Children’s Games (part 2)

3. A-dis, a-dis, a-das. A-dis, a-dis, a-dass. A dish, a dish, a dish. Dissy, dissy, duss. Dossy, dossy, doss. A dust, a dust, a dust. Thus, and thus, and thus.

4. — — — — — — —

5. — — — — — — —

6. Come all ye pretty maids. Come my pretty fair maid. Come all ye pretty maids. Come all ye pretty maids. Come all ye pretty maids. We want a pretty maiden. Please may we have a pretty lass.

7. And dance along with us. And walk along with us. And dance along with us. And dance along with us. Dance upon the grass. To walk along with us. To come and play with us.

8. For we are going a-roving. — For we are lads a roving. — — — —

9. We’ll take this maid by the hand. — We’ll take this pretty fair maid by the hand. — — We’ll take her by the hand. —

10. — — — — — — —

11. — — — — — She shall go to Derby. —

12. You shall have a duke, my dear. You shall have a dik-ma-day. Ye sall get a duke. You shall have a duck. You shall have a duck. (after No. 19) She shall have a duck, my dear. —

13. — — — — I will give pots and pans. — We will give you pots and pans.

14. — — — — ..... brass. — ..... brass.

15. — — — — ..... gold and silver. — ..... gold and silver.

16. — — — — ..... pearl. — ..... pearl.

17. — — — — ..... anything. — ..... anything.

18. — — — — — — —

19. — — — — For a pretty lass. — For a pretty lass.

20. You shall have a drake. You shall have a dragon. Ye sall get a drake. You shall have a drake. You shall have a drake. She shall have a drake. You shall have a goose for dinner.

21. — — — — — — —

22. — — — — — — —

23. — — — — — — —

[8.] — — — — — — —

24. And ye shall get a young prince. You shall have a nice young man. Ye sall get a bonny prince. You shall have a nice young man. You shall have a young man. She shall have a nice young man. You shall have a nice young man.

25. — — — — — — —

26. — — — — — — —

27. A young prince for your sake. — For your ain sake. To love you for your sake. — A fighting for her sake. —

28. — — — — Apprentice for your sake. — —

29. — — — — — — To take you up the garden.

30. If this young prince should die. — If they all should die. If this young man should chance to die. — Suppose this young man was to die. Suppose this young man was to die.

31. — — — — If this young man should wealthy grow. — —

32. Ye shall get another. — Ye sall get anither. — — — —

33. — — — And leave the girl a widow. — And leave the girl a widow. And leave the girl a widow.

34. — — — — And give his wife a feather. — —

35. Bells will ring and birds sing. — The bells will ring, birds will sing. Birds shall sing and bells ring. Bells shall ring and birds sing. Bells ring and we shall sing. Bells would ring, cats would sing.

36. — — — — — — —

37. We’ll all clap hands together. — We’ll clap hands together. Clap all your hands together. We’ll all clap hands together. And all clap hands together. So we’ll all clap hands together.

38. — With princes for his thegan. — — — — —

39. — — — — — — —

40. — — — — — — —

41. — — — — — — —

42. — — — — — — —

43. — — — — — — —

44. — — — — — — —

45. — — — — — — —

46. — — — — — — —

No. Sussex, Hurstmonceux. Middlesex. London. Hants, Liphook. Halliwell. Sheffield.

1. — — — — — —

2. Up and down the green grass. Tripping up the green grass. Here we come up the green grass. Here we go up the green grass. Trip, trap, over the grass. Stepping up the green grass.

3. This, and that, and thus. — — — — Thus, and thus, and thus.

4. — Dusty, dusty day. On a dusty, dusty day. — — —

5. — — — So early in the morning. — —

6. Come all ye fair maids. Come all ye pretty maids. Fair maid, pretty maid. Fair maid, pretty maid. Please let one of your daughters come. Will you let one of your fair maids.

7. And walk along with us. Come and with us play. — — Come and dance with me. Come and play with us.

8. — — [See below.] — — —

9. — — Give your hand to me. Give your hand to me. Take one, take the fairest you can see. —

10. — — — — Pretty come to me. —

11. — — — — — —

12. — You shall have a duck. — — You shall have a duck, my dear. —

13. — — — — I will give you pots and pans. We will give you pots and pans.

14. — — — — ..... brass. ..... brass.

15. Some will give us silver ..... gold. — — — ..... gold and silver. ..... gold and silver.

16. — — — — ..... pearl. ..... pearl.

17. — — — — ..... anything. ..... anything.

18. — — I’ll show you a blackbird. You shall see a blackbird. — —

19. — — — — For a pretty girl. For a pretty lass.

20. — You shall have a swan. — — You shall have a drake. —

21. Take hold of my finger. — — — — —

22. Maycana-
meecan. — — — — —

23. — — — All sorts of colours lying by his side. — —

[8.] — — We’ll all go roving. — — —

24. — You shall have a nice young man. — — You shall have a young man. You shall have a nice young man.

25. Pray tell me the name of your young man. — — — — —

26. — — I’ll take for my bride. Take for my bride. — —

27. — A waiting for to come. — — — —

28. — — — — Apprentice for your sake. Born for your sake.

29. — — — — — —

30. — Suppose he were to die. — — If this young man should happen to die. —

31. — — — — — —

32. — — — — — —

33. — And leave his wife a widow. — — And leave the poor woman a widow. —

34. — — — — — —

35. — — — — Bells shall ring, birds shall sing. Bells shall ring, cats shall sing.

36. — Come all ye pretty fair maids. — — — —

37. — Come clap your hands together. — — We’ll all clap hands together. We’ll all clap hands together.

38. — — — — — —

39. Don’t you think a nice young man? — — — — —

40. Don’t you think as handsome as he? — — — — —

41. Then off with the glove, on with the ring. — — — — —

42. You shall be married when you can agree. — — — — —

43. — — Naughty miss, she won’t come out. Naughty old maid, she won’t come out. — —

44. — — To help us with our dancing. To help us with our dancing. — —

45. — — Now we’ve got our bonny lass. Now we’ll get our bonny lass. — —

46. — — To help us with our dancing. To help us with our dancing. — —

What the meaning of this word is it may be impossible to ascertain, though probably Mr. Newell may be correct in his suggestion that it represents the old English word “adist,” the opposite of “ayont,” meaning “this way,” “come hither” (Games of American Children, p. 51). But the point really is, that the version which contains the oldest word-forms would probably be the purest in other respects. The analysis of the whole game confirms this view, as the Scottish and Yorkshire versions are nearly parallel, while the discrepancies begin to creep in with the Shropshire version, reaching their last stage in the versions recorded by Halliwell and from Congleton. Following this line of argument, “dik-ma-day” becomes first “duke, my dear,” and then “duck, my dear.” Turning next to the import of the rhymes, apart from special words used, it is curious to note that “dis” is only converted into “dusty,” and hence into “dusty day,” in two versions out of the fourteen. The Lincolnshire version agrees with Halliwell’s version in making some curious offers for a pretty lass, but these rhymes are probably an innovation. In the same way the incidents numbered 39-40, occurring in the Sussex version, and 43-46 occurring in the London and Hants versions, are borrowings from other games, and not original portions of this. The Congleton version is evidently incomplete.

(e) Henderson, in describing the curious rites accompanying the saining or blessing of a corpse in the Scottish Lowlands, states that empty dishes are arranged on the hearth as near as possible to the fire, and after certain ceremonies in connection therewith have been performed, the company join hands and dance round the dishes, singing this burden:—

A dis, a dis, a dis,
A green griss;
A dis, a dis, a dis.

—Folk-lore of Northern Counties, p. 54.

This rhyme is, it will be seen, the same as the first two lines of the game, the word “griss” in the burial-rhyme becoming “grass” in the game-rhyme, “grisse” being the old form for “grass” or herb (Halliwell, Provincial Glossary, quotes a MS. authority for this). This identification of the game-rhyme would suggest that the game originally was a child’s dramatic imitation of an old burial ceremony, and it remains to be seen whether the signification of the words would carry out this idea.

In the first place, the idea of death is a prominent incident in the game, appearing in seven out of the fourteen versions. In all these cases the death is followed by the clapping of hands and bell-ringing, and in five cases by the singing of birds. Clapping of hands occurs in two other cases, and bell-ringing in one other case, not accompanied by the death incident. Now it is singular that the burial-rite which has just been quoted is called Dish-a-loof; and a reference to the game of “Dish-a-loof” [under that title], will show that it derives its name from the clapping of hands. In the ceremony, as described by Henderson, although songs and games are part of the burial-ceremony, there is no specific mention of hand-clapping; but it is conceivable that the action at one time formed part of the ceremony, and hence the name “Dish-a-loof.” This would not account for the promise of a duck, drake, &c., as in incidents Nos. 12 and 20; nor for the promise of a young prince or young man; but these incidents might very well be variants of some earlier forms which are not now discoverable, especially as love-games were played at funerals, and as the tendency, in the less complete forms of the game as they have come down to us, is in the direction of transposing the game into a complete love-game. The use of rushes in the Lanarkshire game might indicate the funeral garland (Aubrey’s Remaines, pp. 109, 139). For clapping of hands to indicate bell-tolling or bell-ringing at times of death see Napier’s Folklore, p. 66. Henderson (p. 63) says the “passing bell” was supposed in former times to serve two purposes: it called on all good Christians within hearing to pray for the departing spirit, and it scared away the evil spirits who were watching to seize it, or at least to scare and terrify it.

On the whole evidence from the rhymes, therefore, I should be disposed to class this game as originally belonging to burial, and not love, rites.[Addendum]

Green Gravel

[Play]

—Madeley, Shropshire (Miss Burne).

[Play]

—Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).

[Play]

—Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

[Play]

—Redhill, Surrey (Miss G. Hope).

[Play]

—Lancashire (Mrs. Harley).

[Play]

—Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).

I.

Green gravel, green gravel, your grass is so green,
The fairest young damsel that ever was seen;
We washed her, we dried her, we rolled her in silk,
And we wrote down her name with a glass pen and ink.
Dear Annie, dear Annie, your true love is dead,
And we send you a letter to turn round your head.

—Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

II.

Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green,
The fairest young lady that ever was seen;
I’ll wash you in milk,
And I’ll clothe you with silk,
And I’ll write down your name with a gold pen and ink.
O Sally, O Sally, your true love is dead,
He sent you a letter to turn round your head.

—Berrington, Oswestry (Shropshire Folk-lore p. 510).

III.

Around the green gravel the grass is so green,
All the pretty fair maids are plain to be seen;
Wash them in milk, and clothe them in silk,
Write their names down with a gold pen and ink.
All but Miss “Jenny,” her sweetheart is dead;
She’s left off her wedding to turn back her head.

O mother, O mother, do you think it is true?
O yes, child! O yes, child!
Then what shall I do?
We’ll wash you in milk, and dress you in silk,
And write down your name with a gold pen and ink.

—Derbyshire and Worcestershire (Mrs. Harley).

IV.

Green gravel, green gravel,
The grass is so green,
Such beautiful flowers
As never were seen.
O Annie [or any name], O Annie,
Your sweetheart is dead!
He has sent you a letter
To turn back your head.

—Earls Heaton, Yorkshire (H. Hardy).

V.

Green gravel, green gravel,
The grass is so green,
The fairest young damsels
As ever were seen.
O ——, O ——, your true love is dead;
He sent you a letter
To turn round your head.

Green gravel, green gravel,
The grass is so green,
The dismalest damsels
As ever were seen.
O ——, O ——, your true love’s not dead;
He sends you a letter
To turn back your head.

—Lincoln, Winterton, and Wakefield (Miss Fowler and Miss Peacock).

VI.

Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green,
The fairest young lady [damsel] that ever was seen.
O ——, O ——, your true love is dead;
He’s sent you a letter to turn round your head.

—Redhill, Surrey (Miss G. Hope); Lancashire (Mrs. Harley).

VII.

Green meadows, green meadows, your grass is so green,
The fairest young damsel that ever was seen;
O Mary, O Mary, your sweetheart is dead;
We’ve sent you a letter to turn back your head.

Or,

Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green, and following on as above.

—Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

VIII.

Green grover, green grover, your grass is so green,
The prettiest young lady that ever was seen.
O ——, O ——, your true love is dead;
I send you this letter, so turn round your head.

—Gainford, Durham (Miss Eddleston).

IX.

Green gravels, green gravels,
The grass is so green,
And all the pretty maidens
Are not to be seen,
Except —— (said twice),
And she’s not [?] to be seen,
So I send you a letter to turn round your head.

—Hampshire (Miss E. Mendham).

X.

Green gravels, green gravels, the grass is so green,
Fine pencils, fine pencils, as ever were seen.
O Mary! O Mary! your true love is dead,
And he’s sent you a letter to turn round your head.

—Wales (Byegones, 1890).

XI.

Yellow gravel, yellow gravel,
The grass is so green,
The fairest young lady
That ever was seen.
O ——, O ——,
Your true love is dead;
I send you a letter to turn round your head.

—Cowes, Isle of Wight (Miss E. Smith).

XII.

Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green,
Said the fairest young damsel that ever I’ve seen.
O mother, O mother, my true-love is dead,
He sent me this letter to turn round my head.
O mother, O mother, do you think this is true?
O yes, love! O yes, love!
And what shall I do?
I’ll wash you in butter-milk, I’ll dress you in silk,
I’ll write down your name with my gold pen and ink.

—Isle of Man (A. W. Moore).

XIII.

Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green,
The flowers are all faded and none to be seen.
O [Dolly], O [Dolly], your sweetheart is dead,
He’s sent you a letter to turn back your head.

Wallflowers, wallflowers, growing up so high,
We are but little, and we shall have to die!
Excepting [Dolly Turner], she’s the youngest girl.
O for shame, and fie for shame, and turn your back to home again.

—Madeley, Shropshire (Miss Burne).

XIV.

Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green,
The fairest young lady that ever was seen.
As I went up Miss Betsey’s stairs to buy a frying-pan,
There sat Miss Betsey a-kissing her young man.

She pulled off her glove and showed me her ring,
And the very next morning the bells did ring.
Dear Betsey, dear Betsey, your true love is dead,
He’s sent you a letter to turn back your head.

—Summertown, Oxford (A. H. Franklin, Midland Garner, vol. ii. p. 32).

XV.

Round the green gravel the grass grows green,
All pretty fair maids are fit to be seen;
Wash them in milk, and clothe them in silk,
And write down their names with pen and black ink—
Choose one, choose two, choose the fairest daughter.

Now, my daughter, married to-day,
Like father and mother they should be,
To love one another like sister and brother—
I pray you now to kiss one another.

Now my daughter Mary’s gone,
With her pockets all lined with gold;
On my finger a gay gold ring—
Good-bye, Mary, good-bye.

Now this poor widow is left alone,
Nobody could marry a better one;
Choose one, choose two—
Choose the fairest daughter.

—Sheffield (S. O. Addy).

XVI.

Round the green gravel the grass is so green,
And all the fine ladies that ever were seen;
Washed in milk and dressed in silk,
The last that stoops down shall be married.

[Johnnie Smith] is a nice young man,
And so is [Bessie Jones] as nice as he;
He came to the door with his hat in his hand,
Inquiring for [Miss Jones].

She is neither within, she is neither without,
She is up in the garret a-walking about.
Down she came, as white as milk,
With a rose in her bosom as soft as silk.

Silks and satins be ever so dear,
You shall have a kiss [gown?], my dear,
So off with the glove and on with the ring—
To-morrow, to-morrow, the wedding begins.

—Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Miss Matthews).

XVII.

Around a green gravill
The grass is so green,
And all the fine ladies
Ashamed to be seen.
They wash ’em in milk
And dress ’em in silk—
We’ll all cou’ don’ together.

My elbow, my elbow,
My pitcher and my can;
Isn’t ——
A nice young gell?
Isn’t ——
As nice as her—
They shall be married with a guinea-gold ring.

I peep’d through the window,
I peep’d through the door,
I seed pretty ——
A-dancin on the floor;
I cuddled her an’ fo’dled her,
I set her on my knee;
I says pretty ——
Won’t [ëe?] you marry me.

A new-swept parlour,
An’ a new-made bed,
A new cup and saucer
Again we get wed.
If it be a boy, he shall have a hat,
To follow with his mammy to her na’, na’, na’;
If he be a gell, she shall have a ring,
To follow with her mammy to her ding, ding, ding.

—Wakefield (Miss Fowler).

(c) The more general way of playing this game is to form a ring of children simply. The children walk round singing the verse as in the Belfast version, and when the last line is sung, the child whose name is mentioned turns round, facing the outside of the ring and having her back to the centre. She continues to hold hands with the others, and dances round with them in that position. This is repeated until all the children have “turned” their backs to the inside of the ring. Here the game ends in many cases, but another verse is sung in the Lincoln, Winterton, and Wakefield versions from Miss Peacock, and this was sung also in the London version. The second verse thus terminates the game, with the players one by one reversing their position and facing the centre of ring as at first. In the Forest of Dean and Wakefield versions the action of the game is somewhat different. A child stands in the centre of the ring of children, without apparently taking much part in the game, except to name the children in turn. In the Wakefield version, however (Miss Fowler, No. xvii.), a little boy stands in the middle of a circle of girls who sing the first verse. At “We’ll all cou’ don’ together,” all crouch down, as if in profound respect, then rising slowly, sing the next verse. After “My pitcher and my can,” each child mentions her own name. At “Isn’t —— as nice as her?” each mentions her sweetheart’s name, and the child thus chosen goes into the circle. At the end of the fourth verse they all clap hands, and the one that is sweetheart to him in the middle kisses him. The “crouching down” is also done in the Forest of Dean version when singing the fourth line. The last one to stoop has to name her sweetheart. When this is done, the children all dance round and sing the other lines.

(d) The analysis of the game-rhymes is on pp. -. The most constant formulæ of this game-rhyme are shown by this analysis to be Nos. 1, 6, 7, 13, 15, 18, 23, and the variants, though important, are not sufficient to detract from the significance of the normal version. It is evidently a funeral game. The green gravel and the green grass indicate the locality of the scene; “green,” as applied to gravel, may mean freshly disturbed, just as green grave means a freshly made grave. The tenant of the new grave is the well-loved lady of a disconsolate lover, and probably the incidents of washing and dressing the corpse, and putting an inscription on the place where it is laid, are indicated by Nos. 13 and 15. The dirge, or singing to the dead, is indicated by Nos. 18, 23, and 26, and the beauty of the first line is in complete accord with the mournful music. That No. 26 occurs in only two variants, Derbyshire and the Isle of Man, is curious, as the pathos of this appeal is very apparent in the movement of the game. The communion with the dead which is indicated by No. 23 is by no means considered impossible by the peasantry. In confirmation of this being a representation of an old funeral ceremony, it may be pointed out that the action of turning backwards during the singing of the dirge is also represented in the curious funeral ceremony called “Dish-a-loof,” which is described in Henderson’s Folk-lore of the Northern Counties, p. 53. Henderson’s words are: “All the attendants, going out of the room, return into it backwards, repeating this rhyme of ’saining.’” The additional ceremony of marriage in four of the games is clearly an interpolation, which may have arisen from the custom of playing love and marriage games at funerals and during the watching with the corpse, or may be a mere transition to the more pleasant task of love-making as the basis of a game. The Derbyshire incident (No. 24) may indicate indeed that the funeral is that of a young bride, and in that case the tendency to make the game wholly a marriage game is accounted for. The decay which has set in is apparent by the evident attempt to alter from “green gravel” to “green grover” and “yellow gravel” (Nos. 4 and 5), and to introduce pen and black ink (No. 17). The addition of the incongruous elements from other games (Nos. 27-31) is a frequent occurrence in modern games, and is the natural result of decadence in the original form of the game. Altogether this game-rhyme affords a very good example of the condition of traditional games among the present generation of children.

[178-
181]

No. Belfast. Shrop-
shire. Derby-
shire. Earls Heaton, Yorks. Lin-
coln-
shire. Redhill, Surrey. Sporle, Norfolk. Gainford, Durham. Hants. Wales. Isle of Wight. Isle of Man. Made-
ley. Oxford-
shire. Shef-
field. Forest of Dean. Wake-
field.

1. Green gravel. Green gravel. — Green gravel. Green gravel. Green gravel. — — Green gravels. Green gravel. — Green gravel. Green gravel. Green gravel. — — —

2. — — Around the green gravel. — — — — — — — — — — — Round the green gravel. Round the green gravel. Around the green gravill.

3. — — — — — — Green meadows. — — — — — — — — — —

4. — — — — — — — Green grover. — — — — — — — — —

5. — — — — — — — — — — Yellow gravel. — — — — — —

6. Your grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. Your grass is so green. Your grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. — — — — —

7. The fairest damsel ever seen. — — — Fairest damsel ever seen. Fairest damsel ever seen. Fairest damsel ever seen. — — — — Fairest damsel ever I’ve seen. — — — — —

8. — The fairest young lady ever seen. — — — — — Prettiest young lady ever seen. — — Fairest young lady ever seen. — — Fairest young lady ever seen. — All fine ladies ever were seen. —

9. — — All pretty maids are plain to be seen. — — — — — — — — — — — All pretty fair maids are fit to be seen. — —

10. — — — Such beautiful flowers ever seen. — — — — — — — — Flowers all faded, none to be seen. — — — —

11. — — — — — — — — All pretty maidens are _not_ to be seen. — — — — — — — All fine ladies ashamed to be seen.

12. — — — — — — — — — Fine pencil as ever was seen. — — — — — — —

13. Washed her, dried her, rolled her in silk. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

14. — Wash you in milk, clothe in silk. Wash them in milk, clothe in silk. — — — — — — — — [Wash you in butter-milk, dress in silk.] (After No. 26.) — — Wash them in milk, clothe in silk. Washed in milk, dressed in silk. Wash ’em in milk, dress in silk.

15. Wrote name in glass pen and ink. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

16. — Write name in gold pen and ink. Write names in gold pen and ink. — — — — — — — — [Write name with my gold pen and ink.] (After No. 26.) — — — — —

17. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Write names with pen and black ink. — —

18. Your true love is dead. True love is dead. Her sweet-
heart is dead. Sweet-
heart is dead. True love is dead. True love is dead. Sweet-
heart is dead. True love is dead. — True love is dead. True love is dead. True love is dead. Sweet-
heart is dead. True love is dead. (After No. 25.) — — —

19. — — — — — — — — Except —— she’s not to be seen. — — — — — — — —

20. — — — — — — — — — — — — — Betsy kissing her young man. — — —

21. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Choose the fairest daughter. — —

22. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Last to stoop down shall be married. We’ll all cow down together.

23. He sent letter to turn your head. He sent letter to turn your head. — He sent letter to turn your head. He sent letter to turn your head. He sent letter to turn your head. We sent letter to turn your head. I send letter to turn your head. I send letter to turn round your head. He’s sent letter to turn head. I send you letter to turn round your head. He sent this letter to turn my head. I’ve sent letter to turn your head. [He sent letter to turn back your head.] (After No. 25.) — — —

24. — — She’s left off her wedding to turn back her head. — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

25. — — — — — — — — — — — — — She showed her ring and bells did ring. Married to-day so kiss one another. He came to inquire, down she came, so off with glove and on with ring, to-morrow the wedding begins. They shall be married with gold ring.

26. — — Mother, is it true; What shall I do? [Then repeat Nos. 14 & 16.] — — — — — — — — Mother, is it true? What shall I do? — — — — —

27. — — — — True love not dead, he sends letter to turn your head. — — — — — — — — — — — —

28. — — — — — — — — — — — — [Wall-
flowers verses follow.] — — — —

29. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Poor widow left alone, and choose the fairest daughter. — —

30. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — [Dancing, cuddling, asking to marry.]

31. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — [Furnish-
ing.]

32. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — [If a boy, he’s to have a hat; if a girl, a ring.]

No. Belfast. Shropshire. Derbyshire. Earls Heaton, Yorks. Lincolnshire. Redhill, Surrey. Sporle, Norfolk. Gainford, Durham. Hants.

1. Green gravel. Green gravel. — Green gravel. Green gravel. Green gravel. — — Green gravels.

2. — — Around the green gravel. — — — — — —

3. — — — — — — Green meadows. — —

4. — — — — — — — Green grover. —

5. — — — — — — — — —

6. Your grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. Your grass is so green. Your grass is so green. The grass is so green.

7. The fairest damsel ever seen. — — — Fairest damsel ever seen. Fairest damsel ever seen. Fairest damsel ever seen. — —

8. — The fairest young lady ever seen. — — — — — Prettiest young lady ever seen. —

9. — — All pretty maids are plain to be seen. — — — — — —

10. — — — Such beautiful flowers ever seen. — — — — —

11. — — — — — — — — All pretty maidens are _not_ to be seen.

12. — — — — — — — — —

13. Washed her, dried her, rolled her in silk. — — — — — — — —

14. — Wash you in milk, clothe in silk. Wash them in milk, clothe in silk. — — — — — —

15. Wrote name in glass pen and ink. — — — — — — — —

16. — Write name in gold pen and ink. Write names in gold pen and ink. — — — — — —

17. — — — — — — — — —

18. Your true love is dead. True love is dead. Her sweet-
heart is dead. Sweet-
heart is dead. True love is dead. True love is dead. Sweet-
heart is dead. True love is dead. —

19. — — — — — — — — Except —— she’s not to be seen.

20. — — — — — — — — —

21. — — — — — — — — —

22. — — — — — — — — —

23. He sent letter to turn your head. He sent letter to turn your head. — He sent letter to turn your head. He sent letter to turn your head. He sent letter to turn your head. We sent letter to turn your head. I send letter to turn your head. I send letter to turn round your head.

24. — — She’s left off her wedding to turn back her head. — — — — — —

25. — — — — — — — — —

26. — — Mother, is it true; What shall I do? [Then repeat Nos. 14 & 16.] — — — — — —

27. — — — — True love not dead, he sends letter to turn your head. — — — —

28. — — — — — — — — —

29. — — — — — — — — —

30. — — — — — — — — —

31. — — — — — — — — —

32. — — — — — — — — —

No. Wales. Isle of Wight. Isle of Man. Madeley. Oxfordshire. Sheffield. Forest of Dean. Wakefield.

1. Green gravel. — Green gravel. Green gravel. Green gravel. — — —

2. — — — — — Round the green gravel. Round the green gravel. Around the green gravill.

3. — — — — — — — —

4. — — — — — — — —

5. — Yellow gravel. — — — — — —

6. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. The grass is so green. — — — — —

7. — — Fairest damsel ever I’ve seen. — — — — —

8. — Fairest young lady ever seen. — — Fairest young lady ever seen. — All fine ladies ever were seen. —

9. — — — — — All pretty fair maids are fit to be seen. — —

10. — — — Flowers all faded, none to be seen. — — — —

11. — — — — — — — All fine ladies ashamed to be seen.

12. Fine pencil as ever was seen. — — — — — — —

13. — — — — — — — —

14. — — [Wash you in butter-milk, dress in silk.] (After No. 26.) — — Wash them in milk, clothe in silk. Washed in milk, dressed in silk. Wash ’em in milk, dress in silk.

15. — — — — — — — —

16. — — [Write name with my gold pen and ink.] (After No. 26.) — — — — —

17. — — — — — Write names with pen and black ink. — —

18. True love is dead. True love is dead. True love is dead. Sweet-
heart is dead. True love is dead. (After No. 25.) — — —

19. — — — — — — — —

20. — — — — Betsy kissing her young man. — — —

21. — — — — — Choose the fairest daughter. — —

22. — — — — — — Last to stoop down shall be married. We’ll all cow down together.

23. He’s sent letter to turn head. I send you letter to turn round your head. He sent this letter to turn my head. I’ve sent letter to turn your head. [He sent letter to turn back your head.] (After No. 25.) — — —

24. — — — — — — — —

25. — — — — She showed her ring and bells did ring. Married to-day so kiss one another. He came to inquire, down she came, so off with glove and on with ring, to-morrow the wedding begins. They shall be married with gold ring.

26. — Mother, is it true? What shall I do? — — — — —

27. — — — — — — — —

28. — — — [Wall-
flowers verses follow.] — — — —

29. — — — — — Poor widow left alone, and choose the fairest daughter. — —

30. — — — — — — — [Dancing, cuddling, asking to marry.]

31. — — — — — — — [Furnish-
ing.]

32. — — — — — — — [If a boy, he’s to have a hat; if a girl, a ring.]

(e) Other versions, actually or practically identical with the Redhill (Surrey) version, have been sent by Miss Blair (South Shields); Mr. H. S. May, Ogbourne and Manton (Wilts); Mrs. Haddon (Cambridge); Mrs. Harley (Lancashire); and Miss Burne, Platt, near Wrotham (Kent). There are also similar printed versions in Folk-lore Journal, vi. 214 (Dorsetshire); Folk-lore Record, v. 84 (Hersham, Surrey). Northall prints a version in his Folk Rhymes, 362-3, identical with No. 17. The tune of the Platt version sent by Miss Burne, and the Ogbourne and Manton (H. S. May), are almost identical, except the termination. This seems to be the most general tune for the game. The Lancashire tune is the same as the London version.

