Speaker 1: Christmas Games for everybody. Bugiya Savareen, the great gastronomist, said
that to invite a person to your house is to
take charge of his happiness while under your roof. We
will invite our friends this Christmas time. We will take
charge of their happiness for a while, and as we
feel that the responsibility is a grave one, and that
we should be very sorry if they fail to enjoy
themselves whilst under our care, we will lay our plans
for their gratification. Beforehand, we will store our memories with
a catalog of games and Christmas diversions, and surely we
shall be able to think of something that will suit
the fancy of one and all. There are some games
that seem to belong peculiarly to Christmas, and foremost among
these is the game of snap Dragon. Here he comes
with flaming bowl. Don't he mean to take his toll?
Snip snap Dragon. Take care you don't take too much.
Be not greedy in your clutch. Snip snap Dragon. With
his blue and lapping tongue, many of you will be stung.
Snip snap Dragon. Four. He snaps at all that comes,
snatching at his feast of plums. Snip snap Dragon. When
this pastime is decided upon, a number of raisins are
put into a large, broad shallow bowl, and a little
brandy or other spirit is poured over the fruit. The
lights in the room are then extinguished. The spirit is ignited,
and the bystanders in turns plunge their hands through the
flames and endeavor to obtain possession of the fruit. This,
of course, is not easily done. It requires both nerve
and agility, and the unavailing attempts of the company cause
a good deal of fun. Added to this, the burning
spirit gives a lurid glare which lights up the eager, faces,
up the guests, and has quite a weird like effect.
This game has been played at Christmas from time immemorial.
It is declared to have been invented by Hercules, who,
when he had it slain the flaming Dragon of Hesperia,
made a fiery dish of the apples grown in the orchard,
which dish he named snap Dragon. In the western counties
of England, it is played under a varied form and
known under a slightly different name that a flap dragon.
In this game, a lighted candle is put into a
can of ale or cider, and attempts are made to
drink the liquor while the candle is still burning. This
is not done without the face being either blackened or
slightly burnt. Some games which are rather boisterous in their
character are known to everyone and need no description. Amongst
these are blind Man's Buff, Puss in the Corner, Trencher,
blind Postman, Hunt the Slipper, and the elements Air, earth, fire,
and Water. Proverbs Too is a capitol old game. When
it is played, one member of the company leaves the
room and the rest fix upon a well known proverb.
The banished guest returns and asks each person a question, who,
in reply, is bound to bring in one word of
the proverb in its proper order, and the questioner tries
to find out from these answers what the proverb is.
A very amusing variety of this game is called Shooting proverbs.
The guests to each appropriate one word of the proverb
as before. The one who is trying to guess the
proverb comes in, steps into the middle of the room
and calls out in a commanding voice, make ready present fire.
At the word fire, all the companies shout their own
words at once and the proverb is to be guessed
from the sound, which is a very confusing one. Perhaps
there is no game which gives greater amusement both to
young folks and old ones than the game of characters,
sometimes called twenty questions and sometimes nouns. In this, one
of the company thinks of some one particular person or thing,
and the other's plot him with questions and endeavor to
find out his secret from the answers. It is astonishing
how judicious questioning can draw the most out of the
way object out of mystery into the light of day.
Sometimes the company divide themselves into two parties, each of
which sends out one of their number, and on his return,
questions him separately and endeavors to find out his secret
before the other site can do so. Each candidate must
be questioned by the opposite side, and the party which
first guesses rightly takes possession of both candidates. That side
is considered to have won the game which draws over
the largest number of members. When played in this way,
the game is often called clumps. Trades is a very
amusing game. In this each person chooses a certain trade,
and one member of the company, who is named by
the rest makes up a story, in the course of
which he introduces an account of his shopping excursions, and
calls how pazard upon the representatives of each business to
name some noun which belongs to his trade. Thus, a
butcher is to name a certain joint of meat, a grocer,
some article a grocery, and so on. No item is
to be mentioned twice, and if there is any attempt
to do so, or if there is any hesitation in
naming something suitable, a forfeit must be paid. When the
story is well told, a good deal of fun may
be got out of this game. Dumb crambo is another
good game. When playing it, half the party leave the room,
and those who remain choose a verb which the others
are to guess. When the absent ones return, they are
told of a word which will rhyme with the word
fixed upon, and they then consult together to find out
what it is. Instead of speaking their guests, they act it.
