A game called “[The Beds],” mentioned by a writer in Blackwood’s Magazine, August 1821, p. 36, as played in Edinburgh when he was a boy by girls only, is described as a game where a pitcher is kicked into chalked divisions of the pavement, the performer being on one leg and hopping.
See “[Hop-scotch].”
Hard Buttons
Several boys place one button each close together on a line. The game consists in hitting a particular button out of this line with the nicker without touching the others. This is generally played in London streets, and is mentioned in the Strand Magazine, ii. 515.
Hare and Hounds
A boys’ game. One boy is chosen as the Hare. He carries with him a bag filled with strips of paper. The rest of the boys are the Hounds. The Hare has a certain time (say fifteen minutes) allowed him for a start, and he goes across country, scattering some paper on his way in order to indicate his track. He may employ any manœuvre in order to deceive his pursuers, but must keep up the continuity of his paper track-signs. The Hounds follow him and try to catch him before he gets home, which is a place agreed upon beforehand.—London (G. L. Gomme).
In Cornwall the leader, when at fault, says—
Uppa, uppa, holye! If you don’t speak
My dogs shan’t folly.
—Courtney (Folk-lore Journal, v. 73).