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[Illustration:
  POPULAR
  PASTIMES
  For

  Field & Fireside.]




                           Popular Pastimes

                                  FOR

                          Field and Fireside,

                                  OR

                     Amusements for Young and Old.

                         CAREFULLY COMPILED BY

                             AUNT CARRIE.

                          SPRINGFIELD, MASS.:

                   PUBLISHED BY MILTON BRADLEY & CO.
                                 1867.




      Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by

                       MILTON BRADLEY & COMPANY,

      In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District
                           of Massachusetts.


  SAMUEL BOWLES AND COMPANY.
  Printers, Binders and Electrotypers.




                              AUNT CARRIE

                               DEDICATES

                         TO HER YOUNG FRIENDS

                              THIS BOOK,

                     IN THE HOPE THAT IT WILL ADD
                               TO THEIR

                            HOME PLEASURES.




Preface.


I WOULD like to make a few suggestions on “home influence,” before I
commence a list of amusements. They may be superfluous; if so, I trust
you will pardon me.

All parents, I am sure, must feel a deep interest in this subject, and
I think will agree with me that judicious praise is quite as necessary
in the training of a child as wholesome correction. But if we wish
our children to have a genuine love for us, and our homes, we must
sympathize with them, and never forget we were once children, and loved
childish things.

Mothers have by nature far more sympathy and patience than most
fathers. Some fathers are apt to think that home is only a place in
which to eat, sleep, and be generally comfortable; but as to giving
any of their valuable time to entertaining their own children, why,
the very idea is preposterous! A wife is presuming to expect it! Let
me appeal to your selfish instincts. You all wish to be loved and
revered, and are gratified if your children are attentive to your
comforts. Can you expect such manifestations, unless you set them an
example, and prove by a real interest in their pleasures, that you
sincerely love them? Is it not better to devote at least an hour a day
to your children, than to spend every moment in earning money for them,
which, unless you rightly direct and train them, will surely prove
their ruin?

There is no time in the day when home is so pleasant as at twilight,
or in the early evening hour. Then all are gathered (or should
be) together at home. In the country it is after tea; in cities,
particularly New York, it is after dinner. Then, I entreat you, fathers
and mothers, assemble your children around you, devote your time for
an hour or two in being children with them, join heartily in all their
plays; let them tell what has interested them during the day; draw them
out, and encourage them to open their little hearts freely and confide
in you.

Some think it childish and silly to play games. Yet if we would only
keep our hearts young and happy, we should retain our youth longer, and
love our friends and homes better. A good hearty laugh is wholesome.

Mothers, I intreat you to train your own children. Do not leave them to
servants. Hire them to relieve you of the care of your house, and to
do your sewing; but give your time to your children. “Verily, you will
have your reward.”

I have compiled this book to assist you in your home amusements. May it
carry to your home circle that spirit of enjoyment which is natural to
the young heart, and which should not be absent from the more mature.




                               Contents.


                                                                    PAGE

  PREFACE,                                                             v


  CROQUET.

  MATERIALS used in the Game—Preparation of the
  Ground—Choice of Sides—General Principles of the
  Game—Arrangement of the Bridges—Diagrams—Rules of
  the Game—Striking the Ball—Running a Bridge—Striking
  Out—The Rover—Roquet—Croquet and Roquet-C