HIDE AND SEEK
by Ernie Walsh

Many of our early summer evenings were spent down on Little Merasheen Beach. When 10 or 12 children had gathered, we would begin with a game of "Larry." One home base for leaving from and coming back to would be a log about 16 feet long on the west end of the beach and the other home base would be about 16 feet off the picket fence coming out from Clara and Gerald Wilson's fence. We would play from say 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

At about 8 p.m., we would start a game of Hide and Seek. We would have a Captain of two groups who would pick one person in turn until everyone was picked. By this time in the evening, we would have 10 or 12 people on a side. One group had to hide and they had about 5 minutes to get out of sight and they had to stay together as a group (that is everyone had to hide in the same place). The hiding or seeking group was usually decided by spitting on one side of a flat rock and throwing it up into the air and one group calling dry or wet. The seeking group was supposed not to look where the hiders had gone and usually waited their 5 minutes by the side of Mr. Ned Hennessey's store.

The seeking group could, when the 5 minute hiding time had gone by, split up which ever way they wished (one, two, three, or four as a seeking party). If one person found the larger group of hiders, then the hiders were officially found and the word was shouted out, "I've found them!" The roles would then be reversed, and the seekers would then go off and hide.

When the hiders left Little Merasheen Beach, they would be running all out up the road, up through the graveyard, over the road towards Mr. Jack Connors’, then beat her out to Best's Beach or out towards the Parish Hall or the Island Cove. The hiders could stop and hide in one spot or take a chance in not being seen and keep moving but still as a complete group.

The seekers had lots of fun also, especially when we'd meet the grown-ups or other small children and they would ask if anyone saw the hiding group, and the answer was always misleading or wrong. Maybe if the hiding group was seen going out towards Bests‘, the seekers would be told, "Yes, we saw them up behind the school house, etc." One of our favourite places to hide was under the front basement of the church, as it was good and dark and there were lots of things in there to hide behind. It was also one of the first places the seekers would look, but if we were really quiet, we might not be found.

One day I rowed up to Wareham's wharf and my cousin, Frank Mulrooney, was there catching conners. We walked out to the Government Wharf and jumped down by the side of the shed. Frank showed me a loose floor board in the inside corner, and we could poke our heads in and see inside the shed. That evening, of course, when we played Hide and Seek, my group got to hide first and I said, "I know a good new place to hide." We ran hard up to Soldier's Point. Mr. Mike Casey, the Wharfinger, was away from Merasheen and had left Mr. Harold Rose in charge of keeping an eye on the Government Wharf and shed. Well, we ran down the road towards Wareham's premises and through the gate by the Cook House and past Wareham's shop and store and out to the Boat shed. There were eight of us in the group, and we quickly scurried up through the hole by pushing open the loose floor board. Out of breath, we said, "They'll never find us!" Edward Hennessey said, "to be sure, let's crawl up on top of the small office inside the shed." There were large coils of rope and boxes up there to hide behind.

We no sooner settled away when we heard Mr. Harold come running and shouting, "Get home out of here! You're not allowed to be out here with no one aroundl" We whispered, "He must have seen us coming up the road." We kept very quiet and became concerned about being caught inside the Government Freight Shed. Mr. Harold came out onto the wharf looking and shouting, hoping to see us and drive us home. I thought, "Well, the door is locked. We should be OK." Johnny, Gerald, and Norah Pearson, Laura, Leo and Edward, Catherine Ennis and myself were hiding there, and we all glanced back and forth at each other in the twilight of evening, somewhat concerned. Then we heard the big shed key going into the door lock, the door sprang open. Mr. Harold came in and walked all around the inside of the shed. He left and pulled to the door and locked it.

Well, we all breathed a sigh of relief, and it was totally pitch black dark before we ventured forth from inside the Freight Shed. We 'snuck' down around the westard side of Soldier's Point and never got caught, not even by the seekers, as it was now about 11p.m. and they had given up and gone home over an hour ago.

Next evening, the seekers inquired, "Where did ye hide last night?" But you never tell where you were, nor did we go that far out on Soldier's Point any more that summer.