Chapter IV: Part 4

Cuckoo cherry tree,
Catch a bird and bring it me;
Let the tree be high or low,
Let it hail, rain or snow.

See "Hide and Seek."

Cuddy and the Powks

Two boys join hands and feet over the back of a third, the which creeps away with them on hands and knees to a certain distance; and if able to do this, he, the Cuddy, must have a ride as one of the powks on some other's back.--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

Cudgel

Four or more boys can play this game, and sides are chosen. Two holes are made in the ground at a distance of about eight or ten feet apart. A ring about a foot in diameter is made round each hole. A boy stands at each hole with a stick, which he puts into the hole to guard it. Two other boys stand behind the holes, who act as bowlers. One of these throws a small piece of wood shaped like a Cat, and tries to pitch it into the hole. The boy guarding the hole tries to hit it with his stick. If he succeeds, he and the boy at the other hole run to each other's places. Should the boy who throws the piece of wood succeed in getting it into the hole, the batsmen are out. Should the Cat fall into the ring or a span beyond, one of the bowlers picks it up, and both run to a hiding-place. They then agree as to which of them should hold the Cat. This must be carried in such a way that it cannot be seen by the batsmen, both boys assuming the same attitude. Both boys then resume their previous places. They kneel down, still keeping the same attitudes. The batsmen, keeping their sticks in the holes, then agree which of the two holds the Cat. One batsman runs across and puts his stick into the hole behind which the boy kneels whom they consider has the Cat, the other then running to his place. If they are right in their guess, the holder of the Cat throws it across the ground for the opposite bowler to put it in the hole before the second batsman reaches it. If they guess wrongly, the holder of the Cat puts it into the hole as soon as the batsman runs, and they then become the batsmen for the next game. If the batsmen leave their holes unguarded with the stick, the catsmen can at any time put them "out," by putting the Cat in a hole. If more than two boys on a side play, the others field as in "Cricket."--Barnes (A. B. Gomme).

See "Cat and Dog."

Curcuddie

I. Will ye gang to the lea, Curcuddie,
And join your plack wi' me, Curcuddie?
I lookit about and I saw naebody,
And linkit awa' my lane, Curcuddie.

--Chambers' _Popular Rhymes_, p. 139.

II. Will ye gang wi' me, Curcuddie,
Gang wi' me o'er the lea?
I lookit roun', saw naebody;
Curcuddie, he left me.

--Biggar (William Ballantyne).

(_b_) This is a grotesque kind of dance, performed in a shortened posture, sitting on one's hams, with arms akimbo, the dancers forming a circle of independent figures. It always excites a hearty laugh among the senior bystanders; but, ridiculous as it is, it gives occasion for the display of some spirit and agility, as well as skill, there being always an inclination to topple over. Each performer sings the verse (Chambers; Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_).

Mr. Ballantyne says that each one apart tried to dance by throwing out their feet and jumping sideways.

(_c_) The first syllable of this word is, says Jamieson, undoubtedly the verb _curr_, to sit on the houghs or hams. The second may be from Teut. _kudde_, a flock; _kudd-en_, coire, convenire, congregari, aggregari; _kudde wijs_, gregatim, catervatim, q. to curr together. The same game is called _Harry Hurcheon_ in the North of Scotland, either from the resemblance of one in this position to a _hurcheon_, or hedge-hog, squatting under a bush; or from the Belg. _hurk-en_ to squat, to _hurkle_.--Jamieson.

See "Cobbler's Hornpipe," "Cutch-a-Cutchoo."

Curly Locks

[Music]

I. Curly locks, curly locks,
Wilt thou be mine?
Thou shalt not wash dishes
Nor yet feed the swine;
But sit on a fine cushion
And sew a fine seam,
And feed upon strawberries,
Sugar and cream.

--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).

II. Bonny lass, canny lass,
Wilta be mine?
Thou's nowder wesh dishes
Nor sarra the swine:
But sit on thy crippy, &c.

--Dickinson's _Cumberland Glossary_.

(_b_) Two children, a girl and a boy, separate from their fellows, who are not particularly placed, the boy caressing the girl's curls and singing the verses.

(_c_) This game is evidently a dramatic representation of wooing, and probably the action of the game has never been quite completed in the nursery. The verses are given as "nursery rhymes" by Halliwell, Nos. cccclxxxiii. and ccccxciv. The tune is from Rimbault's _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 70. The words given by him are the same as the Earls Heaton version.

Currants and Raisins

Currants and raisins a penny a pound,
Three days holiday.

This is a game played "running under a handkerchief;" "something like 'Oranges and Lemons.'"--Lincoln (Miss M. Peacock).

Cushion Dance

[Music]

--_Dancing Master_, 1686.

This music is exactly as it is printed in the book referred to.

(_b_) The following is an account of the dance as it was known in Derbyshire amongst the farmers' sons and daughters and the domestics, all of whom were on a pretty fair equality, very different from what prevails in farm-houses of to-day. The "Cushion Dance" was a famous old North-country amusement, and among the people of Northumberland it is still commonly observed. The dance was performed with boisterous fun, quite unlike the game as played in higher circles, where the conditions and rules of procedure were of a more refined order.

The company were seated round the room, a fiddler occupying a raised seat in a corner. When all were ready, two of the young men left the room, returning presently, one carrying a large square cushion, the other an ordinary drinking-horn, china bowl, or silver tankard, according to the possessions of the family. The one carrying the cushion locked the door, putting the key in his pocket. Both gentlemen then went to the fiddler's corner, and after the cushion-bearer had put a coin in the vessel carried by the other, the fiddler struck up a lively tune, to which the young men began to dance round the room, singing or reciting to the music:--

Frinkum, frankum is a fine song,
An' we will dance it all along;
All along and round about,
Till we find the pretty maid out.

