_HUMAN LIFE._
Lilies are white, rosemary's green;
When you are king, I will be queen.
Roses are red, lavender's blue;
If you will have me, I will have you.
_Gammer Gurton's Garland._
No. 53.
_King and Queen._
This game is now a mere jest. A row of chairs is so arranged as to
leave a vacant space, which is concealed by shawls or other coverings,
and represents a throne. The courtiers having taken their places,
the newly elected monarch is ceremoniously seated by the side of his
consort, and the fun consists in witnessing his downfall.
By Strutt's description, it appears that in the beginning of the
century this was in use as a species of "hazing" in English girls'
schools:
"In some great boarding-schools for the fair sex it is customary, upon
the introduction of a novice, for the scholars to receive her with
much pretended solemnity, and decorate a throne in which she is to be
installed, in order to hear a set speech, addressed to her by one of
the young ladies in the name of the rest. The throne is wide enough
for three persons to sit conveniently, and is made with two stools,
having a tub nearly filled with water between them, and the whole is
covered with a counterpane or blanket, ornamented with ribands and
other trifling fineries, and drawn very tightly over the two stools,
upon each of which a lady is seated to keep the blanket from giving way
when the new scholar takes her place; and these are called her maids
of honor. The speech consists of high-flown compliments calculated to
flatter the vanity of the stranger; and as soon as it is concluded, the
maids of honor rising suddenly together, the counterpane of course
gives way, and poor miss is unexpectedly immerged in the water."
In Austria the same game is called "conferring knighthood." All present
are dressed as knights, in paper helmets, great mustachios, sticks for
lances, wooden swords, etc. Two, who represent the oldest knights, are
seated on the two stools, between which is a vacant space, while the
rest form a half-circle about the _Grand Master_, who wears a mask
and wig, and holds a great roll of paper. Meanwhile the candidate, in
a separate room, is prepared by two knights for the ceremony; these
instruct him in his behavior, until the embassy arrives to lead him
before the Grand Master. The latter delivers a solemn address, and
from the document in his hands reads the rule of the order--silence,
courage, truth, etc. Then follows the vow, the delivery of the knightly
costume, and the solemn bestowal of the stroke which dubs the victim a
knight. He is finally invited to take his seat in the circle, with the
result described in our own jest.
The name, "King and Queen," recalls a game as old as history, that of
electing a king, who proceeded to confer offices of state, and assign
duties. Herodotus tells us how the child Cyrus showed his royal birth
by the severity with which he punished his disobedient subjects. In
Switzerland, the children still choose, by "counting out," a king
and an executioner. The king proceeds to impose tasks. Geiler of
Kaisersberg, in a sermon, A.D. 1507, gives the formula then in use in
the game: "Sir king, I wish to serve you." "And what is your service?"
"What you command me, I would execute." "I bid you do an honor to the
king." For this game, as still played in Switzerland, a queen is also
chosen; after a time, the king exclaims, "I make a journey," when the
whole company, in couples, follow him through the chambers of the house
or streets of the town on his royal progress. The old English game of
"Questions and Commands" seems to have been the same. A writer in the
_Gentlemen's Magazine_, February, 1738, gives its formula: "King I
am," says one boy; another answers, "I am your man." Then his majesty
demands what service will he do him; to which the obsequious courtier
replies, "The best, and worst, and all I can."
No. 54.
_Follow Your Leader._
In this game, the leader having been chosen by "speaking first," or
"counting out," the rest must do whatever he does. It is usually played
out-of-doors, and the children "follow their leader" in a row, across
roads, fences, and ditches, jumping from heights, and creeping under
barriers.[90] We are told that the game is played in a peculiarly
reckless fashion in the South, where the leader will sometimes go under
a horse's legs or between the wheels of a wagon, whereupon the driver,
knowing what to expect, will stop for the rest.
No doubt this sport, now a mere exhibition of daring, has an ancient
origin and history. Perhaps it was a development of the _king game_,
already referred to.
The technical word for challenge among children in America is "stump."
One boy "stumps" another to do a thing. Whence derived?
No. 55.
_Truth._
The game of "Truth," as played in Massachusetts, is described by Miss
Alcott in her "Little Women," chapter xii. The players are there said
to pile up their hands, choose a number, and draw out in turn, and the
person who draws his or her hand from the pile at the number selected
has to answer truly any questions put by the rest.
We have heard of a party of young people who met regularly to play this
game, but have been assured that it proved prolific of quarrels.
No. 56.
_Initiation._
We have seen that the imitation of the ceremony of knighthood is still
a form of childish amusement in Europe. Here follows a jesting New
England formula for such a purpose, though not a game of children, but
belonging to an older age:
"You must promise to obey three rules: first, never to do to-day what
you can put off till to-morrow; secondly, never to eat brown bread when
you can get white; thirdly, never to kiss the maid when you can kiss
the mistress, unless the maid is prettier than the mistress."
These vows having been taken, it is then said, "Now I dub you knight of
the whistle." Meantime a whistle having been attached to the back of
the candidate, the fun consists in his attempts to discover the person
who blew it.
No. 57.
