The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #80573 Message #2789958
Posted By: Jim Dixon
16-Dec-09 - 07:10 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Walking on the Green Grass
Subject: Lyr Add: GREEN GRASS
A dis, a dis, a green grass, A dis, a dis, a dis; Come all you pretty fair maids And dance along with us.
For we are going roving, A roving in this land; We'll take this pretty fair maid, We'll take her by the hand.
Ye shall get a duke, my dear, And ye shall get a drake; And ye shall get a young prince, A young prince for your sake.
And if this young prince chance to die, Ye shall get another; The bells will ring, and the birds will sing, And we'll clap hands together.
—Chamber's Popular Rhymes, pp. 137-58.
II.
A-diss, a-diss, a-green grass, A-diss, a-diss, a-dass; Come, my pretty fair maid, And walk along with us.
For you shall have a dik-ma-day, You shall have a dragon; You shall have a nice young man With princes for his thēgan (or sēgan).
—Lanarkshire (W. G. Black).
III.
A dish, a dish, a green grass, A dish, a dish, a dish, Come all you pretty maidens And dance along wi' us.
For we are lads a roving, A roving through the land, We'll take this pretty fair maid By her lily white hand.
Ye sall get a duke, my dear, An ye sail get a drake, An ye sall get a bonny prince For your ain dear sake.
And if they all should die, Ye sall get anither; The bells will ring, the birds will sing, And we'll clap our hands together.
—Biggar (W. Ballantyne).
IV.
Dissy, dissy, green grass, Dissy, dissy, duss, Come all ye pretty fair maids And dance along with us.
You shall have a duck, my dear, And you shall have a drake, And you shall have a nice young man To love you for your sake.
If this young man should chance to die And leave the girl a widow, The birds shall sing, the bells shall ring, Clap all your hands together.
—Yorkshire (Henderson's Folk-lore, Northern Counties, p. 27).
V.
Dossy, dossy green grass, Dossy, dossy, doss, Come all ye pretty fair maids And dance upon the grass.
I will give you pots and pans, I will give you brass, I will give you anything For a pretty lass.
I will give you gold and silver, I will give you pearl, I will give you anything For a pretty girl.
Take one, take one, the fairest you can see.
You shall have a duck, my dear, You shall have a drake, You shall have a young man Apprentice for your sake.
If this young man shall wealthy grow And give his wife a feather, The bells shall ring and birds shall sing And we'll all clap hands together.
—Roxton, St. Neots (Miss Lumley).
VI.
Walking up the green grass, A dust, a dust, a dust! We want a pretty maiden To walk along with us.
We'll take this pretty maiden, We'll take her by the hand, She shall go to Derby, And Derby is the land!
She shall have a duck, my dear, She shall have a drake, She shall have a nice young man A-fighting for her sake!
Suppose this young man was to die, And leave the poor girl a widow; The bells would ring and we should sing, And all clap hands together!
—Berrington (Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 511).
VII.
Tripping up the green grass, Dusty, dusty, day, Come all ye pretty fair maids, Come and with me play.
You shall have a duck, my dear, And you shall have a swan, And you shall have a nice young man A waiting for to come.
Suppose he were to die And leave his wife a widow, Come all ye pretty fair maids, Come clap your hands together!
Will you come? No!
Naughty man, he won't come out, He won't come out, he won't come out, Naughty man, he won't come out, To help us in our dancing.
Will you come? Yes!
Now we've got our bonny lad, Our bonny lad, our bonny lad, Now we've got our bonny lad, To help us in our dancing.
—Middlesex (Miss Collyer).
VIII.
Stepping on the green grass Thus, and thus, and thus; Please may we have a pretty lass To come and play with us? We will give you pots and pans, We will give you brass,
No!
We will give you anything For a bonny lass.
No!
We will give you gold and silver, We will give you pearl, We will give you anything For a pretty girl.
Yes!
You shall have a goose for dinner, You shall have a darling, You shall have a nice young man To take you up the garden.
But suppose this young man was to die And leave this girl a widow? The bells would ring, the cats would sing, So we'll all clap together.
—Frodingham and Nottinghamshire (Miss M. Peacock).
IX.
Stepping up the green grass, Thus, and thus, and thus; Will you let one of your fair maids Come and play with us? We will give you pots and pans, We will give you brass, We will give you anything For a pretty lass.
No!
We won't take your pots and pans, We won't take your brass, We won't take your anything For a pretty lass.
Stepping up the green grass, Thus, and thus, and thus; Will you let one of your fair maids Come and play with us? We will give you gold and silver, We will give you pearl, We will give you anything For a pretty girl.
Yes!
Come, my dearest [Mary], Come and play with us, You shall have a young man Born for your sake. And the bells shall ring And the cats shall sing, And we'll all clap hands together.
