given here (with the exception that the word "wealth" ends the second
line instead of "pelf"), have been sent me from East Kirkby,
Lincolnshire (Miss K. Maughan); Epworth, Doncaster (Mr. C. C. Bell);
Settle, Yorks. (Rev. W. S. Sykes); Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley); Redhill,
Surrey (Miss G. Hope); Ordsall, Nottinghamshire (Miss Matthews); Brigg,
Lincolnshire (Miss J. Barker); and there are other versions from
Hersham, Surrey (_Folk-lore Record_, v. 86); Cornwall (_Folk-lore
Journal_, v. 57); Derbyshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, i. 385); Oswestry,
Ellesmere (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 512). Miss Peacock sends a version
which obtains at Lincoln, Horncastle, Winterton, and Anderby,
Lincolnshire, and in Nottinghamshire; it is identical with the Liphook
version. Two versions from Sporle, Norfolk, which vary slightly from the
Leicester, have been sent by Miss Matthews. The versions given from
Lancashire, Yorks., Nottingham, and North Staffs. have been selected to
show the process of decadence in the game. "Hopper" has first become
"upper," and then "other." Of the North Staffs. Potteries version Miss
Keary says, "How it ends I have never been able to make out; no one
about here seems to know either." With the exception of these few
variants, it is singular how stereotyped the words of the rhyme have
become in this game.
(_d_) This game may owe its origin to the fact of the miller in olden
times paying himself in kind from the corn brought to him to be ground.
The miller is a well-known object of satire in old ballads and mediaeval
writers. It is, however, probable that the custom which formerly
prevailed at some of the public festivals, of catching or "grabbing" for
sweethearts and wives, is shown in this game. For instance, to account
for a Scottish custom it is said that St. Cowie, patron saint of two
parishes of Campbeltown, proposed that all who did not find themselves
happy and contented in the marriage state, should be indulged with an
opportunity of parting and making a second choice. For that purpose he
instituted an annual solemnity, at which all the unhappy couples in his
parish were to assemble at his church; and at midnight all present were
blindfolded and ordered to run round the church at full speed, with a
view of mixing the lots in the urn. The moment the ceremony was over,
without allowing an instant for the people present to recover from their
confusion, the word "Cabbay" (seize quickly) was pronounced, upon which
every man laid hold of the first female he met with. Whether old or
young, handsome or ugly, good or bad, she was his wife till the next
anniversary of this custom (Guthrie's _Scottish Customs_, p. 168).
Another old wedding superstition is alluded to by Longfellow:--
"While the bride with roguish eyes,
Sporting with them, now escapes and cries,
'Those who catch me, married verily this year will be.'"
See "Joggle Along."
Jolly Rover
[Music]
--Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).
Here comes one jolly rover, jolly rover, jolly rover,
Here comes one jolly rover, jolly rover, jolly rover,
A roving all day.
And what do you rove for, rove for, rove for?
And what do you rove for?
Lily white and shining.
I rove for my pleasure, my pleasure, my pleasure,
I rove for my pleasure, my pleasure, my pleasure,
Lily white and shining.
And what is your pleasure, your pleasure, your pleasure?
What is your pleasure?
Lily white and shining.
My pleasure's for to marry you, to marry you, to marry you,
My pleasure's for to marry you,
Lily white and shining.
So through the kitchen and through the hall,
I choose the fairest of them all,
The fairest one that I can see
Is ----, so come to me.
--Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley).
(_b_) A long row of children walk to and fro. One child, facing them on
the opposite side, represents the Rover. He sings the first, third, and
fifth verses. The row of children sing the second and fourth in
response. After the fifth verse is sung the Rover skips round the long
row, singing the sixth verse to the tune of "Nancy Dawson," or "Round
the Mulberry bush." He chooses one of them, who goes to the opposite
side with him, and the game goes on until all are rovers like himself.
See "Here comes a Lusty Wooer," "Jolly Hooper."
Jolly Sailors
I. Here comes one [some] jolly, jolly sailor boy,
Who lately came on shore;
He [they] spent his time in drinking wine
As we have done before.
We are the Pam-a-ram-a-ram,
We are the Pam-a-ram-a-ram,
And those who want a pretty, pretty girl,
Must kiss her on the shore,
Must kiss her on the shore.
--Warwick (from a little girl, through Mr. C. C. Bell).
II. He was a jolly, jolly sailor boy,
Who had lately come ashore;
He spent his time in drinking wine
As he had done before.
