Part 12

Now they go off courting, Now they go off courting; Now they go off courting, As they have done before.

Chase her back to Scotland, Chase her back to Scotland; Chase her back to Scotland, As you have done before.

--Penzance, Cornwall (Mrs. Mabbott).

IX. Round about the village, Round about the village; Round about the village, As you have done before.

In and out of the windows, In and out of the windows; In and out of the windows, As you have done before.

I stand before my lover, I stand before my lover; I stand before my lover, As I have done before.

Follow me to London, Follow me to London; Follow me to London, As you have done before.

Dance away to Fairyland, Dance away to Fairyland; Dance away to Fairyland, As we have done before.

--Stevenage, Herts. (Mrs. Lloyd, taught to a friend's children by a nurse from Stevenage).

X. All round the village, All round the village; All round the village, As we have done before.

In and out of the window, In and out of the window; In and out of the window, As we have done before.

Stand and face your lover, Stand and face your lover; Stand and face your lover, As we have done before.

Kiss her if you love her, Kiss her if you love her; Kiss her if you love her, As we have done before.

Take her off to London, Take her off to London; Take her off to London, As we have done before.

--Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy).

XI. All round the village, All round the village; All round the village, As you have done before.

In and out the windows, In and out the windows; In and out the windows, As you have done before.

Stand and face your lover, Stand and face your lover; Stand and face your lover, As you have done before.

Follow her to London, Follow her to London; Follow her to London, As you have done before.

--Tean, North Staffs, (from a Monitor in the School).

XII. Round and round the village, &c., As you have done before.

In and out the windows, as you have done before.

Stand and face your lover, &c.

Follow me to London, &c.

--Roxton, St. Neots (Miss E. Lumley).

XIII. Out and in the windows, Out and in the windows; Out and in the windows, As you have done before.

Stand before your lover, Stand before your lover; Stand before your lover, As you have done before.

Follow her to London, Follow her to London; Follow her to London, Before the break of day.

--Fraserburgh (Rev. W. Gregor).

XIV. In and out of the window, In and out of the window; In and out of the window, As you have done before.

Stand and face your lover, Stand and face your lover; Stand and face your lover, As you have done before.

Give me a kiss, my darling, Give me a kiss, my darling; Give me a kiss, my darling, As you have done before.

Follow me to London, Follow me to London; Follow me to London, As you have done before.

--Hanbury, Staffordshire (Miss E. Hollis).

XV. Marching round the ladies, Marching round the ladies, as you have done before. In and out the windows, In and out the windows, as you have done before. Stand and face your lover, Stand and face your lover, as you have done before. Follow me to London, Follow me to London, as you have done before. Bring me back to Belfast, Bring me back to Belfast, as you have done before.

--Belfast, Ireland (W. R. Patterson).

XVI. Come gather again on the old village green, Come young and come old, who once children have been. Such frolics and games as ne'er before were seen, We join in riots and play [? riotous]. Take her off to London, Take her off to London, Take her off to London.

In and out the windows, In and out the windows; In and out the windows, As you have gone before.

Round about the village, Round about the village; Round about the village, As you have gone before.

Soon we will get married, Soon we will get married; Soon we will get married, And never more depart.

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

XVII. Three jolly sailor boys Lately come ashore, Spend their time in drinking lager wine, As they have done before.

We go round, and round, and round, As we have done before; And this is a girl, and a very pretty girl, A kiss for kneeling there.

Go in and out the window, Go in and out the window; Go in and out the window, As we have done before.

Follow me to London, Follow me to London; Follow me to London, As we have done before.

Go back and face your lover, Go back and face your lover; Go back and face your lover, As we have done before.

--Brigg (from a Lincolnshire friend of Miss J. Barker).

XVIII. Up and down the valley, Up and down the valley; Up and down the valley, As I have done before.

In and out the window, In and out the window; In and out the window, As I have done before.

Stand and face your lover, Stand and face your lover; Stand and face your lover, As I have done before.

Follow me to London, Follow me to London; Follow me to London, As I have done before.

--Settle, Yorks. (Rev. W. S. Sykes).

XIX. In and out the willows, In and out the willows; In and out the willows, As you have done before.

Stand and face your lover, Stand and face your lover; Stand and face your lover, As you have done before.

Follow me to London, Follow me to London; Follow me to London, As you have done before.

--West Grinstead, Sussex (_Notes and Queries_, 8th Series, i. 249, Miss Busk).

(_c_) The children join hands and form a ring with one child standing outside. The ring stands perfectly still throughout this game and sings the verses, the action being confined to at first one child, and then to two together. During the singing of the first verse the outside child dances round the ring on the outside. When the ring commences to sing the second verse the children hold up their arms to form arches, and the child who has been running round outside runs into the ring under one pair of joined hands, and out again under the next pair of arms, continuing this "in and out" movement until the third verse is commenced. The child should try and run in and out under all the joined hands. At the third verse the child stops in the ring and stands facing one, whom she chooses for her lover, until the end of the verse; the chosen child then leaves the ring, followed by the first child, and they walk round the ring, or they walk away a little distance, returning at the commencement of next verse. In the first three versions the second child is chased back and caught by the first child. In the Clapham version the two shake hands in the last verse. The Barnes version has kissing for its finale. The Hanbury also has kissing, but it precedes the following to London. In the Brigg, Lincolnshire (Miss Barker), a child stands in the middle and points with her finger to each one she passes; finally selects one, who leaves the ring and kneels in front of the girl in the middle. At the end of the second verse the kneeling child gets up and the first child goes in and out under the arms of the players, followed by the other. At the fourth they reverse and go back under the arms in the opposite direction, finally stopping in the middle of the ring, when another child is chosen and the first one in goes out. In the Winterton and Bottesford versions (Miss Peacock), at the words "Stand and face your lover," the child who has been going "in and out" stands before the one she chooses, beckons to her, and sings the next verse. Then the chosen one chases her until she can catch her. In the Crockham Hill version (Miss Chase) the love is measured out with a handkerchief three times, and after kneeling in the road, the chosen partner follows round the ring and reverses for the return.

