Mrs. Ivy McCall, Daisy Justice, and Mrs. Geraldine Owens: The players stack their fists, their thumbs up, each player grasping the thumb of the fist below. The leader, whose hands remain free, starts with the top fist in the stack and asks its owner, “You want to take it off, knock it off, or let the crows pick it off?” If the owner doesn’t take it off the stack himself, he tells the leader to either knock it off, or let the crows pick it off, whereupon the leader either knocks it loose or pulls it off, following the command. This continues until only one fist remains. At this point the leader and the owner of the last fist say the following dialogue:
Q: Where’s the water?
A: The ox drunk it.
Q: Where’s the ox?
A: The butcher killed it.
Q: Where’s the butcher?
A: The rope hung him.
Q: Where’s rope?
A: The rats gnawed it.
Q: Where’s the rats?
A: The cat caught them.
Q: Where’s the cat?
A: The gun shot it.
Q: Where’s the gun?
A: The hammer broke it.
Q: Where’s the hammer?
A: Behind the door cracking hickory nuts!
The first one that shows his teeth (grins) while this is going on gets so many hairs pulled out of his head or so many pinches or hits. We always said ten boxes and a pinch.
—Foxfire 6
I can see why kids would enjoy playing this game. I would have liked it as long as the boxes, pinches, pulls, and knocks were done in a gentle manner 🙂
Way back in the filing cabinets of my mind seems like I remember parts of this game, but I know I’ve never played it myself.
Last night’s video: The Secret To Well Seasoned Cast Iron…It’s Easier Than You Think.
Tipper
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