/> was commonly played among children, but always called cat's, catch, or

scratch cradle, and consisted generally of two or more players. A piece

of string, being tied at the ends, was placed on the fingers, and

crossed and re-crossed to make a sort of cradle; the next player

inserted his or her fingers, quickly taking it off; then the first

catching it back, then the second again, then the first, as fast as

possible, catching and taking off the string. Sometimes the sides were

caught by the teeth of the players, one on each side, and as the hands

were relaxed the faces were apart, then when drawn out it brought the

faces together; the string being let go or not, and caught again as it

receded, was according to the will of the players, the catching and

letting go affording much merriment. When four or five played, the

string rapidly passed from hand to hand until, in the rapidity of the

motion, one missed, who then stood out, and so on until only one was

left, winning the game of cat's, catch, or scratch cradle. It was

varied also to single and double cradle, according to the number of

crossings of the string. Catch is easily converted into cat's, or it

might be so called from the catching or clawing at, to get and to

hold, the entanglement.