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Lyr ADD: Skinny Malinky

GUEST 04 Sep 22 - 06:38 AM
Jim McLean 07 Jan 20 - 12:42 PM
Scabby Douglas 07 Jan 20 - 05:18 AM
GUEST 28 Dec 19 - 07:11 AM
Jim Dixon 27 Dec 19 - 01:30 PM
GUEST,Carl in Vermont 26 Jul 16 - 04:57 AM
GUEST,Eliza 07 Oct 13 - 01:47 PM
GUEST,Petrina 07 Oct 13 - 01:29 PM
GUEST 30 Apr 12 - 03:06 PM
GUEST 14 Jul 11 - 09:15 AM
GUEST,NYLISTIK 03 Feb 11 - 01:04 PM
GUEST,NYLYSTIK 03 Feb 11 - 12:53 PM
Jim Dixon 28 Jun 09 - 08:58 AM
Jim Dixon 27 Jun 09 - 06:20 PM
GUEST,TJ in San Diego 22 Jun 09 - 11:56 AM
GUEST 16 Apr 09 - 04:58 AM
GUEST,homeec 06 Mar 09 - 09:08 PM
GUEST,maine 16 Feb 09 - 06:18 AM
GUEST,Terrie in Louisiana 14 Dec 08 - 08:15 PM
GUEST,Andy Allan 29 Jan 08 - 07:40 AM
GUEST,John Cully 29 May 06 - 02:26 PM
Big Mick 28 May 06 - 12:43 PM
Azizi 28 May 06 - 12:41 PM
Alice 28 May 06 - 12:25 PM
Azizi 28 May 06 - 12:17 PM
Fiona 28 May 06 - 07:12 AM
Q (Frank Staplin) 27 May 06 - 12:25 AM
GUEST,late 'n short 2 26 May 06 - 09:26 PM
Q (Frank Staplin) 26 May 06 - 08:41 PM
Azizi 26 May 06 - 06:26 AM
GUEST 26 May 06 - 05:26 AM
GUEST,Littlewater 26 May 06 - 05:17 AM
Jim McLean 26 May 06 - 04:47 AM
Joe Offer 26 May 06 - 02:20 AM
Liz the Squeak 26 May 06 - 01:26 AM
Sandra in Sydney 25 May 06 - 07:46 AM
Azizi 25 May 06 - 07:42 AM
GUEST,JTT 25 May 06 - 07:39 AM
Azizi 25 May 06 - 07:23 AM
Azizi 25 May 06 - 07:21 AM
Azizi 25 May 06 - 07:15 AM
Liz the Squeak 25 May 06 - 03:36 AM
alison 25 May 06 - 02:03 AM
GUEST,Van 20 Jan 04 - 01:35 PM
GUEST,Lofty 20 Jan 04 - 11:53 AM
Fiona 20 Jan 04 - 06:52 AM
masato sakurai 19 Jan 04 - 09:23 PM
GUEST 19 Jan 04 - 12:37 PM
Fergie 19 Jan 04 - 11:36 AM
masato sakurai 19 Jan 04 - 10:20 AM
Dave Hanson 19 Jan 04 - 10:09 AM
GUEST,Dian 19 Jan 04 - 09:48 AM
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Sep 22 - 06:38 AM

ma maw said
Ahve tae go
wi ma Daddy's dinnero
champit totties, stewin steak
wi a wee bit currant cake
cos he's a fisherman
he caught a wee bit troot
said the troot tae ma faither
dis yer mother know yer oot
singing dont be weary
try an be cheery
dont be weary cos wer aw gon hame

A came tae a river
a couldnae get across
a paid 10 bob for an auld scabby horse
a jumped oan es back
his boneys came a crack
a played ma fiddle tae the boat came back
the boat came back
we aw jumped
the boat capsized and we aw fell in
singing dont be weary
try an be cheery
dont be weary cos wur aw gon hame


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: Jim McLean
Date: 07 Jan 20 - 12:42 PM

Faye Mulguye!! I love it!


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: Scabby Douglas
Date: 07 Jan 20 - 05:18 AM

Jim Dixon's contribution above, cites the lyrics of Matt McGinn's reworking of the rhyme into a more complete song.

Jim may have got the lyrics from some printed source, but I can't help feeling that the line "For they both took a fancy tae a lassie, Faye Mulguye," should probably be "For they both took a fancy tae a lassie, **fae Milngavie**" - sounds the same, but....
From memory I also think that the line
"Then he shook off his whiskers and he sprinkled bloody cologne."
was: "Then he shaved off a' his whiskers and he sprinkled eau-de-cologne."

