What the meaning of this word is it may be impossible to ascertain, though probably Mr. Newell may be correct in his suggestion that it represents the old English word “adist,” the opposite of “ayont,” meaning “this way,” “come hither” (_Games of American Children_, p. 51). But the point really is, that the version which contains the oldest word-forms would probably be the purest in other respects. The analysis of the whole game confirms this view, as the Scottish and Yorkshire versions are nearly parallel, while the discrepancies begin to creep in with the Shropshire version, reaching their last stage in the versions recorded by Halliwell and from Congleton. Following this line of argument, “dik-ma-day” becomes first “duke, my dear,” and then “duck, my dear.” Turning next to the import of the rhymes, apart from special words used, it is curious to note that “dis” is only converted into “dusty,” and hence into “dusty day,” in two versions out of the fourteen. The Lincolnshire version agrees with Halliwell’s version in making some curious offers for a pretty lass, but these rhymes are probably an innovation. In the same way the incidents numbered 39-40, occurring in the Sussex version, and 43-46 occurring in the London and Hants versions, are borrowings from other games, and not original portions of this. The Congleton version is evidently incomplete. +----+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | No.| Scotland (Chambers). | Lanarkshire. | Biggar. | +----+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|A-dis, a-dis, a green |A-dis, a-dis, a green |A dish, a dish, a | | |grass. |grass. |green grass. | | 2.| — | — | — | | 3.|A-dis, a-dis, a-das. |A-dis, a-dis, a-dass. |A dish, a dish, | | | | |a dish. | | 4.| — | — | — | | 5.| — | — | — | | 6.|Come all ye pretty |Come my pretty fair |Come all ye pretty | | |maids. |maid. |maids. | | 7.|And dance along with |And walk along with |And dance along with | | |us. |us. |us. | | 8.|For we are going a- | — |For we are lads a | | |roving. | |roving. | | 9.|We’ll take this maid | — |We’ll take this pretty| | |by the hand. | | fair maid by the | | | | |hand. | | 10.| — | — | — |