—Addy's Sheffield Glossary.
X.
Up and down the green grass, This, and that, and thus; Come all you fair maids And walk along with us.
Some will give you silver, Some will give you gold, Some will give you anything For a pretty lass.
Don't you think [boy's name] Is a handsome young man? Don't you think Miss [child who has been choosing] Is as handsome as he?
Then off with the glove And on with the ring; You shall be married When you can agree.
Take hold of my little finger, Maycanameecan, Pray tell me the name Of your young man.
—Hurstmonceux, Sussex (Miss Chase).
XI.
Here we come up the green grass, Green grass, green grass, Here we come up the green grass, Dusty, dusty, day.
Fair maid, pretty maid, Give your hand to me, I'll show you a blackbird, A blackbird on the tree.
We'll all go roving, Roving side by side, I'll take my fairest ––, I'll take her for my bride.
Will you come? No!
Naughty miss, she won't come out, Won't come out, won't come out, Naughty miss, she won't come out, To help us with our dancing.
Will you come? Yes!
Now we've got our bonny lass, Bonny lass, bonny lass, Now we've got our bonny lass, To help us with our dancing.
—London (A. B. Gomme).
XII.
Here we go up the green grass, The green grass, the green grass; Here we go up the green grass, So early in the morning.
Fair maid, pretty maid, Give your hand to me, And you shall see a blackbird, A blackbird on the tree; All sorts of colours Lying by his side, Take me, dearest [––], For to be my bride—
Will you come? No!
Naughty old maid, she won't come out, She won't come out, To help us with our dancing—
Will you come? Yes!
Now we.ve got the bonny lass, Now we've got the bonny lass, To help us with our dancing.
—Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler).
XIII.
Trip trap over the grass, If you please, will you let one of your [eldest] daughters come, Come and dance with me? I will give you pots and pans, I will give you brass, I will give you anything For a pretty lass—
No!
I will give you gold and silver, I will give you pearl, I will give you anything For a pretty girl.
Take one, take one, the fairest you may see.
The fairest one that I can see Is pretty [Nancy], come to me;
You shall have a duck, my dear, And you shall have a drake, And you shall have a young man, Apprentice for your sake.
If this young man should happen to die, And leave this poor woman a widow, The bells shall all ring and the birds shall all sing, And we'll clap hands together.
—Halliwell's Popular Nursery Rhymes, cccxxxii.
XIV.
Will you take gold and silver, or will you take brass, Will you take anything for a pretty lass?
No! we'll not take gold and silver, no! we'll not take brass; We'll not take anything for a pretty lass.
Will you take the keys of school, or will you take brass? Will you take anything for a pretty lass?
Yes! we'll take the keys of school; yes! we will take brass; We will take anything for a pretty lass.
Come, my dear [Mary Anne], and give me your right hand,
And you shall have a duck, my dear, You shall have a drake; You shall have a nice young man To fiddle for your sake.
The birds will sing, the bells will ring, And we'll all clap hands together.
—Congleton Workhouse School (Miss A. E. Tremlow).
(c) The popular version of this game is played by the greater number of the children forming a line on one side with joined hands, and one child (sometimes two or more) facing them, advancing and retiring while singing the verses. When he asks the question, "Will you come?" one girl on the opposite side answers "No!" and afterwards "Yes!" When this is said, she goes to the opposite side, and the two dance round together while singing the next verse. The game begins again by the two singing the verses, and thus getting a third child to join them, when the game proceeds for a fourth, and so on.
The Congleton and London versions are played by two lines of children of about equal numbers. In the Lincolnshire version the above description answers, except that when the last line is sung every one claps hands. In the Sussex version the child at the end of the line is taken over by the child who sings the verses, and they lock their little fingers together while singing the remainder.
Addy (Sheffield Glossary) says:—"Two children advance and retire on one side. When the opposite side says 'Yes!' the two take the first child in the row and dance round with her, singing the remaining verse. This is called 'the wedding.'"
The Lanarkshire version is quite a different one, and contains rather remarkable features. Mr. Black says that the game was played entirely by girls, never by boys, and generally in the months of May or June, about forty years ago. The children sang with rather mincing and refined voices, evidently making an effort in this direction. They walked, with their hands clasped behind their backs, up and down the road. Each child was crowned with rushes, and also had sashes or girdles of rushes.
Mr. Ballantyne says in his boyhood it was played by a row of boys on one side and another of girls opposite. The boys selected a girl when singing the third verse.
In the Roxton version, one child at the end of the line of children acts as "mother." One child advances as "suitor," and says the three first verses. The "mother" replies with the next line. The "suitor" chooses a girl and says the next verse, and then all the children sing the last verse. This is the same action as in Halliwell's version.
