◦ last updated:
London Street Games is a very curious book which contains many (many) children’s games of many varieties. It somewhat rivals Rabelais in breadth! James Joyce raided this book for many of the games referenced in Finnegan’s Wake (1939), however obliquely.
The games from the book are listed below. The divisions are my own; the games are otherwise listed in the order that they appear in the original book.
- Paperchase
- Rounders
- Egg-in-Cap (Egget)
- Monday-Tuesday (Numbers)
- Queenie
Ball games:
- Hot Rice
- French Cricket
- Football-Cricket
- Fiddle-de-dee
- Palm Over
- Catch (Teaser)
- Wall-Bouncing
- King
- Missings Out
- French Foot
- Knocking Up Three Catchers
- Swolo
- Days of the Year
- Punch-Ball
- Bounce-Ball
- Touch It Run
- Hundred Wins
- One-Two-Three-And-A-Lairy
- Along the Row
- Under the Row
- Across the Row
- Rabbit in the Hutch
- Five-Ten
- Base (Doll)
- Wallie
- Strike Up Knock Down
- In The Hat
- Dustholes
Spinning-top games:
- Top-Football
- Skating
- Grulley (Growley, Growling Keeps, Placing)
- Getting in the Ring
- Sending Messages
- Gulley Hole (Hully-Gully)
- Fly Dutchman
- Back Scalings
- Tracing
- Railway Line
- Mousetrap
- Chucking
- Grudges
- Gulley Keep Top
- Gulley Knock About
- Fetching Home
- Peg in the Ring
- Boat-Race
- Pegging
- Live O’s
- Chipstone
Jacket games:
- Dead Man’s Rise (Dead Man’s Dark Scenery, Coat)
Shoe games:
- Size of your Boot
- Boot in the Tub
- Nails
- Cobbler Cobbler Mend My Shoe
Cap games:
- Chimney-pots (Upsetting the Chimney)
- Hat under the Moon
- Mouse in Trap
- Sausage
- Knock him down Donkey
- Pull for the Shore, Sailor
- Sugar and Milk
- Hop O’ My Thumb
- Touch-Cap
- Nuts in Cap
- Hitting the Sun
- Quoits
- Fire Engines
- Shying over the Moon
- Shooting the Stars
- Piling the Donkey
- Cap It
- Where’s this little Hat to Go
- Sally Round the Jampot (Flies Round the Jampot)
- Ball in Cap
- Run a Mile for a Half-Penny
- Hook and Cap
- Hot Soup
- Come out of your Den
- Throw Over
- Miller’s Sack
- Whack Cap
- Hatching Eggs
- Under the Garter
Button games:
- Buttons (Bang-Out, Bangings)
Gambling games:
- Brag
- Books
- Spin up the Punny
- Raps on the Bugle
- Nap
- Trump
- Beat Your Neighbour Out Of Doors: see Beggar My Neighbour
- My Birdie Whistles
- Polish Banker
- Donkey
- Tuppence You Head It
- Pitching Up The Line
- Shove Ha’penny
- Nearest the line Takes
- Chuck-Farden
- Pontoon (Vingt-et-Un)
- Pieman
- Odd Man Spins
- On the Stick
- Guessing with Three Cards
- Guessing with Six Cards
- Anchor-Crown-Head
- Pitch and Toss
- Blind Sam
- Overs Keeps
- Knocking Dolly Out O’ Bed: see Beggar My Neighbour, perhaps?
Tossing games:
- Throwing the Nicker (Tin on the Line): maybe Crack Lew?
