Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes Part 18

One stands for wheelbarrow; two stands for a cart; three for a trivet; four for a waggon; five stands for the fingers of the hand; six for the working days of the week; seven for the stars of the Great Bear. And the peasant remained in the possession of his goods (R., p. 137).

More primitive still is the story as told in Little Russia. In this case a man bartered away his soul for six pigs. After three years the devil came to fetch him. But the devil was met by an old, old man who successfully cheated him of his due. The dialogue between them was: "Who is in the house?--One and not one (that is two). And how about two?--It is well to thrash two at a time. It is well to travel three at a time.

He who has four has a waggon. He who has five sons has company. Six pigs the devil had, but he left them with a poor man, and now he has lost them for ever" (A., II, 227).

The comparison of these stories with the Chants of the Creed shows that the dialogue stories are older in contents, and probably in form also, than the c.u.mulative pieces. In both, superhuman power is conveyed by a.s.sociating numbers with objects. This power in the dialogue pieces is attributed to the "little man in grey" of the German piece, who may be intended for Death, and to the devil in the Russian piece. In the pieces where numbers are a.s.sociated with Christian articles of belief, the superhuman power is attributed to a popular saint, viz. St. Simeon in Denmark and St. Nicholas in Italy, who make use of their power to overcome Satan.

The dialogue stories explain the numbers only as far as six or seven.

This in itself indicates that they are relatively early. Some of the explanations they contain reappear in the c.u.mulative Chants of the Creed, both in their Christian and in their heathen variations. Thus the "one wheel" of the wheelbarrow in the German dialogue story, reappears as the Wheel of Fortune in the Spanish chant, and as the "One that walks alone" of the Scottish chant. Perhaps this idea underlies the one O, or circle of our late English songs also. Two in the dialogue story is explained as a cart; one Breton Chant of the Creed a.s.sociates two with an ox-cart also. In the Mohammedan dialogue story two is explained as the sun and moon, and this explanation reappears in the Christian chant as sung in the Abruzzi. Six, which the German dialogue story explains as the working days of the week, has the same meaning in our song of the _New Dyall_. Seven, which the German dialogue story a.s.sociates with the constellation of Charles's Wain, reappears as _La Poule_ in the Breton Chant of the Creed, as seven bright shiners in our English songs, and as the stars seen by Joseph in the Latin Chant.

These points of likeness cannot be due to mere chance; they indicate a relationship between all the pieces which a.s.sociate objects with numbers. There has been some discussion as to which Chant of the Creed has the greater claim to priority--whether the Breton was based on the Christian, or the Christian on the Hebrew, and how these stand in relation to the various heathen chants. But the a.n.a.lysis of these pieces renders it probable that they are all derived from an earlier prototype, and this prototype is perhaps to be sought in the dialogue stories. For in the Chants of the Creed the explanations of the numbers are often abstract in meaning, whereas in the dialogue pieces they are simple objects, mostly wheels or circles, which may well have appeared magical in themselves to the primitive mind. Again, the purpose of the Chants of the Creed is to convey religious instruction as a protection against the devil, while in the dialogue stories in the last instance the theme is the acquisition of pigs, and pigs were esteemed valuable possessions from a remote period of antiquity.

CHAPTER XV

SACRIFICIAL HUNTING

Many nursery rhymes and pieces relate to sacrificial hunting. This hunting goes back to the time when certain animals were looked upon as tabu in that they were generally held in reverence, and ill-luck befell him who wittingly or unwittingly did them harm. At the same time one animal of the kind was periodically slain. It was actually killed, but its spirit was held to be incarnate in other creatures of its kind, and it therefore continued to be spoken of as alive.

The custom of killing the divine animal belongs to an early stage of social evolution, since it stands in no relation to agriculture, and perhaps took rise before men tilled the soil. The animal that was slaughtered was generally looked upon as the representative of a certain clan, or as const.i.tuting the bond between a number of kinsmen.[63]

[63] Frazer, J. G., _The Golden Bough_, 1900, II, 442 ff.

