Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky

Subject: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 10:12 PM

This thread provides examples of, commentary about, and a possible song source for the children's rhyme "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky".

"Down By The Banks/Hanky Panky" [for this thread known as "Hanky Panky"] appears to be a relatively widely known contemporary handclap rhyme in the United States. {At least it appears from my observations and the comments of various Internet informants that at least currently "Hanky Panky" is chanted while doing partner handclap rhymes. I can't say whether it has always been so, or is always so now}.

I'm wondering if this rhyme is known in Canada, The United Kingdom, Australia, and elsewhere. Any examples and/or thoughts on this rhyme would be greatly appreciated.

Azizi

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 10:20 PM

Here's a couple of examples of "Hanky Panky" from a great resource for contemporary children's rhymes: http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php

DOWM BY THE BANKS WITH THE HANKITY PANKS
Down by the banks
with the hankity panks
where the bull frog
jumped from
bank to bank
with an
eep
ip
oop
op
hes got on the lilly with a big
ker-plop!

::at ker-plop the players would try to a) freeze b) clap hands or c) hit each other on the head (depending on the version)

Source: Octoblog; posted by contortme at September 16, 2003

-snip-

DOWN BY THE LAKE WITH THE HANKY PANKY
ok. thats not how it goes.* it goes

down by the lake with the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jumop from bank to bank
singing fee fi fo fum
ure momma looks like king kong
didley dong i went to school with nothing on
i asked the teacher what to wear
polka dotted underwear
not too big not too small
just the size of dadeland mall (or w/e mall u choose)

Source: Octoblog; posted by at September 18, 2003 08:34 PM

*this comment refers to the version posted above

****

THE HANKY PANK SONG
I remember the hanky panky song
down by the river and the hanky panky
the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with the eips ips ops oops
sock-a-dilly and a ping pong pow

Source: Octoblog; posted by Mis at July 7, 2004 02:23 PM

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 10:23 PM

Here's an explanation of one way this rhyme is played:

DOWN BY THE BANKS
"I grew up in Pittsburgh (went to Liberty, Frick, and Schenley {High School} c/o 2000)
I know a circle hand clap game with chants called: Down by the bank. It is an elimination game because the children stand in a circle and try to eliminate (or not get eliminated) at the end of the song. The setup is that both of your hands are palms up. Your right hand is under the hand of the person next to you and your left hand is in the palm of the person next to you. When your right hand gets tapped you tap the hand in your left and return your hand to the resting position. To be eliminated if the last note of the song gets on you and you are to hit the hand of the other person and fail to do so before they pull their hand away you must leave. If the person whose hand is to be hit gets hit, they are eliminated. When only two people are left they alternate their wrists until the game is over and then arm wrestle to figure out the winner.

The words start:
Down by the bank with the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Singing eep opp orp opp

-snip-

Source: Flojaune G. {Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania}, electronic mail to Azizi Powell, August 2004

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 10:29 PM

Here's an excerpt from a post from "Pogo" in another thread:

Thread #81350   Message #1487823
Posted By: Pogo
24-May-05 - 10:13 PM
Thread Name: I'm Rubber. You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
and a clapping game I learned at girl's camp I would say hmmm mid 90's I think, in the same area. We would sit in a circle with one hand resting palm up under our neighbors' hand and going around the circle slap our neighbors' hand

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Singin' e-i-o-u
Um sacka dilly wacka...ker-plop

whoever had ker-plop! was eliminated from the circle and it would be speeded up.

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 10:38 PM

It's possible that "The Bull Frog", in the DigiTrad @displaysong.cfm?SongID=6010 be a source for this children's rhyme.

But I think that this archived Mudcat thread provides what is almost a sure bet as the source for this children's rhyme: Lyr Req: a big bullfrog jumped into the lake

See the following two posts from that thread:

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a big bullfrog jumped into the lake
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Dec 04 - 06:39 PM

Not really Pete Seeger's, though his version (as "Foolish Frog") sure is catchy. It originated back around the turn of the (19th-20th) century as "May Irwin's Frog Song," one of several of this massively built entertainer's hits— others included "Lulu" and "Bully of the Town." She had a knack of picking up song material from black sources, so it's not impossible that hers are rewrites of even earlier stuff. Irwin repays study; I only wish she'd recorded so we could hear the voice that tickled thousands in vaudeville days. --Bob Coltman

-snip-

Subject: Lyr Add: MAY IRWIN'S FROG SONG
From: Jim Dixon - PM
Date: 01 Jan 05 - 03:49 PM

This is the song mentioned above, but it probably isn't the song littledaddy1803 wanted.

The sheet music for MAY IRWIN'S FROG SONG may be found at The Library of Congress American Memory Collection. May Irwin (1862-1938) was the performer, not the songwriter.

MAY IRWIN'S FROG SONG
Charles E. Trevathan, 1896

1. Away down a-yonder in Yankety Yank,
A bullfrog jumped from bank to bank
'Cause there wasn't nothin' else to do.
He stubbed his toe an' in he fell,
An' de neighbors all say dat he went to well,
'Cause he hadn't nothin' else to do.

CHORUS: An' jus' lots uv folks is like dis foolish frog uv mine,
A-runnin' into trouble jus' to pass de time,
An' de devil's allus loafin' 'round heah jus' to grab de kind
Dat nevah hasn't nothin' else to do.

2. When dey buried dat frog, de preacher said,
"De reason why dis young frog is dead,
'Cause there wasn't nothin' else to do.
An' all you frogs jus' a-listen to me:
Yo' bettah stay at home wid yo' family,
When you haven't nothin' else to do."

3. Some frogs I know is pow'ful fond
Uv spendin' dey time in 'nother frog's pond
'Cause dey hasn't nothin' else to do.
But dis consolation de good book brings:
De frog uv dem habits won't wear no wings
'Cause he hasn't nothin' else to do.

4. Now all uv yo' people dat heah dis song,
Yo' knows shy dis po' frog went wrong:
Cause he hadn't nothin' else to do.
You'd bettah keep busy on any kind of pay,
Till de big horn blow on de judgment day.
Den you will hab somethin' else to do.

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 10:53 PM

Check out these next two versions of that rhyme for some great examples of the way children's rhymes preserve, alter, and comment upon actual occurances, and celebrities.

Example #2 in particular has a wonderful example of folk etymology.

DOWN BY THE BANKS OF THE HANKY PANKS
down by the banks of the hanky panks where the bullfrogs jump from bank 2 bank signin eipps ippes opps oops chillie willy ding dong i pledge alligance to the flag micheal jackson makes me gag..coca cola brought him up now we're talkin 7up..7up has no caffeine now we're talkin billy jean..billy jean has no butt now we're talkin pizza hut , pizza hut has no bread now we're talkin really dead eippes ippes opps oops chilly willy ding dong- i know theres more but ijst cant rember!
*xoxo* -
christine on Wednesday, July 9, 2003 - 03:00 pm
http://www.streetplay.com/discus/cgi-discus/show.cgi?75/75.html

-snip-

RIVER SONG
Down by the river near the hankey pank where the bullfrogs jump from bank, to bank, and they say E I O U, your momma stinks and so do you so ping pong ding dong your daddy smells like king kong. Ask your teacher what she wears, polka dotted underwear. Not too big and not too small, just the size of city hall. Michael Jackson went to town, coca-cola brought him down. Coca-cola brought him up, now he's drinking 7up. 7up with no cafiene, now he's seein' belgain (pronounced beligene). Belgain is outta sight, now we're talking dynamite. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BAM!
-Veggie; 8/21/2006; http://www.cocojams.com/taunting_rhymes.htm

-snip-

Here's some background about this rhyme [that some children who recite it may not know]:
That bit about "coca-cola brought him down" is a reference to an accident that occurred in 1984. 25 year old R&B singer Michael Jackson was singing his hit song "Billie Jean" for a Pepsi Cola [not Coca-Cola] tv commercial in Los Angeles when the special effects went wrong. The fire works set R&B singer Michael Jackson's jheri curl treated hair on fire.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/27/newsid_4046000/4046605.stm

Veggie's word ""beligene" is an example of folk etymology. That word comes from the song title "Billie Jean", a song Veggie may be too young to remember.

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 11:11 PM

Here's another example of this rhyme:

DOWN BY THE BANKS OF THE HANKY PANKY
Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Where the eeps, ops, sodapops
Hey Mr. Lilypad and went kerplops
[Then hit your partner in the head; whoever hits first, wins.]
[Thanks to Chloe McCloskey]

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

Note that at the end you're supposed to hit your partner on the head. I've noticed quite a bit of performance violence and references to violence in the text of contemporary children's rhymes....Anybody else noticed this?...Maybe this aggresive behavior and references to hitting, slapping, killing etc isn't new. But in the post Columbine era, it's kinda "striking".

****

Thanks for that example, Joe.

And also thanks to the member who sent me a pm about that last example.

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 07:20 AM

Here's how this rhyme is done by kids in Keene, NH these days:

Down by the banks
of the hanky-panky
where the bull frog
jumps from
bank to banky
with a
hip
hop
flip
floop
Missed that banky and went
ker-plop!

The kids sit or stand in a circle, palms up, arms extended to the side, left hand over neighbor's right palm. One child starts by slapping his/her left hand across to his/her right, passing the slap around the circle until "kerplop" when the child about to be slapped has to pull his/her hand out of the way, or else be eliminated.

It's a great way to focus a whole class. The eliminated kids automatically start their own circle going as soon as they have critical mass...

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 05:54 PM

Thanks An

Well so far we have wxample of this rhyme where the frogs sing {or say}

"E I O U"

or "eep opp orp opp"

or "eipps ippes opps oops chillie willy ding dong"

or "e-i-o-u Um sacka dilly wacka...ker-plop"

"eeps, ops, sodapops"

-snip-

And notice the folk process at work with these two versions:
"Where the eeps, ops, sodapops
Hey Mr. Lilypad and went kerplops" compared to

"with a
hip
hop
flip
floop
Missed that banky and went
ker-plop!"

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 05:59 PM

Would you believe there are 98,000 listings on Google for "down by the banks of the hanky panky"! [as of 8/22/06 5:58PM eastern standard time]

I guess there's quite a bit of hanky panky goin on.

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Uke
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 01:55 AM

I heard a version of this from my daughter last year; she was aged 7 at the time. She told me that lots of her friends knew it at her school in the Hutt Valley, New Zealand.

Her words went:

Down by the banks of the handy mandy,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank,
I said a hip hop
Swaggle waggle hop.
I said a hip hop,
Full stop.

It had a quite complex clapping system between two children to go with it - certainly more complicated than the usual three-part hand clap systems she usually showed me. I videoed her performing this, but can't easily describe it.

Anyway, the rhyme game has made it to New Zealand. Also, nice bit of research Azizi. PM me if you want more details of my daughter's version.

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 06:47 PM

I'm so sorry- my students' version should read:
hip
hop
flip
flop (not "floop")

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 11:48 PM

When I wrote "Thanks An" I meant to write your full name, Animaterra. Sorry, about that. I'm not sure how that typo occurred, but I guess it occurred like typos usually do, because I was eager to post and didn't use the preview feature...

****

Hi there, Uke!

I love the folk etymology changes in your daughter & her friends version of this rhyme {from "Hanky Panky" to "Handy Mandy"}.

I just pm'd you, though I bet others would be interested in knowing whether boys recite this rhyme as well as girls, and whether the performance activity includes hip shaking {when they say
I said a hip hop/Swaggle waggle hop/I said a hip hop". And then do the kids sharply stop their movements when they say "full stop"?
{actually, I didn't get into this detail in my pm, but I am-and I'm sure others-are interested in knowing this}.

Thanks, again!!

Azizi

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Shelby
Date: 27 Aug 06 - 02:37 PM

you sit in a circle and one and is over the other persons hand and the other hand is under the other pesons hand. then when you start you hit the other persons hand.

Down by the river near the hankey pank where the bullfrogs jump from bank, to bank, say E I O U, your momma stinks and so do you so ping pong ding dong your daddy smells like king kong, so up your nose and through your toes your daddys wearing panny-hose, so 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 (who ever hand gets hit on 10 is out)

Subject: RE: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 27 Aug 06 - 05:00 PM

Hello, Guest Shelby.

That's a great version of Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky.

Thanks for posting it!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,~Amanda~
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 07:57 AM

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,guess who
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 10:46 PM

Down by the river of the hanky panky
where the bull frog jumped from bank to bank
saying eeps ipps opps uups
your mother stinks and so do you
see that house on top of that hill?
thats where me and my boyfriend lives
smell that chicken, smell that rice
c'mon girls lets do it right
i cant
why not?
i cant
why not?
cuz my back aches, my bra's too tight, my booty shakin left to right
left, right,
left, right,
this is skinny, this is fat, REAL fat
c'mon girls lets shoot some dap
ooh
shoo walla walla ooh
sha bang bang ooh
shoo walla walla
pick-a-number...
1..2...3...etc.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 03:57 AM

That's an interesting combination of rhymes, Guest guess who.

Though I won't try to guess your name, I'd love to know what city/state or nation {if outside of the USA} that you live in. I'm interested in that information as a means of documenting how widely known this rhyme is and where this particular version came from. And to further document this version, I'd also love to know when you learned it {by year or decade such as 2006 or "in the early 1990s"}

I've heard versions of the "see that house upon the hill" lines [that end with the line cmon girls let's do it right" used in the
"I Love Coffee/I Love Tea" rhymes {also known as "Down Down Baby" and "Shimmy Shimmy Coco Pa"}. But the version of the last line that I've usually heard is "come on baby let's shoot some dice"}

I first heard the "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train" lines recited by themselves in a footstomping cheer {Pittsburgh, PA area 1999}.
The cheer was recited by African American girls ages 7-14 years old}. Bang Bang Choo Choo trains lines are very common in the Brick Wall Water Fall rhymes that were popularized by the 2003 movie "Dickie Roberts, Former Child Star". In the example that Guest Guess Who posted the "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train" lines start with the words "i cant" and end with the 2nd time the words "left, right" are said.

The last section of this example {beginning with "ooh shoo walla walla ooh"} or similar sounding words is found in a number of contemporary dance style cheerleader cheers. Its increased popularity may be at least partially credited to the 2000 and 2006 "Bring It On" cheerleader movies.

If interested in reading examples of children's rhymes that include the "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train" lines, visit this and other pages of my website: http://www.cocojams.com/taunting_rhymes.htm

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Nov 06 - 08:38 PM

This is how I learned that song: All sitting in a circle with the hands out, palms up claping around the circle and on the ker-plop that person was out.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frog jumps from bank to banky
with as eep opp oop-si-doodle
with an eep opp-si-doodle and a KER-PLUNK!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Kerry
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 01:49 PM

I am from London, UK, and we used to do it exactly the same way as described above, sitting in a circle with out palms facing upwards.

Lyrics:

Down by the river lives the hanky panky
Two fat frogs go from bank to banky
Zoo Zam
Zoo Zam
Down by the river goes the HONK A TONK

And on 'TONK' the child would try to slap the hand of the next one to get them 'out'.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 05:48 PM

Down in Louisianna by the hanky pank
two gay frogs jumped bank to bank
while they jumped one fine day
they both confessed they were gay
oops eeps oops ops
i pledge alledgance to the flag
michael jackson is a fag
he used to play with little toys
now he just plays with little boys
oops eeps oops ops with some guy with a mop
coke-a-cola burns their butts
now im thinking seven-up
they walked down the street
wanting people to meet
michael jackson will rape guys
so watch him closely with your eyes
the two little fagget frogs
went into the dusty fog
singing some stupid song
that goes on and on
shoo walla walla ooh
sha banga banga ooh
shoo walla walla ooh
sha banga banga ooh
they are really truely gay
rolling around in the hay

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Amanda Hamilton (age 12)
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 05:51 PM

Down in Louisianna by the hanky pank
two gay frogs jumped bank to bank
while they jumped one fine day
they both confessed they were gay
oops eeps oops ops
i pledge alledgance to the flag
michael jackson is a fag
he used to play with little toys
now he just plays with little boys
oops eeps oops ops with some lady with a mop
coke-a-cola burns their butts
now im thinking seven-up
they walked down the street
wanting people to meet
michael jackson will rape guys
so watch him closely with your eyes
the two little fagget frogs
went into the dusty fog
bang bang on on
bang band lifel lifel
bang bang on on
with my big strong rifel
they are really truely gay
rolling around in the hay

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 08:40 PM

Internet sites such as this one provide opportunities to collect versions of currently performed and remembered rhymes from throughout the world. However, it is almost impossible to verify actual rhymes and the demographical information that may be given along with those examples of rhymes.

For instance, it is quite easy for adults to pretend they are children who are posting examples of rhymes that allegedly are recited "on the playground" when in actuality the examples are the adults' compositions.

For the record, I have found several versions online of the "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" rhyme that have the line "I pledge allegiance to the flag/Michael Jackson is a fag". I have also observed children perform a version of another handclap rhyme {"Mama Mama Can't You See"} that includes the line "Michael Jackson is a fag"}.

Given the widespread publicity that has been given to allegations of Jackson's sexual improprieties, and given the fact that some children's rhymes preserve topical information, it's not suprising that these allegations would show up in children's rhymes.

There's no way to prove or disprove if the "Down in Louisianna by the hanky pank" examples posted above by GUEST Date: 23 Nov 06 - 05:48 PM and GUEST,Amanda Hamilton (age 12) -PM Date: 23 Nov 06 - 05:51 PM, are actually children's rhymes {meaning rhymes composed, recited, and possible performed [as handclaps or otherwise] by children}.

However, imo, the versions of Down By The Banks...Hanky Panky {which are basically the same} that these two particular guests have posted are very offensive. And I have considerable doubts that these "Down in Louisianna by the hanky pank" examples are authentic versions of children's rhymes.

It seems like these guests have their own agenda and also for the record, that agenda is not one that I respect.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 08:43 AM

You're learning Azizi!

Ignore anything anonymous GUESTs post - for serious research purposes...

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 09:59 AM

Foolestroupe, re: my learning curve: "Slow and steady wins the race."

:o)

However, with regard to verifying the authenticity of rhymes & information about rhymes which are posted on the Internet, the person could select a screen name other than Guest somebody or the other, and still post bogus information.

Subject: RE: Little Sally Walker
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 01:52 PM

little sally walker walking down the street
she didnt know what to do then she came right up to me
she said hey girl do your thing
do your thing and switch
hey girl do your thing
do your thing and switch
little sally walker sitting on a tree stump
she seemed to be all up in a slump
i came right up to her and said
little sally walker what is wrong with you
then she turned to me and said
nothing at all is wrong with me
nothing nothings wrong so shut it up
nothing nothings wrong so shut it up
then she started walking down the street
she didnt know what to do so whe turned right to me
she said hey girl do your thing
do your thing and switch
hey girl do your thing
do your thing and switch
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 8 9 10 ect.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 03:01 PM

As indicated by the title 25 Nov 06 - 01:52 Guest gave, the Little Sally Walker Walking Down The Street rhyme appears to be a contemporary version of "Little Sally Walker"

A very similar version of this rhyme was posted by LNL on 01 Mar 04 on Mudcat's thread ofChildren's Street Songs thread.cfm?threadid=4300#1114943

Little Sally Walker
walking down the street.
She didn't know what to do
So she jumped in front of me and said:
'Hey, girl, shake that thing,
shake that thing like it ain't no thing.
Come on, girl, shake that thing
shake that thing like it ain't no thing."

LNL introduced this rhyme with this comment: "I was a counselor at a camp about three years ago, and the campers (good-natured high school students) played a surprising amount of games during break time. Not surprisingly, they weren't all innocent little rhymes. For example, Little Sally Walker has been reincarnated! She's now a circle game, with the chant."

-snip-

FWIW, in 2000 or so, I observed African American girls about 7 -9 years old in Pittsburgh, PA doing a version of this rhyme. The rhyme was almost the same as LNL's version and Guest's first verse except that the line was "she stood in front of me" . Also, the verse ended with "Ooh, girl do your thing, do your thing stop!"/"Ooh girl do your thing, do your thing-stop!". The girls stood in a circle with one girl {Little Sally} standing in the middle of the circle.
The girls forming the circle recited the rhyme while they alternated stomping their feet to a stomp stomp clap stomp stomp clap beat and clapping [their own] hands to that beat.

"Little Sally" did not sing but 'strutted' around the inside of the circle. On the lines "ooh girl, do your thing", Sally did some kind of contemporary dance step. Similar to the "show me your motion" children's games, all the girls forming the circle did the same motion as Sally. On the word "stop", everyone "freezes" {abruptly stops moving}. At the end of that verse, the girl who Sally stood in front of became the new Sally Walker and the game started from the beginning.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 03:07 PM

Of course, "Little Sally Walker-the old or new versions-don't have anything to do with Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky.

Members or Guests who want to share non-"Hanky Panky" rhymes may want to post them on the Mudcat Children's Street Rhyme thread.

And yeah, that goes for me too. From now on I'll limit my examples and comments on this thread to Hanky Panky. I promise.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,A folklore student
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 01:01 AM

I had a version of the Hanky pank song that I played in elementary school a while back. Thought you might be interested. It's quite simple and it was a lot of fun.

Down on the farm
going hanky pank
going bula bula hanky pank
going fe fi fo fum
pass it to the next one

It was played like hot potatoe where we sat in a circle and clapped each others hands and when we said "next one," whoever was next either got hit and was out, or was quick enough to remove her hand (I've never noticed a boy to play this back then or now at my daycare) and the smacker would then be out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 03:22 PM

Amazing how different they are...ours went:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Nov 06 - 09:28 PM

As a camp counselor Ive heard, i think:

Down by the banks of the hanky pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Singing eep, op, eep op op
Skiddle diddle kernel pop!
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Micheal Jackson makes me gag
Coca-cola brought him up
Now we're talking 7-up
7-up has no caffeine
Now we're talking Levi jeans
Levi jeans are out of style
Now we're talking for a while
Singing eep, op, eep op op
Skiddle diddle kernel pop!


with a circle of kids and the handslapping motions described earlier; on the final 'pop' the hand slapped is eliminated.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Dec 06 - 08:22 AM

Guest, here's another version of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" that mentions R&B singer Michael Jackson:

Down by the river near the hankey pank where the bullfrogs jump from bank, to bank, and they say E I O U, your momma stinks and so do you so ping pong ding dong your daddy smells like king kong. Ask your teacher what she wears, polka dotted underwear. Not too big and not too small, just the size of city hall. Michael Jackson went to town, coca-cola brought him down. Coca-cola brought him up, now he's drinking 7up. 7up with no cafiene, now he's seein' belgain (pronounced beligene). Belgain is outta sight, now we're talking dynamite. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BAM!
-Veggie; 8/21/2006 http://www.cocojams.com/taunting_rhymes.htm *

-snip-

The lines starting with "I Pledge Allegiance To The Flag" immortalize an incident that occurred on Jan 27, 1984 during R&B superstar's Michael Jackson's taping of a Pepsi-Cola commercial. Twenty five year old Michael Jackson was singing his hit song "Billy Jean" when sparks from the fireworks that were supposed to be shown in the background of the commercial accidentally set Jackson's greasy 'jheri curled' hair on fire.

As the line "coca-cola brought him down" demonstrates, the rhyme isn't concerned about the distinction between the brand names "Coca Cola" and "Pepsi Cola". Of course, "7-Up" is also a brand name for a popular brand of carbonated soda pop and "Pizza Hut" is the name of a popular chain of pizza stores.

The word "belgian" ["prononced beligene"]is folk etymology for "Billy Jean". "Billy Jean" is the name of the song that Michael Jackson was singing during that infamous commercial taping.

****

Some general thoughts:

"Hanky Panky" and other children's rhymes are part of the oral tradition. Many if not most children have probably not seen these rhymes in written form. The format used to write these rhymes may not be all that important. But I think it's interesting to notice that many children & youth who have sent in rhymes to my website write those rhymes using an essay format rather than a poetry format. This format also appears to be preferred by a number of children & youth who have posted rhymes on http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php

Although it is written in an essay style, the "Hanky Panky" version that was sent in by Veggie includes capitol letters at the beginning of sentences and/or lines, a period or a comma at the end of sentences/lines. However, a number of rhymes written as in the essay format don't include punctuation marks or capital letters. And some examples have every word written in capital letters.

I'm not sure why this essay style is used rather than the standard poetic format. Perhaps it's because this population is more familiar with prose than poetry. Perhaps it's {also?} because it's quicker to write using an essay format than a poetic format, and children & youth have grown up valuing speed & quickness in communication more than adults. I bet this same population group takes short cuts in writing cell phone text messages, too.

Maybe none of this has anything to do with what seems to be the preferred writing style that this populations uses. If you've noticed this and can think of other reasons why this format appears to be preferred I'd be interested in 'hearing' them.

Unfortunately, when this essay format is used without punctuation and capitalizations it's often difficult to tell where one line is supposed to end and another begins. Often people using this 'run on sentence, no punctuation, and little or no capitalization' style have sent in what appear to be multiple examples of rhymes in one email message. In those cases, based on a number of factors, I've attempted to separate out the specific rhymes. Other than that, I've kept the rhymes as they are-including the typos and the misspelled words, but that's almost a whole 'nother story because these typos and misspelled words are sometimes purposeful.

The essay format-particularly the run on sentence, no punctuation, and no capitalization style- may confuse readers. But this format is authentic and has its own flavor which I recognize and admire. For those reasons, I don't put on my grammar school teacher hat and attempt to 'correct' these examples [not that I ever was a grammar teacher, and particularly since I have my own grammar style which also is a whole nother story]...

