Jingle

“ Rhyme and rhythm seem to furnish to the young mind an easy and effective method of relating and expressing facts ordinarily dissociated from anything of interest to a child. As long as such facts are presented to the young in home and school, the jingle will prove of service to teachers and parents, and of interest and value to children. In addition, some of these jingles will delight the young merely because of their rhythmical quality, while others will afford amusement because of the humorous interpretation they put on many of the events that are daily experienced by children everywhere. ”

“ To meet the ever-dreaded King
To whom all lives must pay.
Concerning this jingle Elbert Hubbard said: "Dear Little Friend: This is your masterpiece of word painting descriptive of courage, anguish and man's helplessness." ”

“ We all looked very gay in our new or clean clothing, and the mules pranced along, shaking their heads like a band of animal performers delighting in sweet sounds, for, fastened around their necks were some pounds of music in the shape of large iron bells, suspended from tinkling brass chains, which occasioned together a very harmonious jingle, not so soft, perhaps, as an Æolian harp, but which, considering our situation, was quite as striking in effect. ”

“ But nature's rarest gift to her was her voice, a mellow contralto, whose skillful modulations stole refreshingly to the senses amid the sharp clash of strained and higher tones, the castanet-like jingle which most American belles ring unmercifully into the ears of their auditors. ”

“ It makes an effect that is fantastic out of objects that are familiar; and it makes a picture that is at once incredible and unmistakable. But it is yet more tenable, and here more to the point,{2} that this nursery rhyme is emphatically a rhyme. Both the lilt and the jingle are just right for their purpose, and are worth whole libraries of elaborate literary verse for children. And the best proof of its vitality is that the satirist himself has unconsciously echoed the jingle even in making the joke. The metre of that nineteenth-century satire is the metre of the nursery rhyme. ”

“ Old Trinder had not sent to the station for me, and it was pelting rain, so I had to drive seven miles in a thing that only exists south of the Limerick Junction, and is called a “jingle”. A jingle is a square box of painted canvas with no back to it, because, as was luminously explained to me, you must have some way to get into it, and I had to sit sideways in it, with my portmanteau bucking like a three-year-old on the seat opposite to me. ”

“ At the jingle of the sleighbells dance off lighter than a feather,—
How the jingle,
An’ the ringle,
Raises lowest spirits high!
Hark! the tingle,
Jingle, tingle!
As the cutter dashes by!
When the moon is bright a-shinin’ an’ a-sparkle is the snow,
’Tis the plainest invitation just invitin’ one to go
For a rollic an’ a frolic ’hind a pair of prancin’ steeds,—
The very kind of tonic that a tired body needs,—
How the jingle,
An’ the ringle,
In the crisp an’ frosty air,
An’ the tingle,
Jingle, tingle,
Hypnotizes anxious care! [Pg 40]
E’en the stars are all a-twinkle! ”

“ As a natural outgrowth of the acquaintance with old words comes the power to decipher new words. The phonic lessons are well graded, and the subject is [iv] properly subordinated to thought getting. The appeal made to the primitive, æsthetic enjoyment of the jingle, with simple melody and captivating rhythm, as the phonics are presented, is followed by the gratification of finding them contributory to the ability to read the classic rimes which follow. ”

“ On all these parts a number of very small bells are hung, which the performer causes to jingle, by shaking the instrument, held vertically, up and down. It is only used in military bands, and more for show than use. ”

“ CHAPTER XV. BELL RHYMES. The jingle of the bells in nursery poetry is certainly the prettiest of all the features in the poetical fictions of Baby-land.
The oft-repeated rhyme of—
"Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross, [K]
To see a fair [L] lady upon a white horse;
Bells [M] on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She will have music wherever she goes,"
has a charm with every child. ”

“ Every person who twists this instrument in passing is supposed to obtain credit in heaven for one or more prayers inscribed on the post, the number being graduated according to the vigour of the performer's devotion, and the number of revolutions effected. The jingle of the small iron rings is believed to secure the attention of the deity to the invocation of the devout, and the greater the noise, the more certain of its being listened to. ”

