POOR JENNY IS A . . .

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 138, 6 August 1941, Page 5

POOR JENNY IS A . . .

MERRIE ENGLAND IN N-Z. whakatane; school incident The same fate which gave the average newspaperman his innate sense of curiosity, or to use the more vuilgar term 'nosiness' was responsible for a local sleuth pulling his car up aind stopping a few minutes to enjoy the simple, happy proceedings which were taking a natural and unrehearsed performance on; the sun-lit green fronting the Whakatane Primary School. Twenty little girls were intent upon their own interpretation of 'Poor Jenny is a weeping,' and as the scribe, stopped his engine and became interested 1 , his thoughts started to wander back to fardistant days, now almost forgot-, ten in the hurly-burly of commercial life, local controversies, rows, disputes, court tangles and social engagements. Simple and carefree, the old game was played as children have played it down the ages, only the 'Bright Summer's Day' happened in this instance to have been a winter's one, which drew speckled and orange shadows on the grass upon which they danced. And the hardened old witness felt something very softening under the influence of the little world of childhood innocence and harmony which was laid bare. Million Miles Frrm War. Nothing could disturb the completeness of the seem 1 . All jarring thoughts of conflict ok of war were delegated to oblivion. There was no room or desire, to accommodate their destructivcncss. War was a million miles away, so that even its loudest reverberations failed to penetrate the quiet happiness of the picturesque little circle. 'Pray stand up and choose one! On with the dainty little nurseryroom ballad, for it is pleasing to note chat the game is almost as ancient as the English race. Long before St. Clement Danes, bells rani* out that oranges and lemons were ready for distribution to the little London boys and girls, 'Poor Jenny is a Weeping' was played up and down the marches of Merrie England. It belongs to the 'Johnny so Long at the Fair" vintage, and ha? a singularity all of its own. In Some of the older Chronicles which were written soon after the Con-, quest, there is mention of "Ye Childe's gamine of ye Weepinye Jennye,' so it is quite within reason to * suppose that in Caxton's time the little children of England played and loved the round. That mean's that it has been known in England for well over 700 years.

Played in' the 'Stuart' Period'. The game is mentioned even iti Tudor times, but there are innumerable cases of it being recorded dur. ing the reign of the Stuart Kings. It was even listed as one of the recognised pastimes for the children in the Royal Nurseries. So we car form mental pictures of the daintily dressed, little men and maidens playing and singing about 'Poor Jenny' during the wars or the Roundheads and the Cavaliers. Strangely enough the Puritan era, under the Commonwealth, frowned upon all types of inncccnt sport as tawdry and unbecoming, so the simple game was delegated to the background. It took the Restoration to bring the happy nursery rhymes back again. From then on 'Poor Jenny .. . .' grew in popularity, until in the torian era no children's, gathering was complete without it. Transplanted' in New Zealand. Kindergartens when first introduced enlisted the game as part of the necessary carriculum for simple pastime and occupation. But we find it has taken so firm a root that no school child can forget it, and no adult can look back upon its sim- { plicity without a twinge of the heart. Perhaps that was why the writer, stopped so long to ruminate upon the possibilities of this article. Perhaps that was why he took stock of the laughing performers who re- j mained, as blissfully unconscious of his gaze as they were of the story which lay behind their dancing. Truly the old game was transplanted in a new land, for beneath the frowning headland crested with ancient fortifications of early Maori. vnims; folk of the modern world played games of the old. The blending was perfect for the little ones who clasped hands and formed the 'Continued in next column)

ring included the fair dimpled faces of the pure Saxon stock, the freckle:* of the Northern auburns, the brown haired continental of Norman strain and the Polynesian features of the Maori. All were New Zealandborn, except one little evacuee from the Old Country. Thus from a simple game on the Whakatane school playing ground was born an incident which for unquestioning harmony and understanding might set an example for the whole world. For it lends substance to the belief that only from such simple things as 'Poor Jenny is a Weeping' can spring the true spirit of toleration ■vhich will eventually bring peace to the peoples of earth.