The Peg Top is, after all, the King of the top family, and the
greatest source of joy to the youth with a sure eye and a steady
hand. The "Plugger" is the top you spin; the "bait" is the top you
strike with the plugger. A "Giggler" is an unsteady top that goes
dancing and hopping about. Boys love their "old reliable taw" in
marbles, but their pride in this is never so great as that which they
take in a conquering plugger. This should have what is known as a
screw peg, which prevents splitting. It can be made, but on the whole,
I think it better to buy the pegs.

A good, stout, pliant cord is quite as necessary as a well-balanced
top. It should have a button, never a loop, to keep it from slipping
through the fingers, and it should be of a thickness to fill, without
overlapping the grooves. The end should be frayed and moistened to
insure a firm grip when starting to wind. It requires much practice to
become expert in spinning the peg, but, as in everything else, it pays
to learn accuracy.

As with whip top, playing alone soon ceases to be good fun, but the
game makes for enjoyment. Mark out a bull ring about six feet in
diameter. Put as many tops inside the small ring as there are players,
then toss up, or in any other way decide on the order of play. After
winding up his peg, the first player, with his left foot toeing the
outer ring, strikes for the tops in the center. If he misses and fails
to spin, or if he strikes outside the inner circle, he must put
another top within the circle and await his turn. If he strikes the
tops with the big end of his plugger, it is a miss, and he must
replace any top knocked out; but if the peg of the plugger hits a top
and knocks it out of the center ring, he pockets it and has another