We ve come to see Georgina, Georgina, Georgina, We ve come to see Georgina, how s she to-day? She s upstairs ironing, ironing, ironing, She s upstairs ironing, and can t get away. [Then the two verses are repeated-- O very well, ladies. We ve come to see Georgina. Then follows--] She was coming downstairs with a basin of water, and she fell down and broke her toe, and she s dead. And what shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? And what shall we dress her in? Dress her in red. Red for the soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, Red for the soldiers, and that shan t do. [Then follow blue for the sailors, black for the mourners, and finally--] What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? What shall we dress her in? Dress her in white. White for the dead people, dead people, dead people, White for the dead people, and that will do. --Auchencairn, Kirkcudbright (A. C.
(_c_) This game is played very generally throughout the country, and I have other versions collected from Earls Heaton (Mr. H. Hardy), Barnes (A. B. Gomme), Cambridge (Mrs. Haddon), Hampshire (Miss Mendham), Frodingham (Miss Peacock), Cowes, Isle of Wight (Miss E. Smith), Sulhampstead, Berks (Miss Thoyts), and Platt, Kent (Miss Burne). These versions are so similar to the Hanwell version, with the exception of the Very well, ladies, that it is needless to print them in full; special differences are noted hereafter. In some places the game is said in a sing-song manner. Some of the versions differ from the general type in two ways--first, in the method of playing; secondly, in the wording of the verses.
There is so little variety in the different versions that it appears unnecessary to give more than one here. In the many versions sent the only variants are: In Sporle, Norfolk, Miss Matthews says the game is sometimes called _Ivy_ Bush, or _Ivory_ Bush; and Mr. C. C. Bell, of Epworth, sends a version, Here we go round the Mulberry _Tree_ In Notts it is called Holly Bush (Miss Winfield). A version given in the _Folk-lore Record_, iv. 174, is called the _Gooseberry_ Bush, and Halliwell (_Popular Nursery Rhymes_, p. 224) records a game, the Bramble Bush. The bush, he says, is often imaginative, but is sometimes represented by a child in the centre. Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, pp.