The American Girl's Handy Book

by Lina Beard

  30. It is a fault if the ball served does not drop between the service line, half-court line, and service side line of the court, diagonally opposite to that from which it was served.

  31. In matches, the decision of the umpire shall be final. Should there be two umpires, they shall divide the court between them, and the decision of each shall be final in his share of the court.

  ODDS.

  A bisque is one point which can be taken by the receiver of the odds at any time in the set except as follows:

  (a) A bisque cannot be taken after a service is delivered.

  (b) The server may not take a bisque after a fault, but the srriker-out may do so.

  One or more bisques may be given to increase or diminish other odds.

  Half fifteen is one stroke given at the beginning of the second, fourth, and every subsequent alternate game of a set.

  Fifteen is one stroke given at the beginning of every game of a set.

  Half thirty is one stroke given at the beginning of the first game, two strokes given at the beginning of the second game; and so on, alternately, in all the subsequent games of the set.

  Thirty is two strokes given at the beginning of every game of a set.

  Half forty is two strokes given at the beginning of the first game, three strokes given at the beginning of the second game; and so on, alternately, in all the subsequent games of the set.

  Forty is three strokes given at the beginning of every game of a set.

  Half court: The players may agree into which half court, right or left, the giver of the odds shall play; and the latter loses a stroke if the ball returned by him drop outside any of the lines which bound that half court.

  THE BALLS.

  The balls shall measure not less than 2 inches, nor more than 2 inches in diameter; and shall weigh not less than 1 OZ., nor more than 2 OZ.

  The May-Pole Dance.

  CHAPTER VI.

  MAY-DAY.

  Ho! the merrie first of Maie

  Bryngs the daunce and blossoms gaie,

  To make of lyfe a holiday.

  IN the merry heart of youth the old song still finds an echo, and this day, with its relics of pagan customs, celebrating, in the advent of spring, nature’s renewed fertility, is a festival full of fun for the children.

  Some of the ceremonies of May-day, handed down from generation to generation, were brought to America in old colonial days by the English, but owing, perhaps, to the stern puritanical training of most of the early settlers, the customs did not thrive here as in the mother country, and many of them have died out altogether.

  May-day is one of the many holidays still celebrated, that originated among the pagans ages ago, and it is said that the practice of choosing a May-queen and crowning her with flowers is a remnant of the ceremonies in honor of Flora, the goddess of flowers, which were held in Rome the last four days of April and the first of May.

  There was, at one time, a very pretty custom observed in Merrie England of fastening bunches of flowering shrubs and branches of sycamore and hawthorn upon the doors of those neighbors whose good lives and kindly habits were thus recognized by their friends.

  The maids and matrons of England formerly had a way of their own of observing the day. On the first of May they would all go trooping out with the earliest rays of the morning sun, to bathe their faces in the magic dew, which glistened upon the grass once a year only, and was supposed to render the features moistened with it beautiful for the next twelve months.

  When the writer was a wee little girl there lived next door to her home two old maiden ladies, who always kept a bottle of May-dew among their treasures. Although the ladies in question had long since passed that period when maidens are supposed to be lovely, superstitious persons might have found confirmation of a belief in the power of the dew, when they looked upon the sweet and kindly faces of these old maids. Faith in the fabled efficacy of May-dew will probably lose its last adherents when the two old ladies, very aged now, leave this world; but other pretty customs, from which all the superstitious elements seem to have departed, should not be allowed to die out, and we intend this chapter on May-day sports as a reminder that May-day is a holiday and should be fittingly celebrated by the older girls as well as the little children, who, in these times, seem to be the only ones to remember the day.

  May-day Sports.

  A May-day custom, and a very pretty one, still survives among the children in our New England States. It is that of hanging upon the door-knobs of friends and neighbors pretty spring-offerings in the shape of small baskets filled with flowers, wild ones, if they can be obtained; if not, the window-gardens at home are heavily taxed to supply the deficiency. When the dusky twilight approaches, it is time for the merry bands of young folks to start out on this lovely errand of going from house to house, leaving behind them the evidence of their flying visit in these sweetest of May-offerings. Silently approaching a door, they hang a May-basket upon the knob and, with a loud rap, or ring of the bell, scamper off, and flee as though for life.

  The Straw Basket.

  Fig. 33.

  These little Mayers are sometimes pursued, but few are ever caught, for the recipients of the baskets know that to capture a child, carry her into the house and treat her to sweetmeats, usually dear to the youthful palate, will not compensate the little prisoner for being held captive and thereby missing the fun going on among the other children.

  How to Make May-baskets.

  The dainty little baskets which are used by the Mayers are generally of home manufacture. They are made of almost any material, and in a variety of shapes. Some, constructed of cardboard, are covered with crimped tissue-paper, or with gilt, silver, or colored paper. They are never large unless flowers are plentiful, and even in that case a small basket is prettier.

