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Go Round and Round the Villiage/We've Got A Pig in the Parlor/Bear went Over The Mountain, The/Go In And Out The Window/Pig in the Parlor/Cave Love Has Gained the Day/ We're Marching Round the Levee/ We'll All Go Down To Rowsers/We Won’t Go Home Till Morning/ Molly Brooks
Traditional Old-Time Song and Breakdown
ARTIST: from the Indiana Play-Party Songs 1916
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes.
DATE: Melody circa 1762; lyrics "Bear Went" circa 1939 (Linscott); Earliest Date for US version of Go in and Out the Window: 1911; certainly dates back to 1800s. English versions published 1898.
RECORDING INFO Bear Went Over The Mountain:
A Bear Went Over the Mountain
Sm- For He's a Jolly Good Fellow; We Won't Go Home Till/Until Morning
Lorenz, Ellen J.(ed.) / Men's Get-Together Songs, Lorenz, Fol (1938), p122/#216
Glazer, Tom / Treasury of Songs for Children, Songs Music, Fol (1964/1981), p 30
Glazer, Tom. Let's Sing Fingerplays, CMS Records CMS 688, LP (1977), trk# A.03
Glazer, Tom. Glazer, Tom / Eye Winker, Tom Tinker, Chin Chopper. Fifty Musical Fin..., Doubleday/Zephyr Books, Bk (1973), p12
Hubbard, Frank Allen. Linscott, Eloise Hubbard (ed.) / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p164 [1920-30s]
RECORDING INFO Go in And Out The Window:
Go In and Out the Window [Me II-A10]
Rt-Breaking Sticks ; Cave Love Has Gained the Day
At- Go Round and Round the Valley
Ford, Ira W. / Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1965/1940), p260b
Newell, William Wells / Games and Songs of American Children, Dover, sof (1963/1909), p128/# 63 (Go Round and Round the Valley)
Newell, William Wells / Games and Songs of American Children, Dover, sof (1963/1909), p229/#163 (Walking on the Levy)
Glazer, Tom / Treasury of Songs for Children, Songs Music, Fol (1964/1981), p 98
Bernie and Red. Oh What a Beauty, Crawley --, LP (198?), trk# A.01f
Cantrell, Mrs. Wesley. Solomon, Jack & Olivia (eds.) / Sweet Bunch of Daisies, Colonial Press, Bk (1991), p140 [1939] (Marching Around the Levee)
Chase, Richard. Chase, Richard (ed.) / American Folk Tales and Songs, Dover, sof (1971/1956), p191 [1930-40's] (We're Marching 'Round/Around the Levee/Level)
Glazer, Tom. Let's Sing Fingerplays, CMS Records CMS 688, LP (1977), trk# B.06
Glazer, Tom. Glazer, Tom / Eye Winker, Tom Tinker, Chin Chopper. Fifty Musical Fin..., Doubleday/Zephyr Books, Bk (1973), p26
Gunning, Sarah Ogan. Land of Yahoe, Rounder 8041, CD (1996), trk# 3b
Hartley, Savannah. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p338/#538D [1941/10/23]
Hubbard, Frank Allen; Family (Children). Linscott, Eloise Hubbard (ed.) / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p 9 [1920-30s]
Millsaps, Ramona. Skip to My Lou, Pine Breeze 004, LP (1977), trk# A.06 [1975]
Parker, Maggie Hammons. Hammons Family. A Study of a West Virginia Family's Traditions, Library of Congress AFS L65-L66, LP (1973), trk# 19 [1970/09/20] (We're Marching 'R
Short, Lillian. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p337/#538C [1941/09/11] (Round and Round the Lev
Unidentified Children. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p337/#538B [1921/12/20] (Round and Round
Wilbur, Marie. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p336/#538A [1921/12/20] (Round and Round the Lev
Wills, Jim and May. Rosenbaum, Art (ed.) / Folk Visions & Voices. Traditional Music & So...., Univ. of Georgia, Bk (1983), p 52 [1982/03/24] (We're Marching 'Round/Around t
