Children's folklore from Hoosier Folklore, Midwest Folklore

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

Ben Zimmer writes:

Washington Post, Nov 28, 1915, p. E20
Adam and Eve and Pinch me all went out to swim -- Adam and Eve were
drowned -- Who was saved?
Nobody was likely to forget that one, after it had once been played on him.
-----
The latter appears in an article that I'm surprised Barry hasn't found
yet: "Charm of Children's Jingle Games is Mystery of Origin."


(I haven't looked through everything yet! I don't get paid! I do parking tickets!--Barry Popik)


--------------------------------------------------------------
Some stuff from two magazines.


Midwest Folklore, winter 1951, vol. I, no. 4, pg. 244:
The V-sign, as later used in World-War days, then meant "let's go swimming."

Pg. 249:
Adam and Eve and Pinch-me
Went down to the river to bathe;
Adam and Eve were drownded;
Who was saved?

Pg. 254:
Here's the church
And there's the steeple;
Open it up
And see the people.


Pg. 255:
I recall three of these:

Engine, engine, number nine,
Running on Chicago time.

Monkey, monkey, bottle of beer,
How many monkeys have we here?

Nigger, nigger, never die,
Black face and shiny eye.

Pg. 256:
Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief,
Doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief.

Pg. 257:
What goes up must come down
Either on heads or on the ground.
Mary ate jam, Mary ate jelly,
Mary soon had a pain in the belly.

Innocuous ditties:

I know something, I won't tell:
Three little niggers in a peanut shell. ("Niggers?" Innocuous? Must be 1951--ed.)

Johnny get your gun
And sword and pistol;
Johnny get your gun
And fifteen cents.

Pg. 259:
Corn-planting chant:

One for the blackbird,
Two for the crow
Three for the cutworm,
And four to grow.
(_In part a riddle; it meant one kernel for each of the destinies mentioned, that is, four in all, not the apparent ten, to a hill._)

Pg. 260:
Miscellaneous:

Bad Bill from Bunker Hill,
Never worked [washed] and never will.

Sold agin and got the tin
And a little box to put it in.

Good Night! Sleep tight!
Don't let the bedbugs bite.

If you getto Heaven before I do,
Tell them that I'm comin' too.

A peach-tree in the orchard grew,
'Tis true!
Oh! listen to my tale of woe.

When I was single,
My pockets did jingle,
And I wish I was single again.

Oh! how the boarders yell,
Oh! how the beans do smell,
Oh how the boarders yell--
Three times a day.

I've been working on the levee
All the whole long day;
I'v been workin' on the levee
Just to pass the time away.



Hoosier Folklore, June 1947, vol. VI, no. 2, pg. 73:
Contributed by Paul Weer, Indianapolis:
Cin, Cinn,
A needle and a pin,
A skinny and a fatty;
And that's the way to spell Cincinnati.

Contributed by Paul Weer:
A bottle and a cork,
A jug and a fork,
And that's the way to spell New York.



Hoosier Folklore, September 1948, vol. VII, no. 3, pg. 87:
9. _Lemonade_
Any number may play lemonade. Two captains are chosen, and each chooses players, one at a time. The teams line up facing each other. Each has a home base. One team takes "it." That team chooses something to demonstrate, such as chopping wood or hoeing the garden. The "it" team says, "Here we come," and they start walking toward the other team. The other team starts walking to meet them. The (Pg. 88--ed.) second team says, "Where from?" The first replies, "New York." The second asks, "What's your trade?" the first answers, "Lemonade." The second says, "Show us something if you are not afraid." (The reply may vary. Sometimes it is, "Go to work.") The first team then begins to demonstrate; the second team tries to guess what is being done. There may be any number of guesses. If the second team guesses right, the first team starts to run for the home base. If anyone is tagged by the other team, he goes to the other side. It is then time for the second team to select something to demonstrate.



Hoosier Folklore, March 1949, vol. VIII, no. 1, pg. 13:
If he is unable to find anyone, or wants to end the game, "It" calls:

1. Allee, allee in free. (Maine.)
2. Allee, allee oxen, all in free. (Ind., 2)
Pg. 14:
3. Oley, oley, ocean-free. (Ind.)
4. Bee, bee, bumblebee,
All in free. (Ind.)

Pg. 19:
F. _Scissors, Paper, Rock_
At a given signal all players hold out their hands. A fist is a rock, two fingers are scissors and the open hand represents paper. The formula "Paper covers rock, scissors cut paper and rock dulls scissors" is followed. All those who made the sign for paper can slap those who made the sign for rock on the wrist, and so on.
(Ind., 1; Maine, 1.)

G. _Simple Simon_
All directions given by the leader which are prefaced with the statement "Simple Simon says," must be followed by the players. Other instructions must not be followed. Anyone making a mistake must pay a forfeit.
(Ill., 1; Ind., 1; New York, 3.)
Reference: Gomme, II, 383.

Pg. 21:
Did you ever see a lassie, a lassie, a lassie
Did you ever see a lassie do this way and that?
Pg. 22:
Do this way, and this way and that?
Did you ever see a lassie do this way and that?
Players try to guess what the leader in the center of the ring is doing.
(Ill., 1; Mass. 1; New Jersey, 1.)

_Lemonade_

A. Here we come.
B. Where from?
A. New York.
B. WHat's your trade?
A. Lemonade.
B. Get to work.

Group B then tries to guess what Group A is going. Of the 8 variants, two have New Orleans instead of New York (Ill., 1, Ind., 1). The last line may be replaced by:
1. How's it made? (Ind.)
2. Give us some. (Ill.)
3. Show us some of your hadiwork. (Ind.)
4. Go to work and work all day. (Kentucky.)
The last line may not be given at all (Ind.)

Two versions differ markedly from the rest:

1. A. Pennsylvania,
      Bum, bum, bum.
      Here I come.
   B. What's your trade?
Pg. 23:
   A. Lemonade.
   B. Get to work. (Miss. and Tenn.)
2. A. What's your state?
   B. New York.
   A. What's your trade?
   B. Lemonade. (Ind.)

References: Babcock; Gomme, I, 117; Heck, 30; Newell, 249; Randolph, Vance and Nancy Clemons, "Ozark Mountain Party Games," JAFL, XLIX (1936), 204; Cf. Gomme, II, 305.

Pg. 31:
Here's the church
And here's the steeple.
Open the doors,
And there are the people. (Ind., 2.)
The fingers are interlaced and the hands twisted to produce the figures.

References: Babcock; Brewster, 184; Newell, 138.