Volume Ii Part 86 (1/2)

It is so, so, doth the peasant, &c., When his labour is done!

And it's so, so, doth the peasant, And it's so, so, doth the peasant, And it's so, so, doth the peasant, When his labour is o'er.

-Monton, Lancas.h.i.+re (Miss Dendy).

II. It is so, so, does the peasant [or, farmer], It is so, so, does the peasant, It is so, so, does the peasant, When sowing times come.

It is so, so, does the peasant, &c., When reaping time comes.

It is so, so does the peasant, &c., When his thres.h.i.+ng times comes.

It is so, so, does the peasant, &c., When the hunting's begun.

It is so, so does the peasant, &c., When the day's work is done.

-Frodingham, Lincoln and Notts (Miss M. Peac.o.c.k).

(_c_) The leader of this game stands in the middle, the players stand in a ring round him; when there are a sufficient number of players, several rings are formed one within the other, the smallest children in the inner ring. The different rings move in alternate directions when dancing round. All the children sing the words of each verse and dance round. They unclasp hands at the end of each alternate verse, and suit their actions to the words sung. At the end of the first verse they stand still, crook their arms as if holding a basket, and imitate action of sowing while they sing the second verse; they then all dance round while they sing the third, then stand still again and imitate reaping while they sing the fourth time. Then again dance and sing, stand still and imitate ”thras.h.i.+ng” of barley and wheat; after ”seed time is o'er,”

they drop on one knee and lift one hand as if in prayer, again dancing round and singing. Then they kneel on one knee, put their hands together, lay their left cheek on them, and close their eyes as if asleep; while singing, ”when his labour is o'er,” at the last verse, they all march round, clapping hands in time.

This is the Monton game. The Frodingham game is played in the same way, except that the children walk round in a circle, one behind another, when they sing and imitate the actions they mention. ”When the hunting's begun” they all run about as if on horseback; ”when the day's work is done,” they all kneel on one knee and rest their heads on their hands.

This game is evidently a survival of the custom of dancing, and of imitating the actions necessary for the sowing and reaping of grain which were customary at one time. Miss Dendy says-”It is an undoubtedly old Lancas.h.i.+re game. It is sometimes played by as many as a hundred players, and is then very pretty. The method of playing varies slightly, but it is generally as described above.” The fact that this game was played by such a large number of young people together, points conclusively to a time when it was a customary thing for all the people in one village to play this game as a kind of religious observance, to bring a blessing on the work of the season, believing that by doing so, they caused the crops to grow better and produce grain in abundance.

See ”Oats and Beans and Barley.”

ADDENDA

A' the Birdies. [See ”All the Birds,” vol. i. p. 2; ”Oranges and Lemons,” vol. ii. pp. 25-35.]

A' the birdies i' the air Tick tae to my tail.

A contest game of the oranges and lemons cla.s.s. Two players, who hold hands and form the arch, call out the formula, and the other players, who are running about indifferently, go one by one to them and decide, when asked, which side they will favour, and stand behind one or the other.

After the tug the side which has lost is called ”Rotten eggs, rotten eggs.”-Aberdeen (Rev. Dr. Gregor).

All the Boys. [Vol. i. pp. 2-6.]

Two versions of this game, one from Howth and another from St. Andrews, sent me by Miss H. E. Harvey, do not differ sufficiently from the versions i. and ii. printed as above to be given here in full.

The St. Andrews game, after the line,

”I love you, and you love me”

(as printed in vol. i. version ii.), continues-

When we get married, I hope you will agree, I'll buy the chest of drawers, you'll buy the cradle.

Rock, rock, bubbly-jock, Send her upstairs, lay her in her bed, Send for the doctor before she is dead.