After making the circuit of the room, they halted on reaching the fiddler's corner, and the cushion-bearer, still to the music of the fiddle, sang or recited:--

Our song it will no further go!
The Fiddler: Pray, kind sir, why say you so?
The Cushion-bearer: Because Jane Sandars won't come to.
The Fiddler: She must come to, she shall come to,
An' I'll make her whether she will or no.

The cushion-bearer and vessel-holder then proceeded with the dance, going as before round the room, singing "Frinkum, frankum," &c., till the cushion-bearer came to the lady of his choice, before whom he paused, placed the cushion on the floor at her feet, and knelt upon it. The vessel-bearer then offered the cup to the lady, who put money in it and knelt on the cushion in front of the kneeling gentleman. The pair kissed, arose, and the gentleman, first giving the cushion to the lady with a bow, placed himself behind her, taking hold of some portion of her dress. The cup-bearer fell in also, and they danced on to the fiddler's corner, and the ceremony was again gone through as at first, with the substitution of the name of "John" for "Jane," thus:--

The Lady: Our song it will no further go!
The Fiddler: Pray, kind miss, why say you so?
The Lady: Because John Sandars won't come to.
The Fiddler: He must come to, he shall come to,
An' I'll make him whether he will or no!

The dancing then proceeded, and the lady, on reaching her choice (a gentleman, of necessity), placed the cushion at his feet. He put money in the horn and knelt. They kissed and rose, he taking the cushion and his place in front of the lady, heading the next dance round, the lady taking him by the coat-tails, the first gentleman behind the lady, with the horn-bearer in the rear. In this way the dance went on till all present, alternately a lady and gentleman, had taken part in the ceremony. The dance concluded with a romp in file round the room to the quickening music of the fiddler, who at the close received the whole of the money collected by the horn-bearer.

At Charminster the dance is begun by a single person (either man or woman), who dances about the room with a cushion in his hand, and at the end of the tune stops and sings:--

Man: This dance it will no further go.
Musician: I pray you, good sir, why say you so?
Man: Because Joan Sanderson will not come to.
Musician: She must come to, and she shall come to,
And she must come whether she will or no.

Then the following words are sung as in the first example:--

Man: Welcome, Joan Sanderson, welcome, welcome.
Both: Prinkum-prankum is a fine dance,
And shall we go dance it once again,
And once again,
And shall we go dance it once again?
Woman: This dance it will no further go.
Musician: I pray you, madam, why say you so?
Woman: Because John Sanderson will not come to.
Musician: He must come to, and he shall come to,
And he must come whether he will or no.

And so she lays down the cushion before a man, who, kneeling upon it, salutes her, she singing--

Welcome, John Sanderson, &c.

Then, he taking up the cushion, they take hands and dance round singing as before; and this they do till the whole company is taken into the ring. Then the cushion is laid down before the first man, the woman singing, "This dance," &c., as before, only instead of "come to," they sing "go fro," and instead of "Welcome, John Sanderson," &c., they sing "Farewell, John Sanderson, farewell," &c., and so they go out one by one as they came in.--Charminster (_Notes and Queries_, ii. 517, 518).

This description is almost the same as a seventeenth century version. The dance is begun by a single person (either man or woman), who, taking a cushion in his hand, dances about the room, and at the end of the tune he stops and sings:--

This dance it will no further go.

The Musician answers:

I pray you, good sir, why say you so?
Man: Because Joan Sanderson will not come to.
Musician: She must come to, and she shall come to,
And she must come whether she will or no.

Then he lays down the cushion before a woman, on which she kneels, and he kisses her, singing--

Welcom, Joan Sanderson, welcom, welcom.

Then he rises, takes up the cushion, and both dance, singing--

Prinkum-prankum is a fine dance,
And shall we go dance it once again,
Once again, and once again,
And shall we go dance it once again.

Then, making a stop, the wo(man) sings as before--

This dance, &c.
Musician: I pray you, madam, &c.
Woman: Because John Sanderson, &c.
Musician: He must, &c.

And so she lays down the cushion before a man, who, kneeling upon it, salutes her, she singing--

Welcom, John Sanderson, &c.

Then, he taking up the cushion, they take hands and dance round, singing as before. And thus they do till the whole company are taken into the ring. And then the cushion is laid before the first man, the woman singing, "This dance," &c. (as before), only instead of "come to," they sing "go fro," and instead of "Welcom, John Sanderson," &c., they sing "Farewel, John Sanderson, farewel, farewel;" and so they go out one by one as they came in. _Note_, that the woman is kiss'd by all the men in the ring at her coming in and going out, and the like of the man by the woman.--_The Dancing Master_: London, printed by J. P., and sold by John Playford at his shop near the Temple Church, 1686, 7th edition.

Another version gives the words as follows:--

We've got a new sister in our degree,
And she's welcome into our companee, companee.
Mrs. Sargesson says she weänt come to,
We'll make her whether she will or no,
Will or no, will or no,
We'll maäke her whether she will or no.

Children form a ring with one in the middle, who lays a cushion on the ground. They sing the first two lines, and the child in the centre points at one, and the others dance round singing the other lines, the centre child dragging the imaginary Mrs. Sargesson on to the cushion by force, kissing her, and leaving her in the centre. Then Mrs. Sargesson points at one in the ring, and the game begins again.--East Kirkby, Lincolnshire (Miss Maughan). The tune sung is the same as the "Mulberry Bush."

