Part 15

[109] Made, according to Johnson, with the leaves of newly sprung herbs.

[110] The identical name in Austria, "Kinder."

[111] They are descendants of emigrants from the Upper Rhine, and speak a dialect resembling that of the Palatinate, but mixed with English words.

[112] The like method in Austria, where the general idea of the game, and many particulars, are the same. There are, however, only two bases. The same way, even to the ability to throw the bat with two fingers, which is the test of a doubtful hold, is used in Switzerland to determine choice of sides in the game answering to No. 139. These coincidences seem to point to a remote antiquity of usage.

[113] "Fen burnings!" "Roundings!" "Dubs!" "Knuckle down tight where you lay!" "Burnings" signifies breathing on a marble, and thereby getting certain advantages. The lads whom we quote never used the word marbles, but _mibs_. "Let's play mibs."

[114] "Cherry-pits are in now; buttons won't be in for a fortnight."--_New York boy._

[115] Communicated by the late Mr. George Nichols, of Cambridge, Mass., formerly of Salem. The common name, _Jack-stones_, seems to be a corruption for _Chuck-stones_, small stones which can be chucked or thrown. "Chuckie-stanes," in Scotland, means small pebbles. "Checkstones, small pebbles with which children play."--_Dialect of Craven._

[116] O-tédama (pronounce as in Italian) is, we learn, compounded of _O_, the, _te_, hand, and _tama_, balls. It is played with song, which consists in chanting the titles of the several movements; thus, in the first figure, (1) O Hito, (2) O Fu, (3) O Mi, (4) O Yo, (5) O Itzu, (6) O Mu. The second figure, in which begins _Tonkiri_ ("tattoo"), is called Zakara (a meaningless word); and the chant is, (1) O Hito Zakara, (2) O Fu Zakara, (3) O Mi Zakara, etc. These numbers are children's numeration, of which there are two sorts; the present series continues, (7) Nana, (8) Ya, (9) Kono, (10) To. We have varying forms from a friend in Hartford, Conn., where the song has been borrowed from Japanese students. Probably provincial usages in Japan differ. We give the above terms (not the game, which is current in the United States), as written by a Japanese gentleman. It is noteworthy that this childish system has no connection with the regular table.

XIV.

_RHYMES FOR COUNTING OUT._

Petite fille de Paris, Prête-moi tes souliers gris, Pour aller en Paradis. Nous irons un à un, Dans le chemin des Saints; Deux à deux, Sur le chemin des cieux.

_French Counting Rhyme._

No. 149.

_Counting Rhymes._

There are various ways in which children decide who shall begin in a game, or, as the phrase is, be "it."[117] When this position is an advantage, it is often determined by the simple process of "speaking first." So far as can be determined when all are shouting at once, the first speaker is then entitled to the best place. Otherwise it is the practice to draw straws, the shortest gaining; to "toss up" a coin, "heads or tails;" or to choose between the two hands, one of which holds a pebble.

The most interesting way of decision, however, is by employing the rhymes for "counting out." A child tells off with his finger one word of the rhyme for each of the group, and he on whom the last word falls is "out."[118] This process of exclusion is continued until one only is left, who has the usually unpleasant duty of leading in the sport. All European nations possess such rhymes, and apply them in a like manner. These have the common peculiarity of having very little sense, being often mere jargons of unmeaning sounds. This does not prevent them from being very ancient. People of advanced years often wonder to find their grandchildren using the same formulas, without the change of a word. The identity between American and English usage establishes the currency of some such for three centuries, since they must have been in common use at the time of the settlement of this country. We may be tolerably sure that Shakespeare and Sidney directed their childish sports by the very same rhymes which are still employed for the purpose. Furthermore, German and other languages, while they rarely exhibit the identical phrases, present us with types which resemble our own, and obviously have a common origin. Such a relation implies a very great antiquity; and it becomes a matter of no little curiosity to determine the origin of a practice which must have been consecrated by the childish usage of all the great names of modern history.

This origin is by no means clear; but we may make remarks which will at least clear away misconceptions. We begin with that class of formulas which we have marked from 1 to 13 inclusive.

