King of the Castle

"King of the Castle" is a traditional boys' game in which the the object is to stay on top of a little hillock or mound of dirt as the "King of the Hill". Other players attempt to knock the current King off the pile and take their place, thus becoming the new King of the Hill. The King taunts the lesser mortals with the traditional "I'm the King of the castle, and you're the dirty rascal"

The way in which the "King" may be removed from the hill depends on the rules set up by the players before the game starts. These days pushing is the most common way of removing the king from the hill, but in my youth, when Health and Safety had yet to be invented, there were rougher variations, with much punching and kicking.

The origins of the game are lost in the mists of time. Some suggest that it dates from the siege, in 1650, of Hume Castle, Berwickshire, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. When Colonel Fenwick, commander of the attacking Roundheads, demanded the surrender of the castle, the governor, Thomas Cockburn, replied to him:

"I Will of the Wastle
Am now in my Castle,
And awe the Dogs in the Town
Shan't gar me gang down."