- Nixie
- Pitch Out
- Pitching on the Hat
- Pitching in the Hat
- Bulls Eye
- One, Two, Three
- Over the Line
Tin-can games:
- Tin-Can Bump
- Tin-Can Jump
- Tin-Can Catch
- Tin-Can Fishing
- Tin-Can Fetch It
- Tin-Can Racing
- Tin-Can Go It
- Tin-Can Touch
- Tin-Can Hide It
- Tin-Can Have It
- Cock-Shy
- Catch the Rider
- Pitching up the Wall
- Tin-Can Copper (Kick-Can Police-Man)
Stick games:
- Tippit
- Cunjer
- Catching the Falling Wand
- Seizing Sticks (Scotch and English)
- Wand Balance Race
- Tibby-Cat (Nibby-Cap)
- Sets
- Runs
- Woggles
- Catchers
- Singles
- Hitting the Mummy
Nut games:
- You have all you get
- Knock him down have him
- Tip-Tap
- Mop Cherry-Stones
- Up the Gutter-Spout
Imagination games:
- Stags
- Fox-Hunting
- Shoeing the Wild Horse
- Tommy All Round
- Blind Donkey
- Sailor
- Horse-Soldiers (Flying Angels)
- Cock and Hen Fight
Hide-and-seek games:
- I Spy—Spit in your Eye
- Point
- Monkey in the Wood
- Forty
- Inner and Outer
Hunting games:
- Widdy
- Fishing (Fag-Out)
- Coaler
- Last one Home
Confederate/trickery games:
- Deliver Up Those Golden Jewels (Deliver up the Black Pudding)
- White Mice
- High Treason
- Three Golden Balls
- Farmer Left His Hat Behind
- Scoring
- Running Too Fast
- Hide and Seek (“not the usual kind”)
- P….E
- Touching the King’s Sceptre
Leap-frog games:
- All the Winkles
- Hopping to London
- All the Way to London
- Racing to London
- Four Ways to London
- Hot Pies
- Cold Pies
- Here Comes My Ship Full Sail
- Bunny Rabbit
- Hop, Step, and Jump
- Hopping Round Big Ben
- All Hands On Deck (Finger On The Block)
- Cut-a-Lump (Cutter)
- Frog in Field
- Frog in the Middle
- Frog in the Water
- Inch it Up
- Shrimps
- Lobster (Eggs and Bacon)
- Egg in a Duck’s Belly
- Cat O’ Nine Tails
- Spur the Donk
- Over the Moon
- Foot It
- Charge of the Light Brigade
- Cat on Hot Bricks
- Postman
- Hopping All The Way to Church
- Mussentouchet
- Newspapers (Papers)
- Two Foot Fly
- Stiff-Legged Copper (Policeman, Stiff Bloaters, Showing No Ivory)
- Whitewash
- Plates and Dishes
- Flying the Garter
- Writing Letter to Punch
- Sending Letter to Canada
Duty games:
- Flies Round the Jam-Pot
- Hot Cockles and Hot Mustard
- Shooting the Moon
- Yank Him Over
- Upsetting the Apple-Cart
- Weak Horses
- Stepping-Stones
- Glory
- Fishing For Oysters
- Ticklers
- Country (North, South, East and West)
- Bumper (Bumpums)
- Smashing Your Grandma’s Windows
- Backy-O
- Roman Candles (Thumbs Up)
- Chinese Orders
- Chinese Yum-Yum
- King John Says So
- Dead Soldiers
- Salmon Fishing
- Mischief
- Pulling Legs
- Follow My Leader
- Piggy Backs
- Wheelbarrows
- Jocky Whack
- Swimming in Blue Water
- Carrying the Old Woman’s Washing
- Messengers (Messages)
- Elephant’s Trunks and Tails
- Skinning a Rabbit
- Moggies on the Wall
- Soppy Soldier
- Tailor
- Picking Leaves
- Scissors
- Through the Moon
- Pulling Bones out of Fishes
- Porter Collecting Tickets (Ticket Punching)
- Hop There and Back Again
- Up Sides Down Middle
- Nelson
- Hiding Hats in the Houses of Parliament
- Polly Tell Me The Time
- Buck, Buck, How Many Fingers Have I Got Up: see Buck, Buck
- Solomon Silent Reading: perhaps a pun on “solemn-and-silent reading”
- Bull-Dog Race
- Eating Fish and Potatoes
- Upsetting Mother’s Gravy
- Hands Off
- Cap Telling
- Who Will Take the Pig (or Ugly Bear) to Market
- Arm’s Length
- Laugh and Cry
- Brass Band
- Cannon Balls
- Foot It
- Deaf and Dumb Moses (Duty Four)
- Fire Engines (Fireman)
- Sick in the Mud (Stickums)
- British Workman
- Sugar Canes
- Carrying Crocodile’s Food
- Gammon Rasher
- Catching Stones
- Race For A Leaf
- Carriages
- All Sorts
- Pulling up Father’s Rhubarb
- Haystack
- King’s Dinner
- Mouse in the Trap
- Punctured Tyre
- Cobbler
- Drums
- Foot and Lee
- Finger in the Bird’s Nest
- Babble
- Over the Garden Wall
- Three and On
- How Far Can You Run
- Bung the Barrel
- Picking the Bloater
- Sift the Grapes
- Hot Rolls
- Warnie I’m A Coming
Catching games:
- Release (Robbers and Coppers, Bedlam)
Ball games:
- Rounders (Four Corners)
