The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 1 of 2): With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes and Methods of Playing etc.Gomme, Alice Bertha
History
The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 1 of 2): With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes and Methods of Playing etc.
Gomme, Alice Bertha
Folklore -- Great Britain; Games -- Great Britain
(_b_) There must be an odd number of players at this game. They form
into couples, each standing behind the other, making a ring, the girls
inside, one boy standing alone in the middle. As they go round they sing
the verse. At the end each boy leaves hold of his partner’s arm and
catches the arm of the girl in front, the one who is standing in the
centre trying in the confusion to get into a place. If he succeeds, the
child left out has to be the one in the centre the next time.
(_c_) Mr. Newell (_Games_, p. 101) says this game was called the
“Baptist Game” in Virginia, where it is said to be enjoyed by pious
people who will not dance. The American game is played in the same way
as the English one. Mr. Newell gives the tune to which the game was
sung. The words are almost identical. This game is played in the same
way as “Jolly Miller,” which see.
Johnny Rover
One boy is chosen to be Johnny Rover. The other players stand near him.
Rover cries out—
A [I] warn ye ance, A warn you twice;
A warn ye three times over;
A warn ye a’ t’ be witty an’ wise
An flee fae Johnny Rover.
While the words are being repeated all the players are putting
themselves on the alert, and when they are finished they run off in all
directions, with Rover in full pursuit. If a player is hard pressed he
has the privilege of running to “Parley,” the place from which the
players started, and which in all games is an asylum. If he is caught
before he reaches it, he becomes Johnny Rover for the next game. The one
first captured becomes Rover.—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
Jolly Fishermen
[Music]
—Tean, North Staffs. (Miss Burne).
I. They were two jolly fishermen,
They were two jolly fishermen,
They were two jolly fishermen,
And just come from the sea,
And just come from the sea.
They cast their nets into the sea,
And jolly fish caught we,
And jolly fish caught we,
And jolly fish caught we,
They cast their nets into the sea,
And jolly fish caught we.
—Tean and Cheadle, North Staffs. (Miss Burne).
II. There was three jolly fishermen,
And they all put out to sea.
They cast their nets into the sea,
And the [three?] jolly fish caught we.
—North Staffs. Potteries (Mrs. Thomas Lawton).
(_b_) A circle is formed by joining hands, and two children stand in the
centre. They walk round. At the seventh line the two in the centre each
choose one child from the ring, thus making four in the centre. They
then sing the remaining four lines. The two who were first in the centre
then go out, and the game begins again, with the other two players in
the centre.
(_c_) Miss Burne says this game is more often played as “Three Jolly
Fishermen.” At Cheadle, North Staffs., a few miles distant from Tean,
this game is played by grown-up men and women.
Jolly Hooper
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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