Читать книгу Lost Voices of the Edwardians: 1901–1910 in Their Own Words - Max Arthur, Max Arthur - Страница 148

Marbles came in three kinds. Small ones were made of plaster or cement and were painted various colours. Larger ones, similarly made, were called ‘bobsters’ and the most prized of all were ‘gallanis’, made of glass with strands of coloured wire running through them. You would sit, legs outstretched against a wall, and place a bobster or gallani a few inches in front of you. The punters would then bowl marbles at this target and the pay-out would be two or three marbles per hit. Then there were ‘peg tops’. These were rather top-heavy pear-shaped tops which were spun by first winding a length of string or cord around them and then throwing them hard to the ground. The tops had long iron pegs – hence the name – protruding from their bottoms and the object of the game was to throw your top at somebody else's so as to damage or split it. We also played with ‘hoops’ which were bowled along a road with a stick to guide them and keep them going.