This is a bit of a mystery - sometimes it's the wee melodie man, polony (a kind of sausage and the origin of baloney) man, the Gable Oary Man and the Holy Gabriel Man - look at a dictionary of children's singing games especially Lady A B Gomme: The traditional games of England, Scotland and Ireland (still in print I think from Dover Publications) for gable oary man.The game in Belfast is a kind of follow my leader where thos following mimic the actions of the leader.
John