[A Granny remembers her childhood, games they had played etc.

(1) First, does anyone know such a game (of old times I suppose) cock-on-big-or-little - it is only mentioned but not a word more. I cannot translate it without knowing what is it about.

And:

quote:
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Sometimes Co-Op held races down the Chantry, but I never won owt.
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(2) Wkat is Co-Op? Administrative body of a school or village, or else? (they lived in Lancashire, either Banktop or somewhere in that region)

(3) What might be Chantry (with capital letter)? Evidently not some chapel but - some street? territory?
(3)

A brief history of the Co-operative Group The Co-op was a kind of wholesale society, offering lower prices. It branched out into many services - from banking to funerals. The emphasis was (is?) on social responsibility rather than profit.

A chantry is, apparently, a kind of small, church building. Granny was probably referring to its grounds.

"Sometimes Co-Op held races down the Chantry, but I never won owt."

This simply could be taken to mean "racing down to the chantry. The "down" in this case means that the chantry is the finish line. This phraseology is common.

Start the race here and run down to there.

"Down" can also be used to indicate a destination or the end terminus of something.

Did you go down the street again?
We went down to Groucho's.

Another example of a similar use of "down" is the word "downtown." Downtown is not necessarily located in a lower section of the town; in fact, downtown and uptown can often used interchangeably. Again, the "down" is used to indicate a destination or a specific place.


Another possibility is that the chantry is simply at or near the bottom of a sloping lane.

Thank you both!

I just realized that I said "the end terminus." Please never use that redundant phrase.

terminus - Definition 3 - either end of a transportation line or travel route

@me

"Down the Chantry" certainly means 'at the Chantry'. What the Chantry is, who knows ? It could be an open space, it could be a nightclub or dance hall or a pub, it could be a part of town where a chantry, or something called 'the chantry', once stood, it could be a cinema, it could be anywhere where, or outside of which, this activity took place ( Chantry is not a word in current English; I only hear it in connection with church architecture, where it belongs: "chantry; an endowment for a priest or priests to sing Masses for the soul of the founder, the chapel etc so endowed", says the Oxford Dictionary )

In British we say, for example, 'down the pub' meaning 'at the pub' or 'in the pub' : " I met him down the pub". There is no suggestion of descending a hill or slope to get there . Of course we also say 'up' for the same : " Are you coming up the pub?" could, logically (?) get the answer " I wasn't going , but I'll come down the pub with you". It wouldn't , in practice, get that reply because 'up' suggests that the speaker sees the visit as of some importance to him, it's a visit to the pub for a pleasant evening, for social reasons, whereas 'down the pub' suggests that the visit is not special and may even be seen as a duty or chore. So to reply 'I'll come down the pub' would seem a little grudging or impolite when the first speaker has rated the visit worth an 'up'

I always gladly come UP this site, 'cause I can learn many interesting things about English language, and I suppose the learning process will last up until my last TERMINUS.