Miss Burne says of the Madeley version: “I never knew ‘Green Gravel’ and ‘Wallflowers’ played together as in this way elsewhere (I had not got this variant when I wrote Shropshire Folk-lore), except at Much Wenlock, where they reverse the two verses, and only sing one line (the last) of ‘Green Gravel.’ But I feel sure they must have been meant to go together (see my note in Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 510), and I can explain them, I think. The ring of girls are dancing on the green grass plot in the middle of an old-fashioned sixteenth-century walled garden: each gets the news of her lover’s death, and ‘turns her face to the wall,’ the old token of hopeless sorrow. Then they apostrophise the wallflowers in the border surrounding the grass plot against the old high wall; and here another variant explains the lament (second line)—

Wallflowers, wallflowers, growing up so high,
We shall all be maidens [and so], we shall all die;

Except the youngest (who will meet with another lover), whether as an instance of the proverbial luck of the ‘youngest born,’ or as a piece of juvenile giddiness and inconstancy, I cannot say; but considering the value set on true love and hopeless constancy in the ballad-lore, and the special garland which distinguished the funerals of bereaved but constant maidens, and the solemnity of betrothal in old days, the latter seems probable, especially considering the ‘for shame.’”

The incidents of washing a corpse in milk and dressing it in silk occur in “Burd Ellen,” Jamieson’s Ballads, p. 125.

“Tak up, tak up my bonny young son,
Gar wash him wi’ the milk;
Tak up, tak up my fair lady,
Gar row her in the silk.”

[Addendum]

Green Grow the Leaves (1)

[Play]

—Earls Heaton (Mr. Hardy).

I.

Green grow the leaves (or grows the ivy) round the old oak tree,
Green grow the leaves round the old oak tree,
Green grow the leaves round the old oak tree,
As we go marching on.

Bless my life I hardly knew you,
Bless my life I hardly knew you,
Bless my life I hardly knew you,
As we go marching on.

—Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire (Miss Peacock).

II.

Green grow the leaves on the old oak tree,
I love the boys and the boys love me,
As we go marching on.

—Sharleston (Miss Fowler).

III.

I love the boys and the boys love me,
I love the boys and the boys love me,
I love the boys and the boys love me,
As we go marching home.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
As we go marching home.

The old whiskey bottle lies empty on the shelf,
The old whiskey bottle lies empty on the shelf,
The old whiskey bottle lies empty on the shelf,
As we go marching home.

—Earls Heaton, Yorkshire (Herbert).

(b) In Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire the game is played by the children forming a circle and dancing round, singing. The first and third lines are sung three times. Partners are chosen during the singing of the last line. Miss Peacock adds, “The rest wanting, as my informant had forgotten the game.” In the Sharleston version the children march round two by two, in a double circle, with one child in the centre, singing the verse. At the conclusion, the children who are marching on the inner side of the circle leave their partners and take the place of one in front of them, while the centre child endeavours to get one of the vacant places, the child turned out taking the place of the one in the centre, when the game begins again. In the Earls Heaton version there is the circle of children, with one child in the centre, who chooses a partner after the lines have been sung.

(c) From this it would seem that while the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire words appear to be the most complete, the action has been preserved best at Sharleston. The acting of this version is the same as that of “The Jolly Miller.” The third variant is evidently an imitation of the song, “John Brown.”

Green Grow the Leaves (2)

[Play]

—Northants (R. S. Baker).

Green grow the leaves on the hawthorn tree,
Green grow the leaves on the hawthorn tree,
We jangle and we wrangle and we never can agree,
But the tenor of our song goes merrily, merrily, merrily,
The tenor of our song goes merrily.

—R. S. Baker (Northants Notes and Queries, ii. 161).

(b) One couple is chosen to lead, and they go off, whither they will, followed by a long train of youths and maidens, all singing the refrain. Sometimes the leaders part company, and branch off to the right or left; the others have to do the same, and not until the leaders meet can they join again. They march arm in arm.

(c) Mr. R. S. Baker, who records this, says a Wellingborough lady sent him the tune and words, and told him the game was more like a country dance than anything else, being a sort of dancing “Follow My Leader.”

Gully

A sink, or, failing that, a particular stone in the pavement was the “Gully.” Some boy chosen by lot, or one who volunteered in order to start the game, laid his top on the ground at some distance from the “Gully.” The first player then spun his top, pegging at the recumbent top, so as to draw it towards the “Gully.” If he missed the top, he stooped down and took up his own top by pushing his hand against it in such a manner that the space between his first and second finger caught against the peg and forced the top into the palm of his hand. He then had “a go” at the recumbent top (I forget what this was called), and sent his own top against it so as to push it towards the “Gully.” If he missed, he tried again and again, until his own top could spin no longer. If he did not hit the top with his own while it was spinning, his top had to be laid down and the other one taken up, and its owner took his turn at pegging. When a spinning-top showed signs of exhaustion, and the taking it up might kill it, and it was not very far from the down-lying top, its owner would gently push it with his finger, so as to make it touch the other top, and so avoid putting it into the other’s place. This was called “kissing,” and was not allowed by some players. When one player succeeded in sending the top into the “Gully,” he took it up and fixed it by its peg into a post, mortar of a wall, or the best place where it could be tolerably steady. Holding it by one hand, he drove the peg of his own top as far as he could into the crown of the victim top. This was called “taking a grudge.” He then held either his own or the victim top and knocked the other against the wall, the object being to split the victim. He was allowed three “grudges.” If the top did not give way, the other players tried in turn. If the top did not split, it was returned to its owner, but any boy who succeeded in splitting it through the middle, so that the peg fell out, took possession of the peg. I have seen a top split at the side in such a way as to be quite useless as a top, though no peg was gained. I remember, too, a schoolfellow of mine drawing from his pocket some seven or eight pegs, the trophied memorials of as many tops.—London (J. P. Emslie).

See “Hoatie,” “Hoges,” “Peg-top.”

Hairry my Bossie

This is a game of chance. The players are two, and may be boys or girls, or a boy and a girl. The stakes may be pins, buttons, marbles, or anything for which children gamble. One player puts a number, one, two, three or more, of the articles to be gambled for into the hollow of the closed hand, and says, “Hairry my bossie;” the other answers, “Knock ’im down,” upon which he puts his closed hands down with a blow on his knees, and continues to strike them upwards and downwards on the knee, so as to give the opponent in play an idea of the number of objects concealed by the sound given forth. He then says, “How many blows?” and gets the reply, “As many’s goes.” A guess is then made. If the guess is correct the guesser gets the objects. If the guess is incorrect the guesser has to make up the difference between the number guessed and the real number. The players play alternately. This game was played for the most part at Christmas.—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).

(b) Hairry = “rob,” Bossie = “a wooden bowl,” commonly used for making the leaven in baking oat-cakes, and for making “brose.”

This is a very general game amongst schoolboys.

Half-Hammer

The game of “Hop-step-and-jump,” Norfolk. This game is played in the west of Sussex, but not in the east. It is played thus by two or more boys. Each boy in his turn stands first on one leg and makes a hop, then strides or steps, and lastly, putting both feet together, jumps. The boy who covers the most ground is the victor.—Halliwell’s Dictionary.

Han’-and-Hail

A game common in Dumfries, thus described by Jamieson. Two goals called hails, or dules, are fixed on at about a distance of four hundred yards. The two parties then place themselves in the middle between the goals or dules, and one of the players, taking a soft elastic ball, about the size of a man’s fist, tosses it into the air, and, as it falls, strikes it with his palm towards his antagonists. The object of the game is for either party to drive the ball beyond the goal which lies before them, while their opponents do all in their power to prevent this. As soon as the ball is gowf’t, that is, struck away, the opposite party endeavour to intercept it in its fall. This is called keppan’ the ba’. If they succeed in this attempt, the player who does so is entitled to throw the ball with all his might towards his antagonists. If he kep it in the first bound which it makes off the ground, called a stot, he is allowed to haunch, that is, to throw the ball by bringing his hand with a sweep past his thigh, to which he gives a stroke as his hand passes, and discharging the ball at the moment when the stroke is given. If the ball be caught in the second bounce, the catcher may hoch the ball, that is, throw it through below one of his houghs. If none of the party catch the ball, it must be gowf’t in the manner before described. As soon as either of the parties succeed in driving the ball, or, as it is called, hailin’ the dules, the game then begins by one of the party which was successful throwing the ball towards the opposing goal and the other party striving to drive it back.

Hand in and Hand out

A game played by a company of young people who are drawn up in a circle, when one of them, pitched upon by lot, walks round the band, and, if a boy, hits a girl, or, if a girl, she strikes a boy whom she chooses, on which the party striking and the party struck run in pursuit of each other till the latter is caught, whose lot it then becomes to perform the same part. A game so called was forbidden by statute of Edward IV.—Halliwell’s Dictionary.

See “Drop Handkerchief.”

Handy-Croopen

A game in which one of the players turns his face to the wall, his hand resting upon his back. He must continue in position until he guesses who struck his hand, when the striker takes his place.—Orkney and Shetland (Jamieson’s Dictionary).

See “Hot Cockles.”

Handy Dandy

I.

Handy dandy,
Sugary candy—
Top or bottom?

Handy spandy,
Jack a dandy—
Which good hand will you have?

—Halliwell’s Dictionary: Nursery Rhymes, p. 216.

II.

Handy dandy riddledy ro—
Which will you have, high or low?

—Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes, p. 216.

III.

Handy pandy,
Sugary candy,
Which will you have—
Top or bottom?

—London (A. B. Gomme).

IV.

Handy pandy, Jack a dandy,
Which hand will you have?

—Burne’s Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 530.

(b) The hands are closed, some small article is put in one of them behind the back of the player. The closed fists are then turned rapidly round one another while the rhyme is being said, and they are then placed one on top of the other. A guess is then made by any one of the players as to which hand the object is in. If correct, the guesser obtains the object; if incorrect, the player who performs “Handy dandy” keeps it.

(c) This game is mentioned in Piers Plowman, p. 69 of Wright’s edition. Douce quotes an ancient MS. which curiously mentions the game as “men play with little children at ‘handye-dandye,’ which hand will you have” (ii. 167). Johnson says: “‘Handy dandy,’ a play in which children change hands and places: ‘See how yon justice rails upon yon simple thief! Hark, in thine ear: change places, and, handy dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?” (King Lear, iv. 6). Malone says, “‘Handy dandy’ is, I believe, a play among children, in which something is shaken between two hands, and then a guess is made in which hand it is retained.” See Florio’s Italian Dictionary, 1598: “Bazzicchiare, to shake between the hands; to play ‘Handy dandy.’” Pope, in his Memoirs of Cornelius Scriblerus, in forbidding certain sports to his son Martin till he is better informed of their antiquity, says: “Neither cross and pile, nor ducks and drakes, are quite so ancient as ‘Handy dandy,’ though Macrobius and St. Augustine take notice of the first, and Minutius Foelix describes the latter; but ‘Handy dandy’ is mentioned by Aristotle, Plato, and Aristophanes.” Browne, in Britannia’s Pastorals (i. 5), also alludes to the game.

See “Neiveie-nick-nack.”

Hap the Beds

A singular game, gone through by hopping on one foot, and with that foot sliding a little flat stone out of an oblong bed, rudely drawn on a smooth piece of ground. This bed is divided into eight parts, the two of which at the farther end of it are called the Kail-pots. If the player then stands at one end, and pitches the smooth stone into all the divisions one after the other, following the same on a foot (at every throw), and bringing it out of the figure, this player wins not only the game, but is considered a first-rate daub at it; failing, however, to go through all the parts so, without missing either a throw or a hop, yet keeping before the other gamblers (for many play at one bed), still wins the curious rustic game.—Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia.

A game called “The Beds,” mentioned by a writer in Blackwood’s Magazine, August 1821, p. 36, as played in Edinburgh when he was a boy by girls only, is described as a game where a pitcher is kicked into chalked divisions of the pavement, the performer being on one leg and hopping.

See “Hop-scotch.”

Hard Buttons

Several boys place one button each close together on a line. The game consists in hitting a particular button out of this line with the nicker without touching the others. This is generally played in London streets, and is mentioned in the Strand Magazine, ii. 515.

See “Banger,” “Buttons.”

Hare and Hounds

A boys’ game. One boy is chosen as the Hare. He carries with him a bag filled with strips of paper. The rest of the boys are the Hounds. The Hare has a certain time (say fifteen minutes) allowed him for a start, and he goes across country, scattering some paper on his way in order to indicate his track. He may employ any manœuvre in order to deceive his pursuers, but must keep up the continuity of his paper track-signs. The Hounds follow him and try to catch him before he gets home, which is a place agreed upon beforehand.—London (G. L. Gomme).

In Cornwall the leader, when at fault, says—

Uppa, uppa, holye! If you don’t speak
My dogs shan’t folly.

—Courtney (Folk-lore Journal, v. 73).

Other versions of this holloa are—

Whoop, whoop, and hollow!
Good dogs won’t follow
Without the hare cries, Peewit.

—Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes, p. 66.

Sound your holler,
Or my little dog shan’t foller.

—Northall’s English Folk Rhymes, p. 357.

This game is played in Wales under the name of “Hunt the Fox.” The Fox has a certain time given him for a start, the other players then go after him.—Beddgelert (Mrs. Williams).

Harie Hutcheon

A game among children, in which they hop round in a ring, sitting on their hams.—Jamieson.

See “Curcuddie,” “Cutch-a-cutchoo,” “Hirtschin Hairy.”

Hark the Robbers

[Play]

—Tong, Shropshire (Miss R. Harley).

I.

Hark the robbers coming through,
Coming through,
Hark the robbers coming through,
My fair lady.

What have the robbers done to you,
Done to you,
What have the robbers done to you,
My fair lady?

You have stole my watch and chain,
Watch and chain,
You have stole my watch and chain,
My fair lady.

Half-a-crown you must pay,
You must pay,
Half-a-crown you must pay,
My fair lady.

Half-a-crown we cannot pay,
Cannot pay,
Half-a-crown we cannot pay,
My fair lady.

Off to prison you must go,
You must go,
Off to prison you must go,
My fair lady.

—Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).

II.

Here are the robbers coming through,
Coming through, coming through,
Here are the robbers coming through,
My fair lady.

What will the robbers do to you,
Do to you, do to you,
What will the robbers do to you,
My fair lady?

Steal your watch and break your chain,
Break your chain, break your chain,
Steal your watch and break your chain,
My fair lady.

Then they must go to jail,
Go to jail, go to jail,
Then they must go to jail,
My fair lady.

—Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

III.

Hark the robbers
Coming through, coming through,
My fair lady.

They have stolen my watch and chain,
Watch and chain, watch and chain.

Off to prison they shall go,
They shall go, they shall go,
My fair lady.

—Wolstanton, Stoke-on-Trent (Miss A. A. Keary).

IV.

Hark the robbers coming through,
Coming through, coming through,
Hark the robbers coming through,
My fair lady.

What’s the robbers done to you,
Done to you, done to you,
What’s the robbers done to you,
My fair lady?

They have stole my watch and chain,
Watch and chain, watch and chain,
They have stole my watch and chain,
My fair lady.

What’s the price will set you free,
Set you free, set you free,
What’s the price will set you free,
My fair lady?

Half-a-guinea will set me free,
Will set me free, will set me free,
Half-a-guinea will set me free,
My fair lady.

Half-a-guinea you shall not have,
Shall not have, shall not have,
Half-a-guinea you shall not have,
My fair lady.

Let’s join hands, it is too late,
’Tis too late, ’tis too late,
Let’s join hands, it is too late,
My fair lady.

—Tong, Shropshire (Miss R. Harley).

V.

Hark at the robbers going through,
Through, through, through; through, through, through;
Hark at the robbers going through,
My fair lady.

What have the robbers done to you,
You, you, you; you, you, you?
What have the robbers done to you,
My fair lady?

Stole my gold watch and chain,
Chain, chain, chain; chain, chain, chain;
Stole my gold watch and chain,
My fair lady.

How many pounds will set us free,
Free, free, free; free, free, free?
How many pounds will set us free,
My fair lady?

A hundred pounds will set you free,
Free, free, free; free, free, free;
A hundred pounds will set you free,
My fair lady.

We have not a hundred pounds,
Pounds, pounds, pounds; pounds, pounds, pounds;
We have not a hundred pounds,
My fair lady.

Then to prison you must go,
Go, go, go; go, go, go;
Then to prison you must go,
My fair lady.

To prison we will not go,
Go, go, go; go, go, go;
To prison we will not go,
My fair lady.

—Shipley, Horsham (Notes and Queries, 8th Series, i. 210, Miss Busk).

VI.

See the robbers coming through,
Coming through, coming through,
See the robbers coming through,
A nice young lady.

Here’s a prisoner we have got,
We have got, we have got,
Here’s a prisoner we have got,
A nice young lady.

How many pounds to set her free,
Set her free, set her free,
How many pounds to set her free,
A nice young lady?

A hundred pounds to set her free,
Set her free, set her free,
A hundred pounds to set her free,
A nice young lady.

A hundred pounds we cannot give,
We cannot give, we cannot give,
A hundred pounds we cannot give,
A nice young lady.

Then to prison she must go,
She must go, she must go,
Then to prison she must go,
A nice young lady.

If she goes we’ll go too,
We’ll go too, we’ll go too,
If she goes we’ll go too,
A nice young lady.

Round the meadows we will go,
We will go, we will go,
Round the meadows we will go,
A nice young lady.

—Settle, Yorks. (Rev. W. S. Sykes).

VII.

O what has this poor prisoner done,
Poor prisoner done, poor prisoner done?
O what has this poor prisoner done,
So early in the morning?

She stole my watch and lost my key,
Lost my key, lost my key,
She stole my watch and lost my key,
So early in the morning.

How many pounds to set her free,
Set her free, set her free?
How many pounds to set her free,
So early in the morning?

Five hundred pounds to set her free,
Set her free, set her free,
Five hundred pounds to set her free,
So early in the morning.

Five hundred pounds we have not got,
Have not got, have not got,
Five hundred pounds we have not got,
So early in the morning.

So off to prison she must go,
She must go, she must go,
So off to prison she must go,
So early in the morning.

If she go then I’ll go too,
I’ll go too, I’ll go too,
If she go then I’ll go too,
So early in the morning.

So round the meadows we must go,
We must go, we must go,
So round the meadows we must go,
So early in the morning.

—Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

(b) In the Deptford version two girls join hands, holding them up as an arch for the other players to tramp through. The first two verses are sung first by one and then by the other of the two girls. At the finish of these the girl then going through the arch is stopped, and the third, fourth, and fifth verses are sung by the two girls alternately. Then finally both girls sing the last verse, and the child is sent as prisoner behind one or other of the two girls. The verses are then begun again, and repeated afresh for each of the troop marching through the arch until all of them are placed behind one or other of the two girls. The two sides thus formed then proceed to tug against each other, and the strongest side wins the game.

The Belfast version is practically the same, except that the verses are not sung as a dialogue, but by all the players together, and the prisoner, when caught, has the choice of sides, by being asked, “Which will you have, a golden apple or golden pear?” and according to the answer given is sent behind one of the leaders. The Norfolk and Shropshire games are different. Miss Matthews thus describes the Norfolk game: “Two girls take hold of hands, and another, the prisoner, stands between them. The rest form themselves into a line opposite, and advance and retreat while singing the first verse, the gaolers singing the next verse, and so on alternately. [At the end of the last verse but one] the children break the line, form themselves into a ring, and dance round the prisoner, singing the final verse.” Miss Harley describes the Shropshire version as follows: “The first six verses are sung by the alternate parties, who advance and retire, tramping their feet, at first, to imitate the robbers. The last verse is sung altogether going round in a ring.” In the Shipley version, Miss Busk says: “The children form themselves into two lines, while two or three, representing the robbers, swagger along between them. When the robbers sing the last verse they should have attained the end of the lines [of children], as during the parley they were safe; having pronounced the defiance they run away. The children in the lines rush after them, and should catch them and put them in prison.”

(c) The analysis of this game is easy. The Deptford, Belfast, and Wolstanton versions are clearly enough dramatic representations of the capture of a robber, and probably the game dates from the period of the prevalence of highway robbery. The Wolstanton version shows us that the game is breaking up from its earlier form, while the Norfolk and Shropshire versions show a fresh development into the mere game for children, apart from its original significance. The action of the game confirms this view. The Norfolk action seems to be the most nearly perfect in its dramatic significance, and the Shropshire action comes next. The action of the other games seems to have been grafted on to the superior form of “Oranges and Lemons.” It is probable that this fact has preserved the words more completely than in the other cases, where the force of the robber action would become less and less as actual experience of robbers and robbery died out. Altogether, this game supplies a very good example of the change produced in games by changes in the actual life which gave rise to them. It is singular that the verses of this game also enter into the composition of “London Bridge is broken down.” It is probable, therefore, that it may be an altered form of the game of “London Bridge.” The refrain, “My fair lady,” occurs in both games.

See “London Bridge.”

Hats in Holes

A boys’ game. The players range their hats in a row against the wall, and each boy in turn pitches a ball from a line at some twenty-five feet distance into one of the hats. The boy into whose hat it falls has to seize it and throw it at one or other of the others, who all scamper off when the ball is “packed in.” If he fails to hit he is out, and takes his cap up. The boy whose cap is left at the last has to “cork” the others, that is, to throw the ball at their bent backs, each in turn stooping down to take his punishment.—Somerset (Elworthy’s Dialect).

See “Balls and Bonnets.”

Hattie

A game with preens, pins, on the crown of a hat. Two or more may play. Each lays on a pin, then with the hand they strike the side of the hat time about, and whoever makes the pins by a stroke cross each other, lifts those so crossed.—Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia.

Hawkey

A game played by several boys on each side with sticks called “hawkey bats,” and a ball. A line is drawn across the middle of the ground from one side to the other; one party stands on one side of the line and the opposite party on the other, and neither must overstep this boundary, but are allowed to reach over as far as their bats will permit to strike the ball. The object is to strike the ball to the farther end to touch the fence of the opposing party’s side, when the party so striking the ball scores one, and, supposing nine to be the game, the party obtaining that number first of course wins the game.—West Sussex (Holloway’s Dict. of Provincialisms).

See “Bandy,” “Doddart,” “Hockey.”

Headicks and Pinticks

This game was played only at Christmas. The number of players was two. The stakes were pins. One player laid in the hollow of the hand, or on one of the forefingers, a pin, and then placed the other forefinger over it so as to conceal it. He then held up his hand to his opponent and said, “Headicks or pinticks?” His opponent made a guess by pointing with his finger and saying “Headicks,” or “Pinticks.” If the guess was correct he gained the pin, but if it was incorrect he forfeited one. The players played alternately.—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).

Another version seems to be “Headim and Corsim.” Pins are hid with fingers in the palms of the hands; the same number is laid alongside them, and either “Headim” or “Corsim” called out by those who do so. When the fingers are lifted, if the heads of the pins hid and those beside them be lying one way when the crier cried “Headim,” then that player wins; but if “Corsim,” the one who hid the pins wins. This is the king of all the games at the preens.—Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia.

The editors of Jamieson’s Dictionary say that the name should be “Headum and Corsum.”

Heads and Tails

That plan for deciding matters by the “birl o’ a bawbee.” The one side cries “Heads” (when the piece is whirling in the air) and the other “Tails,” so whichever is uppermost when the piece alights that gains or settles the matter, heads standing for the King’s head and tails for the figure who represents Britannia.—Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia. This is a general form of determining sides or beginning a game all over the country.

Hecklebirnie

A play among children in Aberdeenshire. Thirty or forty children in two rows, joining opposite hands, strike smartly with their hands thus joined on the head or shoulders of their companion as he runs the gauntlet through them. This is called “passing through the mires of Hecklebirnie.”—Jamieson.

The editors of Jamieson append a lengthy note connecting the name of this game with the northern belief that the wicked were condemned to suffer eternal punishment in Hecla, the volcanic mountain in Iceland.

See “Namers and Guessers.”

Hen and Chicken

Chickery, chickery, cranny crow,
I went to the well to wash my toe,
When I got back a chicken was dead.

This verse is said by the Hen to her Chickens, after which they all go with the Hen to search for the dead Chicken. On their way they meet the Fox. The following dialogue between the Fox and Hen ensues, the Hen beginning:—

What are you doing?
Picking up sticks.
What for?
To make a fire.
What’s the fire for?
To boil some water.
What’s the water for?
To boil some chickens in.
Where do you get them from?
Out of your flock.
That I’m sure you won’t.

—Derbyshire (Folk-lore Journal, i. 386).

The game is played in the usual manner of “Fox and Goose” games. One is chosen to be the Hen, and one to be the Fox. The rest are the Chickens. The Chickens take hold of each other’s waists, the first one holding the Hen’s waist. At the end of the dialogue the Fox tries to get hold of one of the chickens. If he succeeds in catching them, they all with the Fox try to dodge the Hen, who makes an effort to regain them.

It is known at Winterton under the name of “Pins and Needles.” The players stand in a row, one behind another, with one of the party as their Leader. Another player, called “Outsider,” pretends to scratch the ground. The Leader asks, the questions, and the Outsider replies—

What are you scratching for?
Pins and needles.
What do you want your pins and needles for?
To mend my poke.
What do you want your poke for?
To put some sand in.
What do you want your sand for?
To sharpen knives with.
What do you want your knives for?
To cut all the little chickens’ heads off with.

Here the Outsider tries to dodge past the Leader to catch one of the children at the further end of the row, the Leader meanwhile attempting to bar her progress. When at last she succeeds, the child caught takes her place, and the game is recommenced.—Winterton (Miss M. Peacock).

See “Fox and Goose,” “Gled-wylie.”[Addendum] [Addendum] [Addendum]

Here comes a Lusty Wooer

[Play]

—Rimbault’s Nursery Rhymes.

Here comes a lusty wooer,
My a dildin, my a daldin;
Here comes a lusty wooer,
Lily bright and shine a’.

Pray who do you woo?
My a dildin, my a daldin;
Pray who do you woo?
Lily bright and shine a’.

For your fairest daughter,
My a dildin, my a daldin;
For your fairest daughter,
Lily bright and shine a’.

Then there she is for you,
My a dildin, my a daldin;
Then there she is for you,
Lily bright and shine a’.

—Ritson (Gammer Gurton’s Garland, 1783).

Northall says this game is played after the manner of the “Three Dukes” (Folk Rhymes, p. 383). Halliwell (Nursery Rhymes, p. 98) has a version, and Rimbault (Nursery Rhymes) gives both words and tune. It is also contained in The Merrie Heart (p. 47). See “Jolly Hooper,” “Jolly Rover.”

Here comes One Virgin

Here comes one Virgin on her knee,
On her knee, on her knee,
Here comes one Virgin on her knee,
Pray what will you give her?

When did you come?

I came by night and I came by day,
I came to steal poor Edie away.

She is too old, she is too young,
She hasn’t learnt her virgin tongue.

Let her be old or let her be young,
For her beauty she must come.

In her pocket a thousand pounds,
On her finger a gay gold ring.

Good-bye, good-bye, my dear.

—Hurstmonceux, Sussex (Miss Chase).

One child stands by herself, and the rest of the players range themselves in line. The child sings the first verse and the line replies, the four succeeding verses being alternately sung. After the last line the girl tries to pull one whom she has chosen from the line toward her. If not successful, she must try again. If she is, they both stand in the middle, and commence singing the words again with—

Here come two virgins on their knees, &c.

Probably a degraded version of “Three Lords from Spain.”

Here I sit on a Cold Green Bank

Here I sit on a cold green bank
On a cold and frosty morning.

We’ll send a young man [or woman] to take you away,
To take you away,
We’ll send a young man to take you away,
On a cold and frosty morning.

Pray tell me what his name shall be? [or]
Pray, whom will you send to take me away?

We’ll send Mr. —— to take you away.

The children form a ring around one of the party, who sits in the middle, and says the two first lines. Then those in the circle dance round her, singing the next four lines. This is repeated three times, with the refrain, “On a cold,” &c., after which the dancing and singing cease, and the child is asked, “Sugar, sweet, or vinegar, sour?” Her answer is always taken in a contrary sense, and sung, as before, three times, whilst the children circle round. The one in the middle then rises to her feet. The boy (or girl) named advances and kisses her, they change places, and the game begins again.—Cornwall (Folk-lore Journal, v. 56-57).

Here stands a Young Man

I.

Here stands a young man who wants a sweetheart,
With all his merry maids round him;

He may choose from east, he may choose from west,
He may choose the prettiest girl that he loves best.

Now this young couple is married together,
We propose they kiss each other.

—Glapthorn (Northants Notes and Queries, i. 214, A. Palmer).

II.

Here stands a young lady [lass] who wants a sweetheart,
Wants a sweetheart, wants a sweetheart,
And don’t know where to find one, find one, find one.
Choose the prettiest that you loves best.

Now you’re married I wish you joy,
First a girl and then a boy,
Seven years after son and daughter,
Pray you come to kiss together.

—Longcot, Berkshire (Miss I. Barclay).

(b) A ring is formed by the players joining hands, one child standing in the centre. The ring dance round singing the first four lines. At the fourth line the child in the centre chooses one from the ring, who goes into the centre with her. The marriage formula or chorus is then sung, the two kiss, and the one who was first in the centre joins the ring, the second one choosing another in her turn. Played by both boys and girls.

See “Sally Water,” “Silly Old Man.”

Here we go around, around

[Play]

Our shoes are made of leather,
Our stockings are made of silk,
Our pinafores are made of calico,
As white as any milk.

Here we go around, around, around,
And we shall touch the ground.

—Barnes and London Streets (A. B. Gomme).

A ring is formed by the children joining hands. They walk round singing the first four lines. They then dance round quickly and sit down suddenly, or touch the ground with their clothes.

A version of this game from Liphook, Hants, almost identical in words, has been sent by Miss Fowler, and another from Crockham Hill, Kent, by Miss Chase.

Here’s a Soldier

Here’s a soldier left his lone [qy. alone],
Wants a wife and can’t get none.

