Read Ebook: On the Lady Chapel in Chester Cathedral by Blomfield George Becher

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PREFACE vii

PREFACE

The prime object of this book is to induce and to teach boys and girls to spend their hours out of school in such a manner, as to gain innocent enjoyment while they promote their own health and bodily strength. The Author has never lost sight of this object, considering it to be what properly belongs to a Book of Sports.

To those who assent to what has been stated, the introduction of a chapter on gardening will need no apology.

GAMES WITH MARBLES.

One of the best games with marbles is

RING TAW.

This is played in the following manner:--A circle should be drawn about four feet in diameter, and an inner circle of about six inches being also marked out in its centre, into this each boy puts a marble. "Now then, boys, knuckle down at the offing, which is in any part of the outer circle. Now, whoever shoots a marble out of the ring is entitled to go on again: so mind your shots; a good shot may clear the ring. After the first shot, the players do not shoot from the offing, but from the place where the marble stops after it has been shot from the knuckle. Every marble struck out of the ring belongs to the party who hits it; but if the taw remains in the inner ring, either after it has struck a marble or not, the player is out, and must put in all the marbles he has won. If one player strike another player's taw, the player to whom the taw belongs is out; and he must give up all the marbles he has won to the player whose taw struck his."

LAG OUT OR KNOCK OUT.

This game is played by throwing a marble against the wall, which rebounds to a distance. Others then follow; and the boy whose marble strikes against any of the others is the winner. Some boys play the game in a random manner; but the boy who plays with skill judges nicely of the law of forces, that is, he calculates exactly the force of the rebound, and the direction of it.

The first law of motion is, that everything preserves a state of rest, or of uniform rectilineal , unless affected by some moving force.

Second law.--Every change of motion is always proportioned to the degree of the moving force by which it is produced, and it is made in the line of direction in which that force is impressed.

Third law.--Action and reaction are always equal and contrary, or the mutual action of two bodies upon each other are always equal and directed to contrary parts.

To illustrate the first of these laws,--a marble will never move from the ground of itself, and once put in motion, it will preserve that motion until some other power operates upon it in a contrary direction.

With regard to playing Lag Out so as to win, you must further understand the principle of reflected motion. If you throw your marble in a straight line against the wall, you find that it comes back to you nearly in a straight line again. If you throw it ever so slightly on one side, or obliquely, it will fly off obliquely on the opposite side. If you throw the marble from the point C to the point B, it will fly off in the direction of the point A, and if a marble lay there it would hit it; but if you threw it from the point D, you would stand no chance.

In science, the angle C, B, D, is called the angle of incidence, and D, B, A, is called the angle of reflection.

THREE HOLES.

Three Holes is not a bad game. To play it, you must make three small holes about four feet apart: then the first shot tries to shoot a marble into the first hole. If he gets in, he goes from that to the second, and then to the third hole, after which he returns, and having passed up and down three times, he thus wins the game. If he cannot get in the first hole, the second player tries; and when he stops short at a hole, the third, and so on. After any player has shot his marble into a hole, he may fire at any adversary's marble to drive him away, and, if he hits him, he has a right to shoot again, either for the hole or any other player. The game is won by the player who gets first into the last hole and works his way back again to the first, when he takes all his adversaries' marbles.

ARCHES.

To play arches, the players must be provided with a board of the following shape, with arches cut therein; each arch being a little more than the diameter of a marble, and each space between the arches the same.

The boy to whom the bridge belongs receives a marble from each boy who shoots, and gives to each the number of marbles over the arches should they pass through them.

BONCE-EYE.

Bonce-Eye is played by each player putting down a marble within a small ring, and dropping from the eye another marble upon them so as to drive them out, those driven out being the property of the Boncer.

It is found by experiment, that a body falling from a height moves at the rate of 16-1/12 feet in the first second; and acquires a velocity of twice that, or 32-1/6 feet, in a second. At the end of the next second, it will have fallen 64-1/3 feet; the space being as the square of the time. The square of 2 is 4; and 4 times 16-1/12 is 64-1/3; by the same rule, it will be found, that in the third second it will fall 144-3/4 feet; in the fourth second, 257-1/3; and so on. This is to be understood, however, as referring to bodies falling where there is no air. The air has a considerable effect in diminishing their velocity of descent.

SUN AND THE PLANET TAW.

