The rhyme, with small change, is still familiar in Scotland, and the game well known in Pennsylvania, where the defiance runs, less chivalrously,
Hally, hally, hastle,
Come into my new castle!
Or, with a change of usage,
Hally, hally, hastle,
Get off of my new castle!
In the first case the defender maintains his post against assailants; in the latter, he endeavors to capture one of a group who have established themselves in his castle, represented usually by a cellar-door.
No. 112.
Lil Lil.
This game is played in an open field. A boy stands in the centre of the field, and the other players at the sides. With the cry "Lil lil!" they run across. The tagger must touch a runner three times on the back, and whoever is so caught must assist him. There is a rhyme for this game—
Lil, lil,
Over the hill,
Wash my lady's dishes,
Hang them on the bushes, etc.
"Lil lil!" is also a cry (in Boston) of children "coasting," when the track is to be cleared.