Summary

Game type: 'The Miller's Ground', 'Of [Off] the Ground Tiggy' (chasing games)
Alternative types: running games, rhymes, language play

Handwritten descriptions of the chasing games 'The Miller's Ground' and 'Off the Ground Tiggy' compiled by Maelene Cutler, a student at Errol Street Primary School, for Dr Dorothy Howard on 25 August 1954. Cutler describes 'The Miller's Ground' as a girls game, which is played on the street. To play, Cutler explains that one child assumes the role of the 'miller' and stands between two lines drawn about 20 feet apart. The remaining players recite a rhyme before running between the two lines whilst trying to avoid capture by the 'miller'. Cutler lists other players of 'The Miller's Ground' including Jeany Acken, Barbara White, Joyce Quinn, Janice Quinn and Jean Bedd. To play 'Off the Ground Tiggy' (incorrectly spelt 'Of'), Cutler writes that one child assumes the role of 'he', the chaser. She states a large number of boxes are required on which the other players must walk in order to avoid capture by 'he'.

One of a collection of letters describing a children's game 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 descriptions in blue ink on lined paper. Features text written on both sides of page.

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