Cheers

Steven


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Dec 19 - 07:11 AM

I remember a version from about the early 1960s in Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland, which was nearly identical to that mentioned by "Alison" in May 2006 above in Belfast:

Skinny Malink, Melodeon Legs, Big Banana Feet
Went to the pictures and couldn't get a seat
When he got a seat, he fell right through the seat
Skinny Malink, Melodeon Legs, Big Banana Feet

At that time I probably hadn't heard of the Musical instrument called a Melodeon, and when working on a building site in the summers of 1970 and 1971 was told that an adjustable spanner was called a Malojan (though I don't know if this was spelled this way). If you adjust the spanner, the two ends become closer or further apart, which to me seemed to resonate with the legs of a skinny lightweight person not being very robust, so that he or she might collapse under their weight. However it may well be that the musical instrument is the correct word. I also remember a play on TV set I think in Scotland (possibly Glasgow) many years ago, in which some children called a man "Mr. Skinny Malink.", which I think was not a compliment.


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Subject: Lyr Add: SKINNY MA LINKY LONG LEGS (Matt McGinn)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Dec 19 - 01:30 PM

SKINNY MA LINKY LONG LEGS
As recorded by Matt McGinn on "Little Ticks of Time" (1969)

CHORUS: He was neat; he was sweet, but he'd hell of a sweaty feet,
And they called him Skinny Ma Linky Long Legs.

Skinny Ma Linky Long Legs had hell of a sweaty feet,
And in the warrum weather, they were very far from sweet.
In the summer, he often wondered why folk left him by himsel,
But he never knew the reason cause he had nae sense o smell. CHORUS

Skinny Ma Linky Long Legs was a bit of a gigolo.
He fell into competition with a second cousin Joe,
For they both took a fancy tae a lassie, Faye Mulguye,
And to win her sole affection they decided they would try. CHORUS

The three of them arranged they would meet at Glasgow Cross,
So Josie booked home early wi permission frae his boss.
He jumped into the basin and scrubbed un tae the bone,
Then he shook off his whiskers and he sprinkled bloody cologne. CHORUS

When she met the two o them, she felt this terrible hum.
Says she: "There's only one o you along wi me can come.
So tell me who's the smell of, and then I'll judge," said she.
So Josie sniffed his aftershave; says he: "It's off o me." CHORUS

She turned on puir wee Josie then and gied him a terrible snub.
Says she: "Ah think you'd better go hame and gie yersel a scrub."
She took the arrum o Skinny Ma Link an they wandered all aroun
Till ah landed in a picture hall that used to be up the toon. CHORUS

In the middle o the hall they were very soon alone,
For the crood an all the chucker-oots they quickly scampered home.
She couldn't eat her sweeties; she refused his cigarette.
Says she: "Ma darlin Skinny Ma Link, I can smell that bugger yet." CHORUS


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,Carl in Vermont
Date: 26 Jul 16 - 04:57 AM

But where's all the verses I hear on the Matt McGinn YouTube, which I can't make out very well, being a Yank who doesn't speak Scots?

Something about his rivalry with his cousin over a girl, he scrubs off his feet & applies cologne, fools the girl, who chooses him instead of the cousin, they go out but she can't eat or smoke because she "smells that bugger yet". Chorus is something like "He was neat, he was sweet, but he'd helluva stinky feet, and they call us Skinny-ma-Linky Longlegs".

But nobody here ever heard but the verses quoted above?   ???


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 07 Oct 13 - 01:47 PM

I foolishly allowed my class of six year-olds to teach me this in Glasgow. I was a newly-qualified teacher from England and didn't know the song. When they got to the rude word, they positively shouted it in fits of giggles. The teacher next door (through a thin partition) and all her class, heard it too, as I was informed at break. Oh dear!


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,Petrina
Date: 07 Oct 13 - 01:29 PM

Skinny Malinky long legs
And big banana a feet
Went to the pictures
But couldn't get a seat
When the picture started
skinny Malinky farted
skinny Malinky long legs,big banana feet


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Apr 12 - 03:06 PM

Skinny Malinky Long Legs,
Big Banana Feet,
He Went To The Pictures And Couldn't Find A Seat,
When The Pictures Started,
Skinny Malinky Farted,
skinny Malinky Long Legs,
Big Banana Feet.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 09:15 AM

.............Version we sang in Glasgow................

