Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories Part 12

"A B C" is a spirited game, admirably adapted for indoor practice on a wet day, which is played by children seated round a table, or at the fireside. One sings a solo--a verse of some nursery rhyme. For instance:--

Hey, diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.

The chorus of voices takes up the tune, and the solo is repeated; after which the alphabet is sung through, and the last letter, Z, is sustained and repeated again and again, to bother the next child, whose turn it now is to sing the next solo. The new solo must be a nursery rhyme not hitherto sung by any of the company. If unable to supply a fresh rhyme within a fixed limit, the player stands out of the game and pays a forfeit. Less brain-taxing entertainments often engage adult wits.

"~My Theerie and my Thorie~," with a political significance, is a game widely played. In one place it is known as "Cam a teerie arrie ma torry;" in another, "Come a theory, oary mathorie;" in yet another, "Come a theerie, Come a thorie;" or it may be, as in Perthshire, "My theerie and my thorie." And even as the refrain varies, so do the rhymes. But the action is generally the same. The players divide into two sides of about equal number, in lines facing each other. Moving forwards and backwards the sides sing verse about of the following rhyme:--

_Question._--Have you any bread and wine, Bread and wine, bread and wine; Have you any bread and wine, My theerie and my thorie?

_Answer._--Yes, we have some bread and wine, Bread and wine, bread and wine, Yes, we have some bread and wine, My theerie and my thorie.

_Question._--We shall have one gla.s.s of it, etc.

_Answer._--One gla.s.s of it you shall not get, etc.

_Question._--We are all King George's men, etc.

_Answer._--What care we for King George's men, etc.

_Question._--How many miles to Glasgow Lee? etc.

_Answer._--Sixty, seventy, eighty-three, etc.

_Question._--Will I be there gin candle-licht? etc.

_Answer._--Just if your feet be clean and slicht, etc.

_Question._--Open your gates and let me through, etc.

_Answer._--Not without a beck and a boo.

_Reply._--There's a beck and there's a boo, Open your gates and let me through.

A struggle ensues to break through each other's lines, and reach a fixed goal on either side--the first to arrive being the victors.

"~Glasgow Ships~" is a simple but pretty game. All join hands, forming a ring, and, moving round, sing:--

Glasgow ships come sailing in, Come sailing in, come sailing in; Glasgow ships come sailing in On a fine summer morning.

You daurna set your fit upon, Your fit upon, your fit upon; You daurna set your fit upon, Or Gentle John will kiss you.

Three times will kiss you; Four times will bless you; Five times b.u.t.ter and bread Upon a silver salver.

Who shall we send it to?

Send it to, send it to; Who shall we send it to?

To Mrs. [Thomson's] daughter.

Take her by the lily-white hand, Lead her o'er the water; Give her kisses, one, two, three, She's the favourite daughter.

Braw news is come to town, Braw news is carried; Braw news is come to town, [Maggie Thomson's] married.

First she got the kail-pot, Syne she got the ladle; Syne she got a dainty wean, And syne she got a cradle.

The girl named turns her back to the centre of the ring, and the game is resumed. When all in like manner have been named and have turned, the "soo's race" ensues: a hurry-scurry round--which continues until some one falls, and the game ends by all tumbling in a confused heap.

"~Airlie's Green~," played by boys and girls alike, has perhaps had its greatest vogue in Strathmore. A s.p.a.ce is set apart for the "green," upon which he, or she, who is "Airlie" takes his, or her, stand. The play begins by the crowd encroaching on the "green," when all but "Airlie"

sing:--

I set my fit on Airlie's green, And Airlie canna tak' me: I canna get time to steer my brose For Airlie trying to catch me.

"Airlie's" object is to "tig" one within the boundary. The player touched takes his, or her, place, and the game may proceed thus as long as desired.

"~Het Rowes and b.u.t.ter Cakes~," in some places called "Hickety, Bickety," is a purely boy's game. One stands with his eyes bandaged, and his hands against a wall or post, with his head resting upon them. One after another his fellows come up unnamed behind him, laying hands on his back; and the rhyme is repeated by all in chorus:--

Launchman, launchman, lo, Where shall this poor Scotchman go?

Will he gang east, or will he gang west, Or will he gang to the hoodiecraw's nest?

The "hoodiecraw's nest" is the s.p.a.ce between the blindfolded one's feet and the wall. When all have been sent to different places around, he who is "it" removes the bandage from his eyes; and when all are ready he gives the call--"Het rowes and b.u.t.ter cakes!" when all rush back to the spot whence despatched. The last to arrive is "it;" and the game goes on as before. Where played as "Hickety, Bickety," the rhyme is:--

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?

"~Queen Mary.~" In this game the rhyme goes:--

Queen Mary, Queen Mary, my age is sixteen, My father's a farmer on yonder green, With plenty of money to dress me fu' braw, But nae bonnie laddie will tak' me awa'.

One morning I rose, and I looked in the gla.s.s, Says I to myself I'm a handsome young la.s.s; My hands by my side and I gave a ha! ha!

Yet there's nae bonnie laddie will tak' me awa'.

It is played by girls only, who stand in a row, with one in front alone to begin with, who sings the verses, and chooses another from the line.

The two then join hands and advance and retire, repeating together the verses, with suitable action, as the one had done before alone. At the close they select a third from the line; and the game proceeds thus until all are taken over.

"~Whuppity Scoorie~," though a game peculiar to Lanark, and to the boys of Lanark, and played only once a year, is yet worth mentioning. Its origin, like so many of the Lanark celebrations, is lost in the mists of antiquity, nevertheless, it is still regularly played, and creates a sensation on its annual recurrence, affecting the old scarcely less than the young in the community. From the month of October till the month of February, inclusive, the bells in the Parish Church steeple there cease to ring at six o'clock in the evening, but resume on the first day of March. At the first peal of the bell then the children start and march three times round the church, after which a rush is made for the Wellgate Head, where they engage in a stand-up fight with the youth of New Lanark (who come that length to meet them), the weapons used being their bonnets attached to a long string. The fight over, the victors (generally the boys of the Old Town) return, marching in order, headed by one carrying a huge stick in exalted att.i.tude, with a flag or handkerchief attached to it; and thus arranged, they parade the princ.i.p.al streets, singing, as their fathers and grandfathers sang before them:--

Hooray, boys, hooray, For we have won the day; We've met the bold New Lanark boys, And chased them doun the brae!