XCIV
In the next there is no dancing. The ring closes up tight, shoulder to shoulder. Hands behind the back pass the ball round and round, and the girl inside the ring tries to find it. The person with whom it is found has to go into the ring and turn seeker.
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Pass the ball an’ the ball goin’ round,
the ball goin’ round an’ the key can’t find,
Mother, honey, oh! the ball goin’ round.
Journey, ball, journey, ball, journey, ball, journey,
Mother, honey, oh! the ball can’t find.
The conventional “gwine” for “going” hardly represents it, only the o is pronounced so short that the word becomes practically one syllable. In the dance tunes we shall come across the word “dying” shortened in the same way.