Part 6

POSTSCRIPT. Aunt Eliza writes to say that she can’t explain what the boys mean when they say “Obobé”, but she feels sure it must be “something not quite nice”. Thank God, there’s one thing she can’t explain. For my part, I think these words like Obobé and A-lairy and Widdy are the queerest thing of all, about these sports. And what’s queerer still are the names like Salmon Fishing and Cold Pies and Blue Boy, that make sense but have nothing whatever to do with the games.

She also tells me that the song of _London Bridge is broken down_ goes back to “bloodthirsty rites of foundation-sacrifice” (read it in some book, I daresay, and so thinks it must be true), and that _Fie Sally, Cry Sally_ “originated in early water-worship”. Early water-worship be blowed. Late beer-worship is more my style. But Aunt Eliza knows too much, anyhow; so much, that I shall have to ask her about the originating of the game of DUCKING MUMMY, and whether it makes her think of a certain good old custom. Then she says that _Here we come gathering nuts in May_ is “a relic of Marriage by Capture”, and some more stuff of that kind. No doubt; no doubt. Aunt Eliza thinks a good deal about Marriage by Capture--to judge by her talk, at least. Nobody ever tried to capture _her_, you know. And nobody ever will, I don’t think.

[Illustration: THE

ARDEN PRESS]

W. H. SMITH & SON, STAMFORD STREET, E.C.

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Transcriber’s note

Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Hyphenation has been standardized. Spelling has been retained as in the original except for the following:

Page 69: “Hush-A-larly, hush-a-larly” “Hush-a-larly, hush-a-larly” Page 93: “did it cost here?” “did it cost her?”