(_d_) The analysis of the game-rhymes is on pp. 134-39. This shows that we are dealing with a game which represents a village, and also the houses in it. The village only disappears in six out of the twenty versions. In three of these (Hanbury, Fraserburgh, and West Grinstead) the line has gone altogether. In the fourth (Lincolnshire) it becomes "Round and round and round," no mention being made of the village. In the fifth (Belfast) the line has become "Marching round the ladies." In the sixth (Settle) it has become "Up and down the valley," which also occurs in another imperfect version, of which a note was sent me by Miss Matthews from the Forest of Dean, where the line has become "Round and round the valley." The substitution of "ladies" for "village" is very significant as evidence that the game, like all its compeers, is in a declining stage, and is, therefore, not the invention of modern times. The idea of a circle of children representing a village would necessarily be the first to die out if the game was no longer supported by the influence of any custom it might represent. The line of decadence becomes in this way an important argument for the discovery of the original form.

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Cornwall, Penzance. | Kent, Crockham Hill. | Herts, Stevenage. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.| -- | -- | -- | | 2.|Walking round the |Go round and round the|Round about the | | |village. |village. |village. | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.|As we have done |As we have done |As you have done | | |before. |before. |before. | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.|In and out the |Go in and out the |In and out of the | | |windows. |windows. |windows. | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|As you have done |As we have done |As you have done | | |before. |before. |before. | |13.|Stand and face your | -- |Stand before my lover.| | |lover. | | | |14.| -- |Come in and face your | -- | | | |lover. | | |15.| -- | -- | -- | |16.|As you have done |As we have done |As I have done before.| | |before. |before. | | |17.|Now they go off | -- | -- | | |courting. | | | |18.| -- |I measure my love to | -- | | | |show you. | | |19.| -- | -- | -- | |20.| -- | -- | -- | |21.| -- | -- | -- | |22.| -- | -- | -- | |23.|As they have done |As we have done | -- | | |before. |before. | | |24.| -- |I kneel because I love| -- | | | |you. | | |25.| -- |As we have done | -- | | | |before. | | |26.|Chase her back to | -- | -- | | |Scotland. | | | |27.| -- |Follow me to London. |Follow me to London. | |28.| -- | -- | -- | |29.|As you have done |As we have done |As you have done | | |before. |before. |before. | |30.| -- | -- | -- | |31.| -- |Back again to | -- | | | |Westerham. | | |32.| -- | -- |Dance away to | | | | |fairyland. | |33.| -- | -- | -- | |34.| -- |As we have done |As we have done | | | |before. |before. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Yorks, Earls Heaton. | N. Staffordshire, | Surrey, Clapham. | | | | Tean. | | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.| -- | -- | -- | | 2.|All round the village.|All round the village.|Round and round the | | | | |village. | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.|As we have done |As you have done |As you have done | | |before. |before. |before. | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.|In and out of the |In and out the window.|In and out the window.| | |window. | | | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|As we have done |As you have done |As you have done | | |before. |before. |before. | |13.|Stand and face your |Stand and face your |Stand and face your | | |lover. |lover. |lover. | |14.| -- | -- | -- | |15.| -- | -- | -- | |16.|As we have done |As you have done |As you have done | | |before. |before. |before. | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | |19.|Kiss her if you love | -- | -- | | |her. | | | |20.| -- | -- |Shake hands with your | | | | |lover. | |21.| -- | -- | -- | |22.| -- | -- | -- | |23.|As we have done | -- |As you have done | | |before. | |before. | |24.| -- | -- | -- | |25.| -- | -- | -- | |26.| -- | -- | -- | |27.| -- |Follow her to London. | -- | |28.|Take her off to | -- | -- | | |London. | | | |29.|As we have done |As you have done | -- | | |before. |before. | | |30.| -- | -- | -- | |31.| -- | -- | -- | |32.| -- | -- | -- | |33.| -- | -- | -- | |34.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Lincolnshire. | Surrey, Barnes. | Norfolk, Sporle. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Three jolly sailor | -- |Come gather again on | | |boys. | |the old village green.| | 2.| -- |Round and round the |Round about the | | | |village. |village. | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.|We go round and round | -- | -- | | |and round. | | | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.|As we have done |As we have done |As you have done | | |before. |before. |before. | | 8.|And this a girl and a | -- | -- | | |very pretty girl. | | | | 9.|A kiss for kneeling | -- | -- | | |here. | | | |10.|Go in and out the |In and out the |In and out the | | |window. |windows. |windows. | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|As we have done |As we have done |As you have done | | |before. |before. |before. | |13.| -- |Stand and face your | -- | | | |lover. | | |14.| -- | -- | -- | |15.|Go back and face your | -- | -- | | |lover. | | | |16.|As we have done |As we have done | -- | | |before. |before. | | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | |19.| -- |Kiss her before you | -- | | | |leave her. | | |20.| -- | -- | -- | |21.| -- | -- |Soon we will get | | | | |married. | |22.| -- | -- | -- | |23.| -- |As we have done | -- | | | |before. | | |24.| -- | -- | -- | |25.| -- | -- | -- | |26.| -- | -- | -- | |27.|Follow me to London. |Follow her to London. | -- | |28.| -- | -- |Take her off to | | | | |London. | |29.|As we have done |As we have done | -- | | |before. |before. | | |30.| -- | -- | -- | |31.| -- | -- | -- | |32.| -- | -- | -- | |33.| -- | -- | -- | |34.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+