Miss Baker (_Northamptonshire Glossary_) says the Cushion Dance is still continued, with some variations, and generally closes the evening's amusements. One of the young men endeavours secretly to bring in a cushion, and locks the doors, to prevent the escape of the young maidens; then all the party unite hands and dance round three times to the left and three times to the right, after which the company all seat themselves, except the young man who holds the cushion. He advances to the fiddler, and says--

This dance it will no further go.
Fiddler: Why say you so? why say you so?
Cushion-holder: Because the young women will not come to.
Fiddler: They must come to, they shall come to,
And tell them I say so.

The cushion-holder then goes to the girl he fancies most, and drops the cushion at her feet. She kneels down with him on the cushion, and he salutes her, and they then rise and dance round and round to the fiddler. The girls then go through the same thing, saying, "young men," and then "a young man," &c., until the whole company have gone through the same ceremony, which concludes with all dancing round three times, as at the commencement.

The Norfolk and London versions are reduced to a simple "Kiss in the Ring" game, with the following verse:--

Round the cushion we dance with glee,
Singing songs so merrily;
Round the cushion we dance with glee,
Singing songs so merrily;
Yet the punishment you must bear
If you touch the cushion there.

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

(_c_) Selden, in his _Table Talk_, thus refers to this game:--"The Court of England is much altered. At a solemn dancing first you have the grave measures, then the Cervantoes and the Golliards, and this is kept up with ceremony. At length to Trenchmore and the _Cushion Dance_; and then all the company dance, lord and groom, lady and kitchen-maid, no distinction. But in King Charles's time there has been nothing but Trenchmore and the Cushion Dance," &c. The "Whishin Dance" (an old-fashioned dance, in which a cushion is used to kneel upon), mentioned by Dickinson (_Cumberland Glossary_), is probably the same game or dance, "whishin" meaning cushion. Brockett (_North Country Words_) mentions "Peas Straw," the final dance at a rustic party; something similar to the ancient "Cushion Dance" at weddings. It is also recorded in Evans' _Leicestershire Glossary_, and by Burton in the following passage from the _Anatomy of Melancholy_: "A friend of his reprehended him for dancing beside his dignity, belike at some cushen dance." In the version from East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, the expression "in our degree" in the first line of the verse is apparently meaningless, and it is probably a corruption of "highdigees, highdegrees," a dialect word for roystering, high spirits, merriment, dancing, romping. Elworthy (_Somerset Words_) gives this word, and quotes the following line from Drayton:--

Dance many a merry round and many a highdegy.

--_Polyolbion_, Bk. xxv., l. 1162.

(_d_) The transition from a dance to a pure game is well illustrated by the different versions, and the connection of the dance with the ceremony of marriage is obvious. A curious account of the merry-makings at marriages is given in Coverdale's _Christen State of Matrimony_, 1543: "After the banket and feast there beginneth a mad and unmannerly fashion; for the bride must be brought into an open dauncing-place. Then is there such a running, leaping, and flinging among them that a man might think all these dauncers had cast all shame behinde them, and were become starke mad, and out of their wits, and that they were sworne to the devil's daunce. Then must the bride keep foote with all dauncers, and refuse none, how scabbed, foule, drunken, rude, and shameless soever he be. . . . After supper must they begin to pipe and daunce again of anew. And though the young persons come once towards their rest, yet can they have no quietness."--1575 edit., fol. 59, rev. 60. Edward L. Rimbault, writing in _Notes and Queries_, vi. 586, says it was formerly the custom at weddings, both of the rich as well as the poor, to dance after dinner and supper. In an old Court masque of James I.'s time, performed at the marriage ceremony of Philip Herbert and Lady Susan (MS. in the writer's possession), it is directed that, at the conclusion of the performance, "after supper" the company "dance a round dance." This was "dancing the bride to bed." William Chappell (_Notes and Queries_, ii. 442) says, "I have a tune called 'A round dance to dance the bride to bed.' It dates from about 1630, or earlier, and resembles that of 'The Hunt is up.'" Dancing was considered so essential at weddings (according to Grose) that if in a family the youngest daughter should chance to be married before her elder sisters, they must dance at her wedding without shoes. May not the custom of throwing of old and worn-out shoes after the bride have arisen from the practice of dancing? The danced-out shoes may have been the ones used. It is curious that the cushion is used in the marriage ceremonies of the Brahmins. Mr. Kearns, in his _Marriage Ceremonies of the Hindoos of the South of India_, p. 6, says that a stool or cushion is one of the preparations for the reception of the bridegroom, who on entering the apartment sits down on the stool which is presented to him. He says, "I step on this for the sake of food and other benefits, on this variously splendid footstool." The bride's father then presents to him a cushion made of twenty leaves of cúsa grass, holding it up with both hands and exclaiming, "The cushion! the cushion! the cushion!" The bridegroom replies, "I accept the cushion," and taking it, places it on the ground under his feet, while he recites a prayer. It is probable that we may have in the "Cushion Dance" the last relics of a very ancient ceremony, as well as evidence of the origin of a game from custom.

Cutch-a-Cutchoo

Children clasp their hands under their knees in a sitting posture, and jump thus about the room. The one who keeps up longest wins the game.--Dublin (Mrs. Lincoln).

(_b_) In _Notes and Queries_, x. 17, "E. D." says this amusement was fashionable sixty years ago, and from the low dresses worn then by ladies he mentions its indecency. He gives extracts from a satire called _Cutchacutchoo, or the Jostling of the Innocents_, 2nd ed., Dublin, in which the game and position are mentioned--

Now she with tone tremendous cries
Cutchacutchoo.
Let each squat down upon her ham,
Jump like a goat, puck like a ram.

