which make them so; and they are strong, because
they take plenty of exercise, and have physical drill in their schools.

This brings us to other games played by Norwegian children--not the
games which are purchased in the shops in Christiania, Bergen, and
other towns, but the games which are played without any of the bought
things. Of course the girls have dolls and dolls' houses and dolls'
tea-parties, like the girls of every land, and there are toys of
every description in the shops. The peasant children, however, who
live far out in the country, never see a shop, and have to provide
themselves with things to play with; but it is wonderful what an
amount of amusement they can get out of an old bone, or a block of
wood, tied to a yard or two of string.

As a rule their fathers are good hands at carving wood, so toys are
easily made for the smaller children, and one finds everywhere such
simple toys as wooden dolls, animals, miniature boats, sleighs,
and carts.

But the real enjoyment of the Norwegian children--at any rate of the
girls--is the outdoor game, played when the weather is fine, both
in the town and in the country, wherever there are enough children
to make a game. To see a bevy of these quaint little girls throwing
heart and soul into their games is delightful, and they have scores
and scores of different ones. In most of them dancing and singing play
a great part, and the most popular form of game is what is called a
"Ring Dance," in which, as the name implies, the players join hands
and dance round in a circle.

Many of these ring dances have their counterpart in English games,
and the tunes and words sung to them are almost similar. Whether we
adopted them from the Norwegians, or they adopted them from us, is a
matter which will probably never be decided, but several games of this
kind are common to all Europe. "Blind Man's Buff," "Hunt the Slipper,"
and "Forfeits," for instance, are found nearly everywhere. Here
is the Norse version of "Round and round the Mulberry Bush," which
in some parts is called "The Washing-Maids' Dance," and in others
"Round the Juniper Bush":

"So we go round the juniper bush, the juniper bush, the juniper
bush,
So we go round the juniper bush early on Monday morning.
This is the way we wash our clothes, wash our clothes, wash
our clothes,