If they guess rightly, they are applauded. If they fail,
they are hissed. A word spoken on either side, accepting
by the act for the purpose of private consultation entails
a forfeit. A very old but a very amusing game
is Simon. Simon is chosen from the company. He and
the rest of the players seat themselves in a circle
around the fire, and Simon gives his command. If he
prefaces them by the word Simon says, they are to
be obeyed, however ridiculous they may be. If these important
words are omitted, the commands are not to be obeyed,
and anyone who acts upon them must withdraw from the contest.
When Simon is clever and quick of speech, this game
makes great fun and it is very absurd to see
a large company imitating his movements. Simon says thumbs up,
Simon says thumbs down. Simon says, touch your hair. Simon says,
touch your boots. Simon says, stop touching your boots. Touch
your boots again. Someone is sure to be caught. Shadow
Buff is a pretty variety of blind Man's Buff, and
it is a safe, quiet and pretty game for young people.
If there is a white curtain in the room, it
should be fastened down to make a smooth surface. If
there is no curtain, a sheet or tablecloth will be required.
The one who is to be blind man seats himself
before the curtain with his back to his companions and
to the light. The rest pass behind him, so that
their shadows may be thrown upon the white surface, and
the one whom he names from the shadow is to
take the place of blind man. The players are allowed
to dress themselves up and disguise themselves in any way
they like. Very confusing shadows may be made with a
little ingenuity. The hair may be let down or fastened
up in a style different to that in which it
is usually worn. Or the player may wrap himself in
a sheet and spread his arms wide under it, thus
making a shadow like a bat. Or the finger may
be held over the nose to hide its shape. If
the blind man looks round at the actors, he must
pay a forfeit for the off. Thence Schoolmaster may be
pronounced a prosaic sort of game, But it is astonishing
how much amusement it is capable of affording. The players
seat themselves in a circle, and one of their number
the Schoolmaster places himself before them. Pointing to the first one,
he says, tell me the name of a town, beginning
with such and such a letter, at the same time
fixing upon a particular town in his own mind. Before
the schoolmaster has time to count ten in an audible whisper.
The scholar can name a town beginning with that letter,
he is allowed to retain his place, but if not,
the question is passed on to his neighbor. And this
is repeated again and again until the town that the
schoolmaster thought of as guest. Those who can name a
town go up in class, or take the places of
those who cannot do so. And if three or four
players are past, the one who succeeds at length passes
them all, and each one must move a step downwards
to make room for him. When the schoolmaster likes, he
can choose an animal, a bird, a fish, a river,
a continent, a poet, a statesman, an author, or a
celebrated character instead of a town. Russian Scandal is a
very interesting game. In this game, one member of the
company writes a short story on a slate, making it
as full of incident as he can. He then goes
outside the door and calls one of his companions to
him and reads the story aloud once very distinctly. After
doing this, he walks away and carries the slate with him.
The person to whom the story was read summons another
of the party, and narrates the story to him as
exactly as he can remember it. The third person tells
it to a fourth, and the fourth to a fifth,
and so on till each one of the party has
had the story narrated to him privately and solemnly outside
the door. When olive heard it, the last one to
go out comes into the room and narrates the story
to the whole company. The original is then read from
the slate, and it is quite curious to notice how
it is altered in the course of transmission. There is
no necessity for any intentional inaccuracy. If only there is
plenty of incident in the tail, it will be found
that it is almost impossible for the person who last
heard the story to repeat it exactly as the first
one gave it. The little fuss that is made in
entering and leaving the room makes the difficulty of remembrance
all the greater. Everyone knows the excellent and lively game
of musical chairs. There is a variety of it which
is not so well known, called the Huntsman. This can
be played by any number above four. The more the
merrier one of the players is the Huntsman. The others
are named after the different parts of his dress or appertinances.
