The children pile their fists in the manner described above; then one, or sometimes all of them, sing: I ve built my house, I ve built my wall; I don t care where my chimneys fall! The merriment consists in the bustle and confusion occasioned by the rapid withdrawal of the hands (Halliwell s _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 225). Compare Burne s _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 529. Northall (_Folk Rhymes_, p. 418) gives the following rhymes as said in Warwickshire while the fists are being piled on one another:-- Here s one hammer on the block, My men, my men; There s one hammer, &c., my man John. Dibble the can, blow bellows, blow, Fire away, lads, for an hour or so. See Dish-a-loof, Sacks. Dumps A game at marbles or taw, played with holes scooped in the ground (Roxburgh, Jamieson).
|The grass is so green.|The grass is so green.| | 7.| -- | -- |Fairest damsel ever | | | | |I ve seen. | | 8.| -- |Fairest young lady | -- | | | |ever seen. | | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.
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.