We've come to see Georgina.
Then follows--]
She was coming downstairs with a basin of water, and she fell
down and broke her toe, and she's dead.
And what shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in?
And what shall we dress her in? Dress her in red.
Red for the soldiers, soldiers, soldiers,
Red for the soldiers, and that shan't do.
[Then follow blue for the sailors, black for the mourners, and
finally--]
What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in?
What shall we dress her in? Dress her in white.
White for the dead people, dead people, dead people,
White for the dead people, and that will do.
--Auchencairn, Kirkcudbright (A. C. Haddon).
XVII. How's poor Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo?
He's very ill.
Oh, very good, very good, very good.
How's poor Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo?
He's fallen downstairs and broken his neck.
Oh, very good, very good, very good.
How's poor Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo?
He's dead.
Oh, very good, very good, very good.
--Annaverna, Louth, Ireland (Miss R. Stephen).
(_b_) Two children stand apart; one, who personates the Mother, stands
still and holds out her skirts with both hands; the other personates
Jenny Jones, and kneels or stoops down in a crouching position behind
her companion's outstretched skirts. The other players form a line by
joining hands. They sing the first, third, and every alternate verse,
advancing and retiring in line while doing so. The Mother sings the
answers to their questions, standing still and hiding Jenny Jones all
the time from view. When the verses are finished, Jenny Jones lies down
as if she were dead, and the Mother stands aside. Two of the other
players then take up Jenny Jones, one by the shoulders and the other by
the feet, and carry her a little distance off, where they lay her on the
ground. All the players follow, generally two by two, with their
handkerchiefs at their eyes and heads lowered, pretending to grieve.
This is the more general way of playing the game. In those versions
where the reply, "Very well, ladies," occurs, this is sung by the line
of children just before they sing, "We've come to see Jenny Jones."
Sometimes, as in the Berrington and Chirbury game, two lines of children
facing each other advance and retire, singing the verses. They then
carry Jenny Jones to a corner, lay her down, stand in a circle round,
and sing to her the last verse. In the Hants versions sent by Miss
Mendham, six or eight children carry Jenny stretched out and flat, lay
her down, cover her over, and then sing the last lines. The rest of the
children follow them. In the Irish (Belfast) version the game is played
in the same way; the funeral is arranged, when Jenny suddenly comes to
life again (W. H. Patterson). In the Southampton version, after the
carrying of Jenny by her head and feet to the grave, and the other
children following and standing round, Jenny Jones rises up and pursues
the children. She is called the Ghost. The children run away in affected
terror, calling out, "The Ghost!" Whoever she catches becomes Jenny
Jones in the next game. This incident is also played in the Barnes,
Northants, Annaverna, co. Louth, Enborne and Liphook versions.
(_c_) This game is played very generally throughout the country, and I
have other versions collected from Earls Heaton (Mr. H. Hardy), Barnes
(A. B. Gomme), Cambridge (Mrs. Haddon), Hampshire (Miss Mendham),
Frodingham (Miss Peacock), Cowes, Isle of Wight (Miss E. Smith),
Sulhampstead, Berks (Miss Thoyts), and Platt, Kent (Miss Burne). These
versions are so similar to the Hanwell version, with the exception of
the "Very well, ladies," that it is needless to print them in full;
special differences are noted hereafter. In some places the game is said
in a sing-song manner.
Some of the versions differ from the general type in two ways--first, in
the method of playing; secondly, in the wording of the verses. The
differences in the method of playing direct attention to the connection
of the game with ancient custom. The game is always played by the
players taking sides; but one method is for one side to consist of only
two children (Mother and Jenny Jones), and the other side to consist of
all the other players; while the other method is for the players to be
divided into two sides of about equal numbers, each side advancing and
retiring in line when singing their part. Jenny Jones in some cases
walks with the girls in her line until the funeral, when she is carried
to the grave, and in others she stands alone behind the line. The way of
performing the funeral also differs. Generally two of the players carry
Jenny to the grave, the rest following two by two; but in one Hampshire
version six or eight children carry Jenny, stretched out and flat, to
the grave, and cover her over; in Holywood, co. Down, she is carried
sitting on the crossed hands of two players; while in some versions no
funeral is apparently performed, the words only being sung. Another
significant incident is the Ghost. An additional incident occurs in the
Liphook version, which represents her being "swung to life again" by two
of the players.
