"I will take them off."
"Your stockings are too dirty."
"I will take them off."
"Your feet are too dirty."
The mother grows angry at this, pushes her way into the house, and calls her children. The witch is supposed, prior to this, to have cooked the children, made them into pies, and put them in a row, naming them apple pie, peach pie, etc. They stand or sit with their faces or heads covered.
The mother approaches them and says, "You have some pies?" The old witch says, "Yes, some very nice apple pie." The mother proceeds to taste the apple pie and says, "This needs more sugar." The witch pretends to stir in more sugar, whereupon the mother tastes again and says, "Why, this tastes exactly like my child Monday!" Monday thereupon uncovers her face and says, "It is Monday!" The mother shakes her and says, "Run away home!" which she does.
This is gone through with each pie in turn, the mother finding them in need of more salt or longer cooking or some other improvement before she discovers in each case one of her children. When all have been sent home, the mother, joined by the children, chases and catches the witch.
This is one of the oldest traditional games, of which many versions are given by Mrs. Gomme and Mr. Newell, both from Great Britain and America. Several incidents here given the present writer has gathered directly from players of the game. According to Mrs. Gomme, the game probably illustrates some of the practices and customs associated with fire worship, worship of the hearth, and ancient house ritual. The magic pot boils over when anything is wrong and as a warning to the mother that she is needed. The incident of the witch taking a light from the hearth is very significant, as, according to an old superstition, the giving of a brand from a hearth gave the possessor power over the inmates of the house. The sullying of the hearth by the old witch in blowing the ashes has also an ancient significance, as fairies were said to have power over inmates of a house where the hearth or threshold had been sullied.