CVI
Here we have a reference to the too common practice of stealing, which is treated more as a joke than a crime:—
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Drill him, Constab, drill him;
Drill him, Constab, drill him;
She tief her mother shilling fe go buy Sapadilla.
Buy Sapadilla,
buy Sapadilla;
You go an’ tief the shilling fe go buy Sapadilla.
Wheel him, Constab, wheel him;
Wheel him, Constab, wheel him;
Him tief him mother shilling fe go buy Sapadilla.
A girl is the delinquent and the “Constab” (constable, pronounce con as in constant) is inside the ring with her, lightly beating her with a twig or pocket-handkerchief. When one has been marched round and wheeled, he “sends her out” and takes another.
Sapadilla is really a fruit something like a medlar, but the name is given to all sorts of fruit, notably Granadilla.