(d) The analysis of the game-rhymes is on pp. 164-67. This analysis presents us with a very good example of the changes caused by the game-rhymes being handed down by tradition among people who have forgotten the original meaning of the game. The first line in the Scotch version contains the word "dis," which is not known to the ordinary vocabulary. Another word, of similar import, is "dik-ma-day" in the Lanarkshire version. Two other words occur, namely, "thegan" in the Lanarkshire, and "maycanameecan" in the Sussex versions, which are also not to be found in ordinary vocabularies. The two last words appear only once, and cannot, therefore, be used for the purpose of tracing out an original form of the game-rhyme, because on the system of analysis adopted they may be arbitrary introductions and totally unconnected with the original rhymes. This, however, is not the case with the two first-mentioned words, and I am inclined to consider them as forming part of the earliest version. The word "dis" is carried through no less than ten out of the fourteen variants, the gradation in the forms being as follows:—
dis dass dish diss[y]—duss dossy this—thus —dust —dust[y]
What the meaning of this word is it may be impossible to ascertain, though probably Mr. Newell may be correct in his suggestion that it represents the old English word "adist," the opposite of "ayont," meaning "this way," "come hither" (Games of American Children, p. 51). But the point really is, that the version which contains the oldest word-forms would probably be the purest in other respects. The analysis of the whole game confirms this view, as the Scottish and Yorkshire versions are nearly parallel, while the discrepancies begin to creep in with the Shropshire version, reaching their last stage in the versions recorded by Halliwell and from Congleton. Following this line of argument, "dik-ma-day" becomes first "duke, my dear," and then "duck, my dear." Turning next to the import of the rhymes, apart from special words used, it is curious to note that "dis" is only converted into "dusty," and hence into "dusty day," in two versions out of the fourteen. The Lincolnshire version agrees with Halliwell's version in making some curious offers for a pretty lass, but these rhymes are probably an innovation. In the same way the incidents numbered 39-40*, occurring in the Sussex version, and 43-46* occurring in the London and Hants versions, are borrowings from other games, and not original portions of this. The Congleton version is evidently incomplete.
(e) Henderson, in describing the curious rites accompanying the saining or blessing of a corpse in the Scottish Lowlands, states that empty dishes are arranged on the hearth as near as possible to the fire, and after certain ceremonies in connection therewith have been performed, the company join hands and dance round the dishes, singing this burden:—
A dis, a dis, a dis, A green griss; A dis, a dis, a dis.
—Folk-lore of Northern Counties, p. 54.
This rhyme is, it will be seen, the same as the first two lines of the game, the word "griss" in the burial-rhyme becoming "grass" in the game-rhyme, "grisse" being the old form for "grass" or herb (Halliwell, Provincial Glossary, quotes a MS. authority for this). This identification of the game-rhyme would suggest that the game originally was a child's dramatic imitation of an old burial ceremony, and it remains to be seen whether the signification of the words would carry out this idea.
In the first place, the idea of death is a prominent incident in the game, appearing in seven out of the fourteen versions. In all these cases the death is followed by the clapping of hands and bell-ringing, and in five cases by the singing of birds. Clapping of hands occurs in two other cases, and bell-ringing in one other case, not accompanied by the death incident. Now it is singular that the burial-rite which has just been quoted is called Dish-a-loof; and a reference to the game of "Dish-a-loof" [under that title], will show that it derives its name from the clapping of hands. In the ceremony, as described by Henderson, although songs and games are part of the burial-ceremony, there is no specific mention of hand-clapping; but it is conceivable that the action at one time formed part of the ceremony, and hence the name "Dish-a-loof." This would not account for the promise of a duck, drake, &c., as in incidents Nos. 12* and 20*; nor for the promise of a young prince or young man; but these incidents might very well be variants of some earlier forms which are not now discoverable, especially as love-games were played at funerals, and as the tendency, in the less complete forms of the game as they have come down to us, is in the direction of transposing the game into a complete love-game. The use of rushes in the Lanarkshire game might indicate the funeral garland (Aubrey's Remaines, pp. 109, 139). For clapping of hands to indicate bell-tolling or bell-ringing at times of death see Napier's Folklore, p. 66. Henderson (p. 63) says the "passing bell" was supposed in former times to serve two purposes: it called on all good Christians within hearing to pray for the departing spirit, and it scared away the evil spirits who were watching to seize it, or at least to scare and terrify it.
On the whole evidence from the rhymes, therefore, I should be disposed to class this game as originally belonging to burial, and not love, rites.
[* These are references to lines in a table, on pages 164-167, too large and complicated to reproduce here, showing, in parallel columns, a detailed comparison between all the versions of the song.]