Then we will have a jolly, jolly whirl,
Then we will have a jolly, jolly whirl,
And he who wants a pretty little girl
Must kiss her on the shore.
--Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Miss Matthews).
III. Here comes one jolly sailor,
Just arrived from shore,
We'll spend our money like jolly, jolly joes,
And then we'll work for more.
We'll all around, around and around,
And if we meet a pretty little girl
We'll call her to the shore.
--Northants (Rev. W. D. Sweeting).
IV. Here comes four jolly sailor boys,
Just lately come ashore;
They spend their days in many merry ways,
As they have done before.
Round, round the ring we go,
Round, round the ring,
And he that choose his bonny, bonny lass
Must kiss her on the floor.
--Raunds (_Northants Notes and Queries_, i. 232).
V. Here come three jolly, jolly, jolly boys
As lately come from shore;
We will spend our time on a moonlight night
As we have done before.
We will have a round, a round, a round,
We will have a round, a round, a round;
Let the lad that delights in a bonny, bonny lass,
Let him kiss her on the ground.
--Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy).
VI. Here comes three jolly, jolly sailors,
Just arrived on shore;
We'll spend our money like merry, merry men,
And then we'll work for more.
Hurrah for the round, round ring,
Hurrah for the round, round ring;
And he that loves a pretty, pretty girl,
Let him call her from the ring.
--Shipley, Horsham (_Notes and Queries_, 8th series, i. 210, Miss Busk).
(_b_) This game is played at Warwick as follows:--The children form a
large ring, clasping hands and standing still. One child walks round
inside the ring, singing the verses. This child then chooses another
from the ring, bending on one knee and kissing her hand. The lines are
then repeated, the two walking arm in arm round the inside of the ring.
Another child is chosen out of the ring by the one who was chosen
previously. This goes on until all are chosen out of the ring, walking
two by two round inside. When the ring will no longer hold them, the two
walk round outside. At Northants the ring walks round, and the child is
_outside_ the ring. Partners are chosen, and the two walk round outside
the ring. The first two walk together till there is a third, then the
three walk together till there is a fourth, then they go in couples. In
the Northants version, from Raunds, four boys stand in the centre of the
ring. When the verses are sung they choose four girls, and then take
their places in the ring. The four girls then choose four lads, and so
on. At Earls Heaton the children stand against a wall in a line. Another
child walks up and down singing the verses, and chooses a partner. He
spreads a handkerchief on the ground, and they kneel and kiss.
(_c_) The Shipley version is a "Kiss in the Ring" game. A version sent
by the Rev. W. Slater Sykes from Settle, Yorkshire, is almost identical
with the Earls Heaton version. Northall (_Folk Rhymes_, p. 369) says "to
kiss on the floor"--_i.e._, not in secret. He gives the words of a sort
of musical catch, sung in the Midlands, similar in character to this
game, which may once have been used in some courting game. Mr. Newell
(_Games_, p. 124) gives a version sung in the streets of New York, and
considers it to be a relic of antiquity, a similar round being given in
_Deuteromelia_, 1609.
Jowls
A game played by boys, much the same as "Hockey," and taking its name,
no doubt, from the mode of playing, which consists in striking a wooden
ball or knorr from the ground in any given direction with a sufficiently
heavy stick, duly curved at the striking end.--Atkinson's _Cleveland
Glossary_.
It is also given in _Yorkshire Glossary_ (Whitby).
See "Bandy," "Doddart," "Hockey."
Jud
A game played with a hazel nut bored and run upon a string.--Dickinson's
_Cumberland Glossary_.
Probably the same game as "Conkers."
See "Conkers."
Keeling the Pot
Brockett mentions that a friend informed him that he had seen a game
played amongst children in Northumberland the subject of which was
"Keeling the Pot." A girl comes in exclaiming, "Mother, mother, the
pot's boiling ower." The answer is, "Then get the ladle and keel it."
The difficulty is to get the ladle, which is "up a height," and the
"steul" wants a leg, and the joiner is either sick or dead (_Glossary
North Country Words_). A sentence from _Love's Labours Lost_, "While
greasy Joan doth keel the pot," illustrates the use of the term "keel."
See "Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils over."
Keppy Ball
In former times it was customary every year, at Easter and Whitsuntide,
for the mayor, aldermen, and sheriff of Newcastle, attended by the
burgesses, to go in state to a place called the Forth, a sort of mall,
to countenance, if not to join in the play of "Keppy ba" and other
sports. This diversion is still in part kept up by the young people of
the town (Brockett's _North Country Words_). It is also mentioned in
Peacock's _Manley and Corringham Glossary_, and in Ross and Stead's
_Holderness Glossary_.