Go In and Out the Window (tune) - Traditional/Chapman, Owen "Snake"
Chapman, Owen "Snake". Up in Chapman's Hollow, Rounder 0378, CD (1996), trk# 10
RECORDING INFO We're Marching Round The Levee:
Cantrell, Mrs. Wesley. Solomon, Jack & Olivia (eds.) / Sweet Bunch of Daisies, Colonial Press, Bk (1991), p140 [1939] (Marching Around the Levee)
Chase, Richard. Chase, Richard (ed.) / American Folk Tales and Songs, Dover, sof (1971/1956), p191 [1930-40's] (We're Marching 'Round/Around the Levee/Level)
RECORDING INFO Pig in the Parlor: And that Was Irish Too (Chubby Checker 1931)That Was Irish Too [Me II-A12]
Rt - Pig in the Parlor
At - And That Was Irish Too
Surber, Elsie. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p445/#239 [1934-39]
RECORDING INFO We'll All Go Down To Rowsers
We'll All Go Down to Rowsers
Rm - We Won't Go Home Till/Until Morning
Ford, Ira W. / Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1965/1940), p247
Hammontree, Doney. Ozark Folksongs, Rounder 1108, CD (2001), trk# 16 [1941/12/12]
Harlan, E. R.. Pound, Louise (ed.) / American Ballads and Songs, Scribner, Sof (1972/1922), p237/#119 [1914]
Lane, Rose Wilder. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p319/#528B [1930/05/16]
Payne, Frank. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p319/#528D [1933/05/01]
Sharp, Clyde. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p318/#528A [1928/08/14]
Smithers, Rena. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p319/#528C [1934/04/17]
Breaking Sticks
Rt - Go In and Out the Window
Davenport, Bob. Postcards Home, Topic 12TS 318, LP (1977), trk# A.02e
WE WON'T GO HOME TILL MORNING. AKA and see "Malbrook," "Marlbrouk," "Marlbrough," "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." English, French, Irish; Air, Country and Morris Dance Tune (6/8 time) and Jig. G Major. Standard tuning. AB (Bacon, Raven, Sharp): ABA'B'A' (Karpeles): AA'BB (Merryweather). The tune probably originated in 18th century France. Kidson (1915) reports it was a favorite with the unfortunate Queen Marie Antoinette, who learned it from a peasent woman brought in to nurse her child. It was the vehicle for a morris dance (in two parts, linked with a phrase from "The Cuckoo's Nest") collected from the village of Bidford, Warwickshire, in England's Cotswolds. Bacon (The Morris Ring), 1974; pgs. 67 & 73. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 2. Merryweather (Merryweather’s Tunes for the English Bagpipes), 1989; pg. 48. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 27. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909/1994; pg. 3.
FLOATING LYRICS: "Cindy" "Jinny Go Round and Around," "Liza Jane,"
CLOSELY RELATED TO: "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," "Marlbourouck"
OTHER NAMES: "We'll Dance a Jig for the Irish," “Bear went Over The Mountain," "Go In And Out The Window," "We're Marching 'Round the Levee," "Pig in the Parlor," "We Won't Go Home till Morning!" "Go Round and Round the Valley," "Cave Love Has Gained the Day" "Breaking Sticks" "We'll All Go Down To Rowsers"
MOLLY BROOKS. AKA and see "Marlbrouk," "Malbrou(c)k," "We Won't Go Home Until Morning." Old‑Time, Play‑party and Dance Tune. In Virginia it is sung as a play‑party tune beginning:
Moll Brooks, come out of the water,
Moll Brooks, come out of the water
Moll Brooks, come out of the water
Until you learn to swim.
