Chapter 21 of 33 · 3999 words · ~20 min read

Part 21

(_b_) In the Enborne, Newbury, version (Miss Kimber) a ring is formed by the children (boys and girls) joining hands. Another child stands in the centre. The ring of children walk round while singing the verses. The singing is confined to the ring. When the centre child is told to "choose," she selects a boy from the ring, who goes into the centre and they stand together. At the next verse these two children walk out of the ring arm-in-arm. When the next verse is sung they return, and again stand in the centre. At the next verse the boy pretends to put a ring on the girl's finger. They walk out of the ring when told to go to church (two children in the ring unclasping hands to let them walk out, and again clasping hands after they return), and kiss each other and shake hands when the two next verses are sung. The child who was first in the centre then joins the ring, and the game proceeds in the same way with the second child, who chooses in his turn. All the other versions follow the same rules, suiting their actions to the words, except Ogbourne, Wilts, in which the two children in the centre sing the verse, "roast beef and plum pudding." They stand face to face, take hold of each other's hands, and sway their arms from side to side. The ring then sing the concluding verse. In those versions where "say your prayers" and "kneel down" occur, the two centre children kneel, and hold their open hands together in front of them to imitate a book. In the London version (A. B. Gomme) a handkerchief was laid on the ground, and the two children stood on each side of it and clasped hands across it. In the Fernham and Longcot version the one child leads the other out of the ring at "go to church," with a graceful half-dancing motion, and back again in the same way. The first child joins the ring while the refrain is sung. In the Hanbury version the centre child pretends to be weeping; another child stands outside the ring and goes into it; when the two meet they kiss. In the North Derbyshire version (Mr. S. O. Addy) a ring is formed of young men and women, a young man being in the centre. He chooses a young woman at the singing of the fifth line, and then joins the ring, the girl remaining in the centre.

(_c_) The tunes of all versions are very similar. The tune of the Newbury game (Miss Kimber) is the same as the _first_ part of the Ogbourne tune printed (Mr. H. S. May); that from Nottingham (Miss Youngman) is the same as the first part of the London version. This is also the case with the Hanbury, Staffs. (Miss E. Hollis) and Fernham and Longcot game. What difference there is is very slight. The Platt, Kent, game (Miss Burne), is sung to the same tune as "Green Gravel," given _ante_, p. 170. The _first_ portion only of the tune is repeated for all verses sung after the first verse. The Barnes game is sung to the same tune as the Earls Heaton (Mr. Hardy), which is printed _ante_. A version played at Barnes is almost identical with the Southampton version, and another collected by Miss Thoyts in Berkshire (_Antiquary_, vol. xxvii. p. 193) is similar to the Hanbury version. The first lines run--Choose your lover; Open the gates; Go to church, love; Kneel down, love; Say your prayers, love; Put on the ring; Stand up, love; In the ring, love; Kiss together, love.

(_d_) The words of all the versions are sufficiently similar to analyse without a special form. The game appears to be purely a love and marriage game, and has probably had its origin in a ballad, and this idea is strengthened by the fact that only one version (London) has the marriage formula sung at the end, and this is probably an arbitrary addition. The lover is represented as lonely and disconsolate, and the remedy suggested is to choose a sweetheart. The marriage ceremony is of the simplest description--the clasping of hands and the kissing within the circle probably implying the betrothal at a spot sacred to such functions, similar to the Standing Stones of Stenness. Whatever may have been the original intention of these stones, they came in more recent times to be the resort of lovers, who joined their right hands through the hole in the altar stones in the belief that this ceremony would add additional solemnity to the betrothal. Miss Gordon Cumming, in her _Tour in the Hebrides_, mentions the fact of the marriage ceremony being of the simplest--a man and woman standing facing each other and clasping hands over a particular stone. Walking arm-in-arm is a sign in Dorsetshire that a couple are married. The mention of the "roast beef and plum pudding" for dinner has probably had its origin in the wedding dinner or breakfast, and the inviting of friends to assemble for the wedding dinner. The word "Isabella" may have been originally something quite different from the name of a girl. I am inclined to think the word was not the name of a person at all; possibly it was something addressed to a particular person in words the sense of which are now lost, and the nearest idea to it was this name. The same thing may also apply to the word "farewell," and hence the incongruity of the first few lines in nearly all versions.

Jack's Alive.

A number of people sit in a row, or on chairs round a parlour. A lighted wooden spill or taper is handed to the first, who says--

Jack's alive, and likely to live; If he dies in your hand you've a forfeit to give.

The one in whose hand the light expires has to pay a forfeit. As the spill is getting burnt out the lines are said very quickly, as everybody is anxious not to have to pay the forfeit.--Addy's _Sheffield Glossary_.

