Summary

Game name (and type): 'Kingy' (chasing game)
Alternative type: ball games, running games, counting-out actions

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Kingy' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Raymond Firth, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 24 March 1955. Firth describes 'Kingy' as a game usually played by boys in a large, open area outside. To elect 'heman' or the chaser, players stand in a circle throwing a ball. The first child to drop the ball is pronounced 'heman'. 'Heman' chases the other players, trying to tag them with the ball. If hit, players assist the 'heman' to capture other children. Firth notes that once two players are captured, 'heman' and his assistants are no longer permitted to run with the ball and must throw it.

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 printed on one side only.

More Information