history of an enduring game

The first references to the game being played in the English-speaking world date from the late 17th century, when it was named scotch hop. Scotch is another word for a scratch or line. In the late 1800s, it was known as hop-score in Yorkshire and scotch hobbies in Suffolk. In Glasgow, it was called peever, the name for the marker, often a shoe polish tin filled with dirt. A player tosses the marker, usually a stone or coin, so it lands within square 1, before hopping past it to the end of the course, straddling the squares placed side by side. The player then returns, retrieving the marker without stepping on a join, missing a square or losing balance. Only if the player is successful can it be thrown onto the next number in the sequence, until the course is completed.