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Games and Songs of American Children (1884):
“Little Sally Waters”
by William Wells Newell

Games and Songs of American Children

Title: “Little Sally Waters”

Medium: nursery rhyme

Publication date: 1884

Publisher: Harper & Publishers
Written by: William Wells Newell


1 characters in this story:

Character
(Click links for info about character
and his/her religious practice, affiliation, etc.)
Religious
Affiliation
Team(s)
[Notes]
Pub. #
app.
Little Sally Waters Little Sally Waters
(lead character)
supporting character non-feature lead character
  [sat in sun, crying for a young man to love] Harper & Publishers 3

"Little Sally Waters" is a nursery rhyme, song, dance, and children's game that has been found in many countries throughout the world. The nursery rhyme dates to at least 1884, which is the earliest version we have found in print, but it was probably in circulation much earlier than that.

The game is explained on page 70 in William Wells Newell's Games and Songs of American Children:

A girl in the centre of the ring seated and covering her face with her hands At the word rise she chooses and salutes any one whom she pleases.

The lyrics for this nursery rhyme/song, as printed in this book, are as follows:

Little Sally Waters,
Sitting in the sun,
Crying and weeping,
For a young man.
Rise, Sally, rise,
Dry your weeping eyes,
Fly to the East,
Fly to the West,
Fly to the one you love best.