Tom Tiddler's ground, also known as Tom Tidler's ground or Tommy Tiddler's ground, is a longstanding children's game. One player, "Tom Tiddler", stands on a heap of stones, gravel, etc. Other players rush onto the heap, crying "Here I am on Tom Tiddler's ground, picking up gold and silver," while Tom tries to capture, or in other versions, expel the invaders. By extension the phrase has come to mean the ground or tenement of a sluggard, or of one easily outwitted; or to mean any place where money is picked up and acquired readily. The essence of the game lives on in more modern versions such as

steal the bacon Steal the bacon (also steal the flingsock, steal the handkerchief, Dog and the Bone, or in India Rumal Jhapatta) is a tag-based traditional children's game, in which teams try to steal a flag or other item (the "bacon") from the field without bein ...

and variants of tag.

In literature

"Tom Tiddler's Ground" is the title of an 1861 set of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for ''The Moonsto ...

Charles Allston Collins ''Convent Thoughts'' (1850–51; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Charles Allston Collins (London 25 January 1828 – 9 April 1873) was a British painter, writer, and illustrator associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Life and work ...

Amelia Edwards Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards (7 June 1831 – 15 April 1892), also known as Amelia B. Edwards, was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist. Her literary successes included the ghost story ''The Phantom Coach'' (1864), the nov ...

and John Harwood, published in ''

All the Year Round ''All the Year Round'' was a British weekly literary magazine founded and owned by Charles Dickens, published between 1859 and 1895 throughout the United Kingdom. Edited by Dickens, it was the direct successor to his previous publication '' Ho ...

''. The protagonist, "Mr. Mopes", is based on the hermit James Lucas. The phrase "Tom Tiddler's ground" also appears in Dickens's novels ''

Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'', or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'', is the third novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. The character of Nickleby is a young man who must support his ...

'', ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

'' and ''

Dombey and Son ''Dombey and Son'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens. It follows the fortunes of a shipping firm owner, who is frustrated at the lack of a son to follow him in his footsteps; he initially rejects his daughter's love before eventual ...

''.

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English medievalist scholar and author who served as provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936) as well as Vice-Chancellor of the Univers ...

quotes a passage from this set as the preface for his "

Rats Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

" horror short story published in 1931. ''Tom Tiddler's Ground'' is also the title of an 1886 memoir by

Florence Marryat Florence Marryat (9 July 1833 – 27 October 1899) was an English author and actress. The daughter of author Capt. Frederick Marryat, she was particularly known for her sensational novels and her involvement with several celebrated spiritual m ...

. It is the title of a 1931 poem and it appears in a 1931 anthology of children's poetry edited by

Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for his psychological horror short fi ...

, who also wrote a short story titled "Miss Duveen". It's also the title of a 1934 novel by

Edward Shanks Edward Richard Buxton Shanks (11 June 1892 – 4 May 1953) was an English writer, known as a war poet of World War I, then as an academic and journalist, and literary critic and biographer. He also wrote some science fiction. E. F. Bleiler and R ...

E. F. Benson Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and short story writer. Early life E. F. Benson was born at Wellington College (Berkshire), Wellington College in Berkshire, ...

mentions "Tom Tiddler's ground" in his 1935 novel ''The Worshipful Lucia''.

Nancy Mitford Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973) was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford family#Mitford sisters, Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the ...

in ''

The Pursuit of Love ''The Pursuit of Love'' is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1945. It is the first in a trilogy about an upper-class English family in the interwar period focusing on the romantic life of Linda Radlett, as narrated by her cousin, Fa ...

'' (1949) writes, "Their life with Uncle Matthew was a sort of perpetual Tom Tiddler's ground." The phrase is also the name for a piece of waste land in the 1962 children's novel ''

No One Must Know ''No One Must Know'' is a 1962 children's novel by the English writer Barbara Sleigh. The story concerns a small group of children living in English town, sandwiched between a railway and a warehouse, in a row of rented, white-painted terraced h ...

'' by

Barbara Sleigh Barbara Grace de Riemer Sleigh (1906–1982) was an English children's writer and broadcaster. She is remembered most for her Carbonel series about a king of cats. Family and career Barbara Sleigh was born on 9 January 1906 in Birmingham, the d ...

. The gold and silver coins in chapter 16 of

C. S. Forester Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (27 August 1899 – 2 April 1966), known by his pen name Cecil Scott "C. S." Forester, was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Royal ...

's ''

Hornblower and the Atropos ''Hornblower and the Atropos'' is a 1953 historical novel by C.S. Forester. Horatio Hornblower is posted to HMS ''Atropos'', the smallest vessel in the Royal Navy that merits command by a post-captain, as he salvages treasure from the Mediterra ...

'' are said to be on Tom Tiddler's Ground. In

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

's novel, '' The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side'' (1962), William Tiddler, a police sergeant who assists Chief Inspector Craddock, is referred to by locals as "Tom Tiddler". Author

Ursula Orange Ursula Orange (1909 – 1955) was a Twentieth-century English literature, mid-20th-century British novelist who is known for focusing her books on the domestic lives and career aspirations of young women. Biography She was born Ursula Margueri ...

wrote a novel in 1941 titled "Tom Tiddler’s Ground" and describes Tom Tiddler’s ground as a patch in a person’s life that they are not proud of, keep to themselves, and chase others away.

Other uses

"Tom Tiddler's Ground" is a song on the 1970 album ''

Flat Baroque and Berserk ''Flat Baroque and Berserk'' is the fourth studio album by the English folk musician Roy Harper. It was released in January 1970 through Harvest Records. History ''Flat Baroque and Berserk'' was the first of Roy Harper's recordings to enter th ...

'' by Roy Harper. Tom Tiddler's ground is also used in modern English as a euphemism for having an uncertain status, for example, "I asked her why her performance review was late and I could tell she was on Tom Tiddler's ground".

References

{{Reflist

External links

"Tom Tiddler's Ground"
by

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

*" Tom Tiddler's Ground" at wikisource Charles Dickens Children's games

In literature

Other uses

See also

References

External links