Open the gates as wide as high,
And let King George and I go by;
It is so dark I cannot see
To thread my grandmother’s needle.
—Surrey (Folk-lore Record, v. 88).
(b) There are two methods of playing this game, one in which a King and Queen are represented, and the other in which gates of a city are represented. Of the first [Chambers] and Mactaggart practically give the same account. The latter says, “Two of the swiftest boys are placed between two ‘doons’ or places of safety; these, perhaps, are two hundred yards distant. All the other boys stand in one of these places or doons, when the two fleet youths come forward and address them with the rhyme. When out, they run in hopes to get to Babylon or the other doon, but many get not near that place before they are caught by the runners, who ‘taens’ them, that is, lay their hands upon their heads, when they are not allowed to run any more in that game, that is, until they all be taened or taken.”
The [Norfolk game] seems to resemble the [Scotch], though in a much less complete form. Miss Matthews describes it as follows:—“A line of children is formed, and the two standing opposite it sing the questions, to which the line reply; then the two start off running in any direction they please, and the others try to catch them.”
The second method of playing is best described by the Rev. Walter Gregor, from the [Nairn game], which is known as “The Gates of Babylon.” Mr. Gregor writes as follows:—“This game may be played either by boys or girls. Two of the players join hands, and stand face to face, with their hands in front as if forming a gate. Each of these has a secret name. The other players form themselves into a line by clasping each other round the waist from behind. They go up to the two that form the gate, and the leader asks the first question, as in version No. 2. The dialogue then proceeds to the end. The two then lift their arms as high as they can, still joined, and the line of players passes through. All at once the two bring their arms down on one and make him (or her) prisoner. The prisoner is asked in a whisper, so as not to disclose the secret name, which of the two is to be chosen. The one so captured takes his (or her) stand behind the one chosen. The same process is gone through till all the players are taken captive, and have stationed themselves behind the one or the other of the two forming the gate. The last one of the line goes through three times. The first time the word ‘breakfast’ is pronounced; the second time ‘dinner;’ and the third time ‘supper.’ The player then chooses a side. The two sides have then a tug of war. The game ends at this point with girls. With boys the conquered have to run the gauntlet. The victors range themselves in two lines, each boy with his cap or handkerchief tightly plaited in his hand, and pelt with all their might the vanquished as they run between the lines. The boys of Nairn call this running of the gauntlet, ‘through fire an’ watter.’”
The method of playing the [Warwick], [Fernham], and [Louth versions] is practically the same. The children stand in half-circle beginning with the two tallest at either end. All clasp hands. The two at one end question those at the other end alternately ([fig. 1]). At the last line the two that have been answering hold their hands up to form a bridge, and all the others thread through, still holding hands (the bridge advancing slowly) ([fig. 2]). The [Louth version] is also sometimes played as “[Oranges and Lemons].” This is also the case with the [Belfast], [South Shields], [Ellesmere], and [Dublin versions]. Miss Burne also gives a second method of playing this game at [Ellesmere]: she says, “The whole number of players stand in two rows facing each other, each player joining hands with the one opposite. The pair at the lower end parley with the pair at the top, and then run under the extended arms of the others, receiving thumps on the back as they go, till they reach the upper end, and become the top couple in their turn.” The [Hanbury version] is played in a similar way. Two lines stand close together holding handkerchiefs across. The questions are asked and answered by the top and bottom players. Then two children run under the line of handkerchiefs. The [Dorset version] is played by as many as like standing, two and two, opposite each other, each of them taking with the right hand the right hand of the other; then the two that are the King and Queen say or sing the first question, to which the others reply, and the dialogue ends in this manner. Then all the other pairs hold up their hands as high as they can, and the King and Queen run through the archway and back again, and so on with the next pair, and other pairs in turn. The [Isle of Man version] is played, Mr. Moore says, the same as other “[Thread the Needle]” games.
(c) The game is evidently dramatic in form, and perhaps is illustrative of some fact of history, such as the toll upon merchandise entering a walled town. The changes in the words of the different versions are not very great, but they show the influence of modern history upon the game. The appearance of King George evidently points to the date when it was frequently played, though the older versions are doubtless those in which his Majesty does not do duty. Mactaggart has the following quaint note which perhaps may supply the origin, though it seems a far cry to the Crusaders:—“This sport has something methinks of antiquity in it; it seemeth to be a pantomime of some scenes played off in the time of the Crusades. ‘King and Queen o’ Cantilon’ evidently must be King and Queen of Caledon, but slightly changed by time. Then Babylon in the rhyme, the way they had to wander and hazard being caught by the infidels, all speak as to the foundation of the game” (Mactaggart’s Gallovidian Encyclopædia).
In the Gentleman’s Magazine for December 1849, in a review of the Life of Shirley, it is stated that in many parts of England the old game of “[Thread the Needle]” is played to the following words, which refer to the gate of the city of Hebron, known as the “needle’s eye.”