"Hunc over de" clubs, NY 1736?

[Joel S. Berson]

My infancy being over the horizon (and with no children or
grandchildren), I had to use Wikipedia to remind myself what "I spy"
is.  But did the name mean the same game in 1892?  How does "I spy"
(of today) oppose to something called "maintain truth"?  Does either
article (Hoke's or Culin's) from the _Journal of American Folklore_
describe these two games?

And finally -- who can divine the relationship between a game like "I
spy" and the very possibly salacious activities inquired about by
ladies between 15 and 50 in my 1736 newspaper letter?  Or relate "I
spy" to the somewhat casual mention in connection with the men's
"Hunc over de" club that near to demolished the ladies' tea table,
and became as warm as scallopt Oysters?

Joel

At 10/3/2007 08:02 PM, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>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...
>
>-----
>"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
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org