Skinny Malinky long legs, big banana feet
went to the pictures and coudnae find a seat
when the pictures started Skinny Malinky farted
and that was the end of
Skinny Malinky long legs, big banana feet


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,NYLISTIK
Date: 03 Feb 11 - 01:04 PM

My granny played for scotland
she nearly scored a goal
she done the splits
and burst her tits
then the ball went up her hole

Another popular one from my playground days in edinburgh lol


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,NYLYSTIK
Date: 03 Feb 11 - 12:53 PM

skinny malinky long legs, big banana feet
went tae the pictures and couldnae find a seat
when the picture started skinny malinky farted
and everybody ran out the picture house.


This is the version I remember most from school


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 28 Jun 09 - 08:58 AM

Could it be possible that this fairy-like little lady was the Camilla Balfour, the favorite of the Royal Gem Theatre, who performed a "leg part" in the new burlesque, who nightly sang rattling parodies and played the bones and uttered doggerel rhymes and fought combats and danced double-shuffle hornpipes to the inspiriting tune of "Skinamalink;" who, in everything she did, was encored fiercely by the pit and gallery, and whose whole performance had been described by the best critics in town as replete with verve, and as having the greatest possible amount of "go" in it?
The Dollar Monthly Magazine, Boston, vol 20, 1864.

S'pose them two old skinamulinks was to go an' have children?
David Harum: A Story of American Life by Edward Noyes Westcott (New York : D. Appleton and Co., 1900).

She is not for skinamalinks like thee.
Only Betty by Curtis Yorke (London, J. Long, 1908)

This little gal is Cousin Sis Hopkins from Skinny-marink Crossroads, down in Toadhunter Holler.
Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick by Beale Cormack (Boston: Walter H. Baker, 1919)


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Jun 09 - 06:20 PM

From Dictionary of American Regional English, vol. 4, 2002:

skinny malink n also skinamelink, skinamulink, skinny marink, ~ merink, skittamalink [OED2 (at skinny a. 6) 1892 –, "chiefly Sc." SND (at skinny adj. 2) "skinnymalink(ie), skinamalink(ie),... skinnylinky, a thin skinny person or animal"] esp NY A thin or emaciated person; also used as a derog term for a person.

1870 Punchinello 2.27 Upstate NY, I had sent too many of such skinamelinks to the clay banks when I was Gustise of the Peece to allow 'em to fool me much.... [plus many more citations].


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 22 Jun 09 - 11:56 AM

This seems to bear some relationship to an old song I heard in the coffee houses of the 1950's, "Hi Ro Jerum." I believe this came from an earlier thread.

"The Rich Man and the Poor Man"

There was a rich man and he lived in Jerusalem,
    Glory, hallelujah hi-ro-je-rum
He wore a silk hat and his coat was very sprucium,
    Glory hallelujah hi-ro-je-rum.

cho: Hi-ro-je-rum, hi-ro-je-rum,
    Skinamalinkadoolium
    Skinamalinkadoolium       .
    Glory hallelujah hi-ro-je-rum.

And at his gate there sat a human wreckium
He wore a bowler hat and the rim was round his neckium,

That poor man asked for a piece of bread and cheesium,
The rich man answered, "I'll call for a policeium"

The poor man died and his soul went to heavium,
And he danced with the saints 'til quarter past ellevium,

And there he dwelt in Abraham's bosium,
Fraternizing there with scores of other Jewseum.

The rich man died but he didn't fare so wellium
He couldn't go to heaven so he had to go to hellium,

The rich man asked for to have a consolium,
The devil only answered, "Come shovel on the coalium. "

The moral of this story is that riches are no jokium,
We will all go to heaven because we are stony brokium.

RG


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Apr 09 - 04:58 AM

wee skinny malinky
big banana feet
went to the pictures and couldne find a seat


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,homeec
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 09:08 PM

I grew up hearing my dad singing "Skinny Malink the diatty (rhymes with flighty) washer. I am so glad just to have found poems, references to Skinny Malink. Is this a great time to be alive, or what?


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,maine
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 06:18 AM

And my dad did this version (he was from Bar Harbor Maine, ancestors from Wales. Any one know the rest of it (if there is any more)? I've got my 5 year old grandson saying it.

went down to the river, couldn't get across
jumped an a alligator, thought it was a hoss
wouldn't go ahead, wouldn't stand still
jumped up and down like an old saw mill


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,Terrie in Louisiana
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 08:15 PM

The following was a song taught by my great-great grandfather in Louisiana.

