_BIRD AND BEAST._
"My brother, the hare,... my sisters, the doves...."
_St. Francis of Assisi._
No. 48.
_My Household._
The names of animals being distributed among children, one, in the
centre of the ring, sings the words; at the proper point the child who
represents the animal must imitate its cry; and as at each verse the
animals who have already figured join in, the game becomes rather noisy.
I had a little rooster, and my rooster pleased me,
I fed my rooster beneath that tree;
My rooster went--Cookery-cooery!
Other folks feed their rooster, I feed my rooster too.
I had a little lamb, and my lamb pleased me,
I fed my lamb beneath that tree;
My lamb went--Ma--a--a!
Other folks feed their lamb, I feed my lamb too.
And so on with the names of other beasts.
_Georgia._
In another version, it is under the "green bay-tree" (_Magnolia
glauca_) that the animals are stabled.
* * * * *
This is another of the games which have been widely distributed through
Europe, and date back to a remote past. At present, with us it is a
child's jest, the noisy imitation of animal cries; but, as in all such
cases, sense preceded sound. Comparing German versions, we see that our
game is properly a song, the idea of which consists in the enumeration
by significant and comical names of the members and possessions of
a family. "When I was a poor woman, I went over the Rhine: my goose
was called _Wag-tail_, my maid _So he said_, my pig _Lard-pot_, my
flea _Hop-i'-straw_" etc. A more courtly version gives us a pleasing
pilgrim's song: "Whence come you?--From sunset. Whither will you?--To
sunrise. To what country?--Home. Where is it?--A hundred miles away.
What is your name?--The world names me _Leap a-field_, my sword is
_Honor worth_, my wife _Pastime_, her maid _Lie-a-bed_, my child
_Rush-about_," etc.
Thus we see the ancient earnestness appearing behind the modern
mirth. It is likely that the origin of the song would take us back to
those lists of mythical titles which were regarded as conveying real
knowledge of the relations of things, at a time when a large part of
learning consisted in the knowledge of the significant names which were
given to objects.
No. 49.
_Frog-pond._
A party of children, who represent frogs by a hopping motion. At the
word "kough," they imitate the croaking of the frog.
[Illustration]
Come, neighbors, the moon is up,
It's pleasant out here on the bank.
Come, stick your heads out of the tank,
And let us, before we sup,
Go kough, kough, kough.
And let us, before we sup,
Go kough, kough, kough.