High Cockalorum

For the game where players guess objects or build a large pile, see Buck buck.

High Cockalorum (also Highcockalorum or Buck Buck) is a mess game which involves two teams of roughly 12 people played in a large open space, such as a hall.[1] One team, the supporting team, stands in a line at one end of the hall. The other team lines up at the opposite side. The other team must run as fast as they can and jump onto the backs of the supporting team.[2] If all the players remain mounted for 10 seconds, the supporting team gets a point. They then swap over.

The game is also known as 'Polly on the Mopstick' in Birmingham, 'Strong Horses, Weak Donkeys' in Monmouthshire, 'Hunch, Cuddy, Hunch' in west Scotland, 'Mont-a-Kitty' in Middlesbrough, 'Husky Fusky Finger or Thumb' in Nottinghamshire, 'High Jimmy Knacker' in east London, and 'Wall-e-Acker' or 'Warny Echo' in north-west London. Those who grew up in Cardiff often called it 'Stagger Loney'; in Watford, 'Jump the Knacker 1-2-3', and 'Trust' in Lancashire. In South Africa and some Arab countries, it is (or was) known as 'Buck buck'.[3]

Notorious for its danger, the game was banned in many schools in the 1950s after being popular in the Second World War.

References

  1. ↑ Mess Games forum at pprune.org
  2. ↑ Porter, Enid (1969). Cambridgeshire Customs and Folklore. Cambridgeshire, England: Routledge & K. Paul. p. 208.
  3. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/aug/12/letters.theobserver

External links

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