Ellesmere, Shropshire. AP. 514. In Derbyshire they say— We'll catch a fox, and put him in a box, And a-hunting, etc.-AR. i. 387. Another marching song "Darby and Joan were dress'd in black, Turn about, Darby's company."—AY. 309. And every button cost half-a-crown; Turn the ship, and away we go."—Id. 311. Played as "A hunting we will go" is 66 Green grow the leaves on the hawthorn tree (repeat), We jangle and we wrangle, and we never can agree, But the tenor of our song goes merrily, Merrily, merrily, The tenor of our song, etc." Wellingboro, Northamptonshire. CD. ii. 161. Another marching game— "Trip and go, heave and hoe, Up and down, to and fro, From the town to the grove, So merrily," etc.—AY. 189. See "Darby and Joan"— "Turvey, turvey, clothed in black, With silver buttons upon your back, One by one, and two by two, Turn about and that will do." Haverfordwest. CG. v. 394. TAKING CAPTIVES. Two or three players (or it may be only one) stand at a line or mark, placed at some distance from another line, along which all the rest of the players stand in a row. The following dialogue then takes place— Answer "Blackthorn, blackthorn, Blue milk and barley-corn; How many geese have you to-day?" "More than you can catch and carry away." The players then rush towards each other's marks, and if any one be caught before he gets home to the opposite mark, he has to carry the one that catches him to the mark, where he takes his place as an additional catcher. In this way the game goes on till all are caught. Lancashire. BA. 150. At Ellesmere, Shropshire, after the rush, the object of each player is to pull another over to his side. Whichever obtains most captives is the winner. The rhyme is 1. Black horn. 2. (Reply). Butter milk, and barley-corn! 1. How many sheep have you to-day? 2. More than you can catch away.-AP. 521. A somewhat different explanation is giving in CG. vii., but the rhyme is as in No. 1. "We used to form ourselves into a line, and then select one of our company to stand out a few yards to the front. As soon as he had taken his position, he called out at the top of his voice (rhyme). Our reply was (see rhyme). A race then took place to certain points, and the one he caught not only took his place at the mark in front, but was obliged to carry him on his back to the line. We called this playing at blackthorn," p. 285. 'Chickery, chickery, cranny crow, I went to the well to wash my toe, One player is chosen to be the fox, and one to be the hen, all the rest are supposed to be chickens. The chickens, in Indian file, take hold of each other's waist, the first one holding the hen's waist. . . . The verse above is said by the hen to the chickens, after which they all go with the hen to search for the dead chicken; on their way they meet the fox, when the following dialogue between hen and fox ensues Hen. "What are you doing?" Fox. "Picking up sticks." H. What for? F. To make a fire. H. What's the fire for? F. To boil some water. H. What's the water for? F To boil some chickens in. H. Where do you get them from? F. Out of your flock. H. That I'm sure you won't. The fox now tries to get hold of one of the chickens, who, holding tightly one to the other, try to dodge him and prevent being caught. If the fox succeeds in catching them, they all, with the fox, try to dodge the hen, who makes an effort to gain possession of them. Derbyshire. AR. i. 387. GAME OF THE FOX. One child is Fox. He has a knotted handkerchief, and a home to which he may go whenever he is tired, but while out of home he must always hop on one leg. The other children are Geese, and have no home. When the fox is coming out, he says After he has said these words he is at liberty to hop out, and use his knotted handkerchief. Whoever he can touch, is fox instead, but the geese run on two legs, and if the fox puts his other leg down, he is hunted back to his home. AV. 131, 132. In AY. there is a rhyme from "A Game of the Fox," but not detailed. "Fox a fox, a brummalary, How many miles to Lummablary" (? Lumabary)! Answer. "Eight and eight, and a hundred and eight, How shall I get home to night ?" Reply. "Spin your legs and run fast."-p. 194. *This example must be considered under letter F for the alphabetical arrangement. "Here we are on Tom Tinders ground, You pick weeds and I'll pick seeds, And we'll all pick caraway comfits." These lines are said by children trespassing on ground set apart as the land of Tom Tinker. He is provided with a knotted handkerchief or some other such weapon, with which he buffets any player caught on his property. GAME OF THE GIPSY. One child is selected for the Gipsy, and another for the Mother. The mother says "I charge my daughters every one, To keep good house while I am gone, You You and You (points) but specially SUE' Or else I'll beat you black and blue." During the mother's absence the gipsy comes in, entices a child away, and hides her. This process is repeated till all the children are hidden, when the mother has to find them. AV. 131. In AQ. v. 88, a Sussex version of this rhyme is given, but the only difference is that home replaces "gone" in line two. One These lines are chanted by players that stand thus. places his back against a wall, tree, etc., grasping another, whose back is towards 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, etc. Warwicks. One player is called the Thief, another the Shepherd, the other players standing in a row, are called the Sheep. The shepherd pretends to sleep; the thief steals a sheep, and hides it; he then says "Shepherdy, shepherdy, count your sheep." Shep. "I can't come now, I'm fast asleep." 66 The shepherd counts the sheep, and, missing one, asks "Where is it gone?" The thief says, It is gone to get fat." The shepherd goes to sleep again, and the same performance is repeated till all the sheep are hidden. The shepherd goes in search of them, and when found they join him in pursuit of the thief. Oswestry, Shrops. AP. 520. In Warwickshire, I believe that the shepherd's dog is the true thief, and hides his propensity in the following dialogue Shep. Bow, wow, wow." "What's the matter now?" "A leg of a louse came over my house, And stole one of my fat sheep away." The game is played as in Shropshire. One boy is chosen Stag; he runs about the playground with his clasped hands held palms together in front of him, trying to tick (touch) others. Each whom he touches joins hands with him and they run together in an ever-lengthening chain, sweeping the playground from end to end, the boys at each end of the chain ticking others with their disengaged hands, till all are caught but one, who becomes the next stag. The stag gives notice of his start by exclaiming "Stag warning, stag warning, Come out to-morrow morning." Shrewsbury, Shrops. At Chirbury, in the same county, they say Stag a rag a roming, Very frosty morning, What I cannot catch to night, I'll catch to-morrow morning.-AP. 523. At Almondbury and Huddersfield, the other players have the privilege of breaking the chain, and if they succeed, the parties forming it are liable to be ridden back to the den. The starting rhyme is Stag, stag arony, Ma' dog's bony, |