Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/305

Rh This rhyme furnishes a curious example of the continual admixture and degradation incident to children's songs. The essential feature is found in the third stanza, which condenses into three lines a history formerly much more elaborated; thus at the beginning of the century the verse went:—

The verse bears marks of antiquity. Instead of the words "picks up a pin," originally must have stood "pulls at the pin," according to ancient ballad phraseology. The idea of the story is not clear, but obviously refers to the reappearance of a long-lost lover; recognition is effected in the usual manner by means of a ring. The "garret" here takes the place of the "high-loft" in Scandinavian antiquity; the upper story, in every considerable house, contained the apartments of the family. According to what appears to have been an ancient practice, the ballad was preceded by a game-rhyme. The song, "Little Sally Waters," was used in this way in order to determine the heroine; the words, "Water, water, wildflowers," show a confusion resulting from this combination. In England, we find the line running, "Willy, willy, wallflower;" a Philadelphia variant has "Lily, lily, white flower." The fourth and fifth stanzas, again, belong to a separate game; it was an ancient piece of satire that the illnesses of young women were best treated by the prescription of a lover. Finally, the last lines belong to an old Halloween rhyme:—

(See "Games and Songs of American Children," Nos. 12, 13, 35, 36.) W. W. Newell.

—A circle having been formed, the children move slowly, singing as follows:—

At the words, "One, two, three," the children break the circle; each claps hands and turns once round. (This movement appears to make the charm of the game.) The song then proceeds, with repetition, as in the first stanza:—