Poor Toby is dead and he lies in his grave,
He lies in his grave, he lies in his grave;
They planted an apple tree over his head,
Over his head, over his head.
The apples grew ripe and beginning to fall,
Beginning to fall, beginning to fall;
The apples grew ripe and beginning to fall,
Beginning to fall, beginning to fall.
There came an old woman picking them up,
Picking them up, picking them up;
Poor Toby rose up and he gave her a kick,
Gave her a kick, gave her a kick.
And the poor old woman went hipperty hop,
Hipperty hop, hipperty hop;
And the poor old woman went hipperty hop,
Hipperty hop along.
—Belfast (W. H. Patterson).
There was an old woman we buried her here,
Buried her here, buried her here;
There was an old woman we buried her here,
He—ho! buried her here.
—Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).
(b) A ring is formed by children joining hands; one child, who represents Sir Roger, lays down on the ground in the centre of the ring with his head covered with a handkerchief. The ring stands still and sings the verses. When the second verse is begun, a child from the ring goes into the centre and stands by Sir Roger, to represent the apple tree. At the fourth verse another child goes into the ring, and pretends to pick up the fallen apples. Then the child personating Sir Roger jumps up and knocks the child personating the old woman, beating her out of the ring. She goes off hobbling on one foot, and pretending to be hurt. In the [Ordsall game] the children dance round when singing the verses instead of standing still, the action of the game being the same. In the [Tong version], the action seems to be done by the ring. Miss Burne says the children go through various movements, finally all limping round. The [Newark] (Notts), and [Bath versions] are played as first described, Poor Roger being covered with a cloak, or an apron, and laying down in the middle of the ring. A Southampton version has additional features—the ring of children keep their arms crossed, and lay their hands on their chests, bending their heads and bodies backwards and forwards, in a mourning attitude, while they sing; in addition to which, in the [Bath version], the child who personates the apple tree during the singing of the third verse raises her arms above her head, and then lets them drop to her sides to show the falling apples.