The existence of any children's tradition in America, maintained
independently of print, has hitherto been scarcely noticed. Yet it
appears that, in this minor but curious branch of folk-lore, the vein
in the United States is both richer and purer than that so far worked
in Great Britain. These games supply material for the elucidation of
a subject hitherto obscure: they exhibit the true relation of ancient
English lore of this kind to that of the continent of Europe; while
the amusements of youth in other languages are often illustrated by
American custom, which compares favorably, in respect of compass and
antiquity, with that of European countries.
Of the two branches into which the lore of the nursery may be
divided--the tradition of children and the tradition of nurses--the
present collection includes only the former. It is devoted to formulas
of play which children have preserved from generation to generation,
without the intervention, often without the knowledge, of older minds.
Were these--trifling as they often are--merely local and individual,
they might be passed over with a smile; but being English and European,
they form not the least curious chapter of the history of manners
and customs. It has therefore been an essential part of the editor's
object to exhibit their correspondences and history; but, unwilling to
overcloud with cumbrous research that healthy and bright atmosphere
which invests all that really belongs to childhood, he has thought it
best to remand to an appendix the necessary references, retaining in
the text only so much as may be reasonably supposed of interest to the
readers in whom one or another page may awaken early memories.
He has to express sincere thanks to the friends, in different parts of
the country, whose kind assistance has rendered possible this volume,
in which almost every one of the older states is represented; and he
will be grateful for such further information as may tend to render the
collection more accurate and complete.
The melodies which accompany many of the games have been written from
the recitation of children by S. Austen Pearce, Mus. Doc. Oxon.