One to earth and one to heaven, And _this_ to carry my soul to heaven.
The last was said when the effort was made to touch the ceiling or tree with the feet.--(A. B. Gomme.)
Miss Chase has sent me the following rhymes:
I went down the garden And there I found a farth'ng; I gave it to my mother To buy a little brother; The brother was so cross I sat him on the horse; The horse was so bandy I gave him a drop (_or_ glass) of brandy; The brandy was so strong I set him on the pond; The pond was so deep I sent him off to sleep; The sleep was so sound I set him on the ground; The ground was so flat I set him on the cat; The cat ran away With the boy on his back; And a good bounce [A great push here] Over the high gate wall.
Die, pussy, die, Shut your little eye, When you wake, Find a cake; Die, pussy, die.
Wingy, wongy, Days are longy, Cuckoo and the sparrow; Little dog has lost his tail, And he shall be hung to-morrow.
The Deptford version is practically the same as known in several parts of the country, and Mr. Gerish has printed a Norfolk version in _Folk-lore_ (vi. 202), which agrees down to the line "sent him off to sleep," and then finishes with--
When they came to the "heigh-ho" a more energetic push than usual was given to the occupant of the swing, who was then expected to vacate the swing and allow another child a turn. Thus the rhyme served as an allowance of time to each child.
An amusement of boys in Galloway is described as on the slack rope, riding and shoving one another on the curve of the rope: they recite this to the swings--
Shuggie show, druggie draw, Haud the grip, ye canna fa'; Haud the grup or down ye come, And danceth on your braid bum.
--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.
Brockett (_North Country Words_) describes as a swing: a long rope fastened at each end, and thrown over a beam, on which young persons seat themselves and are swung backwards and forwards in the manner of a pendulum.
The Dorset game of "See-saw."--Halliwell's _Dictionary_.
The blossoms of cowslips collected together tied in a globular form, and used to toss to and fro for an amusement called "Teesty-Tosty," or simply sometimes "Tosty."--Somerset (Holloway's _Dict. of Provincialisms_).
