Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-10-30
FAMILIAR RHYMES.
We all Knew Them Once, But
Twas Long Ago.


greater or less extent with those
rhymes used by children in many of
their games, and commonly designated
''counting-out" rhymes. They are
used 10 determine who is TO take the
turn at being ''it'' in ''hide and seek"
''olind mans buff,'' and such like
games. When we hear children re-
peaIing these seemingly absurd and
meaningless rhymes at their play it
never fails to carry our memories back
TO the happy days when We too could
glibly rattle of the same or equivalent
vrr IS of doggerel.
In work recently published, 1.-The
COuntipg-Out Rhymes of Children"
by H. e. Bolton, the author has sue
ce' ded in gathering together remark
able and interesting collection OF
rhymes relating to the subject OF his
volume, says Chambers Journal This
collection. along with the compiler's
remarks thereon. is worthy of more
than mere passing attention, not oniy
for the numbec OF rhymes and yaria- |
tiOns given, but also for the examples /
OF similar rhymes in different lang |
uages. The latter is abundant evil |
dence OF the worldwide observance Of |
the custom among children or all na- |
tons
Various examples are given of the
different modes of counting OUT IN
different countries The following
method is, however, the one in most
frequent and general use among all
chii1ren- "A leader, generally Sc f.
appointed, having secured he attention
OF the boys and girls about to JON IN
the prepared game, arranges them III a
row, or in q circle around him, as fancy
NAV dictate. He Tor she) then repeats
Ieculiar-doggerel, sometimes with
rapi ity which can only be acquired 10y
great familiarity and dexterouS
tongue, and pointing with the hand or
| forefinger to each child in succession,
not forgetting himself Tor herself), al
lots 10 each one word of tie mysterious
| formula:
FIIicT, fAlicy, Nicholas, Jonn.
4 Queever. Quaver. Engi sh knayer,
sunkelum. slankelum. jericho. buck.
IIav ng completed the verse or SEN
tence the child upon whom the last
/ verse falls is said tD lie '.out," and
steps aside. In repeating the above
doggerel the acc mt fails on the first
syllable OF each polysyllabic word. a
very common ending Is:
| one, two, three,
| Out goes she! (Or he);
and the last word IS general y said with
great emphasis, or shouted
| After The child thus counted out'
has withdrawn the leader repea's the
same do gerel with the same form Ill
ties, and. as before, the boy oc girl To
whom the last word is allotted Is out
| and stands aside. The unmeanlng
doggerel is repeated again and again
To a diminishing number Of children,
and the process of elimination Is con-
| ., .Ntaly txrg of fhaDn
The leader then counts out" once
more, and the one on whom the magic
word falls Is declared 70 De lit, and
must take ths Objectionable part In the
game
When the youngsters are in hurry
to commence their game they fire.
quently simplify and shorten the pro-
ceeIing 10y repeating something like
} this:
Il d, white, blue,
, All out but yOui
. and the child 10 whom the word you
, is appropriated is lit. "
These rhymes, seemingly composed
of Senseless words strung together so as
, TO fo IN "A musical OF alternative jingle,
! when subjected TO close examination
and analysis are In many Instances
, found TO be coTruptlons of words and
phrases which originally have had a
distinct meaning and reference to
| definite subjects. Both in the Old and
New Worlds, as among both savage
and civilized peoples, the same Gust I'm
: | obtains in an almost Identical form to
!, A greater or less eXten'.
= Even in the lonely islands of the
!. Pacific Ocean we flnd the same prac-
tice in operation; but in this instance II
. is not only the children who use the
. rhymes in their games, but the adults
= have somewhat similar formulas which
. they repeat when engaged IN the
/, heather mcantatio1s connected with
4 their idolatrous practices or drunken
r orgies. Here We have in all probable
q Ity a c'ew to thu origin of these count
! ing out rhymes. As is well known TO stu
: dents OF both sacred AMI prJfane his
: tory. the custom OF deciding disputes OF
= | making selections for numerous pur
= | Doses by the ..lot' was prevailing
r | custom among II nations
!, In Jewish history we fini the lot
= frequently resoTted To when any diff
= ficulty arose. Again, among heather
: nations the .'lot'' was favorite re
!, source for determining the selection o
" a required victim for sacrifice, and ais
n for finding out the guilty person from
= number of suspected Individuals. It i
\ more than likely that, in connection
- with heather rites particularly, tn
:, priests were possessed OF mysteTlou
a forms of words, which they use on sucl
= occasions; and in some instances tn
- mode of selection may have been prac
tically identical with the harmles
method now universally adopted b.
children for counting out" This
however, is a subject requiring NOR
attention than we can at present oe
stow upon it The now meaningless
y and unintelliglble expressions In chill
y dren's rhymes may be the relics OF su
:, perstitious formulas used by tn
heathen yotaries of bygone days
le y great many of these rhymes ar
q evidently of common origin. bu
G., through course of time and change O
scene have got so changed and trans
4, mocrified as to be scarcely recogniza
- bic. One of the most common an
widespread examples among Englis
y speaking people is that beginning
~ .'Onery, twoery," of which the follow
II llrg is one of its most frequent form:
y onery, twcery dickery, davy.-
u. Halaoone- crockaoone, teaery, navy,
III Diseum, dandum merTy come tine'
Humbledy, dumoledy, twenfy-nine
OUT, out
Somewhere about 100 different varia
lions and versions of this rhyme alon
rr a-e given. The following is one {
+, several versions from Scotland (Abel
id deem:
n Eenery, twaery, tuckery, tayven,
- HalAba, crackery ten or eleven,
g. Peen, pan, musky, dan,
lr- Feedeiam, fadelam, twenty-ore,
lie From a work on the gypsies. t
he Charles G.. Layland, we have specime
IN Of n uyDsy magic spell: il is as follow