When all have passed through, the two players at the opposite end of the line raise their hands and cry, "Bid, bid, bid!" while the two who first made the arch pass through, drawing the line after them, and calling "Quack! quack! quack!" This passing of the ducks under the gateway is continued during one or two repetitions of the music. The players should repeat "Bid, bid, bid!" and "Quack, quack, quack!" in rhythm during all of this latter part of the play.
The farmer in the dell, The farmer in the dell, Heigh-o! the cherry-oh! The farmer in the dell.
The farmer takes a wife, The farmer takes a wife, Heigh-o! the cherry-oh! The farmer takes a wife.
The wife takes a child, The wife takes a child, Heigh-o! the cherry-oh, The wife takes a child.
The succeeding verses vary only in the choice in each, and follow in this order:--
The child takes a nurse, etc. The nurse takes a cat, etc. The cat takes a rat, etc., The rat takes the cheese, etc.
The far-mer in the dell, The far-mer in the dell, Heigh-o the cher-ry-oh, The far-mer in the dell. ]
The players stand in a circle with one of their number in the center, who represents the farmer in the dell. At the singing of the second verse, where the farmer takes a wife, the center player beckons to another, who goes in and stands by her. The circle keeps moving while each verse is sung, and each time the player last called in beckons to another; that is, the wife beckons one into the circle as the child, the child beckons one for the nurse, etc., until six are standing in the circle. But when the lines, "The rat takes the cheese," are sung, the players inside the circle and those forming it jump up and down and clap their hands in a grand confusion, and the game breaks up.
This game is especially enjoyed by little boys, for whom there is a comparatively small number of appropriate singing games.
The players all stand in two lines facing each other. They clap their hands in time with the song, and sing the first verse:--
Oh, have you seen the Shah? Oh, have you seen the Shah? He lights his pipe on a star-light night, Oh, have you seen the Shah?
For a-hunt-ing we will go, A- hunt-ing we will go. We'll catch a fox and put him in a box. A-hunt-ing we will go. ]