Mr. Newell"s versions tend, I think, to strengthen my suggestion in "Mother, the pot boils over," that the "fire" custom alluded to is the origin of that game and this. The fire incident has been forgotten, and the game therefore developed into a child-stealing or gipsy game.
See "Mother, Mother."
Witte-Witte-Way
A game among boys, which I do not remember in the South.-Brockett"s _North Country Words_. Probably the same as "Whiddy," which see.
Wolf
I. Sheep, sheep, come home!
We dare not.
What are you frightened of?
The wolf.
The wolf has gone home for seven days, Sheep, sheep, come home.
-Settle, Yorks. (Rev. W. S. Sykes).
II. Sheep, sheep, come home!
I"m afraid.
What of?
The wolf.
The wolf"s gone into Derbyshire, And won"t be back till six o"clock.
Sheep, sheep, come home.
-Hanbury, Staffordshire (Miss Edith Hollis).
III. Sheep, sheep, go out!
I"m afraid.
What you"re "fraid of?
Wolf.
Wolf has gone to Devonshire; Won"t be back for seven year.
Sheep, sheep, go out!
-Hurstmonceux, Suss.e.x, as played about forty years ago (Miss E. Chase).
IV. Sheep, sheep, come home!
I"m afraid.
What of?
The wolf.
The wolf"s gone to Devonshire, And won"t be back for seven year.
Sheep, sheep, come home.
-Anderby (Miss M. Peac.o.c.k), Barnes (A. B. Gomme).
V., VI. Won"t be back for eleven year.
-Nottinghamshire (Miss M. Peac.o.c.k).
-Marlborough, Wilts (H. S. May).
(_b_) One player acts as Shepherd, and stands at one side of the playground or field; another acts as Wolf. He crouches in one corner, or behind a post or tree. The other players are sheep, and stand close together on the opposite side of the ground to the Shepherd. The Shepherd advances and calls the sheep. At the end of the dialogue the sheep run across to the Shepherd and the Wolf pounces out, chases, and tries to catch them. Whoever he catches has to stand aside until all are caught. The game is played in this way in all versions sent me except Hurstmonceux, where there is the following addition:-The Wolf chases until he has caught all the sheep, and put them in his den. He then pretends to taste them, and sets them aside as needing more salt. The Shepherd or Mother comes after them, and the sheep cover their heads with their ap.r.o.ns. The Mother guesses the name of each child, saying, "This is my daughter --. Run away home!" until she has freed them all.
Versions of this game, almost identical with the Anderby version, have been collected from Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews); Crockham Hill, Kent (Miss E. Chase); Hersham, Surrey (_Folk-lore Record_, v. p. 88); Marlborough, Wilts (H. S. May); Ash and Barnes, Surrey (A. B. Gomme). In Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire is the place the wolf is said to have gone to. Mr. M. L. Rouse sends the following fuller description of the game as played at Woolpit, near Haughley, Suffolk, which gives, I think, the clue to the earlier idea of the game:-
The game was played out of doors in a meadow. Two long parallel lines were drawn about fifty yards apart, forming bases behind them. Two boys stood some distance apart between the bases, and the rest of the players all stood within one base. One of the two boys in the centre acting as decoy cried "Sheep, sheep, come home!" The sheep represented by the boys in the base cried back, "We can"t, we"re afraid of the Wolf." The decoy then said-
The wolf"s gone to Devonshire, And won"t be back for seven year.
Sheep, sheep, come home.
The sheep then made rushes from different points, and tried to get across to the other base. The other player in the centre tried to catch the sheep as they ran. Those caught joined the side of the wolf, and caught others in their turn.
It appears clear that the "Decoy" is the correct character in this game instead of a "shepherd" or "master," as now given. The decoy is evidently a.s.suming the character and voice of the shepherd, or shepherd"s dog, to induce the sheep to leave the fold where they are protected, in order to pounce upon them as they endeavour to go in the direction the voice calls them. The game owes its origin to times and places, when wolves were prowling about at night, and sheep were penned and protected against them by shepherds and watch-dogs.
Wolf and the Lamb, The
Two are chosen-one to represent the wolf and the other the lamb. The other players join hands and form a circle round the lamb. The wolf tries to break through the circle, and carry off the lamb. Those in the circle do all they can to prevent the wolf from entering within the circle. If he manages to enter the circle and seize the lamb, then other two are chosen, and the same process is gone through till all have got a chance of being the lamb and wolf. This game evidently represents a lamb enclosed in a fold, and the attempts of a wolf to break through and carry it off.
-Fraserburgh, Aberdeen, _April 14, 1892_ (Rev. W. Gregor).
Would you know how doth the Peasant
[Music]
-Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy).
I. Would you know how doth the peasant?
Would you know how doth the peasant?
Would you know how doth the peasant Sow his barley and wheat!
And it"s so, so, doth the peasant, And it"s so, so, doth the peasant, And it"s so, so, doth the peasant Sow his barley and wheat!
Would you know how doth the peasant, &c., Reap his barley and wheat?
It is so, so, doth the peasant, &c., Reap his barley and wheat!
Would you know how doth the peasant, &c., Thresh his barley and wheat?
It is so, so, doth the peasant, &c., Thresh his barley and wheat!
Would you know how doth the peasant, &c., When the seed time is o"er?
It is so, so, doth the peasant, &c., When the seed time is o"er!
Would you know how doth the peasant, &c., When his labour is done?