Summary

Game name (and type): 'French and English' (chasing game)
Alternative type: running games, team games

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'French and English' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Priscilla Allen, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 25 March 1955. To play, Allen writes that two teams of about twelve players are established, each with a captain. Standing opposite each other in rows, the French team hold their hands out with palms down and the English team turn their palms upwards. One captain approaches the other team, tapping one of the opponents on their palm. The selected child must chase the captain back to their team. If they fail to catch them before they reach their team, the child must join the opposition's side. The game continues until all players are located on one team.

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 borders ruled in red pencil; text written on one side only.

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