A' the apples fell on me;
Bake a puddin', bake a pie,
Send it up to John Mackay;
John Mackay is no in,
Send it up to the man i' the mune;
The man i' the mune's mendin' his shoon,
Three bawbees and a farden in.
Also this:--
As I went up the apple tree,
All the apples fell on me;
Bake a puddin', bake a pie,
Did you ever tell a lie?
Yes I did, and many times.
O-U-T, out goes she
Right in the middle of the deep blue sea.
And this:--
Eerie, orie, ickery, am,
Pick ma nick, and slick ma slam.
Oram, scoram, pick ma noram,
Shee, show, sham, shutter,
You--are--out!
In England and Scotland alike this has been used, with slight
variations, for at least a hundred years:--
As I went up the brandy hill,
I met my father, wi' gude will;
He had jewels, he had rings,
He had mony braw things;
He'd a cat and nine tails,
He'd a hammer wantin' nails.
Up Jock, doun Tam,
Blaw the bellows, auld man.
The auld man took a dance,
First to London, then to France.
Another:--
Queen, Queen Caroline,
Dipped her hair in turpentine;
Turpentine made it shine,
Queen, Queen Caroline.
And yet another:--
Tit, tat, toe,
Here I go,
And if I miss,
I pitch on this.
The following have long been in active use all over Scotland, if not
also elsewhere:--
Zeenty, teenty, halligo lum,
Pitchin' tawties doun the lum.
Wha's there? Johnnie Blair.
What d'ye want? A bottle o' beer.
Where's your money? In my purse.
Where's your purse? In my pocket.
Where's your pocket? I forgot it.
Go down the stair, you silly blockhead.
You--are--out.
Zeenty, teenty, alligo, dan,
Bobs o' vinegar, gentleman,
Kiss, toss, mouse, fat,
Bore a needle, bum a fiddle,
Jink ma jeerie, jink ma jye,
Stand you there, you're out bye.
One, two, three, four,
Jenny at the cottage door,
Eating cherries aff a plate,
Five, six, seven, eight.
Zeenty, teenty, feggerie fell,
Pompaleerie jig.
Every man who has no hair
Generally wears a wig.
Mistress Mason broke a basin,
How much will it be?
Half-a-crown. Lay it down.
Out goes she!
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
All good children go to heaven;
When they die their sin's forgiven,
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
All good children go to heaven:
A penny by the water,
Tuppence by the sea,
Threepence by the railway,
Out goes she!
Me and the minister's wife coost out.
Guess ye what it was about?
Black puddin', dish-clout,
Eerie, orrie, you are out!
Master Monday, how's your wife?
Very sick, and like to die.
Can she eat? O yes,
As much as I can buy.
She makes the porridge very thin,
A pound of butter she puts in,
Black puddin', white clout,
Eerie, orrie, you are out!
Inky pinky, my black hen
Lays eggs for gentlemen;
Whiles ane, whiles twa,
Whiles a bonnie black craw.
One--two--three,
You--are--out!
Eeny, meeny, clean peeny,
If you want a piece and jeely,
Just walk out!
John says to John,
How much are your geese?
John says to John,
Twenty cents a-piece.
John says to John,
That's too dear;
John says to John,
Get out of here!
Ching, Ching, Chinaman,
How do you sell your fish?
Ching, Ching, Chinaman,
Six bits a dish.
Ching, Ching, Chinaman,
Oh! that's too dear;
Ching, Ching, Chinaman,
Clear out of here!
Lemons and oranges, two for a penny,
I'm a good scholar that counts so many.
The rose is red, the leaves are green,
The days are past that I have seen.
I doot, I doot,
My fire is out,
And my little dog's not at home:
I'll saddle my cat, and I'll bridle my dog,
And send my little boy home.
Home, home again, home!
Jenny, good spinner,
Come down to your dinner,
And taste the leg of a roasted frog!