But I'd sure love it if Veggie's style of essay writing-with punctuations and capital letters at the beginning of lines or sentences-became the vogue. That would be nice, but it's not something I promote. I'm just glad children, youth, and adults are interested enough to share the rhymes they know with me so I can attempt to preserve them and share them with others.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,apple
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 06:41 PM

Down by the bay
where the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs hump
from bank to banky
singing heep hopp heep hop hump
with a skiddle and a diddle and a kerrnel pop.
I pledge allegience to the flag
michael jackson is a fag
he used to play with little toys
now he plays with little boys
pepsi cola seven up
porin it all in your cup
Mrs lucy had a steamboat
the steam boat had a bell
mrs lucy went to heaven
the steamboat went to
hello operater give me number 9
if you diconnect me ill chop off your behind
the frigderator there was a piece of glass
mrs lucy sat upon it and broke her little
ask me no more questions tell me no more lies
the boys are in the bathroom pulling down there
flies are in the medow bees are in the park
boys and girls are kissing in the
D-A-R-K D-A-R-K dark dark
darker than the medow darker than the sea
darker than the underwear micheal jackson pulls off of me

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 07 Jan 07 - 08:20 AM

The comment that I wrote on 23 Nov 06 - 08:40 PM also applies for the example posted by GUEST,apple - PM on 06 Jan 07 - 06:41 PM.

In other words, I have considerable doubts as to whether this example really comes from a child or a teenager.

The pattern of combining separate rhymes does ring true, but imo, these lines don't seem authentic to me-"authentic" meaning being composed or recited by children:

"where the bullfrogs hump
from bank to banky
singing heep hopp heep hop hump...
-snip-

[And]

"darker than the underwear micheal jackson pulls off of me" .

Fwiw {and I recognize that it's not worth much}, I've not seen the alliteration of "heep, hopp heep hop hump" before in examples of Hanky Panky rhymes. But what makes the use of "hump" suspect for me is the sexual slang meaning of the word "hump"... This doesn't feel authentic to me...again for what it's worth...

I have my doubts about the authenticity of the michael jackson pulling off underwear line partly because it doesn't fit with the line in an earlier verse that "Michael Jackson is a fag" and also because it doesn't fit with the sense I have that in playground rhymes children don't talk bad about themselves or draw [what they would preceive is] negative sexual attention to themselves.

Now if the line had said "darker than the underwear Michael Jackson pulled off of you" that line would have seemed to me to be much more authentic. But then "you" wouldn't have rhymed with "sea".

It may be that I'm being much too analytical and "guest apple"'s Hanky Panky example may indeed be from a child.

But I doubt it.

Not that it matters a hill of beans what I doubt, but still...

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 07 Jan 07 - 08:31 AM

Also, fwiw, unfortunately, I think the implied homophobia in the line "I pledge allegiance to the flag/Michael Jackson is a fag" does ring true to contemporary children's rhymes.

I've seen that line elsewhere in various websites on children's rhymes. And I heard this line recited by a couple of second grade African American girls in Pittsburgh children as part of the "Mama Mama Can't You See" rhyme:

"they say Michael Jackson is a fag
put him in a plastic bag"

-snip-

Since I detest homophobia, I much prefer the version as given on this thread by GUEST 30 Nov 06 - 09:28:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag
Micheal Jackson makes me gag"

-snip-

Of course, then the question is why would R&B singer Michael Jackson make anyone gag?

I haven't got a clue.

;o)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Amelia
Date: 07 Jan 07 - 08:24 PM

I'm from Brisbane, Australia and we used to do this rhyme as kids.
I was at a party on the weekend and we were just mucking around and started doing hand claps. When I got home i told other people about it they remembered only half of the rhyme. I thought that there was more than one verse?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Neighmond
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 01:23 AM

Way down yonder in the hankity pank the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank

singing "Eeeee! Oooooo! Eeeee! Ooooo! Hinky dinky parlee voo!

I pledge allegance to the flag Michal Jackson is a fag.

Pepsi Cola f----d him up, now he's drinking seven-up.

Seven up makes him pee, now he's drinking pepsi-free!

Stand up, sit down, give me a dollar, all for Spirit Lake stand up and HOLLAR!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 07:36 AM

Here's another version of Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky that mentions Michael Jackson:

I know a hand game and it goes like this-Down by the bank said a hanky panky when a bull frog jumped from bank to bank
i said A-E-I-O-U micheal jackson went to town coca cola shot him down mountain dew shot him up now were talking 7 up 7 up has no cafine now were talking billy Jean billy jean went down the street singing DO NOT EAT ME I'M A ROTTEN PIECE OF MEAT look'n good look'n fine just a $1.99 and you are out.
-chrissi at May 24, 2006

http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Deanna
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 08:00 PM

Down by the banks of hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
singing eeps, ips, ops, oops
billy willy bing bong
i pledge allegiance to the flag
micheal jackson makes me gag
coca cola brought 'em up
now we're talking 7Up
7Up has no caffine
now we're talking gasoline
gasoline is out of sight
now we're talking dy-no-mite

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,GUEST
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 06:20 PM

here's what I've heard.

Down by the banks of the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank 2 bank
singin' eeps ipes opes oops chilly willy ding dong
I pledge allegience to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola has caffeine
Now we're talkin' Billy Jean
Billy Jean is out of sight
now we're talking DYNA-MITE!

I haven't done it for a while, but there's a longer version that says something about "kissed my boyfriend behind a magazine... hey girls, wanna have some fun? here come the boys with their pants undone"

Yes, these were actually sung by young children (1st-5th grade). not that many of them understood what they were saying...

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 06:37 PM

Guest, Guest 18 Jan 07 - 06:20 PM, the longer version of "Down by the banks of the hanky panky" that you referred to may have had these verses:

Candy apples on a stick
Makes my tummy go 2, 4 to 6
Not because I'm dirty
Not because I'm clean
Not because I kissed a boy behind a magazine

Hey girls! Wanna have some fun?
Here come's ____ (fill in the blank with a boy's name) with his pants undone
He can wibble, he can wobble, he can do the splits
But most of all, he can Kiss Kiss Kiss!

http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ; posted by Joy Beth at January 23, 2004

**

This rhyme is also known as "Apple On A Stick" and is often recited as an independent rhyme or in combination with other rhymes than "Hanky Panky."

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 06:51 PM

Btw, I believe that nowadays the "Apple On A Stick rhyme" is usually performed as a handclap rhyme.

The first verse usually is:

Apple on a stick,
makes me sick.
Makes my tummy go 2 4 6.

-snip-

In "Jump Rope Rhymes, A Dictionary" {published for the American Folklore Society by the University of Texas Press, 1969}, editor Roger D. Abrahams gives this verse:

Apple on a stick
five cent a lick,
Every time I turn around
It makes me sick.

-snip-

Abrahams cites these sources for that verse:
Musick: HF, 7 {1949}, 11 [West Virginia]
Withers, {1948}, 63
Butler and Haley {1963}, n.p.

[Sorry, when I 'zeroxed' these pages years ago, I didn't think that the page with the code for the sources was important enough to copy]

**

The reference to "turn around" leads me to believe that this was a jumpe rope rhyme. It seems that a number of handclap rhymes started out as jump rope rhymes.

Maybe we can blame the Maytag man and other corporate makers of clothes dryer [machines] for causing jump ropes to be difficult to find if not absolutely obsolete.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 06:59 PM

It's interesting to note that Abrahams does not include any versions of "Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky" in his collection.

Or at least I don't think he does. It's not listed under "D" and, although I have pages that I copied for the rest of the alphabet, for some reason I can't find the pages with the rhymes beginning with the letter "H". So maybe Abrahams has this rhyme under Hanky Panky.

And yes, I know that copy machines aren't supposed to be used to reproduce books. But way back then-even more than now-money was reaaaall scarce.

Still...

Okay okay. I'll take my punishment of 20 lashes with a wet noodle.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jan 07 - 10:00 AM

i see that some people posted "little sally walker" but i was wondering if anyone had heard of a different chant said in a circle... its something like "....look at that booty, look at that booty, you aint gettin none" haha it sounds weird but i wanted to know how it goes if anyone has heard of it- the beginning they usually let a group of people to the middle or a name that they call to the middle

Subject: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jan 07 - 08:21 PM

OK for all you idiotic people out there "Down by the Bank of the Hanky Panky" goes like this:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with a hip-hop soda pop
frog hit the lilly pad and went ker-plop

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 04:23 AM

I learned this song at summer camp in Idaho. We learned it as :

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with an eep, ipe, oop, opps
you missed the lily pad, Kerplop!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Aikou
Date: 01 Feb 07 - 05:57 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky and eeps ipes diddily oppsydaisy eeps ipes diddly oopsydaisy ping pang pong you're out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 01:34 PM

DOWN BY THE RIVER
I usually like cheers but I like this Hand Clap. It's called Down By The River! It goes like this: Down By The River With The Hankey-Pankey Where The BullFrogs Jump From Bank To Bank They Say E-Pa E-Pa-Pa Skittel-Diddel-Kurnal-POP! Cherry-Cola Came To Town! Dr. Pepper Nocked Him Down! 7-Up Picked Him Up! Now We're Drinkin' 7-Up! 7-Up Got The Flu! Now We're Drinkin' Mountain Dew! Mountian Dew Fell Off The Mountian! Now We're Drinkin' From The Fountain. Oh-No The Fountian Broke! Now We're Drinkin' Plain-Old, Ice-Cold, Regular, Diet Coke! (By: **!!Enforcers Cheer Girl!!** Date Recited: ?-2007 Recited By: Me, My Friends, And A Lot Of Other People (Boys And Girls) Category: Hand Clap
-Cheer Girl; 2/2/2007; http://www.cocojams.com/handclap_rhymes_example_0104.htm

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Feb 07 - 08:32 AM

down by the banks of the hanky panky
wear the bull frogs jump form bakn to bany
where hip hops soda pops
hey mr. willy and he went kerplop
here comes noah walking in the dark
he stepped on a hammer and he built an ark
animals came by two by two
a hungry hippo and a kangaroo

posted by socalgal89 at June 16, 2005


http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Allison
Date: 20 Feb 07 - 06:49 PM

I learned this a long time ago while in day care. All of the kids who played were 7 to 11 years old. This version is like many others except on the last verse...

Down by the banks with the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
singing eips ieps oops umps chilly willy ding dong
I pledge allegiance to the flag
michael jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola burns his butt
now we're talking 7-up
7-up has no caffeine
now we're talking beligene
beligene is out of sight
now we're talking dynamite
tic, toc, tic, toc, tic, toc boom!

And then on boom! whoever had their hand slapped was out and the game continued until it narrowed down to one winner. I'm not sure how they decided the winner when two people were left..

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Feb 07 - 07:27 PM

Allison, thanks for posting that example.

I've observed children doing circle slaps like this {though not to this specific rhyme}. When there were only two players left, they would stand facing each other and do partner handclaps. The handclap routine and the recitation might speed up or it might stay at the same speed with the slaps not being harder than they were when all the children were in the circle. But those two 'partners' will continue doing same back & forth two hand/one hand handclap routine until one of them messes up. The person who messes up first is out, and the other person is the "winner".

Btw, this wasn't a heavy duty competition. For instance, I never heard anyone say "You won." or "I'm the winner". But there's some sense of accomplishment and status for being "the winner".

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,mathy
Date: 17 Mar 07 - 12:22 PM

another coca cola song...

coca cola went to town diet pepsi shot him down
dr. pepper fixed him up, now were drinking 7up
7up got the flu now were drinking mountain dew
mountain dew fell off a mountain now were drinking from a fountain
the fountain broke an now were back to drinking coke

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Australia
Date: 17 Mar 07 - 12:35 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with a hip
hop
crakle and a pop
with a hip
hop
crackle and a pop.

YEAH! go aussies!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Kirstyn
Date: 17 Mar 07 - 01:20 PM

This is how I do it...

Down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky with the EEPS IPES OHPS OPS and the news cychrideli and ker-plunk!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,the girl that loved recess
Date: 22 Mar 07 - 03:46 PM

i always played it

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
with the eeps opps
soda pops
hey mr. willy
and he went ker-plop

it was like, we would all sit in a circle with our palms up, your left hand was underneath the person to the left of you, and your right on top of the person to the right of you and if your hand got smacked on "plop" you were out. then when it got down to two ppl you would act lke you were shaking hands and go back and forth and whoever's hand was away from them on "plop" won. then would would start over... and over... and played all recess! its a lot of fun when you do it in a giant group of ppl

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Nari
Date: 30 Mar 07 - 10:25 AM

Down by the banks of the Hankie-Pankie
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bankie
With an
Eep
Op
Eep
Op
Oh
And a skiddle
And a diddle
And a KERRRRRRRRR
PLOP!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,HyperActiveWitch
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 01:56 PM

Down by the bay where the hanky panky where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank sayin eep op eep op op skittle dittle kernal ding dong my brother smells like king kong pledge alligence to the flag micheal jakson makes me gag coca cola blew up now im drinking seven up seven up has no caffine now im singing billy jean billy jean is outta style ace duce jack king wild

wilds the end were u slap the person....learned this at summer camp...sorry if theres any spelling errors =)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,ARThur
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 07:17 PM

Here is a 1907 recording of May Irwin's
Frog Song

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,someone
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 07:14 PM

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
with the eeps opps
soda pops
hey mr. willy
and your yanker popped

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 05:41 PM

the way i learned was...

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with an eep, ipe, ope, opp
see sicadilly and it went kerplop.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the River of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Cyndy
Date: 08 Apr 07 - 07:51 PM

Down by the river of hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
singing eeps, ips, ops, oops
silly willy ding dong
yo daddy smell like king kong
i pledge allegiance to the flag
micheal jackson is a fag
coca cola brought 'em up
now we're drinking 7Up
7Up has no caffine
now we're drinking gas-o-line

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 07 - 03:50 PM

Down by the bay
with the hanky panky
where bull frogs jump
from bank to banky
with a
Heep
Hop
Heep
Hop Hop
and a skittle
and a dittle
and a kernal pop
i pledge alegiance
to the flag
Micheal Jackson
makes me gag
Coca Cola messed him up
now hes drinking 7up
7 up has no caffine
now hes drinking gassoline
Gassoline not good for you
now hes drinking Mnt. Dew
Mt. Dew fell off the Mt.
now hes drinking from a fountain


Sry I dont now the rest. if some one does pls write. iwould really
like to now.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,chloe
Date: 13 Apr 07 - 06:31 AM

down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jum from bank to banky whith a hip hop paddle and a pop give me a A E I O U are out

when they say out you have to calp on the others players hand first

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Apr 07 - 10:35 PM

down by the bank of the hanky pank where the bullfrog jump from bank to bank sayin east ice ost west eastside westide ping pong your daddy smells like king kong qpple peaches pears plums tell me when your birthday comes

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Mj
Date: 15 Apr 07 - 08:03 AM

heres how i learned it and i am still younger so i still pay it today

down by the banks of the hanky panhy where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky with a ee aa oo uu jump little bull frog ker-plunk SPLASH!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 19 Apr 07 - 10:27 PM

I'm Rubber You're Glue
and all that jazz.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Chewkaaa
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 10:45 PM

This is the way we sing it at my school:

Down By the Banks with the Hanky Panky

Down by the banks with the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
singing E I O U
Your mother stinks [smells] and so do you
ping pong diddly dong
Your daddy smells like King Kong
[Went to school with nothing on]
Ask your teacher what to wear [she wears],
Polka dotted underwear.
Not too big
Not too small,
Just the size of city hall [Broward mall]
Pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson is a fag
he used to play with little toys
now he just plays with little boys
Michael Jackson went to town,
Coca-cola brought him down.
Dr. Pepper brought him up,
Now he's drinking 7up.
7up with no caffeine,
Now he's seein' Billie
Billie Jean is outta sight,
Now we're talking dynamite.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BAM!
[tic tock tic tock BOOM! BOOM!]


everything in the brackets is an exception...and we dont mention michael jackson, but i saw it on this sight and decided to mention it :]

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 07 - 11:17 PM

I appreciate all the examples posted to this thread, including the latest ones.

However, I'm sorry that GUEST,Chewkaaa chose to include that part about Michael Jackson since I really dislike people calling a person a "fag".

Also, I wonder how the version at Chewkaa's school really ends.
Did she or he mean that the rhyme ends after the line "Just the size of city hall" or "Just the size of Broward mall"?

Chewkaaa wrote that she {or he} got the Michael Jackson part from this website. However, these ending lines "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BAM!" or "tic tock tic tock BOOM! BOOM!]" aren't found on this thread or on any other thread on this site.

Both of those lines are build on the preceding line's mention of "dynamite".

Both of these changes-the addition of the Michael Jackson lines that I really don't like and the end line that I really do like-demonstrate that the folk process is alive and well.


For the record, my 19 Apr 07 - 10:27 PM comment was in response to a post that said something like these rhymes weren't any good.

Obviously, that post was deleted. I hope this one won't be because I don't want GUEST,Mj to think that I was talking about her {or his} example.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 12:07 AM

In re-reading this thead I see that GUEST,Allison
[Date: 20 Feb 07 - 06:49 PM] example has a tic, toc, tic, toc, tic, toc boom! line. Still, guest Chewkaaa's versions change that line a bit as an expansion on the reference to "dynamite".

**

It might be helpful to explain what I mean by "folk process". Here's one definition from http://www.folklib.net/folkfile/f.shtml :

"folk process (see also oral tradition) the method of learning a song, forgetting some of it, adding bits of your own, and then teaching the song to someone else, complete with changes. This happens all the time, with the expected result that there are often no definitive versions of songs."

-snip-

Here's an excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_music about changing the words of a song {btw, in this context "songs" also include "rhymes"}

"Music transmitted by word of mouth through a community will, in time, develop many variants, because this kind of transmission cannot produce word-for-word and note-for-note accuracy. Indeed, many traditional folk singers are quite creative and deliberately modify the material they learn[citation needed].

Because variants proliferate naturally, it is naïve to believe that there is such a thing as the single "authentic" version of a ballad such as "Barbara Allen (song)." Field researchers in folk song (see below) have encountered countless versions of this ballad throughout the English-speaking world, and these versions often differ greatly from each other. None can reliably claim to be the original, and it is quite possible that whatever the "original" was, it ceased to be sung centuries ago. Any version can lay an equal claim to authenticity, so long as it is truly from a traditional folksinging community and not the work of an outside editor."

-snip-

What makes the Michael Jackson lines so significant is that they are examples of how children's rhymes can document, preserve, and comment on something that happened in real life. However, because of misunderstanding or misremembering the words and/or because of purposeful changes & additions, the lyrics of a song or rhyme are often not an accurate depiction of what really happened.

The facts are that pop singer Michael Jackson's hair got burned while he was singing his hit song "Billie Jean" during the filming of a soft drink commercial. But which soft drink was it? {I can't remember, and there's various brand names of soda pop that are mentioned in different versions of this rhyme}. Also, what caused Jackson to get burned? It wasn't really dynamite. But the word "dynamite" is easier to use in a rhyme than "special effects fire works used while making a commercial". Besides, fire works are created by dynamite or are they?

I believe that it is important to also analyze and preserve information about what rhymes meant to those who recite them because in time people might forget these facts-if they ever knew them. For instance, there probably will come at time that people may read this Hanky Panky/Michael Jackson rhyme and wonder who the heck Michael Jackson is or was. Or if they know this bit of information, they may not know that Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a soda commercial. Or if they know this, they may not remember the name of the soft drink whose commercial Jackson was filming. And they also may not know what the word "beligene" means.

I can imagine these being "Trivia Pursuits" questions now. I can also imagine some of our great grandchildren arguing over the word beligine in years to come, never realizing that the answer to the question what is a beligene is found right on this Mudcat thread.

But then again, this thread may be long gone by that time.

Too bad.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 03:37 AM

Wow my version seems really weird in comparison. we did do the hand clapping around a circle. Once the last bit was said you were supposed to pull your hand before the clapper got to you. If you did they were out, if not you. So the circle got smaller and smaller. Here was Kennesaw, Georgia's version

Down by the banks of the hanky panks
Where the bullfrogs jump from banks to banks
Singing eeps iips ops oops
Chili willi ding dong
Lets play a game of ping pong

In the year of 1995
I pledge alligance to the flag
Micheal Jackson is a fad
Coca cola busted up
Now I'm drinking 7 up
7 up has no caffeine
Now I'm singing Billy Jean
Billy Jean went out of style
Now I'm singing bob....ie...brown!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Apr 07 - 06:21 PM

Thanks, GUEST 26 Apr 07 - 03:37 AM for posting the version you remember of "Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky. "Michael Jackson is a fad". Yep, a number of people would agree.

See this information about the R&B/Pop singer Michael Jackson:
http://www.allmichaeljackson.com/biography.html

Also, see this information about the R&B singer Bobby Brown:
http://music.yahoo.com/ar-289159-bio--Bobby-Brown

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,BlueCat
Date: 08 May 07 - 03:26 AM

Did anyone ever sing this as a round? I didn't even know there was a clapping game associated with it! It's great! And I learned it in the early 80's before the whole Michael J hair incident! Very cool music! I've never heard it afterwards, but it's kept a skip in my step ever since! I was in Southern Alberta in the 80's, now on the West Coast of British Columbia, Canada.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Kate and Clare
Date: 13 May 07 - 07:24 PM

This is a song that I sung at my summer camp, Camp Davern

little sally walker walking down the street
she didnt know what to do then she came right up to me
she said hey girl do your thing
do your thing and switch
hey girl do your thing
do your thing and switch

We would start off with one Sally, and by the end of the song, all of the girls would be Sally Walkers.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 13 May 07 - 09:29 PM

Kate and Clare, thanks for sending in that example.

I'm not familiar with Camp Davern. If you read this, would you post where that is {which state if in the USA; which country if outside the USA}.

I'm also wondering what you meant by "switch". Does it mean "shake your hips" or "take someone else's turn" or something else?

Also, when you wrote that "We would start off with one Sally, and by the end of the song, all of the girls would be Sally Walkers" do you mean that one girl at a time would be Sally and then she would go back to the circle and another girl would take her place?

About 2003, I saw this rhyme performed by African American girls who were about 7-9 years old. One girl said she made up this rhyme and that may have been true since kids say that they "make up" a rhyme when they change even one word of a rhyme they may have heard or read.

Here's the words to the song:

Little Sally Walker walkin down the street/
she didnt know what to do
so she stood in front of me.
She said
Ooh girl, do you thing.
Do you thing.
Stop.
Ooh girl, do you thing.
Do you thing.
Stop.

Here's how the "game" was played:
Girls stood in a circle and clapped hands to a moderate beat. One girl {Sally} was in the middle. She didn't sing but walked around the inside of the circle. On the words "stood in front of me", Sally stands in front of one girl and begins to do a popular R&B or Hip-Hop dance step. She continues to do that dance and the girl she is standing in front of tries to exactly imitate her. Other children making up the circle also do the dance. On the word "stop" the dancing stops, and starts all over again. At the end of the rhyme the girl who Sally was standing in front of becomes the new Sally, and the former Sally rejoins the children making up the circle. The rhyme is supposed to immediately start again without any gap in time. Theoretically, this rhyme is supposed to continue until every girl has a chance to be "Sally" But usually, the girls tire of the song before that and go on to another rhyme.

I know that there was another Mudcat poster who also wrote that she observed the "Little Sally Walker Walking Down The Street" rhyme played at a camp a couple of years ago.

I wonder where this version came from. Perhaps we'll never know.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,guest candycane
Date: 15 May 07 - 05:56 PM

down by the riverside of hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from banky banky singen east peace sun street bow wow ding dong

Subject: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Anonymous
Date: 15 May 07 - 11:38 PM

this is how my friends and i play


Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Singing eeps, ops, sodapops
Ay Mr. Bullfrog i got you!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,me
Date: 17 May 07 - 09:44 PM

thats how i play it too

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,me
Date: 22 May 07 - 04:04 PM

down by the river of the hankey pankey where the bullfrogs jump from bank to. i said A-E-I-O-U. i pledge allegeience to the flag. Michel Jackson makes me gag. he used to play with litle toys now he plays with little boys! Dr. Pepper threw up now i'm drinkin 7-Up. 7-Up caught the flu now i'm drinkin Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew fell iff the mountain now i'm drinkin from the fountain. fountian broke now i'm drinkin plain old COKE!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 22 May 07 - 09:05 PM

I grew up with

Down by the river with hanky pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank,
Singing Ece-Ice-Oce-Uce,
Listen to the Church bell's
Ding Dang Dong,
Your Daddy smell like King Kong,
Micheal Jackson is a fag,
I pledge allegiance to the flag
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 22 May 07 - 09:41 PM

Poor Michael Jackson

Who in the 1980s would have ever believed that name of that multiple Grammy award winning King of Pop would be preserved in history this way?

Life is full of ironies.

**

I wonder if anyone knows any other children's rhymes that include the lines "I pledge allegiance to the flag" ?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Karen
Date: 24 May 07 - 10:19 AM

Wow, all of these different versions, and yet, the one I learned as a kid is still slightly different. Very cool. I really like the "frog missed the banky" version.

Here's mine... it starts out the same, but the vowel sounds at the end are different. I learned mine in Utah somewhere between 1986 and 1988.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With an EE EE I, I, OH, OH, OOH, OOH,
Ump slop-a-dilly and a BAROOM!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 24 May 07 - 05:31 PM

Thanks for posting your version, Karen. And thanks also for remembering to include demographical information.

I think the different versions of this rhyme are cool too.

It's interesting that I can remember a lot of rhymes from my childhood, but I have no memory of this rhyme at all.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 24 May 07 - 06:29 PM

I just re-read Karen's {24 May 07 - 10:19 AM} version, and I wonder if that version might have "originally" been:

"With an A E I, O, U
Ump slop-a-dilly and a BAROOM!

-snip-

That way the rhyme is a recitation of the standard English vowels.


{I suppose the "OOH" in Karen's version is pronounced to rhyme with the English word "you"}

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Juliana
Date: 24 May 07 - 08:50 PM

The real version that my friends and I sing at school is the following:

Down by riverbank of hankey-pank a bullfrog jumps from bank to bank sayin' eeps iips ohps umps down by the river bank- kerplunk!
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9..... (and at ten whoever gets their hand slapped is eliminated. if they pull their hand away the person who slapped them is out.)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 24 May 07 - 09:31 PM

When I was growing up in the 1950s, most of the time I didn't know that there was more than one version of a particular chilren's rhyme. I thought the version that I knew was the ONLY version.