These differences may perhaps be immaterial to the meaning and origin of
the game, but they are sufficiently indicative of early custom to
suggest the divergence of the game in modern times towards modern
custom. Thus the players divided line-by-line follow the general form
for children playing singing games, and it would therefore suggest
itself as the earlier form for this game. The change of the game from
the line-by-line action to the mother-and-line action would indicate a
corresponding change in the prevailing custom which influenced the game.
This custom was the wooing by a band of suitors of girls surrounded by
their fellow-villagers, which became obsolete in favour of ordinary
marriage custom. The dropping out of this custom would cause the game to
change from a representation of both wooing and burial to one of burial
only. As burial only the mother-and-line action is sufficient, but the
presence of a wooing incident in the earlier form of the game is plainly
revealed by the verse which sings, "Fare ye well, ladies," or, as it has
become in the English variant, "Very well, ladies."
The difference in the wording of the versions is slight, and does not
need formal analysis. Domestic occupation is shown throughout, washing
and its attendants, drying, folding, starching and ironing being by far
the most numerous, brewing, and baking only occurring in one. Illness,
dying, and death are the usual forms for the later verses, but illness
and dying are lost in several versions. The choosing of colours is in
some versions not for the mourners but for the dead maiden, and in these
cases (six) white is the colour chosen, for "white's what the dead
wear."
This question of colours for the dead is a very important one. The
dressing of the dead body of a maiden in white by her girl companions,
and the carrying of the body by them to the grave, are known village
customs, the whole village being invited to the funeral. The rising of
the dead lover, and the belief that excessive mourning over a loved one
disturbs his or her rest in the grave, thus causing the dead to rise and
speak, are shown in old ballads; the belief that spirits of the dead
haunt churchyards and places of their former abode may also be adduced
in illustration of the ghost incident.
(_d_) The methods of playing, and the incidents revealed by the verses
sung, show that this is perhaps the most realistic of all the singing
games, the daily occupation, the illness, death, and burial being
portrayed, first, in the words of the rhymes, and secondly, by the
accompanying action. The Scottish versions make the opening incident
that of a lover coming to the house of the loved one, then proceed to
the domestic occupation, and finally to the death incident; while the
English versions give the idea of village friends calling upon a
favourite companion, and subsequently attending her funeral. That the
former is the older of the two versions is confirmed by the great
probability of the name "Jenny Jones" being a degraded form of "Janet
jo." There is some evidence for this. The Sporle version gives it as
"Jenny Joe," which is clearly a misunderstood rendering of "Jenny jo."
The corruption of this into "Jenny Jones" is exactly what might be
expected from modern English ignorance of the pretty meaning of the word
jo, "dear;" and to what lengths this corruption may proceed under such
influences may be seen by versions from Earls Heaton, where we have
"Jingy Jog;" Leeds, where we get "Jilly Jog;" and the Edinburgh version,
where we have "Georgina."
This would be an argument for the Scottish home of the rhymes, and for
the direct borrowing of the name from Scotland by the English villagers.
In furtherance of this view the following passage from Chambers may be
quoted:--
In the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, "Janet Jo" is a dramatic
entertainment amongst young rustics. Suppose a party has met in a
harvest or winter evening round a good peat fire, and it is resolved to
have "Janet Jo" performed. Two undertake to personate a goodman and a
goodwife; the rest a family of marriageable daughters. One of the lads,
the best singer of the party, retires, and equips himself in a dress
proper for representing an old bachelor in search of a wife. He comes
in, bonnet in hand, bowing, and sings--
Guid e'en to ye, maidens a',
Maidens a', maidens a',
Guid e'en to ye, maidens a',
Be ye or no.
I'm come to court Janet jo,
Janet jo, Janet jo,
I'm come to court Janet jo,
Janet, my jo.
Goodwife sings--What'll ye gie for Janet jo,
Janet jo, Janet jo?
What'll ye gie for Janet jo,
Janet, my jo?
Wooer--I'll gie ye a peck o' siller,
A peck o' siller, peck o' siller,
I'll gie ye a peck o' siller,
For Janet, my jo.
