VI Bird and Beast
“My brother, the hare,... my sisters, the doves....”
St. Francis of Assisi.
No. 48 My Household
The names of animals being distributed among children, one, in the centre of the ring, sings the words; at the proper point the child who represents the animal must imitate its cry; and as at each verse the animals who have already figured join in, the game becomes rather noisy.
I had a little rooster, and my rooster pleased me,
I fed my rooster beneath that tree;
My rooster went—Cookery-cooery!
Other folks feed their rooster, I feed my rooster too.
I had a little lamb, and my lamb pleased me,
I fed my lamb beneath that tree;
My lamb went—Ma—a—a!
Other folks feed their lamb, I feed my lamb too.
And so on with the names of other beasts.
Georgia.
In another version, it is under the “green bay-tree” (Magnolia glauca) that the animals are stabled.
This is another of the games which have been widely distributed through Europe, and date back to a remote past. At present, with us it is a child’s jest, the noisy imitation of animal cries; but, as in all such cases, sense preceded sound. Comparing German versions, we see that our game is properly a song, the idea of which consists in the enumeration by significant and comical names of the members and possessions of a family. “When I was a poor woman, I went over the Rhine: my goose was called Wag-tail, my maid So he said, my pig Lard-pot, my flea Hop-i’-straw” etc. A more courtly version gives us a pleasing pilgrim’s song: “Whence come you?—From sunset. Whither will you?—To sunrise. To what country?—Home. Where is it?—A hundred miles away. What is your name?—The world names me Leap a-field, my sword is Honor worth, my wife Pastime, her maid Lie-a-bed, my child Rush-about,” etc.
Thus we see the ancient earnestness appearing behind the modern mirth. It is likely that the origin of the song would take us back to those lists of mythical titles which were regarded as conveying real knowledge of the relations of things, at a time when a large part of learning consisted in the knowledge of the significant names which were given to objects.