al Rhyme makers, and
from these individuals would naturally grow up "crops" of Dance Rhymes.
Of course I cannot absolutely know, but I think when I witnessed the
making of the "Jonah's Band Party," that I witnessed the stimulus which
had produced the Dance Rhyme through the decades of preceding years. I
realize, however, that this does not account for the finished Rhyme
products. It simply gives one source of origin. How the Rhyme grew to
its complex structure will be discussed later, because that discussion
belongs not to the Dance Rhyme alone, but to all the Rhymes.

There was a final phase of development of "Jonah's Band Party" witnessed
by the writer; namely, the singing of the lines, "Setch a kickin' up
san'! Jonah's Band!" The last lines of the stanzas, the lines calling
for another step on the part of both the circle and the dancers, were
never sung to my knowledge. The little tune to the first lines consisted
of only four notes, and is inserted below.

[music]

I give this as of interest because it marks a partial transition from a
Dance Rhyme to a Dance Rhyme Song. In days of long ago I occasionally
saw a Dance Rhyme Song "patted and danced" instead of sung or played and
danced. This coupled with the transition stage of the "Jonah's Band
Dance" just given has caused me to believe that Dance Rhyme Songs were
probably evolved from Dance Rhymes pure and simple, through individuals
putting melodies to these Dance Rhymes.

As Dance Rhymes came from the dance, so likewise Play Rhymes came from
plays. I shall now discuss the one found in our collection under the
caption--"Goosie-gander." Since the Play has probably passed from the
memory of most persons, I shall tell how it was played. The children
(and sometimes those in their teens) sat in a circle. One individual,
the leader, walked inside the circle, from child to child, and said to
each in turn, "Goosie-gander." If the child answered "Goose," the leader
said, "I turn your ears loose," and went on to the next child. If he
answered "Gander," the leader said, "I pull y[=o]' years 'way yander."
Then ensued a scuffle between the two children; each trying to pull the
other's ears. The fun for the circle came from watching the scuffle.
Finally the child who got his ears pulled took his place in the circle,
leaving the victor as master of ceremonies to call out the challenge
"Goosie-gander!" The whole idea of the play is borrowed from the
fighting of the ganders of a