Respecting these rhymes, we observe, in the first place, that they are meaningless. We might suppose that they were originally otherwise; for example, we might presume that the first of the formulas given below had once been an imitation or parody of some list of saints, or of some charm or prayer. A wider view, however, shows that the rhymes are in fact a mere jargon of sound, and that such significance, where it appears to exist, has been interpreted into the lines. We observe further, that, in despite of the antiquity of some of these formulas, their liability to variation is so great that phrases totally different in sound and apparent sense may at any time be developed out of them.

These variations are effected chiefly in two ways--rhyme and alliteration. A change in the termination of a sound has often involved the introduction of a whole line to correspond; and in this manner a fragment of nursery song may be inserted which totally alters the character of the verse. Again, the desire for a quaint alliterative effect has similarly changed the initial letters of the words of the formulas, according as the whim of the moment suggested.

From the fact that neither rhyme nor alliteration is any guide to the relations of these formulas, but seem arbitrarily introduced, we might conclude that the original type had neither one nor the other of these characteristics. This view is confirmed by European forms in which they appear as mere lists of unconnected words, possessing some equality of tone. Rhythm is a more permanent quality in them than termination or initial. From these considerations it appears likely that the original form of the rhymes of which we speak was that of a comparatively brief list of dissyllabic or trisyllabic words.

Now, when we observe that the first word of all the rhymes of this class is obviously a form of the number _one_; that the second word appears to be _two_, or a euphonic modification of _two_, and that numbers are perpetually introducing themselves into the series, it is natural to suppose that these formulas may have arisen from simple numeration.

This supposition is made more probable by a related and very curious system of counting up to twenty (of which examples will be found below), first brought into notice by Mr. Alexander J. Ellis, vice-president of the Philological Society of Great Britain, and called by him the "Anglo-Cymric Score." Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull, of Hartford, Conn., noticing the correspondence of Mr. Ellis's score with numerals attributed to a tribe of Indians in Maine (the Wawenocs), was led to make inquiries, which have resulted in showing that the method of counting in question was really employed by Indians in dealing with the colonists, having been remembered in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Ohio (where it passed for genuine Indian numeration), and in this way handed down to the present generation as a curiosity. Mr. Ellis has found this score to be still in use in parts of England--principally in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Yorkshire, where it is employed by shepherds to count their sheep, by old women to enumerate the stitches of their knitting, by boys and girls for "counting out," or by nurses to amuse children. It is, therefore, apparent that this singular method of numeration must have been tolerably familiar in the mother-country in the seventeenth century, since the Indians evidently learned it from the early settlers of New England. It appears, indeed, that not only the score itself, but also its chief variations, must have been established at that time. Mr. Ellis, however, who has shown that the basis of these formulas is Welsh, is disposed "to regard them as a comparatively recent importation" into England. Be that as it may, we see that the elements of change we have described, alliteration and rhyme, have been busy with the series. While the score has preserved its identity as a list of numerals, the successive pairs of numbers have been altered beyond all recognition, and with perfect arbitrariness.

It is plain that our counting rhymes cannot have been formed from the "Anglo-Cymric score," since the latter is only in use in parts of England, while the former are common to many European nations. Nothing, however, prevents the supposition that they owe their origin to a similar root. All that can be said is, that no modern language is responsible for the practice, which can hardly be supposed to have originated within the last thousand years.

Turning now to other types of formulas for counting, we see that any game-rhyme or nursery verse may do duty for such. Of lines used solely for this purpose, we find forms which have analogies on the continent of Europe. Some of the childish verses so used, like the French rhyme we have set at the head of our chapter, contain allusions which stamp them as ancient. On the other hand, it seems that, in our own country, little American inventions of the sort, recommended by some attractive quaintness, have gained currency, unwritten as of course they are, from Canada to the Gulf.

It appears, from foreign usage, that it was formerly common for each game to have its own especial formula for "counting out," a practice of which we have an example in No. 107.

(1.) Onery, uery, hickory, Ann, Fillison, follason, Nicholas John, Queevy, quavy, Virgin Mary, Singalum, sangalum, buck.

--_Philadelphia._

(2.) Onery, uery, ickory, Ann, Filisy, folasy, Nicholas John, Queevy, quavy, Irish Mary, Stingalum, stangalum, buck.[119]

--_New England._

(3.) Onery, uery, ickory, Ann, Fillison, follason, Nicholas John, Queevy, quavy, English navy,

Stinkalum, stankalum, John Buck. =B-u-c-k= spells buck.

