| |deliver the ball. | | |24.| — | — | |25.|So, black gipsies, sit| — | | |in the sun. | | |26.|We fair ladies, go as | — | | |we come. | | |27.|The ball is ours, and | — | | |none of yours. | | |28.| — | — | |29.| — | — | |30.| — | — | |31.| — | — | |32.| — | — | |33.| — | — | |34.| — | — | |35.| — | — | |36.| — | — | |37.| — | — | |38.| — | — | |39.| — | — | +---+----------------------+----------------------+ This game appears to be in such a state of decadence that it is difficult to do more than suggest an origin. It may be that “Queen Anne” represents an oracle, and the petition is addressed to her to discover the stolen treasure; but more probably the players represent disguised damsels, one of whom is a bride whose identity has to be found out by her showing or possessing some object which belongs to or has been given previously by her suitor. The “guessing” or “naming” a particular person runs through all the versions, and is undoubtedly the clue to the game. If the Belfast version is the nearest to the original of those at present existing, and there is every probability that this is so, especially as Chambers’ version is so similar, an early form of the game might be restored, and from this its origin may be ascertained. Using the first four lines of one of Halliwell’s versions, and what appear to be the common lines of the other versions, the reading is— _Suitor and Friends._ Here we come a-piping, First in Spring and then in May. The Queen she sits upon the sand, Fair as a lily, white as a wand [swan]. Here’s a pair of {white} gloves to cover the hands [suitors offer {green} gloves], Of the fairest lady in all the land. _Guardian (or Mother) and Maidens._ Come {taste} my lily, come {taste} my rose, {smell} {smell} For which of my maidens do you propose? _Suitors or Queen Anne._ I chose but one, I chose from all, I pray, Miss (    ), receive the ball [throwing ball to one girl, who catches it]. Or— I pray this hand receive the ball, [putting a ball into the extended hands of one of three girls.]