"Hunc over de" clubs, NY 1736?

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 10/3/07, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net> wrote:
>
> There is a short letter about the "Hunk over Dees" in the "NY Weekly
> Journal", 19 April 1736, p. "[3]".
>
> Not entirely transparent to me.
>
> The "Game of _Hunk over Dee_" is opposed here to the "Game of
> _maintain Truth_".

The plot thickens...

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"Folk-Custom and Folk-Belief in North Carolina," by N. C. Hoke.
_Journal of American Folklore_  Vol. 5, No. 17 (Apr. 1892), p. 118
"I spy" is more commonly played under the name of "Hunk Over-Dee." I
had supposed this a collection of arbitrary sounds, until Mr. Culin's
article gave ground for the belief that the name comes from a Scotch
playground. "Over the Dee" was probably the _Ultima Thule_ of a home,
or hunk, to these Scotch children.
-----


--Ben Zimmer

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