I pray ye, good people,
Look owre the kirk steeple,
And see the cat play wi' the dog!
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,
Haud the horse till I win on;
Haud him siccar, haud him fair,
Haud him by a pickle hair.
One, two, three,
You are out!
Around the house, arickity-rary,
I hope ye'll meet the green canary:
You say ay, I say no,
Hold fast--let go!
Scottie Malottie, the king o' the Jews,
Sell't his wife for a pair o' shoes;
When the shoes began to wear
Scottie Malottie began to swear.
In Dundee these lines are added to the "Eenity feenity" rhyme:--
Jock out, Jock in,
Jock through a hickle-pin.
Eetle-ottle, black bottle;
Eetle-ottle, out!
This, more commonly used as a test of truth-telling (little fingers
being linked while it is uttered), is also used on the East Coast as a
counting-out rhyme:--
I ring, I ring, a pinky!
If I tell a lie
I'll go to the bad place
Whenever I die.
White pan, black pan,
Burn me to death,
Tak' a muckle gully
And cut my breath.
Ten miles below the earth.
Amen!
But these all, of course, as already stated, have been delivered and
acted, as they are still, rather as a prelude to the more elaborate
games designed to follow than as a part of them, and to afford
designedly the opportunity of deciding emphatically who shall be "it" or
"takkie."
CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
When by the aid of the "chapping-out" rhyme it has been decided who
should be "it," the game to follow may be "Single Tig," "Cross Tig,"
"Burly Bracks Round the Stacks," "Pussie in the Corner," "Bonnety," "The
Tod and the Hounds," "I Spy," "Smuggle the Keg," "Booly Horn," "Dock,"
"Loup the Frog," "Foot and a Half," "Bools," "Pitch and Toss," or any
one of another dozen, all of which are essentially boys' games, and have
no rhymes to enliven their action. But if it is to be a game in which
both sexes may equally engage, or a game for girls alone, then almost
certainly there is a rhyme with it. Somehow girls have always been more
musical than boys, even as in their maturer years they are more
frequently the subject of song than their confreres of the sterner sex.
"Peever," "Tig," and "Skipping Rope," are indeed, so far as I can recall
at the moment, about all of the girls' commoner games which are played
without the musical accompaniment of line and verse. Their rhyme-games,
on the other hand, are legion, and embrace "A Dis, a Dis, a Green
Grass," "The Merry-Ma-Tanzie," "The Mulberry Bush," "Carry My Lady to
London," "I Dree I Droppit It," "Looby-Looby," and ever so many more.
Like the counting-out rhymes, the game-rhymes are found in only slightly
differing forms in widely divided countries and places. But ever alike,
they are never quite the same. The "Merry-Ma-Tanzie," for instance,
though always the same in name, will be found with varying lines in
almost every town and village in Scotland even. There are variants
equally, I suppose, of all.
"~Merry-ma-Tanzie~" is solely a girls' game, of which boys, however, may
be interested spectators. The counting-out rhyme having put one in the
centre, the rest join hands in a ring about her, and moving slowly
round, they sing:--
Here we go round the jingo-ring,
The jingo-ring, the jingo-ring,
Here we go round the jingo-ring,
About the merry-ma-tanzie.
Twice about and then we fa',
Then we fa', then we fa',
Twice about and then we fa',
About the merry-ma-tanzie.
Choose your maidens all around,
All around, all around,
Choose your maidens all around,
About the merry-ma-tanzie.
Replying to this invitation, the one in the centre chooses two from the
circle, and retires with them a short distance away. During their
absence the ring-band proceeds as before, and sing with imitating
gesture:--
Sweep the house ere the bride comes in,
The bride comes in, the bride comes in,
Sweep the house ere the bride comes in,
About the merry-ma-tanzie.
When those who left return, the one who was in the centre takes up her
original position, as also do the others, and the ring moves on again
with:--
Here's a bride new come hame,
New come hame, new come hame;
Here's a bride new come hame,
About the merry-ma-tanzie.
