A variant of this rhyme was the first piece of Folk Lore I ever collected in the field, or rather the playground, on my first day at Shiremoor Infants School, Northumberland, in September 1966.

My source, as I recall, was classmate Peter Best, who impressed me with delivery of his recitation as much as by its content, in which, by way of a variation on subsequent versions, said Ching Chong got a mouthful of shit.

Needless to say I reported this to my mother when I home later that afternoon, giving her as studied a recitation as my meagre talents were capable of, and for my efforts was rewarded with a mouthful of soap and water.