“ He likes to be trotted, sung to in a monotonous, sing-song fashion; he enjoys clapping his hands in time to some nursery jingle or ditty. Long after this rhythmic period of babyhood is past children like to hear stories that have the rhythmic, repetitional quality, or some jingle introduced that stimulates rhythm. Predominantly is this rhythmic quality found in Mother Goose and folk lore. Children, even of kindergarten age, take the greatest delight in repeating and singing over and over again such rhythmic ditties as:
[126] ”

“ Any adult who may read these jingles should be informed that many of them were written when Winifred was hardly more than a babe. And all of them were dashed off without effort to achieve poetic merit. One characteristic that makes them of interest is their spontaneity. As an illustration of the readiness with which Winifred can construct a jingle, I may say that when she was twelve years of age, I happened one day to read her the following essay on Bones written by a pupil:
"Bones is the framework of the body. If I had no bones in me, I should not have so much shape as I have now. ”

“ Jin"gle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Jingled (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Jingling (?) .] To cause to give a sharp metallic sound as a little bell, or as coins shaken together; to tinkle.
The bells she jingled, and the whistle blew.
Pope.
Jin"gle, n. 1. A rattling, clinking, or tinkling sound, as of little bells or pieces of metal.
2. That which makes a jingling sound, as a rattle.
If you plant where savages are, do not only entertain them with trifles and jingles, but use them justly. ”

“ Thus in prose we speak of ``near and dear,'' ``high and dry,'' ``health and wealth.'' But the initial form of jingle is much more common—``safe and sound,'' ``thick and thin,'' ``weal or woe,'' ``fair or foul,'' ``spick and span,'' ``fish, flesh, or fowl,'' ``kith and kin.'' The poets of nearly all times and tongues have not been slow to seize upon the emphasis which could thus be produced. ”

“ As will be seen, these phonic jingles contain words that are alike in symbol as well as in sound. It is confusing to the child at this early stage of the work to have before his eyes different symbols for the same sound, as is the case, for instance, when he has high and sky to rime with I, or see and me to rime with sea. ”

“ The hoop is cut away at intervals to allow the insertion of small pairs of metal plates called jingles. The head, when struck by the hand, gives forth a treble drum-like sound without definite pitch. The jingles may be trilled by shaking the instrument without striking the head. The use of the tambourine in the orchestra is confined mainly to the production of oriental effects, though the jingles alone are sometimes employed in connection with other percussion instruments in music of a violent or barbaric nature. ”

“ And put it in the oven for Tommy and me.”
“Intry, mintry, cutry corn,
Apple seed and apple thorn,
Wire, brier, limber, lock.
Three geese in a flock.
One flew East and one flew West,
And one flew over the black-bird’s nest.”
The appeal for the child in the case of all such jingles is a bodily, instinctive one. This instinctive interest in rhythm is the beginning of bodily expression. The repetition of sounds, even though they are meaningless, makes the child feel the story. It gets into his muscles, so to speak, if we may put a psychological fact into physiological terms. ”

“ Those of us who are familiar with these periodicals—either weeklies or monthlies—are well aware that the verses they offer may be easily divided into three classes. First, mere rhymes and jingles, intended for very little readers, and with which it would be simple churlishness to quarrel. They do not aspire to be poetry, they are sometimes very amusing, and they have an easy swing that is pleasant alike to young ears and old. ”

“ Jingling.—The game should be played on soft grass inside a large circle, enclosed with ropes. The players should not exceed ten. All except one of the nimblest, who is the jingler, have their eyes blindfolded with handkerchiefs. ”

“ Upside down.
The Ice in the Punch.
The wail of the 'cello is soft, sweet, and low;
There are strains of romance in the thrumming banjo.
The violin's note—feel it float in your ear;
And the harp makes one fancy that angels are near.
The voice of a young girl can reach to the heart;
The song of the baritone—well, it is art.
The flute and the lute in gavotte—the guitar
In soft serenade—how entrancing they are!
But to all the mad millions
Who dance at cotillons
There's naught like the clink and the clank and the crunch
Of the ice in the punch. ”

