through the wicket without throwing down the bail. The external stumps are now seven inches apart, and all of them three feet two inches in height. At single wicket, the striker with his bat is the protector of the wicket; the opposing party stand in the field, to catch or stop the ball, and the bowler, who is one of them, takes his place by the side of a small stump, set up for that purpose, at the distance of two-and-twenty yards from the wicket, from which station he bowls the ball at the wicket, with the intention of beating it down. If he prove successful in his aim, the batsman retires from the play, and another of his party succeeds; but if, on the contrary, the ball is struck by the bat, and driven into the field, beyond the reach of those who stand out to stop it, the striker runs to the stump at the bowler's station, touches it with his bat, and

then returns to his wicket. If this be performed before the ball is thrown back, it is called a run, and one notch, or score, is made upon the tally towards the game.

At double wicket, a second wicket is set up instead of the bowler's stump, and two batsmen, one at each wicket, go in at the same time. There are also two bowlers, who usually bowl four balls in succession alternately. When the ball is struck, the two batsmen run to each other's wicket, and exchange places.

Trap Ball, so called from the trap used to elevate the ball, in order to afford the batsman a fair blow at it, is of more ancient date than cricket, and perhaps coeval with most of the early games played with the bat and ball. The trap is generally made in the form of a shoe, the heel part being hollowed out for the

reception of the ball, with the end of a small lever under it. But boys and rustics, who cannot readily procure a trap, content themselves with making a round hole in the ground, and, by way of lever, use a beef brisket bone, or a flat piece of wood, of similar size and shape, which is placed in a slanting position, one half in the hole, with the ball upon it, and the other half projecting out: the elevated end being struck smartly with the bat, occasions the ball to rise to a considerable height, and all the purposes of a trap are thus answered. The game is not restricted to any particular number of players, but it seldom exceeds six or eight on a side.

In Essex, the game of trap-ball is played very differently from what it is in the vicinity of the metropolis, and requires much more dexterity in its performance. Instead of the

NORTHERN SPELL-TIP-CAT.

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broad flat bat, commonly used, a round cudgel is substituted, about an inch and a half in diameter, and three feet in length; and those who have acquired a habit of striking the ball with this instrument rarely miss their blow, but frequently drive it to an astonishing dis

tance.

Northern Spell is played with a trap, and the ball is struck with a bat, or, more commonly, with a bludgeon. The performance of this game does not require the attendance of either of the parties in the field to catch or stop the ball, the contest being simply who shall strike it to the greatest distance in a given number of strokes.

Tip-cat, or the game of Cat, is a rustic pastime, well known in many parts of the kingdom. It derives its denomination from a piece of wood, called a cat, with which it is played.

Q

The cat is about six inches in length, and an inch and a half, or two inches, in diameter, and diminished from the middle towards each end, in the shape of a double cone. By this contrivance, the places of the trap and ball are at once supplied; for when the cat is laid upon the ground, the player, with his cudgel, strikes it smartly on one of its ends, which makes it rise, with a rotatory motion, high enough for him to beat it away, as he would a ball from a trap.

MINSTRELSY.

THE Britons were passionately fond of vocal and instrumental music; for this reason, the Bards, who exhibited in one person the musician and the poet, were held in the highest