# What They Say in New England/Counting out Rhymes

Counting Out Rhymes . .
1
Ene, mene, moni, mi, Tusca, lona, bona, ski, Uldy, guldy, boo, Out go you.
2
Ene, mene, moni, mi, Barci, loni, boni, stri, Kay bell, broken well, We—wo—wack.
3
Ene, mene, moni, mi, Barca, lona, 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?
Variation of the foregoing:—
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.
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?
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.”
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:—
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,
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, try, 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, golly, goo, Out goes you.
27
Nigger, nigger, hoe potater, Half past alligater, 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.