The Nursery Rhymes of England Part 32

[A game on the fingers.]

Heetum peetum penny pie, Populorum gingum gie; East, West, North, South, Kirby, Kendal, c.o.c.k him out!

CCCXLVIII.

[A game-rhyme.]

Trip and go, heave and hoe, Up and down, to and fro; From the town to the grove Two and two let us rove, A-maying, a-playing; Love hath no gainsaying; So merrily trip and go, So merrily trip and go!

CCCXLIX.

This is the way the ladies ride; Tri, tre, tre, tree, Tri, tre, tre, tree!

This is the way the ladies ride, Tri, tre, tre, tre, tri-tre-tre-tree!

This is the way the gentlemen ride; Gallop-a-trot, Gallop-a-trot!

This is the way the gentlemen ride, Gallop-a-gallop-a-trot!

This is the way the farmers ride; Hobbledy-hoy, Hobbledy-hoy!

This is the way the farmers ride, Hobbledy hobbledy-hoy!

CCCL.

There was a man, and his name was Dob, And he had a wife, and her name was Mob, And he had a dog, and he called it Cob, And she had a cat, called Chitterabob.

Cob, says Dob, Chitterabob, says Mob, Cob was Dob's dog, Chitterabob Mob's cat.

CCCLI.

[Two children sit opposite to each other; the first turns her fingers one over the other, and says:]

"May my geese fly over your barn?"

[The other answers, Yes, if they'll do no harm. Upon which the first unpacks the fingers of her hand, and waving it over head, says:]

"Fly over his barn and eat all his corn."

CCCLII.

Now we dance looby, looby, looby, Now we dance looby, looby, light, Shake your right hand a little And turn you round about.

Now we dance looby, looby, looby, Shake your right hand a little, Shake your left hand a little, And turn you round about.

Now we dance looby, looby, looby, Shake your right hand a little, Shake your left hand a little, Shake your right foot a little, And turn you round about.

Now we dance looby, looby, looby, Shake your right hand a little, Shake your left hand a little, Shake your right foot a little, Shake your left foot a little, And turn you round about.

Now we dance looby, looby, looby, Shake your right hand a little, Shake your left hand a little, Shake your right foot a little, Shake your left foot a little, Shake your head a little, And turn you round about.

[Children dance round first, then stop and shake the hand, &c.

then turn slowly round, and then dance in a ring again.]

CCCLIII.

THE OLD DAME.

[One child, called the Old Dame, sits on the floor, and the rest, joining hands, form a circle round her, and dancing, sing the following lines:]

_Children._ To Beccles! to Beccles!

To buy a bunch of nettles!

Pray, old Dame, what's o'clock?

_Dame._ One, going for two.

_Children._ To Beccles! to Beccles!

To buy a bunch of nettles!

Pray, old Dame, what's o'clock?

_Dame._ Two, going for three.

[And so on till she reaches, "Eleven going for twelve." After this the following questions are asked, with the replies.--C.

Where have you been? D. To the wood. C. What for? D. To pick up sticks. C. What for? D. To light my fire. C. What for?

D. To boil my kettle. C. What for? D. To cook some of your chickens. The children then all run away as fast as they can, and the Old Dame tries to catch one of them. Whoever is caught is the next to personate the Dame.]

CCCLIV.

DROP-GLOVE.

[Children stand round in a circle, leaving a s.p.a.ce between each. One walks round the outside, and carries a glove in her hand, saying:]

I've a glove in my hand, Hitt.i.ty Hot!

Another in my other hand, Hotter than that!

So I sow beans, and so they come up, Some in a mug, and some in a cup.

I sent a letter to my love, I lost it, I lost it!

I found it, I found it!

It burns, it scalds.

[Repeating the last words very rapidly, till she drops the glove behind one of them, and whoever has the glove must overtake her, following her exactly in and out till she catches her. If the pursuer makes a mistake in the pursuit, she loses, and the game is over; otherwise she continues the game with the glove.]

CCCLV.

[In the following, the various parts of the countenance are touched as the lines are repeated; and at the close the chin is struck playfully, that the tongue may be gently bitten.]