Part 9

--West Haddon, Northamptonshire; Long Itchington, Warwickshire (_Northants Notes and Queries_, ii. 105).

III. Down in the valley the violets grow. Dear little ----, she blows like a rose. She blows, she blows, she blows so sweet. Come along in. Buy a shawl, buy a new black shawl, A bonnet trimmed with white and a new parasol. Oh dear, oh dear, what can I do, For next Monday morning is my wedding due.

--Shipley, Horsham; _Notes and Queries_, 8th series, i. 210 (Miss Busk).

(_b_) The children form a ring by joining hands, one child standing in the centre. They dance round. At the mention of the second name one from the ring goes into the centre. The two kiss at the end of the verse, and the first child takes the place in the ring, and the game begins again.

See "All the Boys," "Oliver, Oliver, follow the King."

Drab and Norr

A game similar to "Trippit and Coit."--Halliwell's _Dict._

Draw a Pail of Water

[Music]

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

I. Draw a pail of water For my lady's daughter; My father's a king and my mother's a queen, My two little sisters are dressed in green, Stamping grass and parsley, Marigold leaves and daisies. One rush, two rush, Pray thee, fine lady, come under my bush.

--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, Games, cclxxxvii.

II. Draw a pail of water, Send a lady a daughter; One o' my rush, two o' my rush, Please, young lady, creep under the briar bush.

--Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).

III. Draw, draw water, For my lady's daughter; One in a rush, Two in a bush, Pretty my lady, pop under the bush.

--Berrington and Ellesmere (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 521).

IV. Draw a bucket o' water For a lady's daughter; One and a hush, two and a rush, Please, young lady, come under my bush.

--Fochabers (Rev. W. Gregor).

V. Draw a bucket of water For a lady's daughter; One in a bush, Two in a bush, Three in a bush, Four in a bush, And out you go.

--Crockham Hill, Kent (Miss Chase).

VI. Drawing a bucket of water For my lady's daughter; Put it in a chestnut tree, And let it stay an hour. One of you rush, two may rush, Please, old woman, creep under the bush; The bush is too high, the bush is too low, Please, old woman, creep under the bush.

--Hampshire (Miss Mendham).

VII. Draw a pail of water For a lady's daughter; Give a silver pin for a golden ring-- Oh pray, young lady, pop under.

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

VIII. Draw a bucket of water For my lady's daughter; One go rush, and the other go hush, Pretty young lady, bop under my bush.

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

IX. Draw a bucket of water For the farmer's daughter; Give a gold ring and a silver watch, Pray, young lady, pop under.

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

X. Draw a bucket of water For my lady's daughter; A guinea gold ring And a silver pin, So pray, my young lady, pop under.

--Haydon (Herbert Hardy).

XI. Draw a bucket of water To wash my lady's garter; A guinea gold ring And a silver pin, Please, little girl, pop under.

--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).

XII. See-saw, a bucket of water, To wash my lady's garter. One in a rush, and two in a bush, To see a fine lady pop under a bush.

--Anderby, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire near the Trent (Miss Peacock).

XIII. One we go rush, Two we go push; Lady come under the corner bush.

--Shepscombe, Gloucestershire (Miss Mendham).

XIV. Sift the lady's oaten meal, sift it into flour, Put it in a chest of drawers and let it lie an hour. One of my rush, Two of my rush, Please, young lady, come under my bush. My bush is too high, my bush is too low, Please, young lady, come under my bow. Stir up the dumpling, stir up the dumpling.

--Belfast (W. H. Patterson).

XV. Sieve my lady's oatmeal, Grind my lady's flour; Put it in a chestnut, Let it stand an hour. One may rush, two may rush; Come, my girls, walk under the bush.

--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, Games, cclxxxviii.

(_b_) The Berrington version of this game is played as follows:--Two girls face each other, holding each other by both hands. Two others face each other, holding both hands across the other two. They see-saw backwards and forwards, singing the lines (fig. 1). One girl gets inside the enclosing hands (fig. 2), and they repeat till all four have "popped under" (fig. 3), when they "jog" up and down till they fall on the floor! (fig. 4). At Ellesmere only _two_ girls join hands, and as many "pop under" as they can encircle. The Lincolnshire and Norfolk versions are played practically in the same way. In the Liphook version the children stand in two and two opposite to each other; the children on one side of the square hold hands up at the third line, and the other two children run under the hands of the first two. There is no pause, but the verse is sung time after time, so that the four children are nearly always moving. In the other Hampshire version four girls stand in a square, each holding the hands of the one opposite to her, pulling each other's hands backwards and forwards singing the lines. Two arms are then raised, and one girl comes under; this is repeated till all four girls have come under the arms, then their arms encircle each other's waists and they dance round. In the Scottish version there are only two girls who join hands and pull each other backwards and forwards, repeating the words. Halliwell describes a different action to any of these. A string of children, hand in hand, stand in a row. A child stands in front of them as leader; two other children form an arch, each holding both of the hands of the other. The string of children pass under the arch, the last of whom is taken captive by the two holding hands. The verses are repeated until all are taken.--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, cclxxxvii.