If I happened to hear another version of a rhyme I knew, I thought that MY version was the REAL version. What I meant by "real" was that my version was the CORRECT version. And what I meant by that is that I thought that there's only ONE correct version of a particular rhyme.

Maybe it's different for songs. Maybe there can only be one correct version of a song-the version that someone wrote.

But because children's rhymes are created anonymously and passed along largely through oral tradition there probably have always been multiple versions of the same rhyme.

Thanks to the Internet and other print & recorded resources, children, youth, and adults can become aware that there are different versions of the "text" and often different performance instructions of the samer rhyme.

Thanks to Internet threads such as this one, people nowadays can "see" that a particular rhyme may change over time, and may be different at the same time within different nations, cities, and even neighborhoods of the same city.

And all these versions are REAL for the people who recite them.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 24 May 07 - 09:44 PM

This thread is looong.

In scanning it this evening, I realize that I wrote about a contemporary version of little Sally Walker two times in this thread. The first time was in November 2005 after a Guest posted an example of that rhyme on 25 Nov 06 - 01:52 PM .

The second time was in May 2007 in response to GUEST,Kate and Clare -13 May 07 - 07:24 PM posting of the same rhyme.

I consider Little Sally Walker to be a guest on the Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky thread, since the words to that rhyme don't have any thing to do with Hanky Panky.

But, for those readers who may not be aware of it, there are alot of other Mudcat threads on children's rhymes. One which started out as a thread* for children's taunts and comebacks is thread.cfm?threadid=81350#1486259
"I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes"

If you click on that link, below that title, you'll see a listing of many more [but not all] Mudcat threads on children's rhymes.

Enjoy!


* "thread" means "a series of comments. Comments are also known as 'posts' "

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 24 May 07 - 10:01 PM

Here's another version of Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky:


"I dont remember the whole thing, but this is as much as i can remember:

down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank singin eeps ipps ops oops listen to the rhythm of the ding dang dong. micheal jackson went to town pepsi cola shot him down dr. pepper fixed him up now were talkin 7-up. 7-up has no caffine now were takin billie jean.....

i dont remember the rest.

while ur sayin that. you put you hands out to the side. one person puts there hand on top of yours and on the other side the other persons hand is below yours. so when one person slaps your hand, you slap the person on your other sides hand. but you have to keep the beat of the song or you are out and you start all over. the beat between each hand clap is about 1/2 second long."

posted by stargirl3637 at October 30, 2006; Octoblog

http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php


Btw, I have posted a number of examples of children's rhymes on this thread that were first posted on Octoblog. Members of that blog have given me permission to reposts examples of children's rhymes that are posted on their "children's schoolyard games" thread.

Similar to Mudcat, Octoblog accepts comments from both members & guests on its thread of children's schoolyard games. I'm not a member of that blog, but I have posted on that thread a number of since I first learned about it on another Mudcat thread.

If you're interested in a great resource on children's rhymes, check out that Octoblog link. And, while you're there, it would be great if you would post some examples of children's rhymes on that thread.

To borrow a hip-hop saying, "Show them some love".

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 24 May 07 - 10:04 PM

Correction:

"I'm not a member of that blog, but I have posted on that thread a number of times since I first learned about it on another Mudcat thread".

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Joy
Date: 02 Jun 07 - 08:47 PM

I was in school when I played the game and it didn't go any of the ways that are on there this is how it went.

Down by the banks of the hanky panks Where the bullfrogs jump from banks to banks Singing eeps iips ops oops Chili willi ding dong Your mother smells like King Kong I pledge allegiance to the flag Michael Jackson is a fag coca cola brought him up now we're talkin 7up 7up has no caffeine now we're talkin Billy Jean Billy Jean is out of sight Now we're talkin Dynamite 10,9 ,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,BOOM!!!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 09:46 PM

Down by the bay
with the hanky panky
where bull frogs jump
from bank to banky
with a
Heep
Hop
Heep
Hop Hop
and a skittle
and a dittle
and a kernal pop
i pledge alegiance
to the flag
Micheal Jackson
makes me gag
Coca Cola messed him up
now hes drinking 7up
7 up has no caffine
now hes drinking gassoline
Gassoline not good for you
now hes drinking Mnt. Dew
Mt. Dew fell off the Mt.
now hes drinking from a fountain

thast all i knw can somebody just put the rest 2 hisverybody knows the song but i just a;wasy fogertt that last lines please put the end to this song pleas!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,LALA:):):):)
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 06:32 PM

down by the banks and hanky panky yo granma say yo booty stanky say eeps ips oops ops listen to the boys cry see that house on top of the hill thats were me my boyfriend live smell like chicken smell like rice come on girls lets shoot_some_dice pick a number or a letter no ones no twos no trees no a b c's (pick a number or a letter lets just say i chooce 7) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7! ( whoevers hand gets hit on the chosen number/letter is ELIMINATED!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Dana =]
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 10:30 AM

Down by the bay
with the hanky panky
where bull frogs jump
from bank to banky
with a
Heep
Hop
Heep
Hop Hop
and a skittle
and a dittle
and a kernal pop
i pledge alegiance
to the flag
Micheal Jackson
makes me gag
Coca Cola messed him up
now hes drinking 7up
7 up has no caffine
now hes drinking gassoline
Gassoline not good for you
now hes drinking Mnt. Dew
Mt. Dew fell off the Mt.
now hes drinking from a fountain
-------------------------
fountain water has no taste
now hes drinking milkshake
milkshake goes down wrong,
now he's drinking alcohol.
alcohol is against the law
now hes drinking nothing at all.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jun 07 - 08:36 PM

Down by the river by the hanky panks, where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank, saying A E I O U, your mamma stinks and so do you, so ping pong donkey kong went to school with nothing on, asked the teacher what to wear, polka dotted underwear, not too big not too small, just the size of a cannon ball!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Girlygirl¢¾
Date: 20 Jun 07 - 10:04 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky with a heep,hop,heep,hop,hop and a skittle and a diddle and a kernal pop! I pledge allegiance to the flag, Michael Jackson makes me gag Coca cola messed him up now he's drinking 7up 7up has no caffeine now he's drinking Gasoline Gasoline is not good for you now he's drinking Mountain Dew Mountain Dew fell off the mountain now he's drinking from a fountain Down by the bank of the Hanky Panky Where the jump from bank to banky with a heep,hop,heep,hop,hop and a skittle and a diddle and a kernal pop!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,sidney
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 05:15 PM

i learned this from chole,elizibeth1,elizibeth2,abby




Down by riverbank of hankey-panky were the bullfrogs jumps from bank to bank sayin' eeps iips ohp sacadillain - kerplunk!
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 mickey mouse had a house dohnald duck messed it up who shall pay the caonceacuences mouse or duck (or duck or mouse)1 person said duck or mouse and if it ends up on you you pull your hand away so the other person is out then but if they hit your hand your out

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 05:17 PM

sorry messed up



i learned this from chole,elizibeth1,elizibeth2,abby at loyola academy day camp




Down by banks of hankey-panky were the bullfrogs jumps from bank to bank sayin' eeps iips ohp sacadillain - kerplunk!
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 mickey mouse had a house dohnald duck messed it up who shall pay the caonceacuences mouse or duck (or duck or mouse)1 person said duck or mouse and if it ends up on you you pull your hand away so the other person is out then but if they hit your hand your out

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 08:02 PM

Thanks GUEST,Dana =], GUEST 19 Jun 07 - 08:36 PM, GUEST,Girlygirl¢¾, GUEST,sidney, and all the other guests and members for posting versions of this rhyme.

GUEST,sidney's example "sounds" to me like an elimination rhyme {counting out rhyme, choosing it rhyme}.

If you're still around Guest sidney, I'm wondering if this rhyme was used that way where you live.

And, in my opinion, including where you live {city/state if in the USA or your city, state/province/nation if elsewhere} is an important bit of information that adds to the folkloric record of these rhymes.

It also is important to include when you remember singing or hearing these rhymes {for instance in the 1980s, or 1960s or now].

Including that type of demographical information helps to show how much we have in common-as well as the differences that mayoccur across space and time.

Best wishes,

Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Ashley
Date: 28 Jun 07 - 12:58 AM

down by the river of the hany pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
singin oh ah skittle skattle
big fat bull frog
oops i knocked him off the log
now i think hes mad
better go get him a lilly pad!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 07:47 AM

Here is another version of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky"

This is a game that me and my friends play down by the banks of the hanky pank where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank singing eeps iips oops ummps chilly willy ding dong i plege alligence to the flag micheal jack makes me gag coca-cola burned it's butt now we're talkin 7-up 7-up has no caffeine now we're talkin billy jean billy jean is outta sight now we're talkin dynamite dynamite blows up the school now we're talkin really cool 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
-Allie ; 7/14/2007; http://www.cocojams.com/handclap_rhymes_example_0104.htm
{Version #14 of that rhyme on that website page}

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 07:51 AM

Wow! I didn't even know my last post to this thread was #100.

On Mudcat posting the 100th comments is a major accomplishment.

I guess that means I'll have a GREAT day.

At least I'm gonna interprete it to mean that.

:o)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 08:51 PM

Down by the river of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with a
eep
op
eep
bop
bop
skittle dittle curly pop
I pledge allegence to the flag
That Michael Jackson makes me gag
He used to play with little toys
But now he plays with little boys
7 Up caught the flu
Now i'm drinking mountain dew
Mountain dew fell off the mountain
Now i'm drinking from a fountain
Fountain broke..
Now i'm drinking
Plain
Old
Coke.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 08:59 PM

Down by the river with the hanky bankys
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
say an
epp
opp
epp
bop
bop
Skittle dittle curly pop
I pledge allegence to the flag
That Micheal jackson makes me gag
Diet Pepsi came to town
Coca-Cola pushed him down
Orange soda picked him up
Now I'm drinking 7 up
7up caught the flu
Now I'm drinking Moutain Dew
Moutain Dew fell off the moutain
Now I'm drinking from a fountian
Foutain Broke
Now I'm drinking plain old Coke

---

Please remember to put a consistent poster name in the "from" box when you post a message. Anonymous messages risk deletion.
Thanks.
-Joe Offer, Forum Moderator-

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 09:28 PM

Thanks, Guest, for posting that version of Hanky Panky.

It would be great if you would share where and when and how did you chant this version or read it or hear it chanted?

**

I re-posted this rhyme on another Mudcat thread, but it seems appropriate for this one as well:

COCA COLA WENT TO TOWN/THERE'S A PLACE ON MARS
Coca Cola (clap clap clap)
went to town (clap clap clap)
Hi-C (clap clap clap)
knocked him down (clap clap clap)
7up (clap clap clap)
picked him up (clap clap clap)
Dr. Pepper (clap clap clap)
gave him (clap clap clap)
sleeping pills (clap clap clap)
jelly rolls (clap clap clap)
Theres a place on Mars
where the ladies smoke cigars
every puff they take
is enough to kill a snake
when the snake is dead
you put diamonds in his head
when the diamonds break
it's enough to bake a cake
when the cake is done
it is 1991
when you tie your shoe
it is 1992
when you get stung by a bee
it is 1993
when you slam a door
it is 1994
when you dance the jive
it is 1995
when you pick up sticks
it is 1996
when you like a boy named devon
it is 1997
when you close the gate
it is 1998
when you're feelin' fine
it is 1999
then it gets all cold
then you
FREEZE!
- Miranda; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ;August 19, 2004

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,sarah jane
Date: 16 Jul 07 - 05:25 PM

I'm fascinated to find all of this. I wanted to teach my 2 year old daughter the words to this game. I learned it in kindergarten in Walla Walla, WA during the '79-'80 school year. I could only remember these words:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky,
where the bullfrogs jumped from bank to banky,
...[don't remember]...
with an eeps oops ops
and a
Ker-plop!

    Ours didn't have any lyrics more suggestive than "hanky panky", nor any specific cultural references that would date it. (I think Michael Jackson was probably still with the Jackson 5 at that time.) I'm only missing one or two lines in the rhyme, it was definitely a shorter version.
    So far noone's version quite matches up with mine, at least as I think I remember it. Nor do I recognize the endings of any of the others. If anyone seems to know 'my' version, I'd love to know the rest of the words. (I've created a new email account just for this sort of thing: [e-mail]) Otherwise, I guess I'll just make it up! When I come up with my 'new' version (based on those in this thread most likely), I'll add it.

    We played a circle handclap elimination game, with our palms facing IN towards the center of the circle:

    With arms outstretched, hands were layered so that each persons' right hand was in front of the neighboring left hand. When your right hand got sandwiched by your neighbor's hands, clapped between the two, it was your turn to swing your right arm and make a sandwhich around your other neighbor's right hand, to your left. The owner of the hand sandwiched at "Ker-plop!" was out.

    The last two players had a sort of pushing arm-wrestle:

    Right hands linked in some sort of arm-wrestle fist (I can't remember exactly), while still standing, the last two would alternately push and pull. This was syncronized (sp?) so that the back and forth could increase in speed. You tried hard to get it going fast so that on "-plop!" you could try to take advantage of the inertia and freeze your arm in the 'push' position to win. However, if you froze your arm in 'push' before the rhyme reached the very end, even on "Ker-", then you lost.

    One kid tried to take advantage of this by freezing his arm in 'pull' on "Ker-" to make it look like the other kid was trying to win-too-soon. As we were all kindergarteners, it wasn't very hard for the supervising (sp?) adults to figure it out. Clever of him to try though!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Aug 07 - 11:53 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky,
where the bullfrogs jumped from bank to bank
say ep op ep op op,
skiddle diddle cernal pop,
say 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
pepsi cola turnd him up
now were drinkin 7 up
7 up has no cafeene
now were drinken gasolen
gasolen ran out of fule
now were drinkend moutain dew
moutain dew fell off the moutain
now were drinking from a foutain
foutain broke
now were drinken diet coke.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 10 Aug 07 - 10:05 PM

Thanks, GUEST 09 Aug 07 - 11:53 PM for sharing that version of Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky.

I hope you decide to chose an Internet name and continue sharing rhymes and talking about other things on Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,anonymous
Date: 13 Aug 07 - 09:16 PM

Growing up in Maryland, I learned it this way:

Down by the banks with the hanky-panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to banky
Saying eeps, ipes, opes, oops
Listen to the doorbell ring
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson sucks so bad
Pepsi-Cola burned his butt
Now he's drinking 7-Up
7-Up is bad for you
Now he's drinking Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew has no caffeine
Now he's drinking gasoline
Gasoline is made for cars
That's why he is so bizzare
Down by the banks with the hanky-panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to banky
Saying eeps, ipes, opes, oops
Listen to the Keeerplop!

We sat or stood in a circle with each person's right hand palm-up on the next person's left hand, and each right hand would slap the next right hand. You were out if your hand was hit on "plop", and you could avoid this by pulling your hand out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Aug 07 - 09:32 PM

Thanks, GUEST,anonymous for sharing that example!

**

Poor Michael Jackson, how far he has fallen from his superstar status.

It will be interesting to see if eventually this reference to Michael Jackson changes to another person or group of people.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,The only version!
Date: 19 Aug 07 - 01:52 AM

down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky with a hip hop soda pop hey mr willy annie went ker-plop!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Rina
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 05:47 AM

The one I played was:

Down by the banks with the hanky-panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to banky
With a hip, hop, rattle and a pop,
With a hip, hop, rattle and a pop,
A, E, I, O, U are out!

We did the palm-slapping in a circle thing, and if you were the one hit on the word 'out' you went out. Of course, if you could dodge it, the person who was supposed to hit you goes out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 10:34 PM

That used to be one of my favorite games in Kindergarten.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
with an eeps oops ips ops
He missed a lilly pad and went kerplops

I always thought the song sounded kinda jazzy

We sat in a circle and sang the song. My hand would be under somebody's on one side and resting on the other persons. One person would start by claping their right hand into the person to their left's hand which was resting in the clapping person's left hand. Then that person would repeat the motion, and so it would go around in a circle. If you had your hand clapped on Kerplops, then you were out. And we'd start the song again.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,inkblob
Date: 02 Sep 07 - 04:12 AM

this is how I remember the song from the early 80's in the interior of BC, Canada:

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with the eep ipes opes op
hey sock it to me with a
ker-plop

and there would be a sort of patty-cake fast clapping alternating with a partner to go along with it. this is a real great thread, and I'm encouraged to add some verses to the version I grew up with. so very neat to see so many variations, I had no idea!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 02 Sep 07 - 08:38 AM

Hello, Guest inkblog!

Thanks for sharing that example and thanks for remembering to include where and when you learned it.

You {and other guests} may be interested to know that Mudcat has a number of other threads on children's rhymes.

One such thread is thread.cfm?threadid=2795 Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, I Bit the Teacher's Toe!

When you click on the hyperlink to that thread, you will find a listing of some other Mudcat threads on children's rhymes.

Also, I hope that you consider joining Mudcat. If you are interested, click on the word Membership up at the top of this page, near the right hand corner & follow those easy steps.

Best wishes!

Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Suzanne
Date: 02 Sep 07 - 10:53 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrog hops from bank to banky
hip, hop, soda pop
Froggy missed a lily and he went kerplop!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Kristen
Date: 04 Sep 07 - 06:18 PM

Down by the river on a hankey pankey
Where the bullfrogs jump form bank to bank
Singing E I O U
Mommas got an eye on you
King Kong Donkey Kong Went to school with nothin on
Asked the teach what to wear.
Polka dotted underwear
Not to big not to small just the size of Broward Mall
Turn around and touch the ground
Lets show them how we do it now.
1!2!3! STOP!
____________________________________
Thats how we do it down here in florida.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 04 Sep 07 - 06:54 PM

When I started this thread I had no idea that there were this many different versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky".

I'm enjoying reading these versions and noting the similarities & differences between each rhyme's words and the ways each rhyme is performed.

Keep the examples comin!

And thanks for proving that kids are still creative!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Fatima
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 11:23 AM

I was attempting to find the words to the hand game I learned when I was young, after hearing my son sing the version he learned at school. I didn't see any version that was the same as mine but they are all very interesting.

I learned a couple of versions in the early 80's in Birmingham, AL. This is one that I think incorporated Japanese sounds:

Down the river of Hanky Panky
Bullfrog jumps from bank to bank,
Eesh, Meesh, Sun, Shee
Eece Say Meece Say Ding Dong
Your breath smells like King Kong!

I think it ended there. There might have been more, I don't remember if it was.

Today, this is what my 8-yr-old son sings:

Down by the river, Silver Rock
Michael Jackson wears no socks
Ee-pi-pi, Oh-pi-pi, Pow!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,    10!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 12:36 PM

Thanks for posting to this thread, Fatima. At least you can be happy that your son didn't learn that other version of the Hanky Panky rhyme that mentions Michael Jackson.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Emily.
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 06:55 PM

Down by the Banks with the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jumped from bank to bank
i said eep opp she-bop she-bop
skittle dittle kerrr-plopp!

down by the ocean
down by the sea
my brother broke a bottle and blamed it on me

sayin eep opp she-bop she-bop
skittle dittle kerrr-plopp!

i pledge allegiance to the flag
michael jackson makes me gag
coca cola messed him up
now we're drinkin 7 up
7 up caught the flu
now i'm drinkin mountain dew
mountain dew fell off the mountain
now we're drinkin from a fountain
fountain broke-
now i'm drinking
plain.
old.
coke.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 07:08 PM

Thanks for sharing that version of Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky" with us Emily!

That's the first time I've seen the rhyme "down by the ocean/
down by the sea/my brother {or Johnny} broke a bottle/ and blamed it on me" rhyme in combination with those other Hanky Panky verses.

The rest of that rhyme is usually something like "I told ma/ and ma told pa/ and my brother {or Johnny} got a whoopin/ha ha ha".

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,jenn
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 08:06 PM

so, i learned this one when i was in like... 2nd grade.


Down by the banks of the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
singing eeps opps oops opps
follow the riverbed
kerplop
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
coca cola went to town
diet pepsi shot him down
dr pepper fixed him up
now we're drinkin 7 up
7 up caught the flu
now we're drinkin mountain dew
mountain dew fell off a mountain
now we're drinkin from a fountain
the fountain broke
now we're back to drinkin coke!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 09:08 PM

Thanks, GUEST jenn for sharing that version of "Down Vy Rge Banks of the Hanky Panky"!

Thanks also for including that comment about when you learned this rhyme {when you were in the 2nd grade}. However, for the sake of folk cultural research, it would have been more helpful if you had given the year that you were in the 2nd grade, as that would help date this version. Some people give the decades {like the 1990s} and/or part of those decades {like the mid 1980s}.

Also, it would be great if people sharing the examples that they remember of this and other rhymes would also include where they lived when they first learned those rhymes {for instance which city & state, if inside the USA} or which city, province, nation if outside the USA.

This kind of demographical informtion could help future or present day researchers document the similarities and differences between versions of a specific rhyme over time and in the same or different places.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 09:23 PM

It just occurred to me that a large number of the posters to this thread have been guests to Mudcat.

I suppose these guests have found this thread through a search engine such as Google or Yahoo.

Hopefully, some of these members have joined Mudcat and have also found other Mudcat threads on children's rhymes and on other subjects.

Which brings up another subject:

I wonder why this thread doesn't have a list of "related threads" on children's rhymes that is placed under its title as is done on many other threads about a general topic. And I wonder why this thread hasn't been included in such a list on other Mudcat threads of children's rhymes. At least, I thinkthat to date it hasn't been included in any Mudcat listing of children's rhymes that is placed on other threads.

Since this thread appears to get so many "hits" from guests, having such a listing would make these guests aware that there are many other Mudcat threads on children's rhymes that they may also be interested in reading and posting to.

Maybe this thread hasn't been included on any list because I {as its thread starter} haven't asked any Mudcat moderator to include it on such a list.

I am formally,respectfully, and publicly making such a request now.

In addition, I will make the same request via pm to a moderator.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Sep 07 - 09:28 PM

Ugh!!

Sorry for that typo:

Of course "Down Vy Rge Banks of the Hanky Panky" = "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky"

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 19 Sep 07 - 07:16 AM

Thanks, Joe Offer!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Julia
Date: 27 Sep 07 - 08:16 PM

Down by the riverside
hanky panky side
bull frog jumped from bank to bank
He said "A-E-I-O-U your mamma stinks and so do you"
ping-pong rubadingdong gimme a nickel I'll give you a five look at me and say good bye.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Tootsaz
Date: 08 Oct 07 - 07:52 PM

I learned the song in 2001 (my Sr Year of High School) at camp. I didn't see the version i learned so i thought to post it.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with an A...E...I...O...U.. Keerrr-plop.

We stood in a circle with palms up your right hand laying on your neighbors left. as the song starts you hit the persons right hand to your left with yours. the person who got hit on the plop went out. and you went till the last person standing was the winner.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Bryce Kime
Date: 09 Oct 07 - 01:15 PM

The one i learned is a little different. Its like this:

Down by the river with a hanky panky
Where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky,
with a.. hip.. hop.. flip.. flop.
splashin in the water with a big ker-plop

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 07:29 AM

I sing this songs regularly through work in toddler groups in England.
We sing:

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
they go hip hop
bellyflop
one missed the lilypad and went kerflop!

Recently I've recieved a complaint from one mother about the phrase 'hanky panky', thinking it was sexually inappropriate!
If the world continues along this line of hyper political correctness, i suppose we might lose this song altogether...

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 08:14 AM

Thanks Guest 01 Nov 07 - 07:29 AM for that example and comment.

I agree with you that complaining about the rhyming phrase "hanky panky" is hyper political correctness.

I suppose that mother didn't realize that she was really stretching the bounds of credulity to suggest that "hanky panky" as it is found in this children's rhyme means "inappropriate sexual activity".
I hope that you shared with that parent that a word or phrase may mean different things in different contexts.

Yet, that woman-and folks who think like her-are going to believe whatever they want to believe or what someone that they consider a legitimate authority figure tells them to believe.

Sigh...

Subject: does anyone remember Dr. Pepper?
From: GUEST,a highschool teacher
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 08:00 PM

i remember it went something like this...
dr. pepper
came to town
iced tea
knocked him down
dr pepper
gave him
sleeping pills
and jelly rolls....

*i don't remeber the next part...does anyone else?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Nov 07 - 12:19 PM

coca-cola came to town
diet pepsi knocked him down
dr pepper fixed him up
now were drinkink 7up
7up caught the flu
now were drinking mountain s\dwe
muntain dew fell off the montain
now were drinking from afountain
fountain water makes me choke
nw were back to drinking coke!!!!!!!XD

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,high school student
Date: 15 Nov 07 - 09:40 PM

This was actually played today in class!

Down by the river by the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Saying "East side west side east side west side"
Dilly Dang Dong!

This was always my favorite hand game, since we could do it with a big group of people! It has to be really fast though. In elementary school, some kids counted the number of beats or hand-slaps in the rhyme to predict who would get the last slap.
One teacher thought it was a gang song though, with the "east side west side east side west side".

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Nov 07 - 09:55 PM

Hey, guest high school student!

Thanks for sharing that version. I'd never "heard" that one before.

I hope to "see" you and other guests who post on this thread posting on other Mudcat threads.

For instance, I'm wondering if you and your classmates have ever another group hand clap rhyme called Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola thread.cfm?threadid=77066

I've found that girls and boys like playing these types of competitive circle group hand clap games.

Has this been your experience that boys play these games as well as girls?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Nov 07 - 10:04 PM

Sorry I left out a word. Let me try again.

Havee you and your friends ever heard or performed the rhyme Stella Ola Ola?

And what other handclap rhymes do you know?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,untitled
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 06:42 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky singing e-i-o-u your mother stinks and so do you ping pong diddly dong your daddy smells like king kong pledge allegiance to the flag michael jackson is a gag coca-cola bring it up now were talking 7-up 7-up has no caffeine now were talking billy jean billy jean went out of style for a while so 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,elle
Date: 04 Dec 07 - 03:45 AM

down by the banks of the hanky panky,
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky.
with a hip, hop, belly flop
A E I O U
Wooo!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Dec 07 - 10:30 PM

down by the bank with the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky with the e i o u eastside westside ding dong see that house on top of that hill that's where me and my boyfriend live smell that chicken smell that rice come on yall let's shoot some...dice

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Rebecca
Date: 19 Dec 07 - 07:06 PM

Its amazing that out of all these posts there isn't one like mine.


