Barley-Break
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Barley-Break is an old English country game frequently mentioned by the poets of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was played by three pairs, each composed of a man and a woman, who were stationed in three bases or plots, contiguous to each other. The couple occupying the middle base, called hell or prison, endeavoured to catch the other two, who, when chased, might break to avoid being caught. If one was overtaken, he and his companion were condemned to hell. From this game was taken the expression "the last couple in hell," often used in old plays.
The use of the phrase in Thomas Morley's madrigal Now is the Month of Maying probably means something similar to the idiom "roll in the hay".
Middleton and Rowley's The Changeling also uses the idea of the last couple in hell - "Catch there, catch the last couple in hell!", which has later thematic implications.
Barley Break is also the name of a ladies' traditional dance team, based in Grimsby.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- Discussion of Morley madrigal