MALBROU(C)K. AKA ‑ "Malbrook." AKA and see "Marlbrough," "Marlbrouk," "Molly Brooks," "We Won't Go Home Until Morning." French (originally), English; Jig. C Major. Standard. AABA. This is the tune for the well-known songs "We Won't Go Home Till Morning" or "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." The title honors John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, a famous military figure and intriguer during the reigns of three monarchs; James II, Willaim III and Queen Anne. It was first printed by Valleyre between 1762 and 1778, according to Fuld (1966), in a collection of French street songs, Chansons, Vaudevilles et Ariettes Choisis par Duchemin where it appears as "La Mort de M. de Marlb'roug." It was a favorite of Marie Antoinette, according to Kidson (1915) who learned it about 1781 from a peasant woman called in to nurse her first child; by 1783 it had become fashionable and a number of printings of "Marlbourouck," "Malbrouk," "Adir de Marlbourouck" and other variants occurred. Fuld also notes the melody "Calino Casturame," which appears in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, is quite similar. Several writers have speculated on earlier origins for the tune. A famous legend has it that it was learned during the crusades in Jerusalem and was brought back to France by a soldier; Fuld traces this unsubstantiated story to Chateaubriand. Other speculations posit an 18th century hunting song, an ancient Arabic or Spanish song, and an old song called the "Duke de Guise." The melody appears in a few music manuscript copybooks in America during the War of Independence (and post-) era, as for example in those of Captain George Bush (see below), John Hoff (a Pennsylvania flute manuscript, 1797-1799), John Curtiss (a Connecticut commonplace book c. 1800), and Henry Livingston, Jr., to name a few. Livingston purchased the estate of Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1771 at the age of 23. In 1775 he was a Major in the 3rd New York Regiment, which participated in Montgomery’s invasion of Canada in a failed attempt to wrest Montreal from British control. An important land-owner in the Hudson Valley, and a member of the powerful Livingston family, Henry was also a surveyor and real estate speculator, an illustrator and map-maker, and a Justice of the Peace for Dutchess County. He was also a poet and musician, and presumably a dancer, as he was elected a Manager for the New York Assembly’s dancing season of 1774-1775, along with his 3rd cousin, John Jay, later U.S. Chief Justice of Governor of New York. Source for notated version: the music manuscript of Captain George Bush (1753?-1797), a fiddler and officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution [Keller]. Howe (Complete Preceptor for the Accordeon), 1843; pg. 30. Keller (Fiddle Tunes from the American Revolution), 1992; pg. 22.
SOURCES: Kuntz; Brown; Mudcat; Randolph;Linscott, pp. 164-165, "A Bear Went Over the Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune); Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 43, "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" (1 text, tune referenced)
NOTES: This melody has been very popular as the melody of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" etc. which was originally associated with the French "Malbrouk" song, the words of which appear in a collection of street songs, Chansons, Vaudevilles et Ariettes Choisis par Duchemin, published by Valleyre, on p. 10 under the title La Mort de M. de Marlb'roug; BN. The collection is not dated but is believed to be between 1762 and 1778. The song is also said to have been referred to in a play by Charles Simon Favart, Les Rêveries Renouvellées des Grecs performed and printed in 1779 in Paris, p. 26; however, there is an error in the citation, and the reference cannot be confirmed in the copy at BN.
"Commencing early in 1783, there was a rash of printing of the Malbrouk melody under that title or the title Marlbourouck, or other variation, apparently brought about when a nurse sang it to one of Marie Antoinette's infants as a lullaby about 1781. Mercure de France lists at least 10 printings by different publishers in 1783-1784, not all with words, the earliest of which in May 31, 1783, p. 240, is entitled Air de Marlbourouck, with nine variations for piano, published by Levasseur, Paris; no copy has been located. Other French editions were printed without name of publisher, and there were many early foreign printings. Various contemporary French and other editions are at BN, COP, BM and JF."--(James J. Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music, 4th ed., Dover, 1995, p. 231)
Two old time country recording with the melody appeared: "And that Was Irish Too" (Chubby Checker 1931) AKA "Pig in the Parlor" and Kelly Harrell carzy titled "Cave Love has Gained the Day." It was supposed to be: "Cause (Ca'se) Love has Gained the Day. Harrell's song is a version of Go in and Out the Window.
Here's an article about Harrell's Version from The Celestial Monochord; Journal of the Institute for Astrophysics and the Hillbilly Blues June 2005:
[Many massive volumes could be written about the musician-recordist relationship, but my favorite stories about these worlds colliding in the 1920's are about the engineers misunderstanding the song titles.
In the 1920's, record companies took a keen interest in southern "folk" musicians — by that, I mean generally amateur musicians who couldn't read music and who learned mostly traditional songs from family members or neighbors. These musicians were typically poor, rural people.