I went to the river and couldn't get across
Jumped on an alligator and thought it was a hoss,
Rammed my heels the alligator's flanks,
Ought to have seen it go from bank to bank.


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,Andy Allan
Date: 29 Jan 08 - 07:40 AM

Malinky = small (Russian)


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,John Cully
Date: 29 May 06 - 02:26 PM

Foryears I been Singin:

Skinny Ber-link Bel-ougne legs, and big banana feet........


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Big Mick
Date: 28 May 06 - 12:43 PM

Same thing in Michigan in the 50's and 60's, Alice.

Mick


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Azizi
Date: 28 May 06 - 12:41 PM

In New Jersey {and any other state I happened to visit} I got called "skinnie minnie". That name and "bonie macaroni".


****

Btw, when I said "new horses" I meant young ones...

But I guess you figured that out.


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Alice
Date: 28 May 06 - 12:25 PM

All the way over here in Montana my mom would say "Skinny Marink".
She would call me that because I was a skinny kid.

alice


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Azizi
Date: 28 May 06 - 12:17 PM

Thanks, Fiona.

Interesting that different versions have an old tin horse, and old grey horse, an old broken horse, and an old blind horse.

I guess Skinny Malinky or whoever just wasn't trusted with the new horses!

:o)


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Fiona
Date: 28 May 06 - 07:12 AM

Thank you littlewater, someone did give me a version on another forum, more or less the same


'Mah Maw said, Ah should go
Wi mah faither's dinner -o
Mince an totties stew an steak
Wi'a wee bit currant cake

Ah went tae the river, couldny get across
Peyed ten bob fur an auld broken horse
Ah jumped oan its back, its bones gave a crack
Ah waited tae the boat came back

The boat came back, we aw jumped in
The boat capsized an we aw fell in
Singin dont be weary try'n be cheery
Jist play the fiddle till the boat comes back.'

My dad then remembered his version had 'old blind horse'

My dad (b.1935 in Glasgow) had it from his mother (b 1915 Glasgow, 1st gen Irish from Leinster) don't know if that helps with the dates Azizi!

fx


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 May 06 - 12:25 AM

See Alison above. The song was known in Belfast, where it probably came from Scotland. Hard to trace the movement of these rhymes, but they spread rapidly, as people emigrate.


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,late 'n short 2
Date: 26 May 06 - 09:26 PM

When I was a kid in the 50s my Dad use to call me "Skinny Malink" because I was, well, skinny. He was born on the East Side of New York in the 20's of Irish immigrant parents. So where did he get the term from?


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 May 06 - 08:41 PM

1. Melodion- A musical instrument consisting of a series of metal rods, actuated by pressing against a metal cylinder. Invented 19th c. by a German.
2. Melodeon- A wind instrument with a keyboard, the bellows moved by pedals moved by the feet. The legs supporting the body, with keyboard and bellows, often had knobby, spindly legs. Like the 'parlor organs', often bought by people who couldn't afford a piano, lacked space, or needed something more portable than a piano. I have one that I started to repair some 20 years ago-- fitted new bellows, but got frustrated by the key actions. It still is in the basement.

The verses quoted by Littlewater ('I went down ...') are not in old forms of the seemingly Scottish Malinky; probably picked up from blackface minstrel troupes, both American and English, who were very popular on the English, Scottish and Dublin stages. Some had long runs in London, Glasgow and other cities.

Any rhyme with a name was invented over and over by children; 'skinny minnie" is obvious and has no relation to Malinky.

I can't find any reliable dates for 'Skinny Malinky; but I suspect it is from around 1900.


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Azizi
Date: 26 May 06 - 06:26 AM

Liz the Squeak, thanks for that explanation about a melodeon and the term "melodeon legs". I confess that I had never heard of the musical instrument of that insult before reading these Mudcat threads.

****

Admittedly this is a bit of drift away from the central topics, but I'm struck by the inclusion of this verse "I went tae the river, I couldnae get across/I payed ten bob for an auld tin horse" in that Skinny Malinky rhyme that GUEST,Littlewater posted.

That verse [with "grey horse" instead of "tin horse"] is a widely used floating verse in a number of African America secular slave songs. Maybe that line was used in religious songs too, since floating lines and verses were often used for both religious & non-religious songs.

