The version recorded by [Chambers] is similar in action, but there are some important differences in detail. The centre child acts as mistress of the ceremonies. The ring of children dance round her, singing the verses. At the end of the first line of the second verse they all courtesy to her, and she returns the compliment. At the conclusion of this verse she selects a girl from the ring and asks her her sweetheart’s name, which is imparted in a whisper. Upon this the child in the centre sings the third verse, the ring dancing round as before. If the ring approves her choice, they sing the fourth verse as in the Biggar version, and if they disapprove, the fifth. Chambers does not say whether another child is selected, if this is the case; but it is probable, as he says, the marriage is finally concluded upon and effected by the ring singing the verses which follow. When singing the first line of the eighth verse all the ring unclasps hands for a moment, and each child performs a pirouette, clapping her hands above her head.
(c) It seems very clear from both the versions given that this is a ceremonial dance, round or at a place sacred to such ceremonies as betrothal and marriage. The version given by [Chambers] suggests this the more strongly, as the child in the centre acts as mistress of the ceremonies, or “go-between,” the person who was the negotiator between the parents on either side in bringing a marriage about. The courtesying and bowing of those in the ring to her may show respect for this office. On the other hand, there is the more important office of priest or priestess of “the stones” suggested by the action of the game, and the reverence to the centre child may be a relic of this. The fact that she asks a girl to tell her her sweetheart’s name, and then announces the name of the girl’s choice for approval or disapproval by the ring in both versions, points to the time when consent by relations and friends on both sides was necessary before the marriage could be agreed upon—the inquiry regarding the qualifications of the proposed wife, the recital of her housewifely abilities, and the giving of the ring by the boy to the girl are also betrothal customs. It is to be noted that it was a popular belief in ancient times that to wed with a rush-ring was a legal marriage, without the intervention of a priest or the ceremonies of marriage. Poore, Bishop of Salisbury (circa 1217), prohibited the use of them—
“With gaudy girlonds or fresh flowers dight
About her necke, or rings of rushes plight.”
—Spenser’s Queen.
And Shakespeare alludes to the custom in the lines—“As fit as ten groats for the hand of an attorney, as Tib’s rush for Tom’s forefinger.”—All’s Well that Ends Well. The rejoicing and bestowal of the blessing by the ring of friends give an almost complete picture of early Scotch marriage custom. A version of this game, which appeared in the Weekly Scotsman of October 16, 1893, by Edgar L. Wakeman, is interesting, as it confirms the above idea, and adds one or two details which may be important, i.e., the “choose your maidens one by one,” and “sweep the house till the bride comes home.” This game is called the “Gala Ship,” and the girls, forming a ring, march round singing—
Three times round goes the gala, gala ship,
And three times round goes she;
Three times round goes the gala, gala ship,
And sinks to the bottom of the sea.
They repeat this thrice, courtesying low. The first to courtesy is placed in the centre of the circle, when the others sing:—
Choose your maidens one by one,
One by one, one by one;
Choose your maidens one by one—
And down goes (all courtesy)
Merrima Tansa!
She chooses her maidens. They take her to a distance, when she is secretly told the name of her lover. The remainder of the girls imitate sweeping, and sing several stanzas to the effect that they will “sweep the house till the bride comes home,” when the bride is now placed within the circle, and from a score to a hundred stanzas, with marching and various imitations of what the lucky bride accomplishes or undergoes, are sung. Each one closes with “Down goes Merrima Tansa” and the head-ducking; and this wonderful music-drama of childhood is not concluded until the christening of the bride’s first-born, with—
Next Sunday morn to church she must gae,
A babe on her knee, the best of ’a—
And down goes Merrima Tansa!