Now, the guys who showed up to record them came from a very different set of worlds — urban, middle- or upper-class, well-educated, and often with rather high-brow musical tastes. Legend has it that they were sometimes appalled at the music they were recording, and mystified that these records often sold extremely well.
At a February 1929 recording session for Victor records, Kelly Harrell sang a song entitled 'Cuz Love Has Gained the Day, but his pronunciation sounds more like 'Caze Love Has Gained the Day.
The engineers recording him that day apparently misunderstood and rather underestimated Harrell, possibly reflecting their attitude toward this Virginia textile factory worker. Their paper work (as well as the label of the record that was actually released to the public) identifies the song as "Cave Love Has Gained the Day." Despite what Harrell actually sang, here are the lyrics that the Victor representatives thought they heard:
Go find your lover like I did
Go find your lover like I did
Go find your lover like I did
Cave love has gained the day
I'd give ten cents to kiss her
I'd give ten cents to kiss her
I'd give ten cents to kiss her
Cave love has gained the day] End of Article
Various sets of lyrics appeared to the other variants with this form and melody:
We Have a Pig in the Parlor
We have a pig in the parlor,
We have a pig in the parlor,
We have a pig in the parlor,
And he is Irish, too.
And he is Irish, too.
And he is Irish, too.
We're Marching Round the Levee
We're marching around the levee,
We're marching around the levee,
We're marching around the levee,
For the right shall gain today.
Go in and Out the Window
Go in and out the window
Go in and out the window
Go in and out the window
Since you have gained the day.
The Bear Went Over The Mountain
1. The bear went over the mountain
The bear went over the mountain
The bear went over the mountain
To see what he could see.
To fit the exact "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" you'll need to repeat some line. The above songs could be and sometimes are sung that way.
To see what he could see
To see what he could see
The bear went over the mountain
To see what he could see.
This song melody and form have come a long way since the French "Marlbourouck" in 1762 spawning not only "A Bear Went Over the Mountain," and "Pig in the Parlor" but "Cave Love Has Gained the Day." Fact is truly stranger than fiction.
"We're Marching Down to Rauser's/Rowser's" also uses the "Pig in the Parlor" lyrics. GO IN AND OUT THE WINDOW. Old-Time, Breakdown. D Major. From the playing of the late Owen “Snake” Chapman.
GO IN AND OUT THE WINDOW- KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Kansas Play-Party Songs; by Myra E. Hull; November, 1938 (Vol. 7, No. 4),
An immediate forerunner of the play-party game is "Go In and Out the Window," with its intricately weaving circle dance and its choosing of partners. The tune is the old favorite, "We're Marching Round the Levee," or "Walking on the Levy." Jean O. Heck gives the refrain as sung by Cincinnati school children, "For I'm engaged today! "17
The following is the traditional Kansas version:
1. Go in and out the window,
Go in and out the window,
Go in and out the window,
For we have gained the day.
2. Go forth and choose your lover, (etc.)
For we have gained the day.
3. I kneel because I love you, (etc.)
For we have gained the day.
4. I measure my love to show you, (etc.)
For we have gained the day.
76 In and Out the Window- Brown Collection
An old favorite for play-parties. For English texts see Lady Donnue's Traditional Songs 11 p. 122-43 and for its vogue in America tlu' McLendon finding list, S1""LQ A-iii 207; and add Virginia (FSV22S) and thc Ozarks (01*\S iii 313-14, 336-8). It is also known as "Marching: round the Levee' (for earlier "Marching: round the Valley'). It appears but once in our collection. Mrs. Steely found it in the Mhenezer community in Wake county.
"Marching round the Love-Ring.' Reported by Dr. Rrown as "played by grown girls and boys in Buncombe, Madison, and Haywood counties."
1. Go in and out the window,
Go in and out the window,
Go in and out the window,
Since you have gained the day.
Chorus: We're marching round the love-ring,
We're marching round the love-ring,
We're marching round the love-ring,
Since we have gained the day.
2. Step forth and face your lover,
Step forth and face your lover.
