General:
This is Volume I of a two-volume work. Where necessary, hyperlinks are provided to Volume II, but these may not work on all platforms. Because Volume I was published in 1894 and Volume II in 1898, there is no symmetry in the references between the two volumes (for example, Gled Wylie from Volume I does not refer to Shue-Gled-Wylie from Volume II, whereas Shue-Gled-Wylie does refer to Gled Wylie).
In the Addenda in Volume II the author has added to the description of some of the games. Where this is the case, a hyperlink ^[Addendum] has been provided. Some descriptions have more than one addition; in these cases, there is a separate hyperlink for each addendum.
This eBook contains a number of symbols and characters that may not display properly, depending on the software used and its settings.
Midi files have been provided to play the tunes. Playing these files may not work on all devices, depending on the hard- and software used.
The tables with analyses of the rhymes have been re-arranged to better convey their meaning; they are sometimes very wide and may require horizontal scrolling, depending on the hard- and software used for reading.
This text follows the original printed work, including inconsistencies. Inconsistencies include differences in spelling of the names of games and locations, differences in transcription of dialect, inconsistencies in lay-out, etc. Where changes were made, these are documented below.

References and hyperlinks:
The book contains some uncertain references to games, because of inconsistent naming and/or spelling of game names. Where these differences were trivial (for example, Wolf and Lamb versus Wolf and the Lamb), their identity has been assumed silently. Following is a list of less trivial differences:

• The game Stag (Vol. II) is often referred to in the text as Stag Warning; occasionally they are listed as though they were separate games. The hyperlinks point to Stag.
• Page 51: reference to Wind Up Jack; this game is not mentioned separately, but under Wind Up the Bush Faggot (which is where the hyperlink points).
• Page 120: reference to Wind up the Watch, which is not listed as a separate game, but as a local name for Wind up the Bush Faggot (to which the reference links).
• Page 137: reference to Crosspurposes, which is not listed as a separate game; according to the description and Vol. II, this is probably Cross-questions, which is where the link points.
• Page 300: reference to How many miles to Barley Bridge?, which is not listed as a separate game; the phrase occurs in some of the versions of How many miles to Babylon?, to which the hyperlink points.
• Page 318, section (c): The author refers to the Belfast version, but describes the Isle of Man version. This has not been changed.
• Page 328: reference to the game Spanish Fly, which does not occur in either volume (nor does the phrase).
• Page 361: Lubin, Looby Loo has a hyperlink to the Addenda; the game is not listed as such in the Addenda, the link points to Hulla-balloo-ballee which is apparently the intended reference.
• Page 402: reference to Ghost in the Garden and Ghost in the Copper. Neither is described as a separate game; probably the reference is to Ghost at the Well, to which the link points.

Textual remarks:
At least some quotations presented by the author are not verbatim quotations, they have been edited by the author (for example Aubrey on cockle-bread).

• Page xii: Botterford (Lincolnshire) is possibly a typographical error for Bottesford (Lincolnshire).
• Page 58: Anderly (Lincolnshire) is possibly a typographical error for Anderby (Lincolnshire).
• Page 402: raison d'etre has been left as in the original.

Changes made to original text:
Footnotes have been moved to end of the description of the game.
Sources (when printed in smaller type in the original work) have been moved to a separate line where necessary.
The Errata have already been incorporated in the text.
Gallovidian Encyclopedia/EncyclopÆdia has been standardised to EncyclopÆdia.

• Page xvi: Conqueror changed to Conqueror or Conkers (as in text)
• Page xvii: Duckstone was missing from the list and has been added
• Page xix: Lend me your Key was missing from the list and has been added
• Page 19: we'll go the king changed to we'll go to the king
• Page 24: Hurstmonceaux changed to Hurstmonceux (as elsewhere)
• Page 56: he jostled away changed to be jostled away
• Page 128: [They pull him out. changed to [They pull him out.]
• Page 180 (table) row 16: [ added before Write
• Page 270: so that won't do changed to so that won't do (as elsewhere in the song)
• Page 329: cul lÉve changed to cul levÉ (as in Nares's work)
• Page 364 uniniated changed to uninitiated
• Page 387: the Sheffield is changed to the Sheffield version is.

Notes on the music transcriptions:

• Page 15 (Ball of Primrose): In the last bar, the dotted half-note is erroneous and has been changed to an undotted half-note.
• Page 28 (Betsy Bungay): 5th note of third bar should be a dotted quaver not a dotted crotchet; top bar is missing.
• Page 44 (Boys and Girls): Bar 1: note values do not add up to time signature. Crotchet rest inserted to make it correct length. Bar 14: note values do not add up to time signature; should be same rhythm as bar 16- i.e. two dotted minims.
• Page 52 (Bung the Bucket): The key signature shows that this should be in the treble not the bass clef. Bar 1:note values do not add up to time signature. Either the first crotchet should not be dotted or the quaver or the semiquavers are redundant. It seems to work best by changing the dotted crotchet to a crotchet.
• Page 87 (Currants and Raisins): The second section (bars 5-12) has repeat marks but the written guidance is to play it once. The repeat signs from this section are not used in the Midi music. The third section starting at bar 13 is more like a new beginning as it starts with an uptake bar of just one crotchet which is balanced at the end of the section with a minim. To keep it as a single piece, two crotchet rests have been added at the beginning of bar thirteen and a crotchet rest at the end of the last bar. Since this section is to be repeated as often as is required, these rests would not be out of place in the performance.
• Page 100 (Draw a Pail of Water): The note values in bar 1 add up to 5 crotchets instead of four. Following the pattern of the second and third bars, the first note of bar one has been changed from a dotted crotchet to a dotted quaver and the second note from a quaver to a semi-quaver.
• Page 113 (Duck Dance): In the midi file, just the first and the last verses are played. The first five bars represent one verse and are repeated just once followed by the last two bars for which the direction is that they are for the last verse only. In the fifth full bar, the fourth note value is a redundant crotchet rest since there is an uptake bar of one crotchet that this bar should balance.
• Page 153 (Green Grass, Middlesex): Two bars rest have been inserted after bar 24 and at the end for the spoken sections.
• Page 153 (Green Grass, London): Bar 5 is marked as the start of a repeat but there is no end repeat sign at the double bar-line in bar 8. This section should presumably be repeated. Bar 9 contains just one quaver so rests have been inserted at the beginning of the bar to make up the full bar.
• Page 171 (Green Gravel, Derbyshire): 5^th full bar is missing half a beat. The last two semiquavers in this bar have been transcribed as quavers to correct this.
• Page 205 (Here we go around, around): Although first time and second time bars are shown, no repeat marks are given. These have been inserted after the uptake bar and at the end of the first time bar.
• Page 293 (Jolly Rover): The third note of the penultimate bar is written as an F natural. This sounds very odd. It may be that it is a misprint for F sharp. Two midi files are therefore provided, one as written, and another in which the F natural is replaced by an F sharp.
• Page 313 (Lady of the Land): 4th full bar 3rd note: this needs to be a dotted crotchet not a minim to make up the correct number of beats to the bar. Similarly the first note of the 5th full bar and the last note of the 6th full bar should be dotted crotchets not dotted minims. However it is possible that in performance, these notes should sound longer. Therefore, two midi files are provided. The first is as changed to make up the correct number of beats to the bar to fit the time signature. In the second, pauses over the “incorrect” notes have been included.
• Page 333 (London Bridge, Enborne School): The penultimate bar shows two dotted minims. To make the correct time values for the bar these should be two dotted crotchets. As in Lady of the Land, however, the longer notes may simply indicate pauses over each as in the alternative version.