Classic Poem

“T HE Mulberry B USH ,” which goes to the same air as “Merry-Ma-Tanzie,” and is in some places called “The Mulberry Tree,” and in others “The Gooseberry Bush,” is yet more of an action game. The arrangement is again in a ring, and, moving round hand-in-hand, all sing:—
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush;
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
 On a cold and frosty morning. Stopping short with a curtsey at the conclusion and disjoining hands, they stand, and imitating the process of hand-washing, they sing:—

This is the way we wash our hands,
Wash our hands, wash our hands,
This is the way we wash our hands,
 On a cold and frosty morning. All joining hands again, they go round as before, singing—“Here we go round the mulberry bush,” and so on, which is repeated regularly after each action-verse on to the end. The opening lines of the action-verses alone may be given here to suggest the whole. They are:—

“This is the way we lace our stays.”
“This is the way we comb our hair.”
“This is the way we walk to school.”
“This is the way we return from school.”
“This is the way the ladies walk.”
“This is the way the gentlemen walk.”
“A D IS, A D IS, A G REEN G RASS ,” is so simple, it is a favourite generally with very little ladies. And there are different forms of the game, both in Scotland and England, if not also in other countries. The more common way, however, is for the children to stand all in a row, and when the counting-out rhyme has been applied once and again, the two who have been “hit out” face up together hand-in-hand in front, and, advancing and retiring, sing:—

A dis, a dis, a green grass,
 A dis, a dis, a dis;
Come all ye pretty fair maids,
 And dance along with us.

For we are going a-roving,
 A-roving o'er the land;
We'll take this pretty fair maid,
 We'll take her by the hand. This sung, they select a girl from the group, who joins on either side as she is directed, and the song continues, bearing now the comforting assurance to the one chosen:—

Ye shall have a duck, my dear,
 And ye shall have a beau;
And ye shall have a young prince
 By chance to marry you.

And if this young prince he should die,
 Then ye will get another;
And the birds will sing and the bells will ring,
 And we'll all clap our hands together. Having all joined in the last two verses, all clap hands together. And the same process is repeated again and again until the last of the “pretty fair maids” is taken over from the row, when the game is ended—though it may be but to begin again as the desire is expressed and supported.