The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland Volume I Part 70

Here comes one jolly rover, jolly rover, jolly rover, Here comes one jolly rover, jolly rover, jolly rover, A roving all day.

And what do you rove for, rove for, rove for?

And what do you rove for?

Lily white and shining.

I rove for my pleasure, my pleasure, my pleasure, I rove for my pleasure, my pleasure, my pleasure, Lily white and shining.

And what is your pleasure, your pleasure, your pleasure?

What is your pleasure?

Lily white and shining.

My pleasure's for to marry you, to marry you, to marry you, My pleasure's for to marry you, Lily white and shining.

So through the kitchen and through the hall, I choose the fairest of them all, The fairest one that I can see Is --, so come to me.

-Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).

(_b_) A long row of children walk to and fro. One child, facing them on the opposite side, represents the Rover. He sings the first, third, and fifth verses. The row of children sing the second and fourth in response. After the fifth verse is sung the Rover skips round the long row, singing the sixth verse to the tune of "Nancy Dawson," or "Round the Mulberry bush." He chooses one of them, who goes to the opposite side with him, and the game goes on until all are rovers like himself.

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

Jolly Sailors

I. Here comes one [some] jolly, jolly sailor boy, Who lately came on sh.o.r.e; He [they] spent his time in drinking wine As we have done before.

We are the Pam-a-ram-a-ram, We are the Pam-a-ram-a-ram, And those who want a pretty, pretty girl, Must kiss her on the sh.o.r.e, Must kiss her on the sh.o.r.e.

-Warwick (from a little girl, through Mr. C. C. Bell).

II. He was a jolly, jolly sailor boy, Who had lately come ash.o.r.e; He spent his time in drinking wine As he had done before.

Then we will have a jolly, jolly whirl, Then we will have a jolly, jolly whirl, And he who wants a pretty little girl Must kiss her on the sh.o.r.e.

-Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Miss Matthews).

III. Here comes one jolly sailor, Just arrived from sh.o.r.e, We'll spend our money like jolly, jolly joes, And then we'll work for more.

We'll all around, around and around, And if we meet a pretty little girl We'll call her to the sh.o.r.e.

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

IV. Here comes four jolly sailor boys, Just lately come ash.o.r.e; They spend their days in many merry ways, As they have done before.

Round, round the ring we go, Round, round the ring, And he that choose his bonny, bonny la.s.s Must kiss her on the floor.

-Raunds (_Northants Notes and Queries_, i. 232).

V. Here come three jolly, jolly, jolly boys As lately come from sh.o.r.e; We will spend our time on a moonlight night As we have done before.

We will have a round, a round, a round, We will have a round, a round, a round; Let the lad that delights in a bonny, bonny la.s.s, Let him kiss her on the ground.

-Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy).

VI. Here comes three jolly, jolly sailors, Just arrived on sh.o.r.e; We'll spend our money like merry, merry men, And then we'll work for more.

Hurrah for the round, round ring, Hurrah for the round, round ring; And he that loves a pretty, pretty girl, Let him call her from the ring.

-Shipley, Horsham (_Notes and Queries_, 8th series, i. 210, Miss Busk).

(_b_) This game is played at Warwick as follows:-The children form a large ring, clasping hands and standing still. One child walks round inside the ring, singing the verses. This child then chooses another from the ring, bending on one knee and kissing her hand. The lines are then repeated, the two walking arm in arm round the inside of the ring.

Another child is chosen out of the ring by the one who was chosen previously. This goes on until all are chosen out of the ring, walking two by two round inside. When the ring will no longer hold them, the two walk round outside. At Northants the ring walks round, and the child is _outside_ the ring. Partners are chosen, and the two walk round outside the ring. The first two walk together till there is a third, then the three walk together till there is a fourth, then they go in couples. In the Northants version, from Raunds, four boys stand in the centre of the ring. When the verses are sung they choose four girls, and then take their places in the ring. The four girls then choose four lads, and so on. At Earls Heaton the children stand against a wall in a line. Another child walks up and down singing the verses, and chooses a partner. He spreads a handkerchief on the ground, and they kneel and kiss.

(_c_) The Shipley version is a "Kiss in the Ring" game. A version sent by the Rev. W. Slater Sykes from Settle, Yorkshire, is almost identical with the Earls Heaton version. Northall (_Folk Rhymes_, p. 369) says "to kiss on the floor"-_i.e._, not in secret. He gives the words of a sort of musical catch, sung in the Midlands, similar in character to this game, which may once have been used in some courting game. Mr. Newell (_Games_, p. 124) gives a version sung in the streets of New York, and considers it to be a relic of antiquity, a similar round being given in _Deuteromelia_, 1609.

Jowls

A game played by boys, much the same as "Hockey," and taking its name, no doubt, from the mode of playing, which consists in striking a wooden ball or knorr from the ground in any given direction with a sufficiently heavy stick, duly curved at the striking end.-Atkinson's _Cleveland Glossary_.

It is also given in _Yorkshire Glossary_ (Whitby).

See "Bandy," "Doddart," "Hockey."

Jud

A game played with a hazel nut bored and run upon a string.-d.i.c.kinson's _c.u.mberland Glossary_.

Probably the same game as "Conkers."

See "Conkers."

Keeling the Pot

Brockett mentions that a friend informed him that he had seen a game played amongst children in Northumberland the subject of which was "Keeling the Pot." A girl comes in exclaiming, "Mother, mother, the pot's boiling ower." The answer is, "Then get the ladle and keel it."

The difficulty is to get the ladle, which is "up a height," and the "steul" wants a leg, and the joiner is either sick or dead (_Glossary North Country Words_). A sentence from _Love's Labours Lost_, "While greasy Joan doth keel the pot," ill.u.s.trates the use of the term "keel."

See "Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils over."

Keppy Ball

In former times it was customary every year, at Easter and Whitsuntide, for the mayor, aldermen, and sheriff of Newcastle, attended by the burgesses, to go in state to a place called the Forth, a sort of mall, to countenance, if not to join in the play of "Keppy ba" and other sports. This diversion is still in part kept up by the young people of the town (Brockett's _North Country Words_). It is also mentioned in Peac.o.c.k's _Manley and Corringham Glossary_, and in Ross and Stead's _Holderness Glossary_.

Mr. Tate (_History of Alnwick_) says that a favourite pastime of girls, "Keppy ball," deserves a pa.s.sing notice, because accompanied by a peculiar local song. The name indicates the character of the game; "kep"

is from _cepan_, Anglo-Saxon, "kappan," Teut., "to catch or capture;"