18th Century Games

Children's and youth games.

Gomez et al. (1992) consider that games and children's songs are practically inseparable and, although it is true that
currently there are many games where movement is the main protagonist (sports games), we must accept, on the other
hand, that there are also games in which The song is as important as the movement that accompanies them, especially
at the earliest ages and in popular and traditional festivals. Most of the taxonomies of the children's songbook include
lullabies, school songs, congratulatory songs, songs to make people angry, etc., and in this sense, we have rescued in
Goya's painting for this section, the songs that, evidently, are they sang during recreational and recreational activities or
games, which we detail below.

Passing Game (1781)

This game is called “Piola” in Puerto Real. It is often accompanied by the oral expression of the participants through
sung rhythmic and musical forms: “At one o'clock my mule, at two o'clock the cabbage, at three o'clock the culá de S.
Andrew…"

Swing Games

The Swing (1787)

The first compilation songbook of the popular repertoire where a classification that includes swing songs appears is One
Hundred Children's Songs (Olarte, 1997). According to Latorre (2002), the game was played especially on festive outings
to the countryside and was done by tying a rope to a very strong branch of a tree where one partner sits and the other
propels him or her to the rhythm of songs like the following:
“1,2,3,4,5,6,...10, let the girl get out of the rocking chair, if she doesn't want to get out, they'll fuck her with the end of a
frying pan.”
According to Andrades et al (1994), the Canteras Park, due to its connection with the population - who has used it as a
place of recreation and leisure since the 19th century, and its very particular physiognomy - has been and is currently
considered , one of the most traditional and picturesque places in Puerto Real. During the period studied, this park was
designated the "site of Troy", where swings were surely played. The Historical Archive of Puerto Real has a Mayor's
Order dated 1792 prohibiting the carnival and among other oppositions we find the use of swings both in public and in
private homes. This situation is conditioned by the desire to prevent recreational gatherings, considered immoral and
promiscuous, between people of both sexes and which could lead to the appearance of games of an erotic nature
(Iglesias, 2003). Anarte et al (1991) reveal that the 1794 carnival party states in the third section “that swings should not
be used in public with men and women in attendance, under the aforementioned penalty of six ducats…”.
The seesaw

The Seesaw (1780)

This game consists of two or more children balancing on a tree trunk, supported by their center of balance on some
stones. At the ends of the trunk, the participants sit counteracting the weight, who enjoy the rhythmic rise and fall. The
daily use of the swing comes from ancient Greece, and although it was an element designed primarily for girls, according
to Plutarch it was also used by children and old people to maintain their physical condition.
1.2. Ring games.
They are games of skill in which dexterity, expertise, skill, ingenuity, etc. are required. and emotional relationships.
Competition is an added element with the objective of beating the opposing group or overcoming some difficulty. Most of
the classifications of the popular songbook frame those that accompany this type of games within the correndero, corro,
Rueda songs, etc., where children and adolescents sang songs at dusk. Among them we have selected the little blind hen
and the romper.
The blind man's hen
In the squares of some towns, this game is usually still played. It is a variation of the "blind man's chicken" group in which
one is blindfolded and made to spin around its longitudinal axis several times so that he loses his orientation, at which
point he must capture a partner and guess who it is. . Goya's painting of the blind man's hen is also called the “ladle” due
to the device (wooden spoon) used by the individual in the center of the circle.