Merrily go round and choose your own,
Choose a good one or else choose none;
Choose the worst or choose the best,
Or choose the very one you like best.

What’s your will, my dilcy dulcy officer?
What’s your will, my dilcy dulcy dee?

My will is to marry, my dilcy dulcy officer;
My will is to marry, my dilcy dulcy dee.

Come marry one of us, my dilcy dulcy officer;
Come marry one of us, my dilcy dulcy dee.

You’re all too old and ugly, my dilcy dulcy officer;
You’re all too old and ugly, my dilcy dulcy dee.

Thrice too good for you, sir, my dilcy dulcy officer;
Thrice too good for you, sir, my dilcy dulcy dee.

This couple got married, we wish them good joy,
Every year a girl and a boy,
And if that does not do, a hundred and two,
We hope the couple will kiss together.

—Annaverna, co. Louth (Miss R. Stephen).

(b) One child stands in the middle, the others dance round singing. The one in the middle chooses another before the four last lines are sung. Then the rest dance round singing these lines, and kiss each other.

(c) It is evident that these words comprise two distinct games, which have become mixed in some inexplicable fashion. The first six lines and the last four are one game, a ring form, with the marriage formula and blessing. The other portion of the game is a dialogue game, evidently having had two lines of players, questions being asked and answers given. It is, in fact, a part of the “Three Dukes” game. The first part is a kiss-in-the-ring game, a version of “Here stands a Young Man,” “Silly Old Man,” and “Sally Water.”[Addendum]

Hewley Puley

Take this, What’s this?
Hewley Puley.
Where’s my share?
About the kite’s neck.
Where’s the kite?
Flown to the wood.
Where’s the wood?
The fire has burned it.
Where’s the fire?
The water’s quenched it.
Where’s the water?
The ox has drunk it.
Where’s the ox?
The butcher has killed it.
Where’s the butcher?
The rope has hanged him.
Where’s the rope?
The rat has gnawed it.
Where’s the rat?
The cat has killed it.
Where’s the cat?
Behind the door, cracking pebble-stones and marrow-bones for yours and my supper, and the one who speaks first shall have a box on the ear.

—Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes, p. 222.

The children are seated, and the questions are put by one of the party who holds a twisted handkerchief or something of the sort in the hand. The handkerchief was called “hewley puley,” and the questions are asked by the child who holds it. If one answers wrongly, a box on the ear with the handkerchief was the consequence; but if they all replied correctly, the one who broke silence first had that punishment.

For similar rhymes see “Dump,” “Mother, may I go out?”

Hey Wullie Wine

I.

Hey Wully wine, and How Wully wine,
I hope for hame ye’ll no incline;
Ye’ll better light, and stay a’ night,
And I’ll gie thee a lady fine.

Wha will ye gie, if I wi’ ye bide,
To be my bonny blooming bride,
And lie down lovely by my side?

I’ll gie thee Kate o’ Dinglebell,
A bonny body like yersell.

I’ll stick her up in the pear-tree
Sweet and meek, and sae is she:
I lo’ed her ance, but she’s no for me,
Yet I thank ye for your courtesy.

I’ll gie thee Rozie o’ the Cleugh,
I’m sure she’ll please thee weel eneugh.

Up wi’ her on the bane dyke,
She’ll be rotten or I’ll be ripe:
She’s made for some ither, and no me,
Yet I thank ye for your courtesy.

Then I’ll gie ye Nell o’ sweet Sprinkell,
Owre Galloway she bears the bell.

I’ll set her up in my bed-head,
And feed her wi’ milk and bread;
She’s for nae ither, but jist for me,
Sae I thank ye for your courtesy.

—Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia.

II.

I maun ride hame, I maun gang hame,
And bide nae langer here;
The road is lang, the mirk soon on,
And howlets mak’ me fear.

Light doon and bide wi’ us a’ night,
We’ll choose ye a bonnie lass;
Ye’ll get your wull and pick o’ them a’,
And the time it soon wull pass.

Which ane will ye choose,
If I with you will bide?

The fairest and rarest
In a’ the kintra side.

A girl’s name was then mentioned. If the lad was pleased with the choice made, he replied—

I’ll set her up on a bonnie pear-tree,
It’s tall and straight, and sae is she;
I’d keep wauken a’ night her love to be.

If he was not pleased, he replied in one or other of the next three verses—

I’ll set her up ayont the dike,
She’ll be rotten ere I be ripe,
The corbies her auld banes wull pike.

I’ll set her up on a high crab-tree,
It’s sour and dour, and so is she;
She may gang to the mools unkissed by me.

Though she be good and fair to see,
She’s for another, and no for me;
But I thank you for your courtesie.

When a girl took the place of the lad, she replied in one or other of the three following, according as she was angry or pleased—

I’ll put him in a riddle
And riddle him o’er the sea,
And sell to Johnny Groat’s
For a Scotch bawbee.

I’ll set him up on my lum-head [chimney],
And blaw him up wi’ pouther and lead;
He’ll never be kissed though he be dead.

I’ll set him up at my table head,
Feed him wi’ sweet milk and bread,
If he likes gang hame on his fine steed.

—Biggar (Wm. Ballantyne).

(b) In Biggar, all the players were seated round the hearthstone, lads on one side, lassies the other; one lad rising up said the first verse, then one acting as “maister” said the next verse. The young man then said the next two lines, to which the other replied in the two following, and naming at the close any girl he thought would be acceptable. If the lad was pleased he sang the next verse. If he was not pleased with the girl offered him he replied in either of the three following verses. The first of the three was generally said if the girl was thought to be too old; if bad-tempered, the second. If the lad found no fault, but wished to politely refuse, he sang the last verse. The girl then was asked in her turn, and the same formula gone through, she saying either of the three last verses given. Forfeits were demanded for every refusal, and were cried at the end of the game.

(c) Mr. Ballantyne writes: “This game was a great favourite in my father’s house. This was a forfeit game, forfeits being called ‘wadds.’” Chambers, Popular Rhymes, p. 124, gives a version of this game. It is practically the same as Mr. Ballantyne’s version, with only a few verbal differences. Mactaggart says, “The chief drift of this singular game seemed to be to discover the sweethearts of one another,” and such discoveries are thought valuable, but not so much as they were anciently. In any case, it appears to me that the game is an early one, or, at all events, a reflection of early custom.

Hickety, Bickety

Hickety, bickety, pease-scone,
Where shall this poor Scotchman gang?
Will he gang east, or will he gang west,
Or will he gang to the craw’s nest?

—Chambers (Popular Rhymes, p. 122).

One boy stands with his eyes bandaged and his hands against a wall, with his head resting on them. Another stands beside him repeating the rhyme, whilst the others come one by one and lay their hands upon his back, or jump upon it. When he has sent them all to different places he turns round and calls, “Hickety, bickety!” till they have all rushed back to the place, the last in returning being obliged to take his place, when the game goes on as before.

Chambers adds, “The ‘craw’s nest’ is close beside the eye-bandaged boy, and is therefore an envied position.” Newell, Games, p. 165, refers to this game.

See “Hot Cockles.”

Hickety-hackety

The game of Hop-scotch, played with a piece of tile, which has to be kicked by the player with the foot on which he hops over lines into various squares marked on the ground.—Somersetshire (Elworthy’s Dialect).

See “Hop-scotch.”

Hick, Step, and Jump

The game of “Hop, step, and jump.”—Somerset (Holloway’s Dict. of Provincialisms).

See “Half-Hammer.”

Hide and Seek (1)

A writer in Blackwood’s Magazine, August 1821, p. 36, mentions this as a summer game. It was called “Ho, spy!” the words which are called out by those boys who have hidden. He says the watchword of “Hide and seek” was “hidee,” and gives as the rhyme used when playing—

Keep in, keep in, wherever you be,
The greedy gled’s seeking ye.

This rhyme is also given by Chambers (Popular Rhymes, p. 122). Halliwell gives the rhyme as—

Hitty titty indoors,
Hitty titty out,
You touch Hitty titty,
And Hitty titty will bite you.

—Nursery Rhymes, p. 213.

At Ashford-in-the-Water the words used were—

One a bin, two a bin, three a bin, four,
Five a bin, six a bin, seven, gie o’er;
A bunch of pins, come prick my shins,
A loaf brown bread, come knock me down.
I’m coming!

—Reliquary, viii. 57.

The words are said by the one who has to find the person hidden.

In Scotland the game is called “Hospy,” and is played by boys only, and it can be played only in a village or hamlet in which there is the means of hiding. A Spy is chosen, and a spot, called Parley, is fixed upon at which the Spy stands till all the other players are hid, and to which he can run when pursued. When the players are hid, the cry, “Hospy,” i.e., “Ho! spy!” is raised by them. The Spy then sets out to find them. The moment he detects one he turns and runs with all his might to the Parley, pursued by the one he has discovered. If he is overtaken, he must carry on his back the pursuer to the Parley. The same thing is gone through till all the players are discovered.—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).

Jamieson says, “‘Hy Spy,’ a game resembling ‘Hide and Seek,’ but played in a different manner. The station, which in England is called Home, is here the Den, and those who keep it are the Seekers, and are called the Ins. Those who hide themselves, instead of crying ‘Hoop,’ as in England, cry ‘Hy spy;’ and they are denominated the Outs. The business of the Ins is, after the signal is given, to lay hold of the Outs before they can reach the den. The captive then becomes one of the Ins; for the honour of the game consists in the privilege of hiding oneself.” Jamieson adds, “Hy is still used in calling after a person, to excite attention, or when it is wished to warn him to get out of the way.” Strutt describes it as “Harry-Racket,” or “Hide and Seek” (Sports, p. 381).

At Cork two sides are chosen for Spy; one side hides while the other side hunts. When the hunters see one of the hidden players, they call out, “I spy ——,” and the child’s name. The player called must run after the Spy and try to catch him before he reaches his Den; if he succeeds, the one caught must go to the opposite side of players, then next time the spies hide, and those who have been hiding, spy (Miss Keane). A more general form of the game is for one child to hide, and to make a noise in a disguised voice to give notice of his whereabouts, or to call out “Whoop!” or “Coo!” Until this noise or call is made, the searchers may not seek him. If when spied or discovered the hider cannot reach home before being caught, he again has to hide (A. B. Gomme).

(b) In the parish church of Bawdrip is a monument to Edward Lovell, his wife Eleanor (née Bradford), and their two daughters Maria and Eleanor. The inscription touching the latter is:—“Eleanora . . . obiit Jun. 14, 1681. Hanc, subito et immaturo (ipsos pene inter hymenæos) fato correptam, mœstissimus luxit maritus, et in gratam piamq. parentum sororis et dilectissimæ conjugis memoriam, monumentum hoc erigi voluit.” Tradition connects this sudden death—“ipsos pene inter hymenæos”—with the story of the bride playing at “Hide and Seek.” It is curious that, in Haynes Bayly’s song, the bridegroom’s name should be Lovell. There is no mention on the monument of the name of the bereaved husband. The father, Edward Lovell, was fourteen years rector of Bawdrip and fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and died in 1675, and so could not have been present at the wedding, as represented in the song. He came from Batcombe, near Castle-Cary; at which latter place the Lovells were seated in very early days.—Notes and Queries, 4th Ser., ix. 477.

Cope (Hampshire Glossary) calls the game “I spy I.” Lowsley (Berkshire Glossary) says, “In playing this game, the seeker has to call out ‘I spy!’ to the one he finds before he may start for home.” It is called “Hy Spy” in Patterson’s Antrim and Down Glossary; Evans’ Leicestershire Glossary, “Hide and Wink;” Barnes’ Dorset Glossary, “Hidy Buck.”

In Pegge’s Alphabet of Kenticisms the game is given as “Hide and Fox.” Cf. “Hide Fox, and all after,” i.e., let the fox hide and the others go to seek him; Hamlet, iv. 2, 32. In Stead’s Holderness Glossary, “Hed-o.” In the North Riding it is “Lam-pie-sote-it,” also called “Felto” in Robinson’s Whitby Glossary. He also mentions that the hidden child cries “How-ly” to the finder. Apparently the same as the south country “Whoop,” a signal to the finder to begin the search. Addy (Sheffield Glossary) says this game is called “Felt and Laite.” Holland (Cheshire Glossary) speaks of it as “I Spy.”

See “Davie Drap.”

Hide and Seek (2)

[Play]

—London.

I.

Beans and butter,
Come home to supper,
’Tis all ready done.

—Hampshire (Miss Mendham).

II.

Little pigs come to supper,
Hot boiled beans and ready butter.

—Northall’s Folk Rhymes, p. 409.

III.

Hot beans and butter!
Please to come to supper!

—Much Wenlock (Shropshire Folklore, p. 525).

IV.

Hot boiled beans, and very good butter,
Ladies and gentlemen, come to supper.

—London (A. B. Gomme).

V.

Vesey vasey vum,
Buck aboo has come!
Find it if you can and take it home,
Vesey vasey vum.

—Newlyn West, near Penzance (Folk-lore Journal, v. 49).

One child hides an article, while those who are to search for it go in another room (or out of the way somewhere). When it is hidden, they are called to find it by one of the above rhymes being sung or said. The searchers are enabled more readily to find the hidden article by being told “hot,” “very hot,” “scorching,” “burning,” or “cold,” “very cold,” and “freezing,” when near to or far from the hidden article. Sometimes several may agree to hide the article, and only one to be the finder. In the Penzance game one child is blindfolded, other children hide something, then shout the words. Search is then made for the hidden object: when found, the finder in his turn is blindfolded. There appears to be some mistake in the description of this game.

Hinch-Pinch

The name of an old Christmas game mentioned in Declaration of Popish Impostures, 1603.

Hinmost o’ Three

A game played on village greens.—Dickinson’s Cumberland Glossary, Supplement.

Hirtschin Hairy

The players (boy or girl) cower down on their haunches, “sit doon curriehunkers,” and hop round and round the floor like a frog, clapping the hands first in front and then behind, and crying out, “Hirtschin Hairy.” It is sometimes called “Hairy Hirtschin.” In Lothian the players try to knock each other over by hustling against one another.—Rev. W. Gregor.

Same game as “Harie Hutcheon.”

See “Curcuddie,” “Cutch-a-cutchoo,” “Hop-frog.”

Hiry-hag

A boys’ game, in which several, joining hands, endeavour to catch another, who, when caught, is beaten with caps, the captors crying out—

Hiry-hiry-hag,
Put him in a bag, &c.

—Ross and Stead’s Holderness Glossary.

Hiss and Clap

All the boys are requested to leave the room, when the girls take their seats, leaving a vacant place on the right side of each girl for the gentleman of her choice. Each boy in turn is then summoned by another who acts as doorkeeper, and asked to guess which lady he imagines has chosen him for her partner. Should he guess rightly he is allowed to take his seat by the lady who has chosen him, while the other girls loudly clap hands. Should he guess wrongly he is hissed, and sent out of the room by the doorkeeper.—Cork, Ireland (Miss Keane).

At Long Eaton in Nottinghamshire Miss Youngman records a similar game to this, with a rhyme that is probably taken from a popular song or ballad. The successful candidate for the girl’s choice claims a kiss, but if unsuccessful he is beaten out of the room with knotted handkerchiefs.[Addendum]

Hitch Jamie; Hitch Jamie, Stride and Loup

The boyish play of “Hop, Step, and Jump.”—Atkinson’s Cleveland Glossary.

Brockett (North Country Words) calls this “Hitch.”

See “Half-Hammer,” “Hick, Step, and Jump.”

Hitchapagy

An undescribed Suffolk game.—Halliwell’s Dictionary.

Hitchy Cock Ho

An undescribed Suffolk game.—Moor’s Suffolk Words.

Hity Tity

The Somerset name for “See-Saw.”

Hoatie, Hots

When a number of boys agree to have a game at the Pearie or peg-top, a circle is drawn on the ground, within which all the tops must strike and spin. If any of them bounce out of the circle without spinning, it is called a Hoatie. The punishment to which the Hoatie is subjected consists in being placed in the ring, while all the boys whose tops ran fairly have the privilege of striking—or, as it is called, “deggin”—it till it is either split or struck out of the circle. If either of these take place, the boy to whom the Hoatie belonged has the privilege of playing again.—Upper Lanarkshire (Jamieson).

See “Gully,” “Hoges.”

Hob-in-the-Hall

An old game mentioned by Wycherley (Plain Dealer, 1677).

Hockerty Cokerty

The same game as “Cockerty-hooie.”

Hockey

This game is played with a solid indiarubber ball from two to two and a half inches in diameter. The players each have a bent or hooked stick or “hockey.” They take opposite sides. The object of the game is for each side to drive the ball through their opponents’ goal. The goals are each marked by two poles standing about eight to ten feet apart, and boundaries are marked at the sides. The ball is placed in the middle of the ground. It is started by two players who stand opposite each other, the ball lying between their two sticks. They first touch the ground with their hockey-sticks, then they touch or strike their opponents’ stick. This is repeated three times. At the third stroke they both try to hit the ball away. The ball may only be played by a hockey-stick, and a goal is gained when the ball is played between the posts by the opposing party.—Barnes (A. B. Gomme).

(b) In Ross and Stead’s Holderness Glossary this game is described under the name of “Shinnup.” Robinson (Mid Yorkshire Glossary) gives it under “Shinnops,” a youth’s game with a ball and stick, heavy at the striking end, the player manœuvring to get as many strokes as possible and to drive the ball distances. “Shinnoping” is also used for the game in operation. “Jowling,” or “Jowls,” is given in Robinson’s Whitby Glossary, as a game played much the same as “Hockey.” “Baddin” is the name given to it in Holland’s Cheshire Glossary. Another name is “Doddart” (Brockett, North Country Words).

(c) An old custom in vogue in bygone days was Rotherham Fair, or what was called “Whipping Toms,” which took place in the Newarkes every Shrove Tuesday. So soon as the pancake bell rang men and boys assembled with sticks having a knob or hook at the end. A wooden ball was thrown down, and two parties engaged in striving which could get the ball by striking it with their sticks to one end of the Newarke first—those who did so were the victors. This game was called “Shinney,” or “Hockey.” About one o’clock the Whipping Toms appeared on the scene of action. These were three men clad in blue smock frocks, with very long waggon whips, who were accompanied by three men with small bells. They commenced driving the men and boys out of the Newarkes. It was very dangerous sometimes; they would lash the whip in such a manner round the legs of those they were pursuing as to throw them down, which produced laughter and shouting. Some would stop, and turn to the whipper and say, “Let’s have a pennyworth,” and he would guard and parry off the lashes with his shinney stick. When the whipper was successful in lashing him he demanded his penny, and continued lashing until he paid. This was continued until five o’clock, then the game terminated. This was suppressed, I believe, in 1847. At that period it was a prevalent idea that it could not be abolished, as it was connected with an “old charter.” It is believed in the town that this custom was to commemorate the driving out of the Danes from the Newarkes at the time they besieged Leicester.—Leicester (Robert Hazlewood).

See “Bandy,” “Camp,” “Football,” “Hood,” “Hurling.”

Hoges

“The hoges,” a boy’s game played with “peeries” (peg-tops). The victor is entitled to give a certain number of blows with the spike of his peerie to the wood part of his opponent’s.—Patterson’s Antrim and Down Glossary.

See “Gully,” “Hoatie.”

Ho-go

A game played with marbles. The first player holds up a number in his closed hand and says, “Ho-go;” the second says, “Handfull;” the first then says, “How many?” The other guesses. If he should guess correctly he is entitled to take them all; but otherwise he must give the difference between the number he guessed and the number actually held up to make.—Lowsley’s Berkshire Words. It is also called “How many eggs in a basket?”—London (J. P. Emslie).

See “Hairry my Bossie.”

Hoilakes

The name of a game of marbles which are cast into a hole in the ground.—Easther’s Almondbury and Huddersfield Glossary.

Holy Bang

A game with marbles, which consists in placing a marble in a hole and making it act as a target for the rest. The marble which can hit it three times in succession, and finally be shot into the hole, is the winning ball, and its owner gets all the other marbles which have missed before he played.—London (Strand Magazine, ii. 519).

See “Bridgeboard,” “Capie Hole,” “Hundreds.”

Honey Pots

[Play]

—London (J. P. Emslie).

A number of children stoop down in a row, clasping their hands under their legs. One child stands in front of them, and acts as owner or seller; another acts as purchaser (fig. 1). The purchaser inquires—

Have you any honey pots for sale?
Yes, plenty; will you walk round and taste them?

The purchaser goes round, pretending to taste each one in turn, inquiring the price and weight; finds fault with several, one being too sweet and the other not fresh enough, and so on. When one honey pot is discovered to the purchaser’s taste, she is lifted by the purchaser and owner, or by two children who act as weights or scales, and then swung by her arms backwards and forwards to estimate her weight and price (fig. 2). As long as the child can keep her hands clasped, so long is the swinging kept up; and as many times as they count, so many is the number of pounds she weighs. The seller sometimes said, when each one was bought—

Take her and bake her,
And into pies make her,
And bring her back
When she is done.

They were not brought back, and the “owner” had to catch and bring back each one. When sold, the honey pot is taken to the other side, or “home” of the purchaser. The game goes on till all the honey pots are sold.—London (A. B. Gomme).

In Sporle, a girl clasps her hands under her legs to form a seat, and two others swing her by the arms, saying—

Honey pot, honey pot, over the river;
When the old cat dies you shall have the liver.

—Miss Matthews.

In a version sent by Miss Chase, and told her by a London maidservant, the children sit as in “Hunt the Slipper.” One steps in a corner out of earshot; the rest are named “Gooseberry Tart,” “Cherry Tart,” &c., by another, who recalls the child in the corner with—

Fool, fool, come to school,
Pick me out a [cherry tart, as the case may be].

If he chooses the wrong one he is told—

Go back and learn your A, B, C.

If rightly—

Take him and bake him,
And give me a piece
When he’s done.

The child is then led off in a squatting position. Later the one who named them pretends tasting, and says, “Very nice,” or “You must be baked longer,” when another squatting walk and wait takes place.

A version sent by Mr. J. P. Emslie is similar to the other London versions—

“Buy my fine honey to-day.
Which shall I buy?
Taste ’em and try.

The child would then go round, pretending to taste, saying, ‘Don’t like that one,’ till one was approved. That one was then swung round to the tune given, the words being—

An apple for the king and a pear for the queen,
And a good jump over the bowling green.

At the last bar they swung the child higher and higher, and at the last note they swung it as high as they could. I believe the last note in the music should be G, but it was raised to give effect.”

In Scotland the game is called “Hinnie Pigs,” and is played as follows. The boys sit down in rows, hands locked beneath their hams. Round comes one of them, the honey merchant, who feels those who are sweet and sour, by lifting them by the arm-pits and giving them three shakes. If they stand these without the hands unlocking below they are then sweet and saleable, fit for being office-bearers of other ploys.—Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia.

In Ross and Stead’s Holderness Glossary this is described as a girls’ game, in which two carry a third as a pot of honey to market. It is mentioned by Addy (Sheffield Glossary) and by Holland (Cheshire Glossary). Mr. Holland adds, “If the hands give way before twenty is reached it is counted a bad honey pot; if not, it is a good one.”

In Dublin the seller sings out—

Honey pots, honey pots, all in a row,
Twenty-five shillings wherever you go—
Who’ll buy my honey pots?

—Mrs. Lincoln.

The game is mentioned by a writer in Blackwood’s Magazine, August 1821, p. 36, as being played in Edinburgh when he was a boy.

Hood

A game played at Haxey, in the Isle of Axholme, on the 6th of January. The Hood is a piece of sacking, rolled tightly up and well corded, and which weighs about six pounds. This is taken into an open field on the north side of the church, to be contended for by the youths assembled for that purpose. When the Hood is about to be thrown up, the Plough-bullocks or Boggins, as they are called, dressed in scarlet jackets, are placed amongst the crowd at certain distances. Their persons are sacred, and if amidst the general row the Hood falls into the hands of one of them, the sport begins again. The object of the person who seizes the Hood is to carry off the prize to some public-house in the town, where he is rewarded with such liquor as he chooses to call for. This pastime is said to have been instituted by the Mowbrays, and that the person who furnished the Hood did so as a tenure by which he held some land under the lord. How far this tradition may be founded on fact I do not know, but no person now acknowledges to hold any land by that tenure.—Stonehouse’s Isle of Axholme, p. 291.

W. J. Woolhouse (Notes and Queries, 2nd series, v. 95) says when the Hood is thrown up by the Chief of the Boggons or by the officials, it becomes the object of the villagers to get the Hood to their own village, the other eleven men, called Boggons, being stationed at the corners and sides of the field, to prevent, if possible, its being thrown out of the field; and should it chance to fall into any of their hands, it is “boggoned,” and forthwith returned to the chief, who again throws it up, as at the commencement of the game. The next day is occupied by the Boggons going round the villages singing as waits, and they are regaled with hot furmenty; from some they get coppers given them, and from others a small measure of wheat. The day after that they assume the character of Plough-bullocks, and at a certain part of Westwood-side they “smoke the Fool”—that is, straw is brought by those who like, and piled in a heap, a rope being tied or slung over the branches of the tree next to the pile of straw; the other end of the rope is fastened round the waist of the Fool, and he is drawn up and fire is put to the straw, the Fool being swung to and fro through the smoke until he is well-nigh choked, after which he goes round and collects whatever the spectators choose to give him. The sport is then at an end till the next year. The land left by Lady Mowbray was forty acres, which are known by the name of “Hoodlands,” and the Boggons’ dresses and the Hood are made from its proceeds.

In the contiguous parish of Epworth a similar game is played under the same name, but with some variations. The Hood is not here carried away from the field, but to certain goals, against which it is struck three times and then declared free. This is called “wyking” the Hood, which is afterwards thrown up again for a fresh game.—Notes and Queries, 6th series, vii. 148.

See “Football,” “Hockey.”

Hoodle-cum-blind

Name for “Blind Man’s Buff.”—Baker’s Northamptonshire Glossary.

Hoodman Blind

Name for “Blind Man’s Buff.” Mentioned in Hamlet, iii. 4; Merry Devil of Edmonton; and Wise Women of Hogsden.

Hooper’s Hide

Name for “Blind Man’s Buff.”—Nares’ Glossary.

Hop-crease

The game of “Hop-scotch.”—Halliwell’s Dictionary.

Hop-frog

The players bend as though about to sit on a very low stool, then spring about with their hands resting on their knees.—Dorsetshire (Folk-lore Journal, vii. 234).

Miss Peacock says that a game called “Hop-frog over the Dog” is played at Stixwould, Lincolnshire, in the same way as “Leap-frog.”

See “Curcuddie,” “Cutch-a-cutchoo,” “Harie Hutcheon,” “Hirtschin Hairy.”

Hop-score

Game of “Hop-scotch.”—Hunter’s Glossary of Hallamshire.

Hop-scotch

A game, the object of which is to eject a stone, slate, or “dump” out of a form linearly marked on the ground in different directions, by hopping without touching any of the lines.—Halliwell’s Dictionary.

In the plan (fig. 8) the players first lay the stone on the back of the hand, and walk through the plan, stepping into each division, throw it up and catch it. Then the stone is thrown back from No. 7 outside No. 1. Now it is placed on the toe, and the child walks through again, throwing up the foot when out, to catch the stone in the hand. Another way, done on the same plan, is for the player to place the stone in No. 1, leave it there, and hop into each division and back, then place it in No. 2, and repeat the hopping, and so on through all the figures. There is no kicking of the stone, as is usual in London.—Roxton, St. Neots (Miss Lumley).

From Crockham Hill, Kent, Miss Chase sends four versions. In the first plan (fig. 1) the game is:—Throw stone into No. 1. Hop from No. 1 to No. 5 and back. Then pick it up. So on successively. After having thrown it into No. 5, begin to reverse by throwing stone into No. 1 while standing at No. 5—return with it on your thumb. Throw into No. 2—return with stone on your eye. Throw into No. 3—return with stone in your palm. Throw into No. 4—return with stone on your head. Throw into No. 5—return with stone on your back. In each case, upon reaching the goal without dropping it, throw up and catch it as it falls.

In the second plan (fig. 2) the game is:—Throw stone into No. 1. Pick it up. Hop, not touching lines, from No. 1 to No. 4, and “out.” Throw stone into No. 2. Do as before. And so successively into Nos. 3 and 4. Next balance stone on shoe, then on the palm of hand, then on the back of hand, then on the head, then on the shoulder, then on the eye (tilt head back to keep it from falling). In each case walk round once with it so balanced and catch at end.

In the third plan (fig. 3) the game is:—Put pebble in No. 1. Pick up. Hop, having one foot in No. 2 and the other in No. 3. Step into No. 4. Hop, having one foot in No. 5 and the other in No. 6. Jump round. Go back as you came. Then with stone on shoe, walk through the figure, kick it up and catch at the close. Place stone on eyelid; walk through the same figure, dropping it off into hand at close. This is called “jumping.”

In the fourth plan (fig. 4) the game is:—Throw stone into No. 1. Pick it up. Hop from No. 1 to No. 8, not touching lines. So successively into Nos. 2, 3, 4, &c. Walk into No. 1 with stone on foot, and out at No. 8. Kick it up and catch it. The same with stone on thumb. Toss it up and catch. Again with stone on your back. Straighten up, let it slide into your hand.