"Uneda," at same reference (x. 17), speaks of it as a known game in Philadelphia. The analogy which this game has to some savage dances is curious; a correspondent in _Notes and Queries_, ix. 304, draws attention to the illustration, in Richardson's _Expedition to Arctic Shores_ (vol. i. p. 397), of a dance by the "Kutchin-Kutcha" Indians, a parallel to the name as well as the dance which needs some research in America.

See "Curcuddie," "Hop-frog."

Cutters and Trucklers

A remembrance of the old smuggling days. The boys divide into two parties; the Trucklers try to reach some given point before the Cutter catches them.--Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 60).

Dab

Dab a prin in my lottery book;
Dab ane, dab twa, dab a' your prins awa'.

A game in which a pin is put at random in a school-book, between the leaves of which little pictures are placed. The successful adventurer is the person who puts the pin between two leaves including a picture which is the prize, and the pin itself is the forfeit (_Blackwood's Magazine_, Aug. 1821, p. 36). This was a general school game in West London in 1860-1866 (G. L. Gomme).

Dab-an-thricker

A game in which the _dab_ (a wooden ball) is caused to spring upwards by a blow on the _thricker_ (trigger), and is struck by a flat, bottle-shaped mallet fixed to the end of a flexible wand, the distance it goes counting so many for the striker.--Ross and Stead's _Holderness Glossary_.

This is the same as "Knur and Spell."

Dab-at-the-hole

A game at marbles (undescribed).--Patterson's _Antrim and Down Glossary_.

Dalies

A child's game, played with small bones or pieces of hard wood. The _dalies_ were properly sheep's trotters.--Halliwell's _Dictionary_.

Evidently the same game as "Fivestones" and "Hucklebones."

Davie-drap

Children amuse themselves on the braesides i' the sun, playing at "Hide and Seek" with this little flower, accompanying always the hiding of it with this rhyme, marking out the circle in which it is hid with the forefinger:--

Athin the bounds o' this I hap,
My black and bonny davie-drap;
Wha is here the cunning yin
My davie-drap to me will fin.

--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

The davie-drap is a little black-topped field-flower.

Deadily

A school game, not described.--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

Diamond Ring

My lady's lost her diamond ring;
I pitch upon you to find it!

Children sit in a ring or in a line, with their hands placed together palm to palm, and held straight, the little finger down-most between the knees. One of them is then chosen to represent a servant, who takes a ring, or some other small article as a substitute, between her two palms, which are pressed flat together like those of the rest, and goes round the circle or line placing her hands into the hands of every player, so that she is enabled to let the ring fall wherever she pleases without detection. After this she returns to the first child she touched, and with her hands behind her says the above words. The child who is thus addressed must guess who has the ring, and the servant performs the same ceremony with each of the party. They who guess right escape, but the rest forfeit. Should any one in the ring exclaim "I have it!" she also forfeits; nor must the servant make known who has the ring until all have guessed under the same penalty. The forfeits are afterwards cried as usual.--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 223.

(_b_) This game was a general favourite at juvenile parties years ago. The hands were held in the posture described by Halliwell, but any child was pitched upon for the first finder, and afterwards the child in whose hands the ring was found had to be finder. There was no guessing; the closed hands were looked into (A. B. Gomme). Mr. Addy has collected a similar game called "My lady's lost a gold ring," and Mr. Newell (_Games and Songs of American Children_, p. 150) has another, "Hold fast my gold ring."

Dibbs

A game played with the small knuckle-bones taken from legs of mutton; these bones are themselves called "dibs" (Lowsley's _Glossary of Berkshire Words_). Holloway's _Dictionary_ says five of these bones are used by boys, with which they play a game called "Dibs" in West Sussex.

See "Check-stones," "Fivestones," "Hucklebones."

Dinah

[Music]

No one in the house but Dinah, Dinah,
No one in the house I know, I know;
No one in the house but Dinah, Dinah,
Playing on the old banjo.

A ring is formed, and a girl stands blindfolded inside. As the verse is sung and finished, Dinah goes to any one in the ring, and, if successful in guessing her name, takes her place, the other taking the place of Dinah, the game going on as before.--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).

"Dinah" was a Christy Minstrel song in the "fifties." It is probable that the game, which resembles "Buff," has been played to the tune of the song. Singing a chorus would soon follow.

See "Buff," "Muffin Man."

Dip o' the Kit

A rustic game, undescribed and marked as obsolescent.--Peacock's _Manley and Corringham Glossary_.

Dish-a-loof

A singular rustic amusement. One lays his hand down on a table, another clashes his upon it, a third his on that, and so on (fig. 1). When all the players have done this, the one who has his hand on the board pulls it out and lays it on the one uppermost (fig. 2): they all follow in rotation, and so a continual clashing and dashing is kept up; hence the name "Dish." Those who win the game are those who stand out longest--viz., those who are best at enduring pain. Tender hands could not stand it a moment: one dash of a rustic "loof" would make the blood spurt from the tip of every finger. It is a piece of pastime to country lads of the same nature as "Hard Knuckles" (Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_). This is a well-known game for small children in London. After each child's hands have been withdrawn and replaced on top as many times as possible without deranging the order, a general scramble and knocking of hands together ends the game (A. B. Gomme). Jamieson (_Etymological Dict._) gives this as a sport of children.

See "Dump," "Green Grass," "Hot Cockles."

Doddart

A game played in a large level field with a bent stick called "doddart." Two parties, headed by two captains, endeavour to drive a wooden ball to their respective boundaries (Halliwell's _Dictionary_). Brockett (_North Country Words_) adds to this that the captains are entitled to choose their followers by alternate votes. A piece of globular wood called an "orr" or "coit" is thrown down in the middle of the field and driven to one of two opposite hedges--the alley, hail-goal, or boundary. The same game as "Clubby," "Hockey," "Shinney," "Shinneyhaw."

