Beautifully illustrated throughout, it contains photographs, lithographs, and prints the words to each game as well as the music for many of them footnotes a bibliography a general index and an index of songs, games, and dances. Demonstrating how the games have evolved over the years, and how they vary from country to country, this book offers a comprehensive, authoritative history of a universal folk genre. This volume, based on thirty years of collecting and research by two pioneers in the field of childrens lore and language, presents hundreds of singing and. Each of the 150 games is described in historical detail. For nearly forty years Iona Opie worked with her husband, Peter, on a notable series of books on the traditional lore of childhood, among them Children's Games in Street and Playground, The Singing Game, and The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren.

This volume, based on thirty years of collecting and research by two pioneers in the field of children's lore and language, presents hundreds of singing and clapping games popular with children since the Middle Ages, including such favorites as 'Pop Goes the Weasel,' 'Lazy Mary Will You Get Up?,' 'Skip to My Lou,' 'The Muffin Man,' and 'Ring a Ring o' Roses.' Serving as an exposition of both the workings of folklore and the perennial ways of young children left to play on their own, The Singing Game categorizes over 150 of these games into groups such as 'Matchmaking,' 'Wedding Rings,' 'Cushion Dances,' 'Witch Dances,' 'Calls of Friendship,' 'Eccentric Circles,' 'Buffoonery,' and 'Clapping.' The Opies provide a detailed, historical description of each game, as well as a vivid, firsthand account from one of its most recent practitioners on the playgrounds and backstreets throughout England. Opie, Peter Maker Role Author About this object Traces the histories of singing games such as ring a ring o' roses, oranges and lemons and others, and is an exposition both of the workings of folklore, and of the perennial ways of young children when left to play on their own.

The Singing Game by Iona Opie