Then follows "Mary Anderson is her name," with the usual repeats, and
"Guess ye wha is her true love," "A bottle o' wine to tell his name,"
"Andrew Wilson is his name," "Honey is sweet and so is he," (or "Apples
are sour and so is he,") "He's married her wi' a gay gold ring," "A gay
gold ring's a cank'rous thing," "But now they're married we wish them
joy," "Father and mother they must obey," "Loving each other like sister
and brother," "We pray this couple may kiss together," all, of course,
sung with their repeats as above; and the game may be played until every
little girl has revealed her little sweetheart's name, which, to be
sure, is the _motif_ of the play.
* * * * *
"~The Mulberry Bush~," which goes to the same air as "Merry-Ma-Tanzie,"
and is in some places called "The Mulberry Tree," and in others "The
Gooseberry Bush," is yet more of an action game. The arrangement is
again in a ring, and, moving round hand-in-hand, all sing:--
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush;
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
On a cold and frosty morning.
Stopping short with a curtsey at the conclusion and disjoining hands,
they stand, and imitating the process of hand-washing, they sing:--
This is the way we wash our hands,
Wash our hands, wash our hands,
This is the way we wash our hands,
On a cold and frosty morning.
All joining hands again, they go round as before, singing--"Here we go
round the mulberry bush," and so on, which is repeated regularly after
each action-verse on to the end. The opening lines of the action-verses
alone may be given here to suggest the whole. They are:--
"This is the way we lace our stays."
"This is the way we comb our hair."
"This is the way we walk to school."
"This is the way we return from school."
"This is the way the ladies walk."
"This is the way the gentlemen walk."
"~A Dis, a Dis, a Green Grass~," is so simple it is a favourite
generally with very little ladies. And there are different forms of the
game, both in Scotland and England, if not also in other countries. The
more common way, however, is for the children to stand all in a row,
and, when the counting-out rhyme has been applied once and again, the
two who have been "hit out" face up together hand-in-hand in front, and,
advancing and retiring, sing:--
A dis, a dis, a green grass,
A dis, a dis, a dis;
Come all ye pretty fair maids,
And dance along with us.
For we are going a-roving,
A-roving o'er the land;
We'll take this pretty fair maid,
We'll take her by the hand.
This sung, they select a girl from the group, who joins on either side,
as she is directed, and the song continues, bearing now the comforting
assurance to the one chosen:--
Ye shall have a duck, my dear,
And ye shall have a beau;
And ye shall have a young prince
By chance to marry you.
And if this young prince he should die,
Then ye will get another;
And the birds will sing and the bells will ring,
And we'll all clap hands together.
Having all joined in the last two verses, all clap hands together. And
the same process is repeated again and again until the last of the
"pretty fair maids" is taken over from the row, when the game is
ended--though it may be but to begin again as the desire is expressed
and supported.
* * * * *
Some one, to be sure, may suggest "~Looby-Looby~," which has but to be
named when all are ready and eager. A ring is formed, when all join
hands and dance round singing:--
Here we go looby-looby,
Here we go looby light;
Here we go looby-looby
Every Saturday night.
Why on Saturday nights only I don't know, and it would be futile, I
suppose, to inquire. Anyway, with the expression of the last word they
all instantly disjoin hands, and, standing each in her place, they sing
the next verse, suiting the action to the word:--
Put your right hand in,
Take your right hand out;
Shake it, and shake it, and shake it,
And turn yourself about.
As the last line is being sung each one wheels rapidly round by herself,
then hands are joined again, and they scurry round in a ring as before,
singing:--
Here we go looby-looby,
Here we go looby light;
Here we go looby-looby
Every Saturday night,
and so on, the "looby-looby" coming in regularly between each of the
action-verses, which are varied by "left hand in" and "out," and "right
foot in" and "out," and "left foot in" and "out," "noses," "ears," etc.,
etc., the game finishing only when the anatomy of the players has been
exhausted.