  Our first illustration represents a May-basket made of straws. Fig. 33 shows the frame of this basket, for which three straws seven inches long are required; these are sewed together, two and one-half inches from the bottom, forming a tripod. For the sides eighteen straws are necessary, six on each side, of graduating lengths; the three top straws being five inches long and the lowest ones three and one-half inches. These are sewed to the frame, log-cabin fashion, one upon another.

  The bottom of the basket is made of a three-cornered piece of card-board cut to fit; three straws, two and one-half inches long, hold the base of the frame in position. A handle formed of three ribbons finishes off this May-basket very prettily; a ribbon is tied to each corner of the basket; the other ends meeting form a bow, as shown in the illustration.

  Birch-bark Baskets

  are quite appropriate for wild flowers, and one in the shape of a canoe can be made from a strip of bark six and one-half inches long and four inches wide. Fig. 34 gives the pattern of this basket. The dotted lines show where the ends are to be sewed together; a ribbon sewed to each end of the canoe serves for a handle.

  Card-board Baskets,

  cut after the pattern Fig. 35, can be covered with gilt, silver, or crimped tissue-paper as desired; paper lace or fringe is sometimes placed around the edges of baskets of this kind, as a border to rest the flowers upon. The card-board basket shown in illustration is joined together by buttonhole stitching of colored-silk floss; slits are cut in two sides and a ribbon slipped through, the ends of which are tied in bow-knots to hold them in place.

  Fig 34.

  The Birch-bark Basket.

  May-day Combat.

  This game, although suggested by the ceremonies which, according to Waldron, usher in the month of May in the Isle of Man, is entirely new and bids fair to become popular, as it combines the elements of beauty, sentiment and mirth.

  The Card-board Basket.

  A number of young people separate into two parties, each having its queen; one the Queen of May, the other Queen of Winter. The May-queen and her attendants should be decked with flowers, Winter and her retinue being without decoration. Equipped with the appropriate imple
ments of warfare between the two seasons, namely, a wreath of flowers for spring and a ball of raw cotton, or wool, representing snow, for winter, the contending forces draw up in opposing lines, the space between being about twelve feet. Each line is headed by its respective queen, who holds her missile in her hand.

  Fig. 35.

  The game is commenced by the two queens simultaneously tossing the wreath and ball to someone in the opposite line, whose name is called as the missile is thrown. Should the person to whom it is thrown fail to catch it, she is made prisoner and must do battle on the other side, being released only when she succeeds in catching the missile belonging to her own party.

  When the wreath and ball are caught, they are instantly tossed back to the opposite rank, and so the game goes on. Hostilities must cease when prisoners are being taken or released, to be recommenced when both sides announce themselves ready.

  If either queen is captured she is ransomed by the return of all the prisoners taken on her side; should she have no prisoners to release, the game is ended.

  If the May-queen and her forces are defeated, they must strip off their floral decorations and give them to the victors, who, decked in these trophies, become the representatives of Spring, and the Queen of Winter is made Queen of May and is crowned by her vanquished and dethroned opponent. The former May-queen and her retinue, after offering their congratulations, must serve as attendants on the triumphant queen and do her bidding.

  When the May-queen proves victorious the programme is reversed, and Winter and her party become the subjects of May.

  The May-pole.

  An old writer, speaking of the May-games held in England, says, “Their cheefest jewell is their Maie-poole,” and to leave the May-pole out of our list of May-sports would indeed deprive the day of one of its most important and prettiest features. The appropriate place for the May-pole is, of course, out of doors; yet the climate in most of our Northern States is so changeable and uncertain it may be found necessary for comfort to hold the festivities in the house, and in that case the following directions for erecting the pole in a room of moderate dimensions will be found useful.

  How to Erect a May-pole in the House.

  A May-pole from ten to twelve feet high is as tall as the ceilings of most rooms will admit.

  The pole should be round, smooth, and about five inches in diameter at the base, growing gradually smaller toward the top.

  Fig. 36.

  For its support a wooden box is necessary, the average size being three feet long, two feet wide, and one foot high. Remove the top of the box, and directly in the centre of it cut a hole large enough to admit the pole. Take two sticks, two inches wide, and long enough to fit lengthwise in the box, and two shorter ones fitting the box crosswise, and nail them securely in the position shown in Fig. 36, driving the nails from the outside of the box. Slip the pole through the hole which has been cut in the top, and then stand it in an upright position between the four sticks in the centre of the box (Fig. 37). Be sure that the pole stands perfectly straight; then, before nailing down the top, fill the box with sand, bricks, or stones, packing them tightly around the pole; this will give sufficient weight to prevent its tipping. Nail the top on, and cover the box with moss or green cloth, and bank it up with flowers.

  How to Dress a May-pole.