In Stead’s Holderness Glossary, this is described as a boys’ or girls’ game, in which the pavement is chalked with numbered crossed lines, and a pebble or piece of crockery is propelled onward by the foot, the performer hopping on one leg, the number reached on the chalk-line being scored to him or her. At Whitby it is called “Pally-ully,” and played with rounded pieces of pot the size of a penny. Divisions are chalked on the pavement, and the “pally-ullies” are impelled within the lines by a hop on one leg, and a side shuffle with the same foot (Whitby Glossary). It is sometimes called “Tray-Trip.” Atkinson describes the figure as oblong, with many angular compartments (Cleveland Glossary). Jamieson defines “Beds” as “Hop-scotch,” a game denominated from the form, sometimes by strangers called squares. In Aberdeen the spaces marked out are sometimes circular.

Mrs. Lincoln sends a diagram of the game from Dublin (fig. 6). Addy (Sheffield Glossary) under the name of “Hop-score” says it is a game in which certain squares are drawn or scored on the ground. The piece of stone which is pushed with the foot is called the “scotch.” Elworthy (West Somerset Words) says a piece of tile is kicked over lines and into squares marked on the ground. It is called “Hickety-Hackety,” also “Huckety.” Cope (Hampshire Glossary) says it is played in Hants. Moor (Suffolk Words and Phrases) describes this game under the name of “Scotch-hob,” by hopping and kicking a bit of tile from bed to bed of a diagram which he gives (fig. 5, here printed). Brockett (North Country Words) calls it “Beds.” Barnes (Dorset Glossary) only says “hopping over a parallelogram of scotches or chalk-lines on the ground.” F. H. Low, in Strand Magazine, ii. 516, says the divisions are respectively named onesie, twosie, threesie, foursie, and puddings. It is called “Hop-bed” at Stixwold in Lincolnshire (Miss Peacock), “Hop-score” in Yorkshire (Halliwell, l.c.), and “Hitchibed” in Cleveland, Yorks. (Glossary of Cleveland Words). Strutt describes it (Sports, p. 383); and Wood’s Modern Playmate, p. 32, gives a diagram similar to one seen on a London pavement by A. B. Gomme (see fig. 7). Mr. Emslie has sent me figs. 9 and 10, also from London streets. Newell (Games, p. 188) speaks of it as a well-known game in America.

Mr. Elworthy (West Somerset Words) says, “Several of these (diagrams marked on the ground) are still to be seen, scratched on the ancient pavement of the Roman Forum.” Mr. J. W. Crombie says, “The game of ‘Hop-scotch’ was one of considerable antiquity, having been known in England for more than two centuries, and it was played all over Europe under different names. Signor Pitré’s solar explanation of its origin appeared improbable to him, for not only was the evidence in its favour extremely weak, but it would require the original number of divisions in the figure to have been twelve instead of seven, which was the number indicated by a considerable body of evidence. It would seem more probable that the game at one time represented the progress of the soul from earth to heaven through various intermediate states, the name given to the last court being most frequently paradise or an equivalent, such as crown or glory, while the names of the other courts corresponded with the eschatological ideas prevalent in the early days of Christianity.” Some such game existed before Christianity, and Mr. Crombie considered that it had been derived from several ancient games. Possibly the strange myths of the labyrinths might have had something to do with “Hop-scotch,” and a variety of the game played in England, under the name of “Round Hop-scotch,” was almost identical with a game described by Pliny as being played by the boys of his day. Mr. Crombie also said he “believed that the early Christians adopted the general idea of the ancient game, but they not only converted it into an allegory of heaven, with Christian beliefs and Christian names; they Christianised the figure also; they abandoned the heathen labyrinth and replaced it by the form of the Basilicon, the early Christian church, dividing it into seven parts, as they believed heaven to be divided, and placing paradise, the inner sanctum of heaven, in the position of the altar, the inner sanctum of their earthly church.”

See “Hap the Beds.”[Addendum]

Hop, Step, and Jump

See “Half-Hammer.”

Hornie

A game among children in which one of the company runs after the rest having his hands clasped and his thumbs pushed out before him in resemblance of horns. The first person whom he touches with his thumbs becomes his property, joins hands with him, and aids in attempting to catch the rest: and so on until they are all made captives. Those who are at liberty still cry out, “Hornie, Hornie.”—Lothian (Jamieson).

Jamieson says: “Whether this play be a vestige of the very ancient custom of assuming the appearance and skins of animals, especially in the sports of Yule, or might be meant to symbolise the exertions made by the devil (often called ‘Hornie’) in making sinful man his prey, and employing fellow-men as his coadjutors in this work, I cannot pretend to determine.”

See “Hunt the Staigie,” “Whiddy.”

Hornie Holes

A game in which four play, a principal and an assistant on each side. A. stands with his assistant at one hole, and throws what is called a Cat (a piece of stick, and frequently a sheep’s horn), with the design of making it alight in another hole at some distance, at which B. and his assistant stand ready to drive it aside. The bat or driver is a rod resembling a walking-stick.

The following unintelligible rhyme is repeated by a player on the one side, while they on the other are gathering in the Cats, and is attested by old people as of great antiquity:—

Jock, Speak, and Sandy,
W’ a’ their lousy train
Round about by Errinborra,
We’ll never meet again.
Gae head ’im, gae hang ’im,
Gae lay ’im in the sea;
A’ the birds o’ the air
Will bear him companee.
With a nig-nag, widdy- [or worry-] bag,
And an e’endown trail, trail;
Quoth he.

—Jamieson.

The game is also called “Kittie-cat.”

See “Cat and Dog,” “Cudgel,” “Tip-cat.”

Horns

“A’ Horns to the Lift,” a game of young people. A circle is formed round a table, and all placing their forefingers on the table, one cries, “A’ horns to the lift! Cat’s horns upmost!” If on this any one lift his finger, he owes a wad, as cats have no horns. In the same manner, the person who does not raise his fingers when a horned animal is named is subjected to a forfeit.—Jamieson.

Hot Cockles

At Sheffield a boy is chosen for a Stump, and stands with his back against a wall. Another boy bends his back as in “Leapfrog,” and puts his head against the Stump. The cap of the boy who bends down is then taken off, and put upon his back upside down. Then each of the other boys who are playing puts the first finger of his right hand into the cap. When all the fingers are put into the cap, these lines are sung—

The wind blows east, the wind blows west,
The wind blows o’er the cuckoo’s nest.
Where is this poor man to go?
Over yond cuckoo’s hill I O.

Then the boy whose back is bent jumps up, and the others run away crying out, “Hot cockles.” The boy who is caught by the one whose back was first bent has to bend his back next time, and so on.—S. O. Addy.

At Cork a handkerchief is tied over the eyes of one of the company, who then lays his head on a chair, and places his hand on his back with the palm uppermost. Any of the party come behind him and give him a slap on his hand, he in the meantime trying to discover whose hand it is that strikes.—Miss Keane.

“Hot Cockles” is an old game, practised especially at Christmas. One boy sits down, and another, who is blindfolded, kneels and lays his head on his knee, placing at the same time his open hand on his own back. He then cries, “Hot cockles, hot!” Another then strikes his open hand, and the sitting boy asks who strikes. If the boy guessed wrongly, he made a forfeit; but if rightly, he was released.—Notes and Queries, 4th series, ix. 262.

The sport is noticed by Gay—

As at hot-cockles once I laid me down,
I felt the weighty hand of many a clown;
Buxoma gave a gentle tap, and I
Quick rose and read soft mischief in her eye.

Halliwell describes it rather differently. The blindfolded boy lies down on his face, and, being struck, must guess who it is that hit him. A good part of the fun consisted in the hardness of the slaps, which were generally given on the throne of honour. He quotes from a MS. play as follows—

It is edicted that every Grobian shall play at Bamberye hott cockles at the four festivals.
Indeed a verye usefull sport, but lately much neglected to the mollefieinge of the flesh.

—Halliwell’s Dictionary.

Nares’ Glossary also contains quotations from works of 1639, 1653, and 1697 which illustrate the game. Mr. Addy says “that this game as played in Sheffield is quite different from that described under the same title in Halliwell’s Dictionary. Aubrey (p. 30) speaks of ‘Hot Cockles’ as a game played at funerals in Yorkshire, and the lines here given show that this was the game. The lines—

Where is this poor man to go?
Over yond cuckoo’s hill I O,

embodies the popular belief that the soul winged its way like a bird, and they remind one of the passing of the soul over Whinny Moor (see funeral dirge in Aubrey’s Remains of Gentilisme, p. 31). Grimm mentions the cuckoo hill (Gauchsberg). He says, ‘Originally in Gauchsberg the bird himself may very well have been meant in a mystic sense which has fallen dark to us now’ (Teut. Myth., ii. 681). We know, too, the old belief that the cuckoo tells children how many years they have to live. These lines are also sometimes said, in addition to those given above—

Elder belder, limber lock,
Three wives in a clock;
Sit and sing, and call a spring,
O-u-t spells out.

The boy who bends down is supposed to be undergoing a great penalty.” Strutt (Sports, p. 394) describes this game, and gives an illustration which is here reproduced from the original MSS. in the Bodleian.

This game may have originated from a custom at funerals of practising spells for the safe and speedy passage of the departing spirit to its destination, or from divination mysteries to foretell who would be the next among the mourners to follow the dead body to the grave. The spirit of prophecy was believed to exist in a dying person. See “Handy Croopen.”[Addendum]

How many Miles to Babylon

I.

King and Queen of Cantelon,
How many miles to Babylon?
Eight and eight and other eight.
Will I get there by candle-light?
If your horse be good and your spurs be bright.
How mony men have ye?
Mae nae ye daur come and see.

—Chambers’ Popular Rhymes, p. 124; Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia.

II.

How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Will we be there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
Open your gates and let us go through.
Not without a beck and a boo.
There’s a beck, and there’s a boo,
Open your gates and let us go through.

—Nairn, Scotland (Rev. W. Gregor).

III.

How far to Banbury Cross?
Four score and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, if your legs are long and light.
Please to let me go?
Not without you bend and bow [pronounced bo].
Here’s my bend [curtseys],
And here’s my bow [touches forehead],
Now will you let me go?

—Fernham and Longcot (Miss I. Barclay).

IV.

How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Can we get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
Open your gates as wide as you can,
And let King George and his family go through.
Not without a back, not without a bow,
Not without a curtsey, and then I’ll let you through.

—South Shields (Miss Blair).

V.

How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Can I get there o’ candle-light?
There and back again.
Here’s my black [raising one foot],
And here’s my blue [raising the other],
Open the gates and let me through.

—Annaverna, Ravendale, co. Louth, Ireland (Miss R. Stephen).

VI.

How many miles to Barney Bridge?
Three score and ten.
Will I be there by candle-light?
Yes, if your legs are long.
A curtsey to you, another to you,
If you please will you let the king’s horses go through?
Yes, but take care of your hindmost man.

—Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

VII.

How many miles to Gandigo?
Eighty-eight almost, or quite.
Can I [we] get there by candle-light?
Yes, if your legs are long and light.
Open the gate as high as the sky,
And let the king and his queen go by.

—Dorsetshire (Folk-lore Journal, vii. 230, 231).

VIII.

How many miles to Banbury?
Three score and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
But mind the old witch doesn’t catch you.

—London (Miss Dendy).

IX.

How many miles to Barley Bridge?
Three score and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, if your legs be long.
A courtesy to you, and a courtesy to you,
If you please will you let the king’s horses through?
Through and through shall they go,
For the king’s sake;
But the one that is the hindmost
Will meet with a great mistake.

—Halliwell’s Popular Rhymes, p. 217.

X.

How many miles to Barney Bridge?
Three score and ten.
Will I be there by Candlemass?
Yes, and back again.
A curtsey to you, another to you,
And pray, fair maids, will you let us through?
Thro’ and thro’ shall you go for the king’s sake,
But take care the last man does not meet a mistake.

—Dublin (Mrs. Lincoln).

XI.

How many miles to Burslem?
Three score and ten.
Can we get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
Open the gates so wide, so wide,
And let King George aside, aside;
The night is so dark we cannot see,
Thread the needle and go through.

—Isle of Man (A. W. Moore).

XII.

How many miles to Banbury Cross?
Three score and ten.
Shall we get there by midnight?
Yes, if you run well.
Then open your gates as wide as the sky,
And let King George and his men pass by.
It is so dark we cannot see, so thread the needle Nancy,
Thread the needle Nancy.
One, two, three.

—Warwick (from a little girl living near Warwick, through Mr. C. C. Bell).

XIII.

How many miles to London?
Three score ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
Open the gate and let me through.
Not unless you’re black and blue.
Here’s my black and here’s my blue,
Open the gates and let me through.
Dan, Dan, thread the needle; Dan, Dan, sew.

—Suffolk County Folk-lore, p. 63.

XIV.

How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Shall I be there by candle-light?
Yes, there and back again.
Open the gates as wide as high,
And let King George and his family pass by.

—Wales (Folk-lore Record, v. 88).

XV.

How many miles to - Barley Bridge?

Banbury?

London?

Four score and ten [or, Fifty miles and more].
Shall we be there by candle-light?
Oh, yes, and back again.
[Or, at Market Drayton.
Shift your feet with nimble light,
And you’ll be there by candle-light.]
Open the gates as wide as the sky,
And let King George and his lady go by.

—Market Drayton, Ellesmere, Whitchurch, (Burne’s Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 522).

XVI.

How many miles to Bethlehem?
Three score and ten.
Shall we get there by candle-light?
Yes, there and back again.
So open the gates and let King George and his family go through.

—Hayton, near York (H. Hardy).

XVII.

How far is it to Babylon?
Three score miles and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, there and back again.

—Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

XVIII.

How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Can you get there by candle-light?
O yes, and back again.

—Hanbury, Staffordshire (Miss E. Hollis).

XIX.

Open the gates as wide as high,
And let King George and I go by;
It is so dark I cannot see
To thread my grandmother’s needle.

—Surrey (Folk-lore Record, v. 88).

(b) There are two methods of playing this game, one in which a King and Queen are represented, and the other in which gates of a city are represented. Of the first Chambers and Mactaggart practically give the same account. The latter says, “Two of the swiftest boys are placed between two ‘doons’ or places of safety; these, perhaps, are two hundred yards distant. All the other boys stand in one of these places or doons, when the two fleet youths come forward and address them with the rhyme. When out, they run in hopes to get to Babylon or the other doon, but many get not near that place before they are caught by the runners, who ‘taens’ them, that is, lay their hands upon their heads, when they are not allowed to run any more in that game, that is, until they all be taened or taken.”

The Norfolk game seems to resemble the Scotch, though in a much less complete form. Miss Matthews describes it as follows:—“A line of children is formed, and the two standing opposite it sing the questions, to which the line reply; then the two start off running in any direction they please, and the others try to catch them.”

The second method of playing is best described by the Rev. Walter Gregor, from the Nairn game, which is known as “The Gates of Babylon.” Mr. Gregor writes as follows:—“This game may be played either by boys or girls. Two of the players join hands, and stand face to face, with their hands in front as if forming a gate. Each of these has a secret name. The other players form themselves into a line by clasping each other round the waist from behind. They go up to the two that form the gate, and the leader asks the first question, as in version No. 2. The dialogue then proceeds to the end. The two then lift their arms as high as they can, still joined, and the line of players passes through. All at once the two bring their arms down on one and make him (or her) prisoner. The prisoner is asked in a whisper, so as not to disclose the secret name, which of the two is to be chosen. The one so captured takes his (or her) stand behind the one chosen. The same process is gone through till all the players are taken captive, and have stationed themselves behind the one or the other of the two forming the gate. The last one of the line goes through three times. The first time the word ‘breakfast’ is pronounced; the second time ‘dinner;’ and the third time ‘supper.’ The player then chooses a side. The two sides have then a tug of war. The game ends at this point with girls. With boys the conquered have to run the gauntlet. The victors range themselves in two lines, each boy with his cap or handkerchief tightly plaited in his hand, and pelt with all their might the vanquished as they run between the lines. The boys of Nairn call this running of the gauntlet, ‘through fire an’ watter.’”

The method of playing the Warwick, Fernham, and Louth versions is practically the same. The children stand in half-circle beginning with the two tallest at either end. All clasp hands. The two at one end question those at the other end alternately (fig. 1). At the last line the two that have been answering hold their hands up to form a bridge, and all the others thread through, still holding hands (the bridge advancing slowly) (fig. 2). The Louth version is also sometimes played as “Oranges and Lemons.” This is also the case with the Belfast, South Shields, Ellesmere, and Dublin versions. Miss Burne also gives a second method of playing this game at Ellesmere: she says, “The whole number of players stand in two rows facing each other, each player joining hands with the one opposite. The pair at the lower end parley with the pair at the top, and then run under the extended arms of the others, receiving thumps on the back as they go, till they reach the upper end, and become the top couple in their turn.” The Hanbury version is played in a similar way. Two lines stand close together holding handkerchiefs across. The questions are asked and answered by the top and bottom players. Then two children run under the line of handkerchiefs. The Dorset version is played by as many as like standing, two and two, opposite each other, each of them taking with the right hand the right hand of the other; then the two that are the King and Queen say or sing the first question, to which the others reply, and the dialogue ends in this manner. Then all the other pairs hold up their hands as high as they can, and the King and Queen run through the archway and back again, and so on with the next pair, and other pairs in turn. The Isle of Man version is played, Mr. Moore says, the same as other “Thread the Needle” games.

(c) The game is evidently dramatic in form, and perhaps is illustrative of some fact of history, such as the toll upon merchandise entering a walled town. The changes in the words of the different versions are not very great, but they show the influence of modern history upon the game. The appearance of King George evidently points to the date when it was frequently played, though the older versions are doubtless those in which his Majesty does not do duty. Mactaggart has the following quaint note which perhaps may supply the origin, though it seems a far cry to the Crusaders:—“This sport has something methinks of antiquity in it; it seemeth to be a pantomime of some scenes played off in the time of the Crusades. ‘King and Queen o’ Cantilon’ evidently must be King and Queen of Caledon, but slightly changed by time. Then Babylon in the rhyme, the way they had to wander and hazard being caught by the infidels, all speak as to the foundation of the game” (Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia).

In the Gentleman’s Magazine for December 1849, in a review of the Life of Shirley, it is stated that in many parts of England the old game of “Thread the Needle” is played to the following words, which refer to the gate of the city of Hebron, known as the “needle’s eye.”

How many miles to Hebron?
Three score and ten.
Shall I be there by midnight?
Yes, and back again.
Then thread the needle, &c.

The game is also described in Notes and Queries, iv. 141, as played in the same way as above, and the writer adds there are subsequent evolutions by which each couple becomes in succession the eye of the needle.

Howly

A street game played by boys in a town, one of them hiding behind a wall or house-end, and crying “Howly” to the seekers.—Atkinson’s Cleveland Glossary.

See “Hide and Seek.”

Huckie-buckie down the Brae

Children in Lothian have a sport in which they slide down a hill, sitting on their hunkers (Jamieson). The well-known custom at Greenwich is probably the same game, and there are examples at Tumbling Hill, a few miles from Exeter, at May Pole Hill, near Gloucester, and other places.

Huckle-bones

Holloway (Dict. of Provincialisms) says that the game is called “Huckle-bones” in East Sussex and “Dibs” in West Sussex. Parish (Dict. of Sussex Dialect) mentions that huckle-bones, the small bone found in the joint of the knee of a sheep, are used by children for playing the game of “Dibs;” also Peacock’s Manley and Corringham Glossary. Barnes (Dorset Glossary) says, “A game of toss and catch, played mostly by two with five dibs or huckle-bones of a leg of mutton, or round pieces of tile or slate.” Halliwell’s description is clearly wrong. He says it was a game formerly played by throwing up the hip-bone of some animal, on one side of which was a head of Venus and on the other that of a dog. He who turned up the former was the winner (Dictionary). Miss J. Barker writes that “Huckle-bones” is played in Hexham; and Professor Attwell (Barnes) played the game as a boy, and is still a proficient in it; he played it recently for my benefit with his set of real huckle-bones (A. B. Gomme); and see Notes and Queries, 9th ser., iv. 378, 379.

The figures or sets are practically the same as those described under “Fivestones.” The game is very ancient. In the Sanctuarie of Salvation, &c., translated from the Latin of Levinus Lemnius by Henry Kinder (8vo, London, printed by H. Singleton), p. 144, we read, “These bones are called ‘huckle-bones’ or ‘coytes.’” For further information relating to this game, as played by the ancients, the reader may consult Joannis Meursii Ludibunda, sive de Ludis Græcorum, Liber singularis (8vo, Lugd. Bat. 1625), p. 7, and Dan. Souterii Palamedes, p. 81; but more particularly, I Tali ed altri Strumenti lusori degli antichi Romani, discritti da Francesco de ’Ficoroni, 4to, Rom. 1734. Against the suggestion that the modern game is derived directly from the Romans, is the fact that it is known in countries never traversed or occupied by the Romans. Thus Dr. Clarke, in his Travels in Russia, 1810, p. 106, says: “In all the villages and towns from Moscow to Woronetz, as in other parts of Russia, are seen boys, girls, and sometimes even old men, playing with the joint-bones of sheep. This game is called ‘Dibbs’ by the English. It is of very remote antiquity; for I have seen it very beautifully represented on Grecian vases; particularly on a vase in the collection of the late Sir William Hamilton, where a female figure appeared most gracefully delineated kneeling upon one knee, with her right arm extended, the palm downwards, and the bones ranged along the back of her hand and arm. In this manner the Russians play the game.”

See “Dalies,” “Fivestones.”[Addendum]

Hummie

The game otherwise called “Shinty.” The shinty or hummie is played by a set of boys in two divisions who attempt to drive with curved sticks a ball, or what is more common, part of the vertebral bone of a sheep, in opposite directions (Blackwood’s Magazine, August 1821, p. 36). If one of the adverse party happens to stand or run among his opponents, they call out “Hummie, keep on your own side.”—Jamieson.

Hundreds

A game at marbles, which is carried on until one of the players scores 100 or some other high number agreed upon. Any number can play, but it is best described for two players, A. and B. First the players taw up to a hole; if both get in, they repeat the process until one is left out, say B.; then A. counts 10. Should both fail, the nearest goes first. He may now lay his taw about the hole or fire at the other, on hitting which he counts another 10. He now goes for the hole again, and failing, lies where he happens to stop. If he misses, B. from his present position tries to get into the hole, and failing, lies still; but if he reaches the hole, he counts 10, and proceeds as A. had done. The one who first gets the 100 (or other number) now goes in for his “pizings,” which performance takes place thus:—The loser, so far, is lying about, and the winner goes back to “drakes,” and again tries to lodge in the hole; and if he succeeds, the game is up. If not, he lies still, and the loser tries for the hole; if he gets in he counts another 10, or if he should succeed in hitting the winner he scores his adversary’s 100 to his own number, and then goes on for his “pizings” as the other had done. In failure of either securing the game thus, the process is repeated at “drakes.” When, however, the one who is on for his “pizings” manages to taw into the hole, the game is concluded.—Easther’s Almondbury and Huddersfield Glossary.

Hunt the Hare

A game among children, played on the ice as well as in the fields (Brockett’s North Country Words). Strutt (Sports, p. 381) says “Hunt the Hare” is the same game as “Hunt the Fox.” In this game one boy is permitted to run out, and having law given to him—that is, being permitted to go to a certain distance from his comrades before they pursue him—their object is to take him, if possible, before he can return home.

See “Hare and Hounds.”

Hunt the Slipper

[Play]

—Lancashire (Mrs. Harley).

All the players but one sit on the floor in a circle with their legs crossed (Turkish fashion), one acting as Chief, all pretending to work at making or mending shoes. The other player brings a slipper to the Chief Cobbler, and desires it to be mended, saying—

Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,
Get it done by half-past two.

The child walks away, and returns in a few moments and asks whether the shoe is ready. The Cobbler says, “Not quite; call again in an hour’s time,” or makes any other excuse which occurs to him. When the child calls again, she is told it has been sent home. After several pretences the child declares an intention to search for it. The Cobblers in the ring then all place their hands under their knees, and pass the slipper secretly from one to another in such a way as to prevent the owner of the shoe getting it for some time. The Cobbler from whom the slipper is taken becomes the owner next time (Barnes, A. B. Gomme). In the Nottinghamshire version (Miss Peacock) the rhyme is—

Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,
Give it a stitch and that will do.

Versions from Wakefield, Liphook, Ellesmere, and other places are practically the same as the Barnes game, but Mr. Udal gives an elaboration of the Dorsetshire game in the Folk-lore Journal, vii. 238. One Lancashire version (Miss Dendy) reverses the characters by making the Cobbler run round the ring, and the children requiring the shoe to be mended, call out, “Blackie, come mend my slipper.” Mrs. Harley, in another Lancashire version, gives the words sung to the tune printed as—

Pass on, pass on, passy on the slipper;
The best fun we ever had was passing on the slipper.

Holloway (Dict. of Provincialisms) says this game was well known in Somerset, Hants, Sussex, but now is almost out of fashion. He describes it as being played without words. The child who has to find the shoe stands in the centre of the circle. The chief amusement arises from the one in the circle who has the slipper striking the one who stands up (the searcher) while he or she is steadily looking for it in an opposite direction. Strutt (Sports, p. 387) also describes this game.[Addendum]

Hunt the Staigie

A boys’ game. One is chosen to be the Staigie (little stallion). The other players scatter themselves over the playground. The Staigie locks his fingers into each other. He then repeats the words—

Hunt the Staigie,
Huntie, untie, staige,
Ailleman, ailleman, aigie,

and rushes off with his hands locked, and tries to touch one of the players. He must not unlock his hands till he has caught one. When he has captured one, the two join hands and hunt for another. When another is caught, he joins the two. This goes on till all are hunted down.—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).

See “Chickidy Hand,” “Whiddy.”

Hunting

[Play]

—Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).

[Play]

—Epworth (C. C. Bell).

I.

Oh, a-hunting we will go, a-hunting we will go;
We’ll catch a little fox and put him in a box,
And never let him go.

—Bath (Miss Large).

II.

Hunting we will go, brave boys,
Hunting we will go;
We’ll catch an old fox
And put him in a box,
For a-hunting we will go.
Halt! shoulder arms! fire!

—Horncastle, North Kelsey, Lincoln (Miss Peacock).

III.

O have you seen the Shah,
O have you seen the Shah?
He lights his pipe on a star-light night,
O have you seen the Shah?
For a-hunting we will go,
A-hunting we will go;
We’ll catch a fox and put him in a box,
A-hunting we will go.

—Epworth, Doncaster (C. C. Bell).

(b) The players march two by two, all singing. The first pair let go hands, separate, and skip widely apart, still singing. Gradually, in this manner, two separate lines are formed, until, following each other and singing, the pairs come together again, join hands, and march and sing in couplets linked.

The Bath game is played by the children standing in two rows facing each other, and clapping hands and singing the verse. At the same time the two children facing each other at the top of the lines join hands and trip down and up between the lines. Their hands are unclasped, and the two children run down the outside of the lines, one running on each side, and meet at the bottom of the lines, where they stand. The two children now standing at the top proceed in the same way: this is continued until all the children have done the same. A ring is then formed, when the children again clap and sing. Any number can play at this game.

In the Epworth version the children range themselves in double rank at one end of the room or playground, and march down to the other end hand in hand. At the bottom they loose hands and divide, the first rank turning right, the second left, and march back in two single files to the other end again, where they re-form as at first, and repeat their manœuvre, singing the verses alternately.

The Lincolnshire game is played by the children walking two and two in a circle round one of their companions, singing. The players then stand facing the child in the centre, and place their hands on their partners’ shoulders. After the lines are sung the centre child cries out, “Halt! Shoulder arms! Fire!” at which words each child kisses his partner. If the commander sees any one hesitate, or avoid kissing, he runs forward and takes the defaulter’s place, leaving him to fill the middle position.

Similar versions are played at Earls Heaton (Mr. Hardy), Forest of Dean (Miss Matthews), Ellesmere (Burne, Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 574), Derbyshire (Folk-lore Journal, i. 386).

Hurling

A game played with a ball. The players are divided into two equal parties, each of which tries to secure and keep the ball in their possession. The prize is a ball made of cork, covered with silver.—Courtney’s West Cornwall Glossary.

In Taylor’s Antiquitates Curiosæ, p. 144, it is stated:—“The game of hurling consisted in throwing or hurling a ball of wood about three inches in diameter, and covered with plated silver, sometimes gilt. On the ball was frequently a Cornish motto allusive to the game, and signifying that fair play was best. Success depended on catching the ball dexterously when dealt, and conveying it away through all the opposition of the adverse party, or, if that was impossible, to throw it into the hands of a partner, who, in his turn, was to exert his utmost efforts to convey it to his own goal, which was often three or four miles distant from that of his adversaries.”

T. Durfey’s Collin’s Walk through London, 1690, p. 192, says: “Hurling is an ancient sport us’d to this day in the countys of Cornwall and Devon, when once a year the hardy young fellows of each county meet; and a cork ball thinly plated with silver being thrown up between ’em, they run, bustle, and fight for it, to the witty dislocating of many a shrew’d neck, or for the sport of telling how bravely their arms or legs came to be broke, when they got home.” It is fully described by Carew in his Survey of Cornwall, 1602, p. 73.

It is also a very ancient Irish game, and Mr. Kinahan says: “Many places are called after it: such as, Killahurla, the hurlers’ church; Gortnahurla, the field of the hurlers; Greenanahurla, the sunny place of the hurlers; this, however, is now generally corrupted into hurling-green. The hurling-green where the famous match was played by the people of Wexford against those of Cather (now divided into the counties of Carlow and Wicklow), and where the former got the name of yellow bellies, from the colour of the scarfs they wore round their waist, is a sunny flat on the western side of North Wicklow Gap, on the road from Gorey to Trinnahely. There are also many other different names that record the game.”—Folk-lore Journal, ii. 266.

