Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 4 1886.djvu/141

Rh The amusements, which at first sight appear confused, and of no purpose almost but to make the child laugh, fall into groups, and are, it may be unconsciously to the mother or the nurse, suited for the bodily and mental growth of the child. They are, accordingly, with the exception of the first, arranged as—I. Amusements of touch, subdivided into (A) those of the face, beginning with the chin, naming each part by its own proper name; (B) the face, beginning with the brow, and using fanciful names; (C) the face, with other parts of the body, under figurative names, indicating the character of the part touched; (D) of the whole body, beginning with the toe, and ending with the head. II. Amusements with the fingers and hand; III. amusements with the feet and legs; IV. an amusement with the belly; V. Amusements of riding.

As for the rhymes, they seem to fall into versions; and it is a curious problem how these different forms have arisen, and how the same version, with slight variations, is sometimes found in places widely apart.

As the dialect may have difficulties to some, a glossary has been given. One of its peculiarities is the use of diminutives—not in one degree but in several—thus, foot becomes fit, fittie, fittick, bit fittickie, wee bit fittickie, wee wee bit fittickie (see "Clap, clap handies"). Not only are nouns diminutivised but adjectives and verbs, as—"shinie sharpy," and one would say, "rinie (run) or rinckie t'yir bonny beddie ba, my bonny wee dooickie." Two other peculiarities may be noticed, viz. wh is pronounced f, as—fah, who; fahr, where; fahn when—when used as an interrogative; fin, when used to denote a point of time; and w before r, is pronounced v, as—wright, vricht (ch guttural); vratch, wretch; vrang, wrong.

This is a very simple amusement for infants. When the infant is sitting on the mother's, or nurse's knee, or in her arms, another touches the child's head or back to awaken attention. When the child looks round the one that touched it withdraws a little, or goes to the other side, and says, "teet!" or "teet-bo!" The child turns