Summary

Game name (and type): 'British Bulldog' (chasing game)
Alternative types: running game

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'British Bulldog' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by William Dower, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 25 March 1955. Dower describes 'British Bulldog' as a rough game popular with boys and played in a large, open space. He writes that any number of children can play. To play, the field's boundaries are established and each player is allocated a number. One child stands at the centre of the field and calls out a number. The corresponding child must run to the opposite end of the ground, avoiding capture by the player in the centre. Dower notes that captured player assist in catching other players.

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 and black ink on lined paper. Text printed on one side only.

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