[Illustration: Fig. 1.]

[Illustration: Fig. 2.]

[Illustration: Fig. 3.]

[Illustration: Fig. 4.]

(_c_) The analysis of the game rhymes is as follows:--

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Halliwell's Version. | Liphook (Hants). | Shropshire. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Draw a pail of water. |Draw a pail of water. |Draw, draw water. | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.|For my lady's |Send a lady a |For my lady's | | |daughter. |daughter. |daughter. | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.| -- | -- | -- | | 8.|My father's a king and| -- | -- | | |my mother's a queen. | | | | 9.|My two little sisters | -- | -- | | |are dressed in green. | | | |10.|Stamping grass and | -- | -- | | |parsley. | | | |11.|Marigold leaves and | -- | -- | | |daisies. | | | |12.|One rush, two rush. |One o' my rush, two o'|One in a rush, two in | | | |my rush. |a bush. | |13.| -- | -- | -- | |14.|Pray thee, fine lady, |Please, young lady, |Pretty my lady, pop | | |come under my bush. |creep under the |under the bush. | | | |_briar_ bush. | | |15.| -- | -- | -- | |16.| -- | -- | -- | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.|Fochabers (Scotland). | Hampshire. | Northants. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Draw a bucket o' |Drawing a bucket of |Draw a pail of water. | | |water. |water. | | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.|For a lady's daughter.|For my lady's |For a lady's daughter.| | | |daughter. | | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- |Put it in a chestnut | -- | | | |tree. | | | 7.| -- |Let it stay an hour. | -- | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|One and a hush, two |One of you rush, two | -- | | |and a rush. |may rush. | | |13.| -- | -- |Give a silver pin for | | | | |a golden ring. | |14.|Please, young lady, |Please, old woman man,|Pray, young lady, pop | | |come under my bush. |creep under the bush. |under. | |15.| -- |The bush is too high, | -- | | | |the bush is too low. | | |16.| -- |Please, old woman, | -- | | | |creep under the bush. | | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Norfolk (1). | Norfolk (2). | Haydon. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Draw a bucket of |Draw a bucket of |Draw a bucket of | | |water. |water. |water. | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.|For my lady's |For the farmer's |For my lady's | | |daughter. |daughter. |daughter. | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.| -- | -- | -- | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|One go rush and the | -- | -- | | |other go hush. | | | |13.| -- |Give a gold ring and a|A guinea gold ring and| | | |silver watch. |a silver pin. | |14.|Pretty young lady, bop|Pray, young lady, pop |Pray, young lady, pop | | |under my bush. |under. |under. | |15.| -- | -- | -- | |16.| -- | -- | -- | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Earls Heaton. | Lincolnshire and | Gloucestershire. | | | | Nottinghamshire. | | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Draw a bucket of |See saw, a bucket of | -- | | |water. |water. | | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.|To wash my lady's |To wash my lady's | -- | | |garter. |garter. | | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.| -- | -- | -- | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.| -- |One in a rush and two |One we go rush, two we| | | |in a bush. |go push. | |13.|A guinea gold ring and| -- | -- | | |a silver pin. | | | |14.|Please, little girl, |To see a fine lady pop|Lady, come under the | | |pop under. |under a bush. |corner bush. | |15.| -- | -- | -- | |16.| -- | -- | -- | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Belfast. | Halliwell's Version | Crockham Hill. | | | | (No. 2). | | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.| -- | -- |Draw a bucket of | | | | |water. | | 2.|Sift the lady's |Sieve my lady's | -- | | |oatmeal. |oatmeal. | | | 3.|Sift it into flour. |Grind my lady's flour.| -- | | 4.| -- | -- |For a lady's daughter.| | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.|Put it in a chest of |Put it in a chestnut. | -- | | |drawers. | | | | 7.|Let it lie an hour. |Let it stand an hour. | -- | | 8.| -- | | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|One of my rush, two of|One may rush, two may |One in a bush, two in | | |my rush. |rush. |a bush, three in a | | | | |bush, four in a bush. | |13.| -- | -- | -- | |14.|Please, young lady, |Come, my girls, walk | -- | | |come under my bush. |under the bush. | | |15.|My bush is too high, | -- | -- | | |my bush is too low. | | | |16.|Please, young lady, | -- | -- | | |come under my bow. | | | |17.|Stir up the dumpling. | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- |And out you go. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

