Summary

Game name (and type): 'Scarecrow Chase' (chasing game)
Alternative type: running games

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Scarcrow (Scarecrow) Chase' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Ronald Hunt, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 25 March 1955. Hunt describes 'Scarecrow Chase' as a game usually played by at least three players aged between nine and twelve. He writes that a captain, whose role is to settle disputes, and a chaser known as 'he man', are selected from the players. The 'he man' chases the other players, who must stand like a scarecrow if caught. Remaining players can free the scarecrows by re-tagging them. Hunt notes that if a player is turned into a scarecrow three times in a row, they become 'he'.

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 black ink on lined paper. Features borders ruled in red pencil; text written on one side only.

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