Thanks, Mo. I like your story about how you heard the inky pinky ponkey rhyme-though I shouldn't encourage chiidren to taunt or tease another child when the teacher's back is turned-or any time for that matter.

I don't know the rhyme "Old Roger is dead." How does it go? I vaguely recall reading something about Solomon Grundy {died on Monday}. But that's all I can remember about that rhyme.

**

With regard to my memory of the line in London Bridge-"here comes the hammer to chop off her head", "hammer" was probably "hatchet". But since we kids didn't really know what a hatchet is, I think that we changed that unfamiliar word to one we were more familiar with-"hammer".

My memory of that song keeps changing. Maybe it was sung differently in different years. But this first verse popped into my mind this weekend:

London bridge is all built up
all built up
all built up
London bridge is all built up
My fair lady
-snip-

And then we'd sing the "London bridge is falling down" verse, and then the "hammer to chop off her head verse."

It makes sense that the bridge would have to be built {up} before it fell {down}. I've found that children like their rhymes to make sense to them. Or, at least, it seems that way to me much of the time. {Notwithstanding the fact that hammer to chop off her head doesn't make much sense. But I submit that most urban young children have seen hammers, but may have never seen a hatchet, except, perhaps a fake one with a Halloween costume, or maybe a real one that is held by a fire fighter?}