[“[Jack’s Alive],” vol. i. p. 257.]
A little slip of wood or straw is lit and blown out, and while it is red it is passed round from one to another, each man repeating as fast as he can—
Dan’l, my man,
If ye die in my han’,
The straddle and mat is sure to go on.
The man in whose hand the spark dies has to go down on his knees. A chair, or some other article, is held over him, and he has to guess what it is, the others crying out—
Trum,[15] trum, what’s over your head?
If he is wrong it is left on him and another article brought, and so on.—Kiltubbrid, Co. Leitrim (L. L. Duncan).
[15] “Trum” is for the Irish “trom,” = heavy.