Oh, wow. That is fascinating, Bakasi. Thanks for sharing that. And I do appreciate your explanation of the game's origin, as well. It reminds me of the commonly believed (although, from what I understand, fallacious) origin of Ring Around The Rosy, in which children hold hands to form a ring, and move in a circle until they flop down in giggles at the end of the last line of the chanted or sung poem:
Ring Around The Rosy
A Pocket Full of Posies
Ashes, Ashes
We All Fall Down
Allegedly, this story is also about the plague. The flowers were held to one's nose to try to block out the stench of death and the ashes supposedly refer to cremation.
The lyrics of our most common lullaby are also quite inappropriate: Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. And down will come baby, cradle, and all.
What sort of negligent parents would put their baby in a cradle on top of a tree? And who had the brilliant idea to sing words to a baby which would give the child nightmares if they could actually understand them? Were they designed as a way for an exhausted parent to vent their frustrations at a baby who just won't calm down and let them go back to sleep?
Sorry, I guess I went on a bit of a digression there.
In any event, I did enjoy reading about the German counterpart to Tag.
Would anyone from other parts of the world care to share their Tag-like experiences (or non-experiences, as the case may be)?
Joy,
Lynn
