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
V. Here come three jolly, jolly, jolly boys
As lately come from shore;
We will spend our time on a moonlight night
As we have done before.
We will have a round, a round, a round,
We will have a round, a round, a round;
Let the lad that delights in a bonny, bonny lass,
Let him kiss her on the ground.
—Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy).
VI. Here comes three jolly, jolly sailors,
Just arrived on shore;
We’ll spend our money like merry, merry men,
And then we’ll work for more.
Hurrah for the round, round ring,
Hurrah for the round, round ring;
And he that loves a pretty, pretty girl,
Let him call her from the ring.
—Shipley, Horsham (_Notes and Queries_, 8th series, i. 210, Miss Busk).
(_b_) This game is played at Warwick as follows:—The children form a
large ring, clasping hands and standing still. One child walks round
inside the ring, singing the verses. This child then chooses another
from the ring, bending on one knee and kissing her hand. The lines are
then repeated, the two walking arm in arm round the inside of the ring.
Another child is chosen out of the ring by the one who was chosen
previously. This goes on until all are chosen out of the ring, walking
two by two round inside. When the ring will no longer hold them, the two
walk round outside. At Northants the ring walks round, and the child is
_outside_ the ring. Partners are chosen, and the two walk round outside
the ring. The first two walk together till there is a third, then the
three walk together till there is a fourth, then they go in couples. In
the Northants version, from Raunds, four boys stand in the centre of the
ring. When the verses are sung they choose four girls, and then take
their places in the ring. The four girls then choose four lads, and so
on. At Earls Heaton the children stand against a wall in a line. Another
child walks up and down singing the verses, and chooses a partner. He
spreads a handkerchief on the ground, and they kneel and kiss.
(_c_) The Shipley version is a “Kiss in the Ring” game. A version sent
by the Rev. W. Slater Sykes from Settle, Yorkshire, is almost identical
with the Earls Heaton version. Northall (_Folk Rhymes_, p. 369) says “to
kiss on the floor”—_i.e._, not in secret. He gives the words of a sort
of musical catch, sung in the Midlands, similar in character to this
game, which may once have been used in some courting game. Mr. Newell
(_Games_, p. 124) gives a version sung in the streets of New York, and
considers it to be a relic of antiquity, a similar round being given in
_Deuteromelia_, 1609.
Jowls
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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