Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 16, 1905.djvu/231

 Collectanea. 193

Curly Dog,

The player scatters the chucks, then throws one up and repeats, touching a chuck each time she says a word, " My wee curly dog sold pipeclay." At the word pipe the four chucks are lifted, then catching the one falling and saying the word clay, the player lays them all down. This demands such rapidity of motion and pronunciation that one would be justified in doubting its possibility, but our correspondent. Miss Kerr, has seen it successfully carried out.

Having received a very full description of the game as played in the district of Applecross, we give it as received. There it is the fashion to make the chucks from native clay, hardened by leaving them exposed to the sun (see Folk-Lore^ xiv. 300). There are twenty-four movements.

1. Cotg, Deich, Coig-deug, Fichead. {Five, Ten, Fifteen, Twenty.) Taking the five chucks in her hand she throws them in the

air, and turning the hand, palm downwards, catches two of them on the back of it. This scores five. Throwing up those two from the palm of her hand, she picks up one on the ground, catches the two as they fall on the back of her hand. This scores other five, and the player is now deich (ten). She then casts up the three, picks up another, and receives the four on the back of her hand. The player is now coig-deug (fifteen). The same movements are carried out with the four and the remaining one, and the player is now fichead (twenty).

2. Crogais mhor. {Big Fistful.)

Four chucks are placed in a lump on the ground, the fifth is thrown up, the four lifted, and the other caught as it falls.

3. Crogais bheag. {Little Fistful.)

Carried out as No. 2, but only three are placed for lifting.

4. Crog Mhicheil. {Michael's Fist.)

Three chucks are placed on the ground, side by side, and one on the top. One is thrown up, and the upper one of the four is lifted without disturbing the other three and the falling chuck caught. Putting down the one lifted, the other is thrown up, the three together are lifted, the descending chuck being caught.

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