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The children's game "Red Rover" has its origins in a pagan ritual that dates back to the 16th century. According to manuscripts of the time, participants in the ritual would chant and make sacrifices to a demon in charge of shepherding souls to the afterlife, in hopes that their loved ones could return from death. Grotesque illustrations of the demon would sometimes accompany written accounts of the ritual, but the demon was never given a name; it was referred to only as "the Red Rover."