Nursery Rhymes, Clapping Games, Jump Rope ditties
 

I find this whole genre of activities fascinating and nostalgic. Did you play these when you were little? What do you remember?

Cinderella
Dressed in yella
Went to meet her handsome fella.
On the way her undies busted
How many people were disgusted?
1, 2, 3, 4 . . . (found in Wikipedia)

I remember:

Take me Out to the Ball Game (clapping game)
Not last night but the night before, 24 robbers . . . (jump rope game)
Mary Mack!

. . . and, how come boys didn't do this stuff? I mean--do boys have an equivalent?

besides dodgeball? ;)

The East End (where my family were from) was replete with off-colour ditties, and we sang them as children, not really knowing they weren't quite suitable.

We had nursery rhymes and skipping games of course, but if I list all the ones I remember we'll be here ages. Better to tell you some you might not hear elsewhere!

We used to sing "When we go down hopping" - East End families used to go and pick hops in Kent as a working holiday, my Dad went once but doesn't remember it, his older brothers did. I've made the rhymes below Cellar-specific, they were often about family - we used to sing about Nanny Doyle. There were no set verses, just numbers and what you could make them rhyme with.

When we go down hopping
We knock at number one
See the Mercenary
Polishing his gun
With an e-i-o, e-i-o, e-i-e-i-o!

When we go down hopping we knock at number too
See old Lumberjimus
Farting on the loo
With an e-i-o, e-i-o, e-i-e-i-o!
etc etc

And:

All of a sudden, a dirty great puddin'
Come flying through the air
Aimed at my brother, it hit my poor Mother
and knocked her off the chair
Now
Ain't it a pity, she's only one titty
To bash against the wall.....

don't ask - I have no idea!

wow! that's very cool, thanks, SG!

I learned a different version of that one...

Cinderella
Dressed in yella
Went upstairs to kiss a fella
Made a mistake
And kissed a snake
How many doctors did it take?
1, 2, 3...

My favourite clapping game:

I had the scarlet fever
I had it very bad
They wrapped me in a blanket
And put me in a van
The van was very shakey
It nearly shook me out
And when I got to the hospital
I heard the children shout
"Oh Mummy, oh Daddy
Please take me away
I've been here for a year or more
And now they make me scrub the floor
Here comes Doctor Cannister
Sliding down the bannister
Half way down he splits his pants
And now he's doing the can-can dance!"
(at this point you stop clapping and stand doing the can-can)

Heh, I'd forgotten about that until today.

anyone know the jumping rhyme that starts, "Seashells, cockleshells . . . " ?

[clapping game]

I asked my mother for fifty cents
To see an elephant jump the fence
He jumped so high
He touched the sky
And never came back 'til the 4th of July

[jump rope song]

Johnny by the ocean
Johnny by the sea
Johnny broke a milk bottle
And blamed it on me!
I told Ma
Ma told Pa
Johnny got a whippin' so
Ha! Ha! Ha!
How many whippin's did Johnny get?

[then the jumper would jump fast - hot peppers! - counting up as high as possible before tangling feet and falling down]

On top of spaghetti
All covered with cheese
I lost my poor meatball
When somebody sneezed

It rolled off the table
And onto the floor
And then my poor meatball
Rolled out of the door.

And another version:

On top of ?????
All covered with sand
I shot my dear teacher
With a red rubber band.

I shot her with pleasure
I shot her with pride
I couldn't have missed her
She's forty feet wide.

did you do jumping/clapping to On top of Spaghetti? We just sang it.

I may have jumped or clapped, on occasion.Don't look at me like I didn't jump and clap. I jumped and clapped a LOT. ;)

Finally remembered all the words to another clapping song:

Down by the river Swanee, Swanee
There sat my boyfriend Johnny, Johnny
Teeth knocked out and hair peroxide-d
Tell by the moon that he's crossed eye-d
Ruffles on his underwear
Flapping in the breezes
Can't you hear
Knocking of his knees-es
Once he's gone he'll never come home
But I love him just the same.

amazing oral history stuff, really. Here's the rolling pin one:

Not last night but the night before,*
24 robbers came knocking at our door
As I went out to let them in,
They hit me over the head with a rolling pin!
1, 2, 3, 4 . . .

*to this day, whenever I hear that phrase in conversation (and it comes up more than you'd think) my brain fills in the rest of the rhyme.

As I was walking down the street one bright and sunny day,
I came upon a billboard that stood along the way.
The sign was torn and tattered from the storm the night before,
The wind and rain had done its work and this is what I saw.

Smoke Coca-Cola cigarettes, chew Wrigley's spearmint beer,
Ken-L-Ration dog food makes your complexion clear.
Simonize your baby with a Hershey's candy bar,
And Texaco's the beauty cream that's used by all the stars.

So, take your next vacation in a brand new Fridgidaire,
Learn to play piano in your winter underwear,
Doctors say that babies should smoke until they're 3,
And people over 65 should bathe in Lipton Tea.

That is brilliant!