Summary

Game name (and type): 'Bulldogs and Ants' (chasing game)
Alternative type: running game

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Bulldogs and Ants' composed for Dr Dorothy Howard by P.C. McGowran, presumably a staff member at Cherry Gardens School, on 2nd March 1955. McGowran discusses how and where the game is played and its players, providing a detailed, annotated diagram of the layout. McGowran writes that 'Bulldogs and Ants' has been popular with children over eight years old for many years and is played in the school yard all year. One child is identified as a 'bulldog' and must stay holding onto a post. As the other children or the 'ants' run by, the 'bulldog' tries to touch the passing players. If successful, the captured ant links arms with the original bulldog to create a chain to assist with the capture of other passing ants.

One of a collection of letters describing a children's games written to children's Folklorist Dorothy Howard between 1954 and 1955. Dr Howard came to Australia in 1954-55 as an American Fulbright scholar to study Australian children's folklore. She travelled across Australia for 10 months collecting children's playground rhymes, games, play artefacts, etc. This letter, together with the other original fieldwork collected by Dr Howard during this period, is preserved in the Dorothy Howard Collection manuscript files, part of the Australian Children's Folklore Collection (ACFC), Archive Series 3. The ACFC is an extensive collection documenting children's folklore and related research.

Physical Description

Handwritten game description in black ink on paper. Features printed text along upper portion; hand drawn, annotated diagram in blue ink and pencil at centre of page. Text printed on both sides of page.

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