The Little Blind Hen (1788)

In the corrovarios games, participants join hands forming a circle and go around and perform different movements to the
beat of different songs, among which we can point out, as best known:
“The patio of my house is particular, when it rains it gets wet like the others…”.
“The potato ring…”
The romper
It constitutes a funny song, where four girls keep a boy in the Manzanares meadow. On the faces of some of them you
can see the evil satisfaction with which they raise a ridiculous figure dressed as a man into the air. It seems as if they
want revenge by mocking the “stronger” sex. Today this popular entertainment has gradually fallen into disuse, although it
is still seen sporadically in youth communities that replace the doll with a companion whom they keep among the laughter
and songs of the participants.
 The Puppet (1791)
http://weblitoral.com/estudios/juegos-del-siglo-xviii
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the streets and squares of towns and villages were the preferred places to play. There
is a famous painting entitled "Children's Games", in which the Dutch painter Pieter Brueghel "the Elder" represents a
group of children in a square of a Flemish city playing eighty-six different games: jumping on the piola, playing the
ball, playing hide and seek, playing with the hoop, telling riddles... Games, in short, like those that Spanish children
played until the sixties of the 20th century in our country, before the streets and squares disappeared as places of
meeting and recreation and before television and video game consoles replaced the hoop. the dolls.

What did Spanish children play in Quevedo's time? Well, games that have practically survived until the 20th century,
although with slight variations and with other names. Thus, one of the most popular was the game. of the pezperigaña,
which consists of resting the palms of the hands on a table, while a child pinches the hands one by one, while reciting
some verses. When he finished reciting, the hand that matched the . The last word was placed on the child's forehead
and the game began again. Another game similar to the current "Churro, media manga o mangotero" was "Recotín,
recotán, turn your hand back", in which after casting lots or casting lots, the loser crouched down, putting his head
between the thighs of the person who played the role. "mother", while the others jumped on him, alternately hitting
him on the back with their fist or elbow to the rhythm of these verses:

Recotín, recotán
de la vera, vera va.
From the palace to the kitchen,
What's on your back?

The child had to guess the figure made by the other child on top: a bell, with his hand cupped; a cauldron, with the
hand up; a hammer, if he showed his fist; and a pair of scissors if he shrank his fingers. The children also played hide-
and-seek ("Come out, salt shaker, you will come, gentleman") and circle ("Miguel's pot"), or even games that were
related to the persecution of Jews and Moors.

The games, as has been said elsewhere in this work, were almost identical in all parts
of the world, changing the name and some of the characteristics. Those same games have survived to this day,
although they are hardly ever played anymore. In the Children's Museum there is documentation that collects the
childhood games that were played in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, being a fundamental document for the
history of children's play. One of the games, "Le dada" (the little horse ) has been played until not long ago, it
consisted of standing on a cane, rod or stick with a horse's head that could be made of wood, cardboard or plastic
(currently ).
 Another of the oldest known games is the zompo, the horn or the top, a name that
varies depending on the place and time.

In the 17th century, a modality known since ancient times was played, which consisted of keeping the zompo in motion
using whips. The French knew this game as "Le sabot " and the Spanish " La trompa". In this engraving you can see how
several children, armed with branches, try to make the zompo "doze", that is, to remain apparently immobilized
thanks to its balance.

Another modality was the one that has survived to this day, consisting of throwing a zompo to the ground, using a rope
that is wrapped at the end, to make it dance for as long as possible.

It was also held with the palm of the hand, to make it dance on it, with the player who managed to keep it on it the
longest winning. This game was known in the 19th century as "The Pawn."

Two other games, characteristic of the 17th century, very similar to the current game of "breaks", consisting of
dropping "stamps" or "cards" to the ground from a wall and "stepping on" or covering those of the other players, were
that of the "pins", which consisted of mounting a pin on top of the other player's and keeping it when obtained, and
that of the "chips".

The "swing" and the "blind chicken " were two games similar to those that were played in the towns of Spain in the first
half of the 20th century. Similar to the 20th century game of "forty in a boat ", it was the game of "castles", which was
played with piles of four marbles or cherry pits, placing three at the base and one at the top, with the players having
to manage to knock him down by throwing a ball from a certain distance.
Two other games that have survived to this day are "hopscotch" and "tic-tac-toe ." The game of hopscotch is a game of
balance and skill. Currently, in some places in the province of Albacete it is known by the name "lunes" or "tejo". A
girl's game that was played on a figure with several compartments drawn on the floor and consisted of passing a piece
of tile from one to another that was pushed with one foot, jumping over it with one leg.

