On the Mountain- Ogmundson (BC) c.1970
[From: Ogmundson stories (online). Chilliwack is the 7th largest city in British Columbia, Canada. Notes from diary (story) entry.
R. Matteson 2017]
Recess bell rings—out the door we go. The boys run to play baseball or soccer or marbles. Most of the girls run out to play hopscotch, bounce the ball or to skip rope. It is grade 5. We are all expert skippers in our little plaid school dresses with leotards and oxford shoes. There is a paved area where we take turns turning the rope for the line of singing friends. Everyone is welcome to take a turn. We know how to skip regular, slow rope, high rope (the rope a few inches from the ground), run through (run through the turning rope without stopping it or tripping), jolly-o (skipping while twirling around), coming in the door and going out the door on cue, and PEPPER (skipping as fast as the rope can be turned). We play all the time and we always chant a skipping song.
No one supervises us or makes us sign out a skipping rope. There might be a teacher out on the school property but most likely he came out for a quick smoke. We skip through recess and then again at lunch break and for a while after school if we can.
Song: On the mountain stands a lady
On the mountain stands a lady
Who she is I do not know
All she wants is gold and silver
All she wants is a fine young man
So come in dear Lindy, dear Lindy, dear Lindy (Lindy comes in and skips with Rosie)
So come in dear Lindy and I’ll go out to play (Rosie goes out the door)
We do not ask ourselves where this song came from. No one knows. We are all in the same boat as the lady on the mountain. We would love gold and silver and a fine young man, but none of us would know what to do with them if they fell into our lap.