The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland Volume I Part 69

I. Here comes a [or one] jolly hooper, Ring ding di do do, Ring ding di do do.

And who are you looking for, In a ring ding di do do, In a ring ding di do do?

I am looking for one of your daughters, In a ring ding di do do, In a ring ding di do do.

What shall her name be, In a ring ding di do do, In a ring ding di do do?

Her name shall be [Sarah], In a ring ding di do do, In a ring ding di do do.

Sarah shall ramble, In a ring ding di do do, In a ring ding di do do, All around the chimney [jubilee] pot in 1881.

-Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).

II. I've come for one of your daughters, With a ring a ding a my dolly; I've come for one of your daughters On this bright shining night.

Pray, which have you come for, With a ring a ding a my dolly?

Pray which have you come for On this bright shining night?

I've come for your daughter Mary, With a ring a ding a my dolly; I've come for your daughter Mary On this bright shining night.

Then take her, and welcome, With a ring a ding a my dolly; Then take her, and welcome, On this bright shining night [incomplete].

-Sheffield (S. O. Addy).

(_b_) A number of children stand against a wall, and a row of other children face them. They walk backwards and forwards, singing the first and third verses. Then the children who are standing still (against the wall) answer by singing the second and fourth verses. When these are sung the moving line of children take Mary and dance round, singing "some lines which my informant," says Mr. Addy, "has forgotten."

(_c_) I have no description of the way Miss Chase's game is played. It, too, is probably an incomplete version. The words "Ring ding di do do "show a possible connection between this and games of the "Three Dukes a-riding" type. They may or may not be variants of the same game.

See "Here comes a l.u.s.ty Wooer," "Here comes a Virgin," "Jolly Rover,"

"Three Dukes."

Jolly Miller

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-Epworth, Doncaster (C. C. Bell).

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-Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).

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-Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).

I. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself, As the wheel went round he made his pelf; One hand in the hopper, and the other in the bag, As the wheel went round he took his grab.

-Leicester (Miss Ellis).

II. There was a jolly miller, he lived by himself, As the mill went round he made his wealth; One hand in the hopper, another in his bag, As the wheel went round he made his grab.

-Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).

III. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself, As the wheel goes round he makes his wealth; One hand in his hopper, and the other in his bag, As we go round he makes his grab.

-Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy).

IV. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself, As the mill went round he gained his wealth; One hand in the hopper, and the other in the bag, As the mill went round he made his grab.

Sandy he belongs to the mill, And the mill belongs to Sandy still, And the mill belongs to Sandy.

-Addy's _Sheffield Glossary_.

V. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself, As the wheel went round he made his wealth; One hand in the upper and the other in the bank, As the wheel went round he made his wealth.

-Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy).

VI. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself, As the wheel went round he made his grab; One hand in the other, and the other in the bag, As the wheel went round he made his grab.

-Nottinghamshire (Miss Winfield).

VII. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself (or by the Dee), The sails went round, he made his ground; One hand in his pocket, the other in his bag.

-North Staffs. Potteries (Miss A. A. Keary).

(_b_) This game requires an uneven number of players. All the children except one stand in couples arm in arm, each couple closely following the other. This forms a double ring or wheel (fig. 1). The odd child stands in the centre. The children forming the wheel walk round in a circle and sing the verse. When they come to the word "grab," those children standing on the _inside_ of the wheel leave hold of their partners' arms, and try to catch hold of the one standing immediately in front of their previous partners. The child in the centre (or Miller) tries (while they are changing places) to secure a partner and place (fig. 2). If he succeeds in doing this, the one then left out becomes the Miller. At Leicester the "odd" child, or "miller," stands _outside_ the wheel or ring, instead of being in the centre, and it is the outside children who change places. Mr. Addy, in the Sheffield version, says, "The young men stand in the outer ring, and the young women in the inner. A man stands within the inner circle, quite near to it. The men try and grasp the arm of the girl in front of them, and the man in the centre also tries to grasp one; the man he displaces taking his place as Miller. Then the three last lines are sung."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 1.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 2.]

(_c_) Versions of this game, almost identical with the Leicester version given here (with the exception that the word "wealth" ends the second line instead of "pelf"), have been sent me from East Kirkby, Lincolnshire (Miss K. Maughan); Epworth, Doncaster (Mr. C. C. Bell); Settle, Yorks. (Rev. W. S. Sykes); Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley); Redhill, Surrey (Miss G. Hope); Ordsall, Nottinghamshire (Miss Matthews); Brigg, Lincolnshire (Miss J. Barker); and there are other versions from Hersham, Surrey (_Folk-lore Record_, v. 86); Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 57); Derbyshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, i. 385); Oswestry, Ellesmere (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 512). Miss Peac.o.c.k sends a version which obtains at Lincoln, Horncastle, Winterton, and Anderby, Lincolnshire, and in Nottinghamshire; it is identical with the Liphook version. Two versions from Sporle, Norfolk, which vary slightly from the Leicester, have been sent by Miss Matthews. The versions given from Lancashire, Yorks., Nottingham, and North Staffs. have been selected to show the process of decadence in the game. "Hopper" has first become "upper," and then "other." Of the North Staffs. Potteries version Miss Keary says, "How it ends I have never been able to make out; no one about here seems to know either." With the exception of these few variants, it is singular how stereotyped the words of the rhyme have become in this game.

(_d_) This game may owe its origin to the fact of the miller in olden times paying himself in kind from the corn brought to him to be ground.

The miller is a well-known object of satire in old ballads and mediaeval writers. It is, however, probable that the custom which formerly prevailed at some of the public festivals, of catching or "grabbing" for sweethearts and wives, is shown in this game. For instance, to account for a Scottish custom it is said that St. Cowie, patron saint of two parishes of Campbeltown, proposed that all who did not find themselves happy and contented in the marriage state, should be indulged with an opportunity of parting and making a second choice. For that purpose he inst.i.tuted an annual solemnity, at which all the unhappy couples in his parish were to a.s.semble at his church; and at midnight all present were blindfolded and ordered to run round the church at full speed, with a view of mixing the lots in the urn. The moment the ceremony was over, without allowing an instant for the people present to recover from their confusion, the word "Cabbay" (seize quickly) was p.r.o.nounced, upon which every man laid hold of the first female he met with. Whether old or young, handsome or ugly, good or bad, she was his wife till the next anniversary of this custom (Guthrie's _Scottish Customs_, p. 168).

Another old wedding superst.i.tion is alluded to by Longfellow:-

"While the bride with roguish eyes, Sporting with them, now escapes and cries, 'Those who catch me, married verily this year will be.'"

See "Joggle Along."

Jolly Rover

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-Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).