Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories Part 14

What is it made of?

Cloth.

And what colour?

Blue.

Have you anything else to give him?

I don't think so.

Would you like a sweet?

Yes.

Now he is trapped. He has given one of the fatal replies; and the child who answered "Yes" goes to a den. After all have gone through a similar form, the youngsters are divided into two cla.s.ses--those who avoided answering in the prohibited terms, and the little culprits in the den, or prison, who had failed in the examination. The tug-of-war now begins, the one cla.s.s being pitted against the other. No rope is used; but arms are entwined round waists, or skirts, or coat-tails are taken hold of; and the victors crow over the vanquished.

"~Janet Jo~," widely played, has for _dramatis personae_, a Father, a Mother, Janet, and a Lover. Janet lies stretched at full length behind the scenes. The father and mother stand revealed to receive the visits of the lover, who approaches singing, to an air somewhat like "The Merry Masons":--

I'm come to court Janet jo, Janet jo, Janet jo; I'm come to court Janet jo-- How is she the day?

Parents reply together:--

She's up the stair washin', Washin', washin'; She's up the stair washin'-- Ye canna see her the day.

The lover retires, and again, and yet again, advances with the same announcement of his object and purpose, to which he receives similar evasive answers from Janet's parents, who successively represent her as up the stair "bleaching," "drying," and "ironing clothes." At last they reply:--

Janet jo's dead and gane, Dead and gane, dead and gane; Janet jo's dead and gane-- Ye'll see her face nae mae!

She is then carried off to be buried, the lover and the rest weeping.

Sometimes she revives (to their great joy), and sometimes not, _ad libitum_--that is, as Janet herself chooses.

A south-country version (Dr. Chambers tells) differs a little, and represents Janet as "at the Well," instead of upstairs, and afterwards "at the Mill," and so on. A Glasgow edition gives the whole in good west-country prose, and the lover begins: "I'm come to court your dochter, Kate Mackleister!"

In the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, "Janet Jo" used to be a dramatic entertainment amongst young rustics. Suppose a party have met on a winter evening round a good peat fire, writes Chambers, and 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:--

Gude e'en to ye, maidens a', Maidens a', maidens a'; Gude e'en to ye, maidens a', Be ye or no.

I've come to court Janet jo, Janet jo, Janet jo; I've come to court Janet jo, Janet, my jo.

Gudewife sings:--

What'll ye gie for Janet jo, Janet jo, Janet jo; What'll ye gie for Janet jo, Janet, my jo?

The wooer replies:--

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.

Gudewife exclaims, "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 re-a.s.sured air, singing:--

I'll gie ye a peck o' gowd, A peck o' gowd, 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 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 gudewife 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.

"~The Goloshans.~" This is a Hogmanay play, and not confined to children alone, which for that, as well as other reasons, will not inaptly close this chapter. In some parts it was called "The Galatians," to be sure, I say _was_, because one never sees it now-a-days, though fifty years ago, under the one designation or the other, it was played annually by the Hogmanay guizards, who, dressed for the occasion, set it forth with deliciously unsophisticated swagger and bl.u.s.ter in every house they visited that had a kitchen floor broad and wide enough for the operation. It formed the material of a chap-book which was regularly on sale at the "Johnnie-a'-thing" shops in the middle of last century, though now, I suppose, a copy could scarcely be had for love or money.

Sir Walter Scott, who delighted to keep up old customs, and could condescend to simple things without losing genuine dignity, invariably had a set of guizards to perform the play before his family both at Ashestiel and at Abbotsford. The _dramatis personae_ of "The Goloshans,"

after the character in the t.i.tle-role--who was inevitable on all occasions--differed somewhat in the various districts. Chambers gives a fairly adequate version in his _Popular Rhymes of Scotland;_ but the fullest and best I have seen is contained in _Proverbs and Proverbial Expressions_, edited by "Andrew Cheviot," and recently published by Mr.

Alexander Gardner, of Paisley, and which I take the liberty of quoting mainly, though part also is taken from Chambers's version. The characters are Sir Alexander; Farmer's Son; Goloshan; Wallace; Dr.

Brown; and Beelzebub.

Enter Sir Alexander, and speaks:--

Haud away rocks, and haud away reels, Haud away stocks and spinning-wheels; Redd room for Gorland, and gie us room to sing, And I will show you the prettiest thing That ever was seen in Christmas time.

Muckle-head and Little-wit stand ahint the door: But sic a set as we are ne'er were seen before.

Enter next Farmer's Son:--

Here come I, the farmer's son, Although I be but young sir, I've got a spirit brave.

And I'll freely risk my life, My country for to save.

Goloshan appears:--

Here come I, Goloshan--Goloshan is my name, With sword and pistol by my side, I hope to win the game.

Farmer's Son:--

The game, sir, the game, sir! it is not in your power, I'll cut you into inches in less than half-an-hour.

My head is made of iron, my heart is made of steel, My sword is a Ferrara that can do its duty weel.

Goloshan:--

My body is like rock, sir, my head is like a stone, And I will be Goloshan when you are dead and gone.

Enter Wallace:--

Here come I, Sir William Wallace, wight, Who shed his blood for Scotland's right; Without a right, without a reason, Here I draw my b.l.o.o.d.y weapon.

(_Fights with Goloshan--the latter falls._) Farmer's Son:--

Now that young man is dead, sir, and on the ground is laid; And you shall suffer for it, I'm very much afraid.

Wallace:--

It was not me that did the deed, nor me that did the crime, 'Twas this young man behind me who drew his sword so fine.