* * * * *
"~I Dree I Droppit It~" calls for a mixture of the sexes, and when the
numbers are even--or as nearly as chance affords--the players are ranged
in a ring, a boy and girl alternately facing inwards with a space
between each. The one who is "chapped out"--say it is a girl--goes
tripping round the others' backs, with a handkerchief dangling in her
hand, singing the while:--
I sent a letter to my love,
And by the way I droppit it,
I dree, I dree, I droppit it,
I dree, I dree, I droppit it;
I sent a letter to my love,
And by the way I droppit it.
There's a wee, wee doggie in our cot-neuk,
He'll no bite you, he'll no bite you;
There's a wee, wee doggie in our cot-neuk,
He'll no bite you--nor you--nor you--nor you,
and so forth, until at length she drops the handkerchief stealthily at
the heel of one of the little boys, saying "but you," and bolts round
this player, round that one, in here, out there, and away! And the boy,
who has first to pick up the handkerchief, gives chase, pursuing her
exactly in the course which she may choose to take. If he makes a wrong
turn, by that fact he is "out," and must take her place; but if he
pursues her correctly and overtakes her, he may claim a kiss for his
pains, for which heroism he will receive the applause of the crowd; and
the girl--suffused with blushes, as it may be--must try and try
again--indeed, try until she proves herself more agile than her pursuer,
whom, of course, she is always free to choose. When at length--as come
it will some time--her effort is successful, she takes her victim's
place in the ring, and he takes hers on the outside of it. And thus the
play may go on--boy and girl about--as long as time and energy will
permit.
* * * * *
As for "~Bab at the Bowster~" (more generally pronounced "Babbity
Bowster"), I am not sure but that grown people have engaged in it more
than wee folks have. Indeed, it is not improbable that the young
borrowed this originally from the old, by observation. Now-a-days,
undoubtedly, we know it exclusively as a child's play. But yet, within
the memory of living men, it was the regular custom in country places
nearly over all Scotland to wind up every dancing-ball with "Bab at the
Bowster." No wedding dance, no Handsel Monday ball, would have been
esteemed complete without it; and I have seen it performed at both, less
than forty years ago. Performed by old or young, however, the mode is
the same. The girls sit down on one side of the barn or square, the boys
on the other. A boy takes a handkerchief--it is regularly a male who
starts this play--and while dancing up and down before the girls, all
sing:--
Wha learned you to dance,
Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster;
Wha learned you to dance,
Bab at the bowster brawly?
My minnie learned me to dance,
Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster;
My minnie learned me to dance,
Bab at the bowster brawly.
Wha ga'e you the keys to keep,
Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster;
Wha ga'e you the keys to keep,
Bab at the bowster brawly?
My minnie ga'e me the keys to keep,
Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster;
My minnie ga'e me the keys to keep,
Bab at the bowster brawly.
Kneel down and kiss the ground,
Kiss the ground, kiss the ground;
Kneel down and kiss the ground,
Kiss the bonnie wee lassie.
By the time the last verse has been reached the boy has fixed on his
partner, and at the command to "kneel down and kiss the ground" he
spreads the handkerchief on the floor at the girl's feet, on which both
immediately kneel. A kiss ensues, even though it should be obtained
after a struggle; then the boy marches away round and round followed by
the girl, while all again sing the song. By the time the last verse is
again reached, the girl in turn has selected the next boy, but does not
kneel down before him. She simply throws the handkerchief in his lap,
and immediately joins her own partner by taking his arm. If, however,
she can be overtaken before she joins her partner, a penalty kiss may be
enforced. Second boy selects second girl as the first did the first
girl, and pair after pair is formed in the same fashion until all are up
and marching arm-in-arm round the room, or square, when the game is
finished. At adult assemblies, I should state, even as the company
paired in this dance, they departed for home.
