LONDON STREET GAMES.
A WEDDING.
After the preliminary rhyme of—
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
All good children go to heaven.
A penny on the water, twopence on the sea,
Threepence on the railway, and out goes she,"
has been said, the lot falls on one of the girls to be the bride. A ring is formed and a merry dance begins, all the children singing this invitation—
"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you."
The girl bride then selects a groom from the rest of the other children. He steps into the centre of the ring, joins hands and kisses her, after which, collecting a posy from each of the others, he decorates her with flowers and green leaves. A fresh ring is now formed—figuratively the wedding ring; the whole of the children caper round singing—
"Rosy apple, lemon and pear,
Bunch of roses she shall wear,
Gold and silver by her side,
I know who shall be my bride."
"Choose one, choose two, choose the nearest one to you."
"Take her by her lily-white hand,
Lead her across the water,
Give her kisses one, two, three,
Mrs. —— daughter."
THE KING OF THE BARBARINES.
In this street game an entire regal court is appointed, the children taking the characters of king, queen, princes, and courtiers. When these preliminaries are settled two children join hands and whisper something—supposed to be a great state secret—to each other. This at once causes a rivalry amongst certain of the mock courtiers, and the dissatisfaction spreads, culminating in an open rebellion. The children take sides. Things now look serious; the prime minister tells the king he fears rebellion, and for safety his little majesty, attired in royal robes, and wearing a paper crown, retires to his palace—one of those places "built without walls." The soldiers, the king's bodyguard, are summoned, and orders are given to them to suppress the insurrection and capture the little rebels. As each one is taken prisoner the soldiers ask—
"Will you surrender? Oh, will you surrender
To the King of the Barbarines?"
During the struggle reinforcements come up from the rebel camp and try to beat off the king's soldiers, exclaiming—
"We won't surrender, we won't surrender
To the King of the Barbarines."
"We'll make you surrender, we'll make you surrender
To the King of the Barbarines."
"You can't make us surrender, you can't make us surrender
To the King of the Barbarines."
"We'll go to the King, we'll go to the King,
To the King of the Barbarines."
"You can go to the King, you can go to the King,
To the King of the Barbarines."
The rebels now build an imaginary castle by joining hands. The king's soldiers surround the place, and after a skirmish break it down.
"We'll break down your castle, we'll break down your castle
For the King of the Barbarines."