He is admitted into the circle, and proceeds to perform the designated actions. Having "lighted his pipe and warmed his toes," he suddenly attempts to make his exit from the ring (all the members of which have clasped hands in expectation of his onset), throwing himself with that object against a pair of linked arms. No. 61. _Scorn._ Such was, and perhaps still is, the name of an amusement of a not very agreeable nature, familiar at children's parties in New England. A girl was seated on a chair in the middle of the room, and one child after another was led to her throne. She would turn away with an expression of contempt, until some one approached that pleased her, who, after a kiss, took her place. "Derision" is the name of a game mentioned by Froissart as an amusement of his childhood. It is not at all unlikely that the present sport represents the old French pastime. Speaking of representations of the passions, we may say that we have heard of a game formerly played in New York, called "Hatred and Revenge;" but have not succeeded in obtaining it. FOOTNOTES: [90] A friend recollects how he "followed his leader" over the roofs of houses in Boston. VIII. _THE PLEASURES OF MOTION._ He asked a shepherd who stood near: "Why do these lads make merry here, Why is their round so gay?" "They dance about a violet sweet, a lad hath found to-day." The drum, the harp, and fife, resounded round their play, All were of heart elate, Each dancing with his mate. I, Nithart, led the row, Once and again, around the violet to and fro. _Minnesinger, 13th century._ No. 62. _Ring Around the Rosie._ This little round, universally familiar in America, meets us again in Germany and Provence. After the transit of various languages, and thousands of miles, the song retains the same essential characteristics. [Illustration] Ring a ring a rosie, A bottle full of posie, All the girls in our town, Ring for little Josie. _New Bedford, Mass._ (about 1790). Another version: Round the ring of roses, Pots full of posies, The one who stoops last Shall tell whom she loves best. At the end of the words the children suddenly stoop, and the last to get down undergoes some penalty, or has to take the place of the child in the centre, who represents the "rosie" (rose-tree; French, _rosier_). Vulgarized forms of the round are common: Ring around the rosie, Squat among the posies. Ring around the roses, Pocket full of posies, One, two, three--squat! And finally it is deformed past recognition: A ring, a ring, a ransy, Buttermilk and tansy, Flower here and flower there, And all--squat! This last corruption was in use some forty years since in Connecticut. No. 63. _Go Round and Round the Valley._