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Songs of Childhood, 1923
Most of these are very simple. Sometimes it’s nice to just put yourself into a ‘simple’ thing. That is, put aside all the worries of everyday life, and just imagine yourself as one of these children making snowballs and having a jolly time!
SNOWBALLS
O-ho! O-ho!
The feathery snow is falling.
Come out! and shout!
O-ho! for a gay snowballing!
The following little bit of folklore is in Chatterbox, 1912. This is a big fat book full of all kinds of things. It seems odd to me that, although this book was printed in Boston, there are tons of things about England in it. Anyway, I thought it would be pretty nice for Folklore Thursday!
MYSTERIOUS CHRISTMAS BELLS
There are many pretty old beliefs in connection with the ringing of bells at Christmas; for instance, in certain mining districts, the miners who are working underground in the coal-mines during the festive season are often heard to declare that on Christmas Eve bells can be heard merrily pealing in the most distant parts of the mine.
There is a valley near Raleigh, in Nottinghamshire, which is supposed to have been caused by an earthquake some hundreds of years ago, and buried in the ruins underground lies an old church; the old people send the children out to the valley on Christmas morning, telling them that if they stoop down and listen they will hear the bells of the buried church ringing for Christmas.
In Berwickshire there was at one time, and may be at present for aught I know, a popular belief that hidden bells could be heard ringing in the ground on Christmas Eve.
At Kilgriniol, near Blackpool, the inhabitants positively assert that the bells of a hidden church may be heard by any one who bends his ear to the ground at Christmas. G. D. Lynch
“Sometimes it’s nice to just put yourself into a ‘simple’ thing. That is, put aside all the worries of everyday life, and just imagine yourself as one of these children making snowballs and having a jolly time!” Hear, hear!
The bit about the bells ringing underground is odd, but delightful.
Yes! It’s spooky folklore. I never heard that one before.