Stealing Sticks is still another form of Prisoner's Base. The main difference lies in the carrying away of the enemy's property.
Prisoner's Base and related games are supposed to have descended from the days of border warfare. They are very old, and Strutt mentions a "Proclamation at the head of the Parliamentary proceedings early in the reign of Edward the Third, ... where it [Prisoner's Base] is prohibited in the avenues of the palace at Westminster during the sessions of Parliament, because of the interruption it occasioned to the members and others in passing to and fro." The game at that time was played by adults.
[Illustration diagram: PRISONER'S BASE--I]
The ground is divided into two equal parts, with a small base or prison marked off at the farther end of each division. From five to fifteen players guard each side. They venture into the enemy's ground, and, if caught, are put into the prison, where they must remain until tagged by one of their own side who is free. Both prisoner and rescuer may be tagged and brought back to prison before reaching their own ground. The game is won when one side makes prisoners of all of its opponents, or when a free man enters the opponents' prison, but this last may be done only when there are no prisoners there.
This form of Prisoner's Base differs from others in greater simplicity, both as to the arrangement of the ground and the rules of play. It is therefore better for younger players or beginners in the game.
1. The ground being divided by a line through the center into two opposing territories. In other forms, the main playground is neutral territory, each party having a small home goal marked within it.
2. In this game (No. I) a player cannot "give a dare" without venturing into the opponents' territory, and any opponent may tag him. In other forms, the tagging, being on neutral territory, is controlled by limitations as to which player was last to leave his home goal, and makes a more complex game.
The rules about (1) a prisoner and his rescuer both being liable to capture on the way home, and (2) to winning by entering the enemy's prison, with the restriction that no prisoners must be there, are also distinctive features.