Lovely music, but you left out that it was also a dance, and there was a game rather like London Bridge is falling down that was done to this music as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roIOpSFm11U
Personally I enjoy a good pavane a bit more. Apropos, I seem to recall this being a medieval tradition around this time of year...
The song is used in a children's singing game with the same name, in which the players file, in pairs, through an arch made by two of the players (made by having the players face each other, raise their arms over their head, and clasp their partners' hands). The challenge comes during the final lines:
Here comes a candle to light you to bed. Here comes a chopper to chop off your head. (Chip chop, chip chop, the last man's dead.)
On the last word, the children forming the arch drop their arms to catch the pair of children currently passing through, who are then "out" and must form another arch next to the existing one. In this way, the series of arches becomes a steadily lengthening tunnel through which each set of two players have to run faster and faster to escape in time.[1]
Alternative versions of the game include: children caught "out" by the last rhyme may stand behind one of the children forming the original arch, instead of forming additional arches; and, children forming "arches" may bring their hands down for each word of the last line, while the children passing through the arches run as fast as they can to avoid being caught on the last word.[4]
Lovely music, but you left out that it was also a dance, and there was a game rather like London Bridge is falling down that was done to this music as well.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roIOpSFm11U
Personally I enjoy a good pavane a bit more. Apropos, I seem to recall this being a medieval tradition around this time of year...
The song is used in a children's singing game with the same name, in which the players file, in pairs, through an arch made by two of the players (made by having the players face each other, raise their arms over their head, and clasp their partners' hands). The challenge comes during the final lines:
Here comes a candle to light you to bed.
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head.
(Chip chop, chip chop, the last man's dead.)
On the last word, the children forming the arch drop their arms to catch the pair of children currently passing through, who are then "out" and must form another arch next to the existing one. In this way, the series of arches becomes a steadily lengthening tunnel through which each set of two players have to run faster and faster to escape in time.[1]
Alternative versions of the game include: children caught "out" by the last rhyme may stand behind one of the children forming the original arch, instead of forming additional arches; and, children forming "arches" may bring their hands down for each word of the last line, while the children passing through the arches run as fast as they can to avoid being caught on the last word.[4]