Children's folklore from Hoosier Folklore, Midwest Folklore

Sun Mar 6 16:46:13 UTC 2005

"One for the money..." and "Here's [actually, "This is"] the church . . ." were also familiar to me in '50s NYC.

"Railroad Bill, Railroad Bill,
Never worked and he never will." --from an Alabama folksong, "Railroad Bill."

"Johnny get your gun..."  So familiar that George M. Cohan quoted it in the verse to "Over There" (1917) : "Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun, / Take it on the run, on the run, on the run...."

JL

Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: Children's folklore from Hoosier Folklore, Midwest Folklore
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On Mar 5, 2005, at 10:03 PM, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject: Children's folklore from Hoosier Folklore, Midwest
> Folklore
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> 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."

Then "then" must be some unspecified pre-WWII date and not 1951?

>
> 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.
>

> I recall three of these:
>
> Engine, engine, number nine

This is also the name of an R&B song by Wilson Pickett. I don't like
the song, so I've never listened to the words.

> ,
> 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._)

In St. Louis, I learned a variant of this as a chant to start a
footrace:

One for the money
Two for the show
Three to make ready
And four to GO!

>
> Pg. 260:
> Miscellaneous:
>
> Bad Bill from Bunker Hill,
> Never worked [washed] and never will.

In Texas, we said:

Curly-head Bill from the western hill [no other lines]

>
> 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 d!
> emonstrate.
>
>
>
> 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.)

In St. Louis, this name of this game is "John Cane Pone" (it sounds
like that, in any case) and there was no penalty for losing other than
"Gotcha!"

>
> 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.

This is the version that I learned as a kid in Texas

-Wilson Gray

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

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