water.

-Warwicks.h.i.+re.

_(b)_ A girl being blindfolded, her companions join hands and form a ring round her. At the word "Yonder" the blindfolded girl points in any direction she pleases, and at line three names one of the girls. If the one pointed at and the one named be the same, she is the next to be blinded; but, curiously enough, if they be not the same, the one named is the one. Meanwhile, at line four, she is not "picked up," but is shaken by the shoulders by the still blindfolded girl; and at line five she is given by the same "bread and cheese," _i.e._, the buds or young leaves of what later is called "May" (_Crataegus oxyacantha_); and at line six she is taken up under the blinded girl's arm and swung round.-Warwicks.h.i.+re (_Notes and Queries_, 6th Ser., viii. 451).

Gilty-galty (or gaulty)

A boy's game. One boy is chosen, who says:-

Gilty-galty four-and-forty, Two tens make twenty.

He then counts one, two, three, four, &c., up to forty, having his eyes covered by his hands, and the others hide while he is saying the "nominy." At the conclusion he uncovers his eyes, and if he sees any boys not yet hidden they have to stand still. He seeks the rest, but if he moves far away from his place, called the "stooil" (stool), one of the hidden boys may rush out and take it, provided he can get there first. Should he fail in this he also has to stand aside; but if any one succeeds, then all run out as before, and the same boy has to say the "nominy" again. On the other hand, if he finds all the boys without loosing his "stooil," the boy first caught has to take his place and say the "nominy." The game was thus played in 1810, and is so still, both here and at Lepton.-Easther's _Almondbury and Huddersfield Glossary_.

Gipsy

I charge my children, every one, To keep good house while I am gone.

You, and you [points], but specially you [or sometimes, but specially Sue], Or else I'll beat you black and blue.

One child is selected for Gipsy, one for Mother, and one for Daughter Sue. The Mother says the lines, and points to several children to emphasise her words. During her absence the Gipsy comes in, entices a child away, and hides her. This process is repeated till all the children are hidden, when the mother has to find them.-Halliwell (_Nursery Rhymes_, p. 228).

See "Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils Over," "Witch."

Gled-wylie

The name of a singular game played at country schools. One of the largest of the boys steals away from his comrades, in an angry-like mood, to some d.y.k.eside or sequestered nook, and there begins to work as if putting a pot on a fire. The others seem alarmed at his manner, and gather round him, when the following dialogue takes place:-