* * * * *
"~The Wadds~" is another game in which grown folks no less than children
may engage, and which, like "Bab at the Bowster," is essentially a house
game. Its mode is for the players to be seated round the hearth, the
lasses on one side and the lads on the other. One of the lads first
chants:--
O, it's hame, and its hame, it's hame, hame, hame,
I think this nicht I maun gang hame.
To which one of the opposite party responds:--
Ye had better licht, and bide a' nicht,
And I'll choose ye a partner bonnie and bricht.
The first speaker again says:--
Then wha wad ye choose an' I wad bide?
Answer:--
The fairest and best in a' the countryside.
At the same time presenting a female and mentioning her name. If the
choice is satisfactory, the male player will say:--
I'll set her up on the bonnie pear tree,
It's straucht and tall and sae is she;
I wad wauk a' nicht her love to be.
If, however, the choice is not satisfactory, he may reply:--
I'll set her up on the auld fael dyke,
Where she may rot ere I be ripe;
The corbies her auld banes wadna pyke.
Or (if the maiden be of surly temper):--
I'll set her up on the high crab-tree,
It's sour and dour, and sae is she;
She may gang to the mools unkissed for me.
But he may decline civilly, by saying:--
She's for another, she's no for me,
I thank ye for your courtesie.
A similar ritual is gone through with respect to one of the gentler sex,
where such rhymes as the following are used. In the case of acceptance
the lady will say:--
I'll set him up at my table-head,
And feed him there wi' milk and bread.
Whereas, if the proposal is not agreeable, her reply may be:--
I'll put him on a riddle, and blaw him owre the sea,
Wha will buy [Jamie Paterson] for me?
Or:--
I'll set him up on a high lum-heid,
And blaw 'im in the air wi' poother and lead.
A refusal on either side must, of course, be atoned for by a "wadd," or
forfeit--which may consist of a piece of money, a knife, a thimble, or
any little article which the owner finds convenient for the purpose.
Then, when a sufficient number of persons have made forfeits, the
business of redeeming them commences, which may afford any amount of
amusement. He, or she, as the case happens, may be ordered to "kiss the
four corners of the room;" "bite an inch off the poker;" "kneel to the
prettiest, bow to the wittiest, and kiss the one he (or she) loves
best," or any one of a dozen similarly silly ordeals, as the doomster
proposes, may have to be gone through. When the forfeits have all been
redeemed the game is ended.
* * * * *
Similar to the foregoing, in some respects, is "~The Wadds and the
Wears~," which John Mactaggart, the writer of _The Gallovidian
Encyclopædia_, describes as (in his day) "the most celebrated amusement
of the ingle-ring" in the south-west of Scotland. As in the "Wadds,"
the players are seated round the hearth. One in the ring (says
Mactaggart), speaks as follows:--
I hae been awa' at the wadds and the wears,
These seven lang years;
And's come hame a puir broken ploughman;
What will ye gie me to help me to my trade?
He may either say he's a "puir broken ploughman," or any other trade;
but since he has chosen that trade, some of the articles belonging to it
must always be given or offered, in order to recruit him. But the
article he most wants he privately tells one of the party, who is not
allowed, of course, to offer him anything, as he knows the thing, which
will throw the _offerer_ in a _wadd_, and must be avoided as much as
possible--for to be in a _wadd_ is a very serious matter, as shall
afterwards be explained. Now the one on the left hand of the poor
ploughman makes the first offer, by way of answer to what above was
said: "I'll gie ye a _coulter_ to help ye to your trade."
The ploughman answers, "I don't thank ye for your _coulter_, I hae ane
already." Then another offers him another article belonging to the
ploughman's business, such as the _mool-brod_, but this also is refused;
another, perhaps, gives the _sock_, another the _stilts_, another the
_spattle_, another the _naigs_, another the _naig-graith_, and so on;
until one gives the _soam_, which was the article he most wanted, and
was the thing secretly told to one, and is the thing that throws the
giver in a _wadd_, out of which he is relieved in the following
manner:--
The ploughman says to the one in the _wadd_, "Whether will ye hae three
questions and twa commands, or three commands and twa questions, to
answer or gang on wi', sae that ye may win oot o' the _wadd_?" For the
one so fixed has always the choice which of these alternatives to take.
