Giddy-gaddy, also known as cat's pallet, was a children's game played in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, almost certainly a variation on

tip-cat Tip-cat (also called cat, cat and dog, one-a-cat, pussy, or piggy) is a pastime which consists of tapping a short billet of wood (usually no more than ) with a larger stick (similar to a baseball bat or broom handle); the shorter piece is tapered ...

. It involved "striking one end of a sharpened piece of wood causing it to rise and then driving it some distance with a stick"; the object was to hit it as far as possible. The name "giddy-gaddy" for the game appears only in the court leet records of the manor of Manchester, an indication of the disruption and damage it caused in the streets of industrial areas such as Ardwick.

References

Notes Bibliography * * * {{refend Children's games