BEDS

[frances]

I remember as a child playing Peevers, Chap door run, Kick the can and my favourite skipping. I can still picture my mum outside with us cawing (sp) the rope . In fact the local children used to knock at the door asking her if she was coming out to play-changed days.

I loved swimming and learned to swim at Dr. Bells baths in Great Junction Street in Leith. I seem to remember going for a chivery bite at a wee local sweet shop run I think by two sisters. I can still smell the toffee doddles, rhubarb rock, soor blooms and anniseed balls all wrapped up in a paper poke-happy days .

Frances

[joette]

We were often up in what we called the moors, the big hill and other places of adventure, including the ancient Druid stone (true it is there).
Stewie me too! Did you sledge down the big hill?We used to picnic on the Druid stones.Maybe you were one of the bigger boys who used to skip with us! The boys joined in most of our games excepting those involving dolls or dressing up!

[HeatherH]

And another variation on the O'Leary theme...
1,2,3 O'Leary
My boyfriends name is Terry
If you think it's neccessary
Look it up in a dictionary

We also played with a ball in a stocking with our backs against the wall we would sing...
Hello, hello, hello sir
Meet me at the grocer
No sir.
Why sir?
Because I've got a cold sir.
How'd you get your cold sir?
Hunting polar bears sir.
How many did you catch sir?
1,2,3, and so on till you missed.

We also played a game called Supercalla with either a large elastic ( the kind used for waist bands ) or by joining loads of elastics ( had to be extra careful with this one as it really stung when it snapped.
you needed 3 players but we found ways to play with less and more was always better. 2 people would stand with the elastic that had been joined into a circle by knotting the ends around their anckles and the 3rd person would jump in , out and side to side then place a foot on each side then jump from one side to the other and off while saying supercalla fragilistic expiella docious then the elastic was moved to kneesies and so on. We had to agree early on how many walks you would be allowed to complete the higher jumps and you had to use them wisely or you were out and took a turn in the ropes.

A favorite by far war baseball played behind the police station . If we timed it just right we could cause the ball to hit the back of the "cop shop" causing the coffee mugs on the shelf on the other side to jiggle about. It wasn't long before 1 or more would be out to show us how to play so we didn't miss the ball.

Though I grew up in a wee fishing village I can't say we were ever at a loss for something to do. Our imaginations worked battery free and we never needed to recharge like kids today with thei gameboys and PS2s.
The beach our house was on was not a sandy one but made of large rocks and stones we would use to outline the walls to our houses and then furnish them with bits of drift wood for plates or pretty rocks for a phone. Sounds strange now but when my daughter were younger they gave it a try on one of our visits to their gran and had a blast. I don't remember either asking when are we going somewhere I'm bored.
I have to admit we were still playing games of tag and spot light well into our teens . It never occured to us it was immature it was the perfect way to finish a summer evening as the sun was setting . Mind you the forfets when you got caught got a lot more interesting.
Cheers for the happy memories,
Heatherh

[StewL]

Joette

Sledge down the big hill, does Santa wear a read suit , we had two sleds, a small wooden one and a big one with a metal frame, harder to get up the hill but did it move down it As kids we had wee picnics at the druid stones, the family ones were up past the big hill probably on a farm if I recall.
I was born 52 ( ) and it was the two Ann's in the next close who we usually skipped ropes and played peevers with, maybe some others but they were the main ones. AND we did play house with the lassies in the nest close, they used to build their house like HeatherH said with stones, funnily only on our side of tenement, but playing house was blackmail, otherwise they wouldnt play with us at our games.
Used to play the ball in the stocking game too (ouch) and the elastic game, if we could get it off our mothers

[wini]

Well to sum it all up, it looks as if we had pleasant memories of our childhood.
No boredom, some naughty exploits like going over to a nearby quarry, forbidden, but done never the less. riding our bikes out to Wallace's Well, which was pretty much a bit of a dump in my childhood and my favourite treat was walking over to Hogganfield Loch (huggie Loch), on a Sunday afternoon and getting an ice cream poke from the Tallies. If I was really good I got to sit inside and get ice cream in a bowl with Raspberry flavouring on the top

wini

[joette]

I think that's a Mccallum Wini & my Auntie J in USA fav.treat.
One thing though which has always puzzled me-how come children all played games which are so similiar but with sometimes oceans in between them?
Is it just that we are all Jock Tamson bairns?

[Helen G]

As we all know "GOOD STOCK MAKES THE BEST BROTH"

[wini]

Joette,
Where did the name MacCallum come from for an ice cream? All the Ice cream shops were owned by Italians.
Just thought of another game played by the boys.. A girder, the rim of a bicycle wheel and rolled along hit by a stick.
Funnily enough the mention of MacCallum reminded me of our trip to Australia by ship in 1962, when we stopped at Port Said, in those days you came through the Suez canal, and some wee Egyptian kept shouting "Hello Mrs MacKintosh, yer a wee smasher" I think that was the exent of his English vocabulary. Probably learned during WW2.

wi ni

[joette]

I have no idea but my Mum still refers to it when the weans are having ice-cream with sauce on top as a "McCallum" I liked a snowball with mine too.

[AndrewP]

Where did the name MacCallum come from for an ice cream?

This article puts forward what it believes to be the origin of the McCallum ice cream.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/features/ ... ervice.php

All the best,

AndrewP