Musical Ruth and Jacob.
This is particularly for a group of guests who could in no sense be called musical. The guests are standing in a circle with a man and a girl in the center. If the group is large, have them crowd in to make the circle space smaller so that it will not make Jacob’s work too difficult. The game is played like the old-fashioned “Ruth and Jacob,” both of them being blindfolded, it being the task of Jacob to catch Ruth. Instead of calling “Ruth,” however, Jacob sings up the scale, whether he can or not, and Ruth answers by singing down the scale, both of them using “Loo” instead of do-re-mi.
The game is infinitely more ridiculous if neither one can sing, and if the leader has created the right atmosphere, even though a man protests, “I just can’t sing,” he will usually finish up by making a noble effort to do it anyhow!
When Jacob catches Ruth, the leader, who has in the meantime been looking over the circle, immediately announces the next two victims and almost invariably public opinion will be with her to such an extent that they step forth, willy-nilly.
Mimic.
If there are more than fifteen or twenty guests, choose about six men and six girls to form the circle. Even “Mimic” becomes monotonous in a large circle. Those forming the circle are seated, men beside their partners, the leader taking the part of one of the girls. She begins the action by doing something to the man at her right who in turn must mimic her action exactly to the girl to his right, and so the action goes all around the circle till it comes back to the leader who starts a new one. This may continue for about four or five rounds, and can be made the best game of the evening if the leader has planned sufficiently diabolical actions. For example, her first might be to do a funny step in front of him, at the time tra-la-la-la-ing in a high key. Her right-hand neighbor must imitate her to the very best of his ability. Her next action might be to sing up the scale to the highest note she can reach; next, she might cry as realistically as possible; and then laugh as musically as she can!
Shun the Circle.
Guests form a large circle, the men on the right side of their partners, all of them faced for marching. Four or more circles about four feet in diameter have been roughly drawn in chalk on the floor. The distance between them depends on the size of the circle formed by the group. When the music starts, everyone begins to march around in circle formation with the one rule that everyone must walk straight across each of the small circles described on the floor. Suddenly the leader’s whistle blows, the music stops, all movement halts, and anyone caught in any of the small circles is discarded. If the leader has a watchful eye she can blow the whistle at a bad time and make it mighty uncomfortable for some couple, just poised, to take the first step into one of the circles, or another couple just on the outer edge of the danger zone. The precarious balancing in either case is choice!
This continues at the leader’s discretion. Almost never is it advisable to carry it through till the last couple is caught.