Down by the bank of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
going eeps ieps ops oop
Listen to the ker-plop
i pledge allegience to the flag
Michael Jackson stinks so bad\
Coca Cola burned him up
now he's drinking 7 up
7 up has no caffiene
now he's drinking gasoline
Gasoline has no good taste now he's drinking toxic waste

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 19 Dec 07 - 07:18 PM

Thanks for sharing that example, Rebecca!

I've never heard or read that version before. Did you make it up or did you learn it from someone? For the folkloric record, it would be great if you would provide demographical information about this {what area of the USA or elsewhere do you live; when you first learned that version}.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Melissa
Date: 19 Dec 07 - 07:58 PM

The first batch of girls I saw doing this circle game had an ending I haven't seen mentioned in the threads discussing it.

After "pow" they went on with "down by the river---nothing to do--along came a fat man..and 'how do ya do'"

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Alina
Date: 23 Dec 07 - 09:15 PM

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with a hip hop crackle and a pop
with a hip hop belly flop
a boom shug-a-lag
full stop.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Emily - GA
Date: 30 Dec 07 - 12:17 AM

I learned this rhyme so long ago it seems.

I'm from GA, and my most vivid memory of playing this hand game was at girlscout camp in north ga. It was probably sometime around 1993-1995.
Our version was:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
you go eeps iips opes oops
chilly willy ding dong!

It fascinates me the number of variations on this there are. I had no idea! I sure do hope children still play these games - I have such fond memories

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Jade
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 06:10 PM

Wow A lot of these I've never heard before. Makes me wonder how I learned the version I did. Now that I think about it It makes no sense. Anyway here it is

Down By the Banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump form bank to bank
East, Meast, Sun Ceased
Eastside, Westside
Bow Wow, Ding dang dong.

I learned this when I was about 6 in 1994. I;'m from Kentucky and all my friends say it the exact same way. Guess the entire translation got lost somewhere.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 07:02 PM

Jade, thanks for sharing you & your friends' version of Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky.

And thanks for including demographical information {where you live and the age/year you were when you first learned this}.

As to your version of that rhyme not making any sense, who says children's rhymes have to make any sense? Alot of stuff grownups write and say doesn't make any sense, so why should children be any different?

:o)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Lily from the Midwest
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 06:50 AM

As for how the final winner was tallied-- when I was in elementary school (currently am 22), the final two would hold onto one another's forearms and stand over some line or crack in the ground. They'd move their arms back and forth until the final word at which point it would become a tug-of-war. Whoever stepped over the crack or line lost.


The version I remember best is:

Down by the banks (and/where) the hanky-panky
And the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With an eeps ops soda-pop
Land on a lily and go ker-plop.


But I do know there was a longer version. It just became unpopular after the first couple days. The bits above about Coca-Cola and 7-Up sound familiar, but not the parts about Michael Jackson.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 06:10 PM

GUEST,Lily from the Midwest, thanks for adding to the record of how children played this rhyme.

I hope to "see" you in other Mudcat threads on children's rhymes. Hyperlinks to some of those threads are posted in blue above the comment portion of this thread.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Rebecca
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 05:01 PM

Ummm... I learned this a couple years ago when i was ten. I live in Maryland but closer on the border to washington D.C. Most people in our school know this. I think it is because we try to do it as fast as possible and the part about " Michael Jackson is a fag" somehow changed to Michael Jackson stinks so bad.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Jan 08 - 07:10 PM

GUEST,Rebecca, thanks for sharing your school's version of this rhyme. Thanks also for including demographical information {where yu live} and information about how you perform it.

Poor Michael Jackson. At least your school's version isn't homophobic.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Rebecca
Date: 29 Jan 08 - 04:05 PM

yep cuz my friends sis is bi so yeah...

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Jenny
Date: 05 Feb 08 - 02:32 PM

this song has been lingering in my head for days, so I went searching for the one I remembered not knowing there were so many, this is what i remember.

Down by the river and the hanky panky
bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with an eeps Ipes, Opes, Opps
Chilly willy ding dong,
I pledge Allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson is a fag
Now were talking 7 up
7 up has no caffiene
now we're talking billy Jean
(and then there was more... but I dont remember it...)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,m.b.
Date: 21 Feb 08 - 06:06 PM

down by the river of the hanky panky
were the bulldog jump from bank bank
sayen EEPS OPPS OOPPS OOPS
listen to the ding dong
your mama smell like king kong
see that house on the top of the hill
thats were me and my boy friend live
smell that chicken
smell that rice
come on lets shoot some dice
1
2
3
4
5

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,=]
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 12:37 PM

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with an eeps opps oops ouch
jump of a lilypad
kerplunk splash

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 09:39 PM

My friends play it like this:

Down by the bank by the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jumps from bank to bank
We're sayin ep op ep op op
skiddle diddle kernal pop!
I pledge alligence to the flag
Micheal Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola messed him up
now we're drinking 7up
7up has no caffine
now we're drinking gassoline
Gassoline not good for you
now we're drinking Mt. Dew
Mt. Dew fell off the Mt.
now we're drinking from a fountain
The fountain broke
and now we're back to drinking coke

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,guest :)
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 01:32 PM

Down by the river on a hanky panky where the bull frog jumps from bank to bank i said A-E-I-O-U bamboo micheal jackson went to town coca cola shot him down mountain dew shot him up now were talking 7 up 7 up has no caffine now were talking billy jean billy jean went down the street singing do a diddy diddy dum diddy 1-2-3

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 08:02 PM

Hello, GUEST,guest :)

I don't recall reading that particular version of "..Hanky Panky" before. Thanks for sharing it.

And by the way, GUEST,guest :) , I hope you share some more examples of children's rhymes that you know, but I'd like to suggest that you pick another, more distinguishable screen name. There have been other people who have used that particular name minus the :)

As a matter of fact, I'm glad that post wasn't deleted, because that's what could very well happen to posts that are written by anyone who uses the name Guest guest.

And thanks also to this site's moderators for not deleting that post, as it adds to the folkloric record by presenting another version of this children's rhyme.

[Now if the poster had only included where and when she or he recited or heard this rhyme and whether it was performed as a handclap rhyme or jump rope rhyme or something else. Sigh...]

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 08:07 PM

Correction:

"only"="also"

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Apr 08 - 08:01 AM

Down by the riverside a hanky panky where the bull frog jumps from bank to bank i said an A E I O U BAMBOO!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Bank and the Hanky Pank
From: GUEST,dancergirlita235
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 10:26 AM

Down by the bank and the hanky pank where the juice box frog singing bank to bank singing eep opp eep opp opp skittle dittle kernal pop I pledge alligence to the flag Micheal Jackson makes me gag[or is a fag] Coca Cola came to town Pepsi Cola knocked him down Dr. Pepper picked him up now we're drinking 7UP 7UP caught the flu now we're drinking Mountain Dew Mountain Dew fell off the mountain now we're drinking from a fountain fountain broke now we're drinking plain old Coke

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,guest, katy
Date: 23 Apr 08 - 12:50 AM

the one i remember was in second grade and a group of girls usually would get in a circle and play a clapping game and at the end of the song the last person that got clapped was out until there was only one person left.


down by the river where theres hanky panky
and the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
saying eeps ipes opes oops
chilly willy ding dong
your mama smells like king kong
pledge allegience to the flag
michael jackson is a fag
coca cola's burning up
now we're talking 7up
7up has no caffeine
now we're talking billy jean
billy jean saw his sister walking down the street singing do-a-ditty-ditty-dum-ditty-do. do-a-ditty-ditty-dum-ditty-do.
icky picky ponky daddy had a donkey
donkey died, daddy cried
icky picky ponky!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,yung chic
Date: 23 Apr 08 - 07:40 PM

Hey! I'm a teen, and my friends just taught me this song today:

Down on the banks by the hanky-panky,
Where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky,
Sayin' e-i-o-um,
Insacadillion, ding-dong.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10!

Then of course, u have ur right hand on top of whoever else ur playin' this with. I like it.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,bob
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 09:15 AM

Down by the bay where the hanky-panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to banky
Says eep, op, eep op op
Skiddle diddle kernel pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola has caffeine
Now we're talking jelly beans
Jelly beans are out of style
We've been talking for a while
Charlie Brown is it!

Or, some people play it like this:

Down by the bay where the hanky-panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to banky
Says eep, op, eep op op
Skiddle diddle kernel pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola has caffeine
Now we're drinking gasoline
Gasoline has no fuel
Now we're drinking Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew fell off the mountain
Now we're drinking form the fountain
Fountain broke and made me choke
And now we're drinking plain old Coke!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 03:16 PM

Thanks to all who have posted to this thread!

GUEST,bob, I've never "heard" that first version you posted {with the lines about jelly beans and Charley Brown}. I'm curious is this a handclap rhyme or a counting out/choosing it rhyme {given the line Charlie Brown is it!"

Also, for the folkloric record, Bob [and others who post to this thread], if you read this, could you please add where {city, state or province and nation} you heard these examples performed or performed them and when {decade/year}.

Thanks!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Taylor
Date: 27 Apr 08 - 03:01 PM

I cannot remeber the whole thing but what I do remember goes like this:

"Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with a hip
hop
kerrrrrplop!!!"

I grew up in Aurora, CO (suburb of Denver)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 27 Apr 08 - 04:23 PM

Thanks, Taylor, for posting that example and remembering to include demographical information {where you grew up/where yourecited that rhyme}!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Apr 08 - 07:52 PM

Loser loser double loser
as if whatever, get the picture DUH!
brick wall water fall
girl you think you know it all
but you don't, i do
so MMMMM with that attitude!
piece punch captain crunch
i got something you can't touch
so bang bang
choo choo train
wind me up i'll do my thing!
reices peices, 7 up
mess with me...
i'll mess you up!
Down in the banks of hanky pank
bull frogs jump from bank to bank
saying beep bop beep bop bop
skittle dittle cornel pop
i pleade alligence to the flag
michael jackson makes me gag
he used to play with little toys, now he plays with little boys
coca-cola came to town
dr. peper knocked him down
pepsi-cola picked him up
know were drinking 7 up
7 up had no caffine
now were drinking gasoline
gasoline got the flu
now were drinking mountain dew
mountain dew fell off the mountain
now were drinking from the fountain
fountain broke...
NOW WERE DRINKING PLAIN, OLD COKE!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Apr 08 - 04:29 PM

In southern california we sang it like this

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
where eeps ops
soda pops
hey mr. willy and he went kerplops

Later in my childhood someone corrected me and said it was actually this:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
where he hops
soda pops
he missed a lilly and he went kerplops.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 30 Apr 08 - 05:34 PM

GUEST, 30 Apr 08 - 04:29 PM, thanks for posting your example, and including demographical information {your geographical area}.

As to someone correcting you and telling you that his or her version of a children's rhyme is the right one, phooey! There's no such thing as the right version of a rhyme. We may try to find early versions of rhymes, or even the earliest version {but I'm not sure that we could ever be certain that there was no version earlier than another one that would possibly be found}.

And I think that it's good to talk about source songs for specific rhymes, like the May Irwin's Frog Song which is probably one of the main sources for the "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" children's rhyme. However, that's different than talking about which version of the rhyme is the right one.

Children's rhymes are part of folk culture. And one of the things that's bound to happen with folk culture is that the words-much more than the tunes of rhymes & songs-are going to be changed a little, or a lot by accident, or on purpose.   

You can take that to the bank.

:o)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,me
Date: 01 May 08 - 05:58 PM

you guys are all stupid. NONE of these are correct! duuuuuuuuuuuh

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 01 May 08 - 06:53 PM

Guest me, some of us are gals. And it's not nice to call guys or gals "stupid".

As to your comment that none of these [examples of this rhyme that have been posted to this thread thus far] are correct, I said all I'm gonna say about that in my 30 Apr 08 - 05:34 PM post to this thread.

If you want to share the version that you know of "Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky", please do so.

If not, then I guess we'll have to live without it.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Jessica
Date: 02 May 08 - 03:28 PM

I sing a version that may be a little different...
Down by the banks
With the hankey-panks,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Saying "e-i-eat-my-pie, skittle-diddle-kernal-pop".
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson is a fag.
7Up has no caffeine
Now we're drinking gasoline.
Gasoline gave us the flu
Now we're drinking moutain dew.
Mountain dew fell off the mountain
Now we're drinking from the fountain.
Foutain broke,
Now we're drinking
Plain
Old
Diet
Coke.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Laura
Date: 11 May 08 - 07:37 PM

Hi! This is the version I learnt at school (UK 1987 5yrs - 1993 11yrs)
Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
they go hip hop
bellyflop
one missed the lilypad and went kerflop!

BUT! We had totally different clapping patterns - it's between 2 people only:
hold your hands together like you're praying and swing them from side to side, hitting your partners hands in time to the beat 3 times. On the 4th, stop with your hands touching left to left hand and your right hand claps first your own left hand, then your partners right hand above, your own hand again. As your move your right hand down, instead of clapping their hand, you grab it like a hand shake, pulling up and away to your right, moving your left hand in a similar way. As soon as you let go with your right hand (still holding hands with your left) you slap your thigh and click your fingers, bringing your hand back up to do a one handed swinging slap like at the beginning 3 times (STILL holding left hands!). I don't remember what we did after that - it only gets me to 'bullfrogs leap'. Maybe we repeated it? It def finishes with a patticake type slap at the end (no head bashing!). The aim was to go as fast as you could and still get it right.
Anyone else?!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 11 May 08 - 07:44 PM

Thanks, Laura, for posting not only the words but the performance instructions. Also thanks for including demographical information-where you lived when you performed this rhyme, when you performed it, and how old you were.

As Laura said, anyone else?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,anonymous
Date: 14 May 08 - 06:07 PM

out of all of thes versions, mine has only been listed once or twice. Here it goes:

Down by the bay where the hanky pank
And the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank
Say eep op eep op op,
skittle diddle kernel pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag,
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca cola has caffeine
Now we're drinkin' gasoline
Gasoline ran out of fuel
Now we're drinkin' Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew fell off a mountain
Now we're drinkin' from the fountain
Finally the fountain broke
Now we're drinkin' plain old coke!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Anonymous.
Date: 21 May 08 - 05:24 PM

Now when I was in elementary school, we had one with similar words but it was different.
It went:
Down on the farm said Hanky Panky
Said bulldog, bulldog Hanky Panky
Said Fee-Fii-Foo-Fum
Pass it to the bulldog
Mickey Mouse built a house
Donald Duck messed it up
Who will pay the consquences
And the ..

But I forget how it ends.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,mooseormeece?
Date: 21 May 08 - 11:34 PM

I learned this and forgot most of it (not complete! but it goes sort of like this....
Down by the bay in beverly hills
where the bull frog jumps from bank to banky
and the heeps hops, coffee shops,
we all drink mochas and we wear flip flops
(faster)
I pledge allegence to the flag
Michal jackson makes me gag
coca cola has cafeine and now we're talking billy jean
billy jean when out of style now lets sit and talk a while
diddy diddy donkey
daddy had a donkey
donkey died, daddy cried
diddy diddy donkey!
theres a party round the corner wont you please please come
bring your own cappuchinos and your own chewing gum
what is your boy friends name?______ (whoever the clap lands on has to come up with a name)

_______ will be there blowing kisses in the air saying I love ______ (who ever came up with the name) saying I love_____ saying O U T spells you are out!
OR
______will be there blowing kissed in the air singin' I... Love...Ma..Ma...Mia, singin' I love ma...ma...mia singin' O U T spells you are out!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Cocoa
Date: 26 May 08 - 06:41 PM

this is how my friends & I know it:



Down by the banks of the hanky panks
where bull frogs jump from bank to bank
singing eip ipe ope ump
Chilly willy ding-dong
I pleage alegence to the flag Michle Jackson makes me fag
now where talking 7-up
7-up has no cafine
now were talking billy jean
billy jean is out of sight
now where talking dinomight
dinomight blew up the school now were talking billy cool billy cool is such a fool 543210 OHHHHHHHHHH    Ta da!!!!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,GUEST - Nash.TN
Date: 27 May 08 - 03:01 PM

This is the way I learned it.
--- DISCLAIMER: Kids were fast in my day. ---


Down by the riverside hanky panky.
Where the bullfrog croaks "Yo' booty stanky."
Jumpin easts west north south.
Ding dong all in yo mouth.
I pledge allegiance to the flag.
Michael Jackson is a fag.
Dr. Pepper burnt him, but
Now we're drinkin 7 UP.
7 UP got too much green.
Now we're drinkin more caffeine.
Fiends drink coke cause it's a drug.
Slurped the toad who ate... a ... BUG!

And if you were the person to say "bug",
You were suppose to hit the next persons hand,
To stay in the game. If you missed their hand,
You were out. And that person stayed in.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 27 May 08 - 04:22 PM

Thanks, to all guests who have posted a version of "Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky" on this thread.

One thing these different versions show is that kids are very creative!

I hope that you will visit other Mudcat threads on children's rhymes by clicking on the name of the thread that is provided in the list at the top of the page!

Best wishes,

Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Mandy
Date: 28 May 08 - 12:04 AM

I'm from South Eastern Virginia and this was how we used to do it.. :)

Down by the bank where the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
sayin east ist ost ust
Isabella ding dong.
Not last night but the night before
Someone came and knocked at my door,
Knock one, knock two, knock three, knock four...
knock knock OUT!

We would sit in a big circle outside (a bunch of little girls) with our left hands underneath the person to our left's palm (palms up) and then our right hands the opposite (above the person to our right's palm. Then we would slap on the beat from our right hand onto the person to the left's palm above ours in a circle until you were ended on in the song on the out (last word). Gosh I'm so glad other people know about this, it's so interesting how colloquial it can be!

Be well.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 28 May 08 - 07:34 AM

Hi, Mandy!

Thanks for posting demographical information and performance instructions with your example. I can't recall ever reading an example of "...Hanky Panky" that included lines from "Not Last Night But The Night Before" [24 robbers at my door/I got up to let them in/hit 'em in the head/with a rolling pin}.

It's interesting to see how a specific rhyme changes from place to place, isn't it?

You be well also!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest, Walker
Date: 03 Jun 08 - 10:06 PM

One of my 2nd graders taught a hand clapping game in our music class in Abilene, Texas 5-30-08.

Down by the bay, by the bay, the bay,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bay to bay,
Where the eeps, ahps, ohps, ahps
Bowl fulla jelly and a ker-plop.

The children stand in a cirle with hands extended palms up. The right hand is on top of the one to the right and the left in beneath the one to the left. The beat is passed around clockwise as the players slap their neighbor to the left. On 'plop' they must hit the neighbor's hand before it is pulled away. If you hit your own hand, you're out. If you hit the neighbor's hand, he is out. The last two standing lock fingers and "saw" to the beat and tug on plop like tug of war. The one who pulls someone over the line is the winner.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Omg.
Date: 06 Jun 08 - 06:22 PM

my frends said they made this up..omg no way!!!
DOWN BY THE BANKS WITH THE HANKY PANKY
IS THE BULLFROGS THAT JUMP FROM BANK TO BANK
SINGING EPP OP E BOP BOP
SKIDDLE DIDDLE KERNAL POP
I PLEDGE ALIGENCE TO THE FLAG
MICHAEL JACKKSON MAKES ME GAG
7-UP GOT THE FLU NOW IM DRINKING
MOUNTAIN DEW, MOUNTAIN DEW FELL
OFF THE MOUNTAIN NOW IM DRINKING
FROM A FOUNTAIN. FOUNTAIN BROKE
NOW IM DRINKING PLAIN OLD COKE.

LIARS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Sugee97
Date: 11 Jun 08 - 08:26 PM

This is how I learned it:

Down by the bank,
With the Hankey Pank,
Where the bullfrogs jump,
From bank to bank,
Say eep,op,eep,op,op
1,2,3,4
I pledge allegiance to the flag,
Michael Jackson makes me gag.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Sugee97
Date: 11 Jun 08 - 08:30 PM

(Continued)

We started drinking diet coke,
Diet fell out and it was coke,
Coke was bad cuz it smelled like poo,
Now we're drinking mountain dew,
Mountain dew fell off the mountain,
Now we're drinking from the fountain,
Fountain broke,
Now we're back to drinking plain old diet coke!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Someone
Date: 13 Jun 08 - 10:51 PM

Down by the riverside a hanky pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Singing A- E- I- O- U
Bam Boo

If you say boo and hit the next person's hand they're out, if you hit your own hand, you're out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jun 08 - 02:15 AM

This is what I know about the lyrics for Hanky Panky

Down by the BAnks of the Hanky pAnkys
Where the bull frogs jump from Bank to banky
With the Scuba DUba divers-Motor Boat Drivers
Bow chica Wow WOw Bow CHicka WoW WOw Bow

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Uke
Date: 17 Jun 08 - 05:05 PM

Hi Azizi,
Here's some related variants from grown-ups printed in the Ozark folklore collection 'Blow the Candle Out' (Vance Randloph / Gershon Legman, 1992, p.689):

Bullfrog jumped from bank to bank,
Skinned his pecker shank to shank.

(Collected 1947, Missouri)


They also cite another version from 'What Happened to Mother Goose' (Ray Wood, 1946):

Down on the river Yank-te-hank,
The bullfrog jumped from bank to bank,
He spread his legs from shank to shank,
And split his hide from flank to flank.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 17 Jun 08 - 05:35 PM

Hi, Uke!

Thanks for posting those versions. I appreciate it.

**

This may be a good time to once again say thanks to everyone who has posted the versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" on this thread. And thanks to those who also posted performance instructions, demographical information, and other comments about this rhyme.

When I started this discussion, I certainly didn't think that "Down By The Banks of The Hanky Panky" was this widely known and some many different versions. But so far, more people have posted to this thread than any other thread on a specific children's rhyme.

Not that this is a contest or anything. I'm just sayin.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Me![Her's The Miami Version]
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 01:59 AM

Down by the banks with the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
say E-I-O
You Yo Momma stank and so r u
ping pong donky kong
Yo Momma smell like king kong
Micheal Jackson went to town riding on the pony
stuck a feather in is hat n called him macaroni
resse pieces butter cup
u mess wit me ill bust you u up
i woke up in the morning i looked up on the wall
i saw a bunch of cocka roches playin basketball
and they score was 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9 and on 10 they have to try to slap the other person hands if the person misses n slaps their own hand they are elinimated

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 06:37 AM

I never heard or read that version before, GUEST,Me![Here's The Miami Version]. Thanks for posting it and thanks for remembering to include where you live {where this version is played].

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,ME!
Date: 25 Jun 08 - 12:53 PM

Down by the river
To the hanky pank
Where the bullfrog jumps
from bank to bank
saying E I O U
Your mama stinks and so do you
So ding dong ping pong
Your daddy smells like king kong.
Michael Jackson went to town
Dr. Pepper brought him down
Coca Cola brought him up
Now he's drinking 7-Up
7-Up with no caffine
Now we're talking Billy Jean
Inky Binky Bonky, Daddy had a Donkey
Donkey died
Daddy cried
Inky Binky Bonkey

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST, a high school student
Date: 26 Jun 08 - 06:10 PM

We played this game a few weeks ago after our exam. The version we used was:

'Down by the banks of the hanky panky,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank-y
Singin' "East side, West Side, East Side, West Side"
Dilly ding dong!'

At the "east side west side" part, you speed up a bit so it's harder for the unlucky "last person" to know when to remove their hand.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST, a high school student
Date: 26 Jun 08 - 06:11 PM

Oh, yeah, location. This version (above) was played in south-eastern USA.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Jun 08 - 06:17 PM

Thanks for posting that example and the location, guest high school student.

I hope you decide to check out the other threads on children's rhymes that are listed above this one.

Best wishes to you and to all other guests who found this discussion forum!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,jamielulu314
Date: 26 Jun 08 - 10:18 PM

I 'member it like this...
      
       Down by the river...
          down by the river where the hanky pankies
          and the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
            singing "A-E-I-O-U" KURPLUNK!!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Jun 08 - 04:53 PM

i used to play this as a hard hand hitting game.. few kids standing in circle each with their palms facing the air, one palm below their neighbors to the left(or right) and the other palm above their neighbors palm to the right (or left) so that everyone has an available hand to hit the persons hand next to them.. and u chant while hitting (starting soft) saying :

down by the river hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
hip hop don't stop listen to the water POP!

and the POP! signifies the hard hitting begins.. and it continues until one by one the hitting gets so hard and intense ppl drop out the game until its just two ppl left and then they go at it sometimes yelling (POP!) as they hit each others hands. and then who ever quits, their opponent is the POP! champ. I was the POP! champ all throughout 5th and 6th grade (its a horribly painful game, leaving children with itchy red palms.. but it helped prove alot for me.. it made me tough lolol)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,maeson anderson
Date: 27 Jun 08 - 08:16 PM

dowon by the river side hanky panky were the bullfrogs jump from bank saying a-e-i-o-u bamboo a-e-i-o-u bamboo michel jakson came to town coca cola shot hem down dr.pepper fixed him up now were talking 7-up 7-up has no cafene now were talking bilajean bilajean has no caffene no caffene no caffene 1234 shut the door enless u ant to here more

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,robin
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 03:52 PM

down by the river of the hank pank we are bullfrogs jump from bank to bank say EIOU JESUS LOVES YOU AND I DO TO SO PING PONG

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,tay-tay
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 11:24 AM

down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank saying i pledge allegience to the flag micheal jackson makes me gag coa-cola burn his butt now we're drinking 7-up, 7-up has caffiene now were drinking beligene, beligene is out of sight now were drinking sprite. spell it s-p-r-i-t-e.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,David Taylor
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 04:35 PM

I remember when i was in 6th grade Crowley Elementary ( Visalia, Ca year 1991 ) and we sung it like this:

down by the river of the hanky pank
where the bull frog jumped from bank to bank
going eep opp soda pop
Hey Mr Willy...and he went ker-plop


and if you were smacked on the sound plop...you were out..and the circle got smaller...man...RECESS was fun!!!!

remember double dutch!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Kelly Smelly
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 09:43 PM

Down on the banks of the hankie pankie where the bull frogs jump from bank to bankie with a hip hop flip flop kerrrrrr plop! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 10:58 PM

when i was growing up in northern california, the lyrics i learned went, "Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With an eeps ipes opes opps
Hey Mr. Bullfrog goes kerplop!"

