Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 7 1889.djvu/277

Rh One boy meeting another would address him with these queries, the other giving the replies:

Having gathered a tuft of the shepherd's purse (thlaspi bursa pastoris), so abundant by waysides, a boy would invite his unsuspecting fellow to pull off one of the triangular capsules. Then he would immediately cry:

suiting the action to the word by catching him hold and dragging him off.

There were certain tricks or catches that could be practised on the same person only once. Of this kind were two insidious verses always held in reserve for a fresh boy. One of the initiated would attack the newcomer with an invitation to play at a petty game, saying:

The other is to reply:

And they run the cardinals in alternation till the unsuspecting urchin comes to:

Immediately the artful tempter shouts:

Or the device would be varied thus. The dialogue would run down the alphabet, beginning:

{{block center|{{smaller block| "I'll go to A," "I'll go to B,"</poem?}}

till the stranger in due course comes to {{block center|{{sm|"I'll go to L,"}}}} {{nop}} {{rule}}{{smallrefs}}