II. The main part of playground neutral territory, with home goals for the opposing parties at opposite ends, with prisons in, near, or attached to them. (Diagrams II, V.)
III. The main part of playground neutral territory, with home goals for both parties at the same end, attached or separate, and prisons at the opposite end, either (1) on the same side of the ground as the home goal, or (2) on the enemy's side of the ground. (Diagrams III-IV.)
The rules for play for the second and third types of ground are fundamentally the same, though differing in details, and they differ from those for Diagram I. The playing qualities of the games for the last three diagrams, however, are very distinct because of the different methods of the enemies' approach to each other (which make differences in the risk of "dares"), and because of the differing risks in rescuing prisoners and taking the enemy's goal by entry.
It has seemed best to make a selection of the typical forms, and leave the leader of games free to choose his own. The first form is the simplest for beginners and younger players, and makes a good introduction to the game for such players.
Stealing Sticks is still another form of Prisoner's Base. The main difference lies in the carrying away of the enemy's property.
Prisoner's Base and related games are supposed to have descended from the days of border warfare. They are very old, and Strutt mentions a "Proclamation at the head of the Parliamentary proceedings early in the reign of Edward the Third, ... where it [Prisoner's Base] is prohibited in the avenues of the palace at Westminster during the sessions of Parliament, because of the interruption it occasioned to the members and others in passing to and fro." The game at that time was played by adults.
PRISONER'S BASE—I
10 to 30 or more players.
Playground; gymnasium.