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 Carolyn Stone, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 25 March 1955. Stone describes 'French and English' as game which can be played by any number of children, preferably in large area. To begin two captains select teams, who stand facing each other at a distance of forty feet apart with their hands extended. Stone notes that the French team turn their palms down, whereas the English team face their palms upwards. In Stone's example, the French captain approaches the English team, tapping all players on the palm but one, who they touch on the back on the hand. The selected child must chase the French captain back to their team. If the English child fails to catch the French player before they reach their destination, they must join the opposition's side. Stone notes that 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 both sides of page.

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