The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland Volume I Part 75

-Tong, Shrops.h.i.+re (Miss R. Harley).

IV. Here comes a poor woman from Baby-land With three small children in her hand.

One can brew, the other can bake, The other can make a pretty round cake.

One can sit in the garden and spin, Another can make a fine bed for the king; Pray, ma'am, will you take one in?

-Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 72.

V. Here is a poor widow from Sandy Row, With all her children behind her.

One can knit and one can sew, And one can make the winder go.

Please take one in.

Now poor Nellie she is gone Without a farthing in her hand, Nothing but a guinea gold ring.

Good-bye, Nellie, good-bye!

-Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

VI. Here comes an old woman from Baby-land, With six poor children by the hand.

One can brew, one can bake, And one can make a lily-white cake; One can knit, one can spin, And one can make a bed for a king.

Please will you take one in? [choose out one]

Now poor -- she is gone Without a farthing in her hand, Nothing but a gay gold ring.

Good-bye! Good-bye!

Good-bye, mother, good-bye!

-Isle of Man (A. W. Moore)

VII. Here comes a poor widow from Sandalam, With all her children at her hand; The one can bake, the other can brew, The other can make a lily-white shoe; Another can sit by the fire and spin, So pray take one of my daughters in.

The fairest one that I can see Is pretty [Mary] come to me.

And now poor [Mary] she is gone Without a guinea in her hand, And not so much as a farthing. Good-bye!

Good-bye, my love, good-bye!

-Forest of Dean, Gloucester (Miss Matthews).

VIII. Here comes an old woman from c.u.mberland, With seven poor children in her hand; One can sing, the other can sew; One can sit up in the corner and cry, Alleluia!

Choose the fairest you can see.

The fairest one that I can see is --, come to me.

Now my daughter -- gone, A thousand pound in her pocket and a gold ring on her finger.

Good-bye, mother, good-bye!

-Berks.h.i.+re (Miss Thoyts, _Antiquary_, xxvii. 254).

IX. There was an old woman from Sandyland With all her children in her hand.

One can knit and one can sow [sew], One can make a lily-white bow.

Please take one in.

When all the children have been taken in, the Old Woman says-

There was an old woman from Sandiland With no children by the hand.

Will you give me one?

-Ballynascaw School, co. Down (Miss C. N. Patterson).

(_b_) The first Dorsets.h.i.+re game is played as follows:-Two girls are chosen, the one to represent a lady and the other a mother, who is supposed to be taking her children out to service. She has one or more of them in each hand, and leads them up to the lady, saying or singing the first verse. The dialogue then proceeds, and the verse is repeated until all the children are similarly disposed of. A few days are supposed to pa.s.s, after which the mother calls to see her children, when the lady tells her she cannot see them. At last she insists upon seeing them, and the children are all "sat down" behind the lady, and the mother asks one child what the lady has done to her; and she tells her "that the lady has cut off her nose, and made a nose-pie, and never give her a bit of it." Each one says she has done something to her and made a pie, and when all have told their tale "they all turn on her and put her to prison."

The second Dorsets.h.i.+re game somewhat differs. One child takes seven or eight others whom she pretends are her children. Another child, presumably a mistress in want of servants, stands at a distance. The first child advances, holding the hand of her children, saying the first verse. The dialogue is concluded, and as the woman and her children are supposed to be out of hearing, the last couplet is said or sung. This process is gone through again until the mistress has engaged all the children as her servants, when she is supposed to let them all out to play with the mustard pots, which are represented by sticks or stones, in their hands.

The other versions are played as follows:-The children form a line, the one in the middle being the mother, or widow; they advance and retire, the mother alone singing the first verse. One child, who is standing alone on the opposite side, who has been addressed by the widow, then asks [not sings] the question. The mother, or widow, sings the reply, and points to one child when singing the last line, who thereupon crosses over to the other side, joining the one who is standing alone.

