Thank you again for the tip! You know, I wouldn't be surprised if the song and the play-party came together in those Berea gatherings that Jean mentioned.

And thank you for asking about the book. Yes, it will give the background, etc. I'm a music education professor with a deep love for traditional music, and I have been lucky enough to combine my interests in both by researching traditional children's games and songs. I've always thought it a shame that music teachers had to rely on the print page to learn traditional songs & games for teaching. . . the music often gets "killed off" in the transmission (as per your comment about learning this one at school!). So I put together a collection from Scotland that included a CD of field recordings made in the 50s & 60s (real kids, not school music), along with modern recordings (of kids from the same places). The book has an anthology section (just the songs and notes on the singers), a historical notes section and finally a back section for music teachers, with suggestions about how they might use the songs in their teaching.

It's called "Hot Peas and Barley-O: Children's Songs and Games from Scotland," and it's published by Hal Leonard Publication. I had a LOT of help from teacher friends and scholars in the UK & the US putting it together, and it was really a labor of love. Mrs. Ritchie wrote a wonderful preface & related some of the songs & games to her Kentucky versions.

The England book is almost done (as you can guess, I'm plugging away to finish the historical notes section.) It goes to the publisher in May, and will be called "Over the Garden Wall: Children's Songs and Games from England." I've got a few other collections underway, too. It is a happy way to spend life as a researcher!

For such a well-known singing game/play party, remarkably little seems to have been written about it! The Mud-catters turned the key in the lock of this mystery. :) Of course, that opens a big can of worms in terms of harvest customs, doesn't it. :) That's a whole book in itself. I wonder, though, if this custom was specific to Suffolk, or the south of England. I will keep checking the thread. Thanks again, Jean and all!

Susan