[lace-chat] Re: MORE Childhood Rhymes Chants
On Aug 12, 2007, at 13:08, Heather Muth wrote: No one has mentioned one I remember from my childhood (late 60's). This was a 'clapping' song - two girls faced one another and clapped their hands together, crossing arms etc in a pattern. We had one of those too! Quite gruesome and therefore a favourite :) It went (rough translation first, original in parentheses): Once little fishes in the sea were getting wed (Raz rybki w morzu braly slub) The waves were plashing: splash, splash, splash (Chlupaly fale: chlup, chlup, chlup) Then suddenly a great whale popped in (A wtem wieloryb wielki wpadl) And ate all of the company! (I cale towarzystwo zjadl!) -- Tamara P Duvallhttp://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace-chat] Re: MORE Childhood Rhymes Chants
Taffy was a welsh man, Taffy was a thief. Taffy came to my house, And stole a piece of beef. I went to Taffy's house. Taffy was in bed. I took the piece of beef, And threw it at his head. I learned the last two lines as: I took a marrow bone And hit him on the head. As a young child, I used to read the Tall Book of Mother Goose over, and over, and over..until my mother bought a new copy for the city library and let me keep the old one at home. Alice in Oregon .. cloudy and warm, but not hot -- just right for lace demo in the park this weekend. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace-chat] Re: MORE Childhood Rhymes Chants
Tamara, Taffy was a welsh man, I took the piece of beef, And threw it at his head. That would most probably be a chant for a ball game I reckon. Why do you reckon so? Mainly because we did have numerous rhymes for ball games where the ball was thrown AT someone on the last word of the ditty. I shall gift the emroidered handkerchief to *you*! It was a select the next it game, with everyone standing around in a circle singing the chant, while the thrower walked inside the circle, stopping for the next it, when the song was over. And then the routine started over again. The trick was to time your walking speed so as to end in front of someone you liked -- and were willing to kiss, after dropping the hankie at his/her feet :) I found this fascinating, for the game you describe is virtually the same as what we knew as Drop the hanky and I'm sure we had a chant for that too, but it wasn't yours and I can't for the life of me remember it now. I don't know whether Candida's rhyme was ever supposed to *mean* anything -- most of those things seemed to care mostly about rhyme and rhythm and only superficially about making sense -- but I'd bet it was written by an Englishman, not a Welshman... There's nothing more uplifting than a bit of neighbourly love :) I'd say you're pretty spot-on there. David in Ballarat To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace-chat] Re: MORE Childhood Rhymes Chants
In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], David in Ballarat [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes I found this fascinating, for the game you describe is virtually the same as what we knew as Drop the hanky and I'm sure we had a chant for that too, but it wasn't yours and I can't for the life of me remember it now. We used I wrote a letter to my love And on the way I dropped it Somebody must have picked it up And put it in their pocket Thief, thief, drop it, Thief, thief, drop it... at which point the hankie was dropped behind the new it and the rhyme was sung again. Oranges and Lemons, and In and Out the Scottish Bluebells are two I remember from Brownies (many years ago!). Skipping at junior school used to be Matthew, Mark, Luke John Next one in, follow on. -- Jane Partridge To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace-chat] Re: MORE Childhood Rhymes Chants
Dear Jane, I wrote a letter to my love And on the way I dropped it Somebody must have picked it up And put it in their pocket Thief, thief, drop it, Thief, thief, drop it... Thanks for that - exactly the same in Australia in the 50s. Anyone remember a skipping rope chant which went:- Andy Pandy sugary candy French almond raisin rock. I can even remember how to do that one Another favourite was:- Wash the dishes, dry the dishes, turn the dishes over - bit like oranges and lemons game David in Ballarat To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace-chat] Re: MORE Childhood Rhymes Chants
On Aug 8, 2007, at 21:47, David in Ballarat wrote: Candida, Taffy was a welsh man, Taffy was a thief. Taffy came to my house, And stole a piece of beef. I went to Taffy's house. Taffy was in bed. I took the piece of beef, And threw it at his head. I'm not sure what it is supposed to mean. That would most probably be a chant for a ball game I reckon. Why do you reckon so? Not having grown up with the English language, I'm naturally not very familiar with its childhood chants, unless they appaeared in one of the Mother Gose collections and/or the Opies' book of rhymes (or some such title. And I'd have to re-read that one, since it's been a long time. I remember their fairy tales one better). But Polish also has such rhymes and chants, and quite a few of them end with something or other being thrown at the end of the ditty. The one which was most common during my childhood (50yrs ago) went (in rough translation; it rhymes, in Polish): I have an embroidered handkerchief Which has four corners. Whomever I love, whomever I like, I'll throw it at his/her feet. I don't love this one, I don't like this one, I won't kiss this one... I shall gift the emroidered handkerchief to *you*! It was a select the next it game, with everyone standing around in a circle singing the chant, while the thrower walked inside the circle, stopping for the next it, when the song was over. And then the routine started over again. The trick was to time your walking speed so as to end in front of someone you liked -- and were willing to kiss, after dropping the hankie at his/her feet :) It was a game that girls liked better than the boys did but, if they wanted us to play some of the more energetic ones (like: who's afraid of the blackman?, where the monster blackman chased everyone allover the place, screaming and yelling nd growling, until he caught the next it), they had to compromise and play some of the more quiet games, too :) I don't know whether Candida's rhyme was ever supposed to *mean* anything -- most of those things seemed to care mostly about rhyme and rhythm and only superficially about making sense -- but I'd bet it was written by an Englishman, not a Welshman... There's nothing more uplifting than a bit of neighbourly love :) -- Tamara P Duvallhttp://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
