Crambo
Encyclopedia
Crambo is an old rhyming game
which, according to Strutt
, was played as early as the fourteenth century under the name of the ABC of Aristotle. It is also known as Capping the rhyme. The name may also be used to describe a doggerel
poem which exhausts the possible rhymes with a particular word.
In the days of the Stuarts it was very popular, and is frequently mentioned in the writings of the time. Thus in William Congreve's play of 1695 Love for Love, i. 1, contains the passage,
crambe and Greek
krambē, meaning cabbage (as in crambe repetita, literally meaning re-stewed cabbage). Hence the players started with a rhyme and then "re-stewed" it.
Crambo in the nineteenth century became a word game in which one player would think of a word and tell the others what it rhymes with. The others do not name the actual word they guess, but describe its meaning. Thus one might say, "I know a word that rhymes with bird." A second asks, "Is it ridiculous?" "No, it is not absurd." "Is it a part of speech?" "No, it is not a word." This proceeds until the right word is guessed.
In Dumb Crambo the guessers, instead of trying to name the rhyme being given them as a clue, express its meaning by acting the word without speaking in the manner of charades
.
(1759–1796), wrote: "Amaist as soon as I could spell, / I to the crambo-jingle fell."
James Boswell
(1740–1795) was famous for his skill at the game. One Crambo poem from Boswell is rhymed around "the Laird of Craigubble," a fellow Crambo player. One of the stanzas goes:
Each stanza in the poem rhymes abcb, and every stanza ends with "the Laird of Craigubble."
Karl Marx
(1818–1883) was a frequent Dumb Crambo player with his wife and daughters in their North London home.
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
which, according to Strutt
Joseph Strutt (engraver and antiquary)
Joseph Strutt was an English engraver, artist, antiquary and writer.-Childhood:Strutt was born at Springfield Mill in Chelmsford, Essex, the youngest son of Thomas Strutt by his wife Elizabeth - the mill belonged to his father, a wealthy miller...
, was played as early as the fourteenth century under the name of the ABC of Aristotle. It is also known as Capping the rhyme. The name may also be used to describe a doggerel
Doggerel
Doggerel is a derogatory term for verse considered of little literary value. The word probably derived from dog, suggesting either ugliness, puppyish clumsiness, or unpalatability in the 1630s.-Variants:...
poem which exhausts the possible rhymes with a particular word.
In the days of the Stuarts it was very popular, and is frequently mentioned in the writings of the time. Thus in William Congreve's play of 1695 Love for Love, i. 1, contains the passage,
"Get the Maids to Crambo in an Evening, and learn the knack of Rhyming."
Etymology
The name comes from the LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
crambe and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
krambē, meaning cabbage (as in crambe repetita, literally meaning re-stewed cabbage). Hence the players started with a rhyme and then "re-stewed" it.
Play
In the early versions of the game up to the eighteenth century, teams would vie with each other to find and express a rhyme for a word or line presented by the opposing player or team. Someone would offer the first rhyme often poking fun at a dignitary, the subsequent lines or couplets would then have to rhyme with this. The verse would be sung to a popular tune of the day and the game collapsed when a player was unable to use his wit to come up with a suitable rhyming word.Crambo in the nineteenth century became a word game in which one player would think of a word and tell the others what it rhymes with. The others do not name the actual word they guess, but describe its meaning. Thus one might say, "I know a word that rhymes with bird." A second asks, "Is it ridiculous?" "No, it is not absurd." "Is it a part of speech?" "No, it is not a word." This proceeds until the right word is guessed.
In Dumb Crambo the guessers, instead of trying to name the rhyme being given them as a clue, express its meaning by acting the word without speaking in the manner of charades
Charades
Charades or charade is a word guessing game. In the form most played today, it is an acting game in which one player acts out a word or phrase, often by pantomiming similar-sounding words, and the other players guess the word or phrase. The idea is to use physical rather than verbal language to...
.
Notable players
One of Crambo's more famous devotees, Robert BurnsRobert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
(1759–1796), wrote: "Amaist as soon as I could spell, / I to the crambo-jingle fell."
James Boswell
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....
(1740–1795) was famous for his skill at the game. One Crambo poem from Boswell is rhymed around "the Laird of Craigubble," a fellow Crambo player. One of the stanzas goes:
"To render you bright with choice liquor at night / Take Punch made of rum that is double / And I give you this charge be your Bowl full & large / To content the good Laird of Craigubble."
Each stanza in the poem rhymes abcb, and every stanza ends with "the Laird of Craigubble."
Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
(1818–1883) was a frequent Dumb Crambo player with his wife and daughters in their North London home.