Mr. Tate (_History of Alnwick_) says that a favourite pastime of girls,
"Keppy ball," deserves a passing notice, because accompanied by a
peculiar local song. The name indicates the character of the game; "kep"
is from _cepan_, Anglo-Saxon, "kappan," Teut., "to catch or capture;"
for when the game was played at by several, the ball was thrown into the
air and "kepped," or intercepted, in its descent by one or other of the
girls, and it was then thrown up again to be caught by some other. But
when the song was sung it was played out by one girl, who sent the ball
against a tree and drove it back again as often as she could, saying the
following rhymes, in order to divine her matrimonial future:--
Keppy ball, keppy ball, Coban tree,
Come down the long loanin' and tell to me,
The form and the features, the speech and degree
Of the man that is my true love to be.
Keppy ball, keppy ball, Coban tree,
Come down the long loanin' and tell to me
How many years old I am to be.
One a maiden, two a wife,
Three a maiden, four a wife, &c.
The numbers being continued as long as the ball could be kept rebounding
against the tree.
The following from Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 298, is also used
for ball divination. To "cook" is to toss or throw.
Cook a ball, cherry tree;
Good ball, tell me
How many years I shall be
Before my true love I do see?
One and two, and that makes three;
Thankee, good ball, for telling of me.
See "Ball," "Cuckoo," "Monday."
Kibel and Nerspel
This game was played at Stixwold seventy years ago. It resembled "Trap,
Bat, and Ball." _Kibel_ = bat, _ner_ = ball of maplewood, _spel_ = trap,
with a limock (pliant) stick fastened to it. The score was made by
hitting the _ner_ a certain distance, but not by the striker running, as
in "Rounders."--Miss M. Peacock.
See "Nur and Spell."
King by your leave
"A playe that children have, where one sytting blyndefolde in the midle,
bydeth so tyll the rest have hydden themselves, and then he going to
seeke them, if any get his place in the meane space, that same is kynge
in his roome."--Huloet, 1572.
See "Hide and Seek."
King Cæsar
One player is chosen to be King Cæsar by lot or naming. All the others
stand in two rows, one row at each end of the ground. A line is drawn on
the ground in front of them to mark "dens." All the players must keep
within this line. King Cæsar stands in the middle of the ground. Any
number of the players can then rush across the ground from one den to
another. King Cæsar tries to catch one as they run. When he catches a
boy he must count from one to ten in succession before he leaves hold of
the boy, that boy in the meantime trying to get away. If King Cæsar
succeeds in holding a boy, this boy stays in the centre with him and
assists in catching the other players (always counting ten before a
captive is secured). The dens must always be occupied by some players.
If all the players get into one den, King Cæsar can go into the empty
den and say, "Crown the base, one, two, three," three times before any
of the other players get across to that den. If he succeeds in doing
this, he can select a boy to run across from one den to the other, which
that boy must do, King Cæsar trying to catch him. Other and bigger boys
can help this one to get across, to save him from being captured, either
by carrying him or running across with him. The game ends when all have
been captured and are in the centre. King Cæsar and the other captured
boys can leave the centre if they each successively catch three
players.--Barnes (A. B. Gomme).
This game is called "King-sealing" in Dorsetshire.
See "King of Cantland," "Lamploo."
King Come-a-lay
A game played by boys. Two sets of boys, or sides, strive which can
secure most prisoners for the King.--Shetland (Jamieson).
King of Cantland
A game of children, in which one of a company, being chosen King o'
Cantland, and two goals appointed at a considerable distance from each
other, all the rest endeavoured to run from one goal to the other; and
those whom the King can seize in their course, so as to lay his hand
upon their heads (which operation is called winning them), become his
subjects, and assist him in catching the remainder.--Dumfries
(Jamieson). Jamieson adds: "This game is called 'King's Covenanter' in
Roxburgh." He also refers to the game of "King and Queen of Cantelon,"
recorded by Mactaggart. He considers the origin of this game to be
representative of the contentions about the "Debatable Lands" on the
border. This game was played at University Coll. School, London, under
the name of "Kings" (A. Nutt).
See "How many miles to Barley Bridge?" "King Cæsar."
King o' the Castle
One boy is chosen as King. He mounts on any convenient height, a knoll,
or dyke, or big stone, and shouts--
A'm King o' the Castle,
An' fah (who) 'll ding (knock) me doon?