“ At times a secondary music rises; the cataract seems to seize its own rhythm and sing it over again, so that the ear and soul are roused by a double vibration. This is some effect of the wind, causing echoes to the thundering anthem. It is very sublime, giving the effect of a spiritual repetition through all the spheres. ”

“ In the matter of hymn-melodies an unbarred rhythm has very decided advantages over a barred rhythm. In the former the melody has its own way, and dances at liberty with the voice and sense; in barred time it has its accents squared out beforehand, and makes steadily for its predetermined beat, plumping down, as one may say, on the first note of every bar whether it will or no. ”

“ An expressive recitative is followed by a single movement (allegro, F minor) in incessant agitation, the almost uninterrupted triplets of the stringed instruments giving it the character of trembling unrest. The voice part is very striking by reason of its decided rhythm and frequent dissonant intervals; but it is mostly declamatory, and there is no appearance of a cantilene proper; the wind instruments give effect to the strong accents. The whole song pursues its rapid course like a gloomy nocturne, and dies away at last in a dull moan. ”

“ Before continuing Left Wing’s story, giving something more of the scope of his adventures, perhaps the best further introduction will be the exact record of some of his songs in the order in which he gave them. Wing had practically no variation in his tunes and technique of singing. A high-pitched voice, varied with occasional low tones, was the most important part of his repertoire. But what variation in words and scenes, phrases and verses, the recording of which would exhaust the time and endurance of the listener and call for an ever-recording instrument! ”

“ Again, the continual slurring of the voice from one tone to another produces upon us the impression of out-of-tune singing. Then, the custom of singing out of doors, to the accompaniment of the drum, and against the various noises of the camp, and the ever-restless wind, tending to strain the voice and robbing it of sweetness, increases the difficulty of distinguishing the music concealed within the118 noise,—a difficulty still further aggravated by the habit of pulsating the voice, creating a rhythm within the rhythm of the song. ”

“ Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, and Timbre (or tone-color) .
179. Rhythm is the regular recurrence of accent. In music it is more specifically the regular recurrence of groups of accented and non-accented beats (or pulses) —according to some specified measure-system. Since rhythm implies continuity, there must usually be at least two such measure groups in order to make musical rhythm possible. (See p. 44, Sec. 97.)
180. A melody is a succession of single tones of various pitches so arranged that the effect of the whole will be unified, coherent, and pleasing to the ear. ”

“ There is a whole new set of sensations when one enters the softly lighted, dim white interior, with the echo repeating each word like the response of a chanted service—a single note from flute or guitar a whole theme. ”

“ And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. 19 And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. 20 In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us. 21 So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. ”

“ A peal, in technical language, is a performance on the bells of more than 5000 changes ; and it occupies the ringers a considerable period of time, generally more than three hours. But a touch or flourish on the bells, which is the ordinary method of notifying any joyful occurrence, is round ringing varied by changes at the option of the ringers, or according to the custom of the belfry. It is usual in the first instance to set the bells ; that is, to throw every bell, with its mouth upward, in a stationary position in the frame. ”

“ When the little girls have passed before the curtain, a wood-wind weaves a richer note into the flute melody; then the two blend into one song. But as the wood-wind grows in mellowness and richness, the flute gradually dies away into a secondary theme and the wood-wind alone evolves the melody of a new song. ”

“ Thus the variation in tone which singers produce by a clever management of the breath, the glide when two notes are sung to a vowel sound, the hard sound of an initial consonant, the vibrato, and numerous other effects are all possible on this most human instrument. However, as far as gliding is concerned, the 'cello has a big range, and far more is expected from the instrumentalist, in the way of leaping to and from notes at extreme distances, than is ever expected from a single voice. ”