The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland Volume I Part 14

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-Hexham.

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-Derbyshire.

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-Earls Heaton, Yorks.

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-Enborne.

I. The miller's mill-dog lay at the mill-door, And his name was Little Bingo.

B with an I, I with an N, N with a G, G with an O, And his name was Little Bingo.

The miller he bought a cask of ale, And he called it right good Stingo.

S with a T, T with an I, I with an N, N with a G, G with an O, And he called it right good Stingo.

The miller he went to town one day, And he bought a wedding Ring-o!

R with an I, I with an N, N with a G, G with an O, And he bought a wedding Ring-o!

-Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy).

II. A farmer's dog lay on the floor, And Bingo was his name O!

B, i, n, g, o, B, i, n, g, o, And Bingo was his name O!

The farmer likes a gla.s.s of beer, I think he calls it Stingo!

S, t, i, n, g, o, S, t, i, n, g, o!

I think he calls it Stingo!

S, t, i, n, g, O! I think he calls it Stingo!

-Market Drayton, Ellesmere, Oswestry (Burne's _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p.

513).

III. There was a jolly farmer, And he had a jolly son, And his name was Bobby Bingo.

BINGO, BINGO, BINGO, And Bingo was his name.

-Liphook, Hants; Wakefield, Yorks (Miss Fowler).

IV. There _was_ a farmer _had_ a dog, His name was Bobby Bingo.

B-i-n-g-o, B-i-n-g-o, B-i-n-g-o, His name was Bobby Bingo.

-Tean, Staffs.; and North Staffs. Potteries (Miss Keary).

V. The farmer's dog lay on the hearth, And Bingo was his name oh!

B-i-n-g-o, B-i-n-g-o, B-i-n-g-o, And Bingo was his name oh!

-Nottinghamshire (Miss Winfield).

VI. The miller's dog lay on the wall, And Bingo was his name Oh!

B-i-n-g-o, And Bingo was his name Oh!

-Maxey, Northants (Rev. W. D. Sweeting).

VII. The shepherd's dog lay on the hearth, And Bingo was his name O.

B i n g o, Bi, n, g, o, Bi-n-g-o, And Bingo was his name O.

-Eckington, Derbyshire (S. O. Addy).

VIII. Pinto went to sleep one night, And Pinto was his name oh!

P-i-n-t-o, P-i-n-t-o, And Pinto was his name oh.

-Enbourne, Berks (Miss Kimber).

(_b_) In the Lancashire version, one child represents the Miller. The rest of the children stand round in a circle, with the Miller in the centre. All dance round and sing the verses. When it comes to the spelling part of the rhyme, the Miller points at one child, who must call out the right letter. If the child fails to do this she becomes Miller. In the Shropshire version, a ring is formed with one player in the middle. They dance round and sing the verses. When it comes to the spelling part, the girl in the middle cries B, and signals to another, who says I, the next to her N, the third G, the fourth "O! his name was Bobby Bingo!" Whoever makes a mistake takes the place of the girl in the middle. In the Liphook version, at the fourth line the children stand still and repeat a letter each in turn as quickly as they can, clapping their hands, and at the last line they turn right round, join hands, and begin again. In the Tean version, the one in the centre points, standing still, to some in the ring to say the letters B.I.N.G; the letter O has to be sung; if not, the one who says it goes in the ring, and repeats it all again until the game is given up. In the other Staffordshire version, when they stop, the one in the middle points to five of the others in turn, who have to say the letters forming "Bingo," while the one to whom O comes has to sing it on the note on which the others left off. Any one who says the wrong letter, or fails to sing the O right, takes the place of the middle one. The Northants version follows the Lancashire version, but if the answers are all made correctly, the last line is sung by the circle, and the game begins again. In the Metheringham version the child in the centre is blindfolded. When the song is over the girls say, "Point with your finger as we go round." The girl in the centre points accordingly, and whichever of the others happens to be opposite to her when she says "Stop!" is caught. If the blindfolded girl can identify her captive they exchange places, and the game goes on as before. The Forest of Dean and the Earls Heaton versions are played the same as the Lancashire. In the West Cornwall version, as seen played in 1884, a ring is formed, into the middle of which goes a child holding a stick; the others with joined hands run round in a circle, singing the verses. When they have finished singing they cease running, whilst the one in the centre, pointing with his stick, asks them in turn to spell Bingo. If they all spell it correctly they again move round singing; but should either of them make a mistake, he or she has to take the place of the middle man (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 58). In the Hexham version they sing a second verse, which is the same as the first with the name spelt _backwards_. The Berks version is practically the same as the Tean version. The Eckington (Derbyshire) version is played as follows:-A number of young women form a ring. A man stands within the ring, and they sing the words. He then makes choice of a girl, who takes his arm. They both walk round the circle while the others sing the same lines again. The girl who has been chosen makes choice of a young man in the ring, who in his turn chooses another girl, and so on till they have all paired off.

(_c_) The first verse of the Shropshire version is also sung at Metheringham, near Lincoln (C. C. Bell), and Cowes, I. W. (Miss E.

Smith). The Staffordshire version of the words is sung in Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Miss Matthews), West Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 58), Earls Heaton, Yorkshire (H. Hardy), Hexham, Northumberland (Miss Barker), Leicester (Miss Ellis). Miss Peac.o.c.k says, "A version is known in Lincolnshire." Tunes have also been sent from Tean, North Staffs. (Miss Keary), and Epworth, Doncaster (Mr. C. C.

Bell), which are nearly identical with the Leicester tune; from Market Drayton (Miss Burne), similar to the Derbyshire tune; from Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy), which appears to be only the latter part of the tune, and is similar to those given above. The tune given by Rimbault is not the same as those collected above, though there is a certain similarity.

The editor of _Northamptonshire Notes and Queries_, vol. i. p. 214, says, "Some readers will remember that Byngo is the name of the 'Franklyn's dogge' that Ingoldsby introduces into a few lines described as a portion of a primitive ballad, which has escaped the researches of Ritson and Ellis, but is yet replete with beauties of no common order."

In the _Nursery Songs_ collected by Ed. Rimbault from oral tradition is "Little Bingo." The words of this are very similar to the Lancashire version of the game sent by Miss Dendy. There is an additional verse in the nursery song.

Bird-apprentice

A row of boys or girls stands parallel with another row opposite. Each of the first row chooses the name of some bird, and a member of the other row then calls out all the names of birds he can think of. If the middle member of the first row has chosen either of them, he calls out "Yes," and all the guessers immediately run to take the place of the first row, the members of which attempt to catch them. If any succeed, they have the privilege of riding in on their captives'

backs.-Ogbourne, Wilts (H. S. May).

Birds, Beasts, and Fishes

B h = Bullfinch

E t = Elephant

S h = Swordfish

This is a slate game, and two or more children play. One writes the initial and final letters of a bird's, beast's, or fish's name, making crosses () instead of the intermediate letters of the word, stating whether the name is that of bird, beast, or fish. The other players must guess in turn what the name is. The first one who succeeds takes for himself the same number of marks as there are crosses in the word, and then writes the name of anything he chooses in the same manner. If the players are unsuccessful in guessing the name, the writer takes the number to his own score and writes another. The game is won when one player gains a certain number of marks previously decided upon as "game."-Barnes (A. B. Gomme).

Bittle-battle

The Suss.e.x game of "Stoolball." There is a tradition that this game was originally played by the milkmaids with their milking-stools, which they used for bats; but this word makes it more probable that the stool was the wicket, and that it was defended with the bittle, which would be called the bittle-bat.-Parish's _Suss.e.x Dialect_.

See "Stoolball."