Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories Part 8

"~Merry-ma-Tanzie~" is solely a girls' game, of which boys, however, may be interested spectators. The counting-out rhyme having put one in the centre, the rest join hands in a ring about her, and moving slowly round, they sing:--

Here we go round the jingo-ring, The jingo-ring, the jingo-ring, Here we go round the jingo-ring, About the merry-ma-tanzie.

Twice about and then we fa', Then we fa', then we fa', Twice about and then we fa', About the merry-ma-tanzie.

Choose your maidens all around, All around, all around, Choose your maidens all around, About the merry-ma-tanzie.

Replying to this invitation, the one in the centre chooses two from the circle, and retires with them a short distance away. During their absence the ring-band proceeds as before, and sing with imitating gesture:--

Sweep the house ere the bride comes in, The bride comes in, the bride comes in, Sweep the house ere the bride comes in, About the merry-ma-tanzie.

When those who left return, the one who was in the centre takes up her original position, as also do the others, and the ring moves on again with:--

Here's a bride new come hame, New come hame, new come hame; Here's a bride new come hame, About the merry-ma-tanzie.

Then follows "Mary Anderson is her name," with the usual repeats, and "Guess ye wha is her true love," "A bottle o' wine to tell his name,"

"Andrew Wilson is his name," "Honey is sweet and so is he," (or "Apples are sour and so is he,") "He's married her wi' a gay gold ring," "A gay gold ring's a cank'rous thing," "But now they're married we wish them joy," "Father and mother they must obey," "Loving each other like sister and brother," "We pray this couple may kiss together," all, of course, sung with their repeats as above; and the game may be played until every little girl has revealed her little sweetheart's name, which, to be sure, is the _motif_ of the play.

"~The Mulberry Bush~," which goes to the same air as "Merry-Ma-Tanzie,"

and is in some places called "The Mulberry Tree," and in others "The Gooseberry Bush," is yet more of an action game. The arrangement is again in a ring, and, moving round hand-in-hand, all sing:--

Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush; Here we go round the mulberry bush, On a cold and frosty morning.

Stopping short with a curtsey at the conclusion and disjoining hands, they stand, and imitating the process of hand-washing, they sing:--

This is the way we wash our hands, Wash our hands, wash our hands, This is the way we wash our hands, On a cold and frosty morning.

All joining hands again, they go round as before, singing--"Here we go round the mulberry bush," and so on, which is repeated regularly after each action-verse on to the end. The opening lines of the action-verses alone may be given here to suggest the whole. They are:--

"This is the way we lace our stays."

"This is the way we comb our hair."

"This is the way we walk to school."

"This is the way we return from school."

"This is the way the ladies walk."

"This is the way the gentlemen walk."

"~A Dis, a Dis, a Green Gra.s.s~," is so simple it is a favourite generally with very little ladies. And there are different forms of the game, both in Scotland and England, if not also in other countries. The more common way, however, is for the children to stand all in a row, and, when the counting-out rhyme has been applied once and again, the two who have been "hit out" face up together hand-in-hand in front, and, advancing and retiring, sing:--

A dis, a dis, a green gra.s.s, A dis, a dis, a dis; Come all ye pretty fair maids, And dance along with us.

For we are going a-roving, A-roving o'er the land; We'll take this pretty fair maid, We'll take her by the hand.

This sung, they select a girl from the group, who joins on either side, as she is directed, and the song continues, bearing now the comforting a.s.surance to the one chosen:--

Ye shall have a duck, my dear, And ye shall have a beau; And ye shall have a young prince By chance to marry you.

And if this young prince he should die, Then ye will get another; And the birds will sing and the bells will ring, And we'll all clap hands together.

Having all joined in the last two verses, all clap hands together. And the same process is repeated again and again until the last of the "pretty fair maids" is taken over from the row, when the game is ended--though it may be but to begin again as the desire is expressed and supported.

Some one, to be sure, may suggest "~Looby-Looby~," which has but to be named when all are ready and eager. A ring is formed, when all join hands and dance round singing:--

Here we go looby-looby, Here we go looby light; Here we go looby-looby Every Sat.u.r.day night.

Why on Sat.u.r.day nights only I don't know, and it would be futile, I suppose, to inquire. Anyway, with the expression of the last word they all instantly disjoin hands, and, standing each in her place, they sing the next verse, suiting the action to the word:--

Put your right hand in, Take your right hand out; Shake it, and shake it, and shake it, And turn yourself about.

