The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland Volume I Part 51

Keep in, keep in, wherever you be, The greedy gled's seeking ye.

This rhyme is also given by Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 122).

Halliwell gives the rhyme as-

Hitty t.i.tty indoors, Hitty t.i.tty out, You touch Hitty t.i.tty, And Hitty t.i.tty will bite you.

-_Nursery Rhymes_, p. 213.

At Ashford-in-the-Water the words used were-

One a bin, two a bin, three a bin, four, Five a bin, six a bin, seven, gie o'er; A bunch of pins, come p.r.i.c.k my shins, A loaf brown bread, come knock me down.

I'm coming!

-_Reliquary_, viii. 57.

The words are said by the one who has to find the person hidden.

In Scotland the game is called "Hospy," and is played by boys only, and it can be played only in a village or hamlet in which there is the means of hiding. A Spy is chosen, and a spot, called Parley, is fixed upon at which the Spy stands till all the other players are hid, and to which he can run when pursued. When the players are hid, the cry, "Hospy,"

_i.e._, "Ho! spy!" is raised by them. The Spy then sets out to find them. The moment he detects one he turns and runs with all his might to the Parley, pursued by the one he has discovered. If he is overtaken, he must carry on his back the pursuer to the Parley. The same thing is gone through till all the players are discovered.-Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).

Jamieson says, "'Hy Spy,' a game resembling 'Hide and Seek,' but played in a different manner. The station, which in England is called Home, is here the Den, and those who keep it are the Seekers, and are called the Ins. Those who hide themselves, instead of crying 'Hoop,' as in England, cry 'Hy spy;' and they are denominated the Outs. The business of the Ins is, after the signal is given, to lay hold of the Outs before they can reach the den. The captive then becomes one of the Ins; for the honour of the game consists in the privilege of hiding oneself." Jamieson adds, "Hy is still used in calling after a person, to excite attention, or when it is wished to warn him to get out of the way." Strutt describes it as "Harry-Racket," or "Hide and Seek" (_Sports_, p. 381).

At Cork two sides are chosen for Spy; one side hides while the other side hunts. When the hunters see one of the hidden players, they call out, "I spy --," and the child's name. The player called must run after the Spy and try to catch him before he reaches his Den; if he succeeds, the one caught must go to the opposite side of players, then next time the spies hide, and those who have been hiding, spy (Miss Keane). A more general form of the game is for one child to hide, and to make a noise in a disguised voice to give notice of his whereabouts, or to call out "Whoop!" or "Coo!" Until this noise or call is made, the searchers may not seek him. If when spied or discovered the hider cannot reach home before being caught, he again has to hide (A. B. Gomme).

(_b_) In the parish church of Bawdrip is a monument to Edward Lovell, his wife Eleanor (_nee_ Bradford), and their two daughters Maria and Eleanor. The inscription touching the latter is:-"Eleanora ... obiit Jun. 14, 1681. Hanc, subito et immaturo (ipsos pene inter hymenaeos) fato correptam, mstissimus luxit maritus, et in gratam piamq. parentum sororis et dilectissimae conjugis memoriam, monumentum hoc erigi voluit."

Tradition connects this sudden death-"ipsos pene inter hymenaeos"-with the story of the bride playing at "Hide and Seek." It is curious that, in Haynes Bayly's song, the bridegroom's name should be Lovell. There is no mention on the monument of the name of the bereaved husband. The father, Edward Lovell, was fourteen years rector of Bawdrip and fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and died in 1675, and so could not have been present at the wedding, as represented in the song. He came from Batcombe, near Castle-Cary; at which latter place the Lovells were seated in very early days.-_Notes and Queries_, 4th Ser., ix. 477.

Cope (_Hampshire Glossary_) calls the game "I spy I." Lowsley (_Berkshire Glossary_) says, "In playing this game, the seeker has to call out 'I spy!' to the one he finds before he may start for home." It is called "Hy Spy" in Patterson's _Antrim and Down Glossary_; Evans'

_Leicestershire Glossary_, "Hide and Wink;" Barnes' _Dorset Glossary_, "Hidy Buck."

In Pegge's _Alphabet of Kenticisms_ the game is given as "Hide and Fox."

_Cf._ "Hide Fox, and all after," _i.e._, let the fox hide and the others go to seek him; Hamlet, iv. 2, 32. In Stead's _Holderness Glossary_, "Hed-o." In the North Riding it is "Lam-pie-sote-it," also called "Felto" in Robinson's _Whitby Glossary_. He also mentions that the hidden child cries "How-ly" to the finder. Apparently the same as the south country "Whoop," a signal to the finder to begin the search. Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) says this game is called "Felt and Laite."

Holland (_Cheshire Glossary_) speaks of it as "I Spy."

See "Davie Drap."

Hide and Seek (2)

[Music]

-London.

I. Beans and b.u.t.ter, Come home to supper, 'Tis all ready done.

-Hampshire (Miss Mendham).

II. Little pigs come to supper, Hot boiled beans and ready b.u.t.ter.

-Northall's _Folk Rhymes_, p. 409.

III. Hot beans and b.u.t.ter!

Please to come to supper!

-Much Wenlock (_Shropshire Folklore_, p. 525).

IV. Hot boiled beans, and very good b.u.t.ter, Ladies and gentlemen, come to supper.

-London (A. B. Gomme).

V. Vesey vasey vum, Buck aboo has come!

Find it if you can and take it home, Vesey vasey vum.

-Newlyn West, near Penzance (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 49).

One child hides an article, while those who are to search for it go in another room (or out of the way somewhere). When it is hidden, they are called to find it by one of the above rhymes being sung or said. The searchers are enabled more readily to find the hidden article by being told "hot," "very hot," "scorching," "burning," or "cold," "very cold,"

and "freezing," when near to or far from the hidden article. Sometimes several may agree to hide the article, and only one to be the finder. In the Penzance game one child is blindfolded, other children hide something, then shout the words. Search is then made for the hidden object: when found, the finder in his turn is blindfolded. There appears to be some mistake in the description of this game.

Hinch-Pinch

The name of an old Christmas game mentioned in _Declaration of Popish Impostures_, 1603.

Hinmost o' Three

A game played on village greens.-d.i.c.kinson's _c.u.mberland Glossary, Supplement_.

Hirtschin Hairy

The players (boy or girl) cower down on their haunches, "sit doon curriehunkers," and hop round and round the floor like a frog, clapping the hands first in front and then behind, and crying out, "Hirtschin Hairy." It is sometimes called "Hairy Hirtschin." In Lothian the players try to knock each other over by hustling against one another.-Rev. W.

Gregor.

Same game as "Harie Hutcheon."

See "Curcuddie," "Cutch-a-cutchoo," "Hop-frog."

Hiry-hag

A boys' game, in which several, joining hands, endeavour to catch another, who, when caught, is beaten with caps, the captors crying out-

Hiry-hiry-hag, Put him in a bag, &c.

-Ross and Stead's _Holderness Glossary_.