Ball games can be traced back to the ancient Greeks. In Homer's Odyssey white armed maidens play ball. Today, games involving bouncing or throwing and catching balls are usually played by girls; boys generally prefer the more rough and tumble games of hurley-burley, relievio or football. Many of the ball games we are familiar with developed their sophistication and complexity after the Industrial Revolution; the development of towns and cities throughout Ireland and Great Britain brought in its wake large tracts of "hard areas", such as footpaths and roads to bounce a ball on, and gable walls in terraced streets to throw the ball against.

Children have long been their own teachers in the streets and have not learned their games from studying books or in the classroom, but orally, from each other. To our ears, most of these ball games are nonsense, yet they have an inbuilt coded language and a rhythmical momentum all of their own. The games contain a complex interwoven structure of rhymes, rules and rhythms which must be strictly adhered to by the participants, who require good skill, dexterity and concentration. There are "trigger" words which demand immediate and specific actions to move the game along, and heaven help anybody who breaks these rules, particularly when several players are in competition! No matter where you travel in Ireland, the ball games, except for the odd dialectic pronunciation, share the common language and catchphrases, such as "burley", "rolley", "plainy" and "backey".

Schoolyard Ball Games
Ball against the wall games are generally played by individuals who can use one ball or several balls if he or she is skilful. In these games it is the actions which are critical to the success of the game and these actions are triggered by key words contained in the accompanying rhymes, which use a language all of their own. The following are definitions of the commonly used actions which accompany the games:

Plainy: The ball is simply thrown against the wall and caught on the rebound. There are no accompanying actions.
Clappy: As for Plainy, but clap hands when the ball is in flight.
Rolley: Roll arms over one another when the ball is in flight.
To Backey: Clap hands behind back when the ball is in flight.
Hippy: Place hands on hips when the ball is in flight.
Tippy: Touch the ground when the ball is in flight.
Jelly Bag: The two hands are held together at the wrists and the fingers spread wide apart to form a "bag" when catching the ball.
Basket: Weave and lock the fingers of both hands together, with the knuckles facing backwards to you; the ball is caught in the locked palms or 'basket'.
Burl Around: Turn completely around when the ball is in flight.
Over: Throw the ball overarm against the wall.
Downey/Dropsie: Allow the ball to bounce once off the ground before being caught.
Dashy/Bouncie/Dizzie: Bounce the ball off the ground first, before hitting the wall and catching it on the rebound.
Right Leg/Left Leg: Throw the ball under a raised right or left leg to hit the wall first. In Dublin the ball is bounced off the ground first, before hitting the wall.
Underleg/Archy: The two legs are separated to form an arch, and the ball is thrown from behind, under the arch, hitting the wall first. In Dublin, the ball is bounced off the ground first, before hitting the wall.
Backy: Stand sideways to the wall and bounce the ball behind the back against the ground, before hitting the wall.
Walla: Cross one leg in front of the other when the ball is in flight.
Stampy: Stamp both feet on the ground when the ball is in flight.
Pipey/Pipsie: Throw the ball straight up and catch it.
Uppy/Upsie: Aim the ball higher up the wall.
Canary: Use a pushing action, with the palm of the hand facing away, to throw the ball against the wall.
PLAINY CLAPPY
Plainy, clappy, rolley, to backey,
Hippy, tippy, a jelly bag and basket.

From its definition, it is clear that this is quite a complex game that requires a good memory, apart from the agility to play the game once through successfully; by this time players are "for steadies"; all players must go through the game again, but this time with their feet together, and not move from the same spot during the play. Then it is time for "right foot", when players go through the game as before, only this time their right foot is raised off the ground. Then, players do it again with their left foot raised off the ground. The Dublin version ends with the feet going through the motions of a step-dance. Any mistakes made during the game mean that another child takes the player's place; she goes through the same ritual until she makes a mistake and another takes her turn. When it comes to the first player's turn again, he or she can start from where they made the mistake the last time, and can keep going as many times as it takes to complete the full game. Another version of the game follows:

Plainy, clappy, rolley-polley,
Ding, dong, dashy, touch the ground,
Burl around.

from the Appletree Press title (now out of print) Boys and Girls come out to Play - a Collection of Irish Singing Games by Maurice Leyden
Also from Appletree: A History of Gaelic Games.