If asked "Show me your partner," he or she picks a friend to join him or her in the circle. The girl or boy is then asked, "Show me your motion." At this point the child in the center does his or her favorite dance. Players form a ring by holding hands, then one girl or boy goes into the middle of the ring and starts skipping or walking around to the song.
“Brown Girl in the Ring is a children's ring game thought to have originated in Jamaica. That song is included in the book Calypso Songs Of The West Indies by Massie Patterson and Lionel Belasco (1943). That same discussion thread but a different post (comment) includes a listing for a Jamaican song entitled "See Ma Little Brown Boy?". [posted by Q (Frank Staplin) on "Songbook Indexing: Calypso/Caribbean Songbooks" and edit., 1904 (Dover reprints), The Folk-lore Society, LV. However, the title "There's a black boy in a ring" is included in a list of "ring tunes" (circle songs) in this 1904 book "Jamaican Song And Story: Annancy Stories, Digging Sings, Ring Tunes, and Dancing Tunes. The title "Brown Girl In The Ring" is routinely given for this game song. The Wikipedia page for "Brown Girl In The Ring" (song) whose link is given immediately below notes that "Jamaican poet, actress and singer Louise Bennett recorded the song in 1957 on an album of Children's Jamaican Songs and Games, re-released by Smithsonian Folkways (2007)". ĮARLY VERSIONS OF "BROWN GIRL IN THE RING" Those examples, along with a different Boney M clip of this song, are showcased on this 2017 pancocojams post. I also removed two links to other examples of "Brown Girl In The Ring" game performances. I embedded another video of that same performance. The version of the Boney M video that was originally showcased in this post is no longer available (as of March 5, 2017). The content of this post is presented for folkloric and entertainment purposes. This post also provides the text of that version, as well as comments about the "Brown Girl In The Ring" game song. This post features a video of Boney M singing the Caribbean children's song "Brown Girl In The Ring".