"How many miles to Barley-bridge?"
"Three score and ten."
"Can I get there by candle-light?"
"Yes, if your legs be long."
"A courtesy to you, and a courtesy to you,
If you please will you let the king's horses through?"
Through and through shall they go,
For the king's sake;
But the one that is hindmost
Will meet with a great mistake.
[THE TOWN LOVERS.]
A game played by boys and girls. A girl is placed in the middle of a ring, and says the following lines, the names being altered to suit the party. She points to each one named, and at the last line, the party selected immediately runs away, and if the girl catches him, he pays a forfeit, or the game is commenced again, the boy being placed in the middle, and the lines, mutatis mutandis, serve for a reversed amusement:
There is a girl of our town,
She often wears a flowered gown:
Tommy loves her night and day,
And Richard when he may,
And Johnny when he can:
I think Sam will be the man!
[MARY BROWN. FAIR GUNDELA.]
A slightly dramatic character may be observed in this game, which was obtained from Essex. Children form a ring, one girl kneeling in the centre, and sorrowfully hiding her face with her hands. One in the ring then says,—
Here we all stand round the ring,
And now we shut poor Mary in;
Rise up, rise up, poor Mary Brown,
And see your poor mother go through the town.
To this she answers,—
I will not stand up upon my feet,
To see my poor mother go through the street.
The children then cry,—