_Judge and Jury._
A child is chosen to be judge, two others for jurors (or, to speak with
our little informant, _juries_), who sit at his right and left hand.
Each child must ask the permission of the judge before taking any step.
A platter is brought in, and a child, rising, asks the judge, "May I go
into the middle of the room?" "May I turn the platter?" "On which side
shall it fall?"
If the platter falls on the wrong side, forfeit must be paid.
_Cambridge, Mass._
The nursery, we see, does not understand republicanism. The fairy tale
has never got beyond the period in which the monarch orders the wicked
witch to immediate execution.
In the ancient world, however, where the courts were a place of resort,
and law was not a specialized profession, the case was different.
Maximus of Tyre tells us that the children had their laws and
tribunals; condemnation extended to the forfeiture of toys. Cato the
Younger, according to Plutarch, had his detestation of tyranny first
awakened by the punishment inflicted on a playmate by such a tribunal.
One of the younger boys had been sentenced to imprisonment; the doom
was duly carried into effect, but Cato, moved by his cries, rescued him.
In a German game there is a king, a judge, an executioner, an accuser,
and a thief. The parts are assigned by drawing lots, but the accuser
does not know the name of the thief, and, if he makes an error, has
to undergo the penalty in his stead. The judge finally addresses the
king, inquiring if his majesty approves of his decision; and the king
replies, "Yes, your sentence entitles you to my favor;" or, "No, your
sentence entitles you to so many blows." Thus we see how modern
child's play respects the dignity of the king as the fountain of law.
In a Swiss sport the thief flies, and is chased over stock and stone
until caught, when he is made to kneel down, his cap pushed over his
brows, and his head immediately struck off with the edge of a board. So
is preserved the memory of the severity of ancient criminal law.
No. 58.
_Three Jolly Sailors._
Here comes a set of jolly sailor-boys,
Who lately came on shore;
They spend their time in drinking of the wine,
As they have done before.
As we go round, and around and around,
As we go round once more.
_New York streets._
At the second verse, the little girls by whom this round is danced
turn so as to follow each other in an endless chain, each grasping the
skirts of the child in front, while they move faster and faster to the
lively tune.
Some of our readers may think this song not a very creditable specimen
of modern invention; but it is no doubt a relic of antiquity. A similar
round, given in "Deuteromelia," 1609 (as cited by Chappell), begins:
We be three poor mariners, newly come from the seas;
We spend our lives in jeopardy, while others live at ease.
The children of the poorer class, therefore, who still keep up in the
streets of our cities the present ring-dance, are only maintaining the
customs which belonged to courtiers and noble ladies in the time of
Shakespeare.
No. 59.
_Marching to Quebec._
This piece of doggerel may be of revolutionary origin, as it can be
traced to near the beginning of the present century. It is unusual for
political or military events to be alluded to in children's games.
As we were marching to Quebec,
The drums were loudly beating;
The Americans have won the day,
The British are retreating.
March! march! march! march!
So the game was played in Philadelphia in the childhood of a lady born
at the end of the last century. In Massachusetts and Maine it continued
to be popular until within a few years, as follows:
We were marching to Quebec,
The drums were loudly beating;
America has gained the day,
The British are retreating.
The war is o'er, and they are turned back,
For evermore departed;
So open the ring, and take one in,
For they are broken-hearted.
Oh, you're the one that I love best,
I praise you high and dearly;
My heart you'll get, my hand I'll give,
The kiss is most sincerely.
_Worcester, Mass._
That the population of Dutch extraction in New York had no deep
sympathy with the patriotic sentiments of revolutionary times seems
to be indicated in a satirical stanza, which has come to us from an
informant who learned it in youth of her aged grandmother, and which
appears also to have been originally a dance-song. We hope that errors
in spelling American Dutch may be forgiven:
Loope, Junger, de roier kome--
Spann de wagen voor de Paarde!
That is,
Run, lads, the king's men are coming;
Harness the wagons before the horses!
in jesting allusion to the speed with which the patriots were supposed
to make off. The refrain is in part unintelligible to us, but seems to
belong to a dance.
No. 60.
_Sudden Departure._
A visitor approaches the ring from without, and pleads:
It snows and it blows, and it cuts off my nose,
So pray, little girl, let me in;
I'll light my pipe, and warm my toes,
And then I'll be gone again.
He is admitted into the circle, and proceeds to perform the designated
actions. Having "lighted his pipe and warmed his toes," he suddenly
attempts to make his exit from the ring (all the members of which have
clasped hands in expectation of his onset), throwing himself with that
object against a pair of linked arms.
No. 61.
_Scorn._
Such was, and perhaps still is, the name of an amusement of a not very
agreeable nature, familiar at children's parties in New England. A girl
was seated on a chair in the middle of the room, and one child after
another was led to her throne. She would turn away with an expression
of contempt, until some one approached that pleased her, who, after a
kiss, took her place.
"Derision" is the name of a game mentioned by Froissart as an amusement
of his childhood. It is not at all unlikely that the present sport
represents the old French pastime.
Speaking of representations of the passions, we may say that we have
heard of a game formerly played in New York, called "Hatred and
Revenge;" but have not succeeded in obtaining it.