--_Cincinnati_ (1880).

(4.) Onery, uery, ickory, a, Hallibone, crackabone, ninery-lay, Whisko, bango, poker my stick, Mejoliky one leg!

--_Scituate, Mass._ (about 1800).

(5.) Onery, uery, hickory, able, Hallowbone, crackabone, Timothy, ladle, * * * * *

--_Salem, Mass._[120]

(6.) One's all, zuzall, titterall, tann, Bobtailed vinegar, little Paul ran, Harum scarum, merchant marum, Nigger, turnpike, toll-house, out.

--_Salem, Mass._[121]

(7.) One-amy, uery, hickory, seven, Hallibone, crackabone, ten and eleven, Peep--O, it must be done, Twiggle, twaggle, twenty-one.

--_Georgia._[122]

(8.) Onery, uery, ickery, see, Huckabone, crackabone, tillibonee; Ram pang, muski dan, Striddledum, straddledum, twenty-one.[123]

--_Connecticut._

(9.) Eny, meny, mony, my, Tusca, leina, bona, stry, Kay bell, broken well, We, wo, wack.[124]

--_Massachusetts._

(10.) Eny, meny, mony, mine, Hasdy, pasky, daily, ine, Agy, dagy, walk.

--_Connecticut._

(11.) Eny, meny, mony, mite, Butter, lather, bony strike, Hair cut, froth neck, Halico balico, We, wo, wack.

--_Philadelphia._

(12.) Ena, mena, mona, my, Panalona, bona, stry, Ee wee, fowl's neck, Hallibone, crackabone, ten and eleven, O-u-t spells out.

(13.) Intery, mintery, cutery corn, Apple-seed and apple-thorn, Wire, briar, limber lock, Five mice in a flock; Catch him Jack, Hold him Tom, Blow the bellows, Old man out.

--_Massachusetts._

(14.) Ikkamy, dukkamy, alligar, mole, Dick slew alligar slum, Hukka pukka, Peter's gum, Francis.

--_Massachusetts._

(15.) 1. ane. 2. tane. 3. tother. 4. feather. 5. fip. 6. sother. 7. lother. 8. co. 9. deffrey. 10. dick. 11. een dick. 12. teen dick. 13. tother dick. 14. feather dick. 15. bumfrey. 16. een bumfrey. 17. teen bumfrey. 18. tother bumfrey. 19. feather bumfrey. 20. gig it.

(16.) 1. een. 2. teen. 3. tuther. 4. futher. 5. fip. 6. sother. 7. lother. 8. porter. 9. dubber. 10. dick. 11. een dick. 12. teen dick. 13. tuther dick. 14. futher dick. 15. bumpit. 16. een bumpit. 17. teen bumpit. 18. tuther bumpit. 19. futher bumpit. 20. gig it.[125]

(17.) Stick, stock, stone dead, Set him up, Set him down, Set him in the old man's crown.

--_Philadelphia._

(18.) Apples and oranges, two for a penny, Takes a good scholar to count as many; O-u-t, out goes she.

--_Philadelphia._

(19.) a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u are out.

--_Cincinnati._

(20.) 1, 2, 3, 4, Mary at the kitchen-door, 5, 6, 7, 8, Mary at the garden-gate.

--_Massachusetts_ (1820).

(21.) 1, 2, 3, 4, Lily at the kitchen-door, Eating grapes off the plate, 5, 6, 7, 8.

--_Philadelphia_ (1880).

(22.) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Mary sat at the garden-gate, Eating plums off a plate, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

(23.) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, All good children go to heaven.

--_Massachusetts to Pennsylvania._

(24.) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, All bad children have to wait.

--_Massachusetts._

(25.) Monkey, monkey, bottle of beer, How many monkeys are there here? 1, 2, 3, You are he (she).

--_Massachusetts to Georgia._

(26.) Linnet, linnet, Come this minute, Here's a house with something in it; This was built for me, I know.

--_Philadelphia._

(27.) School's up, school's down, School's all around the town.

(28.) Three potatoes in a pot, Take one out and leave it hot.

