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Secret World Of Children's Chants

Nonsense verse old relations say can be quite fun. My Dad taught me as a kid ...

The elephant is a wonderful bird,
it flys from tree to tree.
It builds it's nest from horses feathers
and sings sweet songs to me!

This might explain a lot about my personality...
 
With regards to oillie ollie oxen free I'm sure we used to say that in Dorset too.
When playing tag or some such, if you wanted to step out of the game for a minute, to get a drink for example you had to shout pax or paxies. I guess that comes from the latin but I'm not sure.


My husband is sure that I grew up in the 40's (rather than the 70's and 80's) as we used sing ten german bombers to the tune of ten green bottle.

Ten german bombers flying in the sky
Ten german bombers flying in the sky
And the RAF from (insert name of town) came and shot one down
And the were nine german bomber flying in the sky.
 
Or -

The elephant is a bonny bird
It flits from bough to bough
It makes its nest in a rhubarb tree
And whistles like a cow!
 
More nonsense:

One fine morning in the middle of the night,
Two dumb boys went out for a fight,
Back to back they faced each other
Drew their swords and shot each other,
A deaf policeman heard the noise,
And arrested those two boys.

OK, it's not Edward Lear, but it'll do. Not sure about rhyming each other with each other, however...
 
Peni said:
Beans, beans, the musical fruit!
The more you eat 'em, the more you toot,
The more you toot, the better you feel,
So we eat beans at every meal.
Click to expand...

Beans, beans, good for the heart
The more you eat the more you fart
The more you fart, the more you eat
The more you sit on the toilet seat

Was our version.
 
escargot said:
Or -

The elephant is a bonny bird
It flits from bough to bough
It makes its nest in a rhubarb tree
And whistles like a cow!
Click to expand...

Or even, The Hephelump is a pretty bird, etc.
 
liveinabin said:
Ten german bombers flying in the sky
Ten german bombers flying in the sky
And the RAF from (insert name of town) came and shot one down
And the were nine german bomber flying in the sky.
Click to expand...
We used to sing;

Ten little hand granades sitting on a wall,
Ten little hand granades sitting on a wall,
And if one little hand granade should accidently fall,
There'll be no little hand granades and no bloody wall.
 
children's rhymes

Algy met a bear
The bear met Algy
The bear was bulgy
The bulge was Algy...

and

Once I heard my mother mutter
'Go my son and shut the shutter'
'The shutter's shut' I then did utter
'I cannot shut it any shutter'

and then there were the children's poetry books, which I adored which often contained stuff like this;

If all the world was paper
and all the seas were ink
If all the trees were bread and cheese
What should we have to drink?

and

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride
If turnips were watches, I'd wear one by my side.

and then skipping songs like

Ip dip dash
My blue sash
One a penny
Two a penny
Ip dip dash

and

A monkey came to my shop
I asked him what he wanted
A loaf sir, a loaf sir
Where's your money? In my pocket
Where's your pocket? I forgot it
Please jump OUT!!
 
There were ten little froggies in the bed
And the little one said: (falsetto) "Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out.
There were nine in the bed and the little one said: (etc.)

...There were two in the bed and the little one said:
Roll over! Roll over!
So they both rolled over and one fell out.
There was one in the bed, and the little one said:
"Good night!"

Though according to one girl at day camp the little one suddenly switched to a church tune (Whole World In His Hand) and belted out:

"I've got the whole bed to myself!
I've got the whole big bed to myself!
I've got the whole bed to myself;
I've got the whole bed to myself!"

Lots of counting songs out there. I still sing "Knick knack paddywhack" just 'cause it feels so nice. I s'pose you all know the frog joke?
 
Apart from the ones mentioned here already (many of them), we in the late 80s/early 90s in NE Scotland had one based on that song whose name I can't remember at all... something like "one, a gun, stuck up in her bum, in the bedroom all day, and all of the night" *clap* *clap*... It had about 12 thousand verses too.

We said "tigger" in our school, although I think by about 9 we knew what it was replacing.

Amazing how all these rhymes spread...
 