See, for example, this excerpt of a comment I wrote in another Mudcat thread:

Subject: RE: Origins: Who wrote Polly Wolly Doodle
From: Azizi - PM
Date: 17 Dec 04 - 11:58 AM

But seriously, folks..

A number of verses to "Polly Wolly Doodle" that Joe Offer gave in his July 27,2004 are floating verses that can be found in various songs from Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book "Negro Folk Rhymes".

I'm studying this collection and "offer" these examples to you for your study or just for the heck of it... The page numbers that I cite are from the 1968 Kennikat Press reissue. I believe there is a newer edition out now...The cited verse found in "Polly Wolly Doddle is preceded by a star or stars and the examples that I found are placed under it.

*I went to the river and couldn't get across:

"Crossing The River" p.6 has this line and these 2nd verses:
1."I jumped on er mule an' I thought 'e wuz er hoss"
2nd verse: "So I mounted on a ram, fer I thought ie wus er hoss"
3rd verse: "So I give a whole dollar fer a ole blin' hoss"

"Crossing The River doesn't have the "jumped on a "N-" verse . However, it does include the infamous "N" word in the second couplet of the first verse "Dat mule 'e walk in an' git mired up in de san'/You'd oughter see'd dis N- make back fer de land"
---

The verse "I went to the river an' I couldn't get across/paid five dollars for an old blind {or ole gray} horse" is also used as a verse in a number of other songs that are included in Tally's collection. For instance, the song "Gray And Black Horses", p.45 is composed using a formula in which the person trades one defective item for another:

I went down to de woods an' I couldn' go 'cross
So I paid five dollars fer de ole gray hoss.
De hoss wouldn' pull, so I sol' im fer a bull.
De bull wouldn't holler, so I sol' im fer a dollar.
De dollar wouldn' pass, so I throwed it in de grass.
Den de grass wouldn't grow. Heigho! Heigh!
---
You can still hear very similar versions of these verses in contemporary hand-clap rhymes.

Here's two more examples of "river/get across":
"The Negro And The Policeman", p. 66:
I runs to the river, I can't git 'cross
Dat Police grap me an'swim lak a hoss.
---

"Walk Tom Wilson", p. 69
Tom went down to de river, an' he couldn't go 'cross.
Tom tromp [jumped?] on a 'gater [alligator] an'e' think 'e wus a hoss.

-snip-

Origins: Who wrote Polly Wolly Doodle

Other examples from Mudcat threads of "went to the river" can be foundby putting that phrase into the Mudcat Lyric & Knowledge search box and pressing "submit". Btw, I've found that the messages feature doesn't conform to what you're seeking, but the thread feature does. This is probably a result of that major computer crash that happened here last year sometime.

I suppose it's possible that enslaved African Americans heard that line "went to the river but couldn't get across" or the entire verse "I went down to de wooods an' I " from some Scottish slave master. What's more important to me is the creative use of material but where the material originally came from is also important.

I'm curious about the dates of the Scottish line/verses compared to the date of the African American ones.

Anyone?


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST
Date: 26 May 06 - 05:26 AM

In Fife in the 70s we sang, or rather shouted:

Skinny Malinky lang legs
Big banana feet
Went tae the pictures
Couldnae find a seat
When the pictures started
Skinny Malinky farted
When the pictures ended
Skinny Malinky bended

Everyone knew the last couplet was not quite up to the level of the rest but somehow no-one ever hit upon anything better.


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,Littlewater
Date: 26 May 06 - 05:17 AM

ref 'mince and tatties' song - this stirred something in the recesses of my brain and I remember my mother (circa 1950's Glasgow) singing a sort of nonsense song to me as a child.

My mother said that I was to go
wi my faither's dinner-o
Mince and tatties, stewin' steak
wi a wee bit curran cake

I went tae the river, I couldnae get across
I payed ten bob for an auld tin horse
I jumped on its back, its bones gave a crack
Played my fiddle till the boat came back

The boat came back, we a' jumped in
the boat capsized and we a' fell in
singin' "don't be weary, try be cheery
don't be weary for we're a' goin' hame'


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Jim McLean
Date: 26 May 06 - 04:47 AM

Joe, my father sang a song called 'The Drunkard's Ragged Wean' (written in 1855) to a slowed down version of that tune. I think the tune is called 'Castles in the Air'.


