Page:Cornish feasts and folk-lore.djvu/189

 Cornish Gaines. I77 For the second, the players knelt in a line ; the one at the head, in a very solemn tone, chanted, " Solomon had a great dog;" the others answered in the same way, "Just so" (this was always the refrain). Then the first speaker made two or three more ridiculous speeches, ending with, "And at last this great dog died, and fell down," giving at the same time a violent lurch against his next neighbour, who, not expecting it, fell against his, and so on to the end of the line. "Scat" (Cornish for "slap"). A paper-knife, or thin slip of wood, was placed by one player on his open palm. Another took it up quickly, and tried to "scat" his opponent's hand before he could draw it away. Some- times a feint of taking the paper-knife was made three or four times before it was really done. When the "scat" was given, the "scatter" in his turn rested the knife on his palm. Hole in the Wall. A person, who did not know the trick, was blindfolded, another stood in the corner of the room with his mouth open. The fore- finger of the blindfolded player was carefully guided around the walls of the room to find the hole, until at last it was put into the open mouth, when it was sharply bitten. Malaga, Malaga Raisins (a forfeit game). The players sat in a circle. One acquainted with the trick took a poker in his right hand, made some eccentric movements with it, passed it to his left, and gave it to his next neighbour on that side, saying, " Malaga, Malaga raisins, very good raisins I vow," and told him to do the same. Should he fail to pass it from right to left, when he in his turn gave it to his neighbour, without being told where the mistake lay he was made to pay a forfeit. Y