One player is chosen for cat and one for rat. The others all form a circle with clasped hands. The cat stands outside of the circle and the rat inside. The game opens with a conversation between the cat and rat.
The cat says:–
“I am the cat.”
The rat says:–
“I am the rat.”
“I will catch you!”
“You can’t!”
This last defiance is a signal for a chase. The cat tries to get into the circle, and the rat tries to evade him. Both may run in and out of the circle, but the players will assist the rat by raising their hands to let him run under, and they will try to foil the efforts of the cat by preventing his breaking through the circle, either inward or outward.
When the rat is caught, he joins the circle and the cat becomes rat, a new cat being chosen from the circle players.
This game is a great favorite with young children, and though very similar in its general form to Bull in the Ring, the slight difference of the circle assisting the rat and hindering the cat makes a great difference in the playing qualities of the game, rendering it much less rough than Bull in the Ring.
Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie Hubbell Bancroft