A History of Nursery Rhymes :: CHAPTER XV. BELL RHYMES.

CHAPTER XV. BELL RHYMES.

The jingle of the bells in nursery poetry is certainly the prettiest of all the features in the poetical fictions of Baby-land.

The oft-repeated rhyme of—

"Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,[K]
To see a fair[L] lady upon a white horse;
Bells[M] on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She will have music wherever she goes,"

has a charm with every child.

The ride of my Lady of Godiva is fancifully suggested by the Coventry version.

"Bell horses, bell horses, what time of day?
One o'clock, two o'clock, three and away."

"Gay go up and gay go down
To ring the bells of London town.

"Bull's-eyes and targets, say the bells of St. Marg'-ret's;
Brick-bats and tiles, chime the bells of St. Giles';
Halfpence and farthings, ring the bells of St. Martin's;
Oranges and lemons, toll the bells of St. Clement's;
Pancakes and fritters, say the bells of St. Peter's;
Two sticks and an apple, say the bells of Whitechapel;
Old Father Baldpate, toll the slow bells of Aldgate;
You owe me ten shillings, say the bells of St. Helen's;
When will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey;
When I grow rich, chime the bells of Shoreditch;
Pray when will that be? ask the bells of Stepney;
I'm sure I don't know, tolled the big bell at Bow.

"Gay go up and gay go down
To ring the bells of London town."

This almost forgotten nursery song and game of "The Bells of London Town" has a descriptive burden or ending to each line, giving an imitation of the sounds of the bell-peals of the principal churches in each locality of the City and the old London suburbs. The game is played by girls and boys holding hands and racing round sideways, as they do in "Ring a Ring a Rosies," after each line has been sung as a solo by the children in turns. The

"Gay go up and gay go down
To ring the bells of London town"

is chorussed by all the company, and then the rollicking dance begins; the feet stamping out a noisy but enjoyable accompaniment to the words, "Gay go up, gay go down."

The intonation of the little vocal bell-ringers alters with each line,

"Pancakes and fritters, say the bells of St. Peter's,"

being sung to a quick tune and in a high key;

"Old Father Baldpate, toll the slow bells of Aldgate,"

suggesting a very slow movement and a deep, low tone.

The round singing of the ancients, of which this game is a fitting illustration, is probably a relic of Celtic festivity. The burden of a song, chorussed by the entire company, followed the stanza sung by the vocalist, and this soloist, having finished, had licence to appoint the next singer, "canere ad myrtum," by handing him the myrtle branch. At all events round singing was anciently so performed by the Druids, the Bardic custom of the men of the wand.

In Lancashire—

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With cockle shells and silver bells,
And pretty maids all in a row,"

is one of the songs the cottage mother sings to her child.

The ProvenÇal—

"Ding dong, ding dong,
Ring the bells of St. John's.
Now they are saying prayers.
Why ring so high?
'Tis the little children in the sky!"

"Maids in white aprons, say the bells of St. Catherine's."

Every locality furnishes examples of bell rhymes. Selling the church bells of Hutton, in Lincolnshire, gave rise to this satire of the children—

"The poor Hutton people
Sold their bells to mend the steeple.
Ah! wicked people,
To sell their bells
To build the steeple."

In 1793 Newington Church, London, was pulled down, the bells sold, and the sacred edifice rebuilt without a belfry. The children of the neighbouring parishes soon afterwards jeered at the Newingtonians.

"Pious parson" (they sang), "pious people,
Sold their bells to build a steeple.
A very fine trick of the Newington people
To sell their bells and build no steeple."

In Derbyshire a large number of the churches have bells with peculiar peals—

"Crich has two roller-boulders,
Wingfield ting-tangs,
Alfreton kettles,
And Pentrich pans.
Kirk-Hallan candlesticks,
Corsall cow-bells,
Denby cracked puncheons,
And Horsley merry bells."

The bells of Bow Church ringing out the invitation to Dick Whittington to return to his master's house should not be forgotten—

In New York, U.S.A., the little school urchins sing a bell rhyme of—

"Hark, the merry bells from Trinity
Charm the ear with their musical din,
Telling all throughout the vicinity
Holy-day gambols are now to begin."

FOOTNOTES:

[K] Or Coventry Cross.

[L] Fine.

[M] Rings.

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