Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 5 1887.djvu/69

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This game is, I believe, known in other counties as "Cob-nut," but in Cornwall the boys give the names of "Victor nut" to the fruit of the common hazel, and play it to the words:

The nut that cracks another is called a "cock battler."

Children under the title of "Cock battler" often in country walks play a variation of it with the "Hoary plantain," which they hold by the tough stem about two inches from the head; each in turn tries to knock off the head of his opponent's flower.

A rural game, played in the spring. An egg taken from a bird's nest is placed on the ground, at some distance off—the number of paces having been previously fixed. Blindfolded, one after the other, the players attempt with a stick to hit and break it.

"" (pronounced oopa, oopa holly).

When the writer was a boy, the following were the words used in the boys' game of foxhunting. When the hounds (the boys) were "at fault" the leader cried:

Boys here, as probably elsewhere, are very fond of hitting each other and then running away, shouting—

The old Cornish game of "Hurling" I have already described under the head of "Western Customs."

(To be continued.)