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Fiona
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 08:57 AM

I was looking for the words as my friend from Surrey argues that my last line is wrong.
In England at my school we sang,

down by the banks of the hanky panky,
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky,
hip hop, don't stop,
ding dang dollar and a ding dang dong.

Inky pinky parlez vous which appeared in someone's version is a whole other song to me! But that might start a whole new thread.....

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 09:37 AM

Hello, Fiona.

When it comes to children's playground rhymes, there are no right or wrong versions. There are earliest collected versions, and versions that are most often published and/or most often sung by one group or people or another. But that doesn't make versions that are different from those wrong.

You mentioned "Inky pinky parlez vous" being "a whole other song to me!"

You could have shared your example even if it's "off-topic".

I'm wondering, were you referring to the rhyme that has the words "All the girls In France" or "In The Land Of France"?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,S.chetwy
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 10:45 PM

down by the riverside playing hanky panky,
where the bulldogs leap from bank to bank...
oooh aah oo aah ooo oo ody i aaar!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Childs Games
Date: 10 Sep 08 - 03:45 PM

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 08:11 PM

This is example, posted on another Mudcat children's rhyme thread contains a religious reference. I've rarely found that in contemporary English language children's rhymes.

Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
From: GUEST, samantha - PM
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

-snip-

My thanks to Guest Samantha!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Oct 08 - 02:28 PM

I'm from Alabama. We always said:
Down by the bank of the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
singing eeps ops ohps oops
one well in and went ker PLOP.

we also sit around in a circle, left hand under right and slap each others' hands. On "plop" whoever got hit was out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Oct 08 - 02:59 PM

Thanks for sharing your memories of this rhyme GUEST
Date: 12 Oct 08 - 02:28 PM.Also, thanks for including demographical information {the state you lived in when you performed this game}.

It's interesting that you and your friends sat in a circle while playing this game. I've read other accounts of people sitting while they play this game, but I've only seen it done while standing.

Also, I'm wondering if you meant to write "one fell in and went ker PLOP" instead of "one well in" etc.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Abdomite
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 09:20 AM

Hello- I stumbled upon this as I was looking for the "correct" rhyme to sing with my 15 month old. I was delighted to find that everyone seems to have a different version. The one I remember growing up with in Northern Virginia is:
Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Singing ooh ayy ooh ayy
Skiddle I diddle I ding dong!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 09:47 AM

Hello, Abdomite!

Thanks for sharing your version and including where you learned it.

And Abdomite, for what it's worth, since children's playground rhymes & songs are part of folk traditions, you can find earlier versions of specific compositions, but there's no such thing as a correct version of a playground rhyme/song.

Please check out other Mudcat threads for more discussions & examples of children's rhymes. A partial listing of "related threads" is found on the left hand top corner of this page. Some of the rhyme examples found in those threads are suitable to sing to children, but many aren't.

Best wishes to you and to your child!

Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,genieken
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 08:42 AM

80 years ago in south central iowa it started like this:

Way down yonder in the rank tank tank
the bull frog jumped from bank to bank

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 09:54 AM

Thanks for sharing that information, GUEST,genieken. Eighty years ago would date that rhyme fragment as 1928. I'm wondering how you remember it. For instance, was this a rhyme that was shared in your family? And I'm also wondering what performance activity-if any, you remembering children doing while chanting this rhyme.

**

For what it's worth, I still think that this children's rhyme comes from "May Irwin's Frog Song". See the posts that are referenced in my 21 Aug 06 - 10:38 PM comment to this thread.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 09:47 PM

genieken, re-reading your rhyme, I'm stuck on the phrase "rank tank tank". There may be no connection at all, but it occurred to me that I had read that phrase "ranky tank" before.

Bessie Jones, the primary informant for the early 1980s book Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage {co-authored by her and Bess Lomax Hawes} refers to the "ranky tank" as a dance and {if I recall correctly} a somewhat risque dance that children did in the Georgia Sea Isles when she was a child.

I really have to purchase this book again as I've misplaced my copy. But here's a brief description that I found online:

"ranky tank-Excerpt - on Page 45: " ... one and two (rest), as in the fox trot. (See the dance by the same name for a fuller description.) RANKY TANK. Dance teachers would refer to this as a "buzz step"; the actual motion is rather like riding a scooter. ... "
http://www.amazon.com/phrase/ranky-tank

**

Here's another online reference to Bessie's Jones' remembrance of the "ranky tank" dance:

"Step It Down weaves together the lyrics, music, and description of traditional Afro-American children's songs as well as Jones's comments on their meaning and "feel." Whether reciting "Tom, Tom, Greedy Gut" or demonstrating the more complex steps of "Ranky Tank" and "Buzzard's Lope," Bessie Jones always viewed the amusements of the young as preparation for adult roles and relationships, and as a teacher, she developed her own philosophy of how a black child is socialized into the larger community"
folkstreams-ranky tank

-snip-

These definitions are included among other meanings of the word "rank"

[adjective] very fertile; producing profuse growth; "rank earth"

[adjective] very offensive in smell or taste; "a rank cigar"

[adjective] conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible; "a crying shame"; "an egregious lie"; "flagrant violation of human rights"; "a glaring error"; "gross ineptitude"; "gross injustice"; "rank treachery"
Synonyms: crying, egregious, flagrant, glaring, gross

[adjective] complete and without restriction or qualification; sometimes used informally as intensifiers; "absolute freedom"; "an absolute dimwit"; "a downright lie"; "out-and-out mayhem"; "an out-and-out lie"; "a rank outsider"; "many right-down vices"; "got the job through sheer persistence"; "sheer stupidity"
Synonyms: absolute, downright, out-and-out, right-down, sheer

[adjective] growing profusely; "rank jungle vegetation

http://www.elook.org/dictionary/rank.html


-snip-

Given those definitions, a social dance could be considered "rank" if the dancers moved in what some people would consider sexually suggestive ways. "Tanked" might refer to dancing down to the ground in time to the beat of the chant.

But I hasten to repeat that there may be no connection at all with the rhyming phrase "rank tank tank" in the "hanky panky" rhyme and the dance Bessie Jones recalls called the "ranky tank". That said, the term hanky-panky can have a sexual meaning of its own, can't it?

Be that as it may, I wanted to note this reference to the ranky tank dance just for the record.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Oct 08 - 12:55 AM

Me and ma m8s playd down by the banks today and it went like this:
Down by the banks of the hanky pank,
Were the bullfrogs jump from tank to tank singing
A E I O U are out!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Oct 08 - 08:38 PM

Here's an example of "Down ByThe Banks Of The Hanky Panky" that I hadn't seen or heard before. This example combines the rhyme "Fouble Double This" and the rhyme "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky":


double double this this double double that that double this double that double double this that! single single this this... ect. -down by the bay with the hanky panky where the bull frog frog jumps from bank to bank he says hip hop dilli-op-she-bop, last one outs a bullfrog let me hear ya say 1, 2, 3... - Tue Dec 28 2004

http://www.homeschool.co.uk/resource/jump-rope/jump-rope-rhymes.html
Christian Home Education- Jump Rope Rhymes

-snip-

Unfortunately, no information is given on that page as to who chanted this rhyme or where {city, state or province & country}.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 31 Oct 08 - 06:24 PM

Can't remember it fully but it went something like this (99'ish)
Down by the river goes hanky panky
Two fat frogs and a bottle of whiskey
Zoom-Za, Zoom-Za

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Nov 08 - 02:15 PM

DOWN BY THE RIVER

Down by the river of the hanky pank
where the bullforogs jump from bank to bank
singing eep, ipe, oop, opps chillie willy ding dong
lets play a game of ping pong pong
I pledge alliegence to the flag that Michal Jackson makes me gag coca cola busted up now where talking 7-up
7-up has no caffine now we're talkin Billy Jean
Billy Jean is out of sight now we're talking dynomite

MS Susie 1
Ms susie had a steam boat the steam boat had a bell (ding ding)
ms susie went to heaven the steam boat went to
hello operator please give me number 9
and if you disconnect me I'll chop off your
behind the fridgerator there eas a piece of glass
ms susie sat upon it and broke her little
ask me no more questions
please tell me no more lies
the boys are in the bathroom zipping up there
flies are in the meadow the bees are in the park
ms susie and her boyfriend are kissing in the
D-A-R-K D-A-R-K dark dark dark
the dark is like a movie
the movies like a show the show is like a t.v show
and that is all i know
i know my ma
i know i know my pa
i know i know my sister with the 48 year bra
she dyed her hair in purple
she dyed her hair in pink
she dyed her hair in underwear and flushed it down the sink

Ms Susie 2

Ms susie had a baby
she named him tiny tim
she put him in the bath tub
to see if he could swim
he drank up all the water
he ate up al the soap
he tried to eat the bath tub
but it wouldn't go down his throat
ms susie called a doctor
ms susie called a nurse
ms susied called a lady with the alligator purse
in came the doctor
in came the nurse
in came the lady with the alligator purse
"mumps" said the doctor
"measles" said the nurse
"nothing" said the lady with the alligator purse
ms susie punched the doctor
ms susie kicked the nurse
ms susie fired the lady with the alligator purse
out went the doctor
out went the nurse
out went the lady with the alligator purse

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 02 Nov 08 - 02:23 PM

Thanks for sharing those examples, GUEST 31 Oct 08 - 06:24 PM and GUEST 02 Nov 08 - 02:15 PM.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,hanky panky expert
Date: 09 Nov 08 - 12:54 AM

it is

down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky with a hip hop lollie pop and an O U T spells out!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 09 Nov 08 - 09:00 AM

Hello hanky panky expert. Thanks for sharing the version of this rhyme that you know. I've never 'heard' that "hip hop lollie pop" line before in this rhyme, but it certainly fits because it...um ... rhymes. :o)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,xfortheflies
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 07:42 PM

well, the way i learned it it went like this:

down by the river of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
singing hip hop dont stop
listen to the water drop
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

and then at ten one person trys to slap the other's hands.

i dont know how it goes in other places, but thats the way we say it in New England :)
hope it helped !

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 08:33 PM

GUEST,xfortheflies, thanks for sharing your version of this rhyme.

Sometimes words, phrases, or references that are found in versions of children's rhymes or other songs are useful in helpimg to guesstimate a date for that version. I think that's the case with the inclusion of the phrase "hip hop don't stop" in your version of Down by the banks of the hanky panky".

I believe that the phrase "hip hop [you] don't stop" comes from the 1979 hit rap song "Rappers Delight" which was recorded by the Sugarhill Gang. This was the first rap {hip hop} single. The actual words in the chorus of that song are "let's rock don't stop". However, the phrase "Hip hop don't stop" has been used in a lot of products if not songs. See for example the use of that phrase in the title of a href="http://www.discogs.com/release/187654">this compilation CD of old school {early} rap hit songs. Needless to say, "Rappers Delight" is one of the songs on that CD.

Given the inclusion of the phrase "hip hop don't stop" in this version of "Down by the banks of the hanky panky", I think it's reasonable to assume that this version of that children's rhyme
didn't exist before that phrase became popular, meaning after that song became a hit in 1979.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 08:38 PM

Sorry about that hyperlink. Let me try to post it again, with a small bit of editorial tweaking:

However, the phrase "Hip hop don't stop" has been used in a lot of rap music related products if not as part of the lyrics of actual rap songs. See, for example, the use of that phrase in the title of this
compilation CD of old school {early} rap hit songs.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,CutiefromGA
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 10:10 PM

How come nobody remembers the yanky doodle rhyme at the end? I was born in '84 and grew up in the early nineties and in Atlanta we did it like this:
Down by the river of the hanky panky
where the bullforogs jump from bank to bank
singing eep, ipe, oop, opps
Chillie willy ding dong
Play a game of ping pong
I pledge alligence to the flag
Michael Jackson is a fad (we didn't even know what fag meant growing up let alone say it)
Coca-cola burned him up
Now He's drinking 7-up
7-up has no caffine
now we're singin' "Billie Jean"
"Billie Jean" is out of style
Now we're singing Bobbie Brown
Bobbie Brown is not a song... I forgot what came next as everything goes hazy from here
but then it went into this:
Michael Jackson went to town, riding on a pony
stuck a feather in his hat and called it macoroni
Girl Scout, Girl Scout,
Do your duty,
Don't forget to wash your booty (or tooti if we were naughty... tooti was our slang for vagina)
Boy Scout Boy Scout
Do your trick
don't forget to wash your...

Oh and we didn't jump rope to this, we did the circle hand clap like a few other people said.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Kasey
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 10:32 PM

My students play the hand slapping game using these words.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky,
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
singing east side, west side
ker-plop.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,cheergirl
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 11:28 AM

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull forgs jump from bank to banky
singin' eeps ipes opes oops
chilly willy ding dong
i pledge allegiance to the flag
michael jackson makes me gag
coca cola bunrned his butt
now were talkin 7-Up
7-Up has no caffeine
now were talkin gasoline
gasoline is outta sight
now were talkin dynamite
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 BOOM

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 04:46 PM

Thanks, GUEST,CutiefromGA, GUEST,Kasey and GUEST,cheergirl for adding examples to this collection of Down By The Banks of The Hanky Panky rhymes.

When I started this discussion, I had No idea how widely known this handclap game is, and how many versions of it children, teens, and adults play. Actually, I learned about this rhyme because I received a version from it by way of email. I've never seen this game played and I've never heard it sung {in person}.

I guess this is my loss.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Stephanie
Date: 16 Dec 08 - 09:52 PM

You stand or sit in a circle with a few people and have your right hand on top of the person next to you's left hand and the opposite for the left hand. Then you all sing the song and one at a time clap your hand on the person to your left's hand. Then they will pass it on to the next and so on. Then when you get to the vowel part, you continue the same thing until someone claps the other person on the word OUT. If the person pulls away before they are clapped, they stay in the game but if the other person is too quick for them and claps them, they are out of the game. The game continues like that.

Well the version I know goes:

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With an A, E, I, O, U (you), R (are), out!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 07:45 PM

we still do that song as a game in 8th grade right now only it goes

Down by the banks with the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
singing e i o u
your mama stinks and so do you
king kong
donkey kon
(i'm missing a lyric there)
I pledge allegiance to the flag
michael jackson is a fag
coca cola 7-up now we're eating coco puffs
(missing lyric)
now we're drinking 7-up
7-up has no caffeine
now we're drinking gas-o-line

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Curtis
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 10:52 PM

I'm not really sure how it goes; I was actually looking for the words myself. I heard some classmates (I'm in 8th grade) singing it a few days ago and I haven't seen their version up here yet. They played it by sitting down in a circle, palms facing upwards, and slapping each others hands. When it got to the last word the last person to get hit would be out.
As for where this version "comes from", I'm in Missouri but the girl that was singing just moved from California.
Alright, well I'll give it my best to get it right:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from banky banky
Singing eeps ipes opes opps
[a line that ends in kerplop]
See that house over the hill
That's where me and Garfield chill
Smell that chicken smell that rice
[then there's a line about shooting dice]
[And it ends in something that counts down from 10-1]

If anyone knows the correct words to that particular one, please tell me!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 09:37 AM

Thanks GUEST,Stephanie,
GUEST 17 Dec 08 - 07:45 PM and GUEST,Curtis for sharing the versions of Down By The Banks of The Hanky Panky that you remember.

Curtis, thanks for adding demographical information, particularly the fact that you learned your version from a person who had just moved to California from Missouri. I think that fact that people travel and relocate so often in the USA {and in other countries} is one reason why certain children's rhymes are known so many places.

I'm particularly interested in seeing these lines included in a version of "Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky":

"See that house over the hill
That's where me and Garfield chill
Smell that chicken smell that rice
[then there's a line about shooting dice]"

-snip-

That verse sounds a lot like this verse that is sometimes given in some versions of the handclap or jump rope rhyme "Not Last Night But The Night Before {or Last Night, The Night Before} and "I Love {Like} Coffee. I Love {Like} Tea" rhymes. Those rhymes are sometimes called "Shimmy Shimmy Co Co Pa" and "Down Down Baby" or are related to those rhymes. Here's an example of that "see that house etc." line from a "Last Night. The Night Before" children's rhyme:

Last Night The Night Before {Version #2}
"Here is a song we used to do on the playground in Birmingham, AL back in the 80s: Last night and the night before I met my boyfriend at the candy store He brought me ice cream he brought me cake he brought me home with a stomachache mama mama i feel sick call the doctor quick quick quick doctor doctor will i die close you eyes and count to five i said a one, a two, a three, a four, a five I'm alive [Optional part] we would do sometimes (a little risque for little girls): see that house on top of that hill that's where me and my baby gon' live we gon' cook some cornbread cook some meat come on baby let's go to bed and do the boom boom boom.*
-Joi; 3/23/2008;http://www.cocojams.com/handclap_rhymes.htm


* italics added by me for emphasis

Also, see "I Like Coffee, I like Tea" {version #3} on that same Cocojams page

**

From 1997 to 2005 I worked with African American girls and boys {ages 5-12 years old} in after-school and summer games song/children's rhyme groups that I developed. These groups presented performances of children's game songs and rhymes., One portion of the sessions was a "Share Time" when some of the children would take turns "doing" an example of a rhyme {they called them "songs" or "cheers"}that they knew. Needless to say, these share times provided me with great opportunities to document rhymes that were known to those children, and to collect rhymes or versions of rhymes that I didn't know before. During these share times, one or two children at a time would volunteer to stand in front of the group and perform a rhyme example for the group. Usually, the other children would usually enthusiastically join in and sing that rhyme. But the other children weren't permitted to "do" {perform the rhyme} that was being presented. A number of times, girls would recite the "I Love Coffee I Love Tea" rhyme {which they referred to as "Down Down Baby". It seems that just about all the girls & boys in attendance knew the words to "Down Down Baby". But only on two occassions did a child add the "see the house up on the hill" lines to that rhyme. Both times-in very separate Pittsburgh neighborhoods-the girls who recited that verse happened to be five years old. Both of the girls told me that they learned those lines from their mothers. But on those two occassions, the rest of the children who had enthusiastically sung the other verses to that rhyme were silent when the "see the house up on the hill" lines were recited. Also, upon hearing those lines, some children who got the implications giggled. And some children declared that those lines didn't "belong" in that rhyme. Of course, I gently corrected that misconception.

**

Incidentally, Curtis, the "Garfield" that is mentioned in your version of that rhyme is probably the cartoon cat.

All this to say, thanks again for sharing!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 10:42 AM

In re-reading this thread, I see that Guest 12/15/2007 10:30 PM
posted an example of "Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky" that includes the "see the house on the hill" line.

Maybe including these lines in "Down By The Banks..." is more common than I thought.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,this is what my little sister told me it was
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 05:17 PM

down by the riverside and hanky pankey where the bull frogs jump from bank to back singing A E I O U bam boo.. johney drop a bottle and it landed on you so ma told pa pa told ma johney got a wippen so ha ha ha he jumped so high he toughed the sky and didnt come back till the forth of july

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 05:25 PM

Hello, GUEST,this is what my little sister told me it was.

Congratulations for posting the first example of this rhyme for 2009!

Your little sister's example combines the Down by the Banks {Riverside}/Hanky Panky rhyme with lines from "Johnny Got A Whipping/Ha Ha Ha" rhyme and lines from "Miss Mary Mack".

That's an interesting combination.

Best wishes,

Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Tre'
Date: 10 Feb 09 - 08:46 PM

In St Louis this was our version when I was growing up


Down by the river to the hanky pank
No bulldog jumps from bank to bank
Old lady said ding dong
Your mama smell like king kong
Your daddy smell like donkey kong
Eastside
Westide
Ding
Dang
Dong

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Becca
Date: 20 Feb 09 - 05:22 AM

I live in Melbourne Australia, and during the 90's I was also taught this version:

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With an A, E, I, O, U (you), R (are), out!

It was a two person clap, that was quite complex with up, down hand motions and hand slapping, it also finished with hitting the other person on the head or chest, depending on how much you liked that other person, of course.

Until I read this post I had never heard of it done in a circle, it was also a school yard thing, never a taught/practiced in class experience.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,ruby01
Date: 23 Feb 09 - 09:03 PM

theres another one that goes like this that i learned in SEA CAMP!



down by the bank of
the hanky panky were
the bullfrogs jump
from bank to banky
singing eeps, oops
soda pops jonny broke
the bottle and it went
Ker-polp!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,SOUR Skittles #1
Date: 27 Feb 09 - 09:59 PM

i learned this at my friends birthday party
it was sooo fun!!
down by the bank of the hanky pank where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank sayin
fe
fi
fo
foam
mi sa mi sa ding dang dong
i pledge alligance 2 the flag that micheal jackson is my dad pepsi cola burnt him up now were talking 7 up
7 up has no caffine now were talkin billy jean
billy jean went out of sight now were talkin dynomite
dynomite blew up the school now were talkin really cool
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 mickey mouse built a house donald duck messed it up who will pay the consequinces Y-O-U spells you!!

cool huh??

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 27 Feb 09 - 11:09 PM

Thank you to all members and guests who have posted examples of this rhyme on this thread. I think that all of these examples are cool. (with the exceptions of the ones that I think were posted by spammers, and with the exception of the homophobic references that I really don't like).

As a matter of fact, I think that these rhymes are so cool that I've been spending a good deal of time lately editing a book on "Hanky Panky" rhymes for this thread and from other sources.

In addition to a lot of examples of this rhyme, this book will include a glossary of terms (slang and otherwise) that are found in these rhymes and other contemporary Rnglish language playground rhymes.

This book will also include "brief" editorial comments about these Hanky Panky rhymes-their structurally patterns, the floating verses that are found in many of these rhymes, the possible sources for some of the verses and phrases in these rhymes, as well as the significance of chidren's rhymes immortalizing an actual occurance and -consciously or unconsciously providing commentary about a public figure (all of these things that people who really "do" these rhymes may not be at all interested in, but which I am, and hopefully others are quite interested in).

When this book is published, I'll announce it in this thread.

Thanks again!

Azizi Powell

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,:) LaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 02:11 PM

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky. Eeps oops orbs skittle diddle kur plops.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 I pledge alliegence (Sp.) to the flag, Michael Jackson makes me gag.

Pepsi Cola blew up now were drinkin seven up. Seven up caught the flu now were drinkin Mountin Dew. Mountain Dew fell of the mountain now were drinkin from a fountain. Fountain broke now were drinkin plain old DIET COKE!

--

That's the one I've always known. We sing it in New York.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,raven
Date: 11 Mar 09 - 04:02 PM

we sing



down in the valley of Hhe Pankey Pankey
oops i said your booty stankey,oots iets,skit skat,big fat dirty rat
i plege alligance to the flag, micael jackson is a fag. pepsi cola blew it up, now its time for seven up,seven up saw somthin cooler,now were dringing mountain dew, mountain dew ate a shew and got the flu, now we are living with dew dew in our system.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,samantha
Date: 11 Mar 09 - 10:01 PM

Down by the bank of a hankey pankey where the bullfrog jumps from bak to bakey i said a eats side west side east a west side east a west side dily ding dong why u hit my hand so hard tell me wat i did so worng east side west side east a west side east a west side diley ding dong

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Mar 09 - 10:36 PM

Thanks for sharing your version, Guest, Samantha!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Uly
Date: 12 Mar 09 - 09:38 PM

The first I ever heard this rhyme - and I've seen a number of versions in a very short time since! - was in a Mother Goose book I got for my nieces, where it runs

Way down yonder on the the Piankitank
Where the bullfrog leaps from bank to bank
And skins his knee from shank to shank
Way down yonder on the Piankitank

It's so different from the other versions I've seen, but I'm sure it's related! The book was first published in... oh, I think the 40s or 50s.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Mar 09 - 02:04 AM

Guest, Uly, thanks for sharing your memory of that song.

That version is a variant form of the song "Way down yonder on the Yankety-Yank" that is found in the Pete Seegar story The Foolish Frog

See these two comments from this Mudcat thread Way Down Yonder on Beaver Creek

Subject: RE: Way Down Yonder on Beaver Creek
From: GUEST,Ellen - PM
Date: 12 Feb 04 - 11:14 AM

"The Foolish Frog" was told to Pete Seeger by his father, according to PETE SEEGER'S STORYTELLING BOOK by Pete Seeger and Paul Dubois Jacobs, Harcourt, Inc. copyright 2000. I'm looking for the tune.
Shalom,
Ellen

-snip-

and

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Way Down Yonder on Beaver Creek
From: GUEST,Sharon oehler - PM
Date: 28 Feb 05 - 04:52 PM

Way down yonder in the Piankatank
A bullfrog jumped from bank to bank
He skinned his leg from shank to shank
Way down yonder in the Piankatank

The Piankatank is a river in Virginia that runs to the Cheasepeake Bay
Song a legend in those parts

-snip-

These comments suggest that the "Hanky Panky" rhymes are a part of the very very old family of songs which include the still widely known "Frog Went A Courtin'" song and the song (or a chorus of Frog Went A Courtin') "Keemo Kimo".

Thanks again, Guest Uly, for reminding me to post that information in this thread.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Momo
Date: 30 Mar 09 - 11:36 PM

I dont think those are correct. My friend says:


Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
And the eeps opps soda pops!
And frog had a baby
KER-PLOP!


Is that right?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 31 Mar 09 - 12:19 PM

GUEST,Momo, thanks for sharing the version of this rhyme that you know.

