Summary

Game name (and type): 'Cat in the Corner' (chasing game)
Alternative types: running games, counting-out rhymes, language play

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Cat in the Corner' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Donald Lansdown, a student at Double View Government Primary School, presumably on 25 March 1955. Lansdown describes 'Cat in the Corner' as a game played usually by five players at school or at home. He writes that the counting-out rhyme 'Spuds' is recited to select the chaser 'he'. The game's rules are somewhat unclear; however, it appears that 'he' hides while the other players run towards a corner to avoid the 'cat', who is presumably 'he'. Lansdown writes that 'he' tries to trap a player in the corner in an attempt to reach the space himself. He notes that the trapped player is elected 'he' for subsequent games.

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 pencil on lined paper. Features borders ruled in red pencil; text printed on one side only.

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