Peni said:
the little one suddenly switched to a church tune
Click to expand...
Church tunes have traditionally had their words changed by children for decades. Like this one to the tune of Glory Hallelujah;

Charlie was a paratrooper in the RAF,
Charlie was a paratrooper in the RAF,
Charlie was a paratrooper in the RAF,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!

(Chorus)
Glory, glory what a hell of a way to go,
Glory, glory what a hell of a way to go,
Glory, glory what a hell of a way to go,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!

He jumped from twenty thousand feet without a parachute,
He jumped from twenty thousand feet without a parachute,
He jumped from twenty thousand feet without a parachute,
And he ain't gonna jump no more

(repeat chorus)

They scraped him of the tarmack like a pound of strawberry jam,
They scraped him of the tarmack like a pound of strawberry jam,
They scraped him of the tarmack like a pound of strawberry jam,
And he ain't gonna jump no more.

(final chorus)


My Dad always used to enjoy singing his own particular chorus to "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam";

A sunbeam, a sunbeam, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam,
A sunbeam, a sunbeam and a bloody fine sunbeam I'd be.
 
This one to the tune of "My Body Lies Over The Ocean" was always one of my own favourites.

If I had the wings of a sparrow,
And the dirty black arse of a crow,
I'd fly over, (insert town name of your choice, especially if it has two sylables) tommorow,
And shite on the bastards below.

Shite on, shite on, shite on the bastards below, below,
Shite on, shite on, shite on the bastards below.
 
I saw part of this song mentioned earlier on, this is the full version which I remember, you had to do the actions too.

When Susie was a baby, a baby Susie was she went a cry, cry, cry, cry

When Susie was a toddler, a toddler Susie was she went a scribble, scribble, scribble, scribble

When Susie was a child, a child Susie was she went a 'whyyyyyy?
whyyyyyy? whyyyyy? whyyyy?'

When Susie was a teenager, a teenager Susie was she went a 'ooh, ahh, I lost my bra, I left my knickers in me boyfriend's car'

When Susie was a married, a married Susie was she went a 'ahhh ahhh ahhh ahhh" (like sex)

When Susie was a mother, a mother Susie was she went a bake, bake, bake, bake

When Susie was a grandma, a grandma Susie was she went a knit, knit, knit, knit

When Susie was a skeleton a skeleton Susie was she went a ...(nothing)

There was also a skipping song which I remember very vaguely, all I can remember is being terrified of going out on the 7th skip.

V
 
One I heard from my Grandad:

Annie Mariah,
She peed on the fire,
The fire was too hot,
So she peed on the pot,
The pot was too round,
So she peed on the ground,
The ground was too flat,
So she peed on on the cat,
And the cat ran away with a pee on its back.
 
"Glory, glory, Hallelujah," isn't that a wonderful, versatile tune? I don't even know the original camp-meeting version. In America it's "John Brown's Body" (a Union marching song about John Brown, the white man who tried to start a slave uprising - a terrorist, basically, with a worthy goal like many terrorists), which inspired Harriett Beecher Stowe to write "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; he hath trampled out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored"), which is sung, with no sense of irony, on all patriotic occasions. The Battle Hymn is the direct source of a school song which exists in dozens of versions, as:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school.
We have tortured all the teachers and have broken all the rules.
We have broke into the office and have tickled the principal:
Our truth goes marching on!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Teacher hit me with a ruler!
I hit her on the bean with a rotten tangerine
And her teeth came marching out!

Or you can hang the principal from the flagpole of the school, hide behind the door with a loaded .44 and she ain't my teacher no more; or in the attic with a semiautomatic; and so on. Ironically, this is only a little more violent than the religious/patriotic source material.
 
"John Brown's cuddy went splat against the wall"...

:rolleyes:
 
One I remember from being a kid in Farnworth, near Bolton, Manchester...

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Went to bed with nothing on
In the middle of the night
Matthew said "I want a shite"
"It must be done, it must be done"
So out of the window popped his bum
Holy Moses was walking by
And heard a rumble in the sky
He looked up to see the cause
And caught the cause between his jaws.
 
Okay; this one is pretty rancid. Three chums of mine and I used to sing it once a day in elementary school, with all the nudging and giggling you could expect.

