It may very well be Loughborough Fives - ripping off the local Pentecostalists who used to do something similar with other spirituals as an entirely innocent kid's entertainment. I recall the Navigators Christian group on campus (inspired by Nick Campling who went on to produce the G7 capo) had a group from St Michael's York who had all the kids songs that way, and that was the first time I ever ran across it.