Among the creatures that were sacrificiallybasiliskost hunted in different parts of Western Europe were a number of small birds. Many of our nursery pieces relate to the hunting of the wren. A peculiar importance was attached to this bird from a remote period in antiquity, possibly on account of the golden crest worn by one kind of these birds.

This importance was expressed by the term "little king." In Greek the wren was as???s???, in Latin he was _regulus_ or _rex avium_. In France he is _roitelet_; in Italy he is _reatino_; in Spain he is _reyezuolo_; in Germany he is _zaunkonig_; in Wales he is _bren_, a word allied to our wren. The sacrifice of a bird that was so highly esteemed, must have a deeper significance. Possibly his sacrifice was accepted in the place of the periodical sacrifice of the real king, a primitive custom which dates far back in history. If so, the practice of slaying the wren represents the custom of killing the king "of the woods" at a later stage of development.

The designation of king as applied to the wren naturally called for an explanation. It was accounted for by the story according to which the birds challenged one another as to who could fly highest. The eagle flew higher than the other birds, but the diminutive wren hid beneath his wing, and, being carried up by the eagle, started on his own flight when the eagle tired, and so proved his superiority (Ro., II, 293). The story dates from the period when cunning was esteemed higher than brute force, and when cheating was accepted as a legitimate way of showing one's powers. Among the fairy tales of Grimm one tells how the wren, whose young had been spoken of disrespectfully by the bear, challenged the four-footed beasts of the forest, and by a similar strategem proved his superiority over them also (No. 152). Thus the kingship of the wren extended to the four-footed as well as to the feathered tribes.

The lines that celebrate the _Hunting of the Wren_ are included in several of the oldest nursery collections. They depend for their consistency on repet.i.tion; there is no attempt at c.u.mulation. In the collection of 1744 the piece stands as follows:--

I

We will go to the wood, says Robbin to Bobbin, We will go to the wood, says Richard to Robbin, We will go to the wood, says John and alone, We will go to the wood, says everyone.

II

We will shoot at a wren, says Robbin to Bobbin, We will shoot at a wren, says Richard to Robbin, etc.

III

She's down, she's down, says Robbin to Bobbin, etc.

IV

How shall we get her home, says Robbin to Bobbin, etc.

V

We will hire a cart, says Robbin to Bobbin, etc.

VI

Then hoist, hoist, says Robbin to Bobbin, etc.

VII

She's up, she's up, says Robbin to Bobbin, etc.

In the collection of 1783 there is an additional verse:--

So they brought her away after each pluck'd a feather, And when they got home shar'd the booty together.

(_c._ 1783, p. 20.)

Another version of this chant from Scotland is included in Herd's collection of songs, which goes back to 1776.[64] In this the wren "is slayed," "conveyed home in carts and horse," and is got in by "driving down the door cheeks." The characters in this case are Fozie Mozie, Johnie Rednosie, Foslin 'ene, and brethren and kin. The song ends:--

VIII

I'll hae a wing, quo' Fozie Mozie, I'll hae anither, quo' Johnie Rednosie, I'll hae a leg, quo' Foslin 'ene, And I'll hae another, quo' brither and kin.

[64] Herd, David, _Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs_, reprint, 1869, II, 210.

In the toy-book literature of the eighteenth century I have come across the expression, "They sang the Fuzzy Muzzy chorus," which may be related to these names.

Another variation of the chant sung in Carmarthenshire[65] is set in the form of a dialogue, and the fact is insisted on that the hunt shall be carried out in the old way in preference to the new:--

[65] Mason, M. H., _Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs_, 1877, p. 47.

I

O, where are you going, says Milder to Malder, O, I cannot tell, says Festel to Fose, We're going to the woods, says John the Red Nose, We're going to the woods, says John the Red Nose.

II

O, what will you do there? says Milder to Malder....

We'll shoot the Cutty Wren, says John the Red Nose.

III

O, how will you shoot her....

With cannons and guns, _etc._

IV

O, that will not do ...