A rough ring is made on the ground, and the players each place in it an equal share in "stonies," or alleys. They each bowl to the ring with another marble from a distance. The boy whose marble is nearest has the first chance to "taw;" if he misses a shot the second boy, whose marble was next nearest to the ring, follows, and if he misses, the next, and so on. If one player knocks out a marble, he is entitled to "taw" at the rest in the ring until he misses; and if a sure "tawer" not one of the others may have the chance to taw. Any one's "taw" staying within the ring after being tawn at the "shots," is said to be "fat," and the owner of the "taw" must then replace any marbles he has knocked out in the ring.--Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy). Halliwell (_Dictionary_) describes this game very much as above, except that a fine is imposed on those who leave the taw in the ring. Ross and Stead (_Holderness Glossary_) give this game as follows:--"Two boys place an equal number of marbles in the form of a circle, which are then shot at alternately, each boy pocketing the marbles he hits." Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) says, "Ring-taw" is a marble marked with a red ring used in the game of marbles. This is commonly called "ring" for short. Evans (_Leicestershire Glossary_) describes the game much the same as above, but adds some further details of interest. "If the game be knuckle-up the player stands and shoots in that position. If the game be knuckle-down he must stoop and shoot with the knuckle of the first finger touching the ground at taw. In both cases, however, the player's toe must be on taw. The line was thus called taw as marking the place for the toe of the player, and the marble a taw as being the one shot from the taw-line, in contradistinction to those placed passively in the ring-'line' in the one case, and 'marble' in the other being dropped as superfluous."--Strutt (_Sports and Pastimes_, p. 384) alludes to the game.
In Ireland this game is also called "Ring," and is played with marbles and buttons. A ring is marked out on a level hard place, and every boy puts down a button. The buttons are lightly struck in the centre of the ring, and all play their marbles to the buttons. The nearest to them play first. The line from which they play is generally about eight feet away, and everybody does his best to strike the buttons. Any put out are kept by the boy putting them out, and if a boy strikes a button, or buttons, out, he can play on until he misses.--Waterville, Cos. Kerry and Cork, T. J. Dennachy (through Mrs. B. B. Green of Dublin).