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A skipping rhyme (occasionally skipping-rope rhyme or jump-rope rhyme), is a rhyme chanted by children while skipping. Such rhymes have been recorded in all cultures where skipping is played. Examples of English-language rhymes have been found going back to at least the 17th century. Like most folklore, skipping rhymes tend to be found in many different variations. The article includes those chants used by English-speaking children.
Explorers reported seeing aborigines jumping with vines in the 16th century. European boys started jumping rope in the early 17th century. The activity was considered indecent for girls because they might show their ankles. There were no associated chants. This changed in the early 18th century as girls began to jump rope. [1] They added the chants, owned the rope, controlled the game, and decided who participated. [2]
In the United States, domination of the activity by girls occurred when their families moved into the cities in the late 19th century. There, they found sidewalks and other smooth surfaces conducive to jumping rope, along with a host of contemporaries. [2] American educator Lucy Nulton studied the rhymes of jumping rope in the mid-20th century. [3] [4]
Another source suggests that, prior to 1833, the invention of pantalettes enabled girls to jump rope without displaying ankles. [5]
Chants are intended to structure the game and are secondary, explaining the nonsense or irrational lyrics. These chants are unusual inasmuch as they were transmitted from child to child usually without an underlying reason, as opposed to nursery rhymes which were transmitted from adult to child and often contained a moral. Chants may contain girlish references to boyfriends or marriage. [6]
Two children with a long rope stood about 12 feet (3.7 m) apart and turned the rope as other children took turns jumping. If one were not a good jumper, one would be an 'Ever-Laster,' that is, one would perpetually turn the rope. When it was a child's turn to jump, they would enter as the rope turned, and jump to the rhyme until they missed. Then they would become a rope-turner, and the next child in line would take their place. In a way, the chants resemble Hiphop music today in the way the chants rhyme at the end of the lines and they are very catchy with a rhythm that is easy to pick up. [ citation needed ]
For a line of potential jumpers, the jumpers were restricted on time by the length of the chant. They jumped in at the beginning, jumped out at the end, and the next jumper took their turn.
In another version, the teacher is "Benjamin Franklin." [7] In the Charlie Chaplin rhyme, the child jumping had to follow directions as the rope was turning: touching the heel of one foot on the ground; touching the toe of the same foot on the ground; doing a (short) split of the feet, turning around, saluting, bowing, and jumping out from the turning rope on the last line. This rhyme, c. 1942, reflects children's awareness of World War II. [3] [4]
An Australian version of the Charlie Chaplin Skipping Song, as sung at Salisbury Primary School in Brisbane, Australia in the mid 1950s, is as follows:
There's also "Betty Grable went to France,/To teach the soldiers how to dance." (The rest is the same.)[ citation needed ]
Another variation:
In Dublin, Ireland, the visits of inspectors known as "Glimmer men" to private houses to enforce regulations to prevent the use of coal gas in restricted hours during the Emergency gave rise to:[ citation needed ]
Most rhymes are intended to count the number of jumps the skipper takes without stumbling. These were essentially restricted to times when there were relatively few jumpers and time was abundant. These rhymes can take very simple forms.
This chant was collected in London in the 1950s:
and
alternately, "Salt, vinegar, mustard, pepper. How many legs does a spider have? 1,2,3, etc."
Another rendition substitutes, "teddy bear" for "butterfly. This can be dated no earlier than the early 20th century, to the term of Theodore Roosevelt. [10]
In another skipping rhyme, once the alphabet finishes, participants continue with numbers until skipper catches rope. It is natural for participants to use the letter that the skipper lost on and to use it to find someone's name following the rule of either best friend or boyfriend, depending on what is chosen in the beginning.
or
or
or
Another counting rhyme:
, how many doctors will it take? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 etc. (Go to 20 then go down to the next line)
The counting continues as long as the jumper avoids faulting. If they do then the counting starts again.: [11]
another counting one from Ireland called 12x12
Chinese jump rope patterns are often accompanied by chants. The diamonds pattern is accompanied by the letters which spell "diamond" ("D-I-A-M-O-N-D-S."), while the Americans pattern, as are many patterns, is accompanied by the names of the moves made while carrying out the pattern ("right, left, right, left, in, out/open, in, on.").
Some rhymes are intended to test the agility of the jumper by turning the rope more rapidly. The key word to start turning fast is often "pepper" to indicate speed, such as:
"Pretty Little Dutch Girl" was a lengthy song, much too long for a simple chant, but often excerpted for jumping rope. "My husband's name is Fatty. He comes from Cincinnati." Or alphabetical, "My husband's name is Alfred, He comes from Atlanta, He works in the attic.." All made up on the spur of the moment. The jumper may be obliged to jump out upon finishing a letter, or be allowed to continue until either failing to invent new lyrics, or faulting.
Other rhymes are highly topical, and sometimes survive long after the events that inspired them have disappeared from the headlines. Perhaps the most notorious rhyme of this type is one that began circulating during the 1892 trial of Lizzie Borden. Despite Borden's desire to stay out of the public eye - and despite the fact that she was found not guilty - children would follow her around and chant the rhyme. It later started being used as a rhyme used when skipping rope:
This one from Prohibition:[ citation needed ]
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material culture, such as traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also encompasses customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, and the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas, weddings, folk dances, and initiation rites.
"Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world. The protagonist is a young girl living in forsaken circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune, with her ascension to the throne via marriage. The story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo sometime between 7 BC and 23 AD, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is usually considered to be the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story.
Lizzie Andrew Borden was an American woman who was tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and, despite ostracism from other residents, Borden spent the remainder of her life in Fall River. She died of pneumonia at the age of 66, just days before the death of her older sister, Emma.
