Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie Hubbell Bancroft (bearly read books .TXT) 📖
- Author: Jessie Hubbell Bancroft
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Book online «Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie Hubbell Bancroft (bearly read books .TXT) 📖». Author Jessie Hubbell Bancroft
Oh, have you seen the muffin man that lives in Drury Lane, O!
Oh, yes, I've seen the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, yes, I've seen the muffin man that lives in Drury Lane, O!
Miss Newton has a very good adaptation of this game for the schoolroom or parlor, in which four or five players stand in corners. Each of these chooses a partner at the end of the second line, and these groups of two dance in a circle.
MULBERRY BUSH6 to 60 players or more.
Indoors; out of doors.
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush,
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
So early in the morning!
We wash our clothes, we wash our clothes,
This is the way we wash our clothes,
So early Monday morning.
We iron our clothes, we iron our clothes,
This is the way we iron our clothes,
So early Tuesday morning.
We scrub the floor, we scrub the floor,
This the way we scrub the floor,
So early Wednesday morning.
We mend our clothes, we mend our clothes,
This the way we mend our clothes,
So early Thursday morning.
We sweep the house, we sweep the house,
This is the way we sweep the house,
So early Friday morning.
Our work is done, our work is done,
Thus we play when our work is done,
So early Saturday morning.
The players stand in a circle clasping hands, and circle around, singing the first verse. In the second and alternate verses the action indicated by the lines is given in pantomime. In all verses the players spin around rapidly, each in her own place, on the repetition of the refrain, "So early in the morning."
This is one of the oldest traditional games, and probably one of the most widely known. It is considered to have originated as a marriage dance around a sacred tree or bush, our mistletoe custom having come from the same source.
NUTS IN MAY6 to 60 or more players.
Indoors; out of doors.
(Sung to the air of "Mulberry Bush")
Nuts in May, nuts in May.
Here we come gathering nuts in May,
On a cold and frosty morning.
Nuts in May, nuts in May?
Whom will you have for nuts in May
On a cold and frosty morning?
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
We'll have (Mary) for nuts in May,
On a cold and frosty morning.
To fetch her away, to fetch her away?
Whom will you send to fetch her away,
On a cold and frosty morning?
To fetch her away, to fetch her away.
We'll send (Alice) to fetch her away,
On a cold and frosty morning.
The players stand in two lines facing each other and holding hands, with a wide space between which will admit of advancing toward each other and retreating. The first line sings the first verse, advancing toward its opponents and retreating. The second line then advances and retreats and sings the second verse. The first line again advances and retreats, singing the third verse, naming some player who stands in the opposing line. The second line, unwilling to yield a player so easily, then advances and retires, singing the fourth verse, in which it suggests that some one be sent to take the one who has been selected for "nuts," and the first line then advances and retires, singing the last verse, in which it names some player from its own side whom it considers a good match for the player whom it has called from the opposite side.
The lines then stand still while these two players advance to the center, draw a mark on the ground, or throw a handkerchief down to serve the purpose, take hold of right hands across the line, and have a tug of war. The player who is pulled across the line becomes the captured "nut" and joins the side of her captors. The game is then repeated, with the change that the lines of players sing the verses that were sung by their opponents the previous time, the second line of players starting with the first verse. This should be continued until all of the players have taken part in the tug of war. The line wins which gets the most "nuts."
For large numbers of players, instead of a tug of war between two players only, the two lines may advance, each player joining hands with the one opposite, and all taking part in the tug of war. Still another method is to have the two players who are named, join hands, with the players of their respective sides all lined up behind them for a tug of war, as in London Bridge.
OATS, PEAS, BEANS6 to 60 players.
Indoors; out of doors.
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows.
Nor you nor I nor nobody knows
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grows.
Thus he stands and takes his ease,
Stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.
A-waiting for a partner,
So open the ring and choose one in,
Make haste and choose your partner.
You must be true to all you say.
You must be kind, you must be good,
And keep your wife in kindling wood.
The players form a ring, clasping hands, and circle about one of their number who has been chosen to stand in the center. They all sing the first four lines, when they drop hands, and each player goes through the motions indicated by the words: sowing the seed with a broad sweep of the arm as though scattering seed from the hand; standing erect and folding the arms; stamping the foot; clapping the hands; and at the end of the verse turning entirely around. They then clasp hands again and circle entirely around, singing:—
Waiting for a partner,
standing still for the last two lines:—
And choose one in.
On these words the one in the center chooses one from the circle as a partner. The player who was first in the center then returns to the circle, and the one chosen as partner remains in the center while the game is repeated.
If large numbers are playing, four players may stand in the center instead of one, and in that case, of course, four partners will be chosen. This form of playing the game has traditional sanction, and at the same time adapts itself nicely to the large numbers that often have to be provided for under modern conditions of playing.
This is one of the games that Mr. Newell calls "world-old and world-wide." It is found in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc., was played by Froissart in the fourteenth century, and by Rabelais in the fifteenth. The game is supposed to have had its source in a formula sung at the sowing of grain to propitiate the earth gods and to promote and quicken the growth of crops. Mrs. Gomme notes that the turning around and bowing to the fields and lands, coupled with pantomimic actions of harvest activities, are very general in the history of sympathetic magic among primitive peoples, from which doubtless came the custom of spring and harvest festivals.
Mrs. Gomme also points out that the choosing of the partner indicates the custom of courtship and marriage at these sowing and harvest gatherings.
ROUND AND ROUND THE VILLAGE6 to 30 or more players.
Indoors; out of doors.
Go round and round the village,
Go round and round the village,
Go as we have done before.
Go in and out the windows,
Go in and out the windows,
Go as we have done before.
Now stand and face your partner,
Now stand and face your partner,
And bow before you go.
Now follow me to London,
Now follow me to London,
As we have done before.
The players form a circle, clasping hands, with one player outside. In this game the circle stands still and represents the houses of a village. The player outside sings the first verse dancing around the circle. On the second verse, "In and out the windows," etc., the players forming the ring raise their clasped hands to represent windows, and the outside player passes in under one arch, out under the next, and so on, winding in and out until the circle has been completed. She tries to get around by the time the verse is finished, and then goes on singing the third verse while she pauses in the circle and chooses a partner. These two then run around the outside of the circle while singing the last verse, "Follow me to London," etc., returning at the close to the center of the circle, where they bow and part, the first player taking her place in the ring. The game is then repeated, with the second player running around the outside of the village.
Where large numbers are playing, several players may be chosen instead of one, to run around the village and in and out of the windows. In that case several partners will be chosen, and at the close the first players will return to the circle, and the partners whom they have chosen will go on with the game by running around the village and singing the first verse again.
FOR THE SCHOOLROOM.—In the schoolroom two players may be chosen to run "Round and round the village," starting from different parts of the room. The remainder of the class sits and sings while these players run up and down through the aisles, each touching two or three pupils, who rise and run after them. When the windows are mentioned, the seated players who still have neighbors sitting across the aisles, stand, and clasp hands
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