As to your comment asking if your version is "correct" or "right", let me say this:

We may think that a rhyme has the wrong words because those words are different from the way we learned it. We may think that the way other people do (play) that rhyme is different because it's not the same way we learned it. But when it comes to playground rhymes, there is no right version or wrong version.

When it comes to children's playground rhymes, people can talk about whether they correctly remember the version that they heard or saw or read. And people can talk about whether a version of a rhyme is like or is different from the earliest version of that rhyme that was collected and written down or recorded.

And although people can say that the way they learned that playground rhyme is the only right way to say it, hopefully the more people read so many different versions of one rhyme on the Internet and elsewhere, they'll realize that playground rhymes don't have anything to do with right and wrong words.

Best wishes,

Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Graywolf
Date: 04 Apr 09 - 01:14 PM

When i was a child it was


down by the banks of the hanky banky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
singin eeps, ipes, ops, oopsopop and a soda pop!
pepsi cola gingerale, gingerale, gingerale, gingerale, gingerale,
pepsi cola gingerale, 7up! 7up! 7up! your OUT!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 04 Apr 09 - 01:20 PM

GUEST Graywolf, thanks for sharing your version of this rhyme.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,hiroko
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 10:29 AM

at my school it goes like this. (some lyrics are missing, though)

Down by the river of the hanky panky
where bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
say a,e,i,o,u
old lady said "ding dong"
Yo mama smell like king kong
michael jackson came to town
coca cola brought him down (note: him is michael jackson)
coca cola brought him up
now we're talkin' seven up
seven up has no caffiene
now we're talking billie jean
billie jean (is) insane at night
now we're talkin' dynamite
dynamite blew up the school
now we're talkin' really cool

and that's all I know. :)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 12:05 PM

Thanks, hiroko for sharing your school's version. If you check back here, it would be great if you could add the city/state your school is in and when (year or decade) you said this rhyme and if it was a hand clap rhyme or not.

I'm asking people to include that information because I'm trying to see if there are similarities or differences that could be documented with how this rhyme is said and performed in different parts of the USA or elsewhere and whether there are differences between the rhymes at different times.

Thanks!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 01:08 AM

The version that I learned as a child (Arizona in the 1980s) were:

Down by banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrog jumps from bank to banky
With a hip, hip, hip, hop
He jumps from a lilypad --
KERPLOP

This was sung, so it was likely taught to us by adults at summer camp.

My friends and I also had variants of the other rhymes, but they were separate:

Coca-cola went to town
Pepsi Cola shot him down
Doctor Pepper fixed him up
And now we're drinking Seven-up
(sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle)

and the rhyme in question:
I pledge allegiance to the flag, Michael Jackson is a fag.

That was 1985 give or take a year. The version I knew from childhood did not include the line about little toys or little boys. I believe this predates the sex scandals. Rather, the faggotry in question was his wearing a white glove, prancing on stage, and grabbing his crotch. I distinctly recall that none of my friends knew what a fag was, but Michal Jackson grabbing his crotch was a sources of considerable discussion.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 09:40 AM

GUEST 07 Apr 09 - 01:08 AM , thanks for sharing that example here. I really appreciate your comments as they add another perspective about the "pledge allegiance rhyme that hadn't occcurred to me.

Guest, I am going to take the liberty of reposting your comment on this Mudcat thread Homophobia In Playground Rhymes as I believe it adds to the consideration of that topic.

Thanks again, and also I appreciate your inclusion of demographical information.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Jenny
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 05:55 PM

Here is the one
I know:

Down by the banks of the hanky Panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
with an a e i o u
Michael jordan went to town
coca cola shot him down
Mountain dew shot him up
now were talkin 7 up
7 up has no cafene
now were talkin billie jean
billie jean went down the street singin
doo a dilly dilly dum dilly do
singin do a dilly dily dum dilly do


That is the version that I know...

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 06:09 PM

Wow! "Michael Jordan went to town"-that's the first time I read that version.

Thanks for sharing that GUEST,Jenny.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Apr 09 - 05:07 PM

From The Long Roll (a novel) by Mary Johnston, with illustrations by N. C. Wyeth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1911):

Being largely Valley of Virginia Virginians, Louisianians, Georgians, Texans, and North Carolinians, the army had acquaintance slight or none with the country through which it was passing. Gordonsville left behind, unfamiliarity began. "What's this county? What's that place over there? What's that river? Can't be the Potomac, can it? Naw, 'taint wide enough!"—"Gentlemen, I think it is the Rappahannock."—"Go away! it is the headwaters of the York."—"Rapidan maybe, or Rivanna."—"Probably Pamunkey, or the Piankatank,

Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank."

From Recollections, 1844-1909 (autobiography) by Henry Clay McDougal (Kansas City, Mo.: Franklin Hudson Publishing Co., 1911)

She was born and reared down in the tide-water country of Virginia, and in that part of the footstool, away back in Colonial days, when the planter did not wish to disclose his exact location, or the human interrogation point propounded the inquisitive question, he had the answer: "From Pianketank (sic), where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank."

From Wikipedia:

The Piankatank River is a river in the United States state of Virginia. Located on the Middle Peninsula, between the Rappahannock and York Rivers, it was the site of numerous actions during the American Civil War.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Apr 09 - 05:21 PM

Jim Dixon, those are great finds!

I'm not sure if I reposted this example on this thread or not.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Way Down Yonder on Beaver Creek
From: GUEST,Sharon oehler - PM
Date: 28 Feb 05 - 04:52 PM

Way down yonder in the Piankatank
A bullfrog jumped from bank to bank
He skinned his leg from shank to shank
Way down yonder in the Piankatank

The Piankatank is a river in Virginia that runs to the Cheasepeake Bay
Song a legend in those parts

thread.cfm?threadid=6853#1521078

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Apr 09 - 05:39 PM

The quote from McDougal reminds me of a parallel smart-alecky reply:

"What's your name?" – "Puddentain. [However you spell it.] Ask me again, I'll tell you the same."

I learned that from a "Little Rascals/Our Gang" comedy that was shown on TV when I was a kid in the 1950s. (Who said it? Stymie?)

– but it goes back at least to –

From The Beulah Spa (a play) by Charles Dance (London: John Miller, 1833):

MAG. ... What is her name?

HEC. Pudding and tame—if you ask me again I shall tell you the same.

(Sorry for the thread creep.)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Apr 09 - 10:35 AM

West london , i was thinking of this song for some odd reason from when i was like 7 (17 now) and i remember it going.

Down by the river near hanky panky where the two fat frogs sit bank to banky with a oooh ah oooh ah pick a number right now.


game of some sort?

Also heard a rude one before:

Down near the river near the bank banky where the two fat frogs have hanky panky...somthing like that o.0

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 07:20 PM

Short Version:
Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Where the eeps, ops, sodapops
Hey Mr. Willie and he went ker-plops

Long Version:
Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Where the eeps, ops, sodapops
Hey Mr. Willie and he went ker-plops
With a cherry on top
Here come the animals two-by-two
Hippopotamous and Kangaroo
Kaboo Kaboo
Hippopotamous and Kangaroo

Subject: down by the riverside
From: GUEST,345
Date: 28 Apr 09 - 04:47 PM

this is how it go:down by the riverside siad a hanky panky said bull frog jump frog yo mama stanky said a A-E-I-O-U BAM BOO micheal jackson went to town coke cola shot him down 7 up a doulbe these now im talkin beligue 7up a double threes i said i do i didnt didnt dong didnt do i said i do i didnt didnt dong didnt do 1,2,3 base on me

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 29 Apr 09 - 07:43 AM

Jim Dixon, thanks for that interesting information about an early source for "Pudding and tame".   I took the liberty of reposting it on this Mudcat thread:
Folklore: Puddin Tane & Other Rhyming Sayings as I think that people who might read that thread might be interested in reading that information too.

**

Hello to Guest 6 Apr 09 - 10:35 AM, Guest 20 Apr 09 - 07:20 PM and GUEST,345!
Thanks for sharing the versions of this rhyme that you know.

Guest 345, I'm particularly interested in your version because I've not read or heard that part about "7 up a double these now im talkin beligue 7up a double threes i said i do i didnt didnt dong didnt do i said i do i didnt didnt dong didnt do 1,2,3 base on me"

-snip-

I'd really appreciate it if you could post some demographical information such as where you learned this (city, state if in the USA, city/country if outside of the USA), when (year, decade such as the late 1990s), who (gender/s, ages, and race/ethnicity of those who performed this rhyme) and category (for instance, is this a circle/group hand clap rhyme or is it a partner-two people hand clap rhyme?)

Also I'd appreciate it if you would tell us what "1,2,3 base on me" means.

Thanks!

Ms. Azizi

PS: To all guests who post on this thread (and any other Mudcat thread), membership is free and easy to do. Just click on that membership feature near the top right hand corner of this page and follow the steps that show up on that page. One benefit of membership is that you can keep track of all of your postings on this forum (Guest 3,4,5-I think I recently read another post of yours but I can't remember what thread it was in. Thanks for that one too!) Another benefit of Mudcat membership is that you can exchange private electronic messages with other members. That's what that PM in the comment headings mean.

I hope you all decide to join Mudcat!

Best wishes,

Azizi

Subject: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,brooklyn
Date: 06 May 09 - 05:27 PM

down by the river where he hanky panky where the bull-frog jump from bank to bank sing aeiouing now we are tlaking micheal jackson coke-cola shot him down doctor peper shop him up now we are talking 7 up!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 06 May 09 - 07:30 PM

GUEST,brooklyn, thanks for sharing your version of this rhyme with us.

-Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,LINDSEY
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 09:44 PM

its the whole sit in a circle with the hand thing(a large circle) and whoever gets powed is out, and you keep going.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky singin
E-a-pap-a, I-a-pap-a, O-a-pap-a
POW!!!!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 12:37 PM

GUEST,LINDSEY, thanks for sharing how you and your friends play "Down by the banks of the hanky panky".

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 07:07 PM

Okay here in Melbourne, Australia
I've always sung it
'Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With a hip, hop, crackle and a pop
With a hip, hop, crackle and a pop
With an A, E, I, O, You are out'

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 07:47 PM

Hi, GUEST 03 Jun 09 - 07:07 PM

I didn't know that this rhyme was known in Melbourne, Australia. Thanks for sharing your version and info about your geographical location.

I'm interested in knowing who sang it (age group, gender) and whether it was sung as a partner or circle handclap rhyme or both.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Michaela
Date: 11 Jun 09 - 06:05 PM

Down by the banks to the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from banks to banks
with the eeps ipes opes ops listen to the kerplop.
I pledge allegience to the flag
Michael Jackson sings so bad
Pepsi Cola burned his butt
Now he's drinking Seven up
7 up has no caffine
now he's drinking gasoline
Gasoline has no good taste
now he's drinking toxic waste.

That's all I really know.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jun 09 - 08:04 PM

GUEST,Michaela, thanks for sharing that version of "Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Alicia
Date: 26 Jun 09 - 03:00 PM

The version I grew up with in the 90's was:

(you stand in a circle with one hand on top of the others and slap the next persons hand as it goes around the circle while you sing)

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the Bullfrogs jumped from bank to banky
With the eips ipes opes skiddle scaddle ding dong

we would sing that to pick the person who would stand in the middle for another rhyme:

I was going to Kentucky
The old Kentucky fair
When i met a seniorita with purple underwear
OH shake it to the bottom(go down)
Shake it to the top(come back up)
Spin around, spin around(spin around with eyes closed)
Till you S-T-O-P spells stop

The person you were pointing at would be the next person to start and we would sart all over again.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Alicia
Date: 26 Jun 09 - 03:01 PM

P.S. this was in Arizona

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Jul 09 - 02:19 PM

DOwn by the banks where the i dont know i like pie

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Jean
Date: 02 Jul 09 - 07:12 PM

As kids, we always sang it like this (I'm a teenager now):

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Singin' eep, opp, eep opp opp
Skittle, dittle kernel pop
I pledge allegience to the flag
Michael Jackson is a fag
Coca Cola has caffeine
Now we're drinking gasoline
Gasoline ran out of fuel
Now we're drinkin' mountain dew
Mountain dew fell off the mountain
Now we're drinkin' from the fountain
Finally the fountain broke
Now we're back to
Plain old...
COKE!

And on coke the one person who was next to slap would try to hit the other's hand, and the other could pull away. If they pulled away the person slapping is eliminated, and if their hand gets slapped they are eliminated.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 02 Jul 09 - 07:36 PM

Thanks to those who have posted examples to this thread.

**

It's interesting that one way that Michael Jackson's name may live on is through these children's rhymes.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Taryn and Maddie
Date: 09 Jul 09 - 08:17 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
singin' Eeeps ipes opes oops
silly will ding dong
I pleage aligence to the flag
Michal Jackson makes me gag
Pepsi cola burt my butt
Now were talkin' 7 up
7 up has no caffine
now were talkin billy jean
Billy Jean is out of sight
now were talkin dynomite
dynomite blew up the school
Now were talkin' really cool
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,AUDDDRAY.
Date: 28 Jul 09 - 11:51 PM

down by the banks were the hanky panks and the bull frogs jump from bank to bank saying e i o u your momma stinks and so do you, i pledge alligence to the flag, michael jackson is a fag. coca cola brought him up now we're talking 7 up, 7 up has no cafffine now we're drinking gasoline gasoline gave me the flu now we're drinking moutain dew, moutain dew turned to soap now we're drinking cherry coke cherry coke broke my wrist now we're drinking sierra mist. sierra mist hadda fall. NOW WE'RE DRINKING NOTHING AT ALL.


ROFL. chyeaaa (:

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,AUDREEEY
Date: 28 Jul 09 - 11:54 PM

down by the banks were the hanky panks and the bull frogs jump from bank to bank saying e i o u your momma stinks and so do you, i pledge alligence to the flag, michael jackson is a fag. coca cola brought him up now we're talking 7 up, 7 up has no cafffine now we're drinking gasoline gasoline gave me the flu now we're drinking moutain dew, moutain dew fell off a mountain now we're drinking water foutain, water fountain turned to soap now we're drinking cherry coke, cherry coke broke my wrist now we're drinking sierra mist. sierra mist hadda fall. NOW WE'RE DRINKING NOTHING AT ALL.


dooodes, i accidentally fucked it up.
I FORGOT THE WATER FOUNTAIN.
but legit thats how we do it old school. :D

HAHAHA/

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,omg
Date: 28 Aug 09 - 06:30 PM

Down by the river of hanky panky
The bullfrog jumps from bank to banky
Now E I O U
your momma stinks and so do you
no ding dong, ping pong
ur daddy smells like king kong
on his feet and on his toes
your daddy wears pink panty hoes
coca cola shake it up
now we're talking 7up
7up has no caffeine
now we're talking Billy Jean
Billy Jean is lots of fun
now we're slapping hands and DONE!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,LM
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 11:15 PM

Down by the riverside, hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
saying ees mees sauce sees
esa meesa ding dong
your momma smells like king kong
I pledge of allegience to the flag
michael jackson is a fag
coca cola burnt him up
now we're drinking 7up
7up has no caffeine now we're drinking gasoline
gasoline ran out of fuel
now we're drinking mountain dew

Ugh I wish I remembered the rest!
But this was probably around 1998-99 at a crappy YMCA

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 03 Sep 09 - 11:34 PM

Thanks for sharing that example, GUEST,LM.

**

I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I think that all of these examples are important to collect for historical and folkloric reasons. But I want to go on record and say that I'm very much against referring to any person as a "fag"-whether that person is indeed a homosexual or you just think that person is a homosexual.

Words can hurt. Please be mindful of that.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,friends now
Date: 21 Sep 09 - 05:51 PM

the words start like this:
Down by the bank of the Hanky Panky
With a bullfrog jump from bank to bank
signin epps ipes opes umps hey dilly dilly curb plunk
pepsi, cola, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale pepsi, cola, ginger ale, 7up 7up 7up your out!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Sep 09 - 06:11 PM

Thanks, GUEST,friends now for adding your version of this rhyme to this collection!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Sep 09 - 12:33 PM

No the one i know is
Down by the river of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank said-a ees ay ous ees east-side dally ding dong why you hit my hand so hard tell me what i did so wrong ees ace ous ees east-side dally ding dong .

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Sep 09 - 03:53 PM

GUEST 26 Sep 09 - 12:33 PM

Thanks for sharing that version. That's a new one on me!

:o)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Amanda
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 06:31 PM

Beverly Hills, CA, 1984-1988. What I remember:

Down by the banks of the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
with an eeps, eips, opse, opps
me socka dilly with a kerplop

For the record, I was always confused by the socka dilly line, but that's what everyone sang so there you go. Seeing some of the lily pad versions is very interesting and I love all the variations!

I would also like to address the post from:
GUEST,apple
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 06:41 PM

In particular, the Mrs lucy had a steamboat... section

Not sure if you have addressed this elsewhere. I do remember a rhyme like this, but not what it was attached to (if anything):

Miss Lucy had a tugboat
the tugboat had a bell
Miss Lucy went to heaven
the tugboat went to hell-
-o operater, please give me number 9
and if you disconnect me, I'll cut off your -- behind
the 'frigderator there lays a piece of glass
Miss Lucy sat upon it and broke her little -- ask
me no more questions, please tell me no more lies
the boys are in the bathroom zipping up their -- flies
are in the country, the bees are in the park
the girls and boys are kissing in the
D-A-R-K, D-A-R-K, D-A-R-K, dark, dark, dark!
The dark is like a movie, a movie's like a show
a show is like a TV set and this is all I know, know, know!
I know I know my ma, I know I know my pa
I know I know my sister with the 80-meter, 80-meter, 80-meter bra, bra, bra!
A bra is like a boobie, a boobie's like a ball
A ball is like a bouncy thing that bounces off the wall, wall, wall!
She died her hair in purple, she died her hair in pink
she died her hair in aquamarine to match the kitchen sink, sink, sink!

And that's all I remember, though there may have been more to it. I am surprised that I a) remembered as much as I did and b) that I ever happily chanted that on the playground - among other songs I am remembering from scanning this database. Whoa.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest, Emma, Jacksonville FL
Date: 15 Oct 09 - 01:56 PM

I learned this in summer camp at a day school in Jacksonville FL sometime around 1990.

Down by the bank where the hanky pank
where the bullfrog jumped from bank to bank
saying ees ice ose oos
esta billy bing bong
your daddy smells like King Kong.

I always wondered what all that nonsensical stuff was in the middle, but never thought that it might have been a degradation of someone elses words. I just thought it was nonsense.

We played the circle elimimenation game, but when you said "Kong" the final slapper had to essentially fake out the slappee, because the way we played, if the slapper hit the NEXT persons hand because you moved yours in time, the KONG stayed "in" and the song started over.

Made for loooooong days.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,BabyGyneus
Date: 30 Oct 09 - 02:14 PM

Down by the river with the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrog leaps from bank to banky
With the east side, west side, sea side
POP!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Psychonaughty
Date: 03 Nov 09 - 02:59 PM

I'm from Ireland (Dublin), grew up in the 80's (born 1979).
We used to sing this in a circle clap game to choose who could choose the next group game (e.g. Red rover, kick the can, grass houses, what's the time mr. Wolf etc) or pass the time at break time at school.

Down by the river of hanky panky,
Two fat frogs sit back-to-back,
ooooo-ahhhh-ooooo-AAH!
Down by the river was
Ooo-peee-PLODGE! ('ooo' and 'peeee' mantras permitted claps to the next and the next person as long as the chant held: oooooo *clap* oooooo *clap* *peeeeeee* *clap!* PLODGE!! (person 'plodged' was 'It')

Good times :)
-Catríona S.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,SaeraLove
Date: 03 Nov 09 - 08:08 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
with an a, e, i, o, u. bang bang
micheal jordan went to town
coca cola shot him down
now were talkin 7up
7up with no caffein
now were talking billy jean
billy jean went down the street singin
do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
singin do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do

<3

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Nov 09 - 09:21 PM

Down by the bank by the hanky pank
where the bullfrog jumped from bank to bank
singing eeeps ops ohps ooops
listen to the rythym of the ding dang dong
michael jackson went to town
pepsi cola shot him down
dr. pepper fixed him up
now we're talking 7up
7up has no caffiene
now we're billie jean
billie jean went down the street singing
dooo waaah diddy didy dum diddy dooo

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Nov 09 - 12:54 AM

Down by the river of the Hanky Panky
Where the bull frogs jumped from bank to banky
He said "E-I-O-U
your mamma stinks and so do you"
ping-pong dingdong
Your breath smells like King Kong

I learned that 10 years ago in 5th grade when I moved to florida.
Actually I heard three versions then but this is the only one that stuck with me.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Alicia
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 08:14 PM

down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
With the epps
ipps
ohpps
opps
chilly willy ding dong
your mother smells like king kong
micheal jackson came to town
coke cola shot him down
docter pepper brought him up
now were talkin 7up
7up with no caffine
now were takin billie jean
bille jean is out of sight
now were takin' dinamite
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
boom!

A friend taught me that and afew
other things awhile ago....

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Uly
Date: 29 Jan 10 - 07:57 PM

Ganked a version from a book I was reading to see if I could read it to my nieces, "The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School". (The answer is no, by the way - if I want to read them Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Louis Sacher did it first and BETTER.)

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
The bullfrogs jumped from bank to banky
And made the mama so cranky cranky
That she gave the tadpoles a spanky spanky....

There might be more, because it ends on an ellipsis, but I don't know.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Hanky Panky Player
Date: 14 Feb 10 - 09:00 PM

All my friends and I agreed this is how the song goes:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky,
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky,
witha hip hop shimmy shop,
the bank was to full,
and they went kerplop!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Kristen
Date: 18 Feb 10 - 07:48 PM

I used to sing it:

Down by the river by the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jumped from bank to banky
sayin east side west side east side west side
dilly dang dong!


and i have been trying to figure out the soda song... i know it is like this but i cant remember the end!

pepsi-cola went to town
big red shot 'em down
dr. pepper fix 'em up
now we're drinking 7-up
7-up fell down the mountain
now we're drinking from a fountain
fountain broke, no more coke...

and i know there is more i just don't know what comes after that..?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Amanda
Date: 20 Feb 10 - 08:31 PM

Miss Lucy had a baby
she named him tiny tim
she put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim
he drank up all the water
he ate up all the soap
He tried to eat the bath tub but it wouldn't fit down his throat
Miss Lucy called the doctor
the doctor called the nurse
the nurse called the lady with the alligator purse
In came the doctor
In came the nurse
In came the lady with an alligator purse

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Leadfingers
Date: 20 Feb 10 - 08:35 PM

300

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,tyna
Date: 21 Feb 10 - 01:18 AM

I grew up in Eugene, OR and learned this version in the early 90s:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with an eeps,eips, hippity hoppity,
east side west side
kerplop

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,theshortone
Date: 28 Feb 10 - 09:34 AM

The words we sang in YMCA Afterschool during my years there as a kid(1997-2004)

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
saying eep opp
eep opp opp
Skittle Dittle Kerr plop

Ding dong my breath smells like King Kong
I pledge allegience to the flag
Michael Jackson is a drag
Coca Cola blew up
Now I'm drinking Seven Up
Seven Up caught the flew
Now I'm drinking Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew went up the mountain
Now I'm drinking from the fountain
After that the fountain broke
Now I'm back to drin-king COKE

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,cdg
Date: 09 Mar 10 - 03:53 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky

Pour plouffer
Les élèves sont en cercle, la main gauche paume en l'air sur la main droite du voisin ; ils frappent en rythme (la main droite vient frapper celle du voisin qui frappe à son tour le suivant ; quand le chant est fini, le dernier doit enlever sa main gauche rapidement avant d'être frappé)

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank-y
Singing eep ipe ohpe opp
One jumps in and goes Ker-plop.


The banks : les rives
The bullfrogs : les grenouilles-taureaux

Autre version

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank-y
With an eep ipe ope oop
Ee-sock-a-diddy and a phbbllllt (Make 'raspberry' noise with tongue)
Plop!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Katelynn
Date: 09 Mar 10 - 09:57 PM

The Hanky Panky Song.

down by the river with the hanky panky. Where the bullfrog jumped from bank to bank. i said A a, e, i, o, u, BAMBOO! Johny laid an egg on you!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 12:18 PM

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from Bank to Banky (slap)
OOh unfortunate for you!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Madison from Metro Detroit, Michigan
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 03:35 PM

Down by the bank of the hanky panky,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky,
To the Hip Hop Shirley Pop,
I pledge allegience to the flag,
of Michael Jackson makes me gag,
Coca-Cola burnt his butt,
Now he's drinking Seven-Up
Seven-Up has no caffeine,
So Now he's drinking Jelly Bean
Jelly Bean is out of sight,
So Now he's drinking Sprite
Spell it!
S-P-R-I-T-E!

Subject: Hollister ca
From: GUEST,Barry Marshall
Date: 02 Apr 10 - 03:09 AM

I'd like to know regional variations. Also I am sure this has changed with time. I was playing with about 30 of my fourth graders today.

variation something like this.


Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank 2 banky
singin' eeps ipes opes oops chilly willy ding dong (?)
I pledge allegience to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola has caffeine
Now we're talkin' jelly beans
Jelly beans are out of sight
now we're talking D… slides into the beginning of song...

Does not actually say dynamite.