  In olden times the May-poles were painted in alternate stripes of yellow and black, but a white pole is prettier and shows the decorations to better advantage. Tack the ends of eight or ten variously colored ribbons, one and one-half inch wide, around the pole near the top. For a pole ten feet high the ribbons should be four yards long. Around where the ribbons are fastened on, suspend a wreath of flowers, as shown in Fig. 38. Decorate the extreme tip of the pole with gaily colored streamers, or small flags.

  May-pole Dance.

  An even number of persons are required for this dance; half the number take the end of a ribbon in the right hand and half in the left; they then stand facing alternately right and left. When the dance commences, each dancer facing the right passes under the ribbon held by the one opposite facing the left; she then allows the next person going to the left to pass under her ribbon, and so, tripping in and out, under and over, the ribbons are woven around the pole.

  Fig. 37.

  After continuing for a while, according to the above directions, the dancers separate into two equal divisions, and each party, independent of the other, plaits a strip which hangs loosely from the pole.

  In performing this variation the two parties stand on either side of the pole, and all those facing the right pass on in that direction, going in and out as at first, until the last person going to the right has passed the last person going to the left in her division; then, transferring the ribbons to their other hands, they all turn and reverse the order. Thus they continue, going back and forth until the plait is about a foot in length, when another change is made by the two parties joining forces again; this time, all those facing the left proceed in that direction, passing under the ribbons of all the others who are going to the right, thus forming two circles, one within the other. After going twice around the pole in this order, the dancers composing the inner circle take the outside and the others pass beneath their ribbons, again circling the pole twice; then, after going through the first figure once more the dance may be ended, or the whole order may be reversed, and the ribbons, in that way, be unplaited again.

  Fig. 38.

  An appropriate song, with words set to a dancing air, should be sung by those taking part in the May-pole dance.

  CHAPTER VII.

  MIDSUMMER EVE.

  IN the minds of most of us, midsummer is associated with dry, dusty roads, parched vegetation, the shrill cry of the locust,* the shriller notes of the mosquitoes, and the hum of myriads of other insects; but, girls, midsummer does not come at this time: astronomy fixes the date at June 21st, the longest day of the year, when the leaves are still glossy green with the fresh sap circulating through their veins, giving them that healthy, juicy look so refreshing to the eye, and the heat of the sun has not yet dried to a white powder the firm country roads over which we delight to wander.

  Ages ago the Pagans used to celebrate the day with rejoicing, because old Sol’s bright face had broken loose from the clouds of winter, and the rain and mists of spring. They symbolized the revolution of the season by rolling great wooden wheels down the hill-sides; sometimes attaching straw to the outer circle and setting fire to it at night, making a miniature midnight sun as it dashed down the steep incline.

  The people also believed that ill-luck rolled away from them with the fiery wheel, and to this day you will see Fortune or Misfortune represented as travelling, like an acrobat at a circus, upon a wheel.

  Midsummer-eve Party.

  All the elves, brownies, and fays were supposed to be on hand at midsummer night, and it is this old superstition that Shakespeare has so beautifully illustrated in his “Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

  It was on midsummer eve that the supposed invisible seeds of the fern could be gathered which rendered the fortunate possessor invisible whenever he chose to carry them about with him. Among other strange and some quite pretty superstitions, there is a tradition that a coal, found attached to the roots of the mugwort or plantain on midsummer eve, will keep away misfortune and insure good luck to the finder.

  The girls of to-day who, although advanced enough to discard the superstitious element, can appreciate the poetic ideas symbolized by these ancient rites, may take hints for the entertainment of themselves and friends from the old belief in the mysteries and charms of midsummer eve.

  Games can be invented, and pretty keepsakes and souvenirs exchanged upon this night, that will translate ancient paganism into modern good feeling and fellowship.

  The New Fern-leaf Game.

  Some one who has charge of the games shows to the assembled girls and boys a fern-leaf, and explains to them the legend connected with it, and the power of the se
ed to render the possessor invisible. Next she blindfolds them all; then, choosing one from among them, she removes the bandage from the player’s eyes without allowing the others to know who has been selected to be the bearer of the magic fern. After giving the fern-leaf into the keeping of the chosen one, she places the latter in the centre of a ring formed by the rest of the players, who take hold of hands and circle round; then, still holding hands, they forward to the centre and return; letting go hands, they forward again, this time the fern-bearer joins in the ranks. Once more the ring is formed and they circle round, singing these lines:

  Round goes the wheel,

  To the one who finds

  Round goes the year,

  The seeds of the fern,

  For woe or for weal,

  Misfortune and evil

  Midsummer is here.

  To good luck will turn.

  At the word “turn,” each player seizes another and cries out, “fern, fern!” at the same time removing the handkerchief from the eyes.

  To the one who really has captured the magic fern a pretty card or silk badge, bearing a pictured fern and some appropriate motto, is given, as a token that the entire company wish all possible good luck to the possessor.

  The Plantain Test.