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Children's games - late 19th century

Deleseps_13

New Member
Hello everyone!
I'm doing some research about the kind of games that kids/teens played during the 19th century and, reading Carl Chinn's book on the Peaky Blinders came across with these ones: "pitch back" and "bear and tender". Does anyone know how they were played? Rules, a description of the game... anything would help.
Thank you!
 
I'll ask my Mother-in-law who grew up in B'ham and is now aged 97. She says hop scotch, whip and top, tag, hide & seek, eye spy, made dolls houses out of cardboard and tops off things.
 
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Here's the actual text
peaky.JPG
Unfortunately the ones you mentioned 'pitch back' & 'bear and tender', I have searched for I can find nothing about.
But note the text also says 'in the middle of the roadway'.
One I did find a bit about 'fox and dowdy'

In nineteenth century Warwickshire, a variant called fox and dowdy (or fox-a'-dowdy) was played across a lane or similar area. In this version, the catcher catches players by holding them and reciting the phrase "Fox a' dowdy—catch a candle".
 
I wonder if 'bear and tender', where 'tender' might be his 'handler' or 'keeper' is related to this?:

Badger the Bear
A rough game, sometimes seen in the country. The boy who personates the Bear performs his part on his hands and knees, and is prevented from getting away by a string. It is the part of another boy, his Keeper, to defend him from the attacks of the others.—Halliwell’s Dictionary.

This is a boys’ game, and is called “Buffet the Bear.” It may be taken part in by any number. One boy—the Bear—goes down on all fours, and lowers his head towards his breast as much as possible. Into his hand is placed one end of a piece of cord, and another boy, called the Keeper, takes hold of the other end in one hand, while he has in the other his cap. The other boys stand round, some with their caps in hand, and others with their neckties or pocket-handkerchiefs, and on a given signal they rush on the Bear and pelt him, trying specially to buffet him about the ears and face, whilst the Keeper does his best to protect his charge. If he happens to strike a boy, that boy becomes the Bear, and the former Bear becomes the Keeper, and so on the game goes.—Keith, Banffshire (Rev. W. Gregor).

I saw this game played on Barnes Green, Surrey, on 25th August 1892. The boys, instead of using their hats, had pieces of leather tied to a string, with which they struck the Bear on the back. They could only begin when the Keeper cried, “My Bear is free.” If they struck at any other time, the striker became the Bear. It is called “Baste the Bear.”—A. B. Gomme.

Chambers (Popular Rhymes, p. 128) describes this game under the title of “The Craw.” It was played precisely in the same way as the Barnes game. The boy who holds the end of the long strap has also a hard twisted handkerchief, called the cout; with this cout he defends the Craw against the attacks of the other boys, who also have similar couts. Before beginning, the Guard of the Craw must call out—

Ane, twa, three, my Craw’s free.

[13]The first one he strikes becomes the Craw. When the Guard wants a respite, he calls out—

Ane, twa, three, my Craw’s no free.

(b) Jamieson defines “Badger-reeshil” as a severe blow; borrowed, it is supposed, from the hunting of the badger, or from the old game of “Beating the Badger.”

Then but he ran wi’ hasty breishell, And laid on Hab a badger-reishill.

MS. Poem.


Mr. Emslie says he knows it under the name of “Baste the Bear” in London, and Patterson (Antrim and Down Glossary) mentions a game similarly named. It is played at Marlborough under the name of “Tom Tuff.”—H. S. May.

[Extract from The Traditional Games Of England, Scotland, and Ireland - collected by Alice Bertha Gomme]

P.S. In the Scots version 'Craw' = 'Crow'

Pitch Back might be their name for a boy sitting on the shoulders of another boy acting as his horse and then fighting other boys similarly mounted. Certainly that is the sort of game that could be played in the middle of the road where there is the necessary space. Is it just possible that some child mis-heard 'Piggy-back'? Children do that all the time, after all they are told new things all the time and (sometimes!) accept what they heard without argument,
 
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No one alive today will remember toys on the 19th. century (which is what the OP has in mind).
I have seen, in small specialist shops, Victorian style toys and play items which have been revived in recent years - such as the hobby horse for an instance. Many of the toys went out of fashion it seems, but as they say if you wait long enough everything comes back! ;)
 
There are many Victorian items in museums and even more kept as family heirlooms. They are the memories that we are able to discuss today.
This interesting link shows many indoor and outdoor games of the period. (not everyone has the book mentioned in earlier posts).
The more well off financially, probably purchased them, but other families probably made their own, or had older family members who did so.
 
The book I referred to earlier is 'Four Meals for Fourpence' written by Grace Foakes. She tells of her childhood in the East End before WW1. All games were played in the street as there was no room in the house. In case they are any good I've listed them below. Although we played at the carriage-horses I didn't realise that was what it was until now.

Girls spent a lot of time skipping either with individual ropes or in groups with a long rope and a person at each end ‘keeping the pot boiling’.

They also played ‘carriage horses’ by crossing and linking their arms behind and cantering about.

Hopscotch

Marbles (including something called gobs and bonsters but I don’t know what these are).