See “Bandy,” “Camp,” “Football,” “Hockey,” “Hood,” “Shinty.”

Hurly-burly

An undescribed boys’ game. In it the following rhyme is used—

Hurly-burly, trumpy trace,
The cow stands in the market-place;
Some goes far, and some goes near,
Where shall this poor sinner steer?

—Patterson’s Antrim and Down Glossary.

For a similar rhyme see “Hot Cockles.”

Huss

Children play a game which is accompanied by a song beginning—

Hussing and bussing will not do,
But go to the gate, knock, and ring—
Please, Mrs. Brown, is Nellie within?

—Parish’s Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect.

Hustle Cap

A boys’ game, played by tossing up halfpence. It is mentioned in Peregrine Pickle, cap. xvi. Cope (Hampshire Glossary) says, “Halfpence are placed in a cap and thrown up, a sort of ‘pitch-and-toss.’”

Hynny-pynny

A peculiar game at marbles, sometimes called “Hyssy-pyssy,” played in some parts of Devon and Somerset. A hole of some extent was made in an uneven piece of ground, and the game was to shoot the marbles at some object beyond the hole without letting them tumble into it. The game occasionally commenced by a ceremony of no very delicate description, which sufficed to render the fallen marble still more ignominious.—Halliwell’s Dictionary.

Isabella

[Play]

—Ogbourne, Wilts (H. S. May).

[Play]

—Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).

[Play]

—London (A. B. Gomme).

I.

Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when we parted
I left you broken-hearted,
And on a green mountain,
There stands a young man.

Could you love him?
Could you love him?
Could you love him? Farewell!

Choose one, love,
Choose one, love,
Choose one, love, Farewell!

Take a walk, love,
Take a walk, love,
Take a walk, love, Farewell!

In the ring, love,
In the ring, love,
In the ring, love, Farewell!

Put the ring on,
Put the ring on,
Put the ring on, Farewell!

Go to church, love,
Go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

Take a kiss, love,
Take a kiss, love,
Take a kiss, love, Farewell!

Shake hands, love,
Shake hands, love,
Shake hands, love, Farewell!

—Enborne, Newbury (M. Kimber).

II.

Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when I departed
I left her broken-hearted;
Upon the steep mountain
There stands a young man.

Who’ll you choose, love?
Who’ll you choose, love?
Who’ll you choose, love? Farewell!

Go to church, love,
Go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

Say your prayers, love,
Say your prayers, love,
Say your prayers, love, Farewell!

Put your ring on,
Put your ring on,
Put your ring on, Farewell!

Come back, love,
Come back, love,
Come back, love, Farewell!

Roast beef and plum pudding,
Roast beef and plum pudding,
Roast beef and plum pudding,
For our dinner to-day.

Kiss together, love,
Kiss together, love,
Kiss together, love, Farewell!

—Ogbourne, Wilts (H. S. May).

III.

Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when I departed
I left you broken-hearted
Broken-hearted on the mountain,
On the mountain, Farewell!

Choose your loved one, choose your loved one,
Choose your loved one, Farewell!

Kiss your hand, love, kiss your hand, love,
Kiss your hand, love, Farewell!

Go to church, love, go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

Say your prayers, love, say your prayers, love,
Say your prayers, love, Farewell!

Come to dinner, love, come to dinner, love,
Come to dinner, love, Farewell!

What have you for dinner, for dinner, for dinner,
What have you for dinner, for dinner to-day?

Roast beef and plum pudding, plum pudding, plum pudding,
Roast beef and plum pudding, plum pudding to-day.

—Southampton (Mrs. W. R. Carse).

IV.

Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night I met you downhearted and sad,
And down by the river I met your young man.

Choose a lover, choose a lover,
Choose a lover, Farewell!

Walk to church, love, walk to church, love,
Walk to church, love, Farewell!

Come to the ring, love, come to the ring, love,
Come to the ring, love, Farewell!

Give a kiss, love, give a kiss, love,
Give a kiss, love, Farewell!

—West Grinstead, Sussex (Notes and Queries, 8th Series, i. 249, Miss Busk).

V.

Arabella!
Arabella!
Arabella! Farewell!

Last night when we parted
I left you broken-hearted
Down by the mill-side.

Who’ll you have, love?
Who’ll you have, love?
Who’ll you have, love? Farewell!

Go to church, love,
Go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

Come back, love,
Come back, love,
Come back, love, Farewell!

Shake hands, love,
Shake hands, love,
Shake hands, love, Farewell!

Take a kiss, love,
Take a kiss, love,
Take a kiss, love, Farewell!

—Platt School, near Wrotham, Kent (Miss Burne).

VI.

Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when we parted
I left you broken-hearted,
And on the green meadow
You was standing alone.

Choose a sweetheart, choose a sweetheart,
Choose a sweetheart, fair maid.

Take her hand, love, take her hand, love,
Take her hand, love, fair maid.

Kneel down, love, kneel down, love,
Kneel down, love, fair maid.

Take a kiss, love, take a kiss, love,
Take a kiss, love, fair maid.

Now you’re married I wish you joy,
First a girl and then a boy,
Seven years after son and daughter;
Pray, young couple, come kiss together.

Kiss her once, kiss her twice, kiss her three times over.

—From a London nursemaid, 1878 (A. B. Gomme).

VII.

Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when we parted
I believed you broken-hearted,
As on the green mountain
You stands [qy. sang] like a lark.

Go to church, love, go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

In the ring, love, in the ring, love,
In the ring, love, Farewell!

Give a kiss, love, give a kiss, love,
Give a kiss, love, Farewell!

Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!

—Fernham and Longcot (Miss I. Barclay).

VIII.

Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when I departed I left her broken-hearted;
On the hill yonder there stands your young man.

Fetch him here, love, fetch him here, love,
Fetch him here, love, Farewell!

Shut the gates, love, shut the gates, love,
Shut the gates, love, Farewell!

Open the gates, love, open the gates, love,
Open the gates, love, Farewell!

Go to church, love, go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell!

Show your ring, love, show your ring, love,
Show your ring, love, Farewell!

—Hanbury, Staffs. (Miss E. Hollis).

IX.

The trees are uncovered, uncovered, uncovered,
The trees are uncovered, Isabella, for me!

Last night when we parted we were all broken-hearted,
Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, for me!

Then give me your hand, love, your hand, love, your hand, love,
Then give me your hand, love, and a sweet kiss from you.

—Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).

X.

When the trees are uncovered, Isabellow, for me.
Last night when we parted
She was nigh broken-hearted,
Isabellow, Isabellow, Isabellow, for me.

Your hand, love, your hand, love,
Then give me your hand, love,
Take a sweet kiss from me.

—Winterton, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire (Miss Peacock).

XI.

Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell!
Last night when we parted I left you broken-hearted,
And down by the river you saw your young man.

In the stream, love, in the stream, love,
In the stream, love, Farewell!

Go to church, love, go to church, love,
Go to church, love, Farewell.

In the ring, love, in the ring, love,
In the ring, love, Farewell!

—Long Eaton, Nottinghamshire (Miss Youngman).

XII.

Elizabella, Farewell!
Last night as we parted
She left me broken-hearted,
And on a green mountain
She looked like a dove.

Choose your loved one,
Choose your loved one,
Choose your loved one, Farewell!

Go to church, love, Farewell!
Say your prayers, love, Farewell!
In the ring, love, Farewell!

Shake hands, loves,
Shake hands, loves, Farewell!

Give a kiss, loves,
Give a kiss, loves, Farewell!

—Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).

XIII.

Last night when we parted
She was nigh broken-hearted,
To-morrow we gather
And a bright welcome be.
Then give me your hand, love,
Your hand, love, your hand, love,
Then give me your hand, love,
Isabella for me.
Isabella, Isabella,
Isabella for me.

—North Derbyshire (S. O. Addy).

(b) In the Enborne, Newbury, version (Miss Kimber) a ring is formed by the children (boys and girls) joining hands. Another child stands in the centre. The ring of children walk round while singing the verses. The singing is confined to the ring. When the centre child is told to “choose,” she selects a boy from the ring, who goes into the centre and they stand together. At the next verse these two children walk out of the ring arm-in-arm. When the next verse is sung they return, and again stand in the centre. At the next verse the boy pretends to put a ring on the girl’s finger. They walk out of the ring when told to go to church (two children in the ring unclasping hands to let them walk out, and again clasping hands after they return), and kiss each other and shake hands when the two next verses are sung. The child who was first in the centre then joins the ring, and the game proceeds in the same way with the second child, who chooses in his turn. All the other versions follow the same rules, suiting their actions to the words, except Ogbourne, Wilts, in which the two children in the centre sing the verse, “roast beef and plum pudding.” They stand face to face, take hold of each other’s hands, and sway their arms from side to side. The ring then sing the concluding verse. In those versions where “say your prayers” and “kneel down” occur, the two centre children kneel, and hold their open hands together in front of them to imitate a book. In the London version (A. B. Gomme) a handkerchief was laid on the ground, and the two children stood on each side of it and clasped hands across it. In the Fernham and Longcot version the one child leads the other out of the ring at “go to church,” with a graceful half-dancing motion, and back again in the same way. The first child joins the ring while the refrain is sung. In the Hanbury version the centre child pretends to be weeping; another child stands outside the ring and goes into it; when the two meet they kiss. In the North Derbyshire version (Mr. S. O. Addy) a ring is formed of young men and women, a young man being in the centre. He chooses a young woman at the singing of the fifth line, and then joins the ring, the girl remaining in the centre.

(c) The tunes of all versions are very similar. The tune of the Newbury game (Miss Kimber) is the same as the first part of the Ogbourne tune printed (Mr. H. S. May); that from Nottingham (Miss Youngman) is the same as the first part of the London version. This is also the case with the Hanbury, Staffs. (Miss E. Hollis) and Fernham and Longcot game. What difference there is is very slight. The Platt, Kent, game (Miss Burne), is sung to the same tune as “Green Gravel,” given ante, p. 170. The first portion only of the tune is repeated for all verses sung after the first verse. The Barnes game is sung to the same tune as the Earls Heaton (Mr. Hardy), which is printed ante. A version played at Barnes is almost identical with the Southampton version, and another collected by Miss Thoyts in Berkshire (Antiquary, vol. xxvii. p. 193) is similar to the Hanbury version. The first lines run—Choose your lover; Open the gates; Go to church, love; Kneel down, love; Say your prayers, love; Put on the ring; Stand up, love; In the ring, love; Kiss together, love.

(d) The words of all the versions are sufficiently similar to analyse without a special form. The game appears to be purely a love and marriage game, and has probably had its origin in a ballad, and this idea is strengthened by the fact that only one version (London) has the marriage formula sung at the end, and this is probably an arbitrary addition. The lover is represented as lonely and disconsolate, and the remedy suggested is to choose a sweetheart. The marriage ceremony is of the simplest description—the clasping of hands and the kissing within the circle probably implying the betrothal at a spot sacred to such functions, similar to the Standing Stones of Stenness. Whatever may have been the original intention of these stones, they came in more recent times to be the resort of lovers, who joined their right hands through the hole in the altar stones in the belief that this ceremony would add additional solemnity to the betrothal. Miss Gordon Cumming, in her Tour in the Hebrides, mentions the fact of the marriage ceremony being of the simplest—a man and woman standing facing each other and clasping hands over a particular stone. Walking arm-in-arm is a sign in Dorsetshire that a couple are married. The mention of the “roast beef and plum pudding” for dinner has probably had its origin in the wedding dinner or breakfast, and the inviting of friends to assemble for the wedding dinner. The word “Isabella” may have been originally something quite different from the name of a girl. I am inclined to think the word was not the name of a person at all; possibly it was something addressed to a particular person in words the sense of which are now lost, and the nearest idea to it was this name. The same thing may also apply to the word “farewell,” and hence the incongruity of the first few lines in nearly all versions.[Addendum]

Jack’s Alive.

A number of people sit in a row, or on chairs round a parlour. A lighted wooden spill or taper is handed to the first, who says—

Jack’s alive, and likely to live;
If he dies in your hand you’ve a forfeit to give.

The one in whose hand the light expires has to pay a forfeit. As the spill is getting burnt out the lines are said very quickly, as everybody is anxious not to have to pay the forfeit.—Addy’s Sheffield Glossary.

At Egan, in Derbyshire, a number of persons sit round a fire; one of them lights a stick, twirls it round, and says—

Little Nanny Cockerthaw,
What if I should let her fa’?

The others reply—

Nine sticks and nine stones
Shall be laid on thy bare back bones
If thou shouldst let fa’
Little Nanny Cockerthaw.

If the ember or lighted stick goes out whilst any one is twirling it round, and whilst the lines are being said, he has to lie on the floor, when stones, chairs, or other articles of furniture are piled upon him.—S. O. Addy.

Mactaggart calls it “Preest Cat,” and says that it is an ingleside game. A piece of stick is made red in the fire; one hands it to another, saying—

About wi’ that, about wi’ that,
Keep alive the preest cat.

Then round is handed the stick, and whomsoever’s hand it goes out in, that one is in a wad, and must kiss the crook, the cleps, and what not, ere he gets out of it.

Lilly cuckoo, lilly cuckoo,
Sticks and stanes lie at thy weary banes
If thou fa’, for a’ I blaw,
Lilly cuckoo, lilly cuckoo.

This rhyme is common in the “Preest Cat” sport toward the border. Anciently, when the priest’s cat departed this life, wailing began in the country side, as it was thought it became some supernatural being—a witch, perhaps, of hideous form—so to keep it alive was a great matter.—Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia.

He also refers to a game called “Robin-a-Ree,” much like “Preest Cat,” only in passing the burnt stick round the ring the following rhyme is said—

Robin-a-Ree, ye’ll no dee wi’ me,
Tho’ I birl ye roun’ three times and three;
O Robin-a-Ree, O Robin-a-Ree,
O dinna let Robin-a-Reerie dee.

Robin-a-Ree occurs in an old song.—Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia.

In Cornwall it is known as “Robin’s a-light,” and is played around the fire. A piece of stick is set on fire and whirled around rapidly in the hand of the first player, who says, “Robin’s a-light, and if he go out I will saddle your back.” It is then passed to the next, who says the same thing, and so on. The person who lets the spark die out has to pay a forfeit.—Scilly (Courtney’s West Cornwall Glossary). A rhyme at Lostwithiel is known as follows—

Jack’s alive, and likely to live;
If he die in my hand a pawn (forfeit) I’ll give.

—(J. W.)

Jamieson (Dictionary) says, “To do ‘Dingle-dousie,’ a stick is ignited at one end and given as a plaything to a child.” Elworthy (West Somerset Words) does not give this as a game, but says a burning stick was whirled round and round very quickly, so as to keep up the appearance of a ribbon of fire. Miss Burne (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 530), says, “Children wave a burning stick in the air, saying—

A girdle o’ gold, a saddle o’ silk,
A horse for me as white as milk,

an evident relic of divinations or incantations practised with bonfires.” Halliwell (Nursery Rhymes, p. 213) gives the rhyme as—

Jack’s alive, and in very good health,
If he dies in your hand you must look to yourself;

the game being played in the same way as the Sheffield version (see also Halliwell’s Dictionary and Moor’s Suffolk Words).

(b) This is a very significant game, and its similarity in miniature to the old tribal custom of carrying the fiery cross to rouse the clans at once suggests the possible origin of it. The detention of the fiery cross through neglect or other impediment was regarded with much dread by the inhabitants of the place in which it should occur. This subject is discussed in Gomme’s Primitive Folkmoots, p. 279 et seq.[Addendum]

Jack, Jack, the Bread’s a-burning

Jack, Jack, the bread’s a-burning,
All to a cinder;
If you don’t come and fetch it out
We’ll throw it through the winder.

These lines are chanted by players that stand thus. One places his back against a wall, tree, &c., grasping another, whose back is toward him, round the waist; the second grasps a third, and so on. The player called Jack walks apart until the conclusion of the lines. Then he goes to the others and pokes at or pats them, saying, “I don’t think you’re done yet,” and walks away again. The chant is repeated, and when he is satisfied that the bread is “done” he endeavours to pull the foremost from the grasp of the others, &c.—Warwickshire (Northall’s Folk Rhymes, p. 390).

See “Mother Mop.”

Jack upon the Mopstick

See “Bung the Bucket.”

Jackysteauns

A game among school-girls, played with small pebbles, and sometimes with plum or cherry stones (Dickinson’s Cumberland Glossary). “A children’s game, played with five white pebbles called Jackstones,” says Mr. Patterson (Antrim and Down Glossary). The game is called “Jack.”

See “Fivestones,” “Hucklebones.”

Jauping Paste-eggs

A youthful amusement in Newcastle and the neighbourhood at Easter. One boy, holding an egg in his hand, challenges another to give blow for blow. One of the eggs is sure to be fractured in the conflict, and its shattered remains become the spoil of the conqueror.

See “Conkers.”

Jenny Jones

[Play]

—Platt, near Wrotham, Kent (Miss Burne).

[Play]

—Northants (Rev. W. D. Sweeting).

[Play]

—Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

I.

I’m come to court Janet jo,
Janet jo, Janet jo,
I’m come to court Janet jo,
How’s she the day?

She’s up the stair washin’,
Washin’, washin’,
She’s up the stair washin’,
Ye canna see her the day.

[Then follow verses, the words of which are not given by Chambers, representing Jenny as bleaching, drying, and ironing clothes. At last they say—]

Janet jo’s dead and gane,
Dead and gane, dead and gane;
Janet jo’s dead and gane,
She’ll never come hame!

—Chambers’ Popular Rhymes, pp. 140-41.

II.

I’m come to court Janet jo, Janet jo, Janet jo,
Come to court Janet jo,
How is she the day?

She’s butt the house washing, washing, washing
She’s butt the house washing,
You can’t see her to-day.

Fare ye well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Fare ye well, ladies,
For I must away.

—West Scotland (Folk-lore Record, iv. 474).

III.

We’ve come to court Jinny jo,
Jinny jo, Jinny jo,
We’ve come to court Jinny jo,
Is she within?

Jinny jo’s washing clothes,
Washing clothes, washing clothes,
Jinny jo’s washing clothes,
You can’t see her to-day.

So fare ye well, ladies,
O ladies, O ladies,
So fare ye well, ladies
And gentlemen too.

[These verses are repeated for—

• (1) drying clothes,
• (2) starching,
• (3) ironing,
• (4) ill,
• (5) dying.

Then—]

Jinny jo’s lying dead,
Lying dead, lying dead,
Jinny jo’s lying dead,
You can’t see her to-day.

So turn again, ladies,
Ladies, ladies, ladies,
So turn again, ladies,
And gentlemen too.

What shall we dress her in?
Dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in?
Shall it be red?

Red’s for the soldiers,
The soldiers, the soldiers,
Red’s for the soldiers,
And that will not do.

[Various other colours are suggested in the same way, but are found unsuitable—black because “black’s for the mourners,” green because “green’s for the croppies,” and so on till at last white is named.]

White’s for the dead people,
Dead people, the dead people,
White’s for the dead people,
And that will just do.

—Belfast (Notes and Queries, 7th series, xii. 492, W. H. Patterson).

IV.

I came to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo,
I came to see Jenny jo, is she within?

Jenny jo’s washing clothes, washing clothes, washing clothes,
Jenny jo’s washing clothes, and ye can’t see her to-day.

Oh but I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,
Oh but I’m sorry, I can’t see her to-day.

Farewell ladies, O ladies, O ladies,
Farewell ladies, and gentlemen too.

[Then the same verses are repeated for—

• (1) starching clothes,
• (2) smoothing clothes,
• (3) dead,

the four lines above being repeated after each, and the verses proceed with—]

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in? Shall it be black?

Black for the sweeps, the sweeps, the sweeps,
Black for the sweeps, and that shall not do.

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in? Shall it be blue?

Blue for the sailors, sailors, sailors,
Blue for the sailors, and that shall not do.

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in? Shall it be red?

Red for the soldiers, soldiers, soldiers,
Red for the soldiers, and that shall not do.

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in? Shall it be orange?

Orange for the Orange-men, Orange-men, Orange-men,
Orange for the Orange-men, and that shall not do.

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in? Shall it be white?

White for the corpse, the corpse, the corpse,
White for the corpse, and that will just do.

We have lost a soldier, soldier, soldier,
We have lost a soldier, and the Queen has lost a man.
We will bury him in the bed of glory, glory, glory,
We will bury him in the bed of glory, and we’ll never see him any more.

—Holywood, co. Down (Miss C. N. Patterson).

V.

I’ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo,
I’ve come to see Jenny jo,
How is she now?

Jenny jo is washing clothes, washing clothes, washing clothes,
Jenny jo is washing clothes,
You can’t see her now.

I’ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo,
I’ve come to see Jenny jo,
How is she now?

Jenny jo is ironing clothes, ironing clothes, ironing clothes,
Jenny jo is ironing clothes,
You can’t see her now.

I’ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo,
I’ve come to see Jenny jo,
How is she now?

Jenny jo is sick, my dear, sick, my dear, sick, my dear,
Jenny jo is sick, my dear,
You can’t see her now.

I’ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo,
I’ve come to see Jenny jo,
How is she now?

Jenny jo is underboard, underboard, underboard,
Jenny jo is underboard,
You can’t see her now.

—Lismore (Miss F. Keane, collected from Miss Ward, National Schoolmistress).

VI.

We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
And how is she now?

O Jenny is washing,
O washing, O washing,
O Jenny is washing,
And you can’t see her now.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
And how is she now?

O Jenny is starching,
O starching, O starching,
O Jenny is starching,
And you can’t see her now.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
And how is she now?

O Jenny is ironing,
O ironing, O ironing,
O Jenny is ironing,
And you can’t see her now.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
And how is she now?

O Jenny is ill,
O ill, O ill,
O Jenny is ill,
And you can’t see her now.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
And how is she now?

O Jenny is dying,
O dying, O dying,
O Jenny is dying,
And you can’t see her now.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see Jenny Jones,
And how is she now?

O Jenny is dead,
Is dead, is dead,
O Jenny is dead,
And you can’t see her now.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

What shall we lay her in, lay her in, lay her in?
What shall we lay her in? Shall it be red?

Red is for soldiers, soldiers, soldiers,
Red is for soldiers, and that won’t do.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

What shall we lay her in, lay her in, lay her in?
What shall we lay her in? Shall it be blue?

Blue is for sailors, sailors, sailors,
Blue is for sailors, and that won’t do.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

What shall we lay her in, lay her in, lay her in?
What shall we lay her in? Shall it be black?

Black is for mourners, mourners, mourners,
Black is for mourners, and that won’t do.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

What shall we lay her in, lay her in, lay her in?
What shall we lay her in? Shall it be white?

White’s what the dead wear, dead wear, dead wear,
White’s what the dead wear, and that will just do.

—Hanwell, Middlesex, 1878 (A. B. Gomme).

VII.

We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day?

Poor Jenny is washing, washing, washing,
Poor Jenny is washing, washing hard to-day.

What time can we see her?
At one o’clock.(Clock strikes one.)

We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day?

Poor Jenny is starching, starching, starching,
Poor Jenny is starching, you can’t see her to-day.

When can we see her?
At two o’clock.(Clock strikes two.)

We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day?

Poor Jenny is folding, folding, folding,
Poor Jenny is folding, you can’t see her to-day.

When can we see her?
At three o’clock.(Clock strikes three.)

We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day?

Poor Jenny is ironing, ironing, ironing,
Poor Jenny is ironing, you can’t see her to-day.

When can we see her?
At four o’clock.(Clock strikes four.)

We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day?

Poor Jenny is poorly, poorly, poorly,
Poor Jenny is poorly, you can’t see her to-day.

When can we see her?
At five o’clock.(Clock strikes five.)

We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day?

Poor Jenny is dying, dying, dying,
Poor Jenny is dying, you can’t see her to-day.

When shall we see her?
(Come) at six o’clock.(Clock strikes six.)

We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day?

Poor Jenny is dead, dead, dead,
Poor Jenny is dead, you can’t see her to-day.

What colour will you have for the funeral for poor Jenny Jones?

Red?

Red is for the soldiers, soldiers, soldiers,
Red is for the soldiers, and that won’t do.

Blue?

Blue is for the sailors, sailors, sailors,
Blue is for the sailors, and that won’t do.

Pink?

Pink is for the babies, babies, babies,
Pink is for the babies, and that won’t do.

White?

White is for a wedding, a wedding, a wedding,
White is for a wedding, and that won’t do.

Black?

Black is for the mourners, mourners, mourners,
Black is for the mourners, and that will do.

Poor Jenny Jones is dead, dead, dead,
Poor Jenny Jones is dead, and lies in her grave.

—Southampton (from nursemaid of Mrs. W. R. Carse).

VIII.

We’ve come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see Jenny Jones, is she at home?

Jenny Jones is scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing,
Jenny Jones is scrubbing, you can’t see her now.

[Then follow verses asking alternately “Is she at home?” in the same words as the first verse, and answering that she is

• (1) washing,
• (2) ill,
• (3) dying,
• (4) dead;

all of them in the same form as the second verse. Then the verses continue with—]

Jenny Jones is dead, she is dead, she is dead,
Jenny Jones is dead, you can’t see her now.

We’ll come to the funeral, funeral, funeral,
We’ll come to the funeral, and how shall we dress?

You can come in yellow, in yellow, in yellow,
You can come in yellow, that’s how you can dress.

Yellow’s for jealousy, jealousy, jealousy,
Yellow’s for jealousy, so that won’t do.

You can come in green, in green, in green,
You can come in green, that’s how you can dress.

Green’s forsaken, forsaken, forsaken,
Green’s forsaken, so that won’t do.

You can come in white, in white, in white,
You can come in white, that’s how you can dress.

White’s for weddings, weddings, weddings,
White’s for weddings, so that won’t do.

You can come in black, in black, in black,
You can come in black, that’s how you can dress.

Black is for funerals, funerals, funerals,
Black is for funerals, so black will do.

—Colchester (from Miss G. M. Frances, Colchester, through Miss Morris).

IX.

We’ve come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones,
We’ve come to see Jenny Jones. How is she now?

Jenny is washing, washing, washing,
Jenny is washing, you can’t see her now.

[Then follow the alternate question and answer; the questions in the same words as the first verse, and the answers in the same form as the second verse, stating that Jenny is

• (1) folding,
• (2) starching,
• (3) ironing,
• (4) ill,
• (5) dying,
• (6) dead;

then the verses proceed with—]

May we come to the funeral?
Yes.

May we come in red?
Red is for soldiers, you can’t come in red.

May we come in blue?
Blue is for sailors, you can’t come in blue.

May we come in white?
White is for weddings, you can’t come in white.

May we come in black?
Black is for funerals, so you can come in that.

—Bocking, Essex (Folk-lore Record, iii. 471).

X.

I come to see poor Jenny Joe,
Jenny Joe, Jenny Joe,
I come to see poor Jenny Joe,
And how is she now?

She’s washing, she’s washing,
And you can’t see her now.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

I come to see poor Jenny Joe,
Jenny Joe, Jenny Joe,
I come to see poor Jenny Joe,
And how is she now?

She’s folding, she’s folding,
And you can’t see her now.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

I come to see poor Jenny Joe,
Jenny Joe, Jenny Joe,
I come to see poor Jenny Joe,
And how is she now?

She’s ironing, she’s ironing,
And you can’t see her now.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

[Then follow alternate questions and answers in the same manner for—

• (1) dying,
• (2) dead.

Then—]

I come in my white dress, white dress, white dress,
I come in my white dress, and how will that do?

White is for wedding, wedding, wedding,
White is for wedding, and that won’t do.

Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.

I come in my blue dress, blue dress, blue dress,
I come in my blue dress, and how will that do?

Blue is for sailors, sailors, sailors,
Blue is for sailors, and that won’t do.

[Then follow verses as before, beginning—

Very well, ladies.
I come in my red dress.
Red is for soldiers,
Very well, ladies.

Then—]

I come in my black dress, black dress, black dress,
I come in my black dress, and how will that do?

Black is for funeral,
And that will do
To carry poor Jenny to the grave.

—Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

XI.

We’re come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones,
Come to see Jenny Jones, how is she now?

Jenny is a-washing, a-washing, a-washing,
Jenny is a-washing, you can’t see her now.

Very well, ladies, very well, ladies,
Very well, ladies, we can’t see her now.

[Then follow the same verses for—

• (1) ironing,
• (2) badly,
• (3) dead;

And the singing proceeds with—]

Please, will white do, white do, white do?
Please, will white do, please, will it do?

White’s for the weddingers, the weddingers,
White’s for the weddingers, that won’t do.

Please, will blue do, blue do, blue do?
Please, will blue do, please will it do?

[Then follow verses as before, beginning—

Blue’s for the sailors, the sailors, the sailors.
Please, will red do, red do?
Red’s for the soldiers.

Then—]

Please, will black do, black do, black do?
Black’s for the funeral, black will do.

—Northamptonshire (Rev. W. D. Sweeting).

XII.

I’ve come to see how Jenny Jones is to-day.
You can’t see her, she’s washing.
I’ve come to see how Jenny Jones is to-day.
You can’t see her, she’s ironing [she’s starching, she’s brewing, she’s baking, successively].
I’ve come to see how Jenny Jones is to-day.
You can’t see her, she’s ill [then she’s worse].
I’ve come to see how Jenny Jones is to-day.
You can’t see her, she’s dead!

Chorus.

There’s red for the soldiers,
Blue for the sailors,
White for the angels [for the baby, Chirbury],
And black for the mourners [of poor Jenny Jones].

—Berrington, Chirbury (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 577).

XIII.