Goodwife says--Gae awa', ye auld carle!
Then sings--Ye'se never get Janet jo,
Janet jo, Janet jo,
Ye'se never get Janet jo,
Janet, my jo.
The wooer hereupon retires, singing a verse expressive of mortification,
but soon re-enters with a reassured air, singing--
I'll gie ye a peck o' gowd,
A peck o' gowd, a peck o' gowd,
I'll gie ye a peck o' gowd,
For Janet, my jo.
The matron gives him a rebuff as before, and he again retires
discomfited, and again enters, singing an offer of "twa pecks o' gowd,"
which, however, is also refused. At his next entry he offers "three
pecks o' gowd," at which the good wife brightens up and sings--
Come ben beside Janet jo,
Janet jo, Janet jo,
Ye're welcome to Janet jo,
Janet, my jo.
The suitor then advances gaily to his sweetheart, and the affair ends in
a scramble for kisses.--_Popular Rhymes_, pp. 141, 142.
On the other hand, it must not be overlooked that this game-drama and
the game of "Janet Jo" have no connection beyond the name of the heroine
and the wooing incident; so that the borrowing, if borrowing there be,
might have been by Scotland, who improved the commonplace "Jenny Jones"
into the pretty sweetness of her Scottish namesake. The Scottish version
of the game leaves out the question of the colours for mourning, but, on
the other hand, it contains the very important incident of the
restoration of the dead. Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 141) suggests
that this incident was introduced for the purpose of beginning the game
again, but this seems extremely doubtful, in consideration of the
Liphook variant, in which Miss Fowler says, "It is no uncommon thing for
'Jenny Jones' to be swung into life again;" and the still more
significant Southampton version, where "'Jenny Jones' appears in the
character of the Ghost, and scatters and pursues the surrounding
mourners." This detail is also used by the Northants and Barnes
children, the version of whose game is very like the Southampton one. On
the whole, the analysis would suggest that there has been a game played
by the children of both England and Scotland, the leading incidents of
which have been varied in accordance with the conditions of life. Mr.
Napier (_Folk-lore Record_, iv. 474), in his description of the West
Scotland example, evidently considered the game to be thoroughly
representative of Scottish life, and this, indeed, seems to be the most
striking feature of the game in all the variants. The domestic economy
which they reveal is in no case out of keeping with the known facts of
everyday peasant life, and many a mother has denied to her child's
friends the companionship they desired because of the work to be done.
In most cases the burden of the song rests upon the question of health,
but in two cases, namely, Colchester and Deptford, the question is put
as to where "Jenny Jones" is at the time of the visit. It is curious
that the refrain of "Farewell, ladies," should appear in such widely
separated districts as Scotland, Northamptonshire, Norfolk, Middlesex,
Hants, Lincoln, and Barnes.
With reference to the colours for mourning, there is an obvious addition
of crape introduced into the Deptford version which is very suggestive
of the decadence going on. The four colours used in most versions are
red, blue, white, and black, colours which have been known to the people
from ancient times. Black is accepted as the correct colour in all
versions except five, where white is declared to be the colour which the
dead wear. The method of question and answer is adopted for all the
rhyme-movements. The tune of the game, with but slight variation, in all
the versions is the same as that given from Platt, near Wrotham, except
the two which are printed from Northants and Belfast.
Jenny Mac
Jenny Mac, Jenny Mac, Jenny Macghie,
Turn your back about to me;
And if you find an ill baubee,
Lift it up and gie't to me.
Two girls cross their arms behind their backs, and thus taking hold of
each other's hands, parade along together, by daylight or moonlight,
occasionally turning upon their arms, as indicated in the rhyme.
Another rhyme for this amusement is--
A basket, a basket, a bonny penny basket,
A penny to you, and a penny to me,
Turn about the basket.
--Chambers's _Popular Rhymes_; p. 123.
See "Basket."
Jib-Job-Jeremiah
An undescribed Suffolk game.--Moor's _Suffolk Words_, p. 238.
Jiddy-cum-jiddy
A northern name for "See Saw."