Barry Marshall

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Apr 10 - 09:58 AM

This was the version we used at my elementary school (1st version) and in the surrounding neighborhood (second version) just outside of San Francisco, California in the late 80's:

Ooooh,
Down by the banks
Of the Hane-k-tey Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump
From bank to bank-ket-tey
With a hip, hop, soda pop
East side, west side
KER-PLOP!

or

Down by da bank
Of da Han-k-tey Pan-key-tey
W'ere duh bull-a-frog
Jump fro' bank ta bank-key-tey
Just ah hip ah hop ah sodey pop
To da eas' si', wes' side
Keeer---PLOP!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,HHA222
Date: 13 Apr 10 - 12:56 AM

This is how we played in sumemr camp

Down on the farm said Hanky Panky
Said bulldog, bulldog Hanky Panky
Said Fee-Fii-Foo-Fum
Pass it to the bulldog
Mickey Mouse built a house
Donald Duck messed it up
Who will pay the consquences
Or Responsibilities
Y O U spells you
are
out

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,guest person
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 08:55 PM

it actually goes down by the river with the hanky panky with the bull frogs jump from banks to banky singing e i o u um socka dilly and a um fi fi Pepsi cola ginger ale ginger ale ginger ale ginger ale ginger ale Pepsi cola ginger ale 7-up 7-up 7-up your out

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,el
Date: 21 Apr 10 - 06:20 PM

i am in 7th grade and live in eastern ohio and still play this ours goes


down by the banks of the hanky panky were the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky they go eep ipe ope oops! E-sock-a-dilly and it goes keeer- plump

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,MahBoi
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 08:24 PM

Our jazz band had a tendency to play this and the version we had went a little something like this
Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with the eeps ops sodapop
and a 1 2 3 4 4 ker-plop
and whoever's hand was slapped on plop was out

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Apr 10 - 04:51 AM

i was wondering if anybody's heard the mickey mouse version...
down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky with a fe fi fo fum know here comes another one, mickey mouse built a house, donald duck knocked it down, who will pay the consiquenses, y-o-u are out

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,wyah
Date: 28 Apr 10 - 12:07 PM

In my grade school we had a different version from any of these.

It went:

Down by the banks of the hanky pank'
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
fee, fi, fo, fum
your momma smells like King Kong
daddy smells like Donkey Kong
east side, west side, ding, dang, dong
Mickey Mouse built a house
Donald Duck messed it up
who will pay the consequences
and responsibilities
Y-O-U spells you!

And whoever got their hand slapped on "you" was out.

Spent so many mornings playing this and "Shame, Shame, Shame" when I was a little kid.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 01 May 10 - 11:18 PM

this is the one that i learned

down by the bank hany pank
bullfrog jumps from bank to bank
sayin E I O U
yo mama stinks and so do you
so ping pong ding dong
your daddy smells like king kong
honest feet and honest toes your daddy wheres pink panty hoes
coca cola drink it up
now were talkin 7-up
7-up has no caffine
now were talkin billy-jean
billy-jean will never lie
i pledge alligence to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
now were getting really bad
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 07 May 10 - 08:41 AM

It goes:
down by the river from bank to bank i said a bullfrog jump frombank tobank e i o u your mama stank and so do u king kong ding dong your daddy smell like king kong cola shake it up now were talking 7up 7up has nocaffine now were taking billie jeans billie jean is out of sight noq were talking dynmate dynmate dressed in bluenow were talking mountain dew mountain dew dressed in pink now were talking orange drink 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 that's now right so try again 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Emma
Date: 07 May 10 - 12:32 PM

I feel compelled to add my version. I learned it at Greenlake Elementary in Seattle, WA in the late 1980s.

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with an eep, ipe, ope, opp
And they ease off a little with a Ker-plop.

I vaguely remember this being a circle handclap elimination game as described above.

I always thought that these rhymes were "alive" only on the playground, and transmitted from child to child, but now that I have my own child, I find that I am remembering them and singing them to her as I scour my brain for any kind of nonsense that might amuse her. Might there be two ways these rhymes are passed on? Although I bet the first time my daughter hears a version from her peers, it will instantly replace the uncool "mom" or "home" version.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,hand game lover
Date: 09 May 10 - 07:37 PM

here's how I have learned it:

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bulfrogs jump from bank to banky
singin' E,I,O,U,A,S
slap, you're OUT!

players form a circle with their left hand under the left player's right hand and their right hand on the right players left hand. players would circle clockwise,using their right hand to clap the next player's left hand in turn. on the word 'OUT',the player about to be clapped tries to pull their hand out. if they succeed, nobody gets out and the game continues. if they are clapped, they are out, the two surrounding players link the circle back together,and then the game continues.

final round:
when only 2 players remain, they hold right hands and put their left hands out in alignment with the right hands.they swing their right hands to smack the left hands in turn. on the word 'OUT',the person about to be smacked tries to pull their hand out if they succeed,a new round takes place. if not,the remaining player wins! bye!:)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Britt
Date: 17 May 10 - 06:23 PM

My sisters and I would play this when we were younger in the 90's. Now they do it differently--especially the one that works with kids.
Both versions stood in a circle with overlapped hands that you would 'slap' on the beat as you chanted/sang. The person who was slapped on the last syllable was out.

Our first version went like this (very simple):
Down by the riverbank
Hanky panky
Hear the bull frogs jump
From bank to bank
Singing ooh ahh, ooh, ahh
East to the west
'is the bull frog.

Their newer version goes like this:
Down by the river banks hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
Sayin' ooh ahh, ooh pa-pa,
Skiddle, diddle Kernel Pop
Now we're drinking 7-up
7-up has no caffeine
Now we're drinking gasoline
Gasoline tastes awful fine
Now we're drinking mount... ain...
DEW!! (on 'DEW' the one who is 'slapped' is out, and it begins again)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Ur buddy :)
Date: 21 May 10 - 04:36 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky pannky where the bull frog jumps form bank to saying epp ipp opp Umpp. Chille wille ding dong your momma smells like king kong. I pleage Allegence to the flag Michalle Jackson makes me gag, coca cola burns his but now where talkin 7up, 7up has no caffine, now where talkin billy jean, billy jean is outa sight now where talkin dynomite, dynomite blew up the school now where talkin really cool 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1!!!!!

thats how i learned it


sorry for my spelling

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest1307
Date: 15 Jun 10 - 05:34 PM

We do it like this

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with an eep op eep op op
skittle diddle kernel pop
i pledge allegiance to the flag
michael jackson makes me gag
coca cola has caffeine
now were drinking gasoline
gasoline ran out of fuel
now were drinking from the mountain
spring ran out now were drinkin from the fountain
fountain broke now were drinking plain old COKE!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,ME
Date: 22 Jun 10 - 10:40 PM

Mine is Down by the bank of the hanky pank where the bullfrog jump from bank to bank sayin' eeps ips ops umps, I pledge alegence to the flag Michal Jackson makes me gag, coca cola up his butt now we're talkin seven up seven up has no caffeine now were talkin Billy Jean Billy Jean blew up the school now were talkin really cool 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,29yr old fogie
Date: 28 Jun 10 - 04:27 PM

The version I recall goes like this:

Down by the riverside hanky panky
Where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
Singin' E-I-O-U your momma stinks and so do you.
Ping pong, ding dong, your daddy smells like King Kong
and plays with his Rubber Ducky Ding....... Dong!

It's the typical hand-slapping game where two children sit face-to-face with their palms outstretched, slapping back and forth. The "Dong" signifies that the game is over, and the last person who has slapped has won.

I was in grade school between 1986-1993 or so, in Southwest Florida.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Eniale
Date: 18 Jul 10 - 05:46 PM

My children learnt the clapping rhyme Hanky Panky in Nigeria and, when they came to England, taught it to all the children in primary school. It went like this -

Down by the river there's hanky panky
Where frogs jump from back to back,
Eeeee, Ooooo,
Eeeee, Ooooo,
Eeeee, Ooooo,
Bad dog.

I think they must have misheard it when they first learnt it and then taught all the kids at primary school the wrong words.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,mesj68
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 08:48 AM

I sang this soooo much as a kid in Shoreview, Minnesota in the late 60's, early 70s:
Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to banky
With an eep - opp - oap - opp
Ease off a lily with a...
Ker-PLOP!

We sang it as a round, it sounds very cool like that :)
Feeling very nostalgic here, and impressed that this has been documented to be chanted in so many different forms all the way around the world.

Mary

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Aug 10 - 08:53 PM

no it's down by the river of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank they got the hip hop hippity hop swaglle daddle pip pop splat!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,junior285
Date: 05 Aug 10 - 09:01 PM

i recall it going like this : down by the lakes of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank singing hip hop hippity hop skiddle diddle pip pop SPLAT!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Sep 10 - 10:17 PM

This is what I remember.

Down by the river of the hankty pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Said eeps ops sodapops
Someone hit the river and they went kerplop

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Katran
Date: 28 Sep 10 - 02:53 AM

Here's what I learned in San Francisco around 1990 in elementary school:

Down by the banks of the hanky-panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With a hip, hop, hippity hoppety
East side, west side, kerrrrrplop

That was done to a circle elimination game as described in some other posts.

A few years later I learned a slightly different version from some kids at day camp, also in San Francisco

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to banky
With an eeps, ops, soda pop
Frog missed the lily and he went kerplop (freeze)

This was done to a 2-person handclap game which I can't really describe because it had some complicated motions. You did the same hand game, sometime right after or right before this other rhyme to the same motions. The lyrics to that one:

Bo bo, say yotton cotton
Nay nay, you are so rotten
Itty bitty cocoa puff
Bobo say yotton cotton BOOM (freeze)

Both of these rhymes had tunes that went with them.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Nissa
Date: 01 Oct 10 - 10:31 PM

Hey everyone!

Okay so I remember the hanky panky rhyme, but I also heard a new one
from a new generation of kids, & it goes a little something like this:

Down by the bank of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
singing E-I-O-U

See that house on top of the hill
that's where me and my boyfrind lives
smell that chicken,
smell that rice,
come on baby let's shoot some dice

Just to have a new type of hanky panky played the
same way but a little twist when it's only two left..
Enjoy(:

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 10:10 PM

Stay down
Stay down
Stay down, down, down.
Donal duck say hanky pank
Say bull dog, bull dog hanky pank
Say fe fi fo thumb
listen to the bull dog
mickey mouse build house
Donald duck mess up
who will pay the con-se-quen-ces?
and re-spons-ibil-ities?
y-o-u and
you
are
out!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Devina
Date: 23 Oct 10 - 02:29 AM

I'm from Montana, and up here we sing it like this:

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where The Bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
singing hip,hop, hippity hoppity
east side, west side
Keerrr PLOP!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Oct 10 - 11:30 PM

im from the Virgin Islands, St.Croix to be exact...our rhyme goes like this
down by the river hankey pankey
25$ dollars hankey pankey
he said, he said,
he said, he said ding dong
your mother smell like king kong
(count 1-10)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Ell
Date: 04 Nov 10 - 10:17 PM

I grew up in Turlock, CA in the early 90's and we said

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump
From bank to banky
Saying Hip Hop Hippitie Hop
East side, west side
KER-PLOP!


Sorry guys this is the RIGHT WAY :)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,me
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 02:34 PM

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump
From bank to bank
singin fee fii fo fum
bopshuwady wa you're out

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Jaime
Date: 07 Nov 10 - 06:25 AM

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
with a hip hop hippetie hop you better watch your step or
u will be o u t spells OUT!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,kt
Date: 24 Nov 10 - 06:42 PM

I learnt it like this

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs leap from bank to banky
With an eep ipe ope op
Eesop-a-diddly and an
Oinkflop

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Nov 10 - 10:19 PM

Here's mine from either Indiana or Virginia in the mid 90's, mainly sung by girls, but boys also. we sat in a circle, with our hands interlocking, whoever it landed on was out, and so forth like many others above.

Down by the banks of the hnaky panky
where the bullfrog jump from bank to banky
with an eips aeips, opps oops,
oomph flop a dilly and an om flop flop.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 01:08 AM

down by the river called hanky panky where the bullfrogs jumped from bank to bank I said ah A E I O U bam boo!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Dec 10 - 07:52 PM

Plop .

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 08:11 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank-to-bank.
Said north, south, east, west.
OMG, a Milla ding-dong.
Yo momma smells like King Kong,
All the way from wing-wong.
Now count
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10.
(who's ever hand was slapped was out. If they moved and you slapped your own hand, then you lost.)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,guest-Mandi, age 14
Date: 24 Dec 10 - 12:08 AM

We used to do this all the time at school and at camp, sometimes we freshmen still do it before gym class starts when we're all sitting around. You sit in a circle with your left hand on top of someone else's right and your right hand under someone else's left, and you go in a circle smacking each other's hands as you sing the song:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Singing eep, op, eep-op-op
bubblegum and soda pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson is a fag
Coca-cola brought him up
Now we're drinking 7-up
7-up has no caffeine
Now we're wearing Levi jeans
Levi jeans are out of style
Now we're talking for a while
skiddle diddle piddle bop
bubblegum and soda POP!

and whoever's hand is hit on the last 'pop' is out. Then you repeat the song getting faster and faster until somebody finally wins.

Sadly we really did and still do sing the line about Michael Jackson being a fag. In elementary and middle school we also had a similar rhyme ("I pledge allegiance to the flag and Michael Jackson is a fag. He used to play with little toys but now he plays with little boys.") and I can remember saying it at a very young age, before I had any idea what a 'fag' was. It was meant to be innocent and not offensive to anybody. Also, since Michael Jackson's death (may he R.I.P.) many people have substituted Lady Gaga or Miley Cyrus for Michael Jackson or changed that line to "Michael Jackson makes me gag". My particular group of friends has done both ("Lady Gaga makes me gag") and I think it's kind of a nice modern version of the song.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Tampa Bay, Florida
Date: 02 Jan 11 - 04:34 PM

I remember a version from the 90s in the Tampa Bay area, FL. It went like this:

A group of girls would sit (or stand) in a circle, their left hand under the right hand of the person to their left. The leader would start off by clapping her right hand to the right hand of the person to the her, they would do the same to the person on their left, etc. Clapping would start slow and then build speed to match the words. The person caught at the end of the rhyme would have to clap the next person's hand. If they were fast enough, the person to their left was out. If the person to their left was faster and removed their right hand in time, the last person would end up slapping their own left hand and would be out.

Down by the banks of the hanky-pank
A bullfrog leaps from bank to bank
Singin' E-I-O-U
Your momma stinks and so do you
Ping pong, ding dong
Daddy smells like King Kong
On his feet and on his toes
Your daddy wears
Pink
Pan-
ty
HOSE!

(Where "hose" was the word that would get you out.)

The person out would drop behind, the circle would close up and the whole thing would start again until there was only one person left - who was usually acknowledged as the fastest.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest- Missouri
Date: 19 Jan 11 - 05:33 AM

From northern Missouri about 1993 or so:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
saying e a-poppa, i a-poppa, o a-poppa, POW

It was the circle elimination game with slaps coming on each beat until the last, and that person was out. When you got to two players you grabbed hands and pushed back and forth with every beat until the POW and whoever's arm was extended with the pow won.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jan 11 - 06:56 PM

Here's what I learned:

Down by the bank of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank saying :
Hee pa hee pa pa skittle diddle kernel pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson is a fag/ makes me gag (whatever floats your boat)
Pepsi Cola messed me up
Now I'm drinking seven-up
Seven-up caught the flu,
Now I'm drinking Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew fell off the mountain
Now I'm drinking from the fountain
After that the fountain broke
Now I'm drinking back to coke

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,jessica keziah
Date: 22 Jan 11 - 06:51 PM

hey guys and girls none of these are correct its

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
saying e i skiddle diddle
mama drinking cocola cocola burnt her butt
now shes drinking 7-up
7-up as no caffeine now shes drinking gasoline.

DUH PPL

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Ohiooo
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 07:38 PM

Mine was alot differnt, but it was:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Fe Fii Fo Your momma stanky
FEE FI FOO FUM
chilly willy ding dong
Your momma smells like King kong
Lets play a game of ping pong
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
then whose hand is hit on 10 is out!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Feb 11 - 08:40 AM

This is the one I learned, early to mid 90s.

Down by the river of the hanky panky
Where the leapfrogs jump from bank to bank
Singing hip, hop, hippity, hop
Listen to the water pop
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

5 was the number you'd be out on.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Madison
Date: 01 Feb 11 - 10:54 PM

(Who ever lands on KER-PLOP! loses)

Down by the bank of the hanky pank
Where the bull frogs bank to bank
Saying E-I-O-U
Fell of the lilly-pad KER-PLOP!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Ashleyy!
Date: 05 Feb 11 - 04:26 PM

Me and my friends learned it like this...

Down by the banks where the hanks to the panks where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank saying eets ites oots your mamas cool and so are you, so ping pong sing a song all the way to donkey kong tell your teacher what to wear pretty flower in your hair, and you are out(:

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Feb 11 - 12:13 PM

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Kate
Date: 28 Feb 11 - 02:19 PM

Hi~

When I was in Elementary school in Florida we had a version of this. It went like ;

Down by the river with a hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
saying EIOU
Your mama stinks and so do you
ping pong donley kong
went to school with nothing on
Asked the teache what to wear
Polka dotted under wear
not too big, not too small
just the size of Broward mall
reece peices butter cup
now were talking 7up
7up has no caffeine
now were talking Billy Jean
Billy Jean blew up the school
now were talking really cool
really cool is in the house
now were talking Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse and all his friends
Now we'll count to ten / name all his friends

We would stand in a circle and hands out palms up and slap each others and at the end when we count/say the names the person that gets hit is out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Anon
Date: 06 Mar 11 - 08:30 PM

In New Orleans, Louisiana, ours normally goes

Down by the riverside Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank
I said a A-E-I-O-U, bamboo!
Johnny struck a match and blamed it on Sue
Sue told Ma
Ma told Pa
Johnny caught a whooping so ha-ha-ha!
He jumped so high
He touched the sky
And he never came back 'till the
Fourth of July!

Everybody sits in a circle and sends a clap through the circle while singing the song and move the clap around the circle at a random rhythm that goes or doesn't go with the song's timing depending on how many people are playing. The rhythm doesn't change until the very last line, where people are trying to break it into as many syllables as possible to keep the clap away from them. The person who gets the 'Ju' syllable in July has to hit the hand of the person that would have gotten 'ly'. If they hit it, then the 'ly' person is out. If they miss, then the 'Ju' person is out. The 'ly' person can move their hand to avoid getting hit.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 11:46 AM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Singing Eeep Op Eeep Op
Skiddle diddle eep op op
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Miley Cyrus makes me gag
Miley Cyrus came to town, Coca Cola shot her down
Dr. Pepper drink it up, now we're drinking 7-Up
7-Up has no caffeine, now we're drinking gasoline
Gasoline ran out of fuel, now we're drinking Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew fell off the Mountain, now we're drinking from the fountain
Fountain broke, now we're drinking PLAIN-OLD-DIET-COKE

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Mar 11 - 11:14 AM

down by the river with the hanky panky were the bull frogs jump from bank to bank sinning ee bop ee bopbop skiddle diddle lolli pop i plege alegents to the flag ___________makes f gag now were talkin jelly beans jelly beans are pu of syl now were talking ee bop ee bop bop 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Mar 11 - 06:13 PM

down by the banks of the hanky banks where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank eeps opps moose macidillion mickey mouse built a house donald duck mess it up who shall pay the consequences mouse or duck?





how to play: you say all the words together and at the end whoevers hand is at the others picks mouse or duck. then you spell the work at the last letter of the word you try to slap the others hand and the others hand moves their hand away

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,sea lion 6a
Date: 11 Apr 11 - 08:16 AM

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frog jumps from bank to bank
and then hip-hop belly flop
this is where we s-t-o-p stop

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Cary, North Carolina
Date: 16 Apr 11 - 01:27 PM

WAY DOWN YONDER IN THE HANKY-BANKY WHERE THE BULLFROGS JUMP FROM BANK TO BANKY SINGIN'
"EASTSIDE"
"WESTSIDE"
"EASTSIDE"
"WESTSIDE"
DILLYDANGDONG.
Whoever's hand was slapped on "DONG" was out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,mama
Date: 19 Apr 11 - 10:52 PM

dow by they bay with a hanky pancake sing 1-2-3-4=5

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 06 May 11 - 12:40 PM

in Rochester, NY it goes like this

down by the bank of the hanky pank;
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank;
saying E-I-O-U;
yo momma stank and so do you;
so ping pong donkey kong;
martin luther king jr;
mickey mouse bought a house;
donald duck messed it up;
he couldn't pay the rent;
so he got kicked out;
O-U-T;
out

we would do process of elimination by eliminating whoever got to the letter -T they we would start over the song until we got to the last person

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Sierra
Date: 17 May 11 - 08:27 PM

Im in 6th going on 7th grade and we say .. ( idont know the exact words for the begining)

DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN , DOWN BY THE RIVER PLAYING HANKY PANKY .. EAST SIDE COAST WITH HANKY PANKY .. ES AS OS OWS . EAST SIDE DAILY DING DONG

WHY YOU HIT MY HAND SO WRONG TELL ME WHAT I DID SO WRONG ES AS OS OWS EAST SIDE DAILY DING DONG

I PLEDGE ALLIGENCE TO THE FLAG MICHAEL JACKSON IS THE BEST (FAG BUT WE DONT SAY THAT CAUSE HES NOT)
COCA COLA BURNING UP NOW WE DRINKING SEVEN UP
SEVEN UP HAD NO CAFFINE NOW WE DOING BILLY JEAN
BILLIE JEAN WAS OUT OF STYLE NOW WE GOING BUCK WILD
BUCK WILD WAS OUTA STYLE NOW WE GOING ES AS OS OWS EAST SIDE DAILY DING DONG!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 18 May 11 - 03:03 PM

I'm popping in to let those persons who may be interested know that I have posted a new page to my Cocojams.com website about the sources of the rhyme "Down By the Banks Of The Hanky Panky".

That page is http://www.cocojams.com/content/text-analysis-down-banks-hanky-panky

My thanks to all those who have contributed examples and comments to this thread and my thanks to all those who may do so in the future.

Best wishes,

Azizi Powell

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,jen
Date: 29 May 11 - 01:03 PM

i thought it was like:

Down by the bank of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
going eeps ieps ops oop
Listen to the ker-plop
i pledge allegience to the flag
Michael Jackson stinks so bad\
Coca Cola burned him up
now he's drinking 7 up
7 up has no caffiene
now he's drinking gasoline
Gasoline has no good taste now he's drinking toxic waste(then it went into something it was totally different)there's a place on mars,where the baby - and the boys wear bikinis and the girls were barganins the muster man put muster on his head,when the musturd dried........... (then it ends something like this)mirrior mirror on the wall whos the fairest of them all!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 31 May 11 - 12:18 AM

ours always went :

down by the river by the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
singing fee fi foe fum
chilly willy ding dong
yo mama smell like king kong
coca cola burns you up
now your drinking 7up
7up has no caffine
now your drinking gas-o-line!

on line you slap or whatever.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 11:43 AM

Hi,
the way I learned it maybe 8 years ago in Ooltewah, Tennessee was - "Down by the banks, of the hanky panks, where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank, eeps, eipes, ops, oops, chilly, willy, ding, dong, I pledge alleigance to the flag, michael jackson makes me gag, coca cola brought it up, now were talkin 7up, 7up has no caffiene, now were talkin billie jean, billie jean is outta sight, now were talking dynomite, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." and whoever messed up during it was out until there was two people left and the person that got smacked right after 1 was out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 03:55 PM

" down by the bank of the hankey pank where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank singing fee fi fo fum me say me say ding dang dong i pladge alligence to the flag michael jackson makes me gag coca cola fizzes up now were talking 7-up, 7-up has no caffine now were talking jelly bean jelly bean jelly bean you stink at this GAME!" thats the real way!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Jun 11 - 12:27 PM

Down by the bank of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
going eeps ieps ops oop
Listen to the ker-plop
i pledge allegience to the flag
Michael Jackson stinks so bad\
Coca Cola burned him up
now he's drinking 7 up
7 up has no caffiene
now he's drinking gasoline
Gasoline has no good taste now he's drinking toxic waste.(then it went to a different melody)theres a place on mars were the babys smoke cigars and the boys wear bikinis and the girls drink martinis,and the mustard man puts mustrud on his...... then i forgot the rest.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Loving this game
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 10:31 PM

I'm a former 8th grader. For our last day of school we were free to just talk and do whatever in our History class. So we played "Down by the river." I thank Sierra (an earlier poster) for reminding me of most of the words. This is the full (or at least I hope) version and helpful tips on playing:


Down, Down, Down, Down, (during these 4 down's, the person starting must not start until all 4 downs have been said. So basically your just bouncing your hand up in down in the person's palm that sits next to you until you start.) Down by the river of the hanky-panky, there's a bullfrog jumping from bank to bank singing east side, west coast, east side daily dang dong!

Why you hit my hand so hard, tell me what I did so wrong! Es As Ais Ows (pronounced likely as E's Ah's A's O's), east side daily dang dong.

I pledge allegiance to the flag. Michael Jackson is a fag (later we switched it to "I shop with a bag" for the purposes of not having the teacher over hear us. Lol).

(Sorry but I'm not entirely sure what goes before this next part, but I think this is correct. :/) Now we drinking Coca Cola, Coca Cola's burning up. Now we drinking 7up. 7up is out of style, now we going Buck Wild. Buck Wild's out of style now we going Es As Ais Ows, east side daily dang DONG!