--_Philadelphia._

(29.) Mittie Mattie had a hen, She laid eggs for gentlemen, Sometimes nine and sometimes ten.

--_Georgia._

(30.) William a Trimbletoe, He's a good fisherman, Catch his hands, put them in pens, Some fly East, some fly West, Some fly over the cuckoo's nest-- O-u-t spells out and be gone.

--_Georgia._

(31.) Red, white, and blue, All out but you.

--_Philadelphia._

(32.) Engine No. 9, Out goes she.

--_Philadelphia._

(33.) As I went up the apple-tree, All the apples fell on me; Bake a pudding, bake a pie, Did you ever tell a lie? Yes, you did, you know you did, You broke your mother's teapot-lid-- L-i-d, that spells lid.

--_Cincinnati._

(34.) Little man, driving cattle, Don't you hear his money rattle? One, two, three, Out goes he (she).

--_Massachusetts._

(35.) Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday's child is full of grace, Wednesday's child is sour and sad, Thursday's child is merry and glad, Friday's child is full of sin, Saturday's child is pure within; The child that is born on the Sabbath day, To heaven its steps shall tend alway.[126]

--_Georgia._

FOOTNOTES:

[117] The French expression is the same, _l'être_ or _en être_. The Germans do not use an equivalent, but say to be _in_, to be _out_; _sein daran, sein daraus_.

[118] An old way of arranging this is for each of the group to put a finger inside a hat, in order that the words may be told off on the fingers.

[119] English _onery_, _twoery_, etc. The forms we give date back to about 1820, before the publication of the "Nursery Rhymes of England." There are numerous small variations. "_Virgin_ Mary" we have from informants in the Middle States; "_Irish_ Mary" was the common New England phrase.

[120] This rhyme was used only by _girls_. Boys employed No. 2, and would have been laughed at for counting like girls.

[121] Used by _boys_ in the western part of the town, where were the toll-house and negro settlement.

[122] English rhymes:

Oneery, twoery, ziccary, zan, Hollowbone, crackabone, ninery, ten--etc.

[123] This class of formulas (Nos. 1 to 8) appear to be mere variations of the same type, a fact which does not prevent individual forms from exhibiting a wonderful permanence. We consider as identical a class of German formulas, very wide-spread and variable, thus:

(_a._) Unichi, dunichi, tipel-te! Tibel, tabel, domine. (_b._) Eckati peckati zuchati me, Avi schavi domine. (_c._) Aeniga mäniga tumpel-ti, Tifel, tafel numine. (_d._) Anigl panigl subtrahi! Tivi tavi, domini. (_e._) Endeli bändeli deffendé, Gloria tibi domine.

A rhyme quoted by Mr. Ellis from the _Millhill Magazine_ (a school paper), and credited to America, is similar:

(_f._) Eeney, meeny, tipty te, Teena, Dinah, Domine.

The following formulas from Transylvania are of a simpler type; the first is said to imitate the _Gipsy_, the second the _Magyar_, speech:

(_g._) Unemi, dunemi, tronemi, ronemi, donemi, ronza, konza, jewla, dewla, tschok!

(_h._) Aketum, täketum, tinum, tanum, ärsak, märsak, etc.

We take the latter type to be a nearer approach to the original form. All sorts of intermediate stages can be observed from between these lists and the more complicated examples; but we find no signs of numbers above ten, as in the "Anglo-Cymric score." The Russian and Finnish tongues present similar rhymed lists, while many Italian rhymes are of like origin, though disguised and extended.

[124] In North Germany:

Ene tene mone mei, Paster Lone bone, strei, Ene fune herke berke, Wer? wie? wo? was?

As this is but one case of identity out of many hundreds, we suppose the rhyme borrowed from the English. There are many German rhymes beginning "Ene mene mu," or similarly; but the variation of the first sounds is endless: ene dene, ene tene, ene mene, ente twente, entele mentele, ane tane, unig tunig, oringa loringa, etc.; by association or rhyme, any nursery song may be introduced, or the first words may be dropped.