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Subject: ADD Version: Skinny Malinky
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 May 06 - 02:20 AM

I transcribed the tune I found in The Scottish Folksinger (Norman Buchan and Peter Hall, 1973, page 39.

SKINNY MALINKY

Skinny malinky lang legs umba-rella feet,
Went tae the pictures an' could-nae find a seat.
He got the bus hame an' he wid-nae pey his fare,
So the rotten auld conducter kicked him doon the stair.


Click to play (joeweb)


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 26 May 06 - 01:26 AM

I have indeed - it and others of hers - were favourites to read to the assembled little ... darlings in my library days. The kids would join in which was great because all I had to do was turn pages and start the first line!

Aziz - melodeon legs are long legs that move as if they had more than one knee. Imagine a newborn foal, the way its legs appear to bend all ways and go on for ever.... those are melodeon legs. A melodeon is an instrument with bellows and reeds. The bellows blow air through the reeds on both push and pull (suck and blow, like a mouth organ), creating different notes. If you watch a melodeon/accordion/squeezebox player, the bellows (the flexible bit in the middle) go in and out with the squeezing motion of the player. For an extra long note, or a particularly difficult sequence, the bellows can be extended to what appears to be a phenominal length - hence melodeon legs. Red Setters and teenage boys over 6ft in height suffer from melodeon legs.

Hope this is useful.

LTS


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 May 06 - 07:46 AM

Liz - have you seen New Zealand's Slinky Malinky?
Lynley Dodd's Slinky Malinki

One of my favourite authors whose verses are loved by little kids (& big kids like me, too)

sandra


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Azizi
Date: 25 May 06 - 07:42 AM

JTT, which "it" are you referring to?


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 25 May 06 - 07:39 AM

Isn't it (a) a skipping rhyme and (b) a way of insulting people who are too thin?


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Azizi
Date: 25 May 06 - 07:23 AM

Btw, folks reading & posting on this thread, may also be interested in this related Mudcat thread:

Songs About Big Feet


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Subject: Lyr Add: BONY MORONIE (Larry Williams)
From: Azizi
Date: 25 May 06 - 07:21 AM

Also, it seems to me that in the United States the taunting referent "Skinnie Minnie" was booted out by "Bony Moronie".

If you were thin like I used to be-many moons ago-you absolutely hated this song:


BONY MORONIE
Words and music by Larry Williams.
As recorded by Larry Williams, 1957.

I got a girl named Bony Moronie.
She's as skinny as a stick o' macaroni.
Ought to see her rock an' roll with her blue jeans on.
She's not very fat, just skin an' bone.
But I love her an' she loves me.
Oh, how happy now we can be
Makin' love underneath the apple tree!

Well, I told her mama and her papa too
Just exactly what I want to do.
I want to get married on a night in June
And rock 'n' roll by the light of the silvery moon.
I love her an' she loves me.
Oh, how happy now we can be
Makin' love underneath the apple tree!

She's my one and only; she's my heart's desire.
She's a real upsetter; she's a real live wire.
Ev'rybody turns when my baby goes by.
She's somethin' to see; she really catches the eye.
I love her; she loves me.
Oh, how happy now we can be
Makin' love underneath the apple tree!


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Azizi
Date: 25 May 06 - 07:15 AM

I wonder if the name "Slinky Malinky" was the basis for
"Skinny Minnie"?

The Tommy Scott' song that masato sakurai linked to on
19 Jan 04 - 09:23 PM refers to "Skinny me linky longlegs".
Given that, I've got a question or two-Are those Slinky Malinky songs about a person who is skinny and who has big feet or just a person who has big feet?

Alison's example from Belfast includes the reference for "melodeon legs". Maybe if I knew what "melodeon legs" means then I would be able to answer that question about whether Slinky Malinky was skinny.

I think a melodeon is a musical instrument, but I haven't a clue what it looks like. If I had to guess, I would have thought it was like an accordion. But I think that's just because of the similarity in the ending syllable for "melodeon" and "accordion"...   

And does anyone know the first time "Skinnie Minnie" was used and if there are taunting any rhymes for that name? Is "Skinny Minnie" an American creation? And are there any taunting rhymes about Skinnie Minnie?

