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 Elizabeth Evans, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 25 March 1955. To begin, Evans notes that two captains select teams. A member of the English team approaches the French team, tapping all on the palm but one, who they touch on the back of the hand. The selected French player must chase the English player back to their team. If the English player is caught, they must join the opposition's team as a 'half cast'. Note that 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. Features borders ruled in red pencil; text written on one side only.

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