No. 102 Hawk and Chickens
A hen with her brood. A child represents the “Old Buzzard,” about whom the rest circle. The hen addresses the latter:
“Chickany, chickany, crany, crow.
Down in the gutter
To get the hog’s supper—
What o’clock is it, old buzzard?”
The Buzzard, meanwhile, is busied in building up a fire with sticks, and abruptly names any hour, when the question and answer are repeated for each child of the ring, until twelve o’clock, thus—
“Half-past ten.”
“What o’clock is it, old buzzard?”
“Half-past eleven.”
“What o’clock is it, old buzzard?”
“Twelve o’clock.”
The ring now halts, and the dialogue proceeds:
“Old buzzard, old buzzard, what are you doing?”
“Picking up sticks.”
“What do you want the sticks for?”
“To build a fire.”
“What are you building a fire for?”
“To broil a chicken.”
“Where are you going to get the chicken?”
“Out of your flock.”
The Buzzard gives chase and captures a child. He brings him back, lays him down, and proceeds to dress him for dinner. All the rest stand round in admiring silence. The Buzzard asks,
“Will you be picked or scraped?”
According to the choice he proceeds as if picking the feathers of a bird or scaling a fish, and continues, with appropriate action,
“Will you be pickled or salted?”
“Will you be roasted or stewed?”
He drags the victim into one or another corner of the room, according to the reply, and the game proceeds as before.97
New England.
In the Southern States a witch takes the place of the bird of prey, and the rhyme is,
“Chickamy, chickamy, crany, crow,
I went to the well to wash my toe,
And when I came back my chicken was gone;
What o’clock, old witch?”
The witch names any hour, and questions and answers are repeated as before, up to twelve:
“What are you doing, old witch?”
“I am making a fire to cook a chicken.”
“Where are you going to get it?”
“Out of your coop.”
“I’ve got the lock.”
“I’ve got the key.”
“Well, we’ll see who will have it.”
The witch tries to get past the hen, and seize the last of the line; the mother, spreading out her arms, bars the passage. The witch cries,
“I must have a chick.”
“You sha’n’t have a chick.”
Each child caught drops out, and as the line grows shorter the struggle becomes desperate.
Georgia.
This latter way of playing is the older form of the game, and is also familiar, though without words, in the North, where it is known as “Fox and Chickens.”
This game is one of the most widely diffused, and the dialogue is marvellously identical, from Russia to Italy.
In Schleswig-Holstein the conversation runs thus:
“Hawk, what are you lighting?”
“A fire.”
“What is the fire for?”
“To make ashes.”
“What are the ashes for?”
“To sharpen a knife.”
“What is the knife for?”
“To cut off chickens’ heads.”
“What have the chickens done?”
“Gone into my master’s corn.”
In our own country, among the Pennsylvania Germans, or, to use their own agreeable idiom, “De Pennsylfaunisch Deitsch,” this game enjoys the distinction of being almost the only child’s game which is accompanied by words, and is played as follows:
A boy who is digging in the earth is accosted by a second, who carries a handful of sticks, the longest of which represents the needle:
“Woy, woy, was grawbst?”
“Meine Moder hat erne silberne Nodel verloren.”
“Is sie des?”
“Ne.”
“Is sie des?”
“Ne.”
“Is sie des?”
“Yaw.”98
The stooping child now rises and pursues the rest.
A similar dialogue is used for a game of chase in New York:
“Old mother, what are you looking for?”
“A needle.”
“What do you want a needle for?”
“To sew my bag with.”
“What do you want your bag for?”
“To keep my steel in.”
“What do you want your steel for?”
“To sharpen my knife to cut off your head.”
In the same spirit, the Venetian game has:
“Sister, what are you looking for?”
“A knife to kill you with.”
Whereupon she pursues the questioners. In this version we find also the inquiry about the hour, the putting of the pot on the fire, the searching for the knife, and final scattering.
The Finns on the Baltic coast, too, have the game in the form of a long song, beginning,
Close together! see the hawk yon!
Close together! see his talons?
Which exactly corresponds to the Scotch,
Keep in, keep in, wherever ye be—
The greedy gled is seeking ye!