This is continued till all have been selected. The Ballynascaw version (Miss Patterson) is played in a similar way. One child sits on a bank, and the others come up to her in a long line. The "old woman" says the first five lines. No question is asked by the "lady," she simply takes one child. The "old woman" shakes hands with this child, and says good-bye to her. When all the children have been "taken in" by the one who personates the "lady," the "old woman" says the other three lines, and so one by one gets all the children back again. The Berks.h.i.+re version (Miss Thoyts) is said, not sung, and is played with two leaders, "old woman" and "lover." As the lover chooses a child, that one is sent behind him, holding round his waist. Each child as she goes says, "Good-bye, mother, good-bye," and pretends to cry. Finally they all cry, and the game ends in a tug of war. This tug is clearly out of place unless only half the children are selected by one side. Miss Thoyts does not say how this is done.

(_c_) This game is called "School-teacher" in Belfast. The corruption of "Lady of the Land," to "Babyland," "Babylon," and "Sandiland," is manifest. It appears to be only fragmentary in its present form, but the versions undoubtedly indicate that the origin of the game arises from the practice of hiring servants. Mr. Halliwell has preserved another fragmentary rhyme, which he thinks may belong to this game.

I can make diet bread Thick and thin, I can make diet bread Fit for the king; (No. cccxliv.)

which may be compared with the rhyme given by Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 136), and another version given by Halliwell, p. 229.

If these rhymes belong to this game it would have probably been played by each child singing a verse descriptive of her own qualifications, and I have some recollection, although not perfect, of having played a game like this in London, where each child stated her ability to either brew, bake, or churn. It is worth noting that the Forest of Dean and Berks.h.i.+re versions have absorbed one of the "selection" verses of the love-games.

Mr. Halliwell, in recording the _Nursery Rhymes_, Nos. cccxliii. and cccxliv., as quoted above, says, "They are fragments of a game called 'The Lady of the Land,' a complete version of which has not fallen in my way." Mr. Udal's versions from Dorsets.h.i.+re are not only called "The Lady of the Land," but are fuller than all the other versions, though probably these are not complete. Mr. Newell (_Games_, pp. 56-58) gives some versions of this game. He considers the original to have been a European game (he had not found an English example) in which there were two mothers, a rich and a poor one; one mother begging away, one by one, all the daughters of the other.

(_d_) This game no doubt originates from the country practice of hiring servants at fairs, or from a dramatic "Hirings" being acted at Harvest Homes. The "Good-bye" of mother and daughters belongs, no doubt, to the original game and early versions, and is consistent with the departure of a servant to her new home. The "lover" incident is an interpolation, but there may have been a request on the part of the "mother" to the "lady" not to allow the girl followers or sweethearts too soon. As to the old practice of hiring servants, Miss Burne has noted how distinctly it stamps itself upon local custom (_Shrops.h.i.+re Folklore_, pp. 461, 464). That the practice forms the groundwork of this game is well ill.u.s.trated by the following descriptive pa.s.sage. "They stay usually two or three dayes with theire friends, and then aboute the fifth or sixth day after Martynma.s.se will they come to theire newe masters; they will depart from theire olde services any day in the weeke, but theire desire (hereaboutes) is to goe to theire newe masters eyther on a Tewsday or on a Thursday; for on a Sunday they will seldome remoove, and as for Monday, they account it ominous, for they say-

Monday flitte, Neaver sitte;

but as for the other dayes in the weeke they make no greate matter. I heard a servant asked what hee could doe, whoe made this answeare-

I can sowe, I can mowe, And I can stacke; And I can doe, My master too, When my master turnes his backe."

-Best's _Rural Economy of Yorks._, 1641; _Surtees Society_, pp. 135-136.

In _Long Ago_, ii. 130, Mr. Scarlett Potter mentions that in South Warwicks.h.i.+re it was customary at harvest-homes to give a kind of dramatic performance. One piece, called "The Hiring," represents a farmer engaging a man, in which work done by the man, the terms of service, and food to be supplied, are stated in rhymes similar to the above. See "Lammas."

Lady on the Mountain

[Music]

-Barnes, Surrey (A. B. Gomme).

I. There stands a lady on the mountain, Who she is I do not know; All she wants is gold and silver, All she wants is a nice young man.

Choose one, choose two, choose the fairest one of the two.

The fairest one that I can see, Is pretty --, walk with me.

-Barnes, Surrey (A. B. Gomme).

II. There lives a lady on the mountain, Who she is I do not know; All she wants is gold and silver, All she wants is a nice young man.

Choose one, choose two, Choose the fairest of the few.