The Traditional Children's Games of England Scotland
& Ireland In Dictionary Form - Volume 2

With Tunes(sheet music), Singing-rhymes(lyrics), Methods Of Playing with diagrams and illustrations.

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	276                THREE KNIGHTS FROM SPAIN
	turn haughtily away when refused. Then they choose a girl and take her over to their side. In the Shropshire (Edgmond) version, two girls, one from each end of the line of " daughters," goes over to the knights' side, who also "bow" and "bend" when saying the lines, and the game is repeated saying five, seven, &c, knights. Here, also, the last player left on the girls' side takes the knight's part in the next game. Miss Burne adds, at other places the knights call only one girl by name each time. Both lines in the Shropshire game advance and retire. In the Dublin game (Mrs. Lincoln), three young boys are chosen for the suitors, one girl is the mother, and any number from three to six personate the daughters. The first boy only speaks the lines. At " Return, return, your coat is white," he, with the other two "suitors," takes the girl, brings her back, and says the last verse. They then sit down, and the second suitor does the same thing, then the third one. Then the game is begun again [with three other boys] until all the daughters have been taken. In the version quoted from Notes and Queries, two children, mother and daughter, stand on one side, the other players opposite to them, and advance and retire. The contributor says they chant the words to a pleasing old melody. The Yorkshire version (Miss E. Cadman) is played in the usual way, both sides advancing and retiring in turn, and at the end one of the " knights " tries to catch one of the girls. They cross the room to each other's places. In Co. Down, at Ballymiscaw, Miss Patterson says one player refuses when asked, and another consents, this one and the " lord " then join hands and dance round together, saying the last words. The Annaverna version is sung by one on each side—"king and the mother." The Berwickshire game was played by six children, one on one side, five on the other. The first lines are sung on both sides; then the rest is dialogue until the girl refuses, when the "Jew" dances round by him­self, singing the words; she then consents, and the two dance round with joined hands as in a reel, singing the last verse. The dialogue is spoken with animation, and the "Jew steps his foot" and prances away when saying these words. Twelve children in the Perth version stand in a row, another stands a