[125] These examples of the "Anglo-Cymric score" (see page 196) were obtained, No. 15 from Mrs. Ellis Allen of West Newton, now ninety years of age, who was born at Scituate, Mass., where she learned the formula; and No. 16 of her daughter, who learned it from an Indian woman, _Mary Wolsomog_, of Natick. Though mother and daughter, neither had ever heard the other's version of the score. To illustrate the relation of this score with Welsh numerals, we add two examples from Mr. Ellis's paper ("reprinted for private circulation from the Transactions of the Philological Society for 1877-8-9," pp. 316-372), selected from his fifty-three versions; the first is from England, the second from Ireland:

1. aina. 2. peina. 3. para. 4. peddera. 5. pimp. 6. ithy. 7. mithy. 8. owera. 9. lowera. 10. dig. 11. ain-a-dig. 12. pein-a-dig. 13. par-a-dig. 14. pedder-a-dig. 15. bumfit. 16. ain-a-bumfit. 17. pein-a-bumfit. 18. par-a-bumfit. 19. pedder-a-bumfit. 20. giggy.

1. eina. 2. mina. 3. pera. 4. peppera. 5. pinn. 6. chester. 7. nester. 8. nera. 9. dickera. 10. nin. 11. eina dickera. 12. mina dickera. 13. pera dickera. 14. peppera dickera. 15. pumpi. 16. eina pumpi. 17. mina pumpi. 18. pera pumpi. 19. peppera pumpi. 20. ticket.

The modern Welsh numerals, as given by Mr. Ellis:

1. un. 2. dau. 3. tri. 4. pedwar. 5. pump. 6. chwech. 7. saith. 8. wyth. 9. nau. 10. deg. 11. un ar deg. 12. deuddeg. 13. tri ar deg. 14. pedwar ar deg. 15. pymtheg. 16. un ar bymtheg. 17. dau ar bymtheg. 18. tri ar bymtheg. 19. pedwar ar bymtheg. 20. ugain.

The numbers 4, 5, 15, and combinations 1+15, 2+15, 3+15, 4+15, seem to make the connection unmistakable; but 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 appear to have been arbitrarily affected by rhyme and alliteration.

[126] This verse is used as a counting rhyme by children in the state mentioned.

XV.

_MYTHOLOGY._

In the olde dayes of the Kyng Arthour, Of which that Britouns speken gret honour, Al was this land fulfilled of fayrye.

_The Wife of Baths Tale._

No. 150.

_London Bridge._

No game has been more popular with children than this, and any summer evening, in the poorer quarters of the cities, it may still be seen how six years instructs three years in the proper way of conducting it. Two players, by their uplifted hands, form an arch, representing the bridge, under which passes the train of children, each clinging to the garments of the predecessor, and hurrying to get safely by. The last of the train is caught by the lowered arms of the guardians of the bridge, and asked, "Will you have a diamond necklace or a gold pin?" "a rose or a cabbage?" or some equivalent question. The keepers have already privately agreed which of the two each of these objects shall represent, and, according to the prisoner's choice, he is placed behind one or the other. When all are caught, the game ends with a "Tug of War," the two sides pulling against each other; and the child who lets go, and breaks the line, is pointed at and derided. The words of the rhyme sung while the row passes under the bridge are now reduced to two lines,

London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady!

Readers may wonder why this well-known game should be classed as _mythological_; but such a character appears in the European versions. Thus, in Suabia, the two keepers of the "Golden Bridge" are called respectively the "Devil" and the "Angel," and the object is to decide who shall be devils and who angels. In France the game is known as "Heaven and Hell." The children who have made a good choice, after the selection is finished, pursue the devils, making the sign of horns with fingers extended from the forehead. In Italy, the name of the sport is "Open the Gates." The gates are those of the Inferno and of Paradise; _St. Peter_ is the keeper of one, _St. Paul_ of the other. The children choose between _wine_ and _water_; but when the destiny of the last child is decided, the two girls who represent the keepers of the bridge break their arch of lifted hands and move in different directions, followed by their subjects, "while the cries and shrieks of the players condemned to the Inferno contrast with the pathetic songs and sweet cadences of those destined to the happiness of Paradise."

The game is mentioned by Rabelais (about A.D. 1533) under the name of the "Fallen Bridge."

In German versions, the keepers are called "Devil and Angel," "King and Emperor," or "Sun and Moon." In this latter form the game has been one of the few kept up by the Germans of Pennsylvania, who call it the "Bridge of Holland."[127]