COUNTING
OUT RHYMES
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1
ENE, mene moni, mi,
Tusca, lona, bona,
ski,
Uldy, guldy, boo,
Out go you.
2
Ene, mene, tuoni, mi,
Barci, Ioni, boni,
stri,
Kay bell, broken
well,
We — wo
— wack.
3
Ene, mene, tuoni, mi,
Barca, Iona, bona,
stri,
Air, wair, from,
wack,
Harico, barico, be,
bi, bo, buck.
4
Ene, mene, mini, mo,
Catch a nigger by the
toe,
When he hollers let
him go,
Ene, mene, mini, mo.
5
As I climbed up the
apple-tree,
All the apples fell
on me.
Did you ever tell a
lie?
You did, you know you
did,
Because you stole
your mother's teapot
lid.
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Variation of the
foregoing: —
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As I climbed up the
apple-tree,
All the apples fell
on me.
Bake a pie, bake a
pudden,
Did you ever tell a
lie?
Yes, you did, you
know you did,
You stole your
mother's teapot lid.
6
Red, white, and blue,
All out but you.
7
One, two, three,
Mother caught a flea,
Flea died,
And mother cried,
One, two, three.
8
Eggs, cheese, butter,
bread;
Stick, stack, stone
dead.
Stick 'em up, stick
'em down,
Stick 'em in the old
man's crown.
9
Little boy driving
cattle,
Don't you hear his
money rattle?
One, two, three, out
goes he.
Or she as the case
may be.
10
Monkey, monkey,
bottle of beer,
How many monkeys have
we here?
One, two, three, out
goes he.
Wire, brier, limber
lock,
Six geese in a flock.
Two flew east,
Two flew west,
Two flew over the
cuckoo's nest.
11
One, two, three,
four, five, six,
seven,
All good children go
to heaven.
12
My father built a
little house,
How many nails did he
put in it?
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The one pointed out
as "it"
may say any number he pleases, but the common answer is "fifteen."
Then those in the game are counted on, and the one who is fifteen "is
out."
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13
A rhyme with the same
idea was put in
words like the following: —
My father had a
horseshoe,
How many nails did he
put in it? |
The
one to whom the last word comes shuts his eyes, and tries to guess a
number which, when the counting begins with him and goes around, will
end with him. That would count him out. The guess has to be made at
once; and if there are a number in the party, the guess is apt to be
wrong.
In
some communities the initial question is as follows: —
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My father has a horse
to shoe,
How many nails do you
think'll do?
14
Nigger in the
woodpile,
Don't you hear him
holler?
Bring him down to my
house,
Give him quarter of a
dollar.
15
Nigger on the
woodpile,
Don't you hear him
squeal?
Bring him down to my
house,
Give him a peck of
meal.
16
One is all, two is
all, zickerzall,
zan,
Poptail, vinegar,
tickle and tan,
Harum, scarum,
English mare-um,
See, taw, buck
— uldy, guldy, goo,
Out goes y-o-u.
17
One, two, three,
four, five, six,
seven,
Count the lovely arch
of heaven.
Seven colors make a
bow,
Sweetest, fairest
thing I know.
See the rainbow in
the heaven,
One, two, three,
four, five, six,
seven.
18
One-ery, u-ery,
ickery, Ann,
Fillisy, fallasy,
Nicholas John,
Quevy, quavy, Irish
Mary,
Stinkelum, stankleum,
Johnny co buck.
A variation of the first two lines
runs as follows: —
Hokey, pokey, winkey,
wong,
Chingery, chongery,
Nicholas John.
A variation of the
third and fourth
lines is this: —
Quevy, quavy, English
navy,
Stringelum,
strangelum, jolly co buck.
19
E-ry, i-ry, ickery
Ann,
Bobtail, vinegar,
tickle and tan,
Hare-um, scare-um,
buckram, bare-um,
Tea, tie, toe, tis.
20
The vingle, the
vangle,
The goose and the
gander,
Come roly me bony
brandy dip.
21
Two, four, six,
eight,
Mary at the garden
gate
Eating cherries off a
plate,
Two, four, six,
eight.
22
As I went up Salt
Lake,
I met a little
rattlesnake.
He e't so much of
ginger cake,
It made his little
belly ache.
23
Onery, ary, dicory,
seven,
Halibone, cralibone,
ten or eleven,
Pe, po, must be done,
Twiggle, twaggle,
twenty-one.
24
Engine number nine,
Stick your head in
turpentine,
Turpentine make it
shine,
Engine number nine.
25
Dickery, dickery,
dare,
The pig flew up in
the air;
The man in brown
Soon brought him
down;
Dickery, dickery,
dare.
26
Impty, mimpty,
tibbity, fig,
Delia, dahlia,
dominig,
Ocher, pocher,
dominocher,
Om, pom, tuss, Olly
Olly, golly, goo,
Out goes you.
27
Nigger, nigger, hoe
potager,
Half past alligator,
First man killed, a
nigger, boo!
28
Ibbity, bibbity,
sinity, salve,
Ibbity, bibbity,
mellow.
29
Acker, backer, soda
cracker,
Acker, backer, boo!
My father chews
tobacker,
Out goes you.
30
Monkey in the
match-box,
Don't you hear him
holler?
Take him to the
station-house,
And make him pay a
dollar.
31
Finally, here is a
formula for
counting out made up of the first nine letters of the alphabet. The
one to whom the letter I comes is the one each
time who drops
out.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I.
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