Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/306

 294 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

What did Mamma pay for it?

Paid with Papa's feather-bed.

What will Papa sleep on ?

Sleep on the washtub.

What will Mamma wash in?

Wash in a thimble.

What will Mamma sew with?

Sew with a poker.

What will Mamma poke with ?

Poke with her finger.

Supposing Mamma burns herself?

This is the end. Imagination apparently fails to answer the last question.

May Ovingto7i. Brooklyn, N. Y.

The song is a corruption of that belonging to the English game of " Milking-pails." In this amusement, a mother is confronted by a row of daughters, who announce : —

Mary 's gone a-milking,

Mother, mother ; Mary 's gone a-milking,

Gentle, sweet mother of mine.

The mother then bids the child, " Take your pails and follow ; " whereon the disobedient daughter asks her to "buy me a pair of new milking-pails." The question is then asked, " Where 's the money to come from ? " whereon the reply is, that it may be obtained by selling the father's feather-bed, and a dialogue follows similar to that above printed. The washtub being sold, it will be necessary to wash in the river ; in that case the clothes may be carried away, and the mother will be obliged to follow in a boat ; the conclusion is, " Suppose the boat should be upset ? " " Then that would be the end of you." A variant requires the mother to swim after the clothes. The fun consists in the pursuit of the unmannerly children, and their punishment. The game does not seem of very ancient character, and apparently has only been played in America in consequence of im- portation by recent immigrants. (See " Traditional Games," by Alice B. Gomme, London, 1894, pp. 376-388.)

W. W. N.

Negro Superstitions of European Origin. — The farther proceeds the collection of negro superstitions in America, the more clearly it appears that a great part of their beliefs and tales are borrowed from the whites. In the preceding number of this Journal (p. 228) it has been remarked that a particularly primitive superstition, according to which it is believed that the " trick bone " of a black cat confers the gift of invisibility, is identical with that of Canadian Germans ; in both cases the belief has led

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