- Head Game
- Daggles
- Broken Bottle (Passing Round)
- Three Catches Out
- Rotten Egg (Cracked Egg)
- A and B
- Fool, Fool, Come to School (Dunce, Dunce, Double D)
- Winkle-Shells
- Hark the Robbers Coming Through
- Steps
- Sly Fox
- Let Go Must Go
- Honey-Pots
Games for girls and boys:
- Please We’ve Come to Learn a Trade (Guessing Words, Dumb Motions)
- Catch-in-the-Rope
- Pussy Cat
- Statues
- Ugly Statues
- Pretty Statues
- Here We Go Up the Mulberry Tree
- I Sent a Letter To My Love (Lost Letter): see Circle Chases
- Nick Nack Tolly Whack
- Looking Glass
- Goose-Gander
- Snow-White
- Pet Post
Girls’ games:
- Mackintosh
- Basket-Ball
- Cross-Ball
- Emperor Ball
- Centre Ball
- Corner Catch Ball
- Circle Stride Ball
- Hand Ball
- One in the Middle
- Queen Mab (Queen Anne)
Hand-clapping games:
- One-Two-Three
- Oranges, Oranges, Four a Penny
- Twisters and Claps
Ring games:
- Up to the Ring
- Running in and out the Bluebells
- Fire
- Walking Round the Village
- Thief, Prince, King, Queen, Beggar
- Throwing the Bean-Bags
- Pretty and Ugly
More girls’ games:
- Mother I’m Over the Water
- Box Nuts
- Victoria
- Turning Mother’s Wringer
- We Three Kings
- John Brown’s Knapsack
- Filling the Gap (Pushing Through the Gap)
- When I was a Schoolgirl
- Bread and Butter
- Come to See Poor Mary
- We Are Romans
- What Is It
- Who Knows
- How, When, and Where
- Head and Shoulders
- Beast, Bird, Fish, Flower
- Polly Goes to Bed
- Poor Polly Can’t See
- Tag
- Railway Race
- On the Mountain
- Hook and Eye
- Egg in the Spoon
- Hawk and Dove
- Borrow a Light
- Pease Cods
- Golden Goose
- Treacle Pudding
- Who’s Afraid of Black Peter
- Jenny Pluck Pears
- Walking-Sticks
- Looking for Mother’s Thimble
- Time
- Ladysmith
- Pushy Back
- Pass Over
- We are British Soldiers
- L. S. D.
- The White Shirt
- Merry Month of May
- Con-stant-i-no-ple
- Black and Blue
- Follow your Mother to Market
- Puss
- My Sister Jane
- Two Little People Went Out One Day
- Old Devil in Fire (Light Mother’s Copper Fire)
- Jacob and Rachel
- Bushel Basket
- Mrs. Brown
- Wooden Leg
- Rolling Pin
- Pork and Greens
- Two’s and Three’s
- Buzz
- Parson’s Cat
- I Spy With One Eye
- Black in Topper
- Looking through the Key-Hole
- Peeping Behind the Curtain
- Swings
- Polly Tell me the Time
Skipping-rope games:
- Swing-Swong
- Double Dutch
- American Jump
- Higher and Higher
- Run and Skip
- Hoop and Skip
- Inners and Outers
- Touch Tail
- Nebuchadnezzar
- High Water
- Never Leave the Rope Empty
- Over the Moon
- One-Two
- Tipperary
- One and Out
- Snakes
- Big Ben Strikes One
- What O She Bumps
- All in the Rope
- Follow the Leader
- Full-Stop
- Colours
- Harem Skirt
- Naughty Girl
- Throwing Up Girls
- Catch in the Long Rope
- Eights
- Difficulty
- Three Between
- Three and All On
- Sitting on the Star, Mary
- I am a Little Shadow
- Rock the Cradle
- Girls’ Names
- Boy’s Names
Songs:
- I can do the Tango
- I’ll Tell Mother, Mary Anna
- Mother, Mother, Fetch Me Home
- Father Give Me A Ha’penny
- Polly Put The Kettle On
- Jumbo had a Baby
- Leave the Rope
- Come On, Amy
- Some One’s Under the Bed
- Please will you Lend the Key
- Cindarella-Umberella
- The House is Empty and Nobody in
- Haberdasher Isher Asher Om Pom Tosh
- R. White’s Ginger-beer Goes Off Pop
- Mademoiselle Went to the Well
- My Son John Went to Bed with his Stockings On
- My Mother Said that I was Born
- Poor Jennie is A-Weeping
- London Bridge is Broken Down
- Willie had a Letter for to go on Board a Ship
- Oats and Beans and Barley Grow
- Now We’re on the Battlefield
- My Father had an Old Shoe
- I Went down to Piccadilly
Small children’s games:
- Mothers and Fathers
- Teachers
- Schools
- Soldiers
- Nurses
- Hospitals
- Carts and Horses
- Shops
- Convicts and Warders
- Railway Stations
- Old Daddy Witches (Polly Witch, Granny Witch)
- Sleighs
- I Bought a Donkey
- I Bought a Penny Doll
- Fire Engines
- Frogs
- War
- Cat and Mouse
- Cat and Dog
- Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush
- A B C D F G – What Have I Left Out?
