Also known as “The Game of All Fours”, this thinly-veiled sexual metaphor has been in circulation for nearly 200 years. It is really a male sexual fantasy of a meeting with a nymphomaniac on a country walk. It has appeared on broadsides from about 1820 onwards. Nearly all the collected versions are from England and it is particularly favoured by the gypsy community, who would be familiar with the card game of the same name.

Notes by Gwilym Davies 20 April 2015