Doncaster Cherries

One boy kneels, holding a long rope, the other end of which is held by another boy; the other players stand round about with handkerchiefs in hands, knotted. The one who holds the rope-end and standing cries out--

Doncaster cherries, ripe and sound;
Touch 'em or taste 'em--
Down, you dogs!

--Earls Heaton, Yorkshire (H. Hardy).

This is evidently a version of "Badger the Bear," with a different and apparently degraded formula.

Dools

A school game. The dools are places marked with stones, where the players always remain in safety--where they dare neither be caught by the hand nor struck with balls. It is only when they leave these places of refuge that those out of the doons have any chance to gain the game and get in; and leave the doons they frequently must--this is the nature of the game. Now this game seems to have been often played in reality by our ancestors about their doon-hills.--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

Down in the Valley

I. Down in the valley where the green grass grows
Stands E---- H----, she blows like a rose.
She blows, she blows, she blows so sweet.
In came F---- S---- and gave her a kiss.
E---- made a pudding, she made it nice and sweet,
F---- took a knife and fork and cut a little piece.
Taste of it, taste of it, don't say nay,
For next Sunday morning is our wedding day.
First we'll buy a money box,
Then we'll buy a cradle;
Rock, rock the bottom out,
Then we'll buy another.
Bread and cheese all the week, cork on Sunday,
Half a crown on Saturday night, and a jolly good dance on
Monday.

--Cowes, Isle of Wight (Miss E. Smith).

II. Down in the meadows where the green grass grows,
To see ---- blow like a rose.
She blows, she blows, she blows so sweet.
Go out, ----; who shall he be?
---- made a pudding,
She made it so sweet,
And never stuck a knife in
Till ---- came to eat.
Taste, love, taste, love, don't say nay,
For next Monday morning is your wedding day.
He bought her a gown and a guinea gold ring,
And a fine cocked hat to be married in.

--West Haddon, Northamptonshire; Long Itchington, Warwickshire (_Northants Notes and Queries_, ii. 105).

III. Down in the valley the violets grow.
Dear little ----, she blows like a rose.
She blows, she blows, she blows so sweet.
Come along in.
Buy a shawl, buy a new black shawl,
A bonnet trimmed with white and a new parasol.
Oh dear, oh dear, what can I do,
For next Monday morning is my wedding due.

--Shipley, Horsham; _Notes and Queries_, 8th series, i. 210 (Miss Busk).

(_b_) The children form a ring by joining hands, one child standing in the centre. They dance round. At the mention of the second name one from the ring goes into the centre. The two kiss at the end of the verse, and the first child takes the place in the ring, and the game begins again.

See "All the Boys," "Oliver, Oliver, follow the King."

Drab and Norr

A game similar to "Trippit and Coit."--Halliwell's _Dict._

Draw a Pail of Water

[Music]

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

I. Draw a pail of water
For my lady's daughter;
My father's a king and my mother's a queen,
My two little sisters are dressed in green,
Stamping grass and parsley,
Marigold leaves and daisies.
One rush, two rush,
Pray thee, fine lady, come under my bush.

--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, Games, cclxxxvii.

II. Draw a pail of water,
Send a lady a daughter;
One o' my rush, two o' my rush,
Please, young lady, creep under the briar bush.

--Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).

III. Draw, draw water,
For my lady's daughter;
One in a rush,
Two in a bush,
Pretty my lady, pop under the bush.

--Berrington and Ellesmere (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 521).

IV. Draw a bucket o' water
For a lady's daughter;
One and a hush, two and a rush,
Please, young lady, come under my bush.

--Fochabers (Rev. W. Gregor).

V. Draw a bucket of water
For a lady's daughter;
One in a bush,
Two in a bush,
Three in a bush,
Four in a bush,
And out you go.

--Crockham Hill, Kent (Miss Chase).

VI. Drawing a bucket of water
For my lady's daughter;
Put it in a chestnut tree,
And let it stay an hour.
One of you rush, two may rush,
Please, old woman, creep under the bush;
The bush is too high, the bush is too low,
Please, old woman, creep under the bush.

--Hampshire (Miss Mendham).

VII. Draw a pail of water
For a lady's daughter;
Give a silver pin for a golden ring--
Oh pray, young lady, pop under.

--Northants (Rev. W. D. Sweeting).

VIII. Draw a bucket of water
For my lady's daughter;
One go rush, and the other go hush,
Pretty young lady, bop under my bush.

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

IX. Draw a bucket of water
For the farmer's daughter;
Give a gold ring and a silver watch,
Pray, young lady, pop under.

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

X. Draw a bucket of water
For my lady's daughter;
A guinea gold ring
And a silver pin,
So pray, my young lady, pop under.

--Haydon (Herbert Hardy).

XI. Draw a bucket of water
To wash my lady's garter;
A guinea gold ring
And a silver pin,
Please, little girl, pop under.

--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).

XII. See-saw, a bucket of water,
To wash my lady's garter.
One in a rush, and two in a bush,
To see a fine lady pop under a bush.

--Anderby, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire near the Trent (Miss Peacock).

XIII. One we go rush,
Two we go push;
Lady come under the corner bush.

--Shepscombe, Gloucestershire (Miss Mendham).

XIV. Sift the lady's oaten meal, sift it into flour,
Put it in a chest of drawers and let it lie an hour.
One of my rush,
Two of my rush,
Please, young lady, come under my bush.
My bush is too high, my bush is too low,
Please, young lady, come under my bow.
Stir up the dumpling, stir up the dumpling.

--Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

XV. Sieve my lady's oatmeal,
Grind my lady's flour;
Put it in a chestnut,
Let it stand an hour.
One may rush, two may rush;
Come, my girls, walk under the bush.

--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, Games, cclxxxviii.

(_b_) The Berrington version of this game is played as follows:--Two girls face each other, holding each other by both hands. Two others face each other, holding both hands across the other two. They see-saw backwards and forwards, singing the lines (fig. 1). One girl gets inside the enclosing hands (fig. 2), and they repeat till all four have "popped under" (fig. 3), when they "jog" up and down till they fall on the floor! (fig. 4). At Ellesmere only _two_ girls join hands, and as many "pop under" as they can encircle. The Lincolnshire and Norfolk versions are played practically in the same way. In the Liphook version the children stand in two and two opposite to each other; the children on one side of the square hold hands up at the third line, and the other two children run under the hands of the first two. There is no pause, but the verse is sung time after time, so that the four children are nearly always moving. In the other Hampshire version four girls stand in a square, each holding the hands of the one opposite to her, pulling each other's hands backwards and forwards singing the lines. Two arms are then raised, and one girl comes under; this is repeated till all four girls have come under the arms, then their arms encircle each other's waists and they dance round. In the Scottish version there are only two girls who join hands and pull each other backwards and forwards, repeating the words. Halliwell describes a different action to any of these. A string of children, hand in hand, stand in a row. A child stands in front of them as leader; two other children form an arch, each holding both of the hands of the other. The string of children pass under the arch, the last of whom is taken captive by the two holding hands. The verses are repeated until all are taken.--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, cclxxxvii.

(_c_) The analysis of the game rhymes is as follows:--

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
|No.| Halliwell's Version. | Liphook (Hants). | Shropshire. |
+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| 1.|Draw a pail of water. |Draw a pail of water. |Draw, draw water. |
| 2.| -- | -- | -- |
| 3.| -- | -- | -- |
| 4.|For my lady's |Send a lady a |For my lady's |
| |daughter. |daughter. |daughter. |
| 5.| -- | -- | -- |
| 6.| -- | -- | -- |
| 7.| -- | -- | -- |
| 8.|My father's a king and| -- | -- |
| |my mother's a queen. | | |
| 9.|My two little sisters | -- | -- |
| |are dressed in green. | | |
|10.|Stamping grass and | -- | -- |
| |parsley. | | |
|11.|Marigold leaves and | -- | -- |
| |daisies. | | |
|12.|One rush, two rush. |One o' my rush, two o'|One in a rush, two in |
| | |my rush. |a bush. |
|13.| -- | -- | -- |
|14.|Pray thee, fine lady, |Please, young lady, |Pretty my lady, pop |
| |come under my bush. |creep under the |under the bush. |
| | |_briar_ bush. | |
|15.| -- | -- | -- |
|16.| -- | -- | -- |
|17.| -- | -- | -- |
|18.| -- | -- | -- |
+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
|No.|Fochabers (Scotland). | Hampshire. | Northants. |
+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| 1.|Draw a bucket o' |Drawing a bucket of |Draw a pail of water. |
| |water. |water. | |
| 2.| -- | -- | -- |
| 3.| -- | -- | -- |
| 4.|For a lady's daughter.|For my lady's |For a lady's daughter.|
| | |daughter. | |
| 5.| -- | -- | -- |
| 6.| -- |Put it in a chestnut | -- |
| | |tree. | |
| 7.| -- |Let it stay an hour. | -- |
| 8.| -- | -- | -- |
| 9.| -- | -- | -- |
|10.| -- | -- | -- |
|11.| -- | -- | -- |
|12.|One and a hush, two |One of you rush, two | -- |
| |and a rush. |may rush. | |
|13.| -- | -- |Give a silver pin for |
| | | |a golden ring. |
|14.|Please, young lady, |Please, old woman man,|Pray, young lady, pop |
| |come under my bush. |creep under the bush. |under. |
|15.| -- |The bush is too high, | -- |
| | |the bush is too low. | |
|16.| -- |Please, old woman, | -- |
| | |creep under the bush. | |
|17.| -- | -- | -- |
|18.| -- | -- | -- |
+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
|No.| Norfolk (1). | Norfolk (2). | Haydon. |
+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| 1.|Draw a bucket of |Draw a bucket of |Draw a bucket of |
| |water. |water. |water. |
| 2.| -- | -- | -- |
| 3.| -- | -- | -- |
| 4.|For my lady's |For the farmer's |For my lady's |
| |daughter. |daughter. |daughter. |
| 5.| -- | -- | -- |
| 6.| -- | -- | -- |
| 7.| -- | -- | -- |
| 8.| -- | -- | -- |
| 9.| -- | -- | -- |
|10.| -- | -- | -- |
|11.| -- | -- | -- |
|12.|One go rush and the | -- | -- |
| |other go hush. | | |
|13.| -- |Give a gold ring and a|A guinea gold ring and|
| | |silver watch. |a silver pin. |
|14.|Pretty young lady, bop|Pray, young lady, pop |Pray, young lady, pop |
| |under my bush. |under. |under. |
|15.| -- | -- | -- |
|16.| -- | -- | -- |
|17.| -- | -- | -- |
|18.| -- | -- | -- |
+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
|No.| Earls Heaton. | Lincolnshire and | Gloucestershire. |
| | | Nottinghamshire. | |
+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| 1.|Draw a bucket of |See saw, a bucket of | -- |
| |water. |water. | |
| 2.| -- | -- | -- |
| 3.| -- | -- | -- |
| 4.| -- | -- | -- |
| 5.|To wash my lady's |To wash my lady's | -- |
| |garter. |garter. | |
| 6.| -- | -- | -- |
| 7.| -- | -- | -- |
| 8.| -- | -- | -- |
| 9.| -- | -- | -- |
|10.| -- | -- | -- |
|11.| -- | -- | -- |
|12.| -- |One in a rush and two |One we go rush, two we|
| | |in a bush. |go push. |
|13.|A guinea gold ring and| -- | -- |
| |a silver pin. | | |
|14.|Please, little girl, |To see a fine lady pop|Lady, come under the |
| |pop under. |under a bush. |corner bush. |
|15.| -- | -- | -- |
|16.| -- | -- | -- |
|17.| -- | -- | -- |
|18.| -- | -- | -- |
+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
|No.| Belfast. | Halliwell's Version | Crockham Hill. |
| | | (No. 2). | |
+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| 1.| -- | -- |Draw a bucket of |
| | | |water. |
| 2.|Sift the lady's |Sieve my lady's | -- |
| |oatmeal. |oatmeal. | |
| 3.|Sift it into flour. |Grind my lady's flour.| -- |
| 4.| -- | -- |For a lady's daughter.|
| 5.| -- | -- | -- |
| 6.|Put it in a chest of |Put it in a chestnut. | -- |
| |drawers. | | |
| 7.|Let it lie an hour. |Let it stand an hour. | -- |
| 8.| -- | | -- |
| 9.| -- | -- | -- |
|10.| -- | -- | -- |
|11.| -- | -- | -- |
|12.|One of my rush, two of|One may rush, two may |One in a bush, two in |
| |my rush. |rush. |a bush, three in a |
| | | |bush, four in a bush. |
|13.| -- | -- | -- |
|14.|Please, young lady, |Come, my girls, walk | -- |
| |come under my bush. |under the bush. | |
|15.|My bush is too high, | -- | -- |
| |my bush is too low. | | |
|16.|Please, young lady, | -- | -- |
| |come under my bow. | | |
|17.|Stir up the dumpling. | -- | -- |
|18.| -- | -- |And out you go. |
+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

