[127] Die Holländisch' Brück'.
[128] Mrs. R. W. Emerson, of Concord, Mass.
[129] From Prof. G. J. Webb, now of New York, who learned it from his
mother, in the Isle of Wight, his birthplace.
[130] As the last verse is sung, the raised arms of the two directors
of the game descend, and enclose the child who happens to be passing at
the time. The prisoner is then led, still confined by the arms of her
captors, to the corner which represents the prison. After this she must
choose as described on page 204, and the two sides finally pull against
each other. Our informant well remembers how seriously the matter was
taken, and how disturbed and disgraced she felt when arrested and
imprisoned.
[131] We have obtained a nearly identical, but more fragmentary version
from Waterford, Ireland, with a refrain that seems a corruption of that
belonging to the ordinary English song; thus--
London Bridge is broken down,
_Fair lady!_
How shall we build it up again?
_Grand says the little dear._
We have also, from an Irish domestic, a most curious account of the
use of the latter version in the town named. Agreeing, as it does,
in essential respects with the character which the European game now
possesses, and which the English game once evidently possessed, we do
not doubt its general correctness; but we have had no opportunity to
verify the statement of the somewhat inconsequent informant.
An actual bridge was built up with sticks and boards, and surrounded
by the ring of players, dressed in costume; without stood the Devil.
Little girls in variously colored dresses represented the angels.
The repeated fall and rebuilding of the bridge was acted out, as
described in the verses of the song; this fall was ascribed to the
malice of the Devil, who ruined it _during the night_ (watching it,
said the narrator, from the top of an ash-tree during the day).
The imprisonment of the child enclosed by the arms of the leaders was
acted out as described in the note on page 208, but in a noteworthy
fashion. A chain was taken, and wrapped round the child, in the form
of a serpent (for the Devil _is_ a serpent, said the reciter); the
captive was taken to a hut (representing apparently the entrance to the
Inferno) built by the sea. Meantime, the rest of the train called on
their leader for help; but he answered, "the Devil has five feet, and
thirteen eyes, and is stronger than I!" The performance lasted five
hours; and the name of the edifice was the Devil's Bridge.
In this Irish game, tests were employed to determine whether the
captive should belong to the Devil or not. One of these was the ability
to walk on a straight line drawn on the ground.
On the windows of French mediæval churches devils may be seen
surrounding the condemned with a great chain, which they use to drag
them into their clutches.
[132] Or, his _wife_.
[133]
À l'épayelle (that is, in the _basket_)
Tout du long de ciel,
Tout du long du paradis,
Saut'! Saut'! Saut souris!
[134] See No. 154, E, and note.
[135] Game of New York German children: "Wer ist daraus?" "Der Engel
mit dem goldenen Strauss." "Was will er?" "Eine Farbe." "Was für eine?"
"Blau," etc. Then "Der Engel mit dem Feuerhaken" comes forward, and so
on, "bis alle Farben fort sind."
[136] An imitation of knocking. Italian, Din-din; French, pan! pan! etc.
[137] The dialogue is: "Pan! pan!" "Qui est-ce qui est la?" "C'est le
diable avec sa fourche." "Que veut-il?" "Un animal." "Entrez."
[138] A line and a half are wanting.
[139]
"I charge my daughters every one,
To keep good house while I am gone.
_You_ and _you_ [points] but specially _Sue_,
Or else I'll beat you black and blue."
From "Nursery Rhymes of England," where it is said to be a game of
the Gypsy, who "during the mother's absence comes in, entices a child
away, and hides her. This process is repeated till all the children are
hidden, when the mother has to find them."
[140] This verse is borrowed from another game, No. 102. The drama
opens with a foreboding. The prophetic soul of the mother uses the
lament of a hen who has lost one of her brood.
[141] Or any elevated position. Also, _in heaven_.
[142] This Urschel is a mythologic character. When the children of
Pfüllingen climb the Urschelberg, where she lives, each child deposits
on a certain stone two or three horn buttons as an offering. On
returning, they observe whether she has not taken them away; and, even
if the buttons remain, they are sure that she has taken pleasure in
them. When they pass a certain slope they roll down perforated stones
(called "suns"), and the child whose "sun" rolls farthest says with
pride, "Urschel liked my present best."
Urschel passes for an enchanted maiden, whose original name was Prisca.
Every four centuries she plants a beech-tree for the cradle of the
youth whose love is at last to release her. The chosen shepherd sees
her sitting by the road-side, in the shape of an old woman, dressed in
green gown and red stockings. But none has ever dared to wed her for
the sake of the castle and treasure she offers.
[143] "Le Diable Boîteux."
[144] "An Ogree is a giant with long teeth and claws, with a Raw Head
and Bloody Bones, and runs away with naughty boys and girls, and eats
them all up."--Story of the "Sleeping Beauty," as given in an old
chap-book.
[145]
Où est la belle Marguerite,
Ogier, beau chevalier?