Volume I Part 87 (1/2)

Next Sunday morn to church she must gae, A babe on her knee, the best of 'a- And down goes Merrima Tansa!

Jamieson gives the game as a ring within which one goes round with a handkerchief, with which a stroke is given in succession to every one in the ring; the person who strikes, or the taker, still repeating this rhyme:-

Here I gae round the jingie ring, The jingie ring, the jingie ring, Here I gae round the jingie ring, And through my merry-ma-tanzie.

Then the handkerchief is thrown at one in the ring, who is obliged to take it up and go through the same process. He also mentions another account of the game which had been sent him, which describes the game as played in a similar manner to the versions given by Chambers.

Stewart, in his _Ben Nevis and Glencoe_, p. 361, records the following rhyme:-

Here we go with merry shout, Up and down and round about, And dance a merry-ma-tandy,

but he does not describe the game in detail.

Milking Pails

[Music]

-Monton, Lancas.h.i.+re (Miss Dendy); London (A. B. Gomme).

[Music]

-Earls Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).

I. Mary's gone a-milking, Mother, mother, Mary's gone a-milking, Gentle sweet mother o' mine.

Take your pails and go after her, Daughter, daughter, Take your pails and go after her, Gentle sweet daughter o' mine.

Buy me a pair of new milking pails, Mother, mother, Buy me a pair of new milking pails, Gentle sweet mother o' mine.

Where's the money to come from, Daughter, daughter, Where's the money to come from, Gentle sweet daughter o' mine?

Sell my father's feather bed, Mother, mother, Sell my father's feather bed, Gentle sweet mother o' mine.

What's your father to sleep on, Daughter, daughter, What's your father to sleep on, Gentle sweet daughter o' mine?

Put him in the truckle bed, Mother, mother, Put him in the truckle bed, Gentle sweet mother o' mine.

What are the children to sleep on, Daughter, daughter, What are the children to sleep on, Gentle sweet daughter o' mine?

Put them in the pig-sty, Mother, mother, Put them in the pig-sty, Gentle sweet mother o' mine.

What are the pigs to lie in, Daughter, daughter, What are the pigs to lie in, Gentle sweet daughter o' mine?

Put them in the was.h.i.+ng-tubs, Mother, mother, Put them in the was.h.i.+ng-tubs, Gentle sweet mother o' mine.

What am I to wash in, Daughter, daughter, What am I to wash in, Gentle sweet daughter o' mine?

Wash in the thimble, Mother, mother, Wash in the thimble, Gentle sweet mother o' mine.

Thimble won't hold your father's s.h.i.+rt, Daughter, daughter, Thimble won't hold your father's s.h.i.+rt, Gentle sweet daughter o' mine.

Wash in the river, Mother, mother, Wash in the river, Gentle sweet mother o' mine.

Suppose the clothes should blow away, Daughter, daughter, Suppose the clothes should blow away, Gentle sweet daughter o' mine?

Set a man to watch them, Mother, mother, Set a man to watch them, Gentle sweet mother o' mine.