I have always been curious about the occult convention that determines the different seasons for juvenile games, but I have found no explanation except that they seem to burst into activity with the approach of spring. At the present time, for instance, it behoves the pedestrian to "watch his step"; for the whipping of tops is in progress, and to trip over one of those articles may mean calamity. Spinning tops seem to have gone out of fashion, although I think that more skill was required to produce that "sleep" of the spinning-top which provided Carlyle with a famous simile than merely to whip an ordinary top. In a short while the passing cyclist will need to keep a sharp look-out; for the trundling of hoops will be in season. I notice that "hopscotch" still maintains its popularity, but the disappearance of "tip-cat," or as they call it in the North, "Piggy," will hardly be regretted by those who have had occasion to dodge the flying missile. There is a country game which I have not seen played for many years, known as "jackstones," in which various juggling feats are performed with a series of pebbles. The tricks are numbered up to twenty-one, every one more difficult than its predecessor, and the player who can perform the greatest number in succession wins the game.
The Irish Times, March 3rd, 1931.