This sounds exactly like what went on at my grammar school in Colombia,
South America back in the 70's, only the song we used was "London Bridge
Is Falling Down" (in both English and Spanish). Unfortunately I can't
remember all the words now, but I do remember being "punished" by the
other kids when caught within the arms. Ah, black and blue nostalgia!
Eric J. Johnson
Centre for Medieval Studies
University of York
On Tue, 17 Feb 1998, Thomas Tsigaridas wrote:
> Hello!
>
> This may be off-topic, but your interesting discussion about
> nursery-rhymes, an english term I was unfamiliar with until this discussion
> started, reminded me of a norwegian rhyme sung by children many years ago
> (before they started humming "Spice up your life"), and which sounds like
> it is inspired by some medieval theme, even though maybe not actually
> originating from the middle ages. A rough translation to english would go
> something like this:
>
> Brigde, bridge, eyeglasses
> The clock rings eleven
> The empereror stands on his highest peak
> As white as a man
> As black as a fire
> Danger, danger, warrior
> The death you will suffer
> He who is last
> shall be put in the black cauldron
>
> This rhyme was sung while the kids walked in a ring, going under the raised
> arms of two other kids. At the moment when the rhyme reached "cauldron",
> these two kids would lower their arms, thus trapping one unlucky kid (in
> the "cauldron"), who could expect some sort of "punishment".
>
> Any idea what this could mean, or if there are any equivalent rhymes in
> other countries?
>
> Thomas Tsigaridas
>
>
>
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