This is an entirely new game, and consists of the Sun in the centre, which may be represented by a bullet, because the sun is the most ponderous body of the system, and will in this game be required to move slowly. The planets moving round him, with their satellites, I represent by marbles. Now, each boy must take the place of a planet; and having taken it, he is required to put down as many marbles as there are satellites belonging to it. The boy who plays Mercury, puts down only one for his planet; the boy who plays Venus does the same; he who plays the Earth, has to put down one for the Earth, and one for the Moon, its satellite; the boy who plays Mars puts down Mars and the four satellites that lie between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter; the boy who plays Saturn puts down one for the planet, and draws a ring round it, outside of which he puts the seven satellites in any position he chooses; the boy who plays the planet Herschel, puts down one for the planet, and six for the satellites. Each boy, having taken his place in this manner, lays down his taw on any part of the orbit of his planet he pleases, being the point from which he must make his first shot.

The rules of the game are very easy; but it is necessary to be perfectly acquainted with them, as it saves much trouble, and prevents disputes; and no one ought to play till he understands them tolerably well.

MOTIONS OF THE PLANETS AND THEIR SATELLITES.

PYRAMID.

To play Pyramid, a small circle of about two feet in diameter should be made on the ground, in the centre of which is a pyramid formed by several marbles,--nine being placed as the base, then a layer of four, and one on the top; and the Pyramid keeper asks his playmates to shoot. Each player gives the keeper one for leave to shoot at the Pyramid, and all that he can strike out of the circle belong to him.

GAMES FOR COLD WEATHER.

One of the best of these is called

"PRISONERS' BASE."

To play this, there must be a number of boys, not less than eight or ten, and as many more as can be got together. To commence it, two semicircles are drawn against a wall or hedge at the opposite sides of the playground. These are called the BOUNDS.

Two other spaces are then marked out a little away from these to the right or to the left. These places are called the PRISONS.

STAG OUT.

In this game, one boy personates the Stag, and with his hands closed together, starts from his bounds after the other players. When he succeeds in touching one who is called the Ass, the first who gets to him rides him back to the bounds. The two then go out in the same manner, then three, and so on, till the whole are caught.

WARNING.

This game is something similar to another very good game called "Warning," which may be played by any number of players. One begins the game in the same manner as in "Stag Out," repeating the following words,--"Warning once, warning twice, warning thrice--A bushel of wheat, and a bushel of rye, when the cock crows, out jump I--Cock a doodle doo." He then runs out and touches the first he can overtake, who returns to bounds with him. The two then join hands and sally forth, and touch a third, who joins hands with the other two: again they sally hand-in-hand, the two outside ones touching as many as they can. Immediately a player is touched, they must break hands and run back to the bounds. If any of the out-players can catch any of those who held hands, they may ride them back to their bounds. When three are touched, he who first begins the game has the privilege of joining the out-players, whose object is always to break the line.

MOUSE IN THE CORNER.

In this game, one of the players takes the part of Puss, and places himself in the centre, and the others playing take up their positions in the four corners of the playground. Each of the players calls out, "Puss, puss, puss, pretty puss,--how do you do pussy," and endeavour to pass from corner to corner. The players are at liberty to change corners in all directions, and if Puss can touch one when he is away from his corner, the one so touched, after giving Puss a ride round the ground, becomes Puss, or if Puss can take a vacant corner, the player without a corner must do the same,--give Puss a ride round and become Puss.

KING OF THE CASTLE.

This is not a bad game. One player, called King of the Castle, places himself on a little rising mound; the other players endeavour to push or pull him from his elevation, and whoever succeeds in this, takes his place.

HIPPAS.

This game is something like the preceding, only that one boy mounts on the back of another, who is called his Horse, another boy does the same, and the two mounted boys endeavour to pull each other from the saddle. This play is harmless when a soft piece of turf is chosen, but dangerous on the stones or hard ground.

THREAD THE NEEDLE.

This is a good game,--any number of boys may play it. It is begun by joining hands; and the two outside players at each end commence the game by the following dialogue:--

How many miles to Babylon? Three score and ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes, and back again. Then open the gates without more ado, And let the king and his men go through.

The player who stands at the opposite end of the line, now elevates his hand, joined in that of the player next him, to form the needle's eye, and the other outside player approaches running, and the whole line follow him through, if possible, without breaking. This is continued, each end holding up their hands successively, till the players are tired of the sport.

TOUCH.

This is a game of speed. One volunteers to be Touch, and he pursues the other players till he comes up with one of them and touches him; unless the player so touched can say, "I touch iron," or, "I touch wood," before he is touched, he becomes Touch, and must give the player who touched him a ride home. A player is liable to be touched only when running from one piece of wood or iron to another.

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