THE FARMER’S SONG.
A Motion Game.
As over the field the farmer goes,
And grain by grain he sows in the rows,
He sings and shouts, Oh, you crows, you crows,
Keep away from my rows, away from my rows.
This is the way the glad farmer reaps
His wheat, and when it is bunched he keeps
An eye on all his workers around,
And laughs at their faces, merry and round.
This is the way the glad farmer binds
All the ripe sheaves he’s able to find,
And when no more wheat is on the ground,
He laughs ha, ha, ha, and turns all around.
Hurrah, hurrah for the farmer bold
He laughs and is merry e’en when ’tis cold,
He shouts ha, ha, on an August day,
And gathers his wheat as if ’twas his play.
Oh, who would not be a farmer lad,
And clap one’s hands hard and never be sad,
And sing, while working all the day long,
I’m jolly and happy and brave and strong?
Let all the players form a ring, with a boy in the centre for farmer. After the song is sung through, the farmer must choose two players to clasp their hands and raise them, thus forming an arch. The ring having broken, now forms a long line, and one by one each individual passes under the arch, singing as they go,
Oh, who would not be a farmer lad,
and with the last word of the verse the arch falls, and thus some one is caught, and he or she is now farmer. A ring is then again formed, and the game proceeds as before.
This being a motion game, the words of the song must be acted. Every child has seen farmers sow, reap and bind, and while singing those words they must copy the farmer (the boy in the ring) as nearly as possible, also remember to clap the hands, turn around, etc., at the proper time, indeed lose no opportunity to act the words as well as to sing them. Tune, “Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows.”