Jingle-the-bonnet
A game in which two or more put a halfpenny each, or any piece of coin,
into a cap or bonnet. After jingling or shaking them together, they are
thrown on the ground; and he who has most heads when it is his turn to
jingle, gains the stakes which were put into the bonnet.--Jamieson.
Halliwell (_Dictionary_) says this is a northern name for the game of
"Shake Cap," and Brockett (_North Country Words_) speaks of it as a game
much practised among the young pitmen and keelmen.
Jingo-ring
Here we go by jingo-ring, jingo-ring, jingo-ring,
Here we go by jingo-ring, and round by merry-ma-tansy.
--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).
Sung to the "Mulberry" or "Ivy bush" tune.
The children form a ring and dance round singing. At the last word they
all fall down.
See "Merry-ma-tansa."
Jinkie
A game among children, in which they run round a table trying to catch
one whose business is by quick turns to elude them.--Jamieson.
Jock and Jock's Man
A juvenile sport in which the _bon camarada_ is to repeat all the pranks
which the leader can perform.--Brockett's _North Country Words_.
See "Follow my Gable," "Follow my Leader."
Jockie Blind-man
Scotch name for "Blind Man's Buff."--Jamieson.
See "Blind Man's Buff."
Joggle along
I. Come all you young men
In your youthful ways,
And sow your wild oats
In your youthful days.
Then you'll be happy,
Then you'll be happy,
As you grow old.
For the day's far spent,
And the night's coming on,
So give us your arm, and
We'll joggle along.
--Penzance, Cornwall (Mrs. Mabbott).
II. Come all ye young men, with your wicked ways,
Sow all your wild oats in your youthful days,
That we may live happy, that we may live happy,
That we may live happy when we grow old.
The day is far spent, the night's coming on,
Give us your arm, and we'll joggle along,
That we may live happy, &c., &c.
--Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 57).
(_b_) There must be an odd number of players at this game. They form
into couples, each standing behind the other, making a ring, the girls
inside, one boy standing alone in the middle. As they go round they sing
the verse. At the end each boy leaves hold of his partner's arm and
catches the arm of the girl in front, the one who is standing in the
centre trying in the confusion to get into a place. If he succeeds, the
child left out has to be the one in the centre the next time.
(_c_) Mr. Newell (_Games_, p. 101) says this game was called the
"Baptist Game" in Virginia, where it is said to be enjoyed by pious
people who will not dance. The American game is played in the same way
as the English one. Mr. Newell gives the tune to which the game was
sung. The words are almost identical. This game is played in the same
way as "Jolly Miller," which see.
Johnny Rover
One boy is chosen to be Johnny Rover. The other players stand near him.
Rover cries out--
A [I] warn ye ance, A warn you twice;
A warn ye three times over;
A warn ye a' t' be witty an' wise
An flee fae Johnny Rover.
While the words are being repeated all the players are putting
themselves on the alert, and when they are finished they run off in all
directions, with Rover in full pursuit. If a player is hard pressed he
has the privilege of running to "Parley," the place from which the
players started, and which in all games is an asylum. If he is caught
before he reaches it, he becomes Johnny Rover for the next game. The one
first captured becomes Rover.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
Jolly Fishermen
[Music]
--Tean, North Staffs. (Miss Burne).
I. They were two jolly fishermen,
They were two jolly fishermen,
They were two jolly fishermen,
And just come from the sea,
And just come from the sea.
They cast their nets into the sea,
And jolly fish caught we,
And jolly fish caught we,
And jolly fish caught we,
They cast their nets into the sea,
And jolly fish caught we.
--Tean and Cheadle, North Staffs. (Miss Burne).
II. There was three jolly fishermen,
And they all put out to sea.
They cast their nets into the sea,
And the [three?] jolly fish caught we.
--North Staffs. Potteries (Mrs. Thomas Lawton).
(_b_) A circle is formed by joining hands, and two children stand in the
centre. They walk round. At the seventh line the two in the centre each
choose one child from the ring, thus making four in the centre. They
then sing the remaining four lines. The two who were first in the centre
then go out, and the game begins again, with the other two players in
the centre.
(_c_) Miss Burne says this game is more often played as "Three Jolly
Fishermen." At Cheadle, North Staffs., a few miles distant from Tean,
this game is played by grown-up men and women.
