The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-08-24
CHILDHOOD DAYS.
Singing Games That Have Come
down Through the Centuries.
Old SONGS FOR The new BABIES
The Lads and 1assics Of To-day Enjoy
Them as Much as Did Their Anccs-
tors...Rhymes Of Ancient Pastimcs
for tho Young.

Them as Much as DID Ihcr Anccs-
tors...Rhymcs of Ancient Pastimcs
for tho Young.
Our grandmothers, says Ruth Kim
nall in the Now York Advertiser, played
them in short-slesved, short-waisted
muslin frocks; our mothers played them
in ridiculous starched pantilets, and
we played them, those old singing
games, in side-laccd shoes and white
stockings. None Of us knew where the
games originated, or who first sang the
songs. They wero in the air o. child
hood, and VIC simply breathed them in.
The end Of the century children play
them and sing the very doggercls we
used to sing, but nobody knows where
or when or how they originated:
Sometimes the words are 0 tritle unin-
telligible and the tune out OF joint, with
accidentals thrown in just wherever
childish fancy indicates; but in the
main they're old rhymes, the old songs,
and II you'd forget your manners and
your gown and JOIN hands with the
children you'd find them singing liking
William" as OF old, and this is what
they'd sing:
King William was King JameS's son.
And from a royal raco ha sprung;
upon his breast b0 wore star
That points way 10 the ocean lar.
GO choose you East! GO choose Ss5y Yen Ss vest
~ II Rha's not hero To take your part,
Choose tho next one 10 your heart
Down on the carpet you must kneel,
As Eures the grass grows IN the feld
" Salute your friend aud kiss her sweet;
Now you may rise upon your feet
na capo, I'D lihitum. Round aud
round 20 the players, marching about
King William in the center, who
chooses his bride and kisses her soundly
and loudly, after the fashion OF child
hood. The object, as in most OF the
games, is nothing but kiss, and the
kissee is left in the ring to choose the
one that she loves best and become
kisser in turn. The game, perhaps, IS q
relic Of some savage marriage custom.
Perhaps it only dates back TO William
Of Orange, who, while he was not King
James's son, was the next best thing
his son-ln-law.
skiing William" Is from England. but
tsWeeyily Wheat" Is straight from Scot
land and the Jacobites. It is a reel or
contradance, and as tho players dance
they sing to the defiantly stirring old
tune, "Wha'H be king but Charlie" the
words:
Wen have none O. your weeviy wheat,
Well have none OF your barley;
Whatwe want Is the beStot wheat,
.sai. 2 To TnAka eakA for Charlie.
Charlieis nice young man,
Charlie Is dandy;
Charlie loves to kiss the girls
Whenever they come handy
One can quite fancy one sees the colors
4 Of tartan and bonnet and hears the
droning of the pipes at that.
aHappy Is the Miller" a brother to
aDan tucker" and own cousin to "sir
Roger de Doyerly," is another Of the
dancing games that those oldtine
friends of ours wouldn't dance for
worlds used to play. The players march
two and two about the miller and sing:
Happy is the miller who lives in the mill;
The mill goes round and he stands still;
One hand In the hopper, the other in the sack,
The ladies step forward and the gents step back.
And then, OF course, the miller in the
middle Of the ring tries to get apartner,
and the ensuing graphing and Iostling
and laughing are wonderfully amusing,
and everybody gathers up the pieces
and begins again.
aHere Goes tho Blackbird" is some.
what elaborate. The windows. are the
raised arms OF the children in the ring,
and asuit Your skirts"i is an impromptu
iigthat is often very cleyerly done. The
words are:
Here goes the blackblrd thro' the window,
Thro' the window, thro' the window:
Here goes the blackblrd thro' the windows
oh, ginger snaps!
That is the first stanza. The black
bird then takes his stand in the middle
Of the ring and chooses partner,
whereupon the song goes on, "Snit your
skirts to the rattle at the window"
with the repetitions as before, and
aeinser snaps" to end with. The last
words are, Make little bow, and take
her by the shoulders, etc. That is
where the Jig comes in, and it is dis
tinctly pretty.
Children Of larger growth in the
rural communities, where the boys
wear high-heeled boots and the girls
affect sky:blue ribbons, play SISTER
Phoebe" Tor in the gutleleseness Oh
their hearts existing games" are moth
ing but unadulterated bliss. The iuni-
per tree is chair, and in it the young
woman sits, while the young man puts
his hat on her head and kisses her
and she always says, "WhY. you horrid
thingl Now stopp These are the
words they do it to:
oh, sister Phmbei how happy were we
The night We sat under the Juniper tree
The Juniper tree hcighol
Take this hat on your head, keep your head
slfl warm,
Take sweet kiss It will do you. no harm,
But agreat deal Of good, am sure.
The next game was variations with
out end and extra verses I'D nausealn.
There is o ring and kissing in it, just as
there are in most OF the other games.
II begins:
Oats beans. peas and barley grows
Oats beans, peas aud barley grows,
You nor nor nobody knows
Whcro oats, beans, peas and barley RrowS
The English language bleeds and SUI
iers through all the verses, and rhythm
and prosody arc tormented 10 the verge
of delirium tremens. The last stanza is
the noblest effort Of thom all, and con-
tains some good practical advice on the
marriage question: 5
Now you're married, you must obey,