Regency Pastimes: Wash My Lady’s Dresses

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WASH MY LADY'S DRESSES This somewhat resembles a dance Two stand face to face each laying her right hand upon the left hand of the other They swing their arms slowly and gracefully first to the right side then to the left three times each way singing Wash my lady's dresses Wash my lady's dresses They then part each one places the palms of her hands together and moves them up and down three times to imitate the motion of rinsing clothes singing all the time Rinse them out Rinse them out The next motion is much prettier They take hold of hands as in the beginning the arms on one side are raised so as to form an arch each one stoops and passes the head un der this brings them back to back The arms on the other side are then raised and the heads passed through this brings
them again face to face This should be done very rapidly singing all the time Wring them out Wring them out After this motion has been repeated three times they stop sud denly and clap hands thrice singing And hang them on the bushes Where this is played by several couples who keep time with each other it is very graceful and animated Child, L. M. (1833). The Girl’s Own Book. Ireland: Clark Austin & Company.

By the Victorian era, this seems to have evolved into the Mulberry Bush game:

THE MULBERRY BUSH The players all take hands and dance round singing Here we go round the mulberry bush the mulberry bush the mulberry bush here we go round the mulberry bush so early in the morning Then they pretend to wash their dresses singing This is the way we wash our clothes wash our clothes wash our clothes this is the way we wash our clothes so early in the morning Then they go round again sing ing Here we go round the mulberry bush & C they then wring and iron their clothes saying the same words The last is Thus we play when our work is done so early in the morning When they say this the players must dance or play in whatever way they think best Mackarness, M. A. P. (1888). The Young Lady’s Book: A Manual of Amusements, Exercises, Studies, and Pursuits. United Kingdom: George Routledge & Sons.

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