George's Notes
One of the oldest games in the world, variations of which were played by Red Indians, Aborigines and Chinese, is the one generally known in South-East Lancashire as“Peggy”. The Yorkshire game of Knur and Spell is one variant and Tipcat, played in Shropshire is another, whilst in Eastern Europe, it is known as Swynky or kytchky and on the Indian sub-continent the game is called Gulli or Gulli Danda.
Although it was a favourite game to us as boys, sixty or more years ago [1978], the place to see a real peggy match was Cronkeyshaw Common where the masters played on summer nights. These were grown men and many exciting matches have I seen played by them. One man who was known for miles around Rochdale for his skill at the game was John Tommy Chadwick of Noon Sun Street, and there was always a large crowd at any match when he was playing, besides plenty of betting.
George Mainwaring
