To make the simple wooden top here illustrated, all that is required is a piece of round wood about 2 1/2in. long and about 1 1/4 in. in diameter; a piece of a stout broomstick will answer the purpose very well. It should be cut or turned to one of the shapes shown by Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and a small brass-headed nail driven in at the bottom as shown at A in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. The top may be roughly ornamented with bands of colour as shown in Fig. 5. This gives a pretty effect whilst the top is spinning. The body of the top is usually stained black. The lash of the whips used to spin these tops is generally a strip of dried eel-skin, but a piece of tape tied to a stick answers the same purpose.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5. A French Whip-top.