Pray, pretty Miss.
For this—quite, I think, a thing of the past—the children (a boy and girl alternately) formed a ring. One stood in the middle holding a white handkerchief by two of its corners: if a boy he would single out one of the girls, dance backwards and forwards opposite to her, and sing—
“Pray, pretty Miss, will you come out?
Will you come out? will you come out?
Pray, pretty Miss, will you come out,
To help me in my dancing?”
If the answer were “No!” spoken with averted head over the left shoulder, the rhyme ran—
“Then you are a naughty Miss!
Then you are a naughty Miss!
Then you are a naughty Miss!
Won’t help me in my dancing.”
Occasionally three or four in turn refused. When the request was granted the words were changed to—
“Now you are a good Miss!
Now you are a good Miss!
Now you are a good Miss!
To help me in my dancing.”
The handkerchief was then carefully spread on the floor; the couple knelt on it and kissed: the child formerly in the middle joined the ring, and the other took his place, or if he preferred it, remained in the centre; in that case the children clasped hands and sang together—
“Pray, pretty Miss (or Sir),” etc.
The last to enter the ring had always the privilege of selecting the next partner.
In all these childish games, to prevent disputes, and decide who shall be middleman, hide first, etc., one or other of the following formulæ is always recited by the eldest of the party, who as he repeats the words points with his forefinger at each player in succession until he comes to the end of the rhyme. The person then indicated goes out:—
“Vizzery, vazzery, vozery-vem,
Tizzery, tazzery, tozery-tem,
Hiram, jiram, cockrem, spirem,
Poplar, rollin, gem.”
“There stands a pretty maid in a black cap,
If you want a pretty maid in a black cap,
Please to take ‘she.’ ”—(East Cornwall).
“Ene, mene, mona, mi,
Pasca, lara, bona (or bora), bi,
Elke, belke, boh!”
“Eggs, butter, cheese, bread,
Stick, stack, stone, dead!”—(West Cornwall).
To this latter there are several nonsensical modern editions.
A game with a jingle somewhat like the first is played by children at Newlyn West, near Penzance, called—
“Vesey, vasey, vum.”
One child is blindfolded, the others hide something, and shout—
“Vesey, vasey, vum,
Buck-a-boo has come!
Find if you can and take it home,
Vesey, vasey, vum!”
A search is then made for the hidden object: when found the finder in his turn is blindfolded.
After this digression I will give all the other forgotten games before describing those still played.