C.
The play in the next is rough, and the holders of hands in the ring must have strong wrists.
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Me da lé lé lé, me da lé lé lé, Bull a pen ho! gingerly! the bull a broke pen! gingerly! A Mount Siney bull! gingerly! A Galloway bull! gingerly! bull a broke pen! gingerly! |
Two strong young fellows personate the bulls. One is inside the ring and the other outside. They paw the ground and moo at each other but must not fight unless they can break the ring. When the ring is broken at last by a determined rush, one of the bulls is sometimes seized with panic and jumps back into the pen (ring) where he is safe. The fight, if it does take place, is not a very serious affair, the cowmen soon coming up with their ropes (handkerchiefs) which they throw over the bulls' heads and so draw them apart.[53]
(Me da dé would mean Me is there, I am there. Lé is substituted for euphony, being probably suggested by the last syllable of "gingerly.")