Robin's alive, and alive he shall be
If he dies in my hand you may back-saddle me,
and at once passes the paper on to the next player who in turn recites the verse. The one in whose hand it finally goes out is "back-saddled" in this way. He lies down on the floor and the others pile cushions and chairs and books on him while he repeats,
Rocks and stones and the old horse's bones
All this and more you may pile upon me.
The Mulberry Bush
The players join hands and go round and round in a ring, singing—
Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush,
Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a fine and frosty morning.
They then let go hands and sing—
This is the way we wash our clothes, wash our clothes, wash our clothes,
This is the way we wash our clothes
On a fine and frosty morning,
and as they sing they pretend to be washing. After the verse is done they join hands again and dance round to the singing of the mulberry bush chorus again, and so on after each verse. The other verses are—
(2) This is the way we iron our clothes.
(3) This is the way we wash our face.
(4) This is the way we comb our hair.
(5) This is the way we go to school (very sadly).
(6) This is the way we learn our book.
(7) This is the way we sew our seams.