The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #2795   Message #1716785
Posted By: Azizi
12-Apr-06 - 08:20 PM
Thread Name: Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, I Bit the Teacher's Toe!
Subject: RE: Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, I Bit the Teacher's Toe!
Jeri,

I hope that GUEST,3rI responds to your question. It will be interesting to hear what she or he says about whether that rhyme is done with handclap routines like others I've collected that "sound" like it.

Imo, the rhyme that guest 3rI shared sounds like the "Miss Sue From Alabama" rhymes.

Here's an example that was sent to me from Deena Garrison-Stevensen {Northern California, as recited by her 6 year old girl and other children in the playground}

MISS SUE
Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Alabama
Her real name is Susanna
Sittin' in the rocking chair
eating baby crackers watching the clock go
Tick tock tick tock bananna rock, tick toc, tic toc bananna rock
A-B-C-D-E-F-G wash those spiders off of me,
Mooscha, Mooscha, I want my mommy
Mooscha mooscha I know karate
Mooscha moosch oops I am sorry
Mooscha mooscha FREEZE!

****

The "eating baby crackers" is usually given as "eating Betty Crocker" {meaning the pastry made from the directions that the famous cookbook editor Betty Crocker provided}

For another variant of this rhyme, see this example that I collected from African American girls and boys, ages 5-12 years, Pittsburgh, PA area, 1999:

MISS SUE, SCOOBY DOO
Miss Sue, Scooby Do
Miss Sue from Alabama
Sittin at the table
peeling mashed potatoes
waitin for the clock to go
boom tick tock
boom ticky wally wally
boom tick tock
boom ticky wally wally
Stop!
Ah 2 more times
boom tick tock
boom ticky wally wally
boom tick tock
boom ticky wally wally
Ah 1 more time
boom tick tock
boom ticky wally wally
boom tick tock
boom ticky wally wally
Ah no more times.

---

Btw, a lot of children's rhymes end with FREEZE! Of course, this means to immediately stop movement {usually maintaining a dramatic pose until the rhyme starts again}.