Peg tops – the boys had string and the girls had whips – string attached to strips of wood)

Diabolos – with two sticks and string joined in between and the aim was to throw it into the air and catch it again and keep it spinning.

Knock Down Ginger – they ran as fast and they could knocking all doors and hiding when someone came to the door.

Boys climbed the lampposts and looped ropes over the arms on which the lamplighter rested his ladder. They then swung round.

Made bats from wood for tip-cat(?) and rounders. If not ball was available they used a tin can.

Men gambled in the street with pitch & toss and crown and anchor.

Bubbles - Children waited outside the pub to scrounge a clay pipe and then got their mothers to save bits of soap and soaked them in water. Competitions for biggest bubble or distance travelled.

Also went to the abattoir to get a pig’s bladder which they blew up for games of football.

They played hoop bowling with metal and wooden hoops (presumably from barrels). Sticks were used to keep them rolling.
 
Thank you all so much for your help! I was a little bit loss and you all came up with a lot of ideas and games. I'll take note of the games you all mentioned and check out the books and the victorianchildren link. They look truly useful!
I'm still not sure about the "tender and bear" game, but it could pretty much be "badger the bear". I couldn't find anything on it, so it might as well be the same one but with a different name.
Honestly, thank you all for the brainstorming! :)
 
I think whips and tops was a game for both boys and girls. Marbles, mostly boys had many versions! Ring your was a circle on the playground that you knocked marbles out of or got stuck in. The premium was a ball bearing, the larger the better! The larger marbles were called ( I think) gobsters about 7/8” in diameter. A large ball bearing was considered a prize. We use to take the marbles to school in a dirty old bag with a string at the top to close it.
Fun days in the playground!
 
we played a game game called London. my horse back then was a broom between my legs and smacking my thigh pretending it is a horse.
 
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I remember 'marlies' being played more like bowls, trying to end up the nearest to a designated small marble. The surfaces we played on made this more of a game of chance rather than skill.
Piggyback for us was a mixed game, girls being lighter to carry. Played as a group, or one to one. The idea seemed to be to bump and push each other till one side put their feet on the ground. Girls could show an unexpected aggressive streak at times.
I have a very hazy memory of something called 'jacks', played with small metal crosses, imagine the diagonals of a cube, but without the edges, perhaps 20mm across or less. I just cannot remember what the gameplay was, except they were tossed like a dice.
Girls played a game where two would stand facing each other, and form an arch by holding hands high. The other girls would run through the arch, feinting and dashing, and the idea seemed to be to trap one by bringing the arms down. No idea what the penalty was though.

I suspect quite few games were designed as 'training' for potential war, even pre WW1.

The old days were fun, especially looking back from now.

Andrew.
 
I think whips and tops was a game for both boys and girls. Marbles, mostly boys had many versions! Ring your was a circle on the playground that you knocked marbles out of or got stuck in. The premium was a ball bearing, the larger the better! The larger marbles were called ( I think) gobsters about 7/8” in diameter. A large ball bearing was considered a prize. We use to take the marbles to school in a dirty old bag with a string at the top to close it.
Fun days in the playground!
Hi Richard, Absolutely loved marbles. I don't remember taking them to school, we played on the bombed peck in Gopsal Street mainly. We called our larger marbles gobbies, though I also remember the name glarnies? Yes, a large ball bearing was considered the best. Just found out that some kids called these bulleys but don't remember this myself. Thanks for the memories. Happy days. Kind regards, Sue
 
We used to play a game of pennies nearest the wall. Stand back about 10 feet & toss your coin towards the wall, nearest to the wall was the winner. A similar game was played with cigarette cards. We also had a make-shift boxing ring which was no fun for me when i was getting hammered by a girl ( whose arms would be flailing like a demented windmill ) My excuse was it`s not polite to hit a girl !!
 
as i got older i gave up playing marlies i found a better game
truth dare kiss or promise;);)
Doctors and Nurses o_O After all, you need to be sure a career is not really the one for you before you reject it.

My excuse was it`s not polite to hit a girl !!
THUD, whoops, sorry. Can I help you up again ?

Jack stones i remember them things. we used the sprue off the castings that Johnny wrights holburn hill foundry made, they wre like them and they were free but a bit hard on the back of the hands though
Thanks for the reference, that is exactly what I was thinking of.

Andrew.
 
EDIT: The ghosts of Birmingham Past must have been feeling like a bit of fun, because when I was writing this post yesterday it suddenly vanished off my screen mid-type! I assumed it was a glitch and had just disappeared into nowhereland as sometimes happens when you are nearly at the end of a long email, or putting down a detailed forum-message, or that kind of thing ... funny that it is never right at the beginning!

But anyway, I didn't fancy starting it all over again straight afterward and got on with something else instead, and came back just now to do it ... and I found that as far as I had managed to get had been fired off and had landed on this thread after all without any help from me, not just glitched in to infinity ... those ghosts, no doubt!

So I've just taken a few moments to the rest that was intended and round it off tidily ... so, no you don't need to get your eyes checked because you seem to have entirely missed a part yesterday :)



There were a number of different marble games, e.g.

