A Preliminary Study of the Emotion of Love between the Sexes

by Sanford Bell

It will be helpful here to give a brief analysis of a few of the games as types. King William is a choosing and kissing game, involving among its details, the following lines:

King William was King James's son,
Upon a royal race he run;
Upon his breast he wore a star,
That was to all a sign of war.
Go look to the east, go look to the west
And choose the one that you love best,
If she's not there to take your part,
Choose the next one to your heart.
Down on this carpet you must kneel
As sure as the grass grows in the field.
Salute your bride and kiss her sweet,
Then rise again upon your feet.

The game is played by an equal number of couples and one odd boy who is King William. With hands joined, all forming a circle with King William in the center, the sentiment of the lines is acted out to music, thereby adding the charm of rhythmic dance which is so pleasurably intoxicating to the young and which has been taken advantage of by lovers during all ages. At the conclusion of the lines, King William joins the circle, leaving his bride to choose as the lines are sung again, and so on. Post-Office is another one of the most popular kissing games. It is an indoors game and requires two rooms, one to be used as the post-office, the other as an assembly room for the girls and boys. One of the number is chosen to be postmaster, and is stationed at the door of the post-office; another is elected to start the game by entering the post-office, closing the door and indicating to the postmaster the one for whom there are letters and the number of letters. This is then announced in the assembly room by the postmaster, and the girl (if it was a boy who started the game) is expected to respond by coming to the post-office and getting her mail, which means granting a kiss for each letter. She then remains in the post-office to indicate her choice to the postmaster, while the boy joins the others in the assembly room, and the game thus goes on indefinitely. The postmaster is usually granted, as his fee, the privilege of kissing each girl whose mail he announces. Picking Grapes is a game that calls for as many kisses as there are bunches to be picked. It further involves the holding of hands, and is not infrequently so arranged as to have the boy's arms about the girl's waist. Digging a Well is similar to Picking Grapes, and calls for as many kisses as there are feet in depth to be dug. In competition games where forfeits are sold there is no limit to the devices for indirect love expressions except the fertility and ingenuity in invention of the young people, and every one knows that in this particular regard their resources are well nigh inexhaustible. London Bridge is made use of to satisfy the hugging impulse. The game is played as follows. Two leaders agree upon two objects, for example, a horse-and-carriage and a piano,—as badges of their respective parties. Then they join hands and raise them to form an archway that represents London Bridge. The others in the game form a line and pass under this archway while all are singing:

You stole my watch and broke my chain,
Broke my chain, broke my chain,
You stole my watch and broke my chain,
So fare you well my lady love.

Off to prison you must go,
You must go, you must go,
Off to prison you must go,
So fare you well, my lady love.

The leaders may at any time let their hands drop down and catch any one in the line that is passing through. The procession then stops and the prisoner is asked in a whisper, “Which would you rather have, a horse-and-carriage or a piano?” According to the choice he or she passes around and locks his hands about the leader's waist. The second one who makes the same choice locks her hands about the first one's waist, and so on till all have in turn been made captive and have joined one or the other side. The two lines, whose leaders still face each other with hands joined, are now ready for the struggle that ends in the downfall of London Bridge. The following stanzas are sung, at the conclusion of which the pulling begins that usually results in a general downfall and tumbling over one another:

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
So fare you well, my lady love.

What will it take to build it up,
Build it up, build it up?
What will it take to build it up?
So fare you well, my lady love.

Lime and water will build it up,
Build it up, build it up.
Lime and water will build it up,
So fare you well, my lady love.

Blackman is a catching and clutching game, and furnishes the opportunity for hugging long enough for saying, “One, two, three, pretty good blackman for me;” and it often happens that this is not said as rapidly as it could be,—especially if it be the favored one who is caught. Of course there is much promiscuous catching, and the game is satisfying other instincts than that of love, for instance the instinct of pursuing and catching; but it is quite noticeable that the boys have their favorite girls and catch them first, often showing jealousy if the girls are caught by any one else. The girls are often aggressive in selecting boys to catch in the event that they themselves are caught first. Prison-Base and Handkerchief are pursuing and touching games, and furnish opportunity for indirect love confessions. Skip-to-My-Lou involves the choice of “My Lou” together with skipping with her, which is done while holding her hand or with arm about her waist as in round dancing. Green Grows the Willow Tree, involves holding hands, hugging and kissing. It is a ring game, with the one who does the choosing placed in the middle of the ring. The following is the song that furnishes the suggestions for the acting that accompanies it: