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INTRODUCTION.

"I am with you there, I am with you there,
In the midst of your merry ring;

I can feel the thrill of the daring jump,
And the rush of the breathless swing.

For it stirs the blood in an old man's heart,
And it makes his pulses fly,

To catch the sound of a happy voice,

And the light of a pleasant eye."

HE most remarkable thing to be noticed about our English games and amusements generally, is the fact that they are nearly all old; and we fancy our young readers will like to read about these old sports and pastimes all the more, when they consider that some of the greatest men in the world took interest in them, and played at them, too, in their boyish days. Shakespeare talks of "Prisoner's Base" as a game practised before his time; and in the reign of Edward III. it was necessary to publish a proclamation to prevent people from playing this fine old game in the avenues of the palace at Westminster during the time the Parliament was sitting; for it would appear that the members were sometimes sadly inconvenienced by suddenly finding themselves in the middle of a group of eager players, whose vagaries prevented them from going to and fro on their legitimate business. The new game of "Solitaire" we saw advertised a year or two ago, is at least a hundred years old, and is said to take its name from having been invented by a poor solitary prisoner, who, having been immured

in the dreadful French prison called the Bastille, hit upon this expedient for shortening the weary hours; and "Fox and Geese" is merely a modern form of "Merelles, or Nine Men's Morris," a game played by our ancestors five hundred years ago. As for such games as "Odd and Even," the Latin "Par vel impar," and "Dibs," why, the ancient Romans, Scipio Africanus, Caius

A GAME AT DIBS.

Marius (who afterwards played "Solitaire" on the ruins of Carthage), and all the great men of antiquity, used to play at them; and men's dispositions were shown just as much in their amusements in the old times as a boy's character will now be displayed in the sports he chooses. Think of Domitian, the mean, cruel, tyrannical emperor, piercing flies with a sharp-pointed bodkin, just as a cruel schoolboy might spin a cockchafer, for the mere love of tormenting something that could feel pain; or young Nero watching the gladiators fight

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to the death in the arena, as a cruel, dastardly boy might set two fine dogs to fight, while he, too cowardly to join in such dangerous diversion himself, sat gloating over the horrible sport at a safe distance. Then, what is "Acting Charades" but a modernised form of the old Christmas sports, as practised hundreds of years ago, when the Lord of Misrule used to hold his court in the halls of merrie England; of the Plough Monday pageant, in the days when, as the antiquarian Brand tells us, "at Christmas-time, foolplough goes about-a pageant that consists of a number of sword-dancers dragging a plough about with music, and one, or sometimes two of them, attired in a very antic dress, as the Bessy in the grotesque habit of an old woman, and the Fool almost covered with skins, a hairy cap on his head, and the tail of some animal hanging down his back?" And even these customs, old as they are, are nothing but modernised versions of the great feasts of the ancients: the "Saturnalia," when for a season the slaves were allowed to make merry, and enjoy a kind of freedom while the holiday lasted; to bandy jokes with their masters, and also to assume mock titles and dignities; when the poor bondman, liberated from his yoke at the recurrence of Saturn's feast, was waited upon to-day by the very lord who might order him chains and the scourge to-morrow. Even the little game of shuttlecock used to be played in the days when the Plantagenets were kings over England, with just such battledores as we use now. Moreover, it is related of Prince Henry, eldest son of James I.-the wise and good youth, who, if he had lived, might, perhaps, have prevented so many misfortunes that afterwards happened to England-how "His Highness, playing at shuttlecocke with one farr taller than himself, and hittyng him by chance with the shuttlecocke upon the forehead, 'This is,' quoth he, 'the encounter of David with Goliath.""

Thus our young readers will see that in these treatises, which we hope to make really handy books," and pleasant books, too, to all who take them up, we shall have to go over a good deal of ground, mostly play-ground, already trodden by many predecessors; but we hope we may lead our readers pleasantly over it, for all that; and if in the description of sport and pastime we can offer a little information here and there on graver subjects, our book will, we fancy, be none the less welcome. Shakespeare tells us that if we only set about it the right way, we may find

"Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything."

!

May, then, our readers find Tongues in the trees that furnish the stout cricket-bat and the tough yew-bow; Books of instruction in the brook in which they try their physical endurance and courage, in the noble exercise of swimming; Sermons on fair-play, kindness, and boyish honour, even in the stones with which they play at marbles; and, as a natural sequel, good in everything-all Sports and Pastimes included.

