Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories Part 11

"~Blind Man's Buff~," though not a rhyme-game, is yet so well known it is worth mentioning for the mere purpose of telling its story. Like many more such--if we only knew how--it is based on fact. It is of French origin, and of very great antiquity, having been introduced into Britain in the train of the Norman conquerors. Its French name, "Colin Maillard," was that of a brave warrior, the memory of whose exploits still lives in the chronicles of the Middle Ages.

In the year 999 Liege reckoned among its valiant chiefs one Jean Colin.

He acquired the name Maillard from his chosen weapon being a mallet, wherewith in battle he used literally to crush his opponents.

In one of the feuds which were of perpetual recurrence in those times, he encountered the Count de Lourain in a pitched battle, and--so runs the story--in the first onset Colin Maillard lost both his eyes.

He ordered his esquire to take him into the thickest of the fight, and, furiously brandis.h.i.+ng his mallet, did such fearful execution that victory soon declared itself for him.

When Robert of France heard of these feats of arms, he lavished favour and honours upon Colin, and so great was the fame of the exploit that it was commemorated in the pantomimic representations that formed part of the rude dramatic performances of the age. By degrees the children learned to act it for themselves, and it took the form of a familiar sport.

The blindfold pursuer, as with bandaged eyes and extended hands he gropes for a victim to pounce upon, seems in some degree to repeat the action of Colin Maillard, the tradition of which is also traceable in the name, "blind man's buff."

"~Water Wallflower.~"--All should know this game, which is more commonly played by very small misses.

Forming a ring, all join hands and dance, or move slowly round, singing:--

Water, water wallflower, growing up so high, We are all maidens, and we must all die, Excepting [Nellie Newton], the youngest of us all, She can dance and she can sing, and she can knock us all down.

Here all clap hands, with the exception of the one named, who stands looking abashed, while the others sing:--

Fie, fie, fie, for shame, Turn your back to the wall again.

At the command, she who has been named turns, so that she faces outwards now, with her back to the centre of the ring; though she still clasps hands with those on either side, and continues in the movement, singing with the others. When all in like manner have been chapped out, and are facing the open, the game is finished.

"~The Emperor Napoleon~" is a little game which affords, invariably, a good deal of fun. Again, as so commonly, the form is in a ring, and all go round, singing:--

The Emperor Napoleon has a hundred thousand men, The Emperor Napoleon has a hundred thousand men, The Emperor Napoleon has a hundred thousand men, As he goes marching along.

In each successive singing of the verse, one syllable after another in the main line, beginning at the far end, is left out--or at least is not spoken--the blank, or blanks, as it happens latterly, having to be indicated merely by nods of the head. As each player makes a mistake, by speaking, instead of nodding, or _vice versa_, she pays a forfeit and drops out. The play goes on till all have fallen.

"~A' the Birdies i' the Air~," purely Scotch, is a simpler form merely of "London Bridge." Two players, facing each other, hold up their hands to form an arch, and call the formula:--

A' the birdies i' the air Tick-to to my tail.

The others, who may be running about indifferently, decide in time which side they will favour, and when each and all have chosen which champion they will support, and have taken their places at her back, a tug-of-war ensues. Afterwards the victors chase the vanquished, calling, "Rotten eggs! rotten eggs!" and the game is ended; to be followed perhaps by

"~Through the Needle-e'e, Boys~," played also to some extent in the form of "London Bridge," and much resembling "Barley Break," a pastime of highborn lords and ladies in the time of Sir Philip Sydney, who describes it in his _Arcadia_. The boys first choose sides. The two chosen leaders join both hands, and raising them high enough to let the others pa.s.s through below, they sing:--

Brother [John], if ye'll be mine, I'll gie you a gla.s.s o' wine: A gla.s.s o' wine is good and fine, Through the needle-e'e, boys.

Letting their arms fall, they enclose a boy, and ask him to which side he will belong, and he is disposed according to his own decision. The parties being at length formed, are separated by a real or imaginary line, and place at some distance behind them, in a heap, their jackets, caps, etc. They stand opposite to each other, the object being to make a successful incursion over the line into the enemy's country, and bring off part or whole of the heap of clothes. It requires address and swiftness of foot to do so without being taken prisoner by the foe. The winning of the game is decided by which party first loses all its men or all its property. At Hawick, where this legendary mimicry of old Border warfare peculiarly flourishes, the boys are accustomed to use the following lines of defiance:--

King Covenanter, come out if ye daur venture!

Set your feet on Scots ground, English, if ye daur!

"~King Henry~" somewhat resembles "I dree I droppit it;" only, instead of standing, the girls forming the ring sit, or rather crouch in a sort of working-tailor att.i.tude. One girl, occupying the centre, is "it." A second girl is on the outside. Immediately the ring begins singing the rhyme:--

King Henry, King Henry, Run, boys, run; You, with the red coat, Follow with the drum,

The one on the outside is pursued by the girl from the centre. The rhyme may be repeated as often as the ring decides; but the object of the one who is "it" is to overtake and "tig" the other before the singing ceases. Otherwise she remains unrelieved, and must try, and try, until she succeeds in getting out, and putting another in her place; and so on.

"~The Blue Bird~," played by very small children, is rather pretty. The rhyme is:--

Here comes a [blue] bird through the window, Here comes a [blue] bird through the door; Here comes a [blue] bird through the window, Hey, diddle, hi dum, day.

Take a little dance and a hop in the corner, Take a little dance and a hop in the floor; Take a little dance and a hop in the corner, Hey, diddle, hi dum, day.

The players dance round in a ring. One previously, by the process of a chapping-out rhyme, being made "it," goes first outside, then into the centre. Her business now is to decide who shall succeed her; and according as the colour-word in the rhyme--red, blue, green, or yellow, etc.--corresponds with the dress of all the individual players in the successive singing, the ones spotted successively take their place in the centre, and the process goes on, of course, until all have shared alike in the game.

"~When I was a Young Thing~," of simple though pretty action, has had a wide vogue. Its rhyme goes:--

When I was a young thing, A young thing, a young thing; When I was a young thing, How happy was I.

'Twas this way, and that way, And this way, and that way; When I was a young thing, Oh, this way went I.

When I was a school-girl, etc.

When I was a teacher, etc.

When I had a sweetheart, etc.

When I had a husband, etc.

When I had a baby, etc.

When I had a donkey, etc.

When I took in was.h.i.+ng, etc.

When my baby died, oh died, etc.

When my husband died, etc.

The players, joining hands, form a ring, and dance or walk round singing the words, and keeping the ring form until the end of the fourth line in each successive verse, when they unclasp, and stand still. Each child then takes hold of her skirt and dances individually to the right and left, making two or three steps. Then all walk round singly, singing the second four lines, and making suitable action to the words as they sing and go: the same form being continued throughout.

Still simpler is "~Carry my Lady to London~." In this game two children cross hands grasping each other's wrists and their own as well--thus forming a seat, on which a third child can be carried. When hoisted and in order, the bearers step out singing:--

Gie me a needle to stick i' my thoom To carry my lady to London; London Bridge is broken down, And I must let my lady down.

Each child is thus carried in turn.