| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
GREEN GRAVEL |
177 |
||
|
Forest of Dean and Wakefield versions the action of the game is somewhat different. A child stands in the centre of the ring of children, without apparently taking much part in the game, except to name the children in turn. In the Wakefield version, however (Miss Fowler, No. xvii.), a little boy stands in the middle of a circle of girls who sing the first verse. At M We'll all cou' don' together," all crouch down, as if in profound respect, then rising slowly, sing the next verse. After " My pitcher and my can," each child mentions her own name. At
"Isn't ------ as nice as her?" each mentions her sweetheart's
name, and the child thus chosen goes into the circle. At the end of the fourth verse they all clap hands, and the one that is sweetheart to him in the middle kisses him. The " crouching down " is also done in the Forest of Dean version when singing the fourth line. The last one to stoop has to name her sweetheart. When this is done, the children all dance round and sing the other lines.
(d) The analysis of the game-rhymes is on pp. 178-181. The most constant formulae of this • game-rhyme are shown by this analysis to be Nos. 1, 6, 7, 13, 15, 18, 23, and the variants, though important, are not sufficient to detract from the significance of the normal version. It is evidently a funeral game. The green gravel and the green grass indicate the locality of the scene; " green," as applied to gravel, may mean freshly disturbed, just as green grave means a freshly made grave. The tenant of the new grave is the well-loved lady of a disconsolate lover, and probably the incidents of washing and dressing the corpse, and putting an inscription on the place where it is laid, are indicated by Nos. 13 and 15. The dirge, or singing to the dead, is indicated by Nos. 18, 23, and 26, and the beauty of the first line is in complete accord with the mournful music. That No. 26 occurs in only two variants, Derbyshire and the Isle of Man, is curious, as the pathos of this appeal is very apparent in the movement of the game. The communion with the dead which is indicated by No. 23 is by no means considered impossible by the peasantry. In confirmation of this being a representation of
an old funeral ceremony, it may be pointed out that the action VOL. I. M |
|||
|
• |
|||
|
|
|||