Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium Part 60

_6 to 60 players._

_Indoors; out of doors._

[Ill.u.s.tration music:

Oats, peas, beans and bar-ley grows, Oats, peas, beans and bar-ley grows. Nor you nor I nor no-bod-y knows How oats, peas, beans and bar-ley grows. Thus the far-mer sows his seed, Thus he stands and takes his ease, Stamps his foot and clasps his hands, And turns a-round to view his lands. A-waiting for a partner, A-waiting for a partner, So open the ring and choose one in, Make haste and choose your partner.

Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows, Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows.

Nor you nor I nor n.o.body knows How oats, peas, beans, and barley grows.

Thus the farmer sows his seed, Thus he stands and takes his ease, Stamps his foot and claps his hands, And turns around to view his lands.

A-waiting for a partner, A-waiting for a partner, So open the ring and choose one in, Make haste and choose your partner.

Now you're married, you must obey.

You must be true to all you say.

You must be kind, you must be good, And keep your wife in kindling wood.

The players form a ring, clasping hands, and circle about one of their number who has been chosen to stand in the center. They all sing the first four lines, when they drop hands, and each player goes through the motions indicated by the words: sowing the seed with a broad sweep of the arm as though scattering seed from the hand; standing erect and folding the arms; stamping the foot; clapping the hands; and at the end of the verse turning entirely around. They then clasp hands again and circle entirely around, singing:--

Waiting for a partner, Waiting for a partner,

standing still for the last two lines:--

So open the ring And choose one in.

On these words the one in the center chooses one from the circle as a partner. The player who was first in the center then returns to the circle, and the one chosen as partner remains in the center while the game is repeated.

If large numbers are playing, four players may stand in the center instead of one, and in that case, of course, four partners will be chosen. This form of playing the game has traditional sanction, and at the same time adapts itself nicely to the large numbers that often have to be provided for under modern conditions of playing.

This is one of the games that Mr. Newell calls "world-old and world-wide." It is found in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc., was played by Froissart in the fourteenth century, and by Rabelais in the fifteenth. The game is supposed to have had its source in a formula sung at the sowing of grain to propitiate the earth G.o.ds and to promote and quicken the growth of crops.

Mrs. Gomme notes that the turning around and bowing to the fields and lands, coupled with pantomimic actions of harvest activities, are very general in the history of sympathetic magic among primitive peoples, from which doubtless came the custom of spring and harvest festivals.

Mrs. Gomme also points out that the choosing of the partner indicates the custom of courtship and marriage at these sowing and harvest gatherings.

ROUND AND ROUND THE VILLAGE

_6 to 30 or more players._

_Indoors; out of doors._

[Ill.u.s.tration music:

Go round and round the village, Go round and round the village, Go round and round the village, As we have done before.

Go round and round the village, Go round and round the village, Go round and round the village, Go as we have done before.

Go in and out the windows, Go in and out the windows, Go in and out the windows, Go as we have done before.

Now stand and face your partner, Now stand and face your partner, Now stand and face your partner, And bow before you go.

Now follow me to London, Now follow me to London, Now follow me to London, As we have done before.

The players form a circle, clasping hands, with one player outside. In this game the circle stands still and represents the houses of a village. The player outside sings the first verse dancing around the circle. On the second verse, "In and out the windows," etc., the players forming the ring raise their clasped hands to represent windows, and the outside player pa.s.ses in under one arch, out under the next, and so on, winding in and out until the circle has been completed. She tries to get around by the time the verse is finished, and then goes on singing the third verse while she pauses in the circle and chooses a partner. These two then run around the outside of the circle while singing the last verse, "Follow me to London," etc., returning at the close to the center of the circle, where they bow and part, the first player taking her place in the ring. The game is then repeated, with the second player running around the outside of the village.

Where large numbers are playing, several players may be chosen instead of one, to run around the village and in and out of the windows. In that case several partners will be chosen, and at the close the first players will return to the circle, and the partners whom they have chosen will go on with the game by running around the village and singing the first verse again.

FOR THE SCHOOLROOM.--In the schoolroom two players may be chosen to run "Round and round the village," starting from different parts of the room. The remainder of the cla.s.s sits and sings while these players run up and down through the aisles, each touching two or three pupils, who rise and run after them. When the windows are mentioned, the seated players who still have neighbors sitting across the aisles, stand, and clasp hands with the neighbors to form an arch under which the runners make their way.

Variations.--A pretty variation in this game, adapting it to the modern city environment, with which many city children are more familiar than they are with village life, is to subst.i.tute for the words "Round and round the village" and "In and out the windows" the words, "Round and round the city" (presumably on elevated or subway trains) and "In and out the stations" or "In and out the subway."

While this tampering with a traditional form of the game is questionable, there is no doubt that children much enjoy playing about things related to their own experiences. A gradual and probably unconscious adaptation to environment is one of the manifestations of the folk-lore spirit.

This is one of the very old traditional games, based on village customs. Mrs. Gomme traces it to the periodical village festivals at which marriages took place. In some of these it was customary for the young people to go through the houses in procession.

SNAIL

_10 to 60 players._

_Indoors; out of doors._

This is a favorite game with very little children. For large numbers each verse may be repeated as needed to complete the winding or unwinding of the line.

Hand in hand you see us well Creep like a snail into his sh.e.l.l, Ever nearer, ever nearer, Ever closer, ever closer, Very snug indeed you dwell, Snail, within your tiny sh.e.l.l.

Hand in hand you see us well Creep like a snail out of his sh.e.l.l.

Ever farther, ever farther, Ever wider, ever wider.

Who'd have thought this tiny sh.e.l.l Could have held us all so well.

[Ill.u.s.tration music: SNAIL

Hand in hand you see us well Creep like a snail into his sh.e.l.l, Ever nearer, ever nearer, Ever closer, ever closer, Very snug indeed you dwell, Snail, within your tiny sh.e.l.l.

The players all stand in line holding hands; while singing the first verse they wind up in a spiral, following the leader, who walks in a circle growing ever smaller until all are wound up, still holding hands. The leader then turns and unwinds, until all are again in one long line.

This "winding up" is a very old traditional feature in games, and is supposed to have originated in tree worship.