To the tune of "My Old Kentucky Home", more or less:

"Oh the sun shines bright on the nipple of her tit,
and she washed her hair in bluebird shit.
Oh she hollered and she screamed and she shit on the floor,
and the gas from her ass shot the cat out the door!"

Then a quick look around to see if we had impressed anyone with our wit, followed by, "Sung by the raggedy-ass...quartet!"

Mind you, I'm not proud of this, but history is history, and sometimes it isn't pretty.
 
Ah, the classics never go out of style

Great, green gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat, itty bitty birdie feet.
Great, green gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts,
And me without a spoon

Btw, this site is rather a nice find for people who are into old folk tunes and ballads. :) (I realize it doesn't quite fit this thread but it's too cool a link to waste)
 
My brother's version of "greasy grimy gopher guts" ended:

French-fried eyeballs floatin' in a pool of blood
And I forgot my spoon -
But I got a straw. (grosses possible inhaling sound to mimic someone with a straw and bad manners)
 
Reading another thread reminded me of this one from Junioor School:

'Old Napoleon Bonaparte,
Walked behind a horse and cart,
The horse in front,
Did a trump,
And blew Napoleon's bones apart.'
 
I don't know the spelling, but this was the rhyme for choosing people (like eenie meenie miney mo), that the girls at my primary school used (it used to run through my head at night and turned me into a primary school insomniac.

Eachy peachy, play a plum
Day-o
Dominacki
Dominacki
Sugaracki
Um-plum Scoosh!

There wa also my pal's version of 'My Bonnie' that I got a talking to as a small child for singing at a family get-together.

My bonnie lies over the ocean,
My bonnie lies over the sea.
My Daddy laid over my Mammy,
And that's how they went and had me!
 
Quazi Washboard said:
This one to the tune of "My Body Lies Over The Ocean" was always one of my own favourites.

If I had the wings of a sparrow,
And the dirty black arse of a crow,
I'd fly over, (insert town name of your choice, especially if it has two sylables) tommorow,
And shite on the bastards below.

Shite on, shite on, shite on the bastards below, below,
Shite on, shite on, shite on the bastards below.
Click to expand...

that one is still sang in certain football grounds these days... with little variation.
 
<stops lurking and emerges from the shadows>

Right. I've been lurking for years, and this thread has finally tempted me out of my dark little hole to post.

<waves at people>

We had a clapping rhyme at my school that the older girls taught the younger, who in their turn taught it to their juniors. When I learned it, it was simply a garbled collection of syllables sung to the tune of "Ging Gang Gooley". It went:

Om...
Pom...
Pey on the dey on th' 'lastic om pom pey,
Har-mon-ay
On th' dairies so far ley
On the dairies push me!

...with the "push" being accompanied by the action.

Did anyone else know a version of this, and does anyone know what the words were originally?
 
Oo! Oo!

Jack and Jill
Went up the hill,
To have a little fun.

But silly Jill forgot her Pill,
And now they have a son.
 
Another! Another!

More parody:

Yankee Doodle
Went to Town.
Riding on his Mother.

Every time they hit a bump,
He had a baby Brother.
 
A blast from the past...

Samson was a strongman, his brother was as well,
Samson went to heaven and his brother went to,
Helensburgh castle, standing on a rock,
If you want to get there you have to show your,
Cocktail rum, two and six a glass,
Don't slide down the banister in case you cut your,
Ask no questions, tell no lies,
Shut your mouth and you'll catch no flies.

Oh the poetry... :roll:
 
...and...

Skinny malinky long legs,
Big banana feet,
Went to the pictures,
Could'nae find a seat,
When the picture started,
Skinny malinky farted,
Skinny malinky long legs
Big banana feet.


I think it's about time that I got off this thread :lol:
 
Surely
When the picuture ended
Skinny Malinky bended
..?

Malinky = Russian for "small" by the way.
 
" Down by the river by the hanky-pank
where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
I said ee – aa – oo
Your Momma stinks and so do you.
Michael Jackson had caffeine
Now he's drinking Billy Jean.
Billy Jean got the flu
Now he's drinking Mountain Dew.
Mountain Dew fell off the mountain
Now he's drinking from a fountain.
Fountain broke now he's drinking plain old ordinary Coke."
 
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