A wife he shall have and a-courting he shall go,

Along with So-and-So; because he loves her so.

He kissed her, he cuddled her, he sat her on his knee,

And he said “My dearest So-and-So, how happy we shall be.”

First he bought the frying-pan and then he bought the cradle

And then he bought the knives and forks and set them on the table.

So-and-So made a pudding, she made it very sweet,

She daren’t stick the knife in till So-and-So came home at night.

Taste, So-and-So, taste, and do not be afraid,

Next Monday morning the wedding day shall be,

And the cat shall sing and the bells shall ring

And we’ll all clap hands together.

Evidently in the course of the centuries Waly, Waly, Wallflower had become mixed with something else. The youngest maid of the first verse would never have played the candlestick or been courted by such a lover. Her destiny was very different. But what?

Green Gravel was another ring game. The words were:

Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green,

The fairest young damsel that ever was seen,

Sweet So-and-So, sweet So-and-So, your true love is dead,

I send you a letter, so turn round your head.

And as each name was mentioned the bearer turned outwards from the middle of the ring and, still holding hands with the others, went on revolving. When all had turned, the girls jigged up and down, shouting:

Bunch o’ rags!

Bunch o’ rags!

Bunch o’ rags!

until all fell down.

Then there was Sally, Sally Waters; who “sprinkled in the pan;” and Queen Anne, Queen Anne, who “sat in the sun.” The local version of the first verse of the latter ran:

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, she sat in the sun,

She had a pair of ringlets on.

She shook them off, she shook them on,

She shook them into Scotland.

Which seems to suggest that the Queen Anne intended was Anne of Denmark, consort of our James the First, and not the last of our Stuart monarchs, as sometimes supposed. When the founders of the new royal house first arrived in England, there would certainly be gossip about them, and Queen Anne would most probably be supposed to favour Scotland, Scots, and things Scottish.

The brisk and rather disagreeable little game known as ‘Queen Caroline’ must have been of comparatively recent date. For this two lines of girls stood facing each other, while one other one ran the gauntlet. As she dashed between the lines the girls on both sides ‘buffeted’ her with hands, pinafores and handkerchiefs, singing:

Queen, Queen Caroline,

Dipped her head in turpentine.

Why did she look so fine?

Because she wore a crinoline.

An echo of the coronation scene of George IV?

Contemporary with that was The Sheepfold, which began:

Who’s that going round my sheepfold?

Oh, it’s only your poor neighbour Dick.

Do not steal my sheep while I am fast asleep.