Hoops and bowling were also practiced in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first was
made to roll on the ground, hitting it with the hand or with a wooden stick.
Bowling has survived to this day with hardly any variation, except for the material and decoration. It is a toy consisting
of a wooden or bone stick with a point on one side and a bowl on the other; It has a perforated ball attached with a
thread in its center and the game consists of throwing this ball and collecting it, either in the bowl or by threading it
on the tip.

Another game very similar to other current ones, such as "el palmillo" or "cuarenta en boat ", was called "el tejo" in the
17th century. This consisted of throwing a throw from a certain distance at a standing object. The player who
managed to knock him down and leave him a hand's breadth away from his puck won. " churro, half manga and

mangotero " is a game that has transcended the times.

The boys, bent and aligned, hold the hips of the person in front of them while the jumpers try to go as far as possible.
"Churro, half manga and mangotero " is the formula they pronounce when they are on top of their companions,
pointing to the wrist, elbow or shoulder. If those who are crouching get it right, they leave their position to those who
are above.

The "bumblebee" was a popular game in Andalusia and Castile in the first half of the 20th century, consisting of hitting
the hand of a boy with his back to the rest of the players, and who covered his face with the other. hand, having to
guess who had hit it, while the others made noise with their mouths, as if they were bumblebees. In the 18th century
this game was known as "hot hand."
The "street runner" or game of jumping several children, one after another, along a path or street, was called
"saltacabrilla" in the 17th century.

In the following illustration you can see two games, one of them has survived until the 20th century, it is the game of
tranco or pita (as it is known in Andalusia), consisting of hitting a short stick with a longer one and throw it through
the air as far as possible. The other game - the one on the right - is unknown to us. As can be seen in the engraving, it
is a game of resistance and balance, known as the plow game.

Playing war or soldiers was very common in past times and is still in many places today.

The aggressiveness that every child carries inside was revealed in these types of games. The following were the war
games: slingshot, which, as its name indicates, involved throwing small stones at each other using simple slingshots or
slingshots.
Playing with wooden, metal or plastic swords has always been practiced throughout the ages.
In the 17th century this activity was known as the game of fencing .
Clashes between gangs of friends were evident in the game of battle, where fights with fists and kicks were frequent
in the streets and squares of our towns in times past.

A game similar to the current "rompes" or "estampas" was the so-called token game. The children placed a coin or a
token of any material on the wall and let it fall to the floor.
With a stick or their hand they measured the distance between them, and whoever managed to place them within one
hand's breadth won.

Among the ball or marble games, the following two should be highlighted in the 17th and 18th centuries: the little hole
and the bone hole. The first of them was known as a tabletop game and it involved making the marble enter all the
holes, successively.

In the bone pit , players had to try to put several fruit bones in a hole, with the player who succeeded in one attempt
winning.
Bowling was also a very common game in the Modern Age. Simple pieces of wood, barely worked, were usually used.
Balance, aim and strength were essential qualities to knock down all the bowling pins.

One of the cruelest games that was played at the time we are describing was the one known as "the victim." A child
played the victim, being dragged by two or three, while the rest of the players were whipping him with rods or hats.
The "victim" who lasted the longest holding the rope while being mistreated won.

Of very remote origins was the game of riders , where boys riding on the backs of others had to try to knock each other
down with their fists. It was, therefore, a violent game with sometimes unpleasant consequences, since children could
be injured by being hit or falling to the ground.
Another game, of strength and balance, was known as short cane . Two children were placed one in front of the other,
sitting on the ground, and, leaning one foot against the other, they had to get up from the ground using force on a
stick that they held in their hands.

Finally, we must highlight a ball game that consisted of throwing a ball to each other, propelling it with a wooden
wristband that each child placed on their right arm.

http://museodenino.blogspot.com.ar/2008/11/museo-del-nio-juegos-y-pupitres.html