At Egan, in Derbyshire, a number of persons sit round a fire; one of them lights a stick, twirls it round, and says--

Little Nanny Cockerthaw, What if I should let her fa'?

The others reply--

Nine sticks and nine stones Shall be laid on thy bare back bones If thou shouldst let fa' Little Nanny Cockerthaw.

If the ember or lighted stick goes out whilst any one is twirling it round, and whilst the lines are being said, he has to lie on the floor, when stones, chairs, or other articles of furniture are piled upon him.--S. O. Addy.

Mactaggart calls it "Preest Cat," and says that it is an ingleside game. A piece of stick is made red in the fire; one hands it to another, saying--

About wi' that, about wi' that, Keep alive the preest cat.

Then round is handed the stick, and whomsoever's hand it goes out in, that one is in a wad, and must kiss the crook, the cleps, and what not, ere he gets out of it.

Lilly cuckoo, lilly cuckoo, Sticks and stanes lie at thy weary banes If thou fa', for a' I blaw, Lilly cuckoo, lilly cuckoo.

This rhyme is common in the "Preest Cat" sport toward the border. Anciently, when the priest's cat departed this life, wailing began in the country side, as it was thought it became some supernatural being--a witch, perhaps, of hideous form--so to keep it alive was a great matter.--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

He also refers to a game called "Robin-a-Ree," much like "Preest Cat," only in passing the burnt stick round the ring the following rhyme is said--

Robin-a-Ree, ye'll no dee wi' me, Tho' I birl ye roun' three times and three; O Robin-a-Ree, O Robin-a-Ree, O dinna let Robin-a-Reerie dee.

Robin-a-Ree occurs in an old song.--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

In Cornwall it is known as "Robin's a-light," and is played around the fire. A piece of stick is set on fire and whirled around rapidly in the hand of the first player, who says, "Robin's a-light, and if he go out I will saddle your back." It is then passed to the next, who says the same thing, and so on. The person who lets the spark die out has to pay a forfeit.--Scilly (Courtney's West _Cornwall Glossary_). A rhyme at Lostwithiel is known as follows--

Jack's alive, and likely to live; If he die in my hand a pawn (forfeit) I'll give.

--(J. W.)

Jamieson (_Dictionary_) says, "To do 'Dingle-dousie,' a stick is ignited at one end and given as a plaything to a child." Elworthy (_West Somerset Words_) does not give this as a game, but says a burning stick was whirled round and round very quickly, so as to keep up the appearance of a ribbon of fire. Miss Burne (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 530), says, "Children wave a burning stick in the air, saying--

A girdle o' gold, a saddle o' silk, A horse for me as white as milk,

an evident relic of divinations or incantations practised with bonfires." Halliwell (_Nursery Rhymes_, p. 213) gives the rhyme as--

Jack's alive, and in very good health, If he dies in your hand you must look to yourself;

the game being played in the same way as the Sheffield version (see also Halliwell's _Dictionary_ and Moor's _Suffolk Words_).

(_b_) This is a very significant game, and its similarity in miniature to the old tribal custom of carrying the fiery cross to rouse the clans at once suggests the possible origin of it. The detention of the fiery cross through neglect or other impediment was regarded with much dread by the inhabitants of the place in which it should occur. This subject is discussed in _Gomme's Primitive Folkmoots_, p. 279 _et seq._

Jack, Jack, the Bread's a-burning

Jack, Jack, the bread's a-burning, All to a cinder; If you don't come and fetch it out We'll throw it through the winder.

These lines are chanted by players that stand thus. One places his back against a wall, tree, &c., grasping another, whose back is toward him, round the waist; the second grasps a third, and so on. The player called Jack walks apart until the conclusion of the lines. Then he goes to the others and pokes at or pats them, saying, "I don't think you're done yet," and walks away again. The chant is repeated, and when he is satisfied that the bread is "done" he endeavours to pull the foremost from the grasp of the others, &c.--Warwickshire (Northall's _Folk Rhymes_, p. 390).

See "Mother Mop."

Jack upon the Mopstick

See "Bung the Bucket."

Jackysteauns

A game among school-girls, played with small pebbles, and sometimes with plum or cherry stones (Dickinson's _Cumberland Glossary_). "A children's game, played with five white pebbles called Jackstones," says Mr. Patterson (_Antrim and Down Glossary_). The game is called "Jack."

See "Fivestones," "Hucklebones."

Jauping Paste-eggs

A youthful amusement in Newcastle and the neighbourhood at Easter. One boy, holding an egg in his hand, challenges another to give blow for blow. One of the eggs is sure to be fractured in the conflict, and its shattered remains become the spoil of the conqueror.