The analysis shows that the majority of the variants retain four principal incidents of what must have been the original form of the game, and the fact of the Gloucestershire version having come down with only two of the incidents, namely, the two most common to all the variants (12 and 14), shows that the game has been in a state of decadence. The four principal incidents, Nos. 1, 4, 12, and 14, point distinctly to some water ceremonial; and if it may be argued that the incidents which occur in only one or two of the variants may be considered to have belonged to the original type, we shall be able to suggest that this game presents a dramatic representation of ancient well-worship. The incidents which occur in one version only are those given by Mr. Halliwell, and unfortunately the locality from which he obtained this variant is unknown. Still it is an earlier version than those which are now printed for the first time, and may without doubt be looked upon as genuine. Taking all the incidents of the various versions as the means by which to restore the earliest version, it would appear that this might have consisted of the following lines:--

Draw a pail of water For a lady's daughter; Her father's a king, her mother's a queen, Her two little sisters are dressed in green, Stamping grass and parsley, marigold leaves and daisies; Sift the lady's oatmeal, sift it into flour, Put it in a chestnut tree, let it lie an hour; Give a silver pin and a gold ring, One and a hush! two and a rush! Pray, young lady, pop under a bush; My bush is too high, my bush is too low, Please, young lady, come under my bow!

(_d_) This restoration of the words, though it probably is far from complete, and does not make so good a game rhyme as the reduced versions, nevertheless shows clearly enough that the incidents belong to a ceremonial of primitive well-worship. The pulling of the hands backwards and forwards may be taken to indicate the raising of water from a well. If this is conceded, the incidents might be grouped as follows:--

(1.) Drawing of water from a well. (2.) For a devotee at the well. (3.) Collecting flowers for dressing the well. (4.) Making of a cake for presentation. (5.) Gifts to the well [the silver pin, gold ring, and probably the garter]. (6.) Command of silence. (7.) The presence of the devotee at the sacred bush.

All these are incidents of primitive well-worship (see Gomme's _Ethnology and Folk-lore_, pp. 82-103). Garland dressing is very general; cakes were eaten at Rorrington well, Shropshire (Burne's _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 433); pins and portions of the dress are very general offerings; silence is strictly enforced in many instances, and a sacred tree or bush is very frequently found near the well.

The tune of the Hampshire game (Miss Mendham's version) is practically the same as that of the "Mulberry Bush."

Newell (_Games of American Children_, p. 90) gives a version of this game.

Drawing Dun out of the Mire

Brand, quoting from "an old collection of satires, epigrams, &c.," says this game is enumerated among other pastimes:

At shove-groat, venter-point, or crosse and pile, At leaping o'er a Midsummer bone-fier, Or at _the drawing Dun out of the myer_.

So in the _Dutchesse of Suffolke_, 1631:

Well done, my masters, lends your hands, _Draw Dun out of the ditch_, Draw, pull, helpe all, so, so, well done. [_They pull him out._]

They had shoved Bishop Bonner into a well, and were pulling him out.

We find this game noticed at least as early as Chaucer's time, in the _Manciple's Prologue_:

Then gan our hoste to jape and to play, And sayd, sires, what? _Dun is in the mire._

Nares (_Glossary_) says this game was a rural pastime, in which _Dun_ meant a dun horse, supposed to be stuck in the mire, and sometimes represented by one of the persons who played.

Gifford (_Ben Jonson_, vol. vii. p. 283), who remembered having played at the game (doubtless in his native county, Devonshire), thus describes it:--"A log of wood is brought into the midst of the room: this is Dun (the cart horse), and a cry is raised that he is stuck in the mire. Two of the company advance, either with or without ropes, to draw him out. After repeated attempts they find themselves unable to do it, and call for more assistance. The game continues till all the company take part in it, when Dun is extricated of course; and the merriment arises from the awkward and affected efforts of the rustics to lift the log, and sundry arch contrivances to let the ends of it fall on one another's toes."

Drop Handkerchief

This is a game similar to Cat and Mouse, but takes its name from the use of the handkerchief to start the pursuit. Various rhyming formulæ are used in some places. In Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy), no rhyme is used.

