The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1888-01-21

uO ulRUluCo IOlC6cOI WdS LIZ. -.
Darlington Bolton, ana his subject
was 'The Contingent Rhymes Of
Children. A Study in international
Folk Lore" DR.. Bolton was formerly
professor in Trinity College, Hart
ford. He has just returned from a
tour in Europe. He explained to the
audience that these rhymes and many
others which he had picked up IN
twenty languages were used by chill
dren in their games to determine who
should have the most undesirable
part. A leader repeated the doggerel
rhyme, and the child on whom the last
word fell was set free. Those remain
ing went through the same ordeal un-
til the last one remained, who was cit. "
This 'it," DR.. Bolton said, is very
polite expression in the games OF En-
glish-speaking children, for in German
the one who is SIT" is called q "wolP'
instead Of cit" in Japanese, "oui," or
''little devil" in Malagasy. "bucca, Z"
/ or 'Ieper," and in Hawaiian, 'crazy
one"
Prof. Bolton said he had collected
contingent rhymes in twenty lam
guages, civilized, half civilized, and
barbarous. Among these languages
are the Penobscot Indian, japanese,
Arabic, Turkish, Malagasy, Bulgarian,
Armenian, Swedish. Italian, Russian,
Portuguese, Spanish, and Basque.
The Bulgarian child rhymes, he said,
were too pronounced for repetition,
but he recited examples in dozen
languages. In Dutch he had collected
fourteen counting. out rhymes, in Ger
man. 269, and in English, 454. Alto
gether, by corresponding with schol-
ars in all parts of the world, he had
obtained $50 contingent rhymes.
One of the most common jim
giles in all languages was the familiar
One, two, buckle my shoe; -
Three four, shut the door;
Five, six. pick up sticks;
Seven, eight, lay them straight, &c.
There is a fund of curious allusi ons
in the doggerel rhymes. DR.. Bolton
continued. Here is one picked up
after the expedition OF the Emperor
Napoleon into Russia:
The First Lieutenant was SO neat,
He stopped in battle to wash his feet.
Another, which shows how ancient
the patter is, is:
Nebuchadnezzar, the King OF the Jews,
Slipped off his slippers and slipped on his
shoes.
A modern instance showing local
coloring in the United States is:
There was little rattlesnake,
He ate too much of wedding cake,
And made his little belly ache.
AS to the origin OF almost all of the
children's doggerel, DR.. Bolton said
he believed it descended from remote
antiquity. The ancients were accus-
toned to cast lots in the most solemn
acts of life. It was considered an ap.
peal to the Almighty. In the middle
ages casting lots was degraded to a
superstition, and charlatans used I'M
meaning formulas to impose on the
people, pretending to cure diseases
and forecast the future. In the well
known doggerel:
Eckery, ackery, ukery an,
One-ery, towery, &c.
The "eckery" is Sanskrit for "one."
It is probable, Prof. Bolton said, that
"ackery" was originally a word also.
There was only one corrupt Latin
verse that Mr.. Bolton could remem-
Der. 1t is:
In hoe, Domino. quod.
Ducks foot plump in the mud.
It is probable that the jingles that
the children now use in games were
formerly written on papers and hung
around the necks of people in the
Middle Ages to keep off the plague or
to cure hydrophodia, govt anu rheu-
matism.