(iv.)—Rosy Apple, Lemon, and Pear.
The children form a ring, and one of them is chosen to stand in the middle, as in the last game, whilst the rest circle round and sing:
“Rosy apple, lemon, and pear,
A bunch of roses she shall wear;
Gold and silver by her side,
Choose the one shall be her bride.
“Take her by her lily-white hand,
(Here the one in the centre chooses one from the
ring to stand by her.)
Lead her to the altar;
Give her kisses, one, two, three,
To old mother’s runaway daughter.”
On these last words being uttered, the one who was first standing in the middle must run away and take a place in the ring as soon as she can. The second one remains in the centre, and the game is repeated over and over again until all have been chosen. (Symondsbury.)
(v.)—Here we go round the Mulberry[1] Bush.
The children form a ring, and, taking hands and slowly moving or dancing round the while, sing:
“Here we go round the mulberry bush—
The mulberry bush—the mulberry bush;
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
Of a cold and frosty morning.”
The children then unloosen hands, and, pretending to wash their faces with their hands, sing:
“This is the way we wash our face—
Wash our face—wash our face;
This is the way we wash our face,
Of a cold and frosty morning.”
- ↑ Sometimes called the gooseberry bush, as in a variant in the Folklore Record, vol. iv. p. 174, from a West of Scotland source.