We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones.
Poor Jenny Jones is washing, you can’t see her.
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones.
Poor Jenny Jones is drying, you can’t see her.
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones.
Poor Jenny Jones is starching, you can’t see her.
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones.
Poor Jenny Jones is ironing, you can’t see her.
We’ve come to see poor Jenny Jones.
Poor Jenny Jones is dead, you can’t see her.
What shall we follow, in red, blue, or black?
Red’s for the soldier, blue for the sailor,
Black for the dead.

—Enborne School, Berks (Miss M. Kimber).

XIV.

Come to see Miss Jenny Jones,
Miss Jenny Jones, Miss Jenny Jones;
Come to see Miss Jenny Jones,
And how is she to-day?

Miss Jenny Jones is washing, washing, washing,
Miss Jenny Jones is washing,
You can’t see her to-day.

Farewell, ladies, ladies, ladies, and gentlemen too.

[Miss Jenny Jones is drying, starching, ironing, ill, worse, dying, and dead in turn. Then—]

What shall we dress her in,
Dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in,
Dress her in red?

Red’s what the soldiers wear,
The soldiers wear, the soldiers wear,
Red’s what the soldiers wear,
And that won’t do.

What shall we dress her in,
Dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in,
Dress her in blue?

Blue’s what the sailors wear,
Sailors wear, sailors wear;
Blue’s what the sailors wear,
And that won’t do.

What shall we dress her in,
Dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in,
Dress her in black?

Black’s what the mourners wear,
The mourners wear, the mourners wear;
Black’s what the mourners wear,
And that won’t do.

What shall we dress her in,
Dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in,
Dress her in white?

White’s what the dead wear,
The dead wear, the dead wear;
White’s what the dead wear,
And that will do.

—Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).

XV.

Come to see Jinny Jones, Jinny Jones
Come to see Jinny Jones,
And where is she now?

Jinny is washing, is washing,
Jinny is washing,
And you can’t see her now.

Very well, very well, lady, lady,
Very well, lady,
That will do.

[Then follow—

• (1) starching,
• (2) ironing,
• (3) dying,
• (4) dead.]

What shall we follow in, follow in?
What shall we follow in?
We’ll follow in blue.

Blue is for sailors, for sailors,
Blue is for sailors,
And that won’t do.
[or, You can’t follow her so.]

[Then follow—

Red is for soldiers,
White is for weddings,
Yellow is for babies.]

Black is not deep enough, deep enough,
That won’t do.

What shall we follow in, follow in?

We’ll follow her in crape, crape [pronounced cray-ape].

You may follow her in crape, crape,
You may follow her in crape,
That will do.

—Deptford (Miss E. Chase).

XVI.

I’ve come to see Georgina, Georgina, Georgina,
I’ve come to see Georgina, how’s she to-day?

She’s upstairs washing, washing, washing,
She’s upstairs washing, and can’t get away.

O very well, ladies, ladies, ladies,
We’ll come another day.

We’ve come to see Georgina, Georgina, Georgina,
We’ve come to see Georgina, how’s she to-day?

She’s upstairs ironing, ironing, ironing,
She’s upstairs ironing, and can’t get away.

[Then the two verses are repeated—

O very well, ladies.
We’ve come to see Georgina.

Then follows—]

She was coming downstairs with a basin of water, and she fell down and broke her toe, and she’s dead.

And what shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in?
And what shall we dress her in? Dress her in red.

Red for the soldiers, soldiers, soldiers,
Red for the soldiers, and that shan’t do.

[Then follow blue for the sailors, black for the mourners, and finally—]

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in? Dress her in white.

White for the dead people, dead people, dead people,
White for the dead people, and that will do.

—Auchencairn, Kirkcudbright (A. C. Haddon).

XVII.

How’s poor Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo?
He’s very ill.
Oh, very good, very good, very good.
How’s poor Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo?
He’s fallen downstairs and broken his neck.
Oh, very good, very good, very good.
How’s poor Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo?
He’s dead.
Oh, very good, very good, very good.

—Annaverna, Louth, Ireland (Miss R. Stephen).

(b) Two children stand apart; one, who personates the Mother, stands still and holds out her skirts with both hands; the other personates Jenny Jones, and kneels or stoops down in a crouching position behind her companion’s outstretched skirts. The other players form a line by joining hands. They sing the first, third, and every alternate verse, advancing and retiring in line while doing so. The Mother sings the answers to their questions, standing still and hiding Jenny Jones all the time from view. When the verses are finished, Jenny Jones lies down as if she were dead, and the Mother stands aside. Two of the other players then take up Jenny Jones, one by the shoulders and the other by the feet, and carry her a little distance off, where they lay her on the ground. All the players follow, generally two by two, with their handkerchiefs at their eyes and heads lowered, pretending to grieve.

This is the more general way of playing the game. In those versions where the reply, “Very well, ladies,” occurs, this is sung by the line of children just before they sing, “We’ve come to see Jenny Jones.” Sometimes, as in the Berrington and Chirbury game, two lines of children facing each other advance and retire, singing the verses. They then carry Jenny Jones to a corner, lay her down, stand in a circle round, and sing to her the last verse. In the Hants versions sent by Miss Mendham, six or eight children carry Jenny stretched out and flat, lay her down, cover her over, and then sing the last lines. The rest of the children follow them. In the Irish (Belfast) version the game is played in the same way; the funeral is arranged, when Jenny suddenly comes to life again (W. H. Patterson). In the Southampton version, after the carrying of Jenny by her head and feet to the grave, and the other children following and standing round, Jenny Jones rises up and pursues the children. She is called the Ghost. The children run away in affected terror, calling out, “The Ghost!” Whoever she catches becomes Jenny Jones in the next game. This incident is also played in the Barnes, Northants, Annaverna, co. Louth, Enborne and Liphook versions.

(c) This game is played very generally throughout the country, and I have other versions collected from Earls Heaton (Mr. H. Hardy), Barnes (A. B. Gomme), Cambridge (Mrs. Haddon), Hampshire (Miss Mendham), Frodingham (Miss Peacock), Cowes, Isle of Wight (Miss E. Smith), Sulhampstead, Berks (Miss Thoyts), and Platt, Kent (Miss Burne). These versions are so similar to the Hanwell version, with the exception of the “Very well, ladies,” that it is needless to print them in full; special differences are noted hereafter. In some places the game is said in a sing-song manner.

Some of the versions differ from the general type in two ways—first, in the method of playing; secondly, in the wording of the verses. The differences in the method of playing direct attention to the connection of the game with ancient custom. The game is always played by the players taking sides; but one method is for one side to consist of only two children (Mother and Jenny Jones), and the other side to consist of all the other players; while the other method is for the players to be divided into two sides of about equal numbers, each side advancing and retiring in line when singing their part. Jenny Jones in some cases walks with the girls in her line until the funeral, when she is carried to the grave, and in others she stands alone behind the line. The way of performing the funeral also differs. Generally two of the players carry Jenny to the grave, the rest following two by two; but in one Hampshire version six or eight children carry Jenny, stretched out and flat, to the grave, and cover her over; in Holywood, co. Down, she is carried sitting on the crossed hands of two players; while in some versions no funeral is apparently performed, the words only being sung. Another significant incident is the Ghost. An additional incident occurs in the Liphook version, which represents her being “swung to life again” by two of the players.

These differences may perhaps be immaterial to the meaning and origin of the game, but they are sufficiently indicative of early custom to suggest the divergence of the game in modern times towards modern custom. Thus the players divided line-by-line follow the general form for children playing singing games, and it would therefore suggest itself as the earlier form for this game. The change of the game from the line-by-line action to the mother-and-line action would indicate a corresponding change in the prevailing custom which influenced the game. This custom was the wooing by a band of suitors of girls surrounded by their fellow-villagers, which became obsolete in favour of ordinary marriage custom. The dropping out of this custom would cause the game to change from a representation of both wooing and burial to one of burial only. As burial only the mother-and-line action is sufficient, but the presence of a wooing incident in the earlier form of the game is plainly revealed by the verse which sings, “Fare ye well, ladies,” or, as it has become in the English variant, “Very well, ladies.”

The difference in the wording of the versions is slight, and does not need formal analysis. Domestic occupation is shown throughout, washing and its attendants, drying, folding, starching and ironing being by far the most numerous, brewing, and baking only occurring in one. Illness, dying, and death are the usual forms for the later verses, but illness and dying are lost in several versions. The choosing of colours is in some versions not for the mourners but for the dead maiden, and in these cases (six) white is the colour chosen, for “white’s what the dead wear.”

This question of colours for the dead is a very important one. The dressing of the dead body of a maiden in white by her girl companions, and the carrying of the body by them to the grave, are known village customs, the whole village being invited to the funeral. The rising of the dead lover, and the belief that excessive mourning over a loved one disturbs his or her rest in the grave, thus causing the dead to rise and speak, are shown in old ballads; the belief that spirits of the dead haunt churchyards and places of their former abode may also be adduced in illustration of the ghost incident.

(d) The methods of playing, and the incidents revealed by the verses sung, show that this is perhaps the most realistic of all the singing games, the daily occupation, the illness, death, and burial being portrayed, first, in the words of the rhymes, and secondly, by the accompanying action. The Scottish versions make the opening incident that of a lover coming to the house of the loved one, then proceed to the domestic occupation, and finally to the death incident; while the English versions give the idea of village friends calling upon a favourite companion, and subsequently attending her funeral. That the former is the older of the two versions is confirmed by the great probability of the name “Jenny Jones” being a degraded form of “Janet jo.” There is some evidence for this. The Sporle version gives it as “Jenny Joe,” which is clearly a misunderstood rendering of “Jenny jo.” The corruption of this into “Jenny Jones” is exactly what might be expected from modern English ignorance of the pretty meaning of the word jo, “dear;” and to what lengths this corruption may proceed under such influences may be seen by versions from Earls Heaton, where we have “Jingy Jog;” Leeds, where we get “Jilly Jog;” and the Edinburgh version, where we have “Georgina.”

This would be an argument for the Scottish home of the rhymes, and for the direct borrowing of the name from Scotland by the English villagers. In furtherance of this view the following passage from Chambers may be quoted:—

In the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, “Janet Jo” is a dramatic entertainment amongst young rustics. Suppose a party has met in a harvest or winter evening round a good peat fire, and it is resolved to have “Janet Jo” performed. Two undertake to personate a goodman and a goodwife; the rest a family of marriageable daughters. One of the lads, the best singer of the party, retires, and equips himself in a dress proper for representing an old bachelor in search of a wife. He comes in, bonnet in hand, bowing, and sings—

Guid e’en to ye, maidens a’,

Maidens a’, maidens a’,

Guid e’en to ye, maidens a’,

Be ye or no.

I’m come to court Janet jo,

Janet jo, Janet jo,

I’m come to court Janet jo,

Janet, my jo.

Goodwife sings— What’ll ye gie for Janet jo,

Janet jo, Janet jo?

What’ll ye gie for Janet jo,

Janet, my jo?

Wooer— I’ll gie ye a peck o’ siller,

A peck o’ siller, peck o’ siller,

I’ll gie ye a peck o’ siller,

For Janet, my jo.

Goodwife says— Gae awa’, ye auld carle!

Then sings— Ye’se never get Janet jo,

Janet jo, Janet jo,

Ye’se never get Janet jo,

Janet, my jo.

The wooer hereupon retires, singing a verse expressive of mortification, but soon re-enters with a reassured air, singing—

I’ll gie ye a peck o’ gowd,

A peck o’ gowd, a peck o’ gowd,

I’ll gie ye a peck o’ gowd,

For Janet, my jo.

The matron gives him a rebuff as before, and he again retires discomfited, and again enters, singing an offer of “twa pecks o’ gowd,” which, however, is also refused. At his next entry he offers “three pecks o’ gowd,” at which the good wife brightens up and sings—

Come ben beside Janet jo,

Janet jo, Janet jo,

Ye’re welcome to Janet jo,

Janet, my jo.

The suitor then advances gaily to his sweetheart, and the affair ends in a scramble for kisses.—Popular Rhymes, pp. 141, 142.

On the other hand, it must not be overlooked that this game-drama and the game of “Janet Jo” have no connection beyond the name of the heroine and the wooing incident; so that the borrowing, if borrowing there be, might have been by Scotland, who improved the commonplace “Jenny Jones” into the pretty sweetness of her Scottish namesake. The Scottish version of the game leaves out the question of the colours for mourning, but, on the other hand, it contains the very important incident of the restoration of the dead. Chambers (Popular Rhymes, p. 141) suggests that this incident was introduced for the purpose of beginning the game again, but this seems extremely doubtful, in consideration of the Liphook variant, in which Miss Fowler says, “It is no uncommon thing for ‘Jenny Jones’ to be swung into life again;” and the still more significant Southampton version, where “‘Jenny Jones’ appears in the character of the Ghost, and scatters and pursues the surrounding mourners.” This detail is also used by the Northants and Barnes children, the version of whose game is very like the Southampton one. On the whole, the analysis would suggest that there has been a game played by the children of both England and Scotland, the leading incidents of which have been varied in accordance with the conditions of life. Mr. Napier (Folk-lore Record, iv. 474), in his description of the West Scotland example, evidently considered the game to be thoroughly representative of Scottish life, and this, indeed, seems to be the most striking feature of the game in all the variants. The domestic economy which they reveal is in no case out of keeping with the known facts of everyday peasant life, and many a mother has denied to her child’s friends the companionship they desired because of the work to be done.

In most cases the burden of the song rests upon the question of health, but in two cases, namely, Colchester and Deptford, the question is put as to where “Jenny Jones” is at the time of the visit. It is curious that the refrain of “Farewell, ladies,” should appear in such widely separated districts as Scotland, Northamptonshire, Norfolk, Middlesex, Hants, Lincoln, and Barnes.

With reference to the colours for mourning, there is an obvious addition of crape introduced into the Deptford version which is very suggestive of the decadence going on. The four colours used in most versions are red, blue, white, and black, colours which have been known to the people from ancient times. Black is accepted as the correct colour in all versions except five, where white is declared to be the colour which the dead wear. The method of question and answer is adopted for all the rhyme-movements. The tune of the game, with but slight variation, in all the versions is the same as that given from Platt, near Wrotham, except the two which are printed from Northants and Belfast.[Addendum]

Jenny Mac

Jenny Mac, Jenny Mac, Jenny Macghie,
Turn your back about to me;
And if you find an ill baubee,
Lift it up and gie’t to me.

Two girls cross their arms behind their backs, and thus taking hold of each other’s hands, parade along together, by daylight or moonlight, occasionally turning upon their arms, as indicated in the rhyme. Another rhyme for this amusement is—

A basket, a basket, a bonny penny basket,
A penny to you, and a penny to me,
Turn about the basket.

—Chambers’s Popular Rhymes; p. 123.

See “Basket.”

Jib-Job-Jeremiah

An undescribed Suffolk game.—Moor’s Suffolk Words, p. 238.

Jiddy-cum-jiddy

A northern name for “See Saw.”

Jingle-the-bonnet

A game in which two or more put a halfpenny each, or any piece of coin, into a cap or bonnet. After jingling or shaking them together, they are thrown on the ground; and he who has most heads when it is his turn to jingle, gains the stakes which were put into the bonnet.—Jamieson.

Halliwell (Dictionary) says this is a northern name for the game of “Shake Cap,” and Brockett (North Country Words) speaks of it as a game much practised among the young pitmen and keelmen.

Jingo-ring

Here we go by jingo-ring, jingo-ring, jingo-ring,
Here we go by jingo-ring, and round by merry-ma-tansy.

—Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

Sung to the “Mulberry” or “Ivy bush” tune.

The children form a ring and dance round singing. At the last word they all fall down.

See “Merry-ma-tansa.”

Jinkie

A game among children, in which they run round a table trying to catch one whose business is by quick turns to elude them.—Jamieson.

Jock and Jock’s Man

A juvenile sport in which the bon camarada is to repeat all the pranks which the leader can perform.—Brockett’s North Country Words.

See “Follow my Gable,” “Follow my Leader.”

Jockie Blind-man

Scotch name for “Blind Man’s Buff.”—Jamieson.

See “Blind Man’s Buff.”

Joggle along

I.

Come all you young men
In your youthful ways,
And sow your wild oats
In your youthful days.
Then you’ll be happy,
Then you’ll be happy,
As you grow old.
For the day’s far spent,
And the night’s coming on,
So give us your arm, and
We’ll joggle along.

—Penzance, Cornwall (Mrs. Mabbott).

II.

Come all ye young men, with your wicked ways,
Sow all your wild oats in your youthful days,
That we may live happy, that we may live happy,
That we may live happy when we grow old.
The day is far spent, the night’s coming on,
Give us your arm, and we’ll joggle along,
That we may live happy, &c., &c.

—Cornwall (Folk-lore Journal, v. 57).

(b) There must be an odd number of players at this game. They form into couples, each standing behind the other, making a ring, the girls inside, one boy standing alone in the middle. As they go round they sing the verse. At the end each boy leaves hold of his partner’s arm and catches the arm of the girl in front, the one who is standing in the centre trying in the confusion to get into a place. If he succeeds, the child left out has to be the one in the centre the next time.

(c) Mr. Newell (Games, p. 101) says this game was called the “Baptist Game” in Virginia, where it is said to be enjoyed by pious people who will not dance. The American game is played in the same way as the English one. Mr. Newell gives the tune to which the game was sung. The words are almost identical. This game is played in the same way as “Jolly Miller,” which see.

Johnny Rover

One boy is chosen to be Johnny Rover. The other players stand near him. Rover cries out—

A [I] warn ye ance, A warn you twice;
A warn ye three times over;
A warn ye a’ t’ be witty an’ wise
An flee fae Johnny Rover.

While the words are being repeated all the players are putting themselves on the alert, and when they are finished they run off in all directions, with Rover in full pursuit. If a player is hard pressed he has the privilege of running to “Parley,” the place from which the players started, and which in all games is an asylum. If he is caught before he reaches it, he becomes Johnny Rover for the next game. The one first captured becomes Rover.—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).

Jolly Fishermen

[Play]

—Tean, North Staffs. (Miss Burne).

I.

They were two jolly fishermen,
They were two jolly fishermen,
They were two jolly fishermen,
And just come from the sea,
And just come from the sea.
They cast their nets into the sea,
And jolly fish caught we,
And jolly fish caught we,
And jolly fish caught we,
They cast their nets into the sea,
And jolly fish caught we.

—Tean and Cheadle, North Staffs. (Miss Burne).

II.

There was three jolly fishermen,
And they all put out to sea.
They cast their nets into the sea,
And the [three?] jolly fish caught we.

—North Staffs. Potteries (Mrs. Thomas Lawton).

(b) A circle is formed by joining hands, and two children stand in the centre. They walk round. At the seventh line the two in the centre each choose one child from the ring, thus making four in the centre. They then sing the remaining four lines. The two who were first in the centre then go out, and the game begins again, with the other two players in the centre.

(c) Miss Burne says this game is more often played as “Three Jolly Fishermen.” At Cheadle, North Staffs., a few miles distant from Tean, this game is played by grown-up men and women.

Jolly Hooper

I.

Here comes a [or one] jolly hooper,
Ring ding di do do,
Ring ding di do do.

And who are you looking for,
In a ring ding di do do,
In a ring ding di do do?

I am looking for one of your daughters,
In a ring ding di do do,
In a ring ding di do do.

What shall her name be,
In a ring ding di do do,
In a ring ding di do do?

Her name shall be [Sarah],
In a ring ding di do do,
In a ring ding di do do.

Sarah shall ramble,
In a ring ding di do do,
In a ring ding di do do,
All around the chimney [jubilee] pot in 1881.

—Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).

II.

I’ve come for one of your daughters,
With a ring a ding a my dolly;
I’ve come for one of your daughters
On this bright shining night.

Pray, which have you come for,
With a ring a ding a my dolly?
Pray which have you come for
On this bright shining night?

I’ve come for your daughter Mary,
With a ring a ding a my dolly;
I’ve come for your daughter Mary
On this bright shining night.

Then take her, and welcome,
With a ring a ding a my dolly;
Then take her, and welcome,
On this bright shining night [incomplete].

—Sheffield (S. O. Addy).

(b) A number of children stand against a wall, and a row of other children face them. They walk backwards and forwards, singing the first and third verses. Then the children who are standing still (against the wall) answer by singing the second and fourth verses. When these are sung the moving line of children take Mary and dance round, singing “some lines which my informant,” says Mr. Addy, “has forgotten.”

(c) I have no description of the way Miss Chase’s game is played. It, too, is probably an incomplete version. The words “Ring ding di do do “show a possible connection between this and games of the “Three Dukes a-riding” type. They may or may not be variants of the same game.

See “Here comes a Lusty Wooer,” “Here comes a Virgin,” “Jolly Rover,” “Three Dukes.”

Jolly Miller

[Play]

—Epworth, Doncaster (C. C. Bell).

[Play]

—Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).

[Play]

—Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).

I.

There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself,
As the wheel went round he made his pelf;
One hand in the hopper, and the other in the bag,
As the wheel went round he took his grab.

—Leicester (Miss Ellis).

II.

There was a jolly miller, he lived by himself,
As the mill went round he made his wealth;
One hand in the hopper, another in his bag,
As the wheel went round he made his grab.

—Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).

III.

There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself,
As the wheel goes round he makes his wealth;
One hand in his hopper, and the other in his bag,
As we go round he makes his grab.

—Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy).

IV.

There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself,
As the mill went round he gained his wealth;
One hand in the hopper, and the other in the bag,
As the mill went round he made his grab.

Sandy he belongs to the mill,
And the mill belongs to Sandy still,
And the mill belongs to Sandy.

—Addy’s Sheffield Glossary.

V.

There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself,
As the wheel went round he made his wealth;
One hand in the upper and the other in the bank,
As the wheel went round he made his wealth.

—Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy).

VI.

There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself,
As the wheel went round he made his grab;
One hand in the other, and the other in the bag,
As the wheel went round he made his grab.

—Nottinghamshire (Miss Winfield).

VII.

There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself (or by the Dee),
The sails went round, he made his ground;
One hand in his pocket, the other in his bag.

—North Staffs. Potteries (Miss A. A. Keary).

(b) This game requires an uneven number of players. All the children except one stand in couples arm in arm, each couple closely following the other. This forms a double ring or wheel (fig. 1). The odd child stands in the centre. The children forming the wheel walk round in a circle and sing the verse. When they come to the word “grab,” those children standing on the inside of the wheel leave hold of their partners’ arms, and try to catch hold of the one standing immediately in front of their previous partners. The child in the centre (or Miller) tries (while they are changing places) to secure a partner and place (fig. 2). If he succeeds in doing this, the one then left out becomes the Miller. At Leicester the “odd” child, or “miller,” stands outside the wheel or ring, instead of being in the centre, and it is the outside children who change places. Mr. Addy, in the Sheffield version, says, “The young men stand in the outer ring, and the young women in the inner. A man stands within the inner circle, quite near to it. The men try and grasp the arm of the girl in front of them, and the man in the centre also tries to grasp one; the man he displaces taking his place as Miller. Then the three last lines are sung.”

(c) Versions of this game, almost identical with the Leicester version given here (with the exception that the word “wealth” ends the second line instead of “pelf”), have been sent me from East Kirkby, Lincolnshire (Miss K. Maughan); Epworth, Doncaster (Mr. C. C. Bell); Settle, Yorks. (Rev. W. S. Sykes); Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley); Redhill, Surrey (Miss G. Hope); Ordsall, Nottinghamshire (Miss Matthews); Brigg, Lincolnshire (Miss J. Barker); and there are other versions from Hersham, Surrey (Folk-lore Record, v. 86); Cornwall (Folk-lore Journal, v. 57); Derbyshire (Folk-lore Journal, i. 385); Oswestry, Ellesmere (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 512). Miss Peacock sends a version which obtains at Lincoln, Horncastle, Winterton, and Anderby, Lincolnshire, and in Nottinghamshire; it is identical with the Liphook version. Two versions from Sporle, Norfolk, which vary slightly from the Leicester, have been sent by Miss Matthews. The versions given from Lancashire, Yorks., Nottingham, and North Staffs. have been selected to show the process of decadence in the game. “Hopper” has first become “upper,” and then “other.” Of the North Staffs. Potteries version Miss Keary says, “How it ends I have never been able to make out; no one about here seems to know either.” With the exception of these few variants, it is singular how stereotyped the words of the rhyme have become in this game.

(d) This game may owe its origin to the fact of the miller in olden times paying himself in kind from the corn brought to him to be ground. The miller is a well-known object of satire in old ballads and mediaeval writers. It is, however, probable that the custom which formerly prevailed at some of the public festivals, of catching or “grabbing” for sweethearts and wives, is shown in this game. For instance, to account for a Scottish custom it is said that St. Cowie, patron saint of two parishes of Campbeltown, proposed that all who did not find themselves happy and contented in the marriage state, should be indulged with an opportunity of parting and making a second choice. For that purpose he instituted an annual solemnity, at which all the unhappy couples in his parish were to assemble at his church; and at midnight all present were blindfolded and ordered to run round the church at full speed, with a view of mixing the lots in the urn. The moment the ceremony was over, without allowing an instant for the people present to recover from their confusion, the word “Cabbay” (seize quickly) was pronounced, upon which every man laid hold of the first female he met with. Whether old or young, handsome or ugly, good or bad, she was his wife till the next anniversary of this custom (Guthrie’s Scottish Customs, p. 168). Another old wedding superstition is alluded to by Longfellow:—

“While the bride with roguish eyes,
Sporting with them, now escapes and cries,
‘Those who catch me, married verily this year will be.’”

See “Joggle Along.”[Addendum]

Jolly Rover

[Play version 1 (as printed), version 2]

—Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).

Here comes one jolly rover, jolly rover, jolly rover,
Here comes one jolly rover, jolly rover, jolly rover,
A roving all day.

And what do you rove for, rove for, rove for?
And what do you rove for?
Lily white and shining.

I rove for my pleasure, my pleasure, my pleasure,
I rove for my pleasure, my pleasure, my pleasure,
Lily white and shining.

And what is your pleasure, your pleasure, your pleasure?
What is your pleasure?
Lily white and shining.

My pleasure’s for to marry you, to marry you, to marry you,
My pleasure’s for to marry you,
Lily white and shining.

So through the kitchen and through the hall,
I choose the fairest of them all,
The fairest one that I can see
Is ——, so come to me.

—Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).

(b) A long row of children walk to and fro. One child, facing them on the opposite side, represents the Rover. He sings the first, third, and fifth verses. The row of children sing the second and fourth in response. After the fifth verse is sung the Rover skips round the long row, singing the sixth verse to the tune of “Nancy Dawson,” or “Round the Mulberry bush.” He chooses one of them, who goes to the opposite side with him, and the game goes on until all are rovers like himself.

See “Here comes a Lusty Wooer,” “Jolly Hooper.”

Jolly Sailors

I.

Here comes one [some] jolly, jolly sailor boy,
Who lately came on shore;
He [they] spent his time in drinking wine
As we have done before.

We are the Pam-a-ram-a-ram,
We are the Pam-a-ram-a-ram,
And those who want a pretty, pretty girl,
Must kiss her on the shore,
Must kiss her on the shore.

—Warwick (from a little girl, through Mr. C. C. Bell).

II.

He was a jolly, jolly sailor boy,
Who had lately come ashore;
He spent his time in drinking wine
As he had done before.

Then we will have a jolly, jolly whirl,
Then we will have a jolly, jolly whirl,
And he who wants a pretty little girl
Must kiss her on the shore.

—Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Miss Matthews).

III.

Here comes one jolly sailor,
Just arrived from shore,
We’ll spend our money like jolly, jolly joes,
And then we’ll work for more.

We’ll all around, around and around,
And if we meet a pretty little girl
We’ll call her to the shore.

—Northants (Rev. W. D. Sweeting).

IV.

Here comes four jolly sailor boys,
Just lately come ashore;
They spend their days in many merry ways,
As they have done before.

Round, round the ring we go,
Round, round the ring,
And he that choose his bonny, bonny lass
Must kiss her on the floor.

—Raunds (Northants Notes and Queries, i. 232).

V.

Here come three jolly, jolly, jolly boys
As lately come from shore;
We will spend our time on a moonlight night
As we have done before.

We will have a round, a round, a round,
We will have a round, a round, a round;
Let the lad that delights in a bonny, bonny lass,
Let him kiss her on the ground.

—Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy).

VI.

Here comes three jolly, jolly sailors,
Just arrived on shore;
We’ll spend our money like merry, merry men,
And then we’ll work for more.

Hurrah for the round, round ring,
Hurrah for the round, round ring;
And he that loves a pretty, pretty girl,
Let him call her from the ring.

—Shipley, Horsham (Notes and Queries, 8th series, i. 210, Miss Busk).

(b) This game is played at Warwick as follows:—The children form a large ring, clasping hands and standing still. One child walks round inside the ring, singing the verses. This child then chooses another from the ring, bending on one knee and kissing her hand. The lines are then repeated, the two walking arm in arm round the inside of the ring. Another child is chosen out of the ring by the one who was chosen previously. This goes on until all are chosen out of the ring, walking two by two round inside. When the ring will no longer hold them, the two walk round outside. At Northants the ring walks round, and the child is outside the ring. Partners are chosen, and the two walk round outside the ring. The first two walk together till there is a third, then the three walk together till there is a fourth, then they go in couples. In the Northants version, from Raunds, four boys stand in the centre of the ring. When the verses are sung they choose four girls, and then take their places in the ring. The four girls then choose four lads, and so on. At Earls Heaton the children stand against a wall in a line. Another child walks up and down singing the verses, and chooses a partner. He spreads a handkerchief on the ground, and they kneel and kiss.

