Milnrow & Newhey August 2022

From The Archives
Starting street
games and
deciding who
was ‘on’ was
always an
interesting thing
to do. Round my
way in Milnrow
we used to do
‘One potato’ but
first say ‘Spuds
up’ which meant that in a circle the
children would put up their fists.
The ‘counter’ would start by counting
themselves (touching your own mouth
was the way to do that) and then go
round the raised spuds (fists) until
someone was left. The counting would
be ‘One potato, two potato, three potato,
four, five potato, six potato, seven potato
- MORE.’ This hand would be removed,
and the rhyme started again. Whoever
had a fist left at ‘MORE’ was ‘on’ at
whatever game was taking place. In some
towns the counter was known as the
‘dipper’ and this style of deciding who is
‘on’ takes on different forms throughout
the world. For example in Scotland the
rhyme is ‘Olicka, bolicka, Susan solicka,
Olicka bolicka, NOB.’
Of course one of the most popular of
street games was Hide and Seek. Whilst
one person counts (often to 100 in 5’s)
the others run away and hide. After
counting, the seeker often used to shout
‘Coming ready or not!’ and go to look
for everybody. (In Leicestershire they
STREET GAMES
it was my thumb, I give you all a warning,
And here I come!’) Each child caught, had
to stay with the catcher until everybody
was caught. This game could go on for
some time especially if the others were
well hidden. If the game had to be ended
early – children might have been called
home – the seeker would sometimes
call ‘All in! All in!’ and the game was
prematurely completed.
Then there was ‘What time is it Mr Wolf?’
This game involves one child (the wolf)
walking along the street with the other
children following behind. The children
then cry out ‘What time is it Mr Wolf’ and
the wolf says (for example) ‘Five O’clock.’
At that, the group of children get a bit
nearer the back of the wolf. The question
is asked again and the wolf makes up
another time of day. At one point though,
the answer comes from the wolf ‘Dinner
Time!’ and the wolf turns quickly and
tries to catch one of the children who is
then the wolf and everyone goes back
to the start. Similar games are played
throughout Europe and beyond. In Cairo
they shout ‘O Wolf, O Wolf, where are
you going?’ and the wolf eventually
answers ‘To Eat you Up!’ as they chase
the children.
One game which brought the sexes
together of course was Kiss Catch. This
was a variation on the game of tig with
the addition of boys chasing girls or vice
versa and when caught they gave the
other a kiss. In the Opie’s research for
their book on children’s games, one girl
shouted ‘I hold my little finger, I thought said that ‘according to who’s chasing
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