Last Couple Out
Source:
Games For The Playground, Home, School And Gymnasium
Category:
MISCELLANEOUS ACTIVE GAMES
(Widower; Last Pair Pass)
_11 to 31 or more players._
_Playground; gymnasium._
An odd number of players is required for this game. One is chosen for
catcher, who stands at one end of the playground with his back to the
other players. The other players stand in couples in a long line
behind him, facing in the same direction that he does. The catcher
should be not less than ten feet in front of the first couple.
The catcher calls, "Last couple out!" when the last pair in the line
runs toward the front, the right-hand one on the right side of the
double line, and the left-hand one on the left side, and try to join
hands in front of the catcher. The catcher may not chase them before
they are in line with him, and may not turn his head to see when or
from where the runners are coming. They should try to gain their end
by varying the method of approach, sometimes both circling far out
beyond him on either side, or one of them doing this and the other
running in close toward the lines.
If the catcher succeeds in catching one of the players before that
player can clasp hands with his partner, these two, catcher and
caught, form a couple and take their places at the head of the line,
which should move backward one place to make room for them, and the
other player of the running couple becomes catcher. If neither be
caught, they are free; _i.e._ out of the game.
In the Scotch and Swedish forms of this game, the title is
"Widow" or "Widower," the catcher supposedly taking the part of
the bereaved one and trying to get a mate. It has been
suggested that the game has descended from old methods of
marriage by capture.
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