_Girls._ "Which one of us will you have, sir?" etc. _Boys._ "You're all too black and blowzy," etc. _Girls._ "We are as good as you, sir," etc. _Boys._ "Then I will take you, miss," etc. The pretended quarrel between intermediaries has here become a dispute of the principals.[40] Finally, in the streets of New York the dialogue is made unrecognizable-- _The Ring._ "Forty ducks are riding, _My dilsey dulsey officer_; Forty ducks are riding, _My dilsey dulsey day_. Which of the lot do you like best?" _Child in Centre._ "You're all too black and ugly--ugly," etc. _The Ring._ "We're not so black as you are," etc. The child then selects a partner, when the rest sing, "Open the gates and let the bride out," etc.; and the couple pass under lifted hands, circle the ring, and similarly reenter, to the words, "Open the gates and let the bride in," etc. We have thus a curious example of the way in which an apparently meaningless game, which might be supposed the invention of the _gamins_ of the street, is, in fact, a degenerate form of the ancient poetry, which was brimful of grace, courtesy, and the joy of existence. For a purpose presently to be mentioned, we must cite the corresponding Scotch rhyme, given by Chambers: A dis, a dis, a green grass, A dis, a dis, a dis; Come all ye pretty fair maids, And dance along with us. For we are going a-roving, A-roving in this land; We'll take this pretty fair maid, We'll take her by the hand. Ye shall get a duke, my dear, And ye shall get a drake; And ye shall get a young prince, A young prince for your sake. And if this young prince chance to die, Ye shall get another; The bells will ring, and the birds will sing, And we'll all clap hands together. No. 4. _Tread, Tread the Green Grass._ Tread, tread the green grass, Dust, dust, dust; Come all ye pretty fair maids And walk along with us. If you be a fair maid, As I suppose you be, I'll take you by the lily-white hand And lead you across the sea. _Philadelphia._ With this musical call to the dance, it was common, a generation since, for girls in this town to begin the evening dances on the green, singing as they marched in couples. The "dust" of the rhyme is a corruption. Comparing it with the Scotch song previously quoted, we do not doubt that it represents the Scotch (in other words, old English) _adist_, the opposite of _ayont_, meaning _this way_, come hither. We ought probably therefore to read, Tread, tread the green grass, Adist, adist, adist.