- Jack Horner
- Old Aunt Sally
- Tip-Top is a Sweets Store
- Tom Tiddler
- Oranges and Lemons
- Mary, Mary
- Week Days
- Sheep, Sheep Come Home
- Dan, Dan Thread You Needle
- Will You Give Us Bread and Wine
- Grandmother, Grandmother Gray
- Mother May I Go Out?
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (ring game)
- Match
- Ring-a-Ring o’ Roses
- Cherry-ogs (Cherry-Bobs)
- Cherry-Pies
- Cherry-Bob Arch
- King of the Barbary
- Green Man Rise-O
- Dead Man’s Rise
- Cock Robin Is Dead
- To Beckles To Beckles
- Grottoes
Mud games:
- Pies
- Bridges
- Sticking-Bricks
- Mud-Carts
- Wells
- Tunnels
- Flower-Pots
- Castles
Seasonal games:
- Tops
- Marbles
- Pictures
- Buttons
- Skipping
- Hoops
- Grottoes
- Mud-Pies
- Marbles
Marbles games:
- Nocks (Knucks)
- Marble-Board
- Skittles
- Glasgow
- Three Holes
- Nixy’s in the Hole: I Take
- Gutter Marbles
- Row Marbles
- Up the Alley
- Spick and Span
- Dob ’Em
- Tip
- Four Holes
- Nearest the Wall
- Picking the Plums
- Going Up
- Bowling in the Hole
- Hit it Leave it
- Hit it Have it
- Throwings Out
- Stays
- Hits and Spans
- Five Ten
- Picking Numbers
- Bagatelle
- In the Ring
- Pitching
- Follow On
- Killing
- Porky
- Throw the Farthest
- Some or None
- Bridge-Board: something like Trou Madame
- Bounce Eye
- Ringums
- Chipping out of the Ring
Cinema games:
- Cowboys–Indians (Germans–English)
Cigarette card games:
- Eggs in the Bush
- Snap
- Banker (Bank)
- Nearest the Wall Takes
- Nearest the Wall Spins Up
- Sevens
- Scaling up the Ring
- Scaling up the Line
- Under the Hat
- Getting in the Ring (In the Square)
- Overlappings
- In the Ring Farthest
- Poke in the Hole
- Drop Them (Drops)
- Skate Them
- Picture or Blank
- Wallie (Up the Wall)
- Pitching in the Block (Pitcher)
- Pitching Under
- Slap-Dap
- Scrapings
- Tipping in the Hole
- Blowings (Blows, Blowums)
- Touch-Card
- Getting On
- Inners and Outers
- Thumbs
- Shows-Up
- Knock ’em Down
- Dicings
- Waterfalls (Snowfalls)
- Spans (Spanners)
Jacks (buck and four) or knucklebones games:
- Tellings
- Sisters
- Stand up Jack
- Baskets
- Alley Gobs
- Changes
- Pickses
- Standses
- Shuffles
- Full-Stop and Comma
- Fly Dobs
- Babes in the Well
- One Stand Up Ones’es
- Over the Wall One Two Three
- Spans
- London Bridge
- Babes in Bed
- Pigeon-Hole
- Crow’s Nest
- Lamp-Post
- Twos and Threes
- Fours
- Fivers
- Fives Six Times
- Saving Baby’s Life
- Five-Stones
Stones games:
- Dumping (Dumpling)
- Bung (Go-Gulley)
- Nip (Tap, Leg-Along)
- Duck (Duck On)
- French Packet
- Shuffing the Money
- Five-Ten
- Hesling
- Two and Three Holes
- Knocking Three’s
- Penny-Tuppence
- Cock-shies
- Stone Chase
- Throwings Out
- Ringing the Stone
- Pudding
- Ducking Mummy
Chalk games:
- Hop-Scotch
- Long Hop-Scotch
- French Hop-Scot
- Tiddledewink
- Pudding and Beef (Stone Hop-Scotch)
- Wriggly-Worm (Whirly-Whirly, Wiggly-Woggly, Snal)
- Squares
- Numbers
- Dot-Boxes (Dots): see Dots and Boxes
- All Over the Wolrd
- Stepping-Stones
- Zig-Zag
- Noughts and Crosses (Oxen-Crosses): see Tic-Tac-Toe
- Maps
