Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

I only took notes of one more speech and two songs; for, indeed, the glass went round so freely, that wine and loyalty got the upper-hand of my judgment, and I lost all recollection of what was afterwards done, said, or sung, as completely, as if I had been at a whig dinner, with Kelly in the chair, at the Black Bull.-Yours, &c. JOHN M'INDOE.

THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF COLUMBUS SECUNDUS.

CHAPTER VII.*

Early Recollections.

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu'd the gowans fine;

But we've wander'd mony a weary fit
Sin auld langsyne.

We twa hae paidelt in the burn

Frae morning sun till dine;

But seas between us braid hae row'd
Sin auld langsyne.

In travelling along the streets of Edinburgh, I have often stopped to witness the children of the present day enjoying themselves at the games which formed the delighted pastime of my boyhood; and I have sometimes regretted that a classical book of juvenal sports did not exist, to assist the recollections of the past. Indeed I had, I must confess, for a long time ceased to notice the continuance of such games, till, in my own family, a set of youngsters arose, who from the school brought the knowledge and the practice of the almost forgotten amusements; but, from that period, I have again refreshed my memory, by taking a share in these innocent relaxations; and, though it may not add much weight to my character as a philosophical travelier, I find I can take a game with the bairns at kittlie-cout, or

[ocr errors]

BURNS.

blind Harry, as well as ever, and can jink as nimbly at tig touch timmer, doze a tap, or roll up a pirie, as if I had just escaped from reading my accustomed dose of Barrie's Collection, under the superintendance of that worthy teacher.

In the multifarious projects of manhood, what a change must not the most careless observer have perceived from the time when one set of objects, and one set of amusements, formed the business and the pleasure of all; and no one can look back to the period of boyish amusement, and early study, without thinking of the varied situations which his school-fellows now fill in the great theatre of life. He who was the hero of the little ring at school, has perhaps sunk into the humble dependent of his former follower; and he who enacted the chief

• We have received a communication from Mr Lithgow, junior, referring to Chapter I. of the Travels of Columbus, in which, in a friendly way, he congratulates our worthy publisher for having risen above the Storm,-Mr Storm's shop being the ground floor of No. 17, Prince's Street. That we have occasionally, in our castigations of infidelity, glanced aside from infidel opinions to their embodied supporters, and exposed the arts of ultra-whiggery and radicalism in the persons of their champions, and have thus given offence, we do not deny. But the fifty-thousand readers who monthly devour our pages, and the fifty thousand more who read them at second hand, are the surest test of the value of our labours, and the strongest evidence that THE MAGAZINE, in spite of misrepresentation, is now accounted the chief bulwark of those "who fear God, and honour the King.”—EDIT.

VOL. X.

E

personage in mimic plays,-whose ingenuity added to the interest, and whose spirits increased the mirth, of the little drama,-has, it may be, in the scenic illusions of after life, sunk to the office of candle-snuffer or sceneshifter to his more fortunate compa

nions.

It is certainly not very comfortable for many to reflect, that while their former companions at the bowl or the ball have risen to distinction and opulence, they may be toiling, with hopeless activity, for "the day that is passing over them ;" and it is not very palatable to human pride, to see the associate of school tasks pass his early playmate unheeded on the street, because he has had no friends to assist his progress, or wealth to secure a continuance of school friendship. But, while no degradation can be implied, or should be felt, when all do not begin life with the same advantages, so no superiority of intellectual powers can be adjudged to those who merely occupy an exalted station on account of hereditary wealth or title; and while one holds fast his integrity and moral worth, I see no distinction in creatures of the same species, which should entitle either to overlook the other, or any occasion for envy even on the part of the most humble, who fills to the best of his ability the part which Providence has assigned him. In the race of life, there are many starting places, and many goals; and he is no more to be despised for want of activity or diligence, who sets out with the disadvantages of poverty and want of friends, ten miles from the winningpost of human distinctions, than the person is to be praised, who, with every temporal advantage, has only a few yards to run. At least this is my system; and, if it has no other effect, it has that most convenient one, of making me contented with my humble station. I can look down with pity upon the man, who, merely on account of the possession of a few more pounds, or a few more acres of land, thinks himself entitled to treat with disdain a fellow being, whose situation in life may be of as much real consequence in the economy of Providence, and whose ultimate hopes of "untried being" may be as well grounded as his; and I am sometimes tempted to consider the unprofitably rich, and the luxuriously idle, as beings beneficent

