Lady On The Mountain- (Berk) 1893 Thoyts
[From "Old Berkshire School Games" by Emma Elizabeth Thofts published in The Antiquary: A Magazine Devoted to the Study of the Past, Volume 27; edited by Edward Walford, George Latimer Apperson, 1893. Reprinted in Gomme as VII.
Her notes follow,
R. Matteson 2017]
The next two games are very similar, one child sitting on the ground, while the rest dance round in a ring. In every game I remark the fact that there are two chief characters—the lover and his lass:
Game 13.—The Lady On The Mountain. This is played like the last game (see above):
There stands a lady on the mountain,
Who she is I do not know.
Oh, she wants such gold and silver!
Oh, she wants such a nice young man!
Now you're married I wish you joy,
First a girl and then a boy;
Seven years after a son and a daughter —
Kiss your bride and come out of the ring.
This last stanza is a favourite, for it appears in several games. This game appears to be a fragment only of a longer one.