Step forth and face your lover,
Since you have gained the day.
3. I'll measure my love to show you,
I'll measure my love to show you,
I'll measure my love to show you,
Since you have gained the day.
4. I'll kneel because I love you,
I'll kneel because I love you,
I'll kneel because I love you.
Since you have gained the day.
5. One kiss before I leave you.
One kiss before I leave vou.
One kiss before I leave you,
Since you have gained the day.
Innocently or not, boys and girls acted out the courtship ritual of "We're Marching around the Levee":
We're marching around the levee,
We're marching around the levee,
We're marching around the levee,
For the right shall gain today.
Go in and out the window, Etc.
Go forth and choose your lover, Etc.
I measure my love to show you, Etc.
I kneel because I love you, Etc.
Goodbye, I hate to leave you, Etc.
Go in and out the Windows.
Go in and out the Windows 47 The play-party in Indiana; a collection of folk-songs and games, with descriptive introduction and correlating notes (1916)
1. : We're marching round the levy, : 3 times
For we have gained the day.
2. :Go in and out the window, : 3 times
For we have gained the day.
3. :Go forth and choose your lover, : 3 times
For we have gained the day.
The ballad of this name, printed in "Heart Songs," p. 66, is dissimilar to the
words and music given above.
4. :I kneel because I love you, : 3 times
For we have gained the day.
5. :I measure my love to show you, : 3 times
For we have gained the day.
6. :One kiss before I leave you, : 3 times
For we have gained the day.
b. 1. All join hands and circle left. One player leaves the ring and winds in and out under the clasped hands of the players. He aims to make a complete circuit by going under every arch of clasped hands (i. e. in and out every window) during the singing
of 2. At the same time those in the ring are circling left. At 3, they stand still while the one who has gone under the arches chooses a partner and stands facing her. At 4, he kneels before her. At 5, while still kneeling, he measures with his arms or his fingers the extent of his love. At 6, he kisses his chosen partner and takes the place at her left in the ring. The person whose place he has taken is the next to "go in and out the windows." The game may be repeated indefinitely.
c. This game is very widely known among the children, and is also a popular play-party game.
d. Variants are found in a number of books and magazine articles. Jour. Am. Folk-lore, vol. XXIV, pp. 306-7.
Jour. Am. Folk-lore for 1914, p. 250, The Game "Go in-dang-out de Window" was played by negroes many years ago. Mari Ruef Hofer. Children's Singing Games, p. 16.
Notes and Queries. XXVII, pp. 252-5. John Hornby. The Joyous Book of Singing Games, p. 39. Jour. Am. Folk-lore, vol. XXVI, p. 138.
20 The last three stanzas are often sung' by the boy alone. In that case the last
line of each stanza is "For I have gained the day."
Roundabout, or Cheshire Round- The traditional games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Volume 2 By Alice Bertha Gomme
Early Version of Go In and Out the Window
This is danced by two only, one of each sex; after leading off into the middle of an imaginary circle, and dancing a short time opposite to each other, the one strives by celerity of steps in the circumference of the circle to overtake and chase the other round it; the other in the meantime endeavouring to maintain an opposite situation by equal celerity in receding.— Roberts' Cambrian Popular Antiquities, p. 46.
Halliwell gives Round, a kind of dance. " The round dance, or the dancing of the rounds."—Nonienclator, 1585, p. 299. There was a sort of song or ballad also so called.—Diet. Provincialisms.
Stand and face your lover,
Stand and face your lover;
Stand and face your lover,
As we have done before.
Follow her to London,
Follow her to London ;
Follow her to London,
As we have done before.
Kiss her before you leave her,
Kiss her before you leave her;
Kiss her before you leave her,
As we have done before.
—Barnes, Surrey (taken down from children of village school—A. B. Gomme).
(c) The children join hands and form a ring with one child standing outside. The ring stands perfectly still throughout this game and sings the verses, the action being confined to at first one child, and then to two together. During the singing of
the first verse the outside child dances round the ring on the outside. When the ring commences to sing the second verse the children hold up their arms to form arches, and the child who has been running round outside runs into the ring under one pair of joined hands, and out again under the next pair of arms, continuing this u in and out " movement until the third verse is commenced. The child should try and run in and
The Barnes version has kissing for its finale. The Hanbury also has kissing, but it precedes the following to London. In the Brigg, Lincolnshire (Miss Barker), a child stands in the middle and points with her finger to each one she passes; finally selects one, who leaves the ring and kneels in front of the girl in the middle. At the end of the second verse the kneeling child gets up and the first child goes in and out under the arms of the players, followed by the other. At the fourth they reverse and go back under the arms in the opposite direction, finally stopping in the middle of the ring, when another child is chosen and the first one in goes out. In the Winterton and Bottesford versions (Miss Peacock), at the words "Stand and face your lover," the child who has been going " in and out" stands before the one she chooses, beckons to her, and sings the next verse. Then the chosen one chases her until she can catch her. In the Crockham Hill version (Miss Chase) the love is measured out with a handkerchief three times, and after kneeling in the road, the chosen partner follows round the ring and reverses for the return.
(d) The analysis of the game-rhymes is on pp. 134-39. This shows that we are dealing with a game which represents a village, and also the houses in it. The village only disappears in six out of the twenty versions. In three of these (Hanbury, Fraserburgh, and West Grinstead) the line has gone altogether. In the fourth (Lincolnshire) it becomes " Round and round and round," no mention being made of the village. In the fifth (Belfast) the line has become " Marching round the ladies." In the sixth (Settle) it has become " Up and down the valley," which also occurs in another imperfect version, of which a note was sent me by Miss Matthews from the Forest of Dean, where the line has become " Round and round the valley." The substitution of " ladies" for "village" is very significant as evidence that the game, like all its compeers, is in a declining stage, and is, therefore, not the invention of modern times. The idea of a circle of children representing a village would necessarily be the first to die out if the game was no longer supported by the influence of any custom it might represent. The line of decadence becomes in this way an important argument for the discovery of the original form.
The next incident, No. 10 of the analysis, goes through all the games except one (West Grinstead), where the very obvious corruption of " willows " for " windows " occurs. This incident takes us to the houses of the village; and thus the two lines show us a procession, first, going round outside the boundary of the village, and, secondly, proceeding in serpentine fashion through the houses. Incident 13 has a few variations which do not point to anything more than verbal alteration, due to the changes which have occurred in the conception of the game. Incidents 17 to 22 are not constant to all the versions, and their variations are of an unimportant character. Incident 27 is an important element in the game. The prevalence of London as the place of assignation is probably due to the influence of that city in the popular mind; but the real significance seems to be that the lover-husband follows his bride to her own village. In only two versions is this incident varied (No. 28) to indicate that the husband took his wife with him, and only three versions have dropped out the incident altogether.
Abnormal incidents occur in only seven versions, and they are not of great significance. The Lincolnshire and Sporle versions have a line of general introduction (No. 1) before the game proper begins. Incidents 8 and 9 occur only in the Lincolnshire version, and do not disturb the general movement beyond indicating that the game has become, or is becoming, an indoor game.
Incident 21 is obviously a modern line. Nos. 26 and 31 suggest a chase after a fugitive pair which, as they do not occur in other versions, must be considered as later introductions, belonging, however, to the period when runaway marriages were more frequent than they are now, and thus taking us back to, at least, the beginning of this century; while the significant and pretty variant No. 32 shows that the game has lost touch with the actual life of the people. No. 30 in the Fraserburgh version has a suspicious likeness .to a line in the American song " I'm off to Charlestown," but as it occurs only in this one version it cannot count as an important element in the history of the game.
e) Miss Matthews notes a Forest of Dean version. The children form a ring, singing, " Round and round the valley, where we have been before," while one child walks round the outside. Then they stand with uplifted hands, joined together, and sing, " In and out of the windows, as we have done before," while the child threads her way in and out of the ring. Then they sing, "Stand and face your lover, as we have done before;" the child then stands in the centre of the ring and faces some one, whom she afterwards touches, and who succeeds her. A version from North Derbyshire (Mr. S. O. Addy) is practically the same as the Tean, North Staffs, version, except that the third verse is " Run to meet your lover," instead of " Stand and face your lover." The first child, during the singing of the third verse, walks round outside the ring, and touches one she chooses, who then runs away. While the fourth verse is being sung she is chased and caught, and the game begins again with the second child walking round the village. So far as Lancashire is concerned, Miss Dendy says, " I have no good evidence as yet that it is a Lancashire play. I think it has been imported here by board-school mistresses from other counties."