- London
- Battlements
- Snakes
- Baby
- Bill Baily
- Body-Building
- Germans–English
- Polly Polly What’s the Time
- Boots, Shoes, Tips, or Nails
- Chalk Chase
- Convicts and Warders (Tracking the Convicts)
- Scouts
Touch games:
- Off-Ground Touch
- French Touch
- Touch the Road you Must Go Over
- Cross Touch
- He (Ee)
- Elbow Touch
- Help Touch
- B⸻Touch
- Touching Bootleather
- Hop Touch
- Double Touch
- Touch Last (Had you Last)
- Touching Iron
- Touch Wood and Whistle
- Non-Stop Touch
- Stick-Touch
- Stick-He
- Water-He
- String-He
- Widdy
- Three-He
- Shadow-He
Miscellaneous:
- Will You ’List
- Hammers On
- Kicks
- Red Rover
- Carlow
- Fried Eggs and a Rasher
- Postman’s Knock
- Ten O’Clock Police
- School-Boys
- Ickamy-Ickamy-Co
- Shunting Engines
- Follow the Leader
- Doing Each Other’s Dags
- Stitch Away Tailor
- Boats
- Hoopla for Choklitts
- Bus Horses
- Rein Horse
- Scouts
- Picking the Crow’s Nest
- Knocking Down Ginger
- Knocking Ginger Out O’Bed
- Whirligig
- Robin Snatch
- Flag Race
- Potty
- Five Hundred Monkeys Up
- Guarding the Stake
- Jupiter
- Sunday-Monday
- Hiding Steps
- Outings
- Home It
- What’s the Time
- Tailor Said
- Last Man Standing
- Relievo
- Postman Relay
- Egg and Spoon Relay
- Indian Club Relay
- Day and Night
- Jumping the Brook
- One More No More
- Parvy
- Stolen Necklace
- Out of Bounds
- Give a Join
- Date-Hogs
- Fox and Hounds (Hare and Hounds)
- Battle of Waterloo
- Lamp Away
- Stickjaw
- Paper Truncheons
- Potatoe-Shooters
- Fuel for the Fire
- Time Guessing
- Round the Block
- Humble-Bumble
- Go Your Way
- A Pin to Look at the Poppy-Show
- Last Across
- Steps Across
- Peep (Jack)
- Home Four
- I Spy Eggs and Bacon
- Savoy (Saveloy)
- Waterman
- Leading the Blind Horse to the Knacker
- Fairy Chase
- Hopping Jinny
- Skittles Knock ’Em Down
- Guessing Words
- Nicko Midnight
- Pig in the Pot: like bullrush
- Fight for the Flag
- Learn Your ABC
- Serving Your Country a Good Game
- Lig-A-Log
- French Blind Man’s Buff
- Animal Blind Man’s Buff
- Will You Surrender
- Telling Your Dream
- Five Ten Fifteen Twenty
- Jack Around
- See You Across
- Long Run
- Race to Berlin
- Bogie Man
- No Man Standing
- Wall to Wall
- Saint George and his Merry Men
- Deliver Your Luggage
- Fish Away Jack
- Pin, Button or Marble
- Buttons in the Ring
- Single Say-Go
- Double Say-Go
- Queen, King or Dirty Rascal
- Moscow
- Rugby Scrum
- I Will Apprentice my Son to a Carpenter
- Sailor Boy
- Storky
- Eggs
- Three In Three Out
- Crownings
- Mouse in the Copper
- Show Three Faces: Go
- Magic Writing
- Drag-Lag
- Pickle Cabbage
- Putting The Kaiser’s Whiskers
- Blue Boy
- Back You
- King Caesar
- Ting Ting the Spider
- Puss in the Corner
- Hop and Charge
- Taking the Castle
- Darts (Nibs)
- Penny Three Halfpence Twopence
- Two In Two Out
- Tug of War
- Chivy Chase
- Daddy Red-Cap (or Green-Cap)
- Chinese Orders
- Showing No Ivory
- Pulling our Father’s Rhubarb
- Old Devil
- Cricket
- Wriggly-Worm
References
Norman, Douglas (). London Street Games. St. Catherine Press: London.