The players make a rush at the King, and try to pull him down. A tussle
goes on for a longer or a shorter time, according to the strength of the
King and his skill in driving off his assailants. The boy that displaces
the King becomes King, and is in his turn assaulted in the same way. The
game may go on for any length of time. Another form of words is--
I'm the King o' the Castle,
An' nane can ding me doon.
--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
Other words sung by the Scotch children are--
I, Willy Wastle,
Stand on my castle,
And a' the dogs o' your toon
Will no drive Willie Wastle doon.
Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 114) records the tradition that when
Oliver Cromwell lay at Haddington he sent to require the governor of
Home Castle, in Berwickshire, to surrender; the governor is said to
have replied in the above quatrain of juvenile celebrity.
The London version is for the boys to run up a hillock, when one of them
declares as follows--
I'm the King of the Castle;
Get down, you dirty rascal,
whereupon he pushes down his companions. If another boy succeeds in
getting his place he becomes King, and repeats the doggerel (G. L.
Gomme). This is a very popular boys' game. Newell (_Games_, 164)
mentions it as prevalent in Pennsylvania.
See "Tom Tiddler's Ground."
King Plaster Palacey
The players are a King and his three sons named White Cap, Red Cap,
Brown Cap. Red Cap says, "Plaster Palacey had a son, whose name was old
daddy White Cap." White Cap, in an injured voice, says, "Me, sir?" The
King says, "Yes, sir." White Cap answers, "You're a liar, sir." The King
then says, "Who then, sir?" White Cap answers, "Old daddy Red
Cap."--Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).
The game as given above is obviously incomplete, and no description as
to how the game was played was sent me. Newell (_Games_, p. 145),
describes a game, "The Cardinal's Hat," which is probably a variant of
the original game, of which the above is only a fragment. I remember
once witnessing a game in which a ball was passed from player to player,
and in which the dialogue was similar. When one player was told that the
ball was in his possession, the answer was, "What, me, sir?" "Yes, you,
sir." "Not I, sir." "Who then, sir?" "White Cap, sir;" the questions and
answers were again repeated for Red Cap, and Blue Cap. When it was Black
Cap's turn, I think the ball was thrown by this player to some one else;
whoever was hit by the ball had to chase and capture one, who became
questioner; but my recollection of the game is too slight for me to be
certain either of the dialogue or the way the game terminated (A. B.
Gomme). A game described in _Suffolk County Folk-lore_, p. 62, is
apparently a version of this. It is there described as a forfeit game.
King William
[Music]
--Earls Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).
I. King William was King David's son,
And all the royal race is run;
Choose from the east, choose from the west,
Choose the one you love the best.
Down on this carpet you shall kneel
While the grass grows in yonder field;
Salute your bride and kiss her sweet,
Rise again upon your feet.
--Hanging Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).
II. King William was King David's son,
All the royal race is run;
Choose from the east, choose from the west,
Choose the one that you love best;
If she's not here to take her part,
Choose another with all your heart.
--Sheffield (S. O. Addy).
(_b_) In Sheffield a ring of young men and women is formed. A man goes
inside the ring and walks round within it, whilst the others sing the
verse. The young man then chooses a sweetheart, and the two walk round
arm-in-arm within the ring, whilst the same verses are sung. When the
singing is ended, the girl picks a young man, and so they all pair off.
(_c_) Mr. Addy entitles this game "Kiss in the Ring." It appears,
however, from this description to lack the two principal elements of
most "kiss-in-the-ring" games--the chase between pursued and pursuer,
and the kissing in the ring when the capture is made. In the Hanging
Heaton version two children kneel and kiss in the middle of the ring.
Mr. Newell (_Games_, p. 73), in describing a game with a similar rhyme,
mentions a version which had been sent him from Waterford, Ireland. He
says, "We learn from an informant that in her town it was formerly
played in this peculiar manner. Over the head of a girl who stood in the
centre of a ring was held a shawl, sustained by four others grasping the
corners." The game then proceeded as follows--
King William was King George's son,
From the Bay of Biscay O!
Upon his breast he wore a star--
Find your way to English schools.
Down on the carpet you must kneel;
As the grass grows in the field,
Salute your bride and kiss her sweet,
And rise again upon your feet.
Then followed the game-rhyme, repeated with each stanza--
Go choose you east, go choose you west,
apparently the same as last four lines of Sheffield version. King
William is then supposed to enter--
The first girl that I loved so dear,
Can it be she's gone from me?
If she's not here when the night comes on,
Will none of you tell me where she's gone?
