Summary

Game name (and type): 'Sheep, Sheep, Come Home' (chasing game)
Alternative type: running game

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Sheep, Sheep, Come Home' composed for Dr Dorothy Howard by Eric Jacobs, a twelve year old student at Cherry Gardens School, on 7 March 1955. Jacobs describes how the game is played, providing a hand drawn, annotated diagram on the reverse. 'Sheep, Sheep, Come Home' is played in the playground by a group of children, two of which are elected the 'farmer' and the 'wolf'. The 'farmer' and the 'wolf' stand in the centre of the playground, while the other players, the 'sheep' stand behind a line at one end of the field. In response to a series of requests from the 'farmer', the 'sheep' must run to the far end of the playground avoiding capture by the wolf.

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 blue ink on lined paper. Features annotated, hand drawn diagram in pencil on reverse. Text printed on both sides of page.

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