The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 1 of 2): With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes and Methods of Playing etc.Gomme, Alice Bertha
History
The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 1 of 2): With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes and Methods of Playing etc.
Gomme, Alice Bertha
Folklore -- Great Britain; Games -- Great Britain
My lady’s lost her diamond ring;
I pitch upon you to find it!
Children sit in a ring or in a line, with their hands placed together
palm to palm, and held straight, the little finger down-most between the
knees. One of them is then chosen to represent a servant, who takes a
ring, or some other small article as a substitute, between her two
palms, which are pressed flat together like those of the rest, and goes
round the circle or line placing her hands into the hands of every
player, so that she is enabled to let the ring fall wherever she pleases
without detection. After this she returns to the first child she
touched, and with her hands behind her says the above words. The child
who is thus addressed must guess who has the ring, and the servant
performs the same ceremony with each of the party. They who guess right
escape, but the rest forfeit. Should any one in the ring exclaim “I have
it!” she also forfeits; nor must the servant make known who has the ring
until all have guessed under the same penalty. The forfeits are
afterwards cried as usual.—Halliwell’s _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 223.
(_b_) This game was a general favourite at juvenile parties years ago.
The hands were held in the posture described by Halliwell, but any child
was pitched upon for the first finder, and afterwards the child in whose
hands the ring was found had to be finder. There was no guessing; the
closed hands were looked into (A. B. Gomme). Mr. Addy has collected a
similar game called “My lady’s lost a gold ring,” and Mr. Newell (_Games
and Songs of American Children_, p. 150) has another, “Hold fast my gold
ring.”
Dibbs
A game played with the small knuckle-bones taken from legs of mutton;
these bones are themselves called “dibs” (Lowsley’s _Glossary of
Berkshire Words_). Holloway’s _Dictionary_ says five of these bones are
used by boys, with which they play a game called “Dibs” in West Sussex.
See “Check-stones,” “Fivestones,” “Hucklebones.”
Dinah
[Music]
No one in the house but Dinah, Dinah,
No one in the house I know, I know;
No one in the house but Dinah, Dinah,
Playing on the old banjo.
A ring is formed, and a girl stands blindfolded inside. As the verse is
sung and finished, Dinah goes to any one in the ring, and, if successful
in guessing her name, takes her place, the other taking the place of
Dinah, the game going on as before.—Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).
“Dinah” was a Christy Minstrel song in the “fifties.” It is probable
that the game, which resembles “Buff,” has been played to the tune of
the song. Singing a chorus would soon follow.
See “Buff,” “Muffin Man.”
Dip o’ the Kit
A rustic game, undescribed and marked as obsolescent.—Peacock’s _Manley
and Corringham Glossary_.
Dish-a-loof
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account