The Traditional Children's Games of England Scotland
& Ireland In Dictionary Form - Volume 1

With Tunes(sheet music), Singing-rhymes(lyrics), Methods Of Playing with diagrams and illustrations.

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	6o                        CASTLES—CAT AND DOG to their antagonists, while the latter strain every nerve to prevent this.—Jamieson. Castles A game at marbles. Each boy makes a small pyramid of three as a base, and one on the top. The players aim at these from a distant stroke with balsers, winning such of the castles as they may in turn knock down (Lowsley's Glossary of Berkshire Words). In London, the marble alluded to as "balser" was called "bonsor" or "bouncer" (J. P. Emslie). See " Cockly Jock," " Cogs." Cat and Dog An ancient game played in Angus and Lothian. Three play, and they are provided with clubs. These clubs are called " dogs." The players cut out two holes, each about a foot in diameter, and seven inches in depth. The distance between them is about twenty-six feet. One stands at each hole with a club. A piece of wood about four inches long and one inch in diameter, called a Cat, is thrown from the one hole towards the other by a third person. The object is to prevent the Cat from getting into the hole. Every time that it enters the hole, he who has the club at that hole loses the club, and he who threw the Cat gets possession both of the club and of the hole, while the former possessor is obliged to take charge of the Cat. If the Cat be struck, he who strikes it changes places with the person who holds the other club ; and as often as these posi­tions are changed one is counted in the game by the two who hold the clubs, and who are viewed as partners.—Jamieson. (b) This is not unlike the " Stool-Ball" described by Strutt (Sports and Pastimes, p. 76), but it more nearly resembles " Club-Ball," an ancient English game (ibid., p. 83). The game of " Cat," played with sticks and a small piece of wood, rising in the middle, so as to rebound when struck on either side, is alluded to in Poor Rodin's Almanack for 1709, and by Brand. Leigh (Cheshire Glossary) gives "Scute" as another name for the game of "Cat," probably from scute (O.W.), for boat, which it resembles in shape. See " Cudgel," " Kit-cat," " Tip-cat."