The analysis shows that the majority of the variants retain four principal incidents of what must have been the original form of the game, and the fact of the Gloucestershire version having come down with only two of the incidents, namely, the two most common to all the variants (12 and 14), shows that the game has been in a state of decadence. The four principal incidents, Nos. 1, 4, 12, and 14, point distinctly to some water ceremonial; and if it may be argued that the incidents which occur in only one or two of the variants may be considered to have belonged to the original type, we shall be able to suggest that this game presents a dramatic representation of ancient well-worship. The incidents which occur in one version only are those given by Mr. Halliwell, and unfortunately the locality from which he obtained this variant is unknown. Still it is an earlier version than those which are now printed for the first time, and may without doubt be looked upon as genuine. Taking all the incidents of the various versions as the means by which to restore the earliest version, it would appear that this might have consisted of the following lines:--

Draw a pail of water
For a lady's daughter;
Her father's a king, her mother's a queen,
Her two little sisters are dressed in green,
Stamping grass and parsley, marigold leaves and daisies;
Sift the lady's oatmeal, sift it into flour,
Put it in a chestnut tree, let it lie an hour;
Give a silver pin and a gold ring,
One and a hush! two and a rush!
Pray, young lady, pop under a bush;
My bush is too high, my bush is too low,
Please, young lady, come under my bow!

(_d_) This restoration of the words, though it probably is far from complete, and does not make so good a game rhyme as the reduced versions, nevertheless shows clearly enough that the incidents belong to a ceremonial of primitive well-worship. The pulling of the hands backwards and forwards may be taken to indicate the raising of water from a well. If this is conceded, the incidents might be grouped as follows:--

(1.) Drawing of water from a well.
(2.) For a devotee at the well.
(3.) Collecting flowers for dressing the well.
(4.) Making of a cake for presentation.
(5.) Gifts to the well [the silver pin, gold ring, and probably the
garter].
(6.) Command of silence.
(7.) The presence of the devotee at the sacred bush.

All these are incidents of primitive well-worship (see Gomme's _Ethnology and Folk-lore_, pp. 82-103). Garland dressing is very general; cakes were eaten at Rorrington well, Shropshire (Burne's _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 433); pins and portions of the dress are very general offerings; silence is strictly enforced in many instances, and a sacred tree or bush is very frequently found near the well.

The tune of the Hampshire game (Miss Mendham's version) is practically the same as that of the "Mulberry Bush."

Newell (_Games of American Children_, p. 90) gives a version of this game.

Drawing Dun out of the Mire

Brand, quoting from "an old collection of satires, epigrams, &c.," says this game is enumerated among other pastimes:

At shove-groat, venter-point, or crosse and pile,
At leaping o'er a Midsummer bone-fier,
Or at _the drawing Dun out of the myer_.

So in the _Dutchesse of Suffolke_, 1631:

Well done, my masters, lends your hands,
_Draw Dun out of the ditch_,
Draw, pull, helpe all, so, so, well done.
[_They pull him out._]

They had shoved Bishop Bonner into a well, and were pulling him out.

We find this game noticed at least as early as Chaucer's time, in the _Manciple's Prologue_:

Then gan our hoste to jape and to play,
And sayd, sires, what? _Dun is in the mire._

Nares (_Glossary_) says this game was a rural pastime, in which _Dun_ meant a dun horse, supposed to be stuck in the mire, and sometimes represented by one of the persons who played.