As the last line is being sung each one wheels rapidly round by herself, then hands are joined again, and they scurry round in a ring as before, singing:--

Here we go looby-looby, Here we go looby light; Here we go looby-looby Every Sat.u.r.day night,

and so on, the "looby-looby" coming in regularly between each of the action-verses, which are varied by "left hand in" and "out," and "right foot in" and "out," and "left foot in" and "out," "noses," "ears," etc., etc., the game finishing only when the anatomy of the players has been exhausted.

"~I Dree I Droppit It~" calls for a mixture of the s.e.xes, and when the numbers are even--or as nearly as chance affords--the players are ranged in a ring, a boy and girl alternately facing inwards with a s.p.a.ce between each. The one who is "chapped out"--say it is a girl--goes tripping round the others' backs, with a handkerchief dangling in her hand, singing the while:--

I sent a letter to my love, And by the way I droppit it, I dree, I dree, I droppit it, I dree, I dree, I droppit it; I sent a letter to my love, And by the way I droppit it.

There's a wee, wee doggie in our cot-neuk, He'll no bite you, he'll no bite you; There's a wee, wee doggie in our cot-neuk, He'll no bite you--nor you--nor you--nor you,

and so forth, until at length she drops the handkerchief stealthily at the heel of one of the little boys, saying "but you," and bolts round this player, round that one, in here, out there, and away! And the boy, who has first to pick up the handkerchief, gives chase, pursuing her exactly in the course which she may choose to take. If he makes a wrong turn, by that fact he is "out," and must take her place; but if he pursues her correctly and overtakes her, he may claim a kiss for his pains, for which heroism he will receive the applause of the crowd; and the girl--suffused with blushes, as it may be--must try and try again--indeed, try until she proves herself more agile than her pursuer, whom, of course, she is always free to choose. When at length--as come it will some time--her effort is successful, she takes her victim's place in the ring, and he takes hers on the outside of it. And thus the play may go on--boy and girl about--as long as time and energy will permit.

As for "~Bab at the Bowster~" (more generally p.r.o.nounced "Babbity Bowster"), I am not sure but that grown people have engaged in it more than wee folks have. Indeed, it is not improbable that the young borrowed this originally from the old, by observation. Now-a-days, undoubtedly, we know it exclusively as a child's play. But yet, within the memory of living men, it was the regular custom in country places nearly over all Scotland to wind up every dancing-ball with "Bab at the Bowster." No wedding dance, no Handsel Monday ball, would have been esteemed complete without it; and I have seen it performed at both, less than forty years ago. Performed by old or young, however, the mode is the same. The girls sit down on one side of the barn or square, the boys on the other. A boy takes a handkerchief--it is regularly a male who starts this play--and while dancing up and down before the girls, all sing:--

Wha learned you to dance, Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster; Wha learned you to dance, Bab at the bowster brawly?

My minnie learned me to dance, Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster; My minnie learned me to dance, Bab at the bowster brawly.

Wha ga'e you the keys to keep, Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster; Wha ga'e you the keys to keep, Bab at the bowster brawly?

My minnie ga'e me the keys to keep, Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster; My minnie ga'e me the keys to keep, Bab at the bowster brawly.

Kneel down and kiss the ground, Kiss the ground, kiss the ground; Kneel down and kiss the ground, Kiss the bonnie wee la.s.sie.

By the time the last verse has been reached the boy has fixed on his partner, and at the command to "kneel down and kiss the ground" he spreads the handkerchief on the floor at the girl's feet, on which both immediately kneel. A kiss ensues, even though it should be obtained after a struggle; then the boy marches away round and round followed by the girl, while all again sing the song. By the time the last verse is again reached, the girl in turn has selected the next boy, but does not kneel down before him. She simply throws the handkerchief in his lap, and immediately joins her own partner by taking his arm. If, however, she can be overtaken before she joins her partner, a penalty kiss may be enforced. Second boy selects second girl as the first did the first girl, and pair after pair is formed in the same fashion until all are up and marching arm-in-arm round the room, or square, when the game is finished. At adult a.s.semblies, I should state, even as the company paired in this dance, they departed for home.

"~The Wadds~" is another game in which grown folks no less than children may engage, and which, like "Bab at the Bowster," is essentially a house game. Its mode is for the players to be seated round the hearth, the la.s.ses on one side and the lads on the other. One of the lads first chants:--

O, it's hame, and its hame, it's hame, hame, hame, I think this nicht I maun gang hame.