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 Diana Craig, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 25 March 1955. Craig describes 'French and English' as a common game which can be played in a large room or outside. To play, she writes that two teams are established, each with a captain. The teams stand opposite each other in rows. A player from one group approaches the opposition, tapping all on the back of the hand but one, who they tap (presumably) on the palm. The selected child must chase the player back to their team. If the chaser fails to catch the player before they return to their team, they are classified as a 'half cast' until recaptured by their own team. The language used in this game description is reflective of the period in which it was written.

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. Comprises two pages featuring borders ruled in red pencil; text written on one side only.

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