(c) The Shipley version is a “Kiss in the Ring” game. A version sent by the Rev. W. Slater Sykes from Settle, Yorkshire, is almost identical with the Earls Heaton version. Northall (Folk Rhymes, p. 369) says “to kiss on the floor”—i.e., not in secret. He gives the words of a sort of musical catch, sung in the Midlands, similar in character to this game, which may once have been used in some courting game. Mr. Newell (Games, p. 124) gives a version sung in the streets of New York, and considers it to be a relic of antiquity, a similar round being given in Deuteromelia, 1609.[Addendum]

Jowls

A game played by boys, much the same as “Hockey,” and taking its name, no doubt, from the mode of playing, which consists in striking a wooden ball or knorr from the ground in any given direction with a sufficiently heavy stick, duly curved at the striking end.—Atkinson’s Cleveland Glossary.

It is also given in Yorkshire Glossary (Whitby).

See “Bandy,” “Doddart,” “Hockey.”

Jud

A game played with a hazel nut bored and run upon a string.—Dickinson’s Cumberland Glossary.

Probably the same game as “Conkers.”

See “Conkers.”

Keeling the Pot

Brockett mentions that a friend informed him that he had seen a game played amongst children in Northumberland the subject of which was “Keeling the Pot.” A girl comes in exclaiming, “Mother, mother, the pot’s boiling ower.” The answer is, “Then get the ladle and keel it.” The difficulty is to get the ladle, which is “up a height,” and the “steul” wants a leg, and the joiner is either sick or dead (Glossary North Country Words). A sentence from Love’s Labours Lost, “While greasy Joan doth keel the pot,” illustrates the use of the term “keel.”

See “Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils over.”

Keppy Ball

In former times it was customary every year, at Easter and Whitsuntide, for the mayor, aldermen, and sheriff of Newcastle, attended by the burgesses, to go in state to a place called the Forth, a sort of mall, to countenance, if not to join in the play of “Keppy ba” and other sports. This diversion is still in part kept up by the young people of the town (Brockett’s North Country Words). It is also mentioned in Peacock’s Manley and Corringham Glossary, and in Ross and Stead’s Holderness Glossary.

Mr. Tate (History of Alnwick) says that a favourite pastime of girls, “Keppy ball,” deserves a passing notice, because accompanied by a peculiar local song. The name indicates the character of the game; “kep” is from cepan, Anglo-Saxon, “kappan,” Teut., “to catch or capture;” for when the game was played at by several, the ball was thrown into the air and “kepped,” or intercepted, in its descent by one or other of the girls, and it was then thrown up again to be caught by some other. But when the song was sung it was played out by one girl, who sent the ball against a tree and drove it back again as often as she could, saying the following rhymes, in order to divine her matrimonial future:—

Keppy ball, keppy ball, Coban tree,
Come down the long loanin’ and tell to me,
The form and the features, the speech and degree
Of the man that is my true love to be.

Keppy ball, keppy ball, Coban tree,
Come down the long loanin’ and tell to me
How many years old I am to be.

One a maiden, two a wife,
Three a maiden, four a wife, &c.

The numbers being continued as long as the ball could be kept rebounding against the tree.

The following from Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes, p. 298, is also used for ball divination. To “cook” is to toss or throw.

Cook a ball, cherry tree;
Good ball, tell me
How many years I shall be
Before my true love I do see?
One and two, and that makes three;
Thankee, good ball, for telling of me.

See “Ball,” “Cuckoo,” “Monday.”

Kibel and Nerspel

This game was played at Stixwold seventy years ago. It resembled “Trap, Bat, and Ball.” Kibel = bat, ner = ball of maplewood, spel = trap, with a limock (pliant) stick fastened to it. The score was made by hitting the ner a certain distance, but not by the striker running, as in “Rounders.”—Miss M. Peacock.

See “Nur and Spell.”

King by your leave

“A playe that children have, where one sytting blyndefolde in the midle, bydeth so tyll the rest have hydden themselves, and then he going to seeke them, if any get his place in the meane space, that same is kynge in his roome.”—Huloet, 1572.

See “Hide and Seek.”

King Cæsar

One player is chosen to be King Cæsar by lot or naming. All the others stand in two rows, one row at each end of the ground. A line is drawn on the ground in front of them to mark “dens.” All the players must keep within this line. King Cæsar stands in the middle of the ground. Any number of the players can then rush across the ground from one den to another. King Cæsar tries to catch one as they run. When he catches a boy he must count from one to ten in succession before he leaves hold of the boy, that boy in the meantime trying to get away. If King Cæsar succeeds in holding a boy, this boy stays in the centre with him and assists in catching the other players (always counting ten before a captive is secured). The dens must always be occupied by some players. If all the players get into one den, King Cæsar can go into the empty den and say, “Crown the base, one, two, three,” three times before any of the other players get across to that den. If he succeeds in doing this, he can select a boy to run across from one den to the other, which that boy must do, King Cæsar trying to catch him. Other and bigger boys can help this one to get across, to save him from being captured, either by carrying him or running across with him. The game ends when all have been captured and are in the centre. King Cæsar and the other captured boys can leave the centre if they each successively catch three players.—Barnes (A. B. Gomme).

This game is called “King-sealing” in Dorsetshire.

See “King of Cantland,” “Lamploo.”

King Come-a-lay

A game played by boys. Two sets of boys, or sides, strive which can secure most prisoners for the King.—Shetland (Jamieson).

King of Cantland

A game of children, in which one of a company, being chosen King o’ Cantland, and two goals appointed at a considerable distance from each other, all the rest endeavoured to run from one goal to the other; and those whom the King can seize in their course, so as to lay his hand upon their heads (which operation is called winning them), become his subjects, and assist him in catching the remainder.—Dumfries (Jamieson). Jamieson adds: “This game is called ‘King’s Covenanter’ in Roxburgh.” He also refers to the game of “King and Queen of Cantelon,” recorded by Mactaggart. He considers the origin of this game to be representative of the contentions about the “Debatable Lands” on the border. This game was played at University Coll. School, London, under the name of “Kings” (A. Nutt).

See “How many miles to Barley Bridge?” “King Cæsar.”

King o’ the Castle

One boy is chosen as King. He mounts on any convenient height, a knoll, or dyke, or big stone, and shouts—

A’m King o’ the Castle,
An’ fah (who) ’ll ding (knock) me doon?

The players make a rush at the King, and try to pull him down. A tussle goes on for a longer or a shorter time, according to the strength of the King and his skill in driving off his assailants. The boy that displaces the King becomes King, and is in his turn assaulted in the same way. The game may go on for any length of time. Another form of words is—

I’m the King o’ the Castle,
An’ nane can ding me doon.

—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).

Other words sung by the Scotch children are—

I, Willy Wastle,
Stand on my castle,
And a’ the dogs o’ your toon
Will no drive Willie Wastle doon.

Chambers (Popular Rhymes, p. 114) records the tradition that when Oliver Cromwell lay at Haddington he sent to require the governor of Home Castle, in Berwickshire, to surrender; the governor is said to have replied in the above quatrain of juvenile celebrity.

The London version is for the boys to run up a hillock, when one of them declares as follows—

I’m the King of the Castle;
Get down, you dirty rascal,

whereupon he pushes down his companions. If another boy succeeds in getting his place he becomes King, and repeats the doggerel (G. L. Gomme). This is a very popular boys’ game. Newell (Games, 164) mentions it as prevalent in Pennsylvania.

See “Tom Tiddler’s Ground.”

King Plaster Palacey

The players are a King and his three sons named White Cap, Red Cap, Brown Cap. Red Cap says, “Plaster Palacey had a son, whose name was old daddy White Cap.” White Cap, in an injured voice, says, “Me, sir?” The King says, “Yes, sir.” White Cap answers, “You’re a liar, sir.” The King then says, “Who then, sir?” White Cap answers, “Old daddy Red Cap.”—Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).

The game as given above is obviously incomplete, and no description as to how the game was played was sent me. Newell (Games, p. 145), describes a game, “The Cardinal’s Hat,” which is probably a variant of the original game, of which the above is only a fragment. I remember once witnessing a game in which a ball was passed from player to player, and in which the dialogue was similar. When one player was told that the ball was in his possession, the answer was, “What, me, sir?” “Yes, you, sir.” “Not I, sir.” “Who then, sir?” “White Cap, sir;” the questions and answers were again repeated for Red Cap, and Blue Cap. When it was Black Cap’s turn, I think the ball was thrown by this player to some one else; whoever was hit by the ball had to chase and capture one, who became questioner; but my recollection of the game is too slight for me to be certain either of the dialogue or the way the game terminated (A. B. Gomme). A game described in Suffolk County Folk-lore, p. 62, is apparently a version of this. It is there described as a forfeit game.

King William

[Play]

—Earls Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).

I.

King William was King David’s son,
And all the royal race is run;
Choose from the east, choose from the west,
Choose the one you love the best.

Down on this carpet you shall kneel
While the grass grows in yonder field;
Salute your bride and kiss her sweet,
Rise again upon your feet.

—Hanging Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).

II.

King William was King David’s son,
All the royal race is run;
Choose from the east, choose from the west,
Choose the one that you love best;
If she’s not here to take her part,
Choose another with all your heart.

—Sheffield (S. O. Addy).

(b) In Sheffield a ring of young men and women is formed. A man goes inside the ring and walks round within it, whilst the others sing the verse. The young man then chooses a sweetheart, and the two walk round arm-in-arm within the ring, whilst the same verses are sung. When the singing is ended, the girl picks a young man, and so they all pair off.

(c) Mr. Addy entitles this game “Kiss in the Ring.” It appears, however, from this description to lack the two principal elements of most “kiss-in-the-ring” games—the chase between pursued and pursuer, and the kissing in the ring when the capture is made. In the Hanging Heaton version two children kneel and kiss in the middle of the ring. Mr. Newell (Games, p. 73), in describing a game with a similar rhyme, mentions a version which had been sent him from Waterford, Ireland. He says, “We learn from an informant that in her town it was formerly played in this peculiar manner. Over the head of a girl who stood in the centre of a ring was held a shawl, sustained by four others grasping the corners.” The game then proceeded as follows—

King William was King George’s son,
From the Bay of Biscay O!
Upon his breast he wore a star—
Find your way to English schools.
Down on the carpet you must kneel;
As the grass grows in the field,
Salute your bride and kiss her sweet,
And rise again upon your feet.

Then followed the game-rhyme, repeated with each stanza—

Go choose you east, go choose you west,

apparently the same as last four lines of Sheffield version. King William is then supposed to enter—

The first girl that I loved so dear,
Can it be she’s gone from me?
If she’s not here when the night comes on,
Will none of you tell me where she’s gone?

He then recognises the disguised girl—

There’s heart beneath the willow tree,
There’s no one here but my love and me.

“He had gone to the war, and promised to marry her when he came back. She wrapped a shawl about her head to see if he would recognise her.” This was all the reciter could recollect; the lines of the ballad were sung by an old woman, the ring answering with the game-rhyme.

This version seems to indicate clearly that in this game we have preserved one of the ceremonies of a now obsolete marriage-custom—namely, the disguising of the bride and placing her among her bridesmaids and other young girls, all having veils or other coverings alike over their heads and bodies. The bridegroom has to select from among these maidens the girl whom he wished to marry, or whom he had already married, for until this was done he was not allowed to depart with his bride. This custom was continued in sport as one of the ceremonies to be gone through after the marriage was over, long after the custom itself was discontinued. For an instance of this see a “Rural Marriage in Lorraine,” in Folk-lore Record, iii. 267-268. This ordeal occurs in more than one folk-tale, and it usually accompanies the incident of a youth having travelled for adventures, sometimes in quest of a bride. He succeeds in finding the whereabouts of the coveted girl, but before he is allowed by the father to take his bride away he is required to perform tasks, a final one being the choosing of the girl with whom he is in love from among others, all dressed alike and disguised. Our bridal veil may probably originate in this custom.

In the ballad from which Mr. Newell thinks the game may have originated, a maid has been given in marriage to another than her chosen lover. He rides to the ceremony with a troop of followers; the bride, seeing him approach, calls on her maidens to “take off her gold crown and coif her in linen white,” to test her bridegroom’s affection. This incident, I think, is not to test “affection,” but the ordeal of recognising his bride, however disguised, and the fact that “the hero at once recognises his love, mounts with her on horseback, and flees to Norway,” may be considered to support my view.

See also Brand, vol. ii. p. 141, under “Care Cloth.”

King’s Chair

Two children join hands, by crossing their arms, so as to form a seat. A third mounts on the crossed arms, and clasps the carriers round their necks, while they move on saying—

King, King Cairy (carry)
London lairy,
Milk an bread,
In the King’s chairie.

This game is played at Keith, without the words. The words are used at Fochabers.—Rev. W. Gregor.

Jamieson says, “Lothian children, while carrying one of their number in this manner, repeat the following rhyme—

Lend me a pin to stick i’ my thumb,
To carry the lady to London town.”

He says this method of carrying is often used as a substitute for a chair in conveying adult persons from one place to another, especially when infirm. In other counties it is called “Queen’s Cushion” and “Queen’s Chair,” also “Cat’s Carriage.”

Brockett (North Country Words) says, “‘King’s Cushion,’ a sort of seat made by two persons crossing their hands, in which to place a third. The thrones on the reverses of the early Royal Seals of England and Scotland consist of swords, spears, snakes, &c., placed in the manner of a ‘King’s Cushion.’”

The method used is for both children to grasp the wrist of his left hand with the right, while he lays hold of the right wrist of his companion with his left hand. This way of hoisting or carrying is still used by schoolboys when they desire to honour a boy who has distinguished himself in the playground or schoolroom.

See “Carry my Lady to London.”

Kirk the Gussie

A sort of play. The Gussie is a large ball, which one party endeavours to beat with clubs into a hole, while another party strives to drive it away. When the ball is lodged in the hole it is said to be “Kirkit.”—Jamieson.

Kiss in the Ring

[Play]

—Nottingham (Miss Youngman).

[Play]

—Lancashire (Mrs. Harley).

[Play]

—Earls Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).

I.

I sent a letter to my love,
And on the way I dropped it;
And one of you have picked it up
And put it in your pocket.

—Dorsetshire (Folk-lore Journal, vii. 213); Penzance (Mrs. Mabbott).

II.

I wrote a letter to my love, and on the way I lost it.
Some one has picked it up. Not you, not you (&c.), but you!

—Much Wenlock (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 512).

III.

I lost my supper last night, and the night before,
And if I lose it this night, I shall never have it no more.

—Berrington (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 512).

IV.

I’ve come to borrow the riddle (= sieve),
There’s a big hole in the middle.
I’ve come to borrow the hatchet,
Come after me and catch it.

—Chirbury (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 512).

V.

Down by the greenwood, down by the greenwood,
Down by the greenwood tree,
One can follow, one can follow,
One can follow me.

Where must I follow? where must I follow?
Follow, follow me.
Where must I follow? where must I follow?
Follow, follow me.

—Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).

VI.

Mr. Monday was a good man,
He whipped his children now and then;
When he whipped them he made them dance,
Out of Scotland into France;
Out of France into Spain,
Back to dear old England again.
O-u-t spells “out,”
If you please stand out.
I had a little dog and his name was Buff,
I sent him after a penn’orth of snuff,
He broke the paper and smelled the snuff,
And that’s the end of my dog Buff.
He shan’t bite you—he shan’t bite you—he shan’t bite you, &c., &c.—he shall bite you all over.

—Dorsetshire (Folk-lore Journal, vii. 213).

VII.

I sent a letter to my love,
I carried water in my glove,
And by the way I dropped it.
I did so! I did so!

I had a little dog that said “Bow! wow!”
I had a little cat that said “Meow! meow!”
Shan’t bite you—shan’t bite you—
Shall bite you.

—Cornwall (Folk-lore Journal, v. 52).

VIII.

I sent a letter to my love,
I carried water in my glove,
I dript it, I dropped it, and by the way I lost it.

—Hersham, Surrey (Folk-lore Record, v. 87).

IX.

I have a pigeon in my pocket,
If I have not lost it;
Peeps in, peeps out,
By the way I’ve lost it;
Drip, drop,
By the way I’ve lost it.

—Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).

X.

I have a pigeon in my pocket,
It peeps out and in,
And every time that I go round
I give it a drop of gin.
Drip it, drop it, drip it, drop it.

—Settle, Yorkshire (Rev W. S. Sykes).

XI.

I sent a letter to my love,
I thought I put it in my glove,
But by the way I dropped it.
I had a little dog said “Bow, wow, wow!”
I had a little cat said “Mew, mew, mew!”
It shan’t bite you,
It shall bite you.

—Bexley Heath (Miss Morris).

XII.

I sent a letter to my love,
And by the way I droppt it;
I dee, I dee, I dee, I droppt it,
And by the way I droppt it.

—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).

XIII.

I had a little dog, it shan’t bite you,
Shan’t bite you, shan’t bite you,
Nor you, nor you, nor you.
I had a little cat, it shan’t scratch you,
Shan’t scratch you, nor you, nor you.

I wrote a letter to my love, and on the way I dropped it.
And one of you have picked it up and put it in your pocket.
It wasn’t you, it wasn’t you, nor you, nor you, but it was you.

—London (A. B. Gomme).

XIV.

I have a little dog and it lives in my pocket.
It shan’t bite you, &c.

Now you’re married I hope you’ll enjoy
First a girl and then a boy;
Seven years gone, and two to come,
So take her and kiss her and
Send her off home.

—Wolstanton, North Staffs. Potteries (Miss A. A. Keary).

(b) In Dorsetshire a ring is formed by all the players joining hands except one. The odd player, carrying a handkerchief, commences to walk slowly round the outside of the ring, repeating the words; then, touching each one with her handkerchief as she passes, she says, “Not you,” “not you,” “not you,” &c., &c., till the favoured individual is reached, when it is changed to “But you!” and his or her shoulder lightly touched at the same time. The first player then runs round the ring as fast as he can, pursued by the other, who, if a capture is effected (as is nearly always the case), is entitled to lead the first player back into the centre of the ring and claim a kiss. The first player then takes the other’s place in the ring, and in turn walks round the outside repeating the same formula.—Folk-lore Journal, vii. 212; Penzance (Mrs. Mabbott).

In Shropshire, as soon as the player going round the ring has dropped the handkerchief on the shoulder of the girl he chooses, both players run opposite ways outside the ring, each trying to be the first to regain the starting-point. If the one who was chosen gets there first, no kiss can be claimed. It is often called “Drop-handkerchief,” from the signal for the chase. The more general way of playing (either with or without words), as seen by me on village greens round London, is, when the handkerchief has been dropped, for the player to dart through the ring and in and out again under the clasped hands; the pursuer must follow in and out through the same places, and must bring the one he catches into the ring before he can legally claim the kiss.

Elworthy (West Country Words), in describing this game, says: “The person behind whom the handkerchief is dropped is entitled to kiss the person who dropped it, if he or she can catch him or her, before the person can get round the ring to the vacant place. Of course, when a girl drops it she selects a favoured swain, and the chase is severe up to a point, but when a girl is the pursuer there often is a kind of donkey race lest she should have to give the kiss which the lad takes no pains to avoid.” Mr. Elworthy does not mention any words being used, and it is therefore probable that this is the “Drop-handkerchief” game, which generally has no kissing. It also, in the way it is played, resembles “French Jackie.” In the Wolstanton game, Miss Keary says: “If the owner of the handkerchief overtakes the one who is bitten as they run round, they shake hands and go into the middle of the ring, while the others sing the marriage formula.” In Berkshire (Antiq. xxvii. 255) the game is played without words, and apparently no handkerchief or other sign is used. Miss Thoyts says the young man raises his hat when he embraces the young woman of his choice. To “throw (or fling) the handkerchief” is a common expression for an expected proposal of marriage which is more of a condescension than a complimentary or flattering one to the girl. “Kiss in the Ring” is probably a relic of the earliest form of marriage by choice or selection. The custom of dropping or sending a glove as the signal of a challenge may have been succeeded by the handkerchief in this game. Halliwell, p. 227, gives the game of “Drop Glove,” in which a glove is used. For the use of handkerchiefs as love-tokens see Brand, ii. 92.

See “Drop Handkerchief,” “French Jackie.”

Kit-Cat

A game played by boys. Three small holes are made in the ground, triangularly about twenty feet apart, to mark the position of as many boys, each of whom holds a small stick, about two feet long. Three other boys of the adverse side pitch successively a piece of stick, a little bigger than one’s thumb, called Cat, to be struck by those holding the sticks. On its being struck, the boys run from hole to hole, dipping the ends of their sticks in as they pass, and counting one, two, three, &c., as they do so, up to thirty-one, which is game. Or the greater number of holes gained in the innings may indicate the winners, as at cricket. If the Cat be struck and caught, the striking party is out, and another of his sidesmen takes his place, if the set be strong enough to admit of it. If there be only six players, it may be previously agreed that three put outs shall end the innings. Another mode of putting out is to throw the Cat home, after being struck, and placing or pitching it into an unoccupied hole, while the in-party are running. A certain number of misses (not striking the Cat) may be agreed on to be equivalent to a put out. The game may be played by two, placed as at cricket, or by four, or I believe more.—Moor’s Suffolk Words; Holloway’s Dict. of Provincialisms.

Brockett (North Country Words, p. 115) calls this “‘Kitty-Cat,’ a puerile game.

Then in his hand he takes a thick bat,
With which he used to play at ‘Kit-Cat’”

—Cotton’s Works, 1734, p. 88.

See “Cat and Dog,” “Cudgel,” “Munshets,” “Tip-Cat.”

Kit-Cat-Cannio

A sedentary game, played by two, with slate and pencil, or pencil and paper. It is won by the party who can first get three marks (o’s or x’s) in a line; the marks being made alternately by the players o or x in one of the nine spots equidistant in three rows, when complete. He who begins has the advantage, as he can contrive to get his mark in the middle.—Moor’s Suffolk Words.

The same game as “Nought and Crosses,” which see.

Kittlie-cout

A game mentioned but not described by a writer in Blackwood’s Magazine, August 1821, as played in Edinburgh. He mentions that the terms “hot” and “cold” are used in the game. The game of “Hide and Seek.”—Jamieson.

Knapsack

One boy takes another by the feet, one foot over each shoulder, with his head downwards and his face to his back, and sets off running as fast as he can. He runs hither and thither till one or other of the two gets tired.—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).

Knights

Two big boys take two smaller ones on their shoulders. The big boys act as horses, while the younger ones seated on their shoulders try to pull each other over. The “horses” may push and strike each other with their shoulders, but must not kick or trip up with their feet, or use their hands or elbows. The game is usually won by the Horse and Knight who throw their opponents twice out of three times (G. L. Gomme). Strutt (Sports, p. 84) describes this, and says, “A sport of this kind was in practice with us at the commencement of the fourteenth century.” He considers it to bear more analogy to wrestling than to any other sport. He gives illustrations, one of which is here reproduced from the original MS. in the British Museum. The game is also described in the Rev. J. G. Wood’s Modern Playmate, p. 12.

Knocked at the Rapper

The girl who spoke of this game, says Miss Peacock, could only remember its details imperfectly, but as far as she recollects it is played as follows:—The players dance round a centre child, leaving one of their number outside the circle. The dancers sing to the one in their midst—

Here comes ——,
He knocked at the rapper, and he pulled at the string,
Pray, Mrs. ——, is —— within?

At “is —— within,” the child outside the circle is named. The centre child says—

O no, she has gone into the town:
Pray take the arm-chair and sit yourself down.

The ring of children then sing—

O no, not until my dearest I see,
And then one chair will do for we.

Then all sing—

My elbow, my elbow,
My pitcher, and my can:
Isn’t —— —— a nice young girl?

Mentioning the supposed sweetheart.

Isn’t —— —— as nice as she?

Mentioning the outside child.

They shall be married when they can agree.

Then the inside and outside children each choose a companion from the circle, and the rest repeat:—

My elbow, my elbow, &c.

When the words have been sung a second time, the four children kiss, and the two from the circle take the places of the other, after which change the game begins again.—North Kelsey, Lincolnshire (Miss M. Peacock).

Knor and Spell

See “Nur and Spell.”

Lab

A game of marbles (undescribed).—Patterson’s Antrim and Down Glossary.

See “Lag.”

Lady of the Land

[Play version 1, version 2]

—Tong, Shropshire (Miss R. Harley).

I.

Here comes the lady of the land,
With sons and daughters in her hand;
Pray, do you want a servant to-day?

What can she do?

She can brew, she can bake,
She can make a wedding cake
Fit for you or any lady in the land.

Pray leave her.

I leave my daughter safe and sound,
And in her pocket a thousand pound,
And on her finger a gay ring,
And I hope to find her so again.

—Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries, i. 133.

II.

There camed a lady from other land,
With all her children in her hand—
Please, do you want a sarvant, marm?

Leave her.

I leaves my daughter zafe and zound,
And in her pocket a thousan pound,
And on her finger a goulden ring,
And in her busum a silver pin.
I hopes when I return,
To see her here with you.
Don’t’e let her ramble; don’t’e let her trot;
Don’t’e let her car’ the mustard pot.

The Mistress says softly—

She shall ramble, she shall trot,
She shall carry the mustard pot.

—Dorset County Chronicle, April 1889; Folk-lore Journal, vii. 228.

III.

Here comes an old woman from Baby-land,
With all her children in her hand.
Pray take one of my children in.

[Spoken]

What can your children do?

[Sung]

One can bake, one can brew,
And one can bake a lily-white cake.
One can sit in the parlour and sing,
And this one can do everything.

—Tong, Shropshire (Miss R. Harley).

IV.

Here comes a poor woman from Baby-land
With three small children in her hand.
One can brew, the other can bake,
The other can make a pretty round cake.
One can sit in the garden and spin,
Another can make a fine bed for the king;
Pray, ma’am, will you take one in?

—Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes, p. 72.

V.

Here is a poor widow from Sandy Row,
With all her children behind her.
One can knit and one can sew,
And one can make the winder go.
Please take one in.

Now poor Nellie she is gone
Without a farthing in her hand,
Nothing but a guinea gold ring.
Good-bye, Nellie, good-bye!

—Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

VI.

Here comes an old woman from Baby-land,
With six poor children by the hand.
One can brew, one can bake,
And one can make a lily-white cake;
One can knit, one can spin,
And one can make a bed for a king.
Please will you take one in? [choose out one]

Now poor —— she is gone
Without a farthing in her hand,
Nothing but a gay gold ring.
Good-bye! Good-bye!
Good-bye, mother, good-bye!

—Isle of Man (A. W. Moore)

VII.

Here comes a poor widow from Sandalam,
With all her children at her hand;
The one can bake, the other can brew,
The other can make a lily-white shoe;
Another can sit by the fire and spin,
So pray take one of my daughters in.

The fairest one that I can see
Is pretty [Mary] come to me.

And now poor [Mary] she is gone
Without a guinea in her hand,
And not so much as a farthing. Good-bye!
Good-bye, my love, good-bye!

—Forest of Dean, Gloucester (Miss Matthews).

VIII.

Here comes an old woman from Cumberland,
With seven poor children in her hand;
One can sing, the other can sew;
One can sit up in the corner and cry, Alleluia!
Choose the fairest you can see.
The fairest one that I can see is ——, come to me.
Now my daughter —— gone,
A thousand pound in her pocket and a gold ring on her finger.
Good-bye, mother, good-bye!

—Berkshire (Miss Thoyts, Antiquary, xxvii. 254).

IX.

There was an old woman from Sandyland
With all her children in her hand.
One can knit and one can sow [sew],
One can make a lily-white bow.
Please take one in.

When all the children have been taken in, the Old Woman says—

There was an old woman from Sandiland
With no children by the hand.
Will you give me one?

—Ballynascaw School, co. Down (Miss C. N. Patterson).

(b) The first Dorsetshire game is played as follows:—Two girls are chosen, the one to represent a lady and the other a mother, who is supposed to be taking her children out to service. She has one or more of them in each hand, and leads them up to the lady, saying or singing the first verse. The dialogue then proceeds, and the verse is repeated until all the children are similarly disposed of. A few days are supposed to pass, after which the mother calls to see her children, when the lady tells her she cannot see them. At last she insists upon seeing them, and the children are all “sat down” behind the lady, and the mother asks one child what the lady has done to her; and she tells her “that the lady has cut off her nose, and made a nose-pie, and never give her a bit of it.” Each one says she has done something to her and made a pie, and when all have told their tale “they all turn on her and put her to prison.”

The second Dorsetshire game somewhat differs. One child takes seven or eight others whom she pretends are her children. Another child, presumably a mistress in want of servants, stands at a distance. The first child advances, holding the hand of her children, saying the first verse. The dialogue is concluded, and as the woman and her children are supposed to be out of hearing, the last couplet is said or sung. This process is gone through again until the mistress has engaged all the children as her servants, when she is supposed to let them all out to play with the mustard pots, which are represented by sticks or stones, in their hands.

The other versions are played as follows:—The children form a line, the one in the middle being the mother, or widow; they advance and retire, the mother alone singing the first verse. One child, who is standing alone on the opposite side, who has been addressed by the widow, then asks [not sings] the question. The mother, or widow, sings the reply, and points to one child when singing the last line, who thereupon crosses over to the other side, joining the one who is standing alone. This is continued till all have been selected. The Ballynascaw version (Miss Patterson) is played in a similar way. One child sits on a bank, and the others come up to her in a long line. The “old woman” says the first five lines. No question is asked by the “lady,” she simply takes one child. The “old woman” shakes hands with this child, and says good-bye to her. When all the children have been “taken in” by the one who personates the “lady,” the “old woman” says the other three lines, and so one by one gets all the children back again. The Berkshire version (Miss Thoyts) is said, not sung, and is played with two leaders, “old woman” and “lover.” As the lover chooses a child, that one is sent behind him, holding round his waist. Each child as she goes says, “Good-bye, mother, good-bye,” and pretends to cry. Finally they all cry, and the game ends in a tug of war. This tug is clearly out of place unless only half the children are selected by one side. Miss Thoyts does not say how this is done.

