Children's rhymes (1969); Old Maid Lemonade (1878)

Wed Feb 9 06:59:38 UTC 2005

NEW YORK FOLKLORE QUARTERLY, vol. 26, no. 3, Sept. 1970
FROM ADVICE TO LAMENTS ONCE AGAIN:
NEW YORK AUTOGRAPH ALBUM VERSE: 1850-1900

W. K. McNEIL

Pg. 168:
The two most frequently appearing variants were:

Remember me ever.
Forget me never.
And think of your friend
Forever and ever.
(NOTES: inscription by Jesse Jones dated 1882--ed.)

and

Rmember me early
Remember me late.
Remember me ever,
Your old school-mate.

Pg. 185:
to those which were obviously intended to provoke laughter:

All that is made by an old maid
Is a pretty good glass of lemonade.
(NOTES: inscription by Dave dated June 2, 1878. Almost made in the shade! Maybe it was just old Minute Maid Lemonade--ed.)

Pg. 189:
to the inexplicable:

Salt is good,
Cake is better,
But not as good,
As red hot pepper.
(NOTES: Manuscript, autograph album of Julia Van Ness Clark of Ithaca, New York covering the years 1866-1868, inscription by S. V. R. Hayward. It's not inexplicable! It's an early citation for the popular jump-rope rhyme! Maybe NYFQ needed an editor--ed.)

Pg. 195:
Unquestionably the most popular of the formulae rhymes was:

YYUR
YYUB
ICUR
YY4me.

Translated this reads:

Too wise you are
Too wise you be
I see you are
Too wise for me.

--------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK FOLKLORE QUARTERLY, vol. 25, no. 3, Sept. 1969
Pg. 221:

SOME RHYMES, GAMES, AND SONGS FROM CHILDREN IN THE NEW ROCHELLE AREA

BARBARA CASTAGNA

The following is a listing of a variety of rhymes, songs, games and riddles collected in New ROchelle, New York, in April, 1969, from children between the ages of three and twelve.
(...)
(Jump Rope Rhymes--ed.)
----&--- sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First comes loves
Then comes marriage
Then comes ___ pushing a baby carriage

Pg. 224:
Lemon and lime
Said to be on time
(the leader does 1)
2, 3, 4, 5,...

Pg. 225:
House, house, house for sale
The man upstairs is drinking gin
And drinking gin is a very bad sin
So I moved out and _Debbie_ moved in.

Pg. 227 (Counting-Out Rhymes):
Ink-a-dink, a bottle of ink
The cork fell out and you stink.
Not because you're dirty.
Not because you're clean.
Just because you kissed a girl behind a magazine.

Pg. 228 (Jeer or Teasing Rhymes):
_Tony_ balogna
Full of macaroni

_Joanie_ is a dope
She ate a piece of soap.
Bubbles here, bubbles there
Bubbles in her underwear.

Suck your toe
And go to Mexico

Pg. 229:
Baby, baby
Stick your head in gravy.
Wash it out with bubble gum (Or "kerosene"--ed.)
And send it to the Navy.

I see London
I see France
I see (_somebody's_) underpants.
Not so big, not so small
Just the size of a cannon ball.

(Autograph Rhymes--ed.)

Roses are red
Lincoln is dead
His cabin is empty
And so is your head

Violets are blue
And I turned red
As soon as I saw you nude in bed

Pg. 230:
Can't think
Brain dumb
Inspiration won't come

Bad ink
Bad pen
Best wishes, Amen

Pg. 231 (Songs):
Ten whole pounds of greasy grimy gopher's guts
Mutilated monkey's meat
Itsy bitsy birdies feet
Five whole pounds of all purpose porpoise pus
All in Mulligan's stew
Luckily I forgot the spoons
But we have s-t-r-a-w-s.

Jingle bells
Santa smells
Fifteen miles away
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a broken Chevrolet.

Pg. 233:
Hurray! for horse manure
I got it from the sewer
Horse manure is fun to eat
We gave it up for trick or treat
Hurray! for horse manure.

Pg. 234:
Glory, glory hallelujah
Teacher hit me with a ruler
Hid behind the door with a loaded forty-four
And the teacher taught no more.

Glory, glory hallelujah
The teacher hit me with a ruler
The ruler turned red
And the teacher dropped dead
His truth is marching on.

My eyes have seen the glory
Of the burning of the school
We have tortured all the teachers
We have broken all the rules
We have tried to kill the principal
Tomorrow afternoon
His truth is marching on.

(Circle Game--ed.)

Little Sally Saucer
Sitting in the water
Rise, Sally, rise
Wipe off your eyes Sally.

(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
SOUNDS OF A SUMMER CAMP
HERBERT MITGANG.. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Jun 14, 1959. p. X17 (1 page):
In _THe SOunds of Camp_, counselors and kids do the talking. For example, the waterfront man calls out a "buddy check," as hundreds of children are swimming. The made-up lyrics that sweep a camp are included; here it is something called "Great Green Globs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts."

(It's from Folkways. Maybe this or _Songs of Camp_ has "I must, I must, I must increase my bust" and other classics?--ed.)

(AMERICAN PERIODICAL SERIES ONLINE)
Merry's Monthly Chat with his Friends.; ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN APRIL NO. ANAGRAMS. ENIGMA. CONUNDRUMS. ENIGMA. PUZZLE. CONUNDRUM. ENIGMA. ENIGMA BY E. A. ROOT, BINGHAMPTON. CHARADES. ENIGMA BY C. M. S., PROVIDENCE. ENIGMA BY HENRY FULLER, TRENTON. CONUNDRUMS. ENIGMA. PUZZLE. ANAGRAMS BY L. C., OF CINCINNATI. CONUNDRUM. PUZZLE. CONUNDRUMS BY LIZZIE. ARITHMETICAL QUESTION, BY ANNIE.
Merry's Museum and Parley's Magazine (1852-1857). Boston: Jan 1, 1853. Vol. 25; p. 162 (3 pages)
Second page:
PUZZLE.
"Y y u r y y u b I c u r y y for me."

Merry's Monthly Chat with his Friends.; CONUNDRUMS. PUZZLE. ANAGRAMS BY GEORGE OF SYRACUSE. CONUNDRUM.
Merry's Museum and Parley's Magazine (1852-1857). Boston: Jan 1, 1853. Vol. 25; p. 195 (2 pages)
Second page:
To Mary's puzzle, which is, "too wise you are, too wise you be, I see you are too wise for me."

(Something is wrong. These are not both January 1, 1853--ed.)