Thanks MtheGM and Jim Carroll for posting to this thread.

MtheGM, I'm quite familiar with the works of Peter & Iona Opie and I consider their books to be essential resources for people interested in English language children's playgeround rhymes.

However, my purpose in starting this thread was to ascertain which children's playground rhymes and song parodies Mudcat members and guests remembered from their childhood and youth, and not which rhyme examples have already been included in any books. Of course, those two categories will often overlap. However, it's possible that "new" rhymes might be posted. And, from my past experiences on Mudcat and other websites such as my own site, I believe that it's probable that different variants of already documented rhymes will emerge via such Internet postings.

I find these threads on children's rhymes to be interesting reading from a folkloric standpoint, and enjoyable reading from a nostalgic standpoint. And, as I've just mentioned, I think that these threads can and often do add to the material (examples and comment/textual analysis etc) which is already available in off-line publications.

And-as a means of full disclosure- let me reiterate what I have written on several previous Mudcat threads: I'm interested in including some of the examples posted on these types of Mudcat threads in books that I'm planning to edit and self-publish. For the purpose of guests and those Mudcat members who aren't aware of this, as per my agreement with Max, the owner and founder of this site, I can repost examples & comments from guests on various pages of my website http://www.cocojams.com/ and in any books or other printed work that I edit or write. However, I must receive prior written permission via private messages in order to include any posts from active Mudcat members. If I understand my agreement with Max correctly, the use of posts from inactive members is a gray area. Generally speaking, if the posts are more than 5 years old, I've been including them in my rough drafts of these projected books.

One category that I'm focusing on is contemporary (1950s to date) English language playground rhymes and children's song parodies* that mention the name of a famous person (such as Abe Lincoln or Shirley Temple) and fictitious characters (such as Batman & Robin or Frankenstein). If any Mudcat member wishes to discuss these projects further with me, please feel free to pm me.

* I agree with you Jim that "It's often difficult to spot which is a children's rhyme and which an adults"...My definition of "children's parodies" are those songs/rhymes that have no known author and which children, teens, or adults, indicate that they sing or have sung as a child or as a teen, or that they know or remember other children/teens singing.