| | Childhood days in St Monans in the 20s and 30s | There is 1 message in this section. |
John Cunningham from Fairlie, Ayrshire. Posted 9 Jan 2006.
In the 20s and 30s there was neither television nor computers, and radio (the wireless) was in its infancy. As a result children had little incentive to remain indoors and, weather permitting, most of the activities were of the outdoor variety, summer and winter. Indoor pastimes were limited, depending on the family resources and, in a small fishing village at that time; many were on the bread line. Maybe I was a bit luckier than most as I had a Meccano set, a Hornby train set and other toys, to help me while away the long dark winter evenings. Card games, Snap, Sevens, and Old Maids etc. were played, as was the occasional game of dominoes.
Here are some of the outdoor games we used to play and things we used to do.
BOOLS
There were three versions of the game of Bools (Marbles) and two different kinds of Bools -- Ordinary and Glessies (made of glass). The glessies were a prized possession. Normally it was with the ordinary kind that the game of Bools was played.
1. -- Throwy
Two boys who had a collection of bools played this game. After the order of precedence was established, normally by tic-tac (See below). The first player threw a bool approx. one meter away; the next competitor threw his bool trying to hit or to get within a span's distance from the first bool. A span is the distance between the tip of the thumb and pinkie of an outstretched hand.
Obviously the owner of a big hand had an advantage. If the second thrower was successful he collected his opponent's bool, and so the game continued until the loser had no bools left, or by mutual agreement. If the second thrower was not successful the first thrower had another go and so on, alternately, until the bools were cleared.
2. - Dykie
The same rules applied, but the method of delivery was different. A suitable wall had to be found with a reasonably level bit of ground below it. Pavement wasn't very good as the bools were inclined to roll too far on the comparatively smooth surface. Delivery was effected by holding the bool between forefinger and thumb, striking it against the wall so that it would bounce back on to the ground. The challenged then had to bounce his bool off the wall in such a way so that it would be within spanning distance of the original.
3. -- Hitty.
Hitty. The first boy plays it throwing his bool a short distance in front of him and the next boy tries to hit the bool by flicking his bool towards it. The fist is clenched and the thumb is placed slightly below the forefinger, and the bool is placed on the thumbnail, it is then flicked towards the bool on the ground. Each boy takes it in turn, trying to hit the bool. If there is a hit the hitter wins the bool and then it is his turn to throw first. If no one has a hit, the bool is saved and the next in turn has to throw a bool.
TIC-TAC
Two boys stood facing each other, then, in turn, each would place the heel of one foot against the toe of the other until they nearly met each other. The person who could not get his foot down in the final intervening space was the loser. The reason for this was to choose a boy who would get first choice in selecting his team for whatever game we were going to play. |