(f) The burden of this game-rhyme is undoubtedly the oldest part that has been preserved to modern times. It runs through all the versions without exception, though variations in the other lines is shown by the analysis to occur. The words of the line, " As we have done before," convey the idea of a recuring event, and inasmuch as that event is undoubtedly marriage, it seems possible to suggest that we have here a survival of the periodical village festival at which marriages took place. If the incidents in the game compare closely with incidents in village custom, the necessary proof will be supplied, and we will first examine how far the words of the rhyme and the action of the game supply us with incidents; and, secondly, how far these incidents have been kept up in the village custom.
There is nothing in the words to suggest that the incidents which the game depicts belong to a fixed time, but it is an important fact that they are alluded to as having previously taken place. If, then, we have eventually to compare the gamewith a fixed periodical custom, we can at least say that the rhymes, though not suggesting this, do not oppose it.
This game belongs to the group of "custom games." The first characteristic which suggests this is that the children, who join hands and form a circle, are always stationary, and do not move about as in dance games. To the minds of the children who play the game, each child in the circle represents something other than human beings, and this "something" is indicated in the first and second verses, which speak of the " windows," of houses, and a journey round " a village." In this game, too, the children, who thus represent a village, also act as "chorus," for they describe in the words they sing the various actions of those who are performing their parts, as in the game of " Old Roger."
With this evidence from the game itself, without reference to anything outside, it is possible to turn to custom to ascertain if there is anything still extant which might explain the origin of the game. Children copy the manners and customs of their elders. If they saw a custom periodically and often practised with some degree of ceremonial and importance, they would in their own way act in play what their elders do seriously.
Such a custom is the perambulation of boundaries, often associated with festive dances, courtship, and marriage. More particularly indicative of the origin of the game is the Helston Furry Dance—"About the middle of the day the people collect together to dance hand-in-hand round the streets, to the sound of the fiddler playing a particular tune, which they continue to do till it is dark. This is called a ' Faddy.' In the afternoon the gentility go to some farmhouse in the neighbourhood to drink tea, syllabab, &c, and return in a morrice-dance to the town, where they form a Faddy and dance through the streets till it is dark, claiming a right of going through any person's house, in at one door and out at the other."—Gent. Mag. Lib. Manners and Customs, p. 217. "In one, if not more, of the villages," says Mr. Gregor (Folk-lore N.E. Scotland, p. 98), " when the marriage takes place in the home of the bride the whole of the marriage party makes the circuit of the village."In South-Eastern Russia, on the eve of marriage the bride goes the round of the village, throwing herself on her knees before the head of each house. In an Indian custom the bride and bridegroom are conveyed in a particular "car" around the village.—Gomme, Folk-lore Relics, pp. 214, 215. According to Valle, a sixteenth century traveller, "At night the married couples passed by, and, according to their mode, went round about the city with a numerous company.—Valle's Travels in India (Hakluyt Soc), p. 31.*
In these marriage customs there is ample evidence to suggest that the Indo-European marriage-rite contained just such features as are represented in this game, and the changes from rite to popular custom, from popular custom to children's game, do much to suggest consideration of the evidence that folk-lore supplies.
This game is not mentioned by Halliwell or Chambers, nor, so far as I am aware, has it been previously printed or recorded in collections of English games. It appears in America as " Go round and round the Valley" (Newell, Games, p. 128).
Adittional Verses:
Go round and round the village,
Go round and round the village,
Go round and round the village,
As we have done before.
Go in and out the window,
Go in and out the window;
Go in and out the window,
As we have done before.
Walking round the villiage,
As we have done before
Stand and face your lover
As we have done before
Follow me to London,
As we have done before
Go back and face your lover
As we have done before.
Soon we will get married
And never more will part.
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