(c) This game is called “School-teacher” in Belfast. The corruption of “Lady of the Land,” to “Babyland,” “Babylon,” and “Sandiland,” is manifest. It appears to be only fragmentary in its present form, but the versions undoubtedly indicate that the origin of the game arises from the practice of hiring servants. Mr. Halliwell has preserved another fragmentary rhyme, which he thinks may belong to this game.

I can make diet bread
Thick and thin,
I can make diet bread
Fit for the king; (No. cccxliv.)

which may be compared with the rhyme given by Chambers (Popular Rhymes, p. 136), and another version given by Halliwell, p. 229.

If these rhymes belong to this game it would have probably been played by each child singing a verse descriptive of her own qualifications, and I have some recollection, although not perfect, of having played a game like this in London, where each child stated her ability to either brew, bake, or churn. It is worth noting that the Forest of Dean and Berkshire versions have absorbed one of the “selection” verses of the love-games. Mr. Halliwell, in recording the Nursery Rhymes, Nos. cccxliii. and cccxliv., as quoted above, says, “They are fragments of a game called ‘The Lady of the Land,’ a complete version of which has not fallen in my way.” Mr. Udal’s versions from Dorsetshire are not only called “The Lady of the Land,” but are fuller than all the other versions, though probably these are not complete. Mr. Newell (Games, pp. 56-58) gives some versions of this game. He considers the original to have been a European game (he had not found an English example) in which there were two mothers, a rich and a poor one; one mother begging away, one by one, all the daughters of the other.

(d) This game no doubt originates from the country practice of hiring servants at fairs, or from a dramatic “Hirings” being acted at Harvest Homes. The “Good-bye” of mother and daughters belongs, no doubt, to the original game and early versions, and is consistent with the departure of a servant to her new home. The “lover” incident is an interpolation, but there may have been a request on the part of the “mother” to the “lady” not to allow the girl followers or sweethearts too soon. As to the old practice of hiring servants, Miss Burne has noted how distinctly it stamps itself upon local custom (Shropshire Folklore, pp. 461, 464). That the practice forms the groundwork of this game is well illustrated by the following descriptive passage. “They stay usually two or three dayes with theire friends, and then aboute the fifth or sixth day after Martynmasse will they come to theire newe masters; they will depart from theire olde services any day in the weeke, but theire desire (hereaboutes) is to goe to theire newe masters eyther on a Tewsday or on a Thursday; for on a Sunday they will seldome remoove, and as for Monday, they account it ominous, for they say—

Monday flitte,
Neaver sitte;

but as for the other dayes in the weeke they make no greate matter. I heard a servant asked what hee could doe, whoe made this answeare—

I can sowe,
I can mowe,
And I can stacke;
And I can doe,
My master too,
When my master turnes his backe.”

—Best’s Rural Economy of Yorks., 1641; Surtees Society, pp. 135-136.

In Long Ago, ii. 130, Mr. Scarlett Potter mentions that in South Warwickshire it was customary at harvest-homes to give a kind of dramatic performance. One piece, called “The Hiring,” represents a farmer engaging a man, in which work done by the man, the terms of service, and food to be supplied, are stated in rhymes similar to the above. See “Lammas.”[Addendum]

Lady on the Mountain

[Play first, second part]

—Barnes, Surrey (A. B. Gomme).

I.

There stands a lady on the mountain,
Who she is I do not know;
All she wants is gold and silver,
All she wants is a nice young man.
Choose one, choose two, choose the fairest one of the two.
The fairest one that I can see,
Is pretty ——, walk with me.

—Barnes, Surrey (A. B. Gomme).

II.

There lives a lady on the mountain,
Who she is I do not know;
All she wants is gold and silver,
All she wants is a nice young man.

Choose one, choose two,
Choose the fairest of the few.

Now you’re married I wish you joy,
Father and mother you must obey;
Love one another like sister and brother,
And pray, young couple, come kiss one another.

—Colchester (Miss G. M. Frances).

III.

Here stands a lady on a mountain,
Who she is I do not know;
All she wants is gold and silver,
All she wants is a nice young man.

Choose you east, and choose you west,
Choose you the one as you love best.

Now Sally’s got married we wish her good joy,
First a girl and then a boy;
Twelve months a’ter a son and da’ter,
Pray young couple, kiss together.

—Berrington (Shropshire Folk-lore, pp. 509, 510).

IV.

Stands a lady on the mountain,
Who she is I do not know;
All she wants is gold and silver,
All she wants is a nice young beau.
Take her by the lily-white hand,
Lead her across the water;
Give her kisses, one, two, three,
For she is her mother’s daughter.

—Shipley, Horsham (Notes and Queries, 8th series, i. 210, Miss Busk).

V.

There stands a lady on a mountain,
Who she is I do not know;
All she wants is gold and silver,
All she wants is a nice young man.

Now she’s married I wish her joy,
First a girl and then a boy;
Seven years after son and daughter,
Pray young couple kiss together.

Kiss her once, kiss her twice,
Kiss her three times three.

—Wrotham, Kent (Miss D. Kimball).

VI.

There stands a lady on the ocean [mountain],
Who she is I do not know her;
All she wants is gold or silver,
All she wants is a nice young man.

Choose once, choose twice,
Choose three times over.

Now you’re married I wish you joy,
First a girl and then a boy;
Seven years old a son and daughter,
Play and cuddle and kiss together.

Kiss her once, kiss her twice,
Kiss her three times over.

—Deptford (Miss Chase).

VII.

There stands a lady on the mountain,
Who she is I do not know:
Oh! she wants such gold and silver!
Oh! she wants such a nice young man!

Now you’re married I wish you joy,
First a girl and then a boy;
Seven years after a son and a daughter,
Kiss your bride and come out of the ring.

—Berkshire (Miss Thoyts, Antiquary; xxvii. 254).

(b) A ring is formed, one child in the centre. The ring sing the first verse, and then the centre child chooses one from the ring. The chosen pair kiss when the ring has sung the second. The first child then joins the ring, and the game begins again. In the Barnes version the centre child calls one to her from the ring by singing the second verse and naming the child she chooses.

(c) A version from Lady C. Gurdon’s Suffolk County Folk-lore (p. 62) is the same as previous versions, except that it ends—

Now you’re married you must be good
Make your husband chop the wood;
Chop it fine and bring it in,
Give three kisses in the ring.

Other versions are much the same as the examples given.

(d) This game has probably had its origin in a ballad. Miss Burne draws attention to its resemblance to the “Disdainful Lady” (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 561), and Halliwell mentions a nursery rhyme (No. cccclxxix.) which is very similar. Mr. Newell (Games, p. 55) prints words and tune of a song which is very similar to that ballad, and he mentions the fact that he has seen it played as a round by the “Arabs of the street.” He considers it to be an old English song which has been fitted for a ring game by the addition of a verse.

See “Lady on Yonder Hill.”

Lady on Yonder Hill

I.

Yonder stands a lovely lady,
Whom she be I do not know;
I’ll go court her for my beauty,
Whether she say me yea or nay.
Madam, to thee I humbly bow and bend.
Sir, I take thee not to be my friend.
Oh, if the good fairy doesn’t come I shall die.

—Derbyshire (Folk-lore Journal, i. 387).

II.

There stands a lady on yonder hill,
Who she is I cannot tell;
I’ll go and court her for her beauty,
Whether she answers me yes or no.
Madam, I bow vounce to thee.
Sir, have I done thee any harm?
Coxconian!
Coxconian is not my name; ’tis Hers and Kers, and Willis and Cave.
Stab me, ha! ha! little I fear. Over the waters there are but nine, I’ll meet you a man alive. Over the waters there are but ten, I’ll meet you there five thousand.
Rise up, rise up, my pretty fair maid,
You’re only in a trance;
Rise up, rise up, my pretty fair maid,
And we will have a dance.

—Lady C. Gurdon’s Suffolk County Folk-lore, p. 65.

(b) In the Suffolk game the children form a ring, a boy and girl being in the centre. The boy is called a gentleman and the girl a lady. The gentleman commences by singing the first verse. Then they say alternately the questions and answers. When the gentleman says the lines commencing, “Stab me,” he pretends to stab the lady, who falls on the ground. Then he walks round the lady and sings the last verse, “Rise up,” and lifts up the lady. In the Derbyshire game only three children play, the lover, lady, and fairy. The girl stands a little distance off. The lover says the first four lines, then approaches the lady, falls on one knee, and says the next line. The lady replies, and retires further away. The lover then falls on the ground and says the next line. As this is said the good fairy appears, touches the fallen lover with her hand, and he is immediately well again.

(c) This is a curious game, and is perhaps derived from a ballad which had been popular from some more or less local circumstance, or more probably it may be a portion of an old play acted in booths at fair times by strolling players. It is not, as far as I can find out, played in any other counties. The lines—

Over the water at the hour of ten,
I’ll meet you with five thousand men;
Over the water at the hour of five,
I’ll meet you there if I’m alive,

are portions of a dialogue familiar to Mr. Emslie, and also occur in some mumming plays. It may also be noted that the curing of illness or death from a stab is an incident in these plays, as is also the method of playing. The first lines are similar to those of “Lady on the Mountain,” which see.

Lag

A number of boys put marbles in a ring, and then they all bowl at the ring. The one who gets nearest has the first shot at the marbles. He has the option of either “knuckling doon” and shooting at the ring from the prescribed mark, or “ligging up” (lying up)—that is, putting his taw so near the ring that if the others miss his taw, or miss the marbles in the ring, he has the game all to himself next time. If, however, he is hit by the others, he is said to be “killed.”—Addy’s Sheffield Glossary.

Lammas

A party of boys take a few straws, and endeavour to hold one between the chin and the turned-down under-lip, pronouncing the following rhyme—

I bought a beard at Lammas fair,
It’s a’ awa’ but ae hair;
Wag, beardie, wag!

He who repeats this oftenest without dropping the straw is held to have won the game (Chambers’ Popular Rhymes, p. 115). This game-rhyme has an interesting reference to Lammas, and it may also refer to the hiring of servants. Brockett (North Country Words, p. 221) says, “At a fair or market where country servants are hired, those who offer themselves stand in the market-place with a piece of straw or green branch in their mouths to distinguish them.”

Lamploo

A goal having been selected and bounds determined, the promoters used to prepare the others by calling at the top of their voices—

Lamp! Lamp! Laa-o!
Those that don’t run shan’t play-o!

Then one of the “spryest” lads is elected to commence, thus:—First touching the goal with his foot or leaning against it, and clasping his hands so as to produce the letter W in the dumb alphabet, he pursues the other players, who are not so handicapped, when, if he succeeds in touching one without unclasping his hands, they both make a rush for the goal. Should either of the other boys succeed in overtaking one of these before reaching that spot, he has the privilege of riding him home pick-a-back. Then these two boys (i.e., the original pursuer and the one caught), joining hands, carry on the game as before, incurring a similar penalty in case of being overtaken as already described. Each successive boy, as he is touched by the pursuers, has to make for the goal under similar risks, afterwards clasping hands with the rest, and forming a new recruit in the pursuing gang, in whose chain the outside players alone have the privilege of touching and thus adding to their numbers. Should the chain at any time be broken, or should the original pursuer unclasp his hands, either by design or accident, the penalty of carrying a capturer to the goal is incurred and always enforced. In West Somerset the pursuing boys after starting were in the habit of crying out the word “Brewerre” or “Brewarre;” noise appearing to be quite as essential to the game as speed.—Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries, i. 186 (1888).

Another correspondent to the same periodical (i. 204) says that an almost identical game was played at the King’s School, Sherborne, some fifty years ago. It was called “King-sealing,” and the pursuing boy was obliged by the rules to retain his hold of the boy seized until he had uttered—

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
You are one of the king-sealer’s men.

If the latter succeeded in breaking away before the couplet was finished, the capture was incomplete.

The second game described is almost identical with “King Cæsar,” played at Barnes.

About twenty years ago the game was common in some parts of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, where it was sometimes called “Chevy Chase.”—Folk-lore Journal, vii. 233.

See “Chickidy Hand,” “Hunt the Staigie,” “King Cæsar,” “Whiddy.”

Lang Larence

That is, “Long Lawrence,” an instrument marked with signs, a sort of teetotum. A “Long Lawrence” is about three inches long, something like a short ruler with eight sides; occasionally they have but four. On one side are ten x’s, or crosses, forming a kind of lattice-work; on the next, to the left, three double cuts, or strokes, passing straight across in the direction of the breadth; on the third, a zig-zag of three strokes one way, and two or three the other, forming a W, with an additional stroke or a triple V; on the fourth, three single bars, one at each end and one in the middle, as in No. 2, where they are doubled; then the four devices are repeated in the same order. The game, formerly popular at Christmas, can be played by any number of persons. Each has a bank of pins or other small matters. A pool is formed; then in turn each rolls the “Long Lawrence.” If No. 1 comes up the player cries “Flush,” and takes the pool; if No. 2, he puts down two pins; if No. 3, he says “Lave all,” and neither takes nor gives; if No. 4, he picks up one. The sides are considered to bear the names, “Flush,” “Put doan two,” “Lave all,” “Sam up one.” It has been suggested that the name “Lawrence” may have arisen from the marks scored on the instrument, not unlike the bars of a gridiron, on which the saint perished.—Easthers’s Almondbury Glossary.

See “Teetotum.”

Leap Candle

The young girls in and about Oxford have a sport called “Leap Candle,” for which they set a candle in the middle of a room in a candlestick, and then draw up their coats into the form of breeches, and dance over the candle back and forth, saying the words—

The taylor of Bicester he has but one eye,
He cannot cut a pair of green galagaskins
If he were to die.

This sport, in other parts, is called “Dancing the Candlerush” (Aubrey’s Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, p. 45). Halliwell (Rhymes, p. 65) has a rhyme—

Jack be nimble,
And Jack be quick,
And Jack jump over
The candlestick,

which may refer to this game. Northall (Folk Rhymes, p. 412) says in Warwickshire a similar game is called “Cock and Breeches.”

Leap-frog

One boy stoops down sideways, with his head bent towards his body, as low as possible. This is called “Tucking in your Tuppeny.” Another boy takes a flying leap over the “frog,” placing his hands on his back to help himself over. He then proceeds to a distance of some four or five yards, and, in his turn, stoops in the same manner as the first boy, as another frog. A third boy then leaps first over frog No. 1, and then over frog No. 2, taking his place as frog No. 3, at about the same distance onwards. Any number of boys may play in the game. After the last player has taken his leap over all the frogs successively, frog No. 1 has his turn and leaps over his companions, taking his place as the last in the line of frogs. Then No. 2 follows suit, and so on, the whole line of players in course of time covering a good distance.—London (G. L. Gomme).

Leap-frog is known in Cornwall as “Leap the Long-mare” (Folk-lore Journal, v. 60), and in Antrim and Down as “Leap the Bullock” (Patterson’s Glossary).

See “Accroshay,” “Loup the Bullocks,” “Spanish Fly.”[Addendum]

Leap the Bullock

See “Leap-frog,” “Loup the Bullocks.”

Leaves are Green

The leaves are green, the nuts are brown,
They hang so high they will not come down;
Leave them alone till frosty weather,
Then they will all come down together.

—Berkshire (Miss Thoyts, Antiquary, xxvii. 254).

These lines are sung while the children dance round in a circle. When the last words are sung, the children flop down upon the ground. The tune sung is, Miss Thoyts says, that of “Nuts in May.”

Lend Me your Key

Please will you lend us your key?
What for?
Please, our hats are in the garden.
Yes, if you won’t steal any beans.
Please, we’ve brought the key back; will you lend us your frying-pan?
What to do with?
To fry some beans.
Where have you got them?
Out of your garden.

—Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).

One child represents an old woman, and the other players carry on the dialogue with her. At the end of the dialogue the children are chased by the old woman.

See “Mother, Mother, may I go out to Play,” “Witch.”

Letting the Buck out

This game was played seventy years ago. A ring being formed, the “Buck” inside has to break out, and reach his “home,” crying “Home!” before he can be caught and surrounded. Afterwards these words were sung—

Circle:

Who comes here?

Buck:

Poor Johnny Lingo.

Circle:

Don’t steal none of my black sheep, Johnny Lingo,
For if you do
I shall put you in the pinder pin-fold.

—Stixwold, Lines. (Miss M. Peacock).

See “Who goes round my Stone Wall?”

Level-coil

Nares, in his Glossary, says this is “a game of which we seem to know no more than that the loser in it was to give up his place to be occupied by another.” Minshew gives it thus: “To play at levell coil, G. jouer à cul levé: i.e., to play and lift up your taile when you have lost the game, and let another sit down in your place.” Coles, in his English Dictionary, seems to derive it from the Italian leva il culo, and calls it also “Pitch-buttock.” In his Latin Dictionary he has “level-coil, alternation, cession;” and “to play at level coil, vices ludendi præbere.” Skinner is a little more particular and says, “Vox tesseris globulosis ludentium propria:” an expression belonging to a game played with little round tesseræ. He also derives it from French and Italian. It is mentioned by Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iii. 2:—

“Young Justice Bramble has kept level-coyl
Here in our quarters, stole away our daughter.”

Gifford says that, in our old dramatists, it implies riot and disturbance. The same sport is mentioned by Sylvester, Dubartas, IV. iv. 2, under the name of level-sice:—

“By tragick death’s device
Ambitious hearts do play at level-sice.”

In the margin we have this explanation: “A kinde of Christmas play, wherein each hunteth the other from his seat. The name seems derived from the French levez sus, in English, arise up.” Halliwell’s Dictionary says that Skelton, ii. 31, spells it levell suse.

Libbety, Libbety, Libbety-lat

A child stands before a hassock, and as if he were going up stairs, he puts on it first his right and then his left foot, gradually quickening his steps, keeping time to the words—

Libbety, libbety, libbety-lat,
Who can do this? and who can do that?
And who can do anything better than that?

—Cornwall (Folk-lore Journal, v. 59).

Limpy Coley

A boy’s game undescribed.—Patterson’s Antrim and Down Glossary.

Little Dog I call you

A number of girls stand in a line with their backs to a wall. One of their number is sent away to a distance, but remains within call. Another girl, who stands in front of the line, asks the girls one by one what they would like if they could obtain their desires. After she has asked every one, she tells them to turn their faces to the wall, and calls after the girl who was sent away, saying, “Little Dog, I call you.” The girl replies, “I shan’t come to please you.” “I’ll get a stick and make you,” is the rejoinder. “I don’t care for that.” “I’ve got a rice pudding for you.” “I shan’t come for that.” “I’ve got a dish of bones.” “I’ll come for that.” The Dog then comes. The girls have been previously told not to laugh whilst the one who stands out is talking to the Dog. Then the girl says to the Dog—

All the birds in the air,
All the fishes in the sea,
Come and pick me out (for example)
The girl with the golden ball.

If the girl who desired the golden ball laughs, the Dog picks her out. If nobody laughs, he guesses who the girl is that has wished for the golden ball. If the Dog guesses correctly, she goes and stands behind him, and if he guesses incorrectly she goes and stands behind the one who has been asking the questions. They continue this until they get to the last girl or girl at the end of the row, who must have desired to be—

A brewer or a baker,
Or a candlestick maker,
Or a penknife maker.

Then the questioner says—

All the birds in the air,
All the fishes in the sea,
Come pick me out
A brewer or a baker,
Or a candlestick maker,
Or penknife maker.

If the Dog guesses the right one, he takes that girl on his side, she standing behind him. Then they draw a line and each side tries to pull the other over it.—Sheffield (S. O. Addy). The game, it will be seen, differs in several ways from the other games of “Fool, Fool, come to School” type. The “fool” becomes a definite Dog, and the players wish for any thing they choose; the Dog has apparently to find out their wishes.

See “All the Birds,” “Fool, Fool.”

Lobber

There are three or more players on each side, two stones or holes as stations, and one Lobber. The Lobber lobs either a stick about three inches long or a ball—(the ball seems to be a new institution, as a stick was always formerly used)—while the batsman defends the stone or hole with either a short stick or his hand. Every time the stick or ball is hit, the boys defending the stones or holes must change places. Each one is out if the stick or ball lodges in the hole or hits the stone; or if the ball or stone is caught; or if it can be put in the hole or hits the stone while the boys are changing places. This game is also played with two Lobbers, that lob alternately from each end. The game is won by a certain number of runs.—Ireland (Folk-lore Journal, ii. 264).

See “Cat,” “Cudgel,” “Kit-Cat,” “Rounders.”

Loggats

An old game, forbidden by statute in Henry VIII.’s time. It is thus played, according to Stevens. A stake is fixed in the ground; those who play throw Loggats at it, and he that is nearest the stake wins. Loggats, or loggets, are also small pieces or logs of wood, such as the country people throw at fruit that cannot otherwise be reached. “Loggats, little logs or wooden pins, a play the same with ninepins, in which the boys, however, often made use of bones instead of wooden pins” (Dean Miles’ MS.; Halliwell’s Dictionary). Strutt refers to this game (Sports, p. 272).

London

A diagram (similar to Fig. 9 in “Hopscotch”) is drawn on a slate, and two children play. A piece of paper or small piece of glass or china, called a “chipper,” is used to play with. This is placed at the bottom of the plan, and if of paper, is blown gently towards the top; if of glass or china, it is nicked with the fingers. The first player blows the paper, and in whichever space the paper stops makes a small round o with a slate pencil, to represent a man’s head. The paper or chipper is then put into the starting-place again, and the same player blows, and makes another “man’s head” in the space where the paper stops. This is continued until all the spaces are occupied. If the paper goes a second time into a space already occupied by a “head,” the player adds a larger round to the “head,” to represent a “body;” if a third time, a stroke is drawn for a leg, and if a fourth time, another is added for the second leg; this completes a “man.” If three complete men in one space can be gained, the player makes “arms;” that is, two lines are drawn from the figures across the space to the opposite side of the plan. This occupies that space, and prevents the other player from putting any “men” in it, or adding to any already there. When all the spaces are thus occupied by one player, the game is won. Should the paper be blown on to a line or outside the plan, the player is out; the other player then begins, and makes as many “men” in her turn, until she goes on a line or outside. Should the paper go into “London,” the player is entitled to make a “head” in every space, or to add another mark to those already there.—Westminster (A. B. Gomme). This game resembles one described by F. H. Low in Strand Mag., ii. 516.

London Bridge

[Play]

—Wrotham, Kent (Miss D. Kimball)

[Play]

—Rimbault’s Nursery Rhymes, p. 34.

[Play version 1, version 2]

—Enborne School, Berks. (Miss M. Kimber).

I.

London Bridge is broken down,
Grant said the little bee,
London Bridge is broken down,
Where I’d be.

Stones and lime will build it up,
Grant said the little bee,
Stones and lime will build it up,
Where I’d be.

Get a man to watch all night,
Grant said the little bee,
Get a man to watch all night,
Where I’d be.

Perhaps that man might fall asleep,
Grant said the little bee,
Perhaps that man might fall asleep,
Where I’d be.

Get a dog to watch all night,
Grant said the little bee,
Get a dog to watch all night,
Where I’d be.

If that dog should run away,
Grant said the little bee,
If that dog should run away,
Where I’d be.

Give that dog a bone to pick,
Grant said the little bee,
Give that dog a bone to pick,
Where I’d be.

—Belfast, Ireland (W. H. Patterson).

II.

London Bridge is broken down,
Dance o’er my lady lee,
London Bridge is broken down,
With a gay lady.

How shall we build it up again?
Dance o’er my lady lee,
How shall we build it up again?
With a gay lady.

Silver and gold will be stole away,
Dance o’er my lady lee,
Silver and gold will be stole away,
With a gay lady.

Build it up with iron and steel,
Dance o’er my lady lee,
Build it up with iron and steel,
With a gay lady.

Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Dance o’er my lady lee,
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
With a gay lady.

Build it up with wood and clay,
Dance o’er my lady lee,
Build it up with wood and clay,
With a gay lady.

Wood and clay will wash away,
Dance o’er my lady lee,
Wood and clay will wash away,
With a gay lady.

Build it up with stone so strong,
Dance o’er my lady lee,
Huzza! ’twill last for ages long,
With a gay lady.

—[London] (Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes, clii.).

III.

London Bridge is broaken down,
Is broaken down, is broaken down,
London Bridge is broaken down,
My fair lady.

Build it up with bricks and mortar,
Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar,
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
My fair lady.

Bricks and mortar will not stay,
Will not stay, will not stay,
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
My fair lady.

Build it up with penny loaves,
Penny loaves, penny loaves,
Build it up with penny loaves,
My fair lady.

Penny loaves will mould away,
Mould away, mould away,
Penny loaves will mould away,
My fair lady.

What have this poor prisoner done,
Prisoner done, prisoner done,
What have this poor prisoner done?
My fair lady.

Stole my watch and lost my key,
Lost my key, lost my key,
Stole my watch and lost my key,
My fair lady.

Off to prison you must go,
You must go, you must go,
Off to prison you must go,
My fair lady.

—Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).

IV.

Where are these great baa-lambs going,
Baa-lambs going, baa-lambs going,
Where are these great baa-lambs going?
My fair lady.

We are going to London Bridge,
London Bridge, London Bridge,
We are going to London Bridge,
My fair lady.

London Bridge is broken down,
Broken down, broken down,
London Bridge is broken down,
My fair lady.

[Then verses follow, sung in the same way and with the same refrain, beginning with—]

Mend it up with penny loaves.

Penny loaves will wash away.

Mend it up with pins and needles.

Pins and needles they will break.

Mend it up with bricks and mortar,

Bricks and mortar, that will do.

[After these verses have been sung—]

What has this great prisoner done,
Prisoner done, prisoner done,
What has this great prisoner done?
My fair lady.

Stole a watch and lost the key,
Lost the key, lost the key,
Stole a watch and lost the key,
My fair lady.

Off to prison you must go,
You must go, you must go,
Off to prison you must go,
My fair lady.

—Hurstmonceux, Sussex (Miss Chase).

V.

Over London Bridge we go,
Over London Bridge we go,
Over London Bridge we go,
Gay ladies, gay!

London Bridge is broken down,
London Bridge is broken down,
London Bridge is broken down,
Gay ladies, gay!

Build it up with lime and sand,
Build it up with lime and sand,
Build it up with lime and sand,
Gay ladies, gay!

[Then follow verses sung in the same manner and with the same refrain, beginning with—]

Lime and sand will wash away.

Build it up with penny loaves.

Penny loaves’ll get stole away.

O, what has my poor prisoner done?

Robbed a house and killed a man.

What will you have to set her free?

Fourteen pounds and a wedding gown.

Stamp your foot and let her go!

—Clun (Burne’s Shropshire Folk-lore, pp. 518-19).

VI.

London Bridge is broken down,
Broken down, broken down,
London Bridge is broken down,
My fair lady.

Build it up with iron bars,
Iron bars, iron bars,
Build it up with iron bars,
My fair lady.

[Then follow verses with the same refrain, beginning with—]

Build it up with pins and needles.

Pins and needles rust and bend.

Build it up with penny loaves.

Penny loaves will tumble down.

Here’s a prisoner I have got.

What’s the prisoner done to you?

Stole my watch and broke my chain.

What will you take to let him out?

Ten hundred pounds will let him out.

Ten hundred pounds we have not got.

Then off to prison he must go.

—Kent (Miss Dora Kimball).

VII.

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.

Build it up with mortar and bricks,
Mortar and bricks, mortar and bricks,
Build it up with mortar and bricks,
My fair lady.

[Then follow verses in the same style and with the same refrain, beginning with—]

Bring some water, we’ll wash it away.

Build it up with silver and gold.

Silver and gold will be stolen away.

We’ll set a man to watch at night.

Suppose the man should fall asleep?

Give him a pipe of tobacco to smoke.

Suppose the pipe should fall and break?

We’ll give him a bag of nuts to crack.

Suppose the nuts were rotten and bad?

We’ll give him a horse to gallop around, &c.

—Enborne School, Berks (M. Kimber).

VIII.

London Bridge is broken down,
Gran says the little D,
London Bridge is broken down,
Fair la-dy.

Build it up with lime and stone,
Gran says the little D,
Build it up with lime and stone,
Fair la-dy.

[Then follow verses beginning with the following lines—]

Lime and stone would waste away.

Build it up with penny loaves.

Penny loaves would be eaten away.

Build it up with silver and gold.

Silver and gold would be stolen away.

Get a man to watch all night.

If the man should fall asleep?

Set a dog to bark all night.

If the dog should meet a bone?

Set a cock to crow all night.

If the cock should meet a hen?

Here comes my Lord Duke,
And here comes my Lord John;
Let every one pass by but the very last one,
And catch him if you can.

—Cork (Mrs. B. B. Green).

IX.

London Bridge is broken down,
Broken down, broken down,
London Bridge is broken down,
My fair lady.

[Other verses commence with one of the following lines, and are sung in the same manner—]

Build it up with penny loaves.

Penny loaves will melt away.

Build it up with iron and steel.

Iron and steel will bend and bow.

Build it up with silver and gold.

Silver and gold I have not got.

What has this poor prisoner done?