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RING GAMES etc., are accompanied by singing and rhymes and are more usually the province of the younger children although in a mixed-age group you will usually find some of the older children joining in too. Ring-a-ring-o-roses is the simplest of all the ring games and is played by even the smallest children. They join hands and dance round in a ring, singing

Ring-a-ring-o-roses
A pocket full o' posies.
Atishoo! Atishoo!
We all fall down!
and on "we all fall down" - we do indeed "all fall down!" to much giggling and laughter. This is a very old rhyme and is attributed to the Black Death of the 14th century : the "ring o' roses" is the rash which was a symptom, the "pocket full o' posies" the herbs carried in an attempt to ward off the disease, "Atishoo!" was the flu-like effects and "we all fall down" - dead!!

Poor Mary has a circle of children with hands joined and walking round another child (usually a girl) who is kneeling in the centre of the circle with her face in her hands. As they sing, she enacts the words:

Poor Mary sat a-weeping, a-weeping, a-weeping, Poor Mary sat a-weeping on a bright summer's day. On this carpet she shall kneel Till the grass grows in the field Stand up, stand up upon your feet And choose the one you love so sweet. At this point "Mary" chooses another child to join her in the centre of the ring and they join hands and walk round in the opposite direstion to the outer circle, who sing

Now you are married, you must be good
And help your wife to chop the wood
Chop, chop, chop!
and with this ritual completed, the children change places and a new "Mary" takes her place in the centre of the ring.

The farmer wants a wife is another game which starts with a single child - the "farmer" - in the centre of a circle of children, all singing

The farmer wants a wife, the farmer wants a wife Ee - I - ally - o, the farmer wants a wife. Who do you want for your wife, who do you want for your wife? Ee - I - ally - o, who do you want for your wife? and the "farmer selects a "wife" from the outer circle, and she joins him in the centre. The children continue to circle in the following verses, the two circles moving in opposite directions and the inner circle growing (and the outer one shrinking) as each verse is sung :

The wife wants a child, the wife wants a child,
Ee - I - ally - o, the wife wants a child.....
The child wants a nurse....
The nurse wants a dog.....
The dog wants a pat........
We all pat the dog..........
and the "dog" is "patted" vigorously on the back by everyone, and becomes the "farmer" in the next round of the game.

I wrote a letter to my mother: in this ring game all but one of the children are seated facing inwards, with one going round the outside of the circle with a handkerchief in one hand. As the children sing, s/he drops the hankie at random and carries on round the ring: