Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,O.B.
Date: 15 Apr 09 - 08:58 PM

Stella Ella Ola Quack Quack Quack
Singing Es Tiga Tiga Tiga Tiga
Shack Shack Es Tiga Tiga
Valoo Valoo Valoo Valoo Valoo
1 2 3 4 5!

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 08:14 AM

Sierra, thanks for posting the version of this Stella Ella Ola   that you know.

Thanks also for including demographical information {your age and where you live}.

I'm not sure where this rhyme originally came from. But it sure get's around!

:o)

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,Sierra
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 06:24 PM

I remember that rhyme - I'm 15 so it wasn't that long ago that I used to do that. I would always sing along but never be quite sure of the lyrics, but ours went:

S-chigo chigo
chigo chigo chopsticks
S-sayanora
Valo, valo,
The toilet overflows go
1, 2, 3, 4, 5!


Sometimes it was "tigo or chigo" and "valo valo valo" instead of "the toilet overflows". We also would sometimes go to 10.

It's fun, we still sometimes do it when we're bored and it's cold outside, so we can all sit in a warm circle, haha! Oh and I live in Canada, Ontario.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Oct 08 - 10:13 PM

Here's an example of this rhyme that was sent to my website this evening:


Stella-Ella-Ola, quack quack quack Say YES! Chico chico, chico chico chack Say YES! Chico chico, fellow, fellow, the toilet overflows Say 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-----10!


I'm a high school teacher in Toronto and my students taught me this version of Stella-Ella-Ola this week. They're in grade 9 or 10 and learned this version in Toronto when they were in elementary school (i.e. in the last 10 years).
-Muni; 10/25/2008 ; http://www.cocojams.com/handclap_rhymes.htm

**

Note: Persons sending examples of rhymes to Cocojams are encouraged to include demographical information for the sake of possible folkloric research. Thank you, Muni, for sending in this example and including that demographical information.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 08:05 PM

I just read GUEST,Gagi's Israeli version of Stella Ella Ola. She or he may be long gone from reading this site. But I want to say "Thanks!" anyway.

Thanks also to GUEST, samantha for sharing her version of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky". There's a hyperlink leading to a discussion {thread} about that rhyme in the list of related rhymes found above. That thread contains a lot of versions of "Down By The Bank Of The Hanky Panky". But I don't think that any of those versions contain the line "Jesus loves you and I do too". I'm glad to see this version, which is one of the few examples of children's rhymes that I've collected that include a reference to religion.

As a matter of fact, samantha, I'm going to take the liberty of reposting a copy of your version on that thread.

Thanks again!

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST, samantha
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 05:39 PM

it goes like this---- down on the by the hanky panky were the bull frogs jump from bank to bank saying eeps aaps oops eeps aaps oops Jesus loves u i do to so ding dong bell 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,Gagi
Date: 28 Jul 08 - 05:05 AM

Hi, I was wondering about the origins of the version I know which sound more Italian/Spanish. hope it will help.

The Israeli version as I knew it back in the 80's (so it might have evolved already):

La qua qua de la oma
Qua qua qua (qua)
Decima triko
Triko triko tra
Vallo, vallo,
Vallo, vallo, vallo, vallo
1, 2, 3 ..... 10

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 10:19 AM

Thanks, GUEST 08 Jul 08 and all others who have posted to this thread.

In my continuing mission to try to find out where "Stella Ella Ola" and similarly sounding rhymes came from, I discovered several Internet articles/blogs that included stories about how this rhyme and its handclapping game is being shared in Japan, in Africa, and in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Here's an excerpt of one online report from a 2002 Canadian-Palestinian Educational Exchange [CEPAL} volunteer whose first name happened to be "Stella":

..."The family car trips were a delight, no radio, no bumper, nospeed gage, no windows, however the lack of music wasn't a problem, we sang songs …The pride, the love, the joy of each family were the children,whom came to my classes each day ready to be entertained and learn Inglese, English. I was warned that apparently my name, Stella is what the children call the dogs in the camp. So in effect I had prepared a new name for myself, my first day with the nine year olds at the Women's Humanitarian Organization, I would simply introduce myself as Stel…no barking was the anticipated outcome. —Hello everyone my name is Stel"…blank stares,and then a loud bark from the back of the room to be continued with contagious barking and giggling for the next five minutes. Little did I know that my name Stella was written in Arabic on the chalk board behind me. The giggles and dog remarks subsided….I taught them Stella Ella ola and suddenly my name was cool. Upon returning from a sick day due to sunstroke I was greeted with a standing ovation…I think they were starting to like me"
All About the CampsBy Stella Andonoff, CEPAL Overseas Volunteer

Page 10 Volume 7, Number 1 "All About the Camps" By Stella Andonoff, CEPAL Overseas Volunteer
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:sg1eWniJTGYJ:www.cepal.ca/uploads/tx_pdforder/the-arch-spring-2003.pdf+stella+ella+ola&hl=e

**

This is one of the reasons why I like searching for information about the sources of children's rhymes. You never know what information you'll learn along the way. As a result of reading this article, I was motivated to look up the Arabic word for "dog". The word kalb is usually given, with the plural of kilaab. Obviously, these words don't sound like "Stella". So, I continued my Internet search, and came across this very interesting article. As a result of reading this article [or at least portions of it], I found that there are 70 different words in Arabic for the word "dog". Apparently one of those words sound like the name "Stella" or maybe that's just what the children in that refugee camp happened to call dogs {I learned that in Arabic speaking countries, dogs are considered unclean animals, so this wasn't an affectionate nickname}.

Btw, I also learned from reading the second article whose link I provided that there are 77 Arabic words for the word "love". And one of those words sounds like my name: "There is izaz, which is the kind of love that gives both lovers power and dignity"...

Furthermore, as a result of my search for information about the rhyme "Stella Ella Ola", by reading that first article I found out about the charitable organization CEPAL

I'd say that's not bad for a morning's Internet search.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 01:28 AM

I know it this way

Stella Ella Ola
clap clap clap
singing ess chicko chicko
chicko chicko clap clap
ess chicko chicko
bloooooow blooooooow
go blow your dirty nose
singing 1,2,3,4,5

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,Mikaela
Date: 01 May 08 - 04:14 PM

I didn't see this version on here yet. This is how i used to play it in Stafford VA.:

Stella Ella Ola
Quack Quack Quack,
Hey Tiga Tiga,
Tiga Tiga Shack!
Singin S-Tiga Tiga,
Valo Valo Valo Valo Valova,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5!

On Five, If the person didn't pull their hand away quickly enough, They would be in the soup pot(middle) until someone else took their place or it got too crouded.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,Loolee
Date: 05 Apr 08 - 11:43 AM

I think what I learned must have had a different tune, but the game was the same, and the words went something like this:

Crocodile moray, croc croc croc,
Hey cinqo cino, cinqo cinqo sa-kay,
Mallow, mallow, mallow mallow mallow,
Mah-llow, one two three four!

And on four, the person on the receiving end had to yank their hand out of the way; if they didn't, they were 'out.'

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,Music
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:21 PM

My music students just taught me:
Crocadilly oom bop crock, crock, crock
Dance to the trigger, trigger, trigger, trigger rock.
Fallo, Fallo, Fallo, Fallo, Fallo
Fa-llo, hopscotch, trigger, mush

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 30 Jun 07 - 08:39 AM

CORRECTION

In my 26 Dec 06 - 08:06 AM post to this thread, I gave an INCORRECT definition of "getting owned".

See this definition from http://www.gotowned.cn/ :

{Meaning of "owned"}-"To be defeated in a computer game, causing the winner's ego to inflate like a party balloon as if such a victory has any tangible significance outside that of his stinking socks-infested dorm room"...

Here's a definition of "pwned" from that same website-"A corruption of the word "Owned." This originated in an online game called Warcraft, where a map designer misspelled "owned." When the computer beat a player, it was supposed to say, so-and-so "has been owned."
Instead, it said, so-and-so "has been pwned." It basically means "to own" or to be dominated by an opponent or situation..."

**

Some children's rhymes end with "Shut up, girl. You just got served". Here's a definition of "getting served", Here's a longish excerpt from that provides a definition of and a theory about the origin of the colloquial expression "getting served":

"Unwitting people can get dissed, schooled, burned, ho'd, shown up, etc. And, if the conditions are just right, and the stars so aligned, they just might find themselves on the receiving end of a serve.

As the two utterances of the titular line in the film "You Got Served" exemplify, getting served suggests being demonstrably outperformed at a given task. To serve has meant 'to play a trick on someone' since the late 16th century, though in this sense it has most often been used as to serve a turn, and is rarely heard nowadays. This meaning better fits the connotations of getting punk'd, as trickery is a key component.

A closer fit and a possible origin for the current sense of getting served is an Australian slang verb phrase dating to the 1970s: to give a serve, meaning 'to reprimand sharply.'

Speakers today usually use punk'd and served with the verb "to get" instead of the "to be" more common to formal passive constructions (e.g., "you were punk'd!"). According to English Prof. Anne Curzan, "Passives such as 'you got served' are often viewed as colloquial and perhaps too informal or somehow improper (even though history shows that Jane Austen and Charles Dickens used them). It's possible, though, that passives can mean something slightly different from passives with 'to be,' which is why they can be useful: They can emphasize process, they can be emphatic, or they can suggest that the subject is in part responsible for what happened ('she got fired')." In the case of served, changing the verb alters the meaning, from the traditional definition 'have a service done for' to the more slang 'be outperformed.'...

-snip-
See the beginning part of this article for the colloquial meaning of "being punked",though I haven't [yet] seen that phrase in children's rhymes. The only examples in that article that I have found in children's rhymes {given in order of the one I've found most frequently to the one I've found the least number of times-of course this is totally unscientific}:

1. You just got dissed
2. You just got served
3. You just got owned.
4. You just got pnwed


The word "diss" comes from disrespected. A diss is both an action and the product of that action. {to insult someone or to act insulting towards someone, including "icing" them {one meaning of the old school [1960s or so] word "icing" is to "ignore someone". "Igging" is even older word for ignoring someone-acting like the person isn't even there.

In the context of the children's rhyme, the line "Shut up, girl. You just got dissed" means that she got insulted big time.

I also believe that "diss" in that line is the same as or very similar to the African American colloquial phrase-"getting played".

"You just got played" means you just got made a fool out of. "Being played" is a putdown which labels the person as nothing but a "plaything".

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 19 Jun 07 - 11:13 PM

I just read a version of the song "Once in China there lived a great man" in this Mudcat thread with that name:

thread.cfm?threadid=6971&messages=34

Check out the first verse and the chorus of an old version of that song:

CHINGERY CHAN
1.
In China there lived a little man,
His name was Chingery-ri-chan-chan;
His feet were large and his head was small,
And this little man had no brains at all.

Chorus:
Chingery-rico-rico-day,
Ekel-tekel. Happy man!
Kuan-a-desco-canty-o,
Gallopy-wallopy-china-go.

...

[From the section on Songs of Amherst (E. C. Brayton), p. 178-179. No author cited.
H. R. Waite, Coll. and Ed., 1868, "Carmina Collegensia: A Complete Collection of the Songs of the American Colleges, with Piano-Forte Accompaniment. To Which Is Added a Compendium of College History." Oliver Ditson & Co. New York:-C. H. Ditson & Co. ]


-snip-

Could "Chingary Chan" be the source {or a source} for the Stella Ella Ola handclap rhyme {and handclap related rhymes]??!

If so, maybe my theory of a Spanish origin for "Stella Ella Ola" is wrong.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,Jake
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 12:09 AM

Stella Ella Ola
Clap Clap Clap
Singing S Tella Ola chicko chicko clap clap
Fallo Fallo Fallo Fallo Fallo

Is what I remember my sister singing.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Apr 07 - 10:41 PM

Mine's slightly similar to the one above. We used to play this in bownies and I just got it stuck in my head tonight for some odd reason.

Stella ella ola
clap clap clap
say yes chico chico
chico chico chap
say yes chico chico
blo-w blo-w blow your nose!
say one, two, three, four, FIVE!

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 01:17 AM

wow, i'm surprised i found this...we used to sing it like this in the early 90s

Stella ella ola
clap clap clap
singin' es chico chico
chico chico cracker jack
es chico chico
falo falo
i gotta blow my nose
so, 1,2,3,4,5!

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,Chaz
Date: 29 Mar 07 - 07:54 PM

Stella ella ola
quack quack quack quack
Es chico chico,
chico chico chak chak.
Es chico chico,
Flo, flo, flo flo flo
so 1,2,3

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 08:11 AM

Also btw, the tune that group in that video clip are using for "Stella Ella Ola" is almost the same exact tune that I've heard children in Pennsylvania use for "Strolla Ola Ola" and "Quack Dilly Oso".

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 08:06 AM

Here's a YouTube video of this rhyme:

"Random-game-played-at- birthday-party"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FA0a1YRSOE&mode=related&search=

Added July 24, 2006 ; From kanonxwhppincreamXD

Here's the comment that kanonxwhppincreamXD included with the video clip:

"we were bored and somehow "guy-in-white-shirt" starts stella ella ola XD I'm in the game, too XD SORRY FOR THE BAD CAMERA HANDLING XD

yes I realized they were singing 'stella stella' XD oh well XD and then most ppl said JIGGA JIGGA XD not CHICKO CHICKO XD then the ALLO ALLO part became FELLO FELLO some how XD meh,we got OWNED."

-snip-

The information listed for kanonxwhppincreamXD is that she or he is 16 years of age and is from Canada.


Btw, a loose translation of "to get owned" is "to mess up".

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Myrtle
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 08:01 AM

Probably completely unrelated, but this reminds me of the 1 line chant we used in hide and seek:

when the 'seeker' had finished counting they would bellow "Illey alley ole-up" to warn the 'hiders' that the hunt was on.

If hiders could sneak back to touch home and shout "Billy 123" before the seeker spotted them and beat them to it they were considered 'not out'.

It was a very close run thing sometimes, and a lot of adreniline involved in the decision whether stay hidden and risk being out, or make a run for it!

Regards, Myrtle.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,jkp
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 06:24 AM

Wow! I am sitting here at a ridiculous hour googling cause I can't get this song out of my head. Not sure of exact words. Glad I'm not the only one! I played it at Girl Scout camp years ago, and what I remember it sounding like was..
Oh...Crocadilly omar (oh my) croc, croc, croc
Dance to the chigger, chigger chigger rock
Fallo, Fallo, Fallo, Fallo, Fallo
Fallo hop scotch in the mud.

Sound to silly to explain to my kids, was hoping to fing the real words. LOL Hope this helps someone though.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 01:34 PM

Not in Botkin, B. A., 1937, "The American Play-Party Song."

Has anyone found it from west of the Atlantic coastal area (eastern Canada south to Pennsylvania is all that shows up here)? Some postings here have not given the location where they heard it.

I tried a couple of Italian-Spanish sources, but no luck.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,Rox
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 12:56 PM

Here's two other vatiations of my husband's and mine:

stella ella ola
chap, chap, chap
singin 's' chiko-chiko
chiko-chiko chap, chap
's' chiko-chiko fallo fallo
fallo fallo fallo
oh 1-2-3-4-5

or

's' tigga tigga
tigga tigga tac toe
's' tigga tigga
tigga tigga tac toe
fallo fallo fallo fallo
fallo fallo

I also wonder what the original is.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 07:05 PM

Guest, it sounds like the same chant to me.

"quack dily oso quack quack quack" sounds like your "Crocadilly oh my crack crack crack"

"say sailorico rico rico rico" sounds like "Hey chico chico"

And "flora flora flora" sounds like your "Follow follow follow follow" etc etc etc.

Why the differences? Probably kids mishearing unfamiliar words or phrases and converting them into word or phrases that are more familiar. This is one definition of "folk etymology".

It would be interesting to find out the original source of this rhyme. I still believe that it's of Spanish origin.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 06:14 PM

I've been looking online to try and find the original version I used to play on the playground of a game similar to this. We did stand in a circle and count to 5. If you were #5 and could slap the next person counting 6 before they moved their hand, they would be out. When it got down to two people, we declared "civil war" and would finger fence. As I recall, the rhyme went something like this (although I think it was longer):
Crocadilly oh my
crack crack crack
Hey chico chico
chico chico chunk
Follow
Follow
Follow follow follow follow
1, 2, 3, 4, 5....

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Or am I on to a different chant?

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 19 Mar 06 - 03:10 PM

Guest, a fan of:

Sorry, I don't know of any audio or video recordings of this rhyme. If you find any, please post them here.

****

Here's another version of Stella Ola Ola called Quack Dily Oso

quack dily oso
quack quack quack
say sailorico
rico rico rico
flora flora flora
flora flora 1 2 3 4!

Source: http://www.inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml

Also, here's some directions for Stella Ella Ola:

Sit in a circle with your right hand on top of the person to your right's left hand
and your left hand under the person to your left.
Clap in a circle... the person whose hand gets hit on 5 is "out"
unless they move their hand away quick enough, and then number 4 is out.)
Stella ella ola
Quack quack quack
Say es chigo chigo
Chigo Chigo Cack Chack
Es Chigo Chigo Vallo
Vallo, Vallo vallo vallo
Say 1-2-3-4-5 [Thanks to Janet L.]

Source: http://www.beachnet.com/~jeanettem/chants.html#STELLA


BTW: Based on the Spanish that I had in high school many moons ago, it seems to me that these words point to this rhyme's Spanish origin:

sendorico = "senorita" {young woman}

es chico chico {or "s chica chica"} those words in Spanish-she is a boy or she is a girl

and

vallo vallo [corrupted to flora flora]? meaning?? beats the heck out of me, but it does sound Spanish, doesn't it?

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,a fan of it
Date: 19 Mar 06 - 08:47 AM

dose any one know if this has been recorded? Im looking for this song, I think it would be great to pump it in my stario. LOL
if you know, let me [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,heather
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 02:09 AM

Hi. I maniacally got out of bed at 2 am because I HAD TO google this thing haunting my imagination: and yes, it was "stella ola ola, trap trap trap, estigo tigo, tigo tigo trap trap, estigo tigo valo valo valo valo valo val 1234 5!" That dreaded 5. You had to be fast, man.
Imagine my pleasure to find that not only had others been thinking of this (most mysterious, charming) chant, but that there were regional, cultural and generational variants. I have phonetically written it as I remember it, but appreciate the rich varieties that have been put into this thread.
You know: no matter how traumatic grades 5 and 6 were, I get a rush of feeling both competent and excited when I chant this little rhyme. Wierd. But true. And having read this thread through, I'm going to put my money on Spanish-speaking origins.
Love to you all. HL

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Bard Judith
Date: 07 Dec 05 - 08:43 PM

Just heard Stella Ella Ola being played here at the Boys and Girls Club where I work, so the title caught my eye.

For reference, Azizi, that would be Ontario, Canada...

I'll get one of the kids to chant it for me and see if the lyrics differ or agree with what's here already!

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 07 Dec 05 - 07:41 AM

Hello Guest guest.

One of the reasons why I love "Srella Ola Ola" {and its variant names like "Strolla Ola Ola"}is that it is an easy to learn, fun circle game.

I've found that children who are as young as 6 years old can learn how to play this game. I think it's great that mixed ages of children play together. And adults can play along with children.
IMO, kids need to see adults having fun and being outside of their authoritarian roles.


BTW, What's a "spark group?"

If you read this post, I hope that you read this message and would write back and indicate where do you live {meaning which city/state or province and nation if outside of the USA?}. Could the term term "spark group" be limited or mostly used in your area?

I'm also curious about where you live because some children's games seem to be known in certain places and not in others...


Best wishes,

Azizi

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 10:47 PM

I used to love to play this game when I was a kid, and this is EXACTLY how I remember singing it. I just had to refresh my memory before I share it with my sparks group but it has probably been 15 years since I played it and I still remember it.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 05:34 PM

Why Q, that's the first humorous comment that I "heard" you make.

But I'm still new here. Maybe you've made other humorous comments but I was too serious to catch them!

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 05:26 PM

At a blog site, the writer comments "Americans have no idea what stella-ola-ola is. americans have also never heard of poutines."
Well, I know the latter; in Quebec, poutines are French fries drowned in gravy. No other info at the site. Derived from a camp councilor, possibly Canadian? Blog site

Men can't collect these rhymes unless they work in a school. If I went near a schoolyard to hear the game songs now, the police would come to arrest a dirty old man.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 05:05 PM

On line, it is given in "Filthy Schoolyard Songs," but I'm too old, I guess, I don't get it.

Just Plain Weird

Stella ola ola
Quack, quack, quack
S-chico-chico
Chico, chico chack chack
S-chico-chico
Velo, velo
Velo Velo velova!
One two three four five.

Schoolyard

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 04:32 PM

It seems to get a lot of mention online, but Azizi and I haven't found much mention of it in books. Anybody here play it as a child (or adult)?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 04:12 PM

Thanks Joe!

And thanks Guest! Hopefully someone who knows this chant and also knows music can help refine my theory that its "sung" to a very similar tune as "Ring Around The Rosie".

But where did this chant come from?

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 11:35 AM

Let me start with a correction:
The name of the game that I have observed in the Pittsburgh, PA area 1980s to 2004 is "Strolla Ola Ola" not "Srolla.." Sorry about that.

(Correction made. -Joe Offer-)

"Strolla Ola Ola" and "Slap Billeola" both have the same tune. That tune sounds to me very much like if not the same as "Ring Around The Rosie".

--

I have tried to find print versions of any one of these songs or their variants, or rhymes that are performed in this manner.
I know that I have seen "Stella Ola Ola" written down somewhere-maybe it was those Scout websites that Guest referred to in her {or his} post.

For the sake of those interested in traking down these rhyme research [or interested in books on or containing rhymes performed by African Americans, non-African Americans, and/or Afro-Caribbeans, it may be helpful for me to list the collections I've carefully looked through that don't include "Stella Ella Ola" type rhymes or other rhymes that are performed like them:
Dr. Thomas Talley's 1922 "Negro Folk Rhymes"; Dorothy Scarborough's 1925 "In Search of Negro Folk Songs"; Byron Forbush and Harry Allen's 1927 "The Book of Games For Home, School, and Playground"; Altona Trent Johns' 1944 "Play Songs of The Deep South";
Roger Abraham's 1969 "Jump-Rope Rhyme Dictionary"; Bessie Jones and Bess Hawes Lomax's 1972 "Step It Down"; Eleanor Fulton and Pat Smith's 1978 "Let's Slice The Ice"; ;Barbara Michels & Bettye White's 1983 "Apples On A Stick, Folklore Of Black Children"; Linda Goss and Marion Barnes' Talk That Talk"; Cheryl Warren Mattox's Shake It To The One That You love The Best"; Dr. Darlene Powell Hopson, Dr. Derek Hopson, and Thomas Clavin's 1996 Juba This $ Juba That, 100 African American Games for Children"; Grace Hallworth's 1996 "Down By The River, Afro-Caribbean Rhymes, Games, and Songs for Children"; and Alan Lomax, J.D.Elder, and Bess Lomax Hawe's 1997 "Brown Girl In A Ring"; collection of Caribbean rhymes.

I just recently borrowed a copy of Dena Epstein's " 1977 "Sinful Tunes and Spiritual" and haven't read it cover to cover, but these rhymes also didn't appear to be in that book.
--

For what it's worth, I don't recall reciting "Stella" or "Strolla" or "Slap Billyola", * "Strolla Ola Ola" and "Slap Billeola"

*I like the "Billyola" spelling and will use it hence forth...but it actually doesn't matter how it's spelled-what really amtters is how it's pronounced..

--
It's my emerging theory that these rhymes evolved from the stone passing/pounding games men played during nine day wakes {or Pass Plays" in the Caribbean. [The name "Pass Play" probably referring to passing the time while playing and not the act of passing a stone from one man sitting in a circle to another}. However, I'm not even sure if there were chants that accompanied these games. Does anyone have any information on this?

I also think that these "getting a player out" chants may have evolved from hand slapping counting out games such as this one from Trinidad that I am quoting from Nina Miller's 1965 "Children's Games In Many Lands" {New York, Friendship Press, p. 121}:

"One player stands with his hand held out, palm down, breast high. The other players hold their pointer fingers under the palm, touching it. The player who is holding out his hands repeats this rhyme:
                  Ziggeddy, ziggeddy
                  Marble stone.
                  Pointer, pointer, bouff!
                  Kisskillindy, kisskilindy,
                  Pa...Pa...poriff!

end of quote.
---

Some of the words of "Strolla", "Stella", "Slap Billyola" sound Spanish to me. I'm still wondering if there is any Spanish connection...

Subject: ADD: Kids chant Stella Ella Ola
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 03:07 AM

Can't say I've ever heard of it or seen it in a book , Azizi. What printed sources have you found? I couldn't find it in the Opies' Singing Game. This thread also is looking for information about the song. This page (click) has a version:

Stella Ella Ola

The Song:

Stella ella ola, clap clap clap
Say yes, chicko chicko, chicko chicko chak!
Say yes, chicko, chicko, allo, allo
Allo allo allo!
Say one, two three four, FIVE!

The Game:

Have everyone stand in a circle. Everyone stands with both palms up; your left palm on TOP of your neighbour's right palm. At the beginning of the song, the leader slaps her left palm down on her right-hand neighbour's left palm. This second person then repeats the action with her right-hand neighbour, etc., all around the circle.

The goal is to NOT get your palm slapped at the end of the verse. When the countdown gets to "FIVE", if the girl who would get her left hand slapped by her neighbour at "FIVE" moves her hand out of the way in time, the girl doing the slapping is out. If on the other hand the girl doesn't get her hand out of the way, she is out. Whoever is out moves to stand in the middle of the circle. Once several rounds have been played and you have three or four people standing in the middle of the circle, they can begin their own smaller circle and keep playing! The more players you have, the more concentric circles you can get.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 01:48 AM

I've been looking for awhile for this clapping game. I have seen it written as "Stella ELLA Ola" and requested information for such a few years back but didn't get a reply.

I would also be interested to know if there is a "tune" that the words are sung to while the game is being played. From looking around the web, it appears that the game is most popular with Girl Scouts. Any former Brownies/Scouts have anything on this??

Subject: ADD: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola
From: Azizi
Date: 04 Jan 05 - 09:11 AM

This request is a re-wording of a question I asked in Oct. 2004 in the Spanish language thread. In the interest of full disclosure, if there are any responses to this thread, I plan to send a private message to selected posters as a means of receiving their permission for the inclusion of their post in the book I am editing on children's rhymes.

Here are my questions: Does anyone remember reciting a rhyme called
"Stella Ola Ola"? And if so, when, where, and how was it played?

"Stella Ola Ola" is the title I've seen most often in print but children who participated in the cultural groups that I held in my area performed it as a competitive handclap rhyme called "Srolla Ola Ola". They also performed a similar competitive hand clap rhyme called "Slap Billiola".

These rhymes are recited by children standing in a circle. At a designated starting point, on the beat of the rhyme, a child slaps the hand of the person standing clockwise to him/her. That child does the same until the person whose hand is slapped at the end of the rhyme is out. This continues until there are only two children. Those two slap hands back and forth until there is one child remaining. That child is designated "the winner". Elementary school girls and boys play this game together...

Here are the songs written phonetically. The first letter of syllables that are clapped is written in caps.

"STROLLA OLA OLA"

Strol La Ohl Lah Ohl La.
Slap, slap, slap.*
With ah "s" Shee Ka Shee Ka.
Shee Kah Shee Kah flap jack.
Fah lay, fah lay
Fah lay, fah lay , fah lay.
With ah 1-2-3-4-5. **   
*{these words are spoken}
** {another number could have been designated beforehand as the end}

---

"SLAP BILLIE OLA"

Slap Bill Lee Oh La.
Slap, slap, slap, slap.*
Hit it! **
San Dah Ree Koh Ree Koh Ree Koh Ree Koh.
Slap 1-2-3-4.
* these words are spoken
** optional, if spoken they are also used for slaps
---

I'm also wondering if these songs have a Spanish language origin, for instance, "Sandarico"="Senorita" and "chica" {Shee Kah}"=girl

Thank you.