Jolly Hooper
I. Here comes a [or one] jolly hooper,
Ring ding di do do,
Ring ding di do do.
And who are you looking for,
In a ring ding di do do,
In a ring ding di do do?
I am looking for one of your daughters,
In a ring ding di do do,
In a ring ding di do do.
What shall her name be,
In a ring ding di do do,
In a ring ding di do do?
Her name shall be [Sarah],
In a ring ding di do do,
In a ring ding di do do.
Sarah shall ramble,
In a ring ding di do do,
In a ring ding di do do,
All around the chimney [jubilee] pot in 1881.
--Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).
II. I've come for one of your daughters,
With a ring a ding a my dolly;
I've come for one of your daughters
On this bright shining night.
Pray, which have you come for,
With a ring a ding a my dolly?
Pray which have you come for
On this bright shining night?
I've come for your daughter Mary,
With a ring a ding a my dolly;
I've come for your daughter Mary
On this bright shining night.
Then take her, and welcome,
With a ring a ding a my dolly;
Then take her, and welcome,
On this bright shining night [incomplete].
--Sheffield (S. O. Addy).
(_b_) A number of children stand against a wall, and a row of other
children face them. They walk backwards and forwards, singing the first
and third verses. Then the children who are standing still (against the
wall) answer by singing the second and fourth verses. When these are
sung the moving line of children take Mary and dance round, singing
"some lines which my informant," says Mr. Addy, "has forgotten."
(_c_) I have no description of the way Miss Chase's game is played. It,
too, is probably an incomplete version. The words "Ring ding di do do
"show a possible connection between this and games of the "Three Dukes
a-riding" type. They may or may not be variants of the same game.
See "Here comes a Lusty Wooer," "Here comes a Virgin," "Jolly Rover,"
"Three Dukes."
Jolly Miller
[Music]
--Epworth, Doncaster (C. C. Bell).
[Music]
--Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).
[Music]
--Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).
I. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself,
As the wheel went round he made his pelf;
One hand in the hopper, and the other in the bag,
As the wheel went round he took his grab.
--Leicester (Miss Ellis).
II. There was a jolly miller, he lived by himself,
As the mill went round he made his wealth;
One hand in the hopper, another in his bag,
As the wheel went round he made his grab.
--Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).
III. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself,
As the wheel goes round he makes his wealth;
One hand in his hopper, and the other in his bag,
As we go round he makes his grab.
--Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy).
IV. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself,
As the mill went round he gained his wealth;
One hand in the hopper, and the other in the bag,
As the mill went round he made his grab.
Sandy he belongs to the mill,
And the mill belongs to Sandy still,
And the mill belongs to Sandy.
--Addy's _Sheffield Glossary_.
V. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself,
As the wheel went round he made his wealth;
One hand in the upper and the other in the bank,
As the wheel went round he made his wealth.
--Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy).
VI. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself,
As the wheel went round he made his grab;
One hand in the other, and the other in the bag,
As the wheel went round he made his grab.
--Nottinghamshire (Miss Winfield).
VII. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself (or by the
Dee),
The sails went round, he made his ground;
One hand in his pocket, the other in his bag.
--North Staffs. Potteries (Miss A. A. Keary).
(_b_) This game requires an uneven number of players. All the children
except one stand in couples arm in arm, each couple closely following
the other. This forms a double ring or wheel (fig. 1). The odd child
stands in the centre. The children forming the wheel walk round in a
circle and sing the verse. When they come to the word "grab," those
children standing on the _inside_ of the wheel leave hold of their
partners' arms, and try to catch hold of the one standing immediately in
front of their previous partners. The child in the centre (or Miller)
tries (while they are changing places) to secure a partner and place
(fig. 2). If he succeeds in doing this, the one then left out becomes
the Miller. At Leicester the "odd" child, or "miller," stands _outside_
the wheel or ring, instead of being in the centre, and it is the outside
children who change places. Mr. Addy, in the Sheffield version, says,
"The young men stand in the outer ring, and the young women in the
inner. A man stands within the inner circle, quite near to it. The men
try and grasp the arm of the girl in front of them, and the man in the
centre also tries to grasp one; the man he displaces taking his place as
Miller. Then the three last lines are sung."
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]