This the children proceed to do, some by pretending to sew, some to wash, some to dig, some to knit, without any instruments to do it with. If the opposite side guess what they are doing, they change sides. This game, Miss Summers believes, is very old, and has been played by several generations in the village of Hazelbury Bryan.--Dorsetshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 230). See Trades. Dump A boys amusement in Yorkshire, in vogue about half a century ago, but now believed to be nearly obsolete. It is played in this manner. The lads crowd round and place their fists endways, the one on the other, till they form a high pile of hands. Then a boy, who has one hand free, knocks the piled fists off one by one, saying to every boy as he strikes his fist away, What s there, Dump? He continues this process till he comes to the last fist, when he exclaims:-- What s there? Cheese and bread, and a mouldy halfpenny! Where s my share? I put it on the shelf, and the cat got it.
If this is anything more than an accidental parallel, we come back to an historical episode wherein the breaking down and rebuilding of London Bridge occur, and it looks as if the two streams down which this tradition has travelled, namely, first, through the game, and second, through the song, both refer to the same event. Dr. Rimbault has, in his _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 34, reconstructed a copy of the original rhyme from the versions given by Halliwell and the _Mirror_, and gives the tune to which it was sung, which is reprinted here. The tune from Kent is the one generally used in London versions. The tune of a country dance called London Bridge is given in Playford s _Dancing Master_, 1728 edition. [4] Another informant gives the refrain, Grand says the little Dee. [5] I have identified this with a version played at Westminster and another taught to my children by a Hanwell girl.--A. B.
_=Dealing.=_ The cards are distributed as in the ordinary game; but it is usual to agree beforehand upon a suit which shall be the trump if the Joker is turned up. _=Playing Alone.=_ The chief peculiarity in Railroad Euchre is in playing alone. Any player announcing to play alone, whether the dealer or not, has the privilege of passing a card, face down, to his partner. In exchange for this, but without seeing it, the partner gives the best card in his hand to the lone player, passing it to him face down. If he has not a trump to give him, he can pass him an ace, or even a King. Even if this card is no better than the one discarded, the lone player cannot refuse it. If the dealer plays alone, he has two discards; the first in exchange for his partner’s best card, and then another, in exchange for the trump card, after seeing what his partner can give him. In this second discard he may get rid of the card passed to him by his partner.
_=PLAYERS.=_ Binocle is played by two persons, one of whom is known as the _=dealer=_, and the other as the _=pone=_. They cut for the choice of seats and deal, and the player cutting the higher card may deal or not, as he pleases. It is usual for the player having the choice to make his adversary deal. A player exposing more than one card must cut again. _=DEALING.=_ After the cards are thoroughly shuffled, they are presented to the pone to be cut. At least five cards must be left in each packet. The dealer then distributes the cards four at a time for three rounds, giving to his adversary first, and then to himself. The twenty-fifth card is turned up for the trump.
The Lancashire game, as described by Miss Dendy, is: One child stands opposite a row of children, and the row run over to the opposite side, when the one child tries to catch them. The prisoners made, join the one child, and assist her in the process of catching the others. The rhyme is repeated in each case until all are caught, the last one out becoming Blackthorn for a new game. Harland and Wilkinson describe the game somewhat differently. Each player has a mark, and after the dialogue the players run over to each other s marks, and if any can be caught before getting home to the opposite mark, he has to carry his captor to the mark, when he takes his place as an additional catcher. (_c_) Miss Burne s version (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 521) is practically the same as the Earls Heaton game, and Easther in his _Almondbury Glossary_ gives a version practically like the Sheffield. Mr. Hardy says it is sometimes called Black-butt, when the opposite side cry Away we cut. Miss Dendy quotes an old Lancashire rhyme, which curiously refers to the different subjects in the Lancashire game rhyme.