The Dorsetshire version is still sung at Eton, and is known as "Green grow the rushes oh," the words that form the chorus:—
Solo: I'll sing you one oh!
Chorus: Green grow the rushes oh!
What is your one oh?
Solo: One is one and all alone
And ever more shall be so. [57]
The same order is observed for the next verse, the soloist explaining two, the chorus adding one, and so forth. In this version we have two lily-white boys, three rivals, four gospel makers, five symbols at your door, six proud walkers, seven stars in the sky, eight bold rainers, nine bright shiners, ten commandments, eleven for the eleven that went up to heaven, twelve for the twelve apostles.
A Chant of the Creed is sung in Cornwall by the sailors, and begins:—
Come and I will sing you!
—What will you sing me?
I will sing you one, oh!
—What is your one, oh!
Your one is all alone,
And ever must remain so.
The explanations which follow are very corrupt. Two are lily-white maids clothed all in green, oh!; three are bright shiners; four are gospel-makers; five are the ferrymen in a boat and one of them a stranger; six is the cheerful waiter; seven are the stars in the sky; eight are the archangels; nine are the bold rainers; ten are the commandments; eleven went up to heaven; twelve are the apostles.[58]
In Derbyshire the chant is associated with the harvest festival, and takes the form of a drinking song. It begins with three, but the explanations of one and two are preserved in the last verse, in which the song is carried back to its real beginning:—
Plenty of ale to-night, my boys, and then I will sing you.
What will you sing?—I'll sing you three oh.
What is the three O?...