In Warwickshire and Staffordshire they say-】
First the best, Second the same,

Last the worst in all the game.

SALE or BARTER.

In Sussex a child sometimes get peapods, saying—

"Peapod hucks, Twenty for a pin,

If you doänt like 'em, I'll take 'em back agin."-CM. 60.

SEESAW.

During this well-known game children chant

"Seesaw, Sacaradown,

Which is the way to London town?

See-saw, Jack in the hedge, Which is the way to London bridge?

One foot up, the other foot One foot up, etc.

down,

That is the way to London town."-CR. (1783) 25.

Seesaw, Jack-a-daw,

What is a craw to do wi' her? She has not a stocking to put on her,

That is the best way to Lon

don town."-AW. IIO.

"Seesaw, Margery Daw,
She shall have a new master,
She shall have but a penny a
day,

And the craw has not one for Because she won't work any

to gi' her."

AW. 125. Perhaps spoken

when dandling a child.

faster."

In Suffolk, "Seesaw, Jack in the straw."

"Titty cum tawtay,

The ducks are in the water,

Titty, etc., The geese follow after."-AV. II2.

The nursery rhyme "Seesaw, Margery Daw," etc., is of totally different character, and probably has reference to a lazy old woman rocking herself to and fro in the midst of dirt.

SWING.

The following rhyme is tolerably well known in the Midlands ; the last two lines are to show that no fresh impetus must be given to the ropes, so that a second player may have a turn

"Rub-a-dub-dub. Three men in a tub,

The brewer, the baker, the candlestick-maker,
They all sprung out of a rotten potato.
An apple for the king, a pear for the queen,
And a good toss over the bowling-green.
The bowling-green it was so high,
It nearly toss'd me over the sky,

Sky-sky

Let the cat die, Let, etc."

Tops.

Tops are in, Spin 'em agin;
Tops are out, Smuggin' about!"

For tops put dumps = missiles, or other toys. legitimate stealing when games are out of season.

OUTDOOR GAMES.

RING GAMES. a. Various.

Children move round in a ring till the last line, when they stand, and imitate sneezing

"A ring, a ring o' roses,

A pocket full of posies,

One for Jack, and one for Jim, and one for little Moses.
Atisha atisha! atisha!"

Shropshire. AP. 511. At Edgmond, where this game is a favourite with very little children, the last lines runs

"A curchey in, and a curchey out,

And a curchey all together."

Curtseying accordingly. Ibid.

Line three is not used in Warwickshire, and the sneeze is given "Ash-oo! ash-oo! ash-oo!" Nor is it in the neighbourhood of Sheffield, where the sneeze is sounded "Ashem! ashem! ashem!" See R. 191.

"Can you dance looby, looby, (repeat twice)

All on a Friday night?

You put your right foot in ;

And then you take it out,

And wag it, and wag it, and wag it,

Then turn and turn about."

= old form of

At the third line they put their right feet within the ring, then they take their feet out, and turn round. Looby word lubber, a clumsy fellow or dolt. Sheffield. R. 320.

JOGGLE ALONG.

There must be an uneven number of players. The odd one stands in the middle, while the others arm-in-arm circle round, singing

"Come all ye young men, with your wicked ways

Sow all your wild oats in your youthful days,

That we may live happy, that we may live happy when we grow old.

The day is far spent, the night's coming on,

Give us your arm and we'll joggle along,

That we may," etc. (repeat).

At the words "joggle along," they all drop the arm of the person they are leading, and try to catch the arm of the person in front of them, whilst the middle man tries at the same time to get a partner. Should he succeed, the player left without one takes his place. Cornwall. AR. v. 57. See "JOLLY MILLER."

"Giddy, giddy, Gander,

Who stands yonder?
Little Bessy Baker:

Pick her up and shake her,

Give her a bit of bread and cheese

And throw her over the water!"

A girl being blindfolded, her companions join hands and circle round her. "At the word 'yonder,' the blindfolded girl points in any direction that she pleases, and at line three names one of the girls. If the one pointed at and the one named be the same, she is the next to be blinded; but curiously enough, if they be not the same, the one named is the one. Meanwhile at line four she is

not picked up,' but is shaken by the shoulders by the still blindfolded girl; and at line five she is given by the same 'bread and cheese," i.e. the buds or young leaves of what later is called ' May' (Cratagus oxyacantha); and at line six she is taken up under the blinded girl's arm and swung round." Warwickshire. viii. 451.

"Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green,
The fairest young lady that ever was seen;
I'll wash you in milk,

And I'll clothe you with silk,

And I'll write down your name with a gold pen and ink.
O Sally, O Sally, your true love is dead,

He sent you a letter to turn round your head."

CJ.

I am inclined to think this but a fragment of some dramatic game, like the Swedish Fair Gundela in Halliwell's Pop. Rhymes, p. 122. It is apparently played something like WALL FLOWERS (which see). Shropshire. AP. 510.

In Staffordshire the rhyme is

Green gravel, green gravel, the grass grows, etc.

And all pretty maidens are fit to be seen,

We'll wash them, etc., and clothe, etc.,

And write, etc., with white pen, etc.—CH. vii. 415.

Another version is

Green gravel, etc.,

The fairest young lady, etc.,

(Nomen) Your lover is dead,

He's sent you a message to turn round your head.

AQ. v. 84, where I think it forms the conclusion to WALL FLOWERS.

A Yorkshire variant, given in CI. iii. 482, seems to make this a game at choosing partners, but there are other fragments attached, so that it is probably a corrupt version made up of several separate rhymes.

A little boy stands in the midst of a ring of girls who sing—
Around a green gravill The grass is so green,

And all the fine ladies Ashamed (? a shame) to be seen.
They wash 'em in milk, An' dress 'em in silk,
We'll all cou' (cower) down together.

All then crouch down as if in profound respect, then, rising slowly,

sing

My elbow, my elbow,

My pitcher an' my can,

Isn't (nomen) a nice young gell,

(Here each girl mentions her own name.)

Isn't (nomen) as nice as her,

(Each girl mentions the name of her sweetheart.)

They shall be married with a guinea-gold ring.

The ensuing lines, although included, are probably from a distinct ring game—

I peep'd thro' the window,

I peep'd thro' the door,
I seed pretty Katey
A-dancin' on the floor:

I cuddled her an' fo'dled her,
I set her on my knee,
I says pretty Katey
Won't you marry me.
A new-swept parlour,
And a new-made bed,
A new cup an' saucer,
Again' we get wed.

If it be a boy he shall have a hat

To follow wi' his mammy to her ha' ha' ha':

If it be a gell she shall have a ring,

To follow wi' her mammy to her ding, ding, ding.

Then all clap hands, and the one that's sweetheart to him in the middle kisses him. See CHOOSING PARTNERS; Ring Games.

"Here we go round ring by ring,

As ladies do in Yorkshire,

A curtsey here, a curtsey there,

And a curtsey to the ground, sir."-AQ. v. 86.

Compare "A ring, a ring o' roses."