ly placed in these situations, for want of powers and energies to do something better. When I am forced, by the customs of society, occasionally to roast my servants by extraneous cookery,-make the children run about the house like frightened kittens, in the hurry of festive preparation,-pat the whole economy of my family for days out of order, and myself to sit up till long past the midnight hour, to entertain a few friends, I often think how preferable my situation is to those who are almost always in company,-whose entertainments are as everlasting as any thing human can be, and who have neither strength of mind to look at, nor time to think of, the present, the future, or the past. In the scale of happiness, it would be hard to say which class of beings has the greatest share; and the few snatches of pleasure in the power of the humblest, are perhaps enjoyed with a relish unknown to the sated appetite of daily luxury.—“ Give me neither poverty nor riches."- -But I am moralizing, when I should be describing.

To those who have been formerly young, (and I do not insist upon those who never were so to read this chapter,) and especially those who, for the encouragement of teachers, have taken the trouble to procure them pupils, and have thus become fathers, I make no apology for dedicating a few sentences to early recollections; and however odd it might appear, were a dozen of the High School callants, of twentyfive years back, (now perhaps reverend clergymen, respectable merchants, officers in the army, judges, or advocates,) to be seen at the cleckenbrod, or dosing their piries, yet I believe, that even the remembrance that "such things were," forms not the least interesting topic of conversation, when old schoolfellows meet afterwards in the voyage of life.

The games among the children of Edinburgh have their periodical returns. At one time nothing is to be seen in the hands of the boys but cleckenbrods; at another, dosing of taps, and piries and pirie cords, form the prevailing recreation; and at a third, every retired pavement, or unoccupied area, swarms with the rosy-faced little imps playing at bowls, their eyes sparkling with delight at the acquisition, or moulded into melancholy at the loss

of a favourite marble. The demand for bowls has occasioned, according to the prevailing systems of mercantile economy, a corresponding increase in the manufacture. In my time there were only two species, marble and stone bowls; but now there are five or six different kinds, formed of stucco, clay, &c. which, though more of them can be got for a penny, yet I doubt much if they would stand the force of a breaker of former days.

Rowing girrs, (rolling hoops,) forms another healthy exercise to the boys of Edinburgh. Hoops seem less in use now, however, than formerly; and I have observed that few are now decorated (thanks to the police bill) with ginglers. The operation of guiding the path of a girr, which is done with a short stick, I should think an excellent preparation for those young gentlemen who may afterwards be called, in the course of events, to drive their own four-in-hand, or display their ability in more humbly guiding the equipage of another. Bummers, or a thin piece of wood swung round by a small cord, I have not seen for many a day.

Ho, spy! is chiefly a summer game. Some of the party of boys conceal themselves, and when in their hiding-places call out these words to their companions; and the first who finds has next the pleasure of exercising his ingenuity at concealment. Hide and seek is, I believe, played much in the same manner; but the watchword of this last is hidee. The English and Scots used to be played by parties of boys, who, divided by a fixed line, endeavoured to pull one another across this line, or to seize, by bodily strength or nimbleness, a wad (the coats or hats of the players) from the little heap deposited in the different territories at a convenient distance. The person pulled across, or seized in his attempt to rob the camp, was made a prisoner, and conducted to the enemy's station, where he remained under the denomination of stinkard till relieved by one of the same side, or by a general exchange of prisoners.

