Mooney. ] 278 [Oct, 19, 
under the name of ‘‘Standing Brogue,’’ in which one man stands up with 
his hands, locked together, hanging down in front of him, and trys to 
catch between them the brogue or slipper with which he is struck by the 
other. 
Another game of the same character is calld in the west Cloif air Bas 
(clif er bis) or ‘‘Blow on the Hand’’ and is also described by Carleton,* 
as formerly playd in the north, under the name of Hotloof, which is prob- 
ably derived from the Gaelic term. There ar several forms of the game. 
In one the victim Jeans over with his open hand, palm upward, resting 
behind him on his hip. One of the other side then steps up and strikes 
the open palm with his fist, sometimes with such force as to disable the 
sufferer for the rest of the night. Any flinching would bring disgrace 
upon the side to which the coward belongd, but the striker is at once 
challenged by some champion of the opposing party and must submit to 
the same infliction, which is given with all the force that can be put into 
the blow. No exhibition of il-temper is allowd and anyone who should 
get angry would hav to deal with the whole party. At many of these 
gatherings there ar persons regularly selected to preserv the peace. 
In another form of the game the players stand in a line, those of oppo- 
sing sides alternating, each one with his left arm in front of his face, and 
the open hand resting, palm out, over his right ear. The first then gives 
his neighbor a stinging slap on the open palm, sometimes with suflicient 
force to send him spinning into the middle of the room. Number two 
does the same for number three, and so on to the last, who wreaks his 
vengeance upon number one. 
Another game, also calld Bréigin, is sometimes known in the east as 
“The Slipper’’ and is mentioned by Carleton under the name of ‘‘ Sitting 
Brogue.’’ In this, one man stands in the middle while the others sit in a 
circle around him and, keeping their hands behind them, or under their 
drawn-up knees, pass a shoe or slipper rapidly from one to another. 
While he endeavors to find which one has the shoe some one wil strike 
him with it from behind, but when he wheels quickly around he finds all 
holding up their hands innocently in front. He must continue his search 
until he hits upon the right one, who then takes his place in the ring. 
This game is described by Goldsmith in the Vicar of Wakefield as playd 
at a social gathering, and as the author was himself an Irishman it is 
probable that he first saw it enacted at an Irish wake. It is also known 
as Hatre-Haire (Horra-Horra), from an exclamation used by the players 
to distract the attention of the one in the centre. Plays of this nature, 
together with the various forfeit games, ar engaged in by young men and 
girls alike. It is hardly necessary to state that men alone take part in the 
tests of endurance already described. 
In another game, known in the west as Mag'ailt Ceird (Fawleh Cierch) or 
‘Getting a Trade,’’ one man personates a tailor, shoemaker or some other 
* All the wake games described by Wm. Carleton ar mentiond in ‘‘ Larry McFarland’s 
Wake,” in his Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, i, London, 1853. 