Thus there are the gun, the hat, the coat, the boots,
the shot, the powder flask, the powder, the dog, the bag,
the game, et cetera. Chairs, as many as there are
players excluding the huntsmen, are placed in two rows back
to back, and the players seat themselves on these. When
everything is prepared, the huntsman walks round the sitters and
calls his followers by their chosen names. As each one
is called, he gets up and follows the huntsman. The
huntsmen may walk round slowly or run, just as he likes.
At any stage of the proceedings, he is allowed to
call out bang and immediately take possession of one of
the chairs, leaving his followers to seat themselves as they can.
Of course, one is left out as there is a
chair less than the number of players, and that one
must pay a forfeit. This game is convenient when there
is not a piano in the room. When there is
a piano, musical chairs played in the usual way, that is,
with the players marching round the chairs to music and
scrambling for seats when the music suddenly stops, is quite
as interesting Among twilight games, which may be played in
the interval between daylight and gaslight. Perhaps the best are how,
when and where? What is my thought like? Or what
is it like? And why is it like it? Think
of a word to rhyme with so and so, I
apprenticed my son and boz or the game of seven.
These games are too well known to need description. As
a variety, the Spanish Merchant may be played. The secret
of this game should be known only to one or two,
and the rest should try to guess it. The players
take it in turns to address their next neighbor. I
am a Spanish merchant, says one, what do you sell?
Is the retort. The secret of the game consists in
the merchant being careful to name as his article of
merchandise some object that he at the same time lightly
and unobtrusively. If he omits to do this, the leader says, ah,
you are no Spanish merchant and passes on to the next.
All sorts of ridiculous mistakes are made in trying to
dis mystery. My old grandmother doesn't like tea is another
game of the same character. In reply to this, the
question comes, what does she like? And the secret lies
in never allowing the letter t to enter into the word,
which is supposed to embody the predilection of the venerable
old lady. Among the tricks which are played upon the
good natured members of a Christmas party, brother I'm bobbed
is one which excites plenty of laughter. When this is played,
those who do not know the game are sent out
of the room. Three chairs are then placed in the
middle of the apartment, and each of the two end
ones are taken possession of by a lady or gentleman.
When they are comfortably seated, a large tablecloth is thrown
over the heads of the couple. The players are called
in one at a time and invited to seat themselves
on the vacant chair in the middle, and the cloth
is drawn over their heads also. They are then informed
that they will be bobbed occasionally and will be released
to see as they can guess who did the deed.
The three recei even turn a knock on the head,
and each one is expected to acknowledge the compliment by saying, brother,
I'm bobbed? Who bobbed you? Is the reply? Of course,
the initiated brothers inflict the blow, although they profess to
suffer as much as their fellow, and the novice is
inclined to charge every other member of the company with
the offense before it occurs to him to accuse his companions.
A very peculiar sensation may be experienced by those who
endeavor to blow out a candle without seeing where it is.
The candle is lighted and placed upon a table. The
player is then blindfolded and is told to walk three
steps to the right, to the left, backwards and forwards,
and in each case to come back to his first position.
He is then to turn around twice and blow out
the candle. In nine cases out of ten, he will
blow quite away from the place where the candle stands.
Perhaps it will be said that these games are not
particularly new. The wise man said, there is nothing new
under the stars, and games are not the exception. The
same sports which were common one hundred fifty years ago
are enjoyed today. The only difference is that they are
carried on in a more refined fashion. And it is
all the pleasanter that it should be. So. It is
delightful to think that our children take pleasure in the
same games that our grandfathers and grandmothers did let us
hope that the Christmas season may long retain its influence
as well as its games, that it may bind heart
to heart, And, as Washington Irving says, we may draw
our pleasures from the deep wells of living kindness which
lie in the quiet recesses of our bosoms, and which,
when resorted to furnish forth the pure element of domestic
felicity Phyllis Brown and of Christmas Games for Everybody by
Phyllis Brown,