If the taunting name "Skinnie Minnie" is based on "Slinky Malinky" I find it interesting that the Skinnie Minnie taunt doesn't include any "diss" [insult] about big feet. I'm slightly digressing here but it seems that American taunting songs about big feet are more a thing of the past, maybe because a lot of Americans [UnitedStaters]men and women have big feet. But, in my opinion, some of those [early, at least] big feet songs were city folks putdowns on folks from the country [rural areas]. And if that is so, and if there are indeed fewer taunting song references to big feet in American songs, then the schism between city and country folks may be a thing of the past.

There's alot of ifs there, I know. You can consider me iffy this morning.

:o)

But back to "Slinky Malinky" and "Skinnie Minnie"-when I first read these "Slinky Malinky" rhymes, I thought that person talked about was a female. This was partly because I'm not familiar with the name "Malinky" and assumed it was a female name {like Malinda}.
But I linked the name "Slinky Malinky" with the name "Skinnie Minnie" and "Skinnie Minnie" was always female, right?

I'm just wondering. Not that any of this is a big deal, but color me curious.


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 25 May 06 - 03:36 AM

Down south he was Slinky Malinky.... but the rest was more or less the same.

LTS


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: alison
Date: 25 May 06 - 02:03 AM

slightly different version to ones mentioned above...

in Belfast we sang

skinny malink melodeon legs, big banana feet
went to the doctors and couldn't get a seat
when he got a seat, he fell fast asleep
skinny malink melodeon legs, big banana feet

slainte

alison


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,Van
Date: 20 Jan 04 - 01:35 PM

Lofty, Lofty kipper in a poke
Went tae the pictures and couldnae see the joke
When the picture ended he got on a bus
Paid the man the right fare and avoided a' the fuss


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,Lofty
Date: 20 Jan 04 - 11:53 AM

Good god, heightism rears its ugly head (not to mention those poor unfortunates with severe flatulence problems). Keep this up and you'll have all those long of limb taking to the streets in protest. I await the more politically correct version of this song.


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Fiona
Date: 20 Jan 04 - 06:52 AM

What a great thread, we sang (60's Glasgow) the version Masato posted, with big banana feet and farting at the pictures. Billy Connolly wore huge Ffyes banana feet in this 'Great Northern Welly Boot Show', they used to be in the Peoples Palace (a sort of folk culture museum).

However the song above we had as,

Murder, murder polis,
Three stairs up.
The wummin oan the middle stair,
Hit me wi' a cup.
Ma heid's aw broken,
Ma eye's aw cut,
Murder, murder polis,
Three stairs up.

May I ask if anyone knows the words to a song which went,

Mince and totties,
Stew and steak,
and just a wee bit o' current cake.
It was about a wee girl taking her fathers lunch to him at his work.
Fiona


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: masato sakurai
Date: 19 Jan 04 - 09:23 PM

Listen to Tommy Scott's version of "Skinny Malinky Long Legs" [clip] on Hail-Hail Caledonia here.

Another version from here:

Skinny me linky longlegs three stairs up.
The wumman in the middle door hit him wi' a cup.
His mooth's a' bleedin' an' his eyes are a' black.
Skinny me linky longlegs 'll no' be comin' back.


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jan 04 - 12:37 PM

Thank you everyone. There is a five-year-old waiting for this! I may not be very popular with her mother though.
Greetings from Heidelberg, Dian


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Fergie
Date: 19 Jan 04 - 11:36 AM

In Dublin we sang

Skinny malink
melodeon legs
umbar-ella feet
went to the pictures
and couldn't get a seat
when the picture started
skinny malink farted
Skinny malink
melodeon legs
umbar-ella feet


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: masato sakurai
Date: 19 Jan 04 - 10:20 AM

From Some Old Scottish Street Poetry:

Skinny Malinky Longlegs
Big Banana feet
went tae the pictures
and couldnae find a seat
when the picture started
Skinny Malinky farted
Skinny Malinky longlegs
Big Banana feet


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Subject: RE: Skinny Malinky
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 19 Jan 04 - 10:09 AM

Guest Dian, this from ' The Scttish Folk Singer 'by   Peter Hall and the late Norman Buchan,
Skinny makinky long legs umbrell feet,
Went tae the pictures an' could-nae find a seat,
He got the bus hame an' he wid-nae pay his fare,
So the rotten auld conducter kicked him doon the stair,

eric


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Subject: Skinny Malinky
From: GUEST,Dian
Date: 19 Jan 04 - 09:48 AM

I learnt the following as a child but have no idea what the next lines are, if any:

Skinny Malinky Lang Legs
Umbarella Feet
Went to the Pictures
And fell through the seat

Any ideas?

Dian


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