1) In The Ditch, or Holey - getting it in to a hole in the fewest tries, the hole being one you made with a wallop of your heel if it was on soft ground, or whatever handy bit of surface damage there might be if it was hard like tarmac or slabs or whatever;

2) Closest To The Alley - a target marble, the Alley, pitched by the first player, who then got first try at getting next to it. A "toucher" was the winner, or the nearest after 5 tries and then you/they pitched again to set a new Alley and also take first try ... three touchers in a row that way ended the round of 5 games early, otherwise it was the most touchers over the full 5 games that won. If nobody got touchers the winner of the round was the one getting closest to the Alley and winning he most games like that. The prize was a marble off each of the other players.

3) Round The Town - mostly played in pairs and could be a winner-plays-winner series til there's one overall winner left. One of the pair starts by pitching their marble some shortish distance away, and from then on each person takes it in turn to aim for the other's marble. Hit it and win. No time limit, and you can go in any direction or just keep going "round the town" If it is was a knockout game whittling down from a few pairs to a single winner, the winner got the others' marbles.

4) Against The Wall - players took it in turns to decide on The Target: a wall, a gate, a grid if you were brave, and the person getting closest was the winner. Rinse and repeat til the bell goes for the end of playtime, and the winner is the one who got closest the most ... mostest!

... and numerous others.


But not so many "Jacks" games, also called "Fivestones", probably because you could play the games just as well with five stones instead.

The one that was played to death in the playground (not to THE death!) started with the set of 5 Jacks tossed down on to the ground and finish in a random pattern as they bounced and jinked around. The player then picked one up and had to toss it in the air and pick one of the other jacks up with the same hand and then also catch the other one in the same hand again as it fell back down.

Miss or drop either and you were out, but if you managed that okay you put the one back down and then repeated the last step but had to pick up two from the floor this time and still catch the other. If you managed that you went for three, and then four. The easy version was to pick all of them up, but one at a time - much easier if the group had scattered a little more widely when they landed.

Jacks was a game that easily transferred when you moved from junior to senior school at 11, however things got a little more interesting later-on when you dismissively looked down your nose at uncool "kids games".

Onesuch mover-upper game involved two people and a knife! Yup.

Actually, very harmless and required some degree of skill, and I never heard of any accidents fatal or otherwise :)

The two players stood facing each other about 4-5 feet apart, each with their feet together. It was a coin-toss or similar to decide who went first, and the aim was to throw the knife like a .. circus knifethrower, lol, though not at the other person which would have been far more interesting then the double-Maths after the break, but instead hoping to get it to stick in the ground a short distance to one or other side of them and they had to move their that-side foot to where it had stuck-in.

Then they had their turn and you had to move your foot accordingly, and so it carried on. The aim was to get the other person to stretch too far to be able to stand up without overbalancing, though you had to give them a chanced not just stick it ten feet over ... not very sporting behaviour!

There was a get-out, insofar as if one player was pretty much at full stretch they could get to stand up again and start afresh from there if they could throw the knife so that it stuck in the ground in an acceptably central position between their opponents already-open feet ... they couldn't just reach for an easier shot more toward their nearer foot, which if you were at full stretch and very wobbly was an infinitely easier throw than aiming another foot or two away, no pun intended.

It was great fun and could go on for quite a while, and like I said, there was a sporting element to it insofar as it was understood that there had to at least look like there was a chance of stretching to the new position, however at some point the difference between three inches and four would win you the match ...

I was actually familiar with handling knives from an early age and almost always had a sheath knife on my belt (ah yes, the old days when going out to play with friends consisted entirely of things that today would get you killed or taken away from your parents for your own safety, the uncaring, evil monsters!

But my Dad, the best one in The World, taught/took/showed me all sorts of interesting things, one of which was the fun you could have throwing knives properly and aiming for targets ... anything from an old tree stump to a discarded cigarette packet on the ground, to the coalhouse door ... and any of a thousand things he would set up in the garden for us to aim at.

So I found it a little strange that some of my schoolfriends couldn't get the knack of holding the blade and throwing it so that it rotated a time or maybe two to stick cleanly in the ground. Of course, once it started to sink in the game became more fun.

Then there was a day, about two months after "Splits" had already been an established and popular game with small groups of boys having fun playing it on the grassy areas at breaktimes and lunchtimes, when one of the Masters, robe a-billowing behind him, came hurrying purposefully and somewhat angrily out through the playground saying loudly to stop this dangerous game, asking whose idea it had been, didn't anyone have any sense, did we want somebody getting seriously hurt or worse ... you get the idea.

Given that it had been going-on very openly daily for a couple of months or more, I expect that a Parent had heard of it from their beloved child and saw a string of amputees in the future or something, so complained.

Interestingly, that same Teacher didn't have anything at all to say one snowy winter's day when a large snowman that was being built by a group of boys was actually becoming a female nude and in very fine detail ... he walked up to it, stood there looking at it for far longer than might have been expected for some reason, gave a smirk and carried on with his playground monitoring which somehow seemed always to bring him back to the sculpture after another 10 minutes or so, smirk included.

But that's quite a different kind of playground game ...
 
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