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Silly Rhymes.

I remember that we had ryhmes to select team members for playground games at primary school. The trouble is I cannot remember any of them.
I am surprised but pleased this thread keeps on being resurrected.
 
Thanks for adding a bit more to the rhyme Pembroke but I still can't remember, I remember my mom saying it but I can only remember the end bit because it would make me and my brother laugh.
 
... trouble is I cannot remember any of them ...

Arkrite, there's a whole world of childhood rhymes and games that is passed on from child to child, and largely forgotten by the time we reach adolescence. That's why it's such fun to be reminded of them, as in this excellent thread.

Here's another Birmingham one from the Opies' book:
Julius Caesar,
The Roman geezer,
Squashed his wife
With a lemon squeezer.​
 
Hi mariew and Fatfingers
I think after two days the following has eventually forced its way through the mist of old age
One two three mother caught a flea
Put it in the teapot to make a cup of tea
The flea jumped out
Mother gave a shout
and in came a copper with his shirt hanging out.

Pembroke
 
Another couple of Birmingham ones (from Opie & Opie):
Inky pinky, pen and inky,
I smell a dirty stinky.

If a fellow met a fellow
In a field of fitches,
Could a fellow tell a fellow
Where a fellow itches?
How many Fs in that?​
 
I remember that we had ryhmes to select team members for playground games at primary school. The trouble is I cannot remember any of them.
I am surprised but pleased this thread keeps on being resurrected.
How about your shoes need blacking please change your foot,
 
An Opie "riddle" rhyme, this time from Ford, Shropshire (but a Birmingham version is known):
Little Nancy Netticoat
Wears a white petticoat.
The longer she lives
The shorter she grows:
Little Nancy Netticoat.​
 
There are a couple I can remember but not the full verses and I am sure someone will remember them.
1st one was about throwing seeds in the ground - one for the rook, one for the? and one for the ground that grew nothing at all. The 2nd was about 2 tom cats come knocking at the door. Please help
 
Re your second one: is this it, Carolynn? (Obtained by Googling the line you quoted):
Not last night but the night before,
Two Tom Cats came knocking at the door,
I went downstairs to let them in,
And they knocked me down with a rolling pin.​
 
one fine day in the middle of the night.
two dead men got up to fight
two blind men to watch fair play
two lame men to carry them away
 
The Opies have a slightly longer version:
Not last night but the night before,
Two tom cats came knocking at my door;
I went downstairs to let them in,
They knocked me down with a rolling pin.
The rolling pin was made of brass,
They turned me up and smacked my a--e.​
 
Yes the tom cat one is correct. There used to be a lot of tongue twister rhymes as well. How much oil could gum boil boil if a gum boil could boil oil.
 
The Opies record this one from Birmingham in the 1950s, well after Charle Chaplin's heyday (to the tune "Gentle Jesus"):
Charlie Chaplin, meek and mild,
Took a sausage off a child.
When the child began to cry
Charlie sloshed him in the eye.
Yes, Charlie did it,
Yes, Charlie did it,
Yes, Charlie did it,​

The kids will tell you so.​
 
Surprised the following one has not been posted yet.As kids in the 1940s we used to think it was quite risque.Well we did till we were six or seven
Mary had a little lamb
She also had a bear
I've often seen her little lamb
but have never seen her bear
 
Hi mariew and Fatfingers
I think after two days the following has eventually forced its way through the mist of old age
One two three mother caught a flea
Put it in the teapot to make a cup of tea
The flea jumped out
Mother gave a shout
and in came a copper with his shirt hanging out.

Pembroke

Thank you so much Pembroke.
 
one fine day in the middle of the night two dead men got up to fight two blind men to see fair play two deaf & dumb to shout hooray.
 
Another one from the Opies' book, which many of us will recognize. This is an 1892 version recorded in Birmingham:
What's your name? Mary Jane.
Where do you live? Womber Lane.
What do you do? Keep a school.
How many scholars? Twenty-two.
How many more? Twenty-four.
What's your number? Cucumber.​
 
I remember a lot of the rhymes posted,nearly all infact,though with a few changes to the words.

Not last night but the night before,
three little monky,s came knocking at the door,one had a trumpet,one had a drum,
and the other had a pancake stuck to his bum.

The above being just one.

I have taught my grandson this one,(he is 4 next month),i get him to tell it to his nana,
Oh nana,s a funny un
got a face like a pickled onion,
a nose like a squashed tomato,
and feet like flat fish.

I,m sure there must be more to this,just cannot remember.
Does anyone remember the "there,s a hole in my bucket" one?,i,m amazed reading through the posts at how many came flooding back,lovely memories folks.
 
GGJean a few more for you
Mary had a little lamb
Her father shot it dead.
Now it goes to school with her
Between two chunks of bread


Mary had a little lamb
It ran into a pylon.
10,000 volts went up its ar**

And turned its wool to nylon
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To have a little fun..
Jill, the dill,
Forgot her pill,
And now they have a son.

Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
And planned to do some kissing.
Jack made a pass
And grabbed her ass
Now two of his teeth are missing.



 
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