No. 45 Rose in the Garden
We insert here, on account of the allusions to nature which they contain, several pieces which might also have found a place elsewhere in our collection; the present, for instance, being eminently a “love-game.”
A single player stands in the centre of the ring, which circles and sings:
There’s a rose in the garden for you, fair man,
There’s a rose in the garden for you, fair maid;
There’s a rose in the garden, pluck it if you can,
Be sure you don’t choose a false-hearted one.
The youth or girl in the centre chooses a partner, and the ring sings:
It’s a bargain, it’s a bargain, for you, fair man,
It’s a bargain, it’s a bargain, for you, fair maid.
Now follows a fragment of romance, which in our version is unhappily corrupt:
You promised to marry me six months ago,
I hold you to your bargain, “you old rogue you.”
After a kiss, the first player takes his or her place in the ring, and the partner selected is left to continue the game.
Deerfield, Mass. (about 1810).
To the same game, perhaps, belongs the following fragment:
Here stands a red rose in the ring—
Promised to marry a long time ago.
The comparison of a youth or maid to a rose is not uncommon in dances. We have a pretty French example in the Canadian round cited below;85 and another English instance in our No. 62.