She chooses one, and after she has caught her they go through the game again.
The game of “Sally Water” is common to many counties. Conf. variants in Miss Burne’s Shropshire Folklore, p. 509; see Folklore Record, vol. v. p. 88, for a contribution from a Surrey source, and Folklore Journal, vol. i. p. 385, for a Derbyshire one.
(iii.)—What are you weeping for?
The children form a ring, and one of them (a girl) is chosen to stand in the centre, and pretends to cry, whilst the rest move round her singing:
“Pray, Sally, what are you weeping for—
Weeping for—weeping for?
Pray, Sally, what are you weeping for,
On a bright shiny day?”
The girl in the middle answers:
“I am weeping for a sweetheart—
A sweetheart—a sweetheart.
I am weeping for a sweetheart,
On a bright shiny day.”
The chorus replies :
“Pray, Sally, go and get one—
Go and get one—get one.
Pray, Sally, go and get one.
On a bright shiny day.”
Here the girl in the centre must choose a boy (or girl if she prefers), the others still circling round and singing:
“Pray, Sally, now you’ve got one—
You’ve got one—got one;
Pray, Sally, now you’ve got one,
On a bright sunny day.”
The pair then kiss or embrace each other, as the others continue:
“One kiss will never part you—
Never part you—part you;
One kiss will never part you,
On a bright sunny day.”
The game then recommences as before, with a different girl in the middle.