A skipping rope or jump rope is a tool used in the sport of skipping/jump rope where one or more participants jump over a rope swung so that it passes under their feet and over their heads. There are many different subsets of skipping/jump rope, including single freestyle, single speed, pairs, three-person speed, and three-person freestyle.
A singing game is an activity based on a particular verse or rhyme, usually associated with a set of actions and movements. As a collection, they have been studied by folklorists, ethnologists, and psychologists and are seen as important part of childhood culture. The same term is also used for a form of video game that involves singing.
Buster Brown is a comic-strip character created in 1902 by Richard F. Outcault. Adopted as the mascot of the Brown Shoe Company in 1904, Buster Brown, along with Mary Jane, and with his dog Tige, became well known to the American public in the early 20th century. The character's name was used to describe a popular style of suit for young boys, the Buster Brown suit, that reflected his outfit.
"Miss Susie", also known as "Hello Operator", "Miss Suzy", "Miss Lucy", and many other names, is the name of an American schoolyard rhyme in which each verse leads up to a rude word or profanity which is revealed in the next verse as part of an innocuous word or phrase. Originally used as a jump-rope rhyme, it is now more often sung alone or as part of a clapping game. Hand signs sometimes accompany the song, such as pulling on the bell in the first verse or making a phone gesture in the second.
"Mary Mack" is a clapping game of unknown origin. It is first attested in the book The Counting Out Rhymes of Children by Henry Carrington Bolton (1888), whose version was collected in West Chester, Pennsylvania. It is well known in various parts of the United States, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and in New Zealand and has been called "the most common hand-clapping game in the English-speaking world".
Chinese jump rope, also known as Chinese ropes, jumpsies, elastics, rek, yoki (Canada), Super Cali (Newfoundland), French skipping, American ropes/Chinese ropes, gummitwist, "jeu de l elastique" in France and Chinese garter in the Philippines is a children's game resembling hopscotch and jump rope. Various moves are combined to create patterns which are often accompanied by chants.
Chinese jump rope combines the skills of hopscotch with some of the patterns from the hand-and-string game cat's cradle. The game began in 7th-century China. In the 1960s, children in the Western hemisphere adapted the game. German-speaking children call Chinese jump rope gummitwist and British children call it elastics. The game is typically played in a group of at least 3 players with a rope approximately 16 feet in length tied into a circle. Traditional Chinese jump ropes are strings of rubber bands tied together, but today many varieties of commercial rope exist. Two players face each other standing 9 feet apart, and position the rope around their ankles so that it is taut. The third player stands between the two sides of the rope and tries to perform a designated series of moves without making an error or pausing.
"Tinker, Tailor" is a counting game, nursery rhyme and fortune telling song traditionally played in England, that can be used to count cherry stones, buttons, daisy petals and other items. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 802. It is commonly used by children in both Britain and America for "counting out", e.g. for choosing who shall be "It" in a game of tag.
Jump In! is a 2007 Disney Channel Original Movie, which premiered on January 12, 2007. It was released on Disney Channel UK on April 27, 2007. The film, starring Corbin Bleu and Keke Palmer, revolves around a young boxer, Izzy Daniels (Bleu), who trains to follow in his father's footsteps by winning the Golden Glove. When his friend, Mary (Palmer), asks him to substitute for a team member in a Double Dutch tournament, Izzy discovers his new love for the sport. At the same time, he discovers true love in Mary and he deals with the conflict between him and his father about boxing. Filming took place from June–July 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Double Dutch is a game in which two long jump ropes turning in opposite directions are jumped by one or more players jumping simultaneously. It is believed to have originated among Dutch immigrants in New York City, although it has been a popular school playground game for much longer than that in the Netherlands, and is now popular worldwide. While it had long been a popular street activity for African American girls in New York City, the modern sport of Double Dutch originated in the early 1970s with NYPD officers Ulysses Williams and David Walker, who formalized the rules for competition. The first official competition was held in 1974. Competitions in Double Dutch range from block parties to the world level. During the spring of 2009, Double Dutch became a varsity sport in New York City public high schools.
Childlore is the folklore or folk culture of children and young people. It includes, for example, rhymes and games played in the school playground. The best known researchers of the field were Iona and Peter Opie.
Hey, Cinderella! is a 1969 television special adaptation of the fairy tale Cinderella, produced by Muppets, Inc. in the United States and Robert Lawrence Productions in Canada, and featuring The Muppets created by Jim Henson, who also directed the special. It was written by Jon Stone and Tom Whedon, and scored by the music composer of Sesame Street, Joe Raposo. It featured Kermit in his first appearance as a frog, as well as Goshposh and Rufus and Splurge.
"Pretty Little Dutch Girl" is a children's nursery rhyme, clapping game and jump-rope rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12986.
"Something old" is the first line of a traditional rhyme that details what a bride should wear at her wedding for good luck:
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"Miss Lucy had a baby...", also known by various other names, is an American schoolyard rhyme. Originally used as a jump-rope chant, it is now more often sung alone or as part of a clapping game. It has many variations, possibly originating from it, or from its predecessors.
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax is a 2014 American biographical drama television film about Lizzie Borden, a young American woman tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892, axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. It premiered on Lifetime on January 25, 2014, and starred Christina Ricci in the title role. The film was so successful it was followed by a miniseries, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, which aired from April to May 2015. Ricci has described the film and its follow-up as being "self-aware, campy, and tongue-in-cheek".
Lucy M. Nulton was an American educator. She taught at East Carolina Teachers College, and worked at the P. K. Yonge Laboratory School at the University of Florida.
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