[Ads-l] pinky-swear

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here are some variant forms of the words spoken during the oath.

Date: January 4, 1873
Periodical: Notes and Queries
Quote Page 22
Publisher: Published at the Office of Notes and Queries, London
Database: Google Books Full View

https://books.google.com/books?id=L_zfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22blue+bell%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
In the Midland Counties, when I was young, it was very common for
boys, who wished to bind each other to an engagement, to link the
little fingers of their right hands, and say—

"Ring finger, blue bell,
Tell a lie, go to hell,"

—after which, if either failed to perform, the little finger, as a
matter of course, would be sure to divulge. J. Beale
[End excerpt]

Date: 1880 February 24
Newspaper: Aberdeen Journal
Newspaper Location: Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Article: Folk-Lore: Boy Code of Honour
Quote Page 2, Column 3
Database: British Newspaper Archive

[Begin excerpt]
BOY CODE OF HONOUR

In parts of Banffshire boys, on concluding a bargain, linked the
little fingers of their right hands together, shook the hands with an
up-and-down motion, and repeated the words--

"Ring, ring the pottle bell;
Gehn ye brak the bargain
Ye’ll gang t’ hell."

This ceremony was called "ringing the pottle-bell," and to break a
bargain, after being sealed in this fashion, was regarded as the
height of wickedness.

The following was current about Fraserburgh—

"Ring a bottle, ring a bell,
The first brae it ye cum till
Ye'll fa’ doon an' brack yer neck
An' that 'ill the bargain brack."
[End excerpt]


Website: OUPblog Oxford University Press
Date: August 13th 2008
Article: Big Problems with the Little Finger, or, A Story of Pinkie
Author: Anatoly Liberman

https://blog.oup.com/2008/08/pinkie/

[Begin excerpt]
A good deal of folklore is connected with pinkies almost all over
Europe. In the Midland counties of England boys link their little
fingers and say: “Ring finger, blue bell, / Tell a lie, go to hell,”
after which, if either failed to perform, the little finger would be
sure to divulge (recorded in 1873). This incantation has many
variants, for instance: “Pinky, pinky bow bell,/ Whosoever tells a
lie/ Will sink down to the bad place/ And never rise up again.” In
Russia, only girls interlock the little finger of each other’s right
hand and repeat: “Peace, peace forever/ Quarrel, quarrel never.”
Unfortunately, even the most powerful charm will not help us guess the
exact origin of pinkie.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Oct 6, 2018 at 6:53 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Pretty weird rhyme scheme.
>
> Schele De Vere lifted much from Bartlett. I suspect he "debowdlerized" the
> verse himself.
>
> Bartlett's version actually scans better.
>
> JL
>
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 6, 2018 at 5:11 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Mark Mandel wrote:
> > > Considering the rhymes, I have to assume censorship in publication.
> >
> > Excellent point, Mark. Here is the unexpurgated rhyme recorded in 1872.
> >
> > Year: 1872
> > Americanisms: The English of the New World
> > Author: M. Schele de Vere (Professor of Modern Languages in the
> > University of Virginia)
> > Quote Page 87
> > Publisher: Charles Scribner & Company, New York
> > Database: Google Books Full View
> >
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=93UKAAAAIAAJ&q=%22to+hell%22#v=snippet&
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > There is, of course, no connection between this word and the familiar
> > name of the little finger, also derived from the Dutch (pink), as it
> > appears in the nursery rhyme, which accompanies the interlocking of
> > the little fingers of the right hand:
> >
> > "Pinky, pinky, bowbell,
> > Whoever tells a lie
> > Will sink down to hell.
> > And never rise up again."
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > > On Sat, Oct 6, 2018, 3:34 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
> > adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Doug Wilson notes that Wikipedia has a pertinent entry.
> > > >
> > > > Pinky swear (Pinky promise)
> > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinky_swear
> > > >
> > > > ...
> > > >
> > > > Year: 1848
> > > > Book: Dictionary of Americanisms. A Glossary of Words and Phrases,
> > > > Usually Regarded as Peculiar to the United States
> > > > Author: John Russell Bartlett  ...
> > > > Section: Appendix
> > > > Quote Page 406
> > > > Publisher: Bartlett and Welford, New York
> > > >
> > > > https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433082311667?urlappend=%3Bseq=440
> > > >
> > > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > > PINKY. (Dutch, pink.) The little finger. A very common term in New
> > > > York, especially among small children, who, when making a bargain with
> > > > each other, are accustomed to confirm it by interlocking the little
> > > > finger of each other's right hands and repeating the following
> > > > doggerel:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > * Pinky, pinky, bow-bell, Whoever tells a lie, Will sink down to the
> > bad
> > > > place, And never rise up again.*
> > > > [End excerpt]
> > > >
> > > > ...
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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