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cockylora


a schoolyard game in which a group of children run repeatedly through an area guarded by other children, those who are caught each time joining forces with their catchers until only one child remains uncaught and is the winner; often banned by teachers as too dangerous: Let's play cockylora at lunch today. Compare British bulldog, bullrush, red rover.
Contributor's comments: Game in which children have to run across and oval without being tagged by those that are in. Called bullrush in Tamworth, Cockie Laura in Griffith, and Red Rover in other places.

Contributor's comments: I was brought up in the central west of NSW at Forbes and we called this game Red Rover Cross Over, but I've also heard it called British Bulldog but I can't remember where that was.

Contributor's comments: [Central Coast Qld informant] This is new to me, but sounds very much like "red rover" that we played.

Contributor's comments: I've never heard this game called "cockylora" before. It was always called "Cross over Red Rover" and played in the street or down the park when I was young.

Contributor's comments: Growing up in Sydney, I knew this game as cockylora, and have never heard it referred to by the other names listed.

Contributor's comments: At Bourke Intermediate High (read public primary) School in the early 60's the schoolyard version (suitable for concrete or bitumen) was called 'cockylora' (or "1,2,3, cockylora" to be precise) and never anything else. 'British Bulldog' was a similar - but more violent - game involving rugby style tackling, suitable for dirt or grass and mostly played out of school hours because the teachers didn't go much for it.

Contributor's comments: [Tassie in the 50's] Never heard this term; the game was "British Bulldog" but the teachers usually broke it up, as kids often got hurt.

Contributor's comments: Played this game when a school child in Wagga. Very popular at that time.

Contributor's comments: [Werris Creek informant] When I moved to the country in 1975, this term was unknown to me but still used. It was replaced with British bulldog even while I was in primary school.

Contributor's comments: In Manly (suburb of Sydney) in the 1950s, it was definately "cockylora".

Contributor's comments: During my time at primary school in the Wollongong area during the sixties, the term cockylora was used to describe this game.

Contributor's comments: We played cockylora 123 in northern Sydney throughout the late 50's, early 60's. It was a tag game very suited to our front lawn!

Contributor's comments: [Sydney informant] Game similar to British Bulldog, where the player who was "in" was restricted to "tipping" the other players running between two bases or "bar" areas, which were areas where you in which you were safe from being tipped and getting "in": "Let's go outside and play cocky lora."

Contributor's comments: [Sydney informant] I grew up playing cockylore before I heard it called British Bulldog. I've also heard it called bullrush.

Contributor's comments: I grew up in Bathurst and used to play Cockylara 123 in the school yard of St Patricks from 1963 - 1966. When I moved to Kogarah in Sydney in 1966 no one there had heard of it.

Contributor's comments: As a a primary school student in the late 80's, we used cockylora only for the tackle style of ballrush. Ballrush was usually a tipping kind of affair while cockylora you had to tackle if you were in - again, not normally to popular with the teachers!

Contributor's comments: [Sydney informant] We used to play this in Primary School. I have heard it called Bullrush AND Cocky Laura. The same or a similar game was called Scat.

Contributor's comments: We used the name when I was at Barkly Hwy primary 1968 to 1970. But, the way it was pronounced, I would have thought it was spelled cockallora. My experience with the game was similar to other reports I've read, as teachers often stopped the game.