The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 2 of 2): With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes, and Methods of Playing etc.Gomme, Alice Bertha
General
The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 2 of 2): With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes, and Methods of Playing etc.
Gomme, Alice Bertha
Folklore -- Great Britain; Games -- Great Britain
girl they shall seize, they go up and down the lines several times,
until the period of suspense and expectation is supposed to have lasted
long enough. Then the last boy in the line puts his arms round the
chosen girl’s waist and carries her off. This goes on until there is
only one girl left, who recommences the game on her part by singing the
first lines, choosing first a boy, who then becomes a Spaniard. In the
first version from Belfast, the first girl who is asked to go refuses,
and another is asked, who consents. In the Manchester version (Miss
Dendy), the girl refuses twice, then accepts. The “mother” is seated in
state with her “daughters” round her in the Bexley Heath (Miss Morris)
version. The two “gentlemen” advance to her and turn haughtily away
when refused. Then they choose a girl and take her over to their side.
In the Shropshire (Edgmond) version, two girls, one from each end of the
line of “daughters,” goes over to the knights’ side, who also “bow” and
“bend” when saying the lines, and the game is repeated saying five,
seven, &c., knights. Here, also, the last player left on the girls’ side
takes the knight’s part in the next game. Miss Burne adds, at other
places the knights call only one girl by name each time. Both lines in
the Shropshire game advance and retire. In the Dublin game (Mrs.
Lincoln), three young boys are chosen for the suitors, one girl is the
mother, and any number from three to six personate the daughters. The
first boy only speaks the lines. At “Return, return, your coat is
white,” he, with the other two “suitors,” takes the girl, brings her
back, and says the last verse. They then sit down, and the second suitor
does the same thing, then the third one. Then the game is begun again
[with three other boys] until all the daughters have been taken. In the
version quoted from _Notes and Queries_, two children, mother and
daughter, stand on one side, the other players opposite to them, and
advance and retire. The contributor says they chant the words to a
pleasing old melody. The Yorkshire version (Miss E. Cadman) is played in
the usual way, both sides advancing and retiring in turn, and at the end
one of the “knights” tries to catch one of the girls. They cross the
room to each other’s places. In Co. Down, at Ballymiscaw, Miss Patterson
says one player refuses when asked, and another consents, this one and
the “lord” then join hands and dance round together, saying the last
words. The Annaverna version is sung by one on each side—“king and the
mother.” The Berwickshire game was played by six children, one on one
side, five on the other. The first lines are sung on both sides; then
the rest is dialogue until the girl refuses, when the “Jew” dances round
by himself, singing the words; she then consents, and the two dance
round with joined hands as in a reel, singing the last verse. The
dialogue is spoken with animation, and the “Jew steps his foot” and
prances away when saying these words.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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