Pen-guns are made and fired at the season when the turnip first comes to market, which turnip, cut in thin slices, and bored through with the

quill, forms the charge. Bountry-guns are formed of the alder tree, the soft pith being taken out, and are charged with wet paper; and pipe-staples form a very amusing play thing, by putting two pins crosswise through a green pea, placing the pca at the upper end of the pipe-staple, and, holding it vertically, blowing gently through it. Making soap-bells with a tobacco-pipe, and witnessing the fragile globe sailing in the air, is still a frequent and innocent amusement.

Flying dragons is a very common thing in Edinburgh in harvest; and very beautiful objects these dragons are, as they flutter in the air in an autumnal evening. To prevent misapprehension, however, on the part of readers of romances, I beg to remark, that our Scottish dragons are perfectly harmless animals, and have no connec tion whatever with giants' castles, or maidens in jeopardy. They are generally guided by very young boys, with a chain no stronger than a piece of slight packing twine, and are found to be perfectly at the command of their little masters. In short, a dragon in Scotland is what is called in England, with no greater propriety, a kite; and, in both countries, I believe, they are generally formed of the same material -paper.

Pitch-and-Toss, is played with halfpence or buttons. The parties stand at a little distance, and pitch the halfpenny to a mark, or gog, and he who is nearest the mark, has the envied privilege of tossing up for heads or tails, and the first shot at the next trial of skill. Penny-stanes are played much in the same manner as the quoit or discus of the ancient Romans, to which warlike people the idle tradesmen of Edinburgh probably owe this favourite game. The duck is a small stone placed on a larger, and attempted to be hit off by the players at the distance of a few paces.

If the reader be tired with these recollections of former days, I can have no objection, by concluding the chapter here, to give him a barley, (parley ;) and if he feels he has enough of the subject, he has nothing to do but shut the book, and (to use a very expressive juvenile term,) spit and gie owre.

CHAP. VIII.

Zickety, dickety, dock,
The mouse ran up the nock;
The nock struck one,
Down the mouse ran;
Zickety, dickety, dock,

HALLOWEEN, and HALLOWFAIR, in Edinburgh, usher in nuts, ginger bread, and other articles for fuirings; and has been the appointed time, ever since I remember, for all the boys to possess themselves of shintys. The shinty, or hummy, is played by a set of boys in two divisions, who attempt, as they best can, to drive with curved sticks, a ball, or what is more common, part of the vertebral bone of a sheep, in opposite directions. When the object driven along reaches the appointed place in either termination, the cry of hail! stops the play, till it is knock ed off anew by the boy who was so fortunate as to drive it past the gog. Playing at the ba' is also a favourite game with the boys of Edinburgh, and penny Herioters were at one time very celebrated. These balls were manufactured by the boys of George Heriot's Hospital, and, from this circumstance, got the name of Herioters. I can vouch to their being an excellent article of the kind, and famous stotters. Golf is played also by young as well as old gentlemen; and running the gauntrice, or gauntlet, is a punishment frequently inflicted on the least dexterous, as dumps are on the knuckles of those who are unsuccessful at bowls.

The games for girls are not so varied as those of the boys. Though they may occasionally assist at those of the boys, yet it would be accounted unboyish, or effeminate, did the little men venture to take a part in the amusements more peculiarly appropriated to the girls. Of these, the chucks, played with a bowl and chucks, a species of shell (Buccinum lapillus) found on the sea-shore; and the Beds, where a pitcher is kicked into chalked divisions of the pavement, the performer being on one leg, and hopping, are exclusively games for girls.

"Dab a prin in my lottery-book ; dab ane dab twa, dab a' your prins awa," is putting a pin at random in a school-book, between the leaves of which little pictures are placed. The

successful adventurer is the person who puts the pin between two leaves including a picture, which is the prize, and the pin itself is the forfeit. A' the Birds in the Air, and a' the Days of the Week, are also common games, as well as the Skipping-rope, and Honey-pots.

