When I was a wee bairn in the Sixties there were little ditties everywhere. I struggle to recall them now but here's a few lines from each:
Yellow belly custard, snot nose pie
all mixed up in a dead dogs eye.....
Some new laid eggs, a dozen pegs
and half a pound of jam....
Jingle bells, Batman smells.....
Anyone remember them?
I do remember the playground chant of "Who wants to play at Cowboys and Indians, No Girls Allowed!". Yes, we managed to be racist and sexist in just one short song back then! Looking at it now I wonder if Girls Allowed the pop group took there name from it?
And what about the classic tough guys schoolyard chant of "Come and have a go if you think your'e hard enough!"
Another short song, a lullaby, I recall is quite poignant as my late Mum and Dad would sing it me when they were on wee Woodsy bedtime duty. It went something like 'Go to sleep my Baby, close your pretty eyes......". Not sure how it went after that but the melody still brings a lump to my throat!
There must have been gazillions more ditties and jingles back then readers. you know any?
I can vaguely recollect the end part of some playground elimination process, possibly used to decide who was going to be 'on' for a game of tag or something. The selector point to people in turn and chant some mantra which ended with ''O..U..T.. spells out... you're not IT!'' There was also a short and simple rhyme which went, ''No more English, no more French, no more sitting on the old school bench.'' It always seemed like there should be more lines to this one ?
ReplyDeleteYep, I do recall singing those two! ha ha. Just can't think of the rest of the words either. Its strange, I can remember the entire first verse of Alouette in French from Primary school but not these English ditties!...Alouette, alouette, Jonty Alouette, Alouette, Jonty Plumereh! I never knew whar ot was on about at the time but now know its about a skylark with jolly plumage!
DeleteI remember the catchy Alouette as well Woodsy, but alas I hadn't a clue what it was about either, haha. Do you remember another elimination mantra which went something like, ''One potato... two potato... three potato.. four...'' As the mantra was being chanted, the participants would stack clinched fists on top of one another. The fists represented potatoes I'd guess? Thinking about it, perhaps this mantra ended with ''you're not IT!''? I fear it's a sign of encroaching age, but once again I can't remember the finer points of these songs.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, one bitater, two bitater [ we insisted on pronouncing it bitater where I lived in Lancashire]. No idea what is was about either. It must have had a function with so much effort going in but then again we did need to entertain ourselves at break times didn't we. At my Primary school, boys and girls were segregated at play time! We had separate playgrounds!
DeleteI remember the first one, but slightly different...
ReplyDeleteYellow Belly custard
Green snot pie
All .... together with a dead dog's eye
Slap it on a buttie
Slap it on quick
Then wash it down with a cup of cold sick
Raff
ha ha! That's it! Well done Mister Mystic! Its as if I'm back in the schoolyard of Sacred Heart winter 1967, Shorts, knobbly knees, V-neck jumper and all!
DeleteAn another one, very local to Walton-le-dale south of PReston
ReplyDeleteJeffrey Knight had a fright
in the middle of the night
Saw a ghost
Eating toast
Halfway up a lamp-post
ha ha Raff, dunno that one. Never migrated to Ashton. The river may have been in the way! I always thought Walton le Dale was related to Allen a Dale in Robin Hood! As for toast eating ghosts up lamp posts, it does sound very Lancastrian!
Delete