Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 17, 1906.djvu/115

Rh can take part, two being selected to lead, one being as it were "King" and the other is "Hut." The King takes Hut aside and gives him the hour, say "four o'clock," or "ten minutes past four o'clock." Hut then asks one of the other players, "What o'clock is it?" who answers by another question, "Is it hours or minutes?" If the time had been "four o'clock," Hut would say "hours," but if it is "ten minutes past four" he answers "ten minutes past," and the boy originally addressed has now to make his guess. If he says "ten minutes past six," which of course would be wrong, Hut simply answers "No," and puts the question "What o'clock is it?" to another, and so on till some one guesses the hour originally agreed upon. Hut at once flies to the den, which has been marked at a suitable distance, with the other after him to tig him; if he reaches it without being touched, his pursuer becomes Hut, but, if he is touched before reaching the den, he must be Hut for another game.

Mother, Mother, the Bannock's Burning.

A girls' game played in Arran. Any number take part, and the most womanly is generally chosen to be "Mother." A house is made by enclosing a space with lines of small stones, and the Mother orders another of the girls to remain in charge of it, while she herself and the others retire to some little distance. When they are sufficiently far away the housekeeper shouts: "Mother, Mother, the bannock's burning." The Mother answers, "Take the spoon and turn it." "The spoon is broken." "Take the knife." "The knife is broken." "Take the fork." "The fork is broken; everything in the house is broken." On hearing this, the Mother and all the rest rush for the house, and the one last to reach it becomes housekeeper for another game.

(P. 218, after line 34.)

"Release" is played somewhat differently in the neighbourhood of Lochgilphead. Bounds are fixed within which the play is carried on. On the boundary lines of the "ins," a small