"My brother, the hare,... my sisters, the doves...."
St. Francis of Assisi.
No. 48.
My Household.
The names of animals being distributed among children, one, in the centre of the ring, sings the words; at the proper point the child who represents the animal must imitate its cry; and as at each verse the animals who have already figured join in, the game becomes rather noisy.
I had a little rooster, and my rooster pleased me,
I fed my rooster beneath that tree;
My rooster went—Cookery-cooery!
Other folks feed their rooster, I feed my rooster too.
I had a little lamb, and my lamb pleased me,
I fed my lamb beneath that tree;
My lamb went—Ma—a—a!
Other folks feed their lamb, I feed my lamb too.
And so on with the names of other beasts.
Georgia.
In another version, it is under the "green bay-tree" (Magnolia glauca) that the animals are stabled.
This is another of the games which have been widely distributed through Europe, and date back to a remote past. At present, with us it is a child's jest, the noisy imitation of animal cries; but, as in all such cases, sense preceded sound. Comparing German versions, we see that our game is properly a song, the idea of which consists in the enumeration by significant and comical names of the members and possessions of a family. "When I was a poor woman, I went over the Rhine: my goose was called Wag-tail, my maid So he said, my pig Lard-pot, my flea Hop-i'-straw" etc. A more courtly version gives us a pleasing pilgrim's song: "Whence come you?—From sunset. Whither will you?—To sunrise. To what country?—Home. Where is it?—A hundred miles away. What is your name?—The world names me Leap a-field, my sword is Honor worth, my wife Pastime, her maid Lie-a-bed, my child Rush-about," etc.
Thus we see the ancient earnestness appearing behind the modern mirth. It is likely that the origin of the song would take us back to those lists of mythical titles which were regarded as conveying real knowledge of the relations of things, at a time when a large part of learning consisted in the knowledge of the significant names which were given to objects.
No. 49.
Frog-pond.
A party of children, who represent frogs by a hopping motion. At the word "kough," they imitate the croaking of the frog.
Come, neighbors, the moon is up,
It's pleasant out here on the bank.
Come, stick your heads out of the tank,
And let us, before we sup,
Go kough, kough, kough.
And let us, before we sup,
Go kough, kough, kough.
Enter child in character of duck—
Hush, yonder is the waddling duck,
He's coming, I don't mean to stay.
We'd better by half hop our way,
If we don't he will gobble us up,
With a kough, kough, kough.
If we don't he will gobble us up,
With a kough, kough, kough.
Every frog hops to his separate den, while pursued by the duck, the game after the duck's advent being extremely animated.
Georgia.
No. 50.
Bloody Tom.
Within the ring is the shepherd; the wolf approaches from without. A dialogue ensues:
"Who comes here?"
"Bloody Tom."
"What do you want?"
"My sheep."
"Take the worst, and leave the best,
And never come back to trouble the rest."
Salem, Mass.
A New Hampshire version makes the game represent a fox, who carries off chickens, thus:
"Who comes here this dark night?"
"Who but bloody Tom!—Which you druther be, picked or scalded?"
The Esthonian Fins have a characteristic children's game, based on the same idea, which may be quoted, to show how much imagination and spirit enter into the sports of a simple people. A watchman on duty at the sheepfold announces his office in a soliloquy:
Thus I guard my mother's lambkins,
Guard the flocks of my good mother,
Here before God's holy temple,
Here behind Maria's cloister,
Near the halls of our Creator.
At the house the mother, knitting,
Shapes the stockings of blue woollen,
Woollen stockings seamed with scarlet,
Jackets of the snow-white worsted.
I build hedges, stakes I sharpen,
Mould the brazen gratings strongly,
That the thieves come in and steal not,
Take not from the flock its sheep-dog,
Nor the wolf steal in and plunder,
Seize my mother's tender lambkins,
Rob the young lambs of my father.
A girl entices away the shepherd, while a boy as wolf carries off part of the herd, and another as dog barks. The mother of the family hastens up, beats the traitor, and the herdsmen go with staves to seek the lost lamb. The garland it wore is found and identified. With shouts of, "Lamb, lamb," it is found at last, caressed, and its bruises examined.
No. 51.
Blue-birds and Yellow-birds.
A ring of girls with their hands clasped and lifted. A girl, called (according to the color of her dress) blue-bird, black-bird, yellow-bird, etc., enters, and passes into the ring under an arch formed by a pair of lifted hands, singing to any suitable tune:
Here comes a blue-bird through the window,
Here comes a blue-bird through the window,
Here comes a blue-bird through the window,
High diddle dum day!
She seizes a child, and waltzes off with her, singing:
Take a little dance and a hop-i'-the-corner,[89]
Take a little dance and a hop-i'-the-corner,
Take a little dance and a hop-i'-the-corner,
High diddle dum day!
After the dance the chosen partner leads, named, as before, according to the color of her costume. The child, as she enters, must imitate by her raised arms the flight of a bird, making a very pretty dance.
Cincinnati.
No. 52.
Ducks Fly.
A girl, speaking the words "Ducks fly," raises her hand to imitate the flight of the bird; so on with robins, eagles, etc., while all the rest must imitate her example; but she finally says "Cats fly," or some similar expression, when any child who is incautious enough to raise the hand (or thumb) must pay forfeit.
New York.
Trifling as the catch is, it has been popular in Europe. In some countries, instead of birds who fly, the question is of beasts who have or do not have horns.
