(ii.)—A very similar game is called “The Cobbler,” and is played in much the same way. One of the party says:
“Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,
And get it done by half-past two.”
Then as the rest sit in a ring on the floor or grass, she leaves her shoe and goes outside the circle, calling once or twice to know if the shoe is finished.
After being told two or three times that the shoe is not quite finished, the owner of the shoe gets impatient and demands it, but it cannot be found, as those seated are secretly passing it from one to another. A scramble ensues, and the one that is discovered with the shoe has to take the other’s place outside the ring.
It is also, and perhaps more commonly, known as “Hunt the Slipper.”[1]
(iii.) Truckle the Trencher.
This used to be a standard game for winter evenings. A circle was formed, and each one was seated on the floor, every player taking the name of a flower. One player stood in the midst and commenced to spin the trencher round on the floor as fast as possible, at the same time calling for one of the flowers represented by the other players seated in the ring. The bearer of the name had to rush forward and seize the trencher before it fell to the ground, or else pay a forfeit, which was redeemed in the usual manner at the close of the game.
This game was entered into with the greatest vivacity by staid and portly individuals as well as by their juniors.
(iv.) Buff.
The players in this game sit in a circle, and the one who is selected to commence takes a stick or poker and knocks on the floor, when
- ↑ And “The Lost Slipper” in Shropshire Folklore, p. 525.