The rhymes used by children to decide who is to begin a game, are much the same in the period to which my recollection extends. The one at the head of this chapter is most frequently used for this purpose. To it may be added the following; and I would recommend the whole to the notice of the antiquarian.

Anery, twaery, tickery, seven,
Aliby, crackiby, ten or eleven;
Pin-pan, muskidan,

Tweedlum, twodlum, twenty-one.

[blocks in formation]

Who goes round my house this night?

None but bloody Tom;
Who stole all my chickens away?

None but this poor one.

Another game played by a number of children with a hold of one another, ed in Scotland, is, Through the Needleor tickle-tails, as it is technically call

e'e.

The immemorial rhyme for this alluring exercise is this:

Brother Jack, if ye were mine,
I would give you claret wine;
Claret wine's gude and fine-

Through the needle-e'e, boys! Pirley Pease-weep is a game played by boys, and the name demonstrates that it is a native one; for it would require a page of close writing to make

it intelligible to an Englishman. The following is the rhyme of this play,Scotsman, Scotsman, lo! Where shall this poor Scotsman go? Send him east, or send him west, Send him to the craw's nest.

The terms of hot and cold, used in the game of Kittlie-cout; the couplet,

Gie's a pin to stick in my thumb, To carry my lady to London town; and another couplet, addressed to the secreted personage at Hidee,

Keep in, keep in, wherever you be, The greedy gled's seeking ye; as they are often heard in the playgrounds, must awaken the most pleasing recollections in the minds of those who have formerly enjoyed these pastimes, or who still enjoy them by substitution, in the persons of the little masters and misses, who are to take charge of the affairs of the world for the next generation. The following rhyme (for I am afraid grey-bearded bachelors of the present day will not think it contains much reason) is still in very common use,

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

discretion, it may be thought, that sufficient space has already been al lotted to the amusements of periods long since and for ever past.

Thus have I, Christopher Columbus, Esquire, shortly noticed the chief of those games which were, and still are,

the amusement of the children of

Edinburgh; and I seldom walk the streets, or pass the High School in the intervals of the daily tasks, without wishing, that it were decorous still to partake of amusements so healthy, and so innocent. The billiard-table, dice, cards, fives-court, and pugilism, are only improved modifications of the same games, transferred from the open air to the tavern or enclosed court, and the passions of the grown-up players excited by the stimulus of wine, or the still stronger one of stakes in money. In place of the exercise being conducive to health, it is often only the precursor to a dinner of repletion; and the ingenuity exercised, during the midnight hours, at cards, or the mad hazards of the dice, is often the prelude to permanent ruin. I do not envy the man who cannot take amusement or exercise for health, or for their own sakes; and I would rather that my stomach had lost all the taste for healthy viands which hunger induces, than that my mind should be the slave of the most degrading passions which can agitate the bosom of a human being.

It would, perhaps, be in vain now to expect, that judges should leave the bench to hold the bannets between two pugilistic competitors, though they may formerly have done so in the High School Yard-that a gambler at cards or dice should stop the ruin of his own or of another's fortune, by playing at nivy-nick-nack or pitch and toss; that colonels and generals should amuse themselves at Ho, spy! the wads, or join the jocund bands at the English and Scots;-or that lawyers and attornies should unprofitably exercise themselves at bowls or the cleckenbrod: And it perhaps

May I venture to suggest to our erudite commentators, and those skilled in antiquarian lore, that it would be better, in place of amending poor Shakespeare, (whose writings require no emendation,) to turn their talents for conjectural criticisin and historical research to such subjects as I have now set forth. It would be curious to know, that many of our present youthful games were played by Mark Antony or Julius Cæsar ;that Homer or Virgil had dozed taps and piries;—that Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret had played at tig;-or that Sir William Wallace and Robert Bruce ever amused themselves, in fun, at the game of English and Scots.

« VorigeDoorgaan »