Suppose he takes the first, two commands and three questions, then a
specimen of these may run so:--
"I command ye to kiss the _crook_," says the ploughman, which must be
completely obeyed by the one in the _wadd_--his naked lips must salute
the _sooty_ implement.
"Secondly," saith the ploughman, "I command ye to stand up in that neuk,
and say--
'Here stan' I, as stiffs a stake,
Wha'll kiss me for pity's sake?'"
Which must also be done; in a corner of the house must he stand and
repeat that couplet, till some tender-hearted lass relieves him. Now for
the questions which are most deeply laid, or so _touching_ to him, that
he finds much difficulty to answer them.
"Firstly, then, Suppose ye were sittin' aside Maggie Lowden and Jennie
Logan, your twa great sweethearts, what ane o'm wad ye ding ower, and
what ane wad ye turn to and clap and cuddle?" He makes answer by
choosing Maggie Lowden, perhaps, to the great mirth of the party.
"Secondly, then, Suppose you were standin' oot i' the cauld, on the tap
o' Cairnhattie, whether wad ye cry on Peggie Kirtle or Nell o'
Killimingie to come wi' your plaid?"
He answers again in a similar manner.
"Lastly, then, Suppose you were in a boat wi' Tibbie Tait, Mary Kairnie,
Sallie Snadrap, and Kate o' Minnieive, and it was to cowp wi' ye, what
ane o'm wad ye _sink_? what ane wad ye _soom_? wha wad ye bring to lan'?
and wha wad ye marry?" Then he answers again, to the fun of the
company, perhaps, in this way, "I wad sink Mary Kairnie, soom Tibbie
Tait, bring Sallie Snadrap aneath my oxter to lan', and marry sweet Kate
o' Minnieive."
And so ends that bout at the _wadds and the wears_.
* * * * *
But the games engaged in exclusively by the "wee folks" are the really
delightsome ones. Such is "~The Widow of Babylon~," the ritual of which,
less elaborate, resembles that of "Merry-Ma-Tanzie," though the rhymes
are different. Girls only play here. One is chosen for the centre. The
others, with hands joined, form a ring about her, and move round
briskly, singing:--
Here's a poor widow from Babylon,
With six poor children all alone;
One can bake, and one can brew,
One can shape, and one can sew.
One can sit at the fire and spin,
One can bake a cake for the king;
Come choose you east, come choose you west,
Come choose the one that you love best.
The girl in the middle chooses one from the ring, naming her, and
sings:--
I choose the fairest that I do see,
[Jeanie Anderson] come to me.
The girl chosen enters the ring, communicating the name of her
sweetheart, when those in the ring resume their lightsome motion, and
sing:--
Now they are married, I wish them joy,
Every year a girl or boy;
Loving each other like sister and brother,
I pray this couple may kiss together.
The girls within the ring kiss. The one who first occupied the circle
then joins the ring, while the last to come in enacts the part of
mistress; and so on the game goes until all have had their turn.
* * * * *
"~London Bridge~" is a well-known and widely played game, though here
and there with slightly differing rhymes. Two children--the tallest and
strongest, as a rule--standing face to face, hold up their hands, making
the form of an arch. The others form a long line by holding on to each
other's dresses, and run under. Those running sing the first verse,
while the ones forming the arch sing the second, and alternate verses,
of the following rhyme:--
London bridge is fallen down,
Fallen down, fallen down;
London bridge is fallen down,
My fair lady.
_Question._--What will it take to build it up?
(With repeats.)
_Answer._--Needles and preens will build it up.