The children stand in a ring. One runs round with a handkerchief and drops it; the child behind whom it is dropped chases the dropper, the one who gets home first takes the vacant place, the other drops the handkerchief again.

In Shropshire the two players pursue one another in and out of the ring, running under the uplifted hands of the players who compose it: the pursuer carefully keeping on the track of the pursued (Burne's _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 512).

The Dorsetshire variant is accompanied by a rhyme:

I wrote a letter to my love; I carried water in my glove; And by the way I dropped it-- I dropped it, I dropped it, I dropped it, &c.

This is repeated until the handkerchief is stealthily dropped immediately behind one of the players, who should be on the alert to follow as quickly as possible the one who has dropped it, who at once increases her speed and endeavours to take the place left vacant by her pursuer. Should she be caught before she can succeed in doing this she is compelled to take the handkerchief a second time. But if, as it more usually happens, she is successful in accomplishing this, the pursuer in turn takes the handkerchief, and the game proceeds as before.--Symondsbury (_Folk-lore Journal_, vi. 212).

Jack lost his supper last night, And the night before; if he does again to-night, He never will no more--more--more--more.

I wrote a letter to my love, And on the way I dropt it; Some of you have picked it up, And got it in your pocket--pocket--pocket--pocket.

I have a little dog, it won't bite you-- It won't bite you--it won't bite you-- It _will_ bite you.

--Leicestershire (Miss Ellis).

The Forest of Dean version is the same as the Dorsetshire, except that the child who is unsuccessful in gaining the vacant place has to stand in the middle of the ring until the same thing happens to another child.--Miss Matthews.

In Nottinghamshire the children form in a ring; one walks round outside the ring singing and carrying a handkerchief:

I wrote a letter to my love, and on the way I dropt it; One of you has picked it up and put it in your pocket. It isn't you, it isn't you, &c. &c.; it is you.

The handkerchief is then dropped at some one's back, the one at whose back the handkerchief was dropped chasing the other.

Or they say:

I lost my supper last night, I lost it the night before, And if I lose it again to-night, I'll knock at somebody's door. It isn't you, it isn't you, &c. &c.; it's you.

--Miss Winfield.

At Winterton and Lincoln the children form a circle, standing arms-length apart. A child holding a handkerchief occupies the centre of the ring and sings:

Wiskit-a-waskit, A green leather basket; I wrote a letter to my love, And on the way I lost it; Some of you have picked it up, And put it in your pocket. I have a little dog at home, And it shan't bite you,

(Here the singer points to each child in turn)

Nor you, nor you, nor you; But it shall bite _you_.

Then she drops the handkerchief before her chosen playmate, who chases her in and out of the ring under the arms of the other children until she is captured. The captor afterwards takes the place in the centre, and the original singer becomes a member of the circle.--Miss M. Peacock.

The Deptford version of the verse is as follows:--

I had a little dog whose name was Buff, I sent him up the street for a penny'orth of snuff, He broke my box and spilt my snuff, I think my story is long enough-- 'Tain't you, and 'tain't you, and 'tis you!

--Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).

A Staffordshire and Sharleston version gives some altogether different formulæ:--

What colour's the sky? Blue. Look up again. Like a W. Follow me through every little hole that I go through.

--Staffordshire (Rev. G. T. Royds, Rector of Haughton).

At Sharleston the centre child says, "What colour is t' sky?" The other answers, "Blue." Centre child says, "Follow me true." Here the centre child runs in and out between the others until the one who was touched catches her, when they change places, the first joining the children in the ring.--Sharleston (Miss Fowler).

At Beddgelert, Wales (Mrs. Williams), this game is called Tartan Boeth. It is played in precisely the same manner as the English game, but the words used are:

Tartan Boeth, Oh ma'en llosgi, Boeth iawn Hot Tart. Oh, it burns! very hot!

At the words, "Very hot!" the handkerchief is dropped.

(_b_) In this game no kissing takes place, and that this is no mere accidental omission may be shown by Mr. Udal's description of the Dorsetshire game. He was assured by several persons who are interested in Dorset Children's Games that the indiscriminate kissing (that is, whether the girl pursued runs little or far, or, when overtaken, whether she objects or not) with which this game is ordinarily associated, as played now both in Dorset and in other counties, was not indigenous to this county, but was merely a pernicious after-growth or outcome of later days, which had its origin in the various excursion and holiday fêtes, which the facilities of railway travelling had instituted, by bringing large crowds from the neighbouring towns into the country. He was told that thirty years ago such a thing was unknown in the country districts of Dorset, when the game then usually indulged in was known merely as "Drop the Handkerchief" (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 212).