The following is the first in a series of reflections from Ted on life at the Tyler Place during his youth in the late 1930's and the 1940's. Following posts will include reflections on various topics from hunting for ducks, skunks, games like this one and Arrow in the Air, The Tyler family and more.
Ringalevio
Ringalevio, a more exciting cousin of kick-the-can and Capture the Flag - played over a wider terrain, both horizontal and vertical. "Out of Bounds" consisted of the lakeshore (note the bluffs and cliffs along the lake was legal); the Shipyard Bay Road and its extension east to Route 7 on the south; the west side of Route 7 north to the Raake Road; and the Raake Road to the lakeshore near where we now have the Monday night bonfire. I mention "vertical" because any place in or on the huge, old barn (where the pool complex is now) was in bounds, including the rooftop (with its cupola). (When we only had an hour or two for the game, the eastern boundary became the Old Dock Road.)
Like most of our games, Ringalevio was designed for participation over a wide range of ages. Teams were chosen in the usual way: two captains alternately picked team members from whoever was present - the oldest, fastest and those with the most wind power being the first choices - without qualms on anyone's part: if you were the youngest, you knew that your day would eventually come.
One team (I'll refer to them as Team A) would then enclose itself in the silo or milk house or some other small space while the other team dispersed or hid. Here were the two alternate strategies for Team B: if you were fast and could keep up the pace, you might not even try to hide, but just count on outdistancing your pursuers on Team A. If you were slow or small, hiding was your best bet - and here is where a really young participant could get his or her revenge for being picked last. There were games that petered out at suppertime because a 6-year old had holed up somewhere that no one else had thought of - or could fit into.
As you have no doubt surmised, the "finder" team proceeded to find or run down the members of the opposite team and bring them back to the jail. Once touched, a member of Team B was duty-bound to go to "jail" and stay in physical contact with it. Once all members of Team B were jailed, that round of the game was over and the teams switched positions.
The choice of the location of the jail (perhaps a tree stump or a boulder) needed to be carefully considered. Ideally it was out in the open, approachable from all sides - but with some sort of "cover" (woods, a building, or the like) available at a reasonable distance from several directions. This was because if one uncaptured member of Team B could touch the jail and shout, "Ringaleveo" before being touched by the jailer, all captured members of Team A were free to run and Team B would have to capture them all over again. This meant that a strategic part of the game was Team A's choice of a jailer. On the one hand you wanted someone fast enough to be able to catch an incoming runner from Team B before he or she could reach the jail; on the other hand, this same person might be required to assist in running down some speed demon on the opposing team. (Jailers could be changed in the course of the game as strategy required, but one important rule was to allow no member of Team A - besides the jailer - to come closer than 25 feet from the jail. Outside that 25 foot radius, any member of Team B was fair game for any member of Team A.)
As you can imagine, a great deal of ingenuity was used in finding places to hide. Likewise, there were some marvelous "chases", often hand over hand, along the cliffs, or races along the beams high above the barn floor, or chases well up into some pretty tall trees. And even the fastest and most indefatigable runner could eventually be cornered by a pack of members of Team B.
Like most of our games, Ringalevio was designed for participation over a wide range of ages. Teams were chosen in the usual way: two captains alternately picked team members from whoever was present - the oldest, fastest and those with the most wind power being the first choices - without qualms on anyone's part: if you were the youngest, you knew that your day would eventually come.
One team (I'll refer to them as Team A) would then enclose itself in the silo or milk house or some other small space while the other team dispersed or hid. Here were the two alternate strategies for Team B: if you were fast and could keep up the pace, you might not even try to hide, but just count on outdistancing your pursuers on Team A. If you were slow or small, hiding was your best bet - and here is where a really young participant could get his or her revenge for being picked last. There were games that petered out at suppertime because a 6-year old had holed up somewhere that no one else had thought of - or could fit into.
As you have no doubt surmised, the "finder" team proceeded to find or run down the members of the opposite team and bring them back to the jail. Once touched, a member of Team B was duty-bound to go to "jail" and stay in physical contact with it. Once all members of Team B were jailed, that round of the game was over and the teams switched positions.
The choice of the location of the jail (perhaps a tree stump or a boulder) needed to be carefully considered. Ideally it was out in the open, approachable from all sides - but with some sort of "cover" (woods, a building, or the like) available at a reasonable distance from several directions. This was because if one uncaptured member of Team B could touch the jail and shout, "Ringaleveo" before being touched by the jailer, all captured members of Team A were free to run and Team B would have to capture them all over again. This meant that a strategic part of the game was Team A's choice of a jailer. On the one hand you wanted someone fast enough to be able to catch an incoming runner from Team B before he or she could reach the jail; on the other hand, this same person might be required to assist in running down some speed demon on the opposing team. (Jailers could be changed in the course of the game as strategy required, but one important rule was to allow no member of Team A - besides the jailer - to come closer than 25 feet from the jail. Outside that 25 foot radius, any member of Team B was fair game for any member of Team A.)
As you can imagine, a great deal of ingenuity was used in finding places to hide. Likewise, there were some marvelous "chases", often hand over hand, along the cliffs, or races along the beams high above the barn floor, or chases well up into some pretty tall trees. And even the fastest and most indefatigable runner could eventually be cornered by a pack of members of Team B.
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