Gifford (_Ben Jonson_, vol. vii. p. 283), who remembered having played at the game (doubtless in his native county, Devonshire), thus describes it:--"A log of wood is brought into the midst of the room: this is Dun (the cart horse), and a cry is raised that he is stuck in the mire. Two of the company advance, either with or without ropes, to draw him out. After repeated attempts they find themselves unable to do it, and call for more assistance. The game continues till all the company take part in it, when Dun is extricated of course; and the merriment arises from the awkward and affected efforts of the rustics to lift the log, and sundry arch contrivances to let the ends of it fall on one another's toes."

Drop Handkerchief

This is a game similar to Cat and Mouse, but takes its name from the use of the handkerchief to start the pursuit. Various rhyming formulæ are used in some places. In Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy), no rhyme is used.

The children stand in a ring. One runs round with a handkerchief and drops it; the child behind whom it is dropped chases the dropper, the one who gets home first takes the vacant place, the other drops the handkerchief again.

In Shropshire the two players pursue one another in and out of the ring, running under the uplifted hands of the players who compose it: the pursuer carefully keeping on the track of the pursued (Burne's _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 512).

The Dorsetshire variant is accompanied by a rhyme:

I wrote a letter to my love;
I carried water in my glove;
And by the way I dropped it--
I dropped it, I dropped it, I dropped it, &c.

This is repeated until the handkerchief is stealthily dropped immediately behind one of the players, who should be on the alert to follow as quickly as possible the one who has dropped it, who at once increases her speed and endeavours to take the place left vacant by her pursuer. Should she be caught before she can succeed in doing this she is compelled to take the handkerchief a second time. But if, as it more usually happens, she is successful in accomplishing this, the pursuer in turn takes the handkerchief, and the game proceeds as before.--Symondsbury (_Folk-lore Journal_, vi. 212).

Jack lost his supper last night,
And the night before; if he does again to-night,
He never will no more--more--more--more.

I wrote a letter to my love,
And on the way I dropt it;
Some of you have picked it up,
And got it in your pocket--pocket--pocket--pocket.

I have a little dog, it won't bite you--
It won't bite you--it won't bite you--
It _will_ bite you.

--Leicestershire (Miss Ellis).

The Forest of Dean version is the same as the Dorsetshire, except that the child who is unsuccessful in gaining the vacant place has to stand in the middle of the ring until the same thing happens to another child.--Miss Matthews.

In Nottinghamshire the children form in a ring; one walks round outside the ring singing and carrying a handkerchief:

I wrote a letter to my love, and on the way I dropt it;
One of you has picked it up and put it in your pocket.
It isn't you, it isn't you, &c. &c.; it is you.

The handkerchief is then dropped at some one's back, the one at whose back the handkerchief was dropped chasing the other.

Or they say:

I lost my supper last night, I lost it the night before,
And if I lose it again to-night, I'll knock at somebody's door.
It isn't you, it isn't you, &c. &c.; it's you.

--Miss Winfield.

At Winterton and Lincoln the children form a circle, standing arms-length apart. A child holding a handkerchief occupies the centre of the ring and sings:

Wiskit-a-waskit,
A green leather basket;
I wrote a letter to my love,
And on the way I lost it;
Some of you have picked it up,
And put it in your pocket.
I have a little dog at home,
And it shan't bite you,

(Here the singer points to each child in turn)

Nor you, nor you, nor you;
But it shall bite _you_.

Then she drops the handkerchief before her chosen playmate, who chases her in and out of the ring under the arms of the other children until she is captured. The captor afterwards takes the place in the centre, and the original singer becomes a member of the circle.--Miss M. Peacock.

The Deptford version of the verse is as follows:--

I had a little dog whose name was Buff,
I sent him up the street for a penny'orth of snuff,
He broke my box and spilt my snuff,
I think my story is long enough--
'Tain't you, and 'tain't you, and 'tis you!

--Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).

A Staffordshire and Sharleston version gives some altogether different formulæ:--

What colour's the sky?
Blue.
Look up again.
Like a W.
Follow me through every little hole that I go through.

--Staffordshire (Rev. G. T. Royds, Rector of Haughton).

At Sharleston the centre child says, "What colour is t' sky?" The other answers, "Blue." Centre child says, "Follow me true." Here the centre child runs in and out between the others until the one who was touched catches her, when they change places, the first joining the children in the ring.--Sharleston (Miss Fowler).

At Beddgelert, Wales (Mrs. Williams), this game is called Tartan Boeth. It is played in precisely the same manner as the English game, but the words used are:

Tartan Boeth, Oh ma'en llosgi, Boeth iawn
Hot Tart. Oh, it burns! very hot!

At the words, "Very hot!" the handkerchief is dropped.

(_b_) In this game no kissing takes place, and that this is no mere accidental omission may be shown by Mr. Udal's description of the Dorsetshire game. He was assured by several persons who are interested in Dorset Children's Games that the indiscriminate kissing (that is, whether the girl pursued runs little or far, or, when overtaken, whether she objects or not) with which this game is ordinarily associated, as played now both in Dorset and in other counties, was not indigenous to this county, but was merely a pernicious after-growth or outcome of later days, which had its origin in the various excursion and holiday fêtes, which the facilities of railway travelling had instituted, by bringing large crowds from the neighbouring towns into the country. He was told that thirty years ago such a thing was unknown in the country districts of Dorset, when the game then usually indulged in was known merely as "Drop the Handkerchief" (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 212).

In other cases the rhymes are used for a purely kissing game, for which see "Kiss in the Ring."

Dropping the Letter

An undescribed Suffolk boys' game.--Moor's _Suffolk Words_, p. 238.

Duck under the Water