See "Conkers."

Jenny Jones

[Music]

--Platt, near Wrotham, Kent (Miss Burne).

[Music]

--Northants (Rev. W. D. Sweeting).

[Music]

--Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

I. I'm come to court Janet jo, Janet jo, Janet jo, I'm come to court Janet jo, How's she the day?

She's up the stair washin', Washin', washin', She's up the stair washin', Ye canna see her the day.

[Then follow verses, the words of which are not given by Chambers, representing Jenny as bleaching, drying, and ironing clothes. At last they say--]

Janet jo's dead and gane, Dead and gane, dead and gane; Janet jo's dead and gane, She'll never come hame!

--Chambers' _Popular Rhymes_, pp. 140-41.

II. I'm come to court Janet jo, Janet jo, Janet jo, Come to court Janet jo, How is she the day?

She's butt the house washing, washing, washing She's butt the house washing, You can't see her to-day.

Fare ye well, ladies, ladies, ladies, Fare ye well, ladies, For I must away.

--West Scotland (_Folk-lore Record_, iv. 474).

III. We've come to court Jinny jo, Jinny jo, Jinny jo, We've come to court Jinny jo, Is she within?

Jinny jo's washing clothes, Washing clothes, washing clothes, Jinny jo's washing clothes, You can't see her to-day.

So fare ye well, ladies, O ladies, O ladies, So fare ye well, ladies And gentlemen too.

[These verses are repeated for--

(1) drying clothes, (2) starching, (3) ironing, (4) ill, (5) dying.

Then--]

Jinny jo's lying dead, Lying dead, lying dead, Jinny jo's lying dead, You can't see her to-day.

So turn again, ladies, Ladies, ladies, ladies, So turn again, ladies, And gentlemen too.

What shall we dress her in? Dress her in, dress her in? What shall we dress her in? Shall it be red?

Red's for the soldiers, The soldiers, the soldiers, Red's for the soldiers, And that will not do.

[Various other colours are suggested in the same way, but are found unsuitable--black because "black's for the mourners," green because "green's for the croppies," and so on till at last white is named.]

White's for the dead people, Dead people, the dead people, White's for the dead people, And that will just do.

--Belfast (_Notes and Queries_, 7th series, xii. 492, W. H. Patterson).

IV. I came to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I came to see Jenny jo, is she within?

Jenny jo's washing clothes, washing clothes, washing clothes, Jenny jo's washing clothes, and ye can't see her to-day.

Oh but I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Oh but I'm sorry, I can't see her to-day.

Farewell ladies, O ladies, O ladies, Farewell ladies, and gentlemen too.

[Then the same verses are repeated for--

(1) starching clothes, (2) smoothing clothes, (3) dead,

the four lines above being repeated after each, and the verses proceed with--]

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? What shall we dress her in? Shall it be black?

Black for the sweeps, the sweeps, the sweeps, Black for the sweeps, and that shall not do.

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? What shall we dress her in? Shall it be blue?

Blue for the sailors, sailors, sailors, Blue for the sailors, and that shall not do.

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? What shall we dress her in? Shall it be red?

Red for the soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, Red for the soldiers, and that shall not do.

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? What shall we dress her in? Shall it be orange?

Orange for the Orange-men, Orange-men, Orange-men, Orange for the Orange-men, and that shall not do.

What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? What shall we dress her in? Shall it be white?

White for the corpse, the corpse, the corpse, White for the corpse, and that will just do.

We have lost a soldier, soldier, soldier, We have lost a soldier, and the Queen has lost a man. We will bury him in the bed of glory, glory, glory, We will bury him in the bed of glory, and we'll never see him any more.

--Holywood, co. Down (Miss C. N. Patterson).

V. I've come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I've come to see Jenny jo, How is she now?

Jenny jo is washing clothes, washing clothes, washing clothes, Jenny jo is washing clothes, You can't see her now.

I've come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I've come to see Jenny jo, How is she now?

Jenny jo is ironing clothes, ironing clothes, ironing clothes, Jenny jo is ironing clothes, You can't see her now.

I've come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I've come to see Jenny jo, How is she now?

Jenny jo is sick, my dear, sick, my dear, sick, my dear, Jenny jo is sick, my dear, You can't see her now.

I've come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I've come to see Jenny jo, How is she now?

Jenny jo is underboard, underboard, underboard, Jenny jo is underboard, You can't see her now.

--Lismore (Miss F. Keane, collected from Miss Ward, National Schoolmistress).

VI. We've come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, We've come to see Jenny Jones, And how is she now?

O Jenny is washing, O washing, O washing, O Jenny is washing, And you can't see her now.