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MICHIGAN FOOD & BEES BY A. D. P. VAN BUREN
The' miller he lived close by the mill, And the wheel went round without his will; With a hand in the hopper and one in the bag, As the wheel goes round he cries out, grab. "
At the word "grab" the young man in the ring seized hold of a young lady's arm, while her partner caught the arm of the young lady ahead of him, and her partner seized the arm of the young lady still ahead of him; thus they caught or stole each others' girls while hurriedly marching about the room, making a very lively and amusing confusion. When the change was made, perhaps some two or three times over, there was still an odd one left, who went into the ring, and the play began again, and was repeated as often as they desired.
When the party wished something still livelier, "hurly-burly" never failed to awaken and amuse the dullest. In this, two went around and gave each one, secretly something to do. For instance, this girl was to pull some young man's hair; another was to pull a nose or tweak an ear, or trip some one; such a young man was to measure off so many yards of tape, or make "a double-and-twisted lordy-massy" with some young lady, and so on to the end of the chapter. When all had been told what to do, the master of ceremonies cried out, "hurly-burly!" Every one sprang to the floor and hastened to do as they had been instructed. This created a scene of a mixed and ludicrous character and was most properly named "hurly-burly. " ¦ It would seem rather odd to find such recreations among the young people in the country about Battle Creek to-day; because the young people of to-day have so many other sources of amusement which those of the olden times did not have, and for a lack of something better they enjoyed the best they had. Many of those young people are old gray-headed men and women now, and probably look back upon these recreations with a sigh for those they loved in the day when they went pioneering fifty years ago.
Michigan
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