We will now proceed at once to give our descriptions of out-door games and sports, merely premising that, where there are two or three ways of playing one game, our space limits us to the most popular and approved method; for the number of sports is in itself so large, that if we barely mention them all, we shall have done more than our predecessors, and consider ourselves entitled to attentive perusal, and much gratitude from each and every boy who rejoices at the return of play-time, and who knows Latin enough to understand what is meant by the classic rhyme :

"Omne bene,
Sine pænâ,

Tempus est ludendi,
Venit hora,
Absque morâ,

Libros deponendi;'

Or who can, at any rate, undrestand the English equivalent,—

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PRISONER'S BASE.-This is a capital game. It is a war in miniature, with attack, retreat, stratagems, bold sallies, with defeat and imprisonment for the vanquished, and honour and credit, if not the Victoria Cross, for the victors. The various incidents of this game, its exciting character, and the scope it affords for the display of activity, readiness, and ingenuity, give "Prisoner's Base" an undoubted right to the first place among play-ground games, not requiring toys. It is played in the following

manner:

The players should be about sixteen to twenty in number. They are divided into two parties, the men being chosen alternately by two leaders or captains so as to make the forces as equal as possible. Two bases are then

Base 1

Base 2

(Chevy)

Prison

marked out side by side, one for each party, and two prisons or smaller bases, opposite the first, at about twenty yards distance- the prison belonging to base No. 1 being opposite to base No. 2 (see diagram), and vice versa. A player now runs out from base No. 1, to the space between the bases and the prisons, and standing still, cries out, "Chevy, chevy chase, once, twice, thrice," which is considered as a challenge to the opposite party in base No. 2: one of whom, accordingly, runs out to try and touch the challenger before he can get back to his own base. If he can succeed in this, then must the person thus touched go to the prison belonging to his base, and there remain until he is rescued by one of his own party sallying forth, and touching the prisoner, if he can manage to get to him without being himself touched by one of the opposite party. If, however, "chevy chase" gets back untouched to his own home, the pursuer in his turn is followed by another from the enemy's camp, and is liable to be touched. Thus, any player may sally forth and pursue any

Prison

1

other of the opposite party who has left the base before him, with the intent to touch him before he can get back to his own base; and every one so touched must go to prison, until he is released by one of his own side getting to his prison and touching him. The two leaders, who of course are the best runners, should not quit their bases except in cases of emergency, as much depends upon their generalship. When several prisoners are in prison together, they may take hold of hands; and the last only need keep his foot in the prison, the rest stretching out in a diagonal line towards their own base. This shortens the distance the rescuer has to run to release one of them. No one who quits the base for the rescue of one prisoner, may attempt to rescue another, until he has first returned to his base. When all the prisoners on both sides are released, the game begins again, by a "chevy" being given in their turn by the party last challenged; and it is seldom such a challenge passes without one or more prisoners being the result. The side which manages to send all its adversaries to prison, so that none remain to rescue them, wins the game.

There is a variety of this game in which no prisoner can be rescued; once touched, he is shut out of the game, which concludes, when all on one side have been thus excluded. This way of playing at "Prisoner's Base" is, of course, more expeditious than the ordinary method; but far less amusing to those players who happen to get shut out early in the campaign, and have to walk about doing nothing until the contest is decided.

A very remarkable match at "Prisoner's Base," was played in the year 1770, in what were then the fields behind Montagu House, and are now the streets behind the British Museum. The match was between twelve gentlemen from Cheshire, and twelve from Derbyshire. It was for a large sum of money, and Derbyshire won.

LEAP-FROG.-The French call this game Saute-Mouton, or "JumpSheep"-perhaps thinking the alluson to a frog too personal. We need not say, that we prefer our own appellation for this healthy sport.

The usual way of playing is as follows:- The players stand in a row, one behind the other. The first in the row advances a few steps, and gives a back to the others by standing sideways, in a somewhat stooping position, with one foot a little forward, his hands resting firmly on his knees, and his head "tucked in," as the phrase goes, that is, bent as much towards his breast as possible. The player next to him then takes a short run, and then placing his hands tightly on the back of the first, leaps lightly over him, taking care to keep his legs well apart, so that he may give a clear leap, and avoid knocking his friend's head. He then runs

on a few steps forward, and himself gives a back, so that the third player in following him has two backs to leap over; the fourth three, the fifth four, and so on, till all the players have followed in their turn, each one giving his own back, when there are no more backs for him to go over. Thus, the game may be carried on ad libitum, until the weariness of the players brings it to a conclusion.

Sometimes, instead of offering the back, standing sideways from the jumper, as shown in the engraving, another position is chosen, namely-with the head turned forward, and, consequently, away from the person leaping. This position has some advantages, inasmuch as it allows the back to stand more firmly, if he plants one foot well forward. If however, the jumper should not leap far enough, he necessarily alights on his play-fellow's head or neck, and they generally go down together. But then, in the sideways position, he is liable to get a knock on the head

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LEAP-FROG.

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