This wonderful collection of Dublin children’s games, rhymes, pranks, and other forms of folklore was originally published in 1975 and reprinted in 1984. Its author, Eilís Brady (1927-2007), was a member of the editorial staff of Ireland’s Department of Education. Brady gave a significant collection of Irish children’s folklore to the former Department of Irish Folklore at University College in Dublin; this material now belongs to the college’s National Folklore Collection.
One of the book’s strengths is its openness to the many forms that childlore takes. Rather than concentrating on a few genres, the author includes many expressive forms, some of which—such as “Good v. Evil” and “Simple Pleasures”—do not often get included in children’s folklore anthologies. Her descriptions of children’s play are both highly specific and pleasantly readable. Like Iona and Peter Opie, she helps the reader understand the complexity, exuberance, and durability of children’s traditions.
In her introduction, Brady describes the transition from “the Dublin of the tenements and the back-streets” to modern suburbs, such as her own housing estate, “The Park,” in which roads far from traffic are “safer for playing games than the city centre where the families come from” (xiii-xiv). She notes that small changes in folk speech have resulted from this transition; terms such as “front parlour” and “back drawing-room” have yielded to “sitting-room” and “front garden,” but children’s lore has remained as popular as ever.
Since Brady’s years of living in The Park began when she was a child and continued through her adulthood, her understanding of the area’s childlore is extensive. The book includes many black-and-white photographs of children playing together in a variety of settings. These photographs would be even more valuable if they were identified by date; nonetheless, they bring the author’s written descriptions to life quite effectively. Similarly, her descriptions of games and other kinds of childlore are not identified by date or date range. She explains, “I have set down here the games and rhymes which I have played myself in The Park and which are still being played there. I have also included those games which are no longer played and new ones which have been accepted by the children and become part of their repertoire” (xv). In some cases, such as a rhyme about Nelson’s Pillar, a landmark that was “blown up in 1966” (83), she specifies duration, but in most instances she presents her material as relatively consistent twentieth-century childlore.
Some of the longest game records appear in the “Portraits of Life” section, which includes singing games played by children standing in a circle or in parallel lines. “The Roman Soldiers,” for example, involves three pages of dialogue between Roman and Irish soldiers. As in her accounts of other singing games, Brady includes a transcript of the game’s music. This transcript adds an important dimension to our understanding of the game.
For those of us who want to look up specific forms of children’s folklore, the classified index and index of first lines offer helpful guidance. We are fortunate to have such a well-organized, detailed, and delightful study of twentieth-century Dublin childlore.
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[Review length: 519 words • Review posted on January 23, 2012]