He then recognises the disguised girl--
There's heart beneath the willow tree,
There's no one here but my love and me.
"He had gone to the war, and promised to marry her when he came back.
She wrapped a shawl about her head to see if he would recognise her."
This was all the reciter could recollect; the lines of the ballad were
sung by an old woman, the ring answering with the game-rhyme.
This version seems to indicate clearly that in this game
we have preserved one of the ceremonies of a now obsolete
marriage-custom--namely, the disguising of the bride and placing her
among her bridesmaids and other young girls, all having veils or other
coverings alike over their heads and bodies. The bridegroom has to
select from among these maidens the girl whom he wished to marry, or
whom he had already married, for until this was done he was not allowed
to depart with his bride. This custom was continued in sport as one of
the ceremonies to be gone through after the marriage was over, long
after the custom itself was discontinued. For an instance of this see a
"Rural Marriage in Lorraine," in _Folk-lore Record_, iii. 267-268. This
ordeal occurs in more than one folk-tale, and it usually accompanies the
incident of a youth having travelled for adventures, sometimes in quest
of a bride. He succeeds in finding the whereabouts of the coveted girl,
but before he is allowed by the father to take his bride away he is
required to perform tasks, a final one being the choosing of the girl
with whom he is in love from among others, all dressed alike and
disguised. Our bridal veil may probably originate in this custom.
In the ballad from which Mr. Newell thinks the game may have originated,
a maid has been given in marriage to another than her chosen lover. He
rides to the ceremony with a troop of followers; the bride, seeing him
approach, calls on her maidens to "take off her gold crown and coif her
in linen white," to test her bridegroom's affection. This incident, I
think, is not to test "affection," but the ordeal of recognising his
bride, however disguised, and the fact that "the hero at once recognises
his love, mounts with her on horseback, and flees to Norway," may be
considered to support my view.
See also Brand, vol. ii. p. 141, under "Care Cloth."
King's Chair
Two children join hands, by crossing their arms, so as to form a seat. A
third mounts on the crossed arms, and clasps the carriers round their
necks, while they move on saying--
King, King Cairy (carry)
London lairy,
Milk an bread,
In the King's chairie.
This game is played at Keith, without the words. The words are used at
Fochabers.--Rev. W. Gregor.
Jamieson says, "Lothian children, while carrying one of their number in
this manner, repeat the following rhyme--
Lend me a pin to stick i' my thumb,
To carry the lady to London town."
He says this method of carrying is often used as a substitute for a
chair in conveying adult persons from one place to another, especially
when infirm. In other counties it is called "Queen's Cushion" and
"Queen's Chair," also "Cat's Carriage."
Brockett (_North Country Words_) says, "'King's Cushion,' a sort of seat
made by two persons crossing their hands, in which to place a third. The
thrones on the reverses of the early Royal Seals of England and Scotland
consist of swords, spears, snakes, &c., placed in the manner of a
'King's Cushion.'"
The method used is for both children to grasp the wrist of his left hand
with the right, while he lays hold of the right wrist of his companion
with his left hand. This way of hoisting or carrying is still used by
schoolboys when they desire to honour a boy who has distinguished
himself in the playground or schoolroom.
See "Carry my Lady to London."
Kirk the Gussie
A sort of play. The Gussie is a large ball, which one party endeavours
to beat with clubs into a hole, while another party strives to drive it
away. When the ball is lodged in the hole it is said to be
"Kirkit."--Jamieson.
Kiss in the Ring
[Music]
--Nottingham (Miss Youngman).
[Music]
--Lancashire (Mrs. Harley).
[Music]
--Earls Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).
I. I sent a letter to my love,
And on the way I dropped it;
And one of you have picked it up
And put it in your pocket.
--Dorsetshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 213); Penzance (Mrs. Mabbott).
II. I wrote a letter to my love, and on the way I lost it.
Some one has picked it up. Not you, not you (&c.), but you!
--Much Wenlock (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 512).
III. I lost my supper last night, and the night before,
And if I lose it this night, I shall never have it no more.
--Berrington (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 512).
IV. I've come to borrow the riddle (= sieve),
There's a big hole in the middle.
I've come to borrow the hatchet,
Come after me and catch it.
--Chirbury (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 512).
V. Down by the greenwood, down by the greenwood,
Down by the greenwood tree,
One can follow, one can follow,
One can follow me.
Where must I follow? where must I follow?
Follow, follow me.
Where must I follow? where must I follow?
Follow, follow me.
--Earls Heaton (H. Hardy).