On that last dong, if you manage to hit the hand of the person you're supposed to, they're out, if they pull away before you can, you're out. Have fun! :)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Cathy Brown Heiby daughter of Virgie Forbes
Date: 28 Jun 11 - 06:33 PM

i was born in Pasquotank Cty, NC in the early 1950s. i was told by my great-grandmother, who was born in Tyrrell Cty, NC in the mid 1880s---and she was told by her mother---this song was originally about the Pasquotank River. originally this song, so it has been told to me, goes like this---
"Down on the banks of the Pasquotanky
(note: originally the inhabitants of the Pasquotank River basin were a tribe of Native-Americans known in the late 1660s as the Pas-ka-tanki Indians of the Tus-ca-ro-roe Nation)
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
(further note: the Albemarle Sound area, which the Pasquotank River drains into, once was a wetland and was teeming with wildlife, including bullfrogs though not so much anymore and there was loads of vegetation that no longer exists for them to jump around all over on the river and sound)
and on and on as many have written----so goes the rest of the song.

i believe what i am telling you is more than likely true.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Casey
Date: 03 Jul 11 - 04:12 PM

this is how i sing it:

down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky singing hip hop soda pop coca cola went to town, diet pepsi knocked him down. doctor pepper picked him up, now i'm drinking seven up. seven up, got the flue, now i'm drinking mountain dew mountain dew fell off the mountain, now i'm drinking from the fountain. fountain broke, now i'm drinking plain old coke. coke turned out the light, now i'm drinking sprite. sprite, went to bed, now i'm drinking red-bull! red bull's not feeling fine, now i'm drinking wine. we put one in the trunk, because it made me drunk. drunk made me feel dismal, now i'm drinking pepto-bismal. pepto bismal tastes like mush, now i'm drinking orange crush. orange crush, made me pale, now i'm drinking ginger ale. ginger ale, made me fade, now i'm drinking lemonade. all these drinks i've got to pee, i didn't make it oh.. poor...me.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Peeple
Date: 03 Jul 11 - 09:25 PM

Down by the bank to the hanky pank where the bullfrog jumps from bank 2 bank saying E I O U your mama smells and so do you say ping pong donkey kong your dady smells like king kong tell your teacher what to wear poke-a-dotted underwear not to big not to small just the size of city hall coke-a-cola no caffine now were talkin billy jean...

forgot the rest

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 06:16 PM

down by the river were the hanky banky when the bulldog jumped from bank to banky and sayed eiou mommy said so you.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,K_Hunter
Date: 25 Jul 11 - 07:00 PM

Down by the riverside hanky panky
Where the bulfrogs jump from bank to banky
Sayin eas ise oas wes
Chilly willy ding ding dong
Michael Jackson went downtown
Coca cola brought him down
Diet pepsi picked him up
Now we're talkin 7 up
7 up has no caffeine
Now we're talkin bily jean
Billy jean went down the street sayin:
Doo a ditty ditty dum ditty doo

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Young girl in Philly
Date: 23 Aug 11 - 09:24 AM

This is really funny, because I got the song soooo wrong, I probably mis-heard it once and repeated it again and again, but the version i remember is:

Down by the river, by the hanky panks,
A boy got shot by the hanky panks,
Say ee, i, eat my pie,
Skittle round to dittle in the world, oh my :P:P:P:P:P

Haha now that I write it, it makes absolutley no sense at all!

Subject: WHAT
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 01:33 AM

No ones heard it like this ?? Dowm by the banks of the hanky pankey where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bankey said it eeps opps soda pops johnny broke the bottle and it went kerplops

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest: Australia
Date: 24 Sep 11 - 10:34 PM

At primary school in the 80s in Australia, our version went like this:

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs leap from bank to banky
with an eep, ipe, okey dokey
with an eep, ipe, okey dokey, yeah!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,lacie
Date: 18 Oct 11 - 09:04 PM

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank
singing epps eyps ops chili Willie ding dong
i pledge elegance to the flag Micheal Jackson makes me gag
coco cola burns my butt now were talking 7 up 7 up has
no caffeine now were talking billy jean billy jean
is out of site now were talking dynamite dynamite blows up the school now were talking really cool 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ! BOOM -Ur out-

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Sarah
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 09:56 PM

Having grown up in central Indiana and also having a scouting background and working with kids myself, this is the version that I've always seen played, which has three verses, though the second verse tends to get omitted fairly often, and sometimes we only use the first verse...

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With an eeps! Ipes! Opes! Oops!
And an oop flop a dilly and an oop flop flop

Pepsi cola came to town
Coco cola shot him down
Dr pepper fixed him up
And now we all drink 7up

Pepsi cola ginger ale
Ginger ale ginger ale ginger ale ginger ale
Pepsi cola ginger ale
7up 7up 7up you're out

The game is played in a circle with everyone sitting with their palms up, left hand under and right hand over the person's next to them. A leader is chosen to start the hand slap, which is passed around the circle. When the song ends, the person it stops on is out, and the person to their left becomes the new leader. When it gets down to two people, they join hands and move their arms in a saw-like motion until the song ends. Whoever has their arm extended wins!

The other ways I've seen online are neat, too, and though I still have a soft spot for the version I learned as a kid, I'm guessing the original third line of the rhyme dealt with a frog hopping and then the original fourth line (which I'm guessing was probably the last line) dealt with a lillypad and a kerplop!

Since children's songs like this are passed down by word of mouth, and children mishear and misspeak lyrics all the time, I don't think the original version is out there anymore, though that one post about the Pasquotanky might be pretty close, since hanky panky is easier to say and remember. However, even that could have been changed to fit the location of the children singing it at the time, so it's probable that the only original words to the song were "the bull frogs jumped from bank to banky". Whether the original was "down by the banks of the" or "down by the river of" is still up for debate. Other words could fit there and make sense, too, such as shore or bed instead of banks or river, so even those two could be changed versions of the original, though I think it's more likely that it was river instead of banks first, since banks appear twice more in the second line, and it would be easier to remember for a child if all the things pertaining to water were the same word. Chances are that if it was indeed originally "down by the river of", there was probably no "the" after the word "of" because rhythmically, the word "the" wouldn't fit as well before the name of the river.

Despite all this, do I intend to sing it any differently from what I always have? Nope! While most of the other ways are really neat, I've got a bit of sentimentality for the one I grew up with, so that's the one I'm sticking to.

I hope everyone has an awesome day!
Over and out,
Sarah

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 05 Nov 11 - 08:24 AM

Guest Sarah, I took the liberty of adding your comment to this page on my Cocojams website: http://www.cocojams.com/content/text-analysis-down-banks-hanky-panky Text Analysis: "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky

That particular Text Analysis page focuses on the sources and folkloric development of the children's rhyme "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky.

I appreciate your comment/example and the comments/examples of others who have posted on this page, and those who may post on this page in the future.

To borrow your words whose spirit I love,

Have an awesome day!

Azizi Powell

over and out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Ohio Kids
Date: 15 Nov 11 - 05:24 AM

down by the river with the hanky panky
fe fi fo the devil stanky
fe fi fo fum
chilly willy ding dong
yo momma look like king kong
lets play a game of ping pong
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

compliments of a daycare in Ohio

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,jessica from Ohio
Date: 20 Nov 11 - 10:23 AM

We sung this one when I was a kid in NE Ohio (I'm 27 now). But it went:

Down by the banks with the hanky-panky
where the bullfrogs jumped from bank to banky
with an eeps, ops, ohps ops,
eeps ops ohps and it goes ker-splash!

The one about the dirty magazine went like this:

bubblegum, bubblegum in a dish
how many pieces do you wish?
(someone says a number) ex: three
T-H-R-E-E spells "three"
and out you go, you dirty old dishrag, you!
not because you're dirty
not because you're clean
just because you kissed a boy behind the Playboy magazine!

Also, I have been looking for the Italian version of the hand-clapping ("down by the banks") song. Does anyone know it?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Dec 11 - 09:10 PM

Down by the river front, hanky pank
Bullfrog, bullfrog jumped the bank
Say, fee fi fo fum,
pass it to the next one.

Mickey Mouse built a house,
Donald Duck messed it up,
who will pay the consequences
Y - O - U!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Azizi
Date: 21 May 12 - 11:53 AM

Here's a link to my latest post about "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky":

http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/05/song-sources-for-down-by-banks-of-hanky.html

Song Sources For Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky

-snip-

That post features videos of the following songs & one rhyme:

King Kong Kitchie - "Chubby" Parker

Foolish Frog by Blind Blake

Eep, Ipe, Wanna Piece of Pie - Fats Waller

Joe Perkins - Little Eeefin' Annie (1963)

Alvin and the Chipmunks-Witch Doctor

The Jetsons - Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

Coca cola went to town

Manfred Mann - Do Wah Diddy


-snip-

By no means do I believe this is a complete list of all the songs/rhymes which has influenced the development of versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky".

Thanks to all here who have contributed information about song sources for this huge family of playground rhymes and who have contributed examples of this rhyme.

Best wishes!

Azizi Powell

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Bank
From: GUEST,AwSoMnEsS
Date: 23 May 12 - 03:09 PM

Down by the bank and the hanky pank
where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
saying ees ies oes ues
easts side west side ping pong
your daddy smells like king kong
apples peaches pears plumes
tell me when your birthday comes
(The person you land on says their birthday, say I say my birthday is december 17, then u say)
january february march april.......
(until u get to december or whatever their B-day month is, then u say )
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ..........................
( until u get to 17 or whatever their Birthday day is, and whoever it lands on is out............... but their's a trick to not getting out, you can quickly move your hand so the persons hand can tag their self and then their out and not you ) then the circle moves smaller and you so that until their is 2 people and 1 of them wins

(P.S. this is so fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Ginger98
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:57 AM

I'm from beaverton oregon here how we sing it.

Down by the banks of the hanky pank pank pank where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank with an eeps, Ipes , opes, opps, here comes the bull frog with a big KER-PLOPPP!

Repeats until there only one person left and that person is the winner. Every time the song repeats the song gets faster. Whoever hand is clapped on the words KER-PLOP is out.

I learned this six year ago.

Pank pernounced ( P-ay-n-k) (pain-k)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Ginger98
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:57 AM

I'm from beaverton oregon here how we sing it.

Down by the banks of the hanky pank pank pank where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank with an eeps, Ipes , opes, opps, here comes the bull frog with a big KER-PLOPPP!

Repeats until there only one person left and that person is the winner. Every time the song repeats the song gets faster. Whoever hand is clapped on the words KER-PLOP is out.

I learned this six year ago.

Pank pernounced ( P-ay-n-k) (pain-k)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Ginger98
Date: 30 May 12 - 12:00 PM

Oops I meant to say pank only twice and I said it three times.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,LuAnn Kelley
Date: 25 Aug 12 - 09:16 AM

I learned this song on Camp Fombelina in western Pa where I lived. My family were the caretakers.

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky,
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky,
with an(long vowel sounds) e-p, i-p, o-p, oop, e-sopadilly and a (make slurping noise) flop!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Oct 12 - 01:11 AM

In Ireland we really sang this very differently. Over version is double Dutch to be honest.

Down the lane of hanky panky
Through the lane of planky zanky
Zoom zam zoom zam
All the way to ker plunk

How's your father?
Alright. Died in the fish shop last night.
What did he die of?
Raw fish.
Where did he get it?
My dish.
Where did he get it?
My dish.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Oct 12 - 05:29 PM

here in new jersey we do it like this:

Down by the bank of the hanky panky Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank saying : Hee pa hee pa pa skittle diddle kernel pop I pledge allegiance to the flag Michael Jackson sings so bad coca Cola messed me up Now I'm drinking seven-up Seven-up has no caffiene now im drinks gasoline gasoline ran out of feul Now I'm drinking Mountain Dew Mountain Dew fell off the mountain Now I'm drinking from the fountain After that the fountain broke Now I'm back to plain old diet COKE

-ME

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,alyssa.
Date: 26 Jan 13 - 09:33 AM

I am from Las vegas, nv and learned this song in Girl Scouts. I had no idea that other people sang much longer versions! our general goal was to slap hands as fast as possible so that we could sing as fast as possible and get someone else out and be the winner! and then it starts aaaaaaaaaaall over again. we sang a very simple version as someone posted above

down by the banks of the hanky panky, where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank, sayin' eeps opps soda pops, johnny broke a bottle and it went ker-PLOP!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Southeast, Texas
Date: 10 Mar 13 - 01:51 AM

I am from southeast Texas and I learned this version in elementary school :

Down by the river with the handy panky,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank,
Singing
oh,
ah,
skiddle,
skaddle,
Big,
fat,
bull,
frog!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Mar 13 - 06:33 PM

I learned it completely different
There are no frogs
down by the Riverside hanky panky
(Can't remember a few lines)
East. West south side
your daddy smells like king Kong
Let's play a game of 2004
Ping pong pull

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 12 Mar 13 - 01:13 PM

Down by the river near the hanky panky were the bull frogs jump from bank to Banky singing a e i o u Michael Jordan went to town coca cola shot him down Mountain Dew shot him up now where talkng seven up seven up has no caffien now where talking billy jean billy jean is out of sight now where talking dynamite 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,faith
Date: 17 May 13 - 03:07 PM

I learned this at my school: Down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky say fee fi fo fum slly willy ding dong your momma smells like king kong coca cola fills you up now we're drinking seven up seven up has no caffeine now we're drinking gasoline gasoline is meant for cars now we're staring at the stars.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Soar
Date: 04 Dec 13 - 08:27 PM

Down by the bank with a hanky pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
I say, eep op eep op op
Skiddle diddle kernel pop!
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Micheal Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola has caffeine
Now we're talking jelly beans
Jelly beans are out of sight
Now we're back to
Down by the bank with a hanky pank
Where bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
I say, eep op eep op op
Skiddle..diddle..kernel..POP!
(whoever slapped the other's shoulder first at POP won)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,:o
Date: 07 Mar 14 - 09:55 PM

I learned it:

Down by the bank, hanks hanks,
where the bullfrogs skipped from bank to bank,
singing eeps, ipes, opes, aops,
chilly willy ding dang dong, I pledge alligence to the flag,
Micheal Jackson makes me gag, coca cola 7-up, now we're talking 7-up,
7-up has no caffine, now we're talking billy jean,
billy jean got laid out, that means you STINK!

(whoever's hand was clapped on stink was out)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,amy in Kentucky
Date: 01 May 14 - 04:44 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky.
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank. Say As Es Is Os ees I did it.
Bing Bong your daddy smells like King Kong.
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag.
Coca-cola burnt him up
Now we're talkin 7 up
7 up has no caffeine
Now we're talking Billy Jean
Billy jean went out of style.
Now we're talking Bobby Brown.
B-o-b-b-y B-r-o-w-n went out of town

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,ADalton
Date: 04 Oct 14 - 01:45 PM

When I was in elementary school (early 2000s, Los Angeles) we sang it:
Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Where the eeps, ops, soda pops,
Froggy missed a lilly and he went ker-plop!

I don't remember what game went with it. I do remember it having a tune:
F, F, F, A, A, A, A sharp, A sharp, C, C
C, C, F,F, A,A, A sharp, A sharp, C, C,
C, C, F (octave up from the other ones), C, A, C, F
C,C, C, C, C, D, C, A sharp, A, G, F
I thought I should include the tune because I'm not sure how widespread it is. Some of the versions here don't seem like they would fit it.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Sep 15 - 04:25 PM

In NC in the mid-2000's, our version went

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bull-frog jumps from bank to bank ("sy" was sometimes added")
Say A-E-I-O-U-and-Y
Now that frog has caught the fly!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Palm beach Florida Justin May childhood
Date: 18 May 16 - 12:26 AM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
The bull dog jumps from bank to banky
Saying eep ip oop o ya momma ugly and so are you
Ding dong donkey kong give the dog the lucky ball
Ask your teacher what to wear polka-dotted underwear
Not to big not to small just the right size of the Palm beach mall
I woke up Saturday morning and looked up on the wall
I saw a pack of roaches playing basketball
The score was 6 to nothing Chicago in the lead
I got my water gun and shot a 1.2.3.

This was a hand game everyone sit int he circle and put each others on one another with palm facing up and then as the someone sings the song you clap the hand next to you and try not to be the one who hand gets clapped at the end after the song ends at the end one person makes the hand open like a gator mouth and the next person try to be able to put their hand in and out of the other persons hand without the person closing it on them.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,TheGoddess
Date: 10 Dec 16 - 09:07 PM

When i was younger until now i could have sworn the song said
"Down by the banks of the hanky pank
where the boyscouts jumped from bank to bank
saying eat my, eat my pie skittle diddle pumpkie pie"

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Aug 17 - 03:12 PM

YES!!! This is how we played it in Kansas City, MO in the early 90's. I had no idea it was a rare way of playing it. Thanks for posting and setting my mind at ease!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,person
Date: 04 Feb 18 - 06:03 PM

This is what i've known since 2nd grade
Down by the bays of the hanky panky
Where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
saying fe fi fo fum mesay mesay ding dang dong
i pledge allegiance to the flag
micheal jackson makes me gag
coka cola fizzes up
now we're talking 7 up
7 up has no caffeine
now we're talking jelly beans (or gasoline)
jelly beans r out of sight
now we're talking dynamite
dynamite blew up the school
now we're talking really cool
cool cool like a pool
fell and drowned like a fool
(then everyone falls backwards)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Natori
Date: 16 Mar 18 - 01:47 AM

Down by the bank to the hanky pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Said eeps ipes opes oops
Chili willy ding dong
Your mama smells like king Kong
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Micheal Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola burning up
Now we’re talking 7-up
7-up has no caffiene
Now we’re talking billy jean
Billy jean is out of sight
Now we’re talking dy-no-mite

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Sara
Date: 16 Jul 18 - 09:08 PM

I recently got into an argument with my friend about this... he’s from NY and I’m from MO so that might explain the difference

Haven’t seen my version of down by the banks ANYWHERE! Very weird

I learned it in Girl Scouts/general elementary school

Down by the banks of the hanky pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Singin fee fo fum
Hee-say mee-say
Ding dang dong (out on dong)

Dr.Pepper came to town,
Coca Cola knocked him down,
7 up caught the flu,
Now we’re drinking Mountain Dew,
Mountain Dew fell off the mountain,
Now we’re drinkin from the fountain,
Fountain broke,
Now we have nothing to drink (out on drink)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 12:55 AM

I learned this version in Elementary school in North Carolina.

Down in the banks with the hanky pants
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank
Singing epes ipes opes oops chilly willy ding dong
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Justin Beiber makes me gag
Coca-Cola brought him up now we’re talking 7 up
7 up has no caffeine now we’re talking Billy Jean
Billy Jean ran out of sight now we’re talking dynamite
Dynamite blew up the school now we’re talking really cool
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The last person clapped obviously being out. When two people were left they would lock hands so that one person’s arms were crossed and the others wasn’t. They would then sing the song and try to make sure their arms weren’t crossed at the end.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Misty
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 10:43 AM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky,

Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank,
Saying eeps, ipes, opes, ops,
Crockadilly and kerrrplop!
Mickey Mouse build a house,
Donald Duck messed it up.
Who will pay the consequences?
Y-o-U!

When you get to the U if you slap your own hand you are out or if you slap the person's next to you they are out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Marissa
Date: 19 Dec 18 - 09:13 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
were the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
going epps ieps ops oops
Listen to the ker-plop
i pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson sings so bad (which he doesn't)
Pepsi Cola burned him up
now he's drinking 7 up
7 up has no caffeine
now he's drinking gasoline
Gasoline has no good taste now he's drinking toxic waste(then the melody changes)
there's a place on mars, where the babys smoke cigars and the boys wear bikinis and the ladies drink martinis
(then it ends something like this)mirror mirror on the wall who's the fairest of them all!
At the end who ever got landed on would be out and then it would start over with the remaining players.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 26 May 19 - 06:09 PM

This is the most popular one in New Jersey

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,a
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 11:06 PM

down by the bank of the hanky pank, where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank. ya say e pa e pa pa. skittle dittle kernel pop. i pledge allegiance to the flag. michael jackson makes me mad. coca cola has caffeine. now i'm drinking gasoline. gasoline went out of fuel. so now i'm drinking mountain dew. mountain dew fell off the mountain so now i'm drinking from the fountain. one day the fountain broke, so now i'm drinking plain old diet coke... diet coke went ran out of diet so now i'm drinking sunny d. sunny d fell off the sun so now i'm counting 10 to 1. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

kids at my school usually ended at the diet coke part but one of my friends added a continuation

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Mike
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 05:22 PM

I learned as:
Down by the banks of the hanky pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Saying eep opp eep opp opp
Skiddle diddle ker plop.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Lexi; The Deep South’s Version
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 09:43 AM

DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE HANKY PANKY
WHERE THE BULLFROG JUMPED FROM BANK TO BANK
I SAID A E I O U BEETLEJUICE
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
MICHAEL JACKSON IS MY DAD
COCA COLA BURNS HIS BUTT
NOW HES DRINKING 7 UP
7 UP HAS TOO MUCH CAFFEINE
NOW HES DRINKING GASOLINE
GASOLINE IS MADE FOR CARS
NOW HES EATING CANDY BARS
CANDY BARS HAVE TOO MUCH FAT
NOW HES DRIVING A CADILLAC
CADILLACS ARE OUTTA STYLE
NOW HE HAS TO WALK AN EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA MILE

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Repeep
Date: 23 Aug 19 - 04:36 PM

Greetings, all! I hope everyone is well! I was wondering about the Down By The River handclap circle game ever since I taught my youngest sister it. So, I’d like to contribute my location’s variation on the rhyme! I learned it from the older girls at school (in RI, USA) sometime around the later 2010s, and I believe it went something like this:
Down by the river with the hanky-panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank-y
Saying ee bop ee bop bop, skittle diddle lollypop

I pledge allegiance to the flag, Michael Jackson makes me gag/is a fag
Coca Cola has caffeine
Now we're talking jelly beans
Jelly beans are out of style
We've been talking for a while

Ee bop ee bop bop, skittle diddle lollypop
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!

I’m not exactly sure how the middle part (paragraph) goes, as it’s been a while. I feel like it was longer, too, and that sometimes we sang “Billy Jean” instead of “jelly bean,” but I am probably wrong.
I hope that one day, we can collect all of the variations and keep them going! Some of these are cool and others hilarious! <3

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,KHall
Date: 04 Sep 19 - 12:19 AM

In Arkansas it goes like this:

Down by the river of the Hanky Panky
Sat a big fat frog jumpin bank to banky
With a E-E-I-I-O U
Johnny struck a match and it landed on YOU!

We would stand in a circle, hitting the next person's hands until the end of the song!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,KGreene
Date: 08 Sep 19 - 10:42 PM

Version from my childhood (California, late 70s-early 80s):

Way down yonder in the Yankety Yank
Where the bullfrog jumped from bank to bank
Just because there’s nothin’ better for to do, what to do, what to do, what to do

He stubbed his toe and he fell in the water
You could hear him holler for a mile and a quarter
Just because there’s nothin’ better for to do, what to do, what to do, what to do

Note: “there’s” meaning “there was”

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Max
Date: 15 Dec 19 - 10:06 PM

I heard this one in elementary school in Atlanta, GA, probably between '05-'08. Some variations on here got close to mine, but not quite. Here's the version I remember best:

Down by the banks of the Hanky Pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Singin' eeps, ipes, opes, ups
Chilly willy ding dong
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola, burn it up
Now we're talkin' 7-Up
7-Up has no caffeine
Now we're talkin' Billie Jean
Billie Jean is out of sight
Now we're talkin' dynamite
Dynamite blew up the school
Now we're talkin' really cool
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Jan 20 - 04:19 PM

down by the river in the hanky panky where the bullfrog jumped from bank to banky saying eeps iips oops ops the bullfrog went kerplop

Michael jackson is my dad
now he's drinking 7up, 7up has no caffeine
now he's drinking gasoline, gasoline is meant for cars
now hes shooting up to mars

there's a place on mars where the babies smoke cigars, were the men wear bikinis and the ladies drink martinis
every step you take is enough to kill a snake
when the snake is dead they stuff diamonds in its head when the diamonds break it is 1948, when the world war ends it is time to take revenge

mirror mirror on the wall whos the fairest of them all
Y-O-U

whoever it lands on gets out and you start again

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,augphi
Date: 04 Mar 20 - 12:25 AM

I lived on the East Coast of the United States and we sung the song like this:

Down by the banks of the hanky-pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Saying eee! Aaaah! Eee! Bop! Bop!
Skiddle diddle kernel pop

Said 1, 2, 3, 4
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca-cola has no caffeine
Now we’re drinking gasoline
Gasoline is made by you
Now we’re drinking Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew fell off the mountain
Now we’re drinking from the fountain
Fountain broke, now we’re drinking
Plain, old, Diet Coke


We played this game in a large group. The person next to you would put their right hand on top of your left hand and so on until everyone was matched up. The point was to tap the person to your left’s hand. Whoever’s hand was hit when you said the last “coke” was out and then you’d start the song over again until there was two people left. Then, the two people would have one person start with their palms facing down and the other person would have their palms facing up under the other person’s hand and you would clap and switch. Whoever’s hand was hit lost or if the person on top didn’t hit the hands hand of person on the bottom lost .

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Mar 20 - 03:42 PM

I am from Cincinnati Ohio and did not realize the differences between the states and lyrics to this song! We say sat in a circle palms up and someone starts with slapping the next person's hand as it goes in a circle whoever's hand is it when you get to 10 they are out. We sang...

Down, down down in the valley with a hanky panky.
Fe fi fo your mamma stanky
Fe fi fo fum
Chilli willy doing dong
Your mamma smells like king kong
Let's play a game of ping pong
1, 2 etc until you get to 10 whoever gets slapped at 10 is out

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 04 May 20 - 04:24 AM

i'm from mississippi and these are the lyrics we always sang!!

down by the river of the hanky lanky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky singing A E I O U bamboo michael jackson went to town coca cola shot him down dr pepper shot him up now we're talkin seven up seven up has no caffeine now we talking billy jean billy jean went down the street singing doo ah diddy diddy dum diddy doo singing A E I O U bamboo

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 10 May 20 - 01:18 AM

From NJ, this is what I know.

Down by the banks with the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Saying eep, opp, eep opp opp
Skittle, diddle, kertle pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Mivheal Jackson makes gag
Coca cola has caffeine,
Now I'm drinking gasoline
Gasoline gave me the flu
Now I'm drinking mountain dew
Mountain dew fell off the mountain
Now I'm drinking from the fountain
Yesterday the fountain broke,
Now I'm drinking cherry coke
Cherry coke fell off the tree
Now I'm drinking sunny d
Sunny D fell off the sun
Now im counting 10 to 1
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 10 May 20 - 11:31 PM

I'm from Kentucky and I've never seen my version before, down by the banks of the hanky panks where the bullfrog jumps from banks to banks saying eeps ips ops oops, listen to the rhythm of the ding dang dong, Michael Jackson went to town Pepsi-Cola shot him down dr. Pepper fixed him up now we're talking 7UP, 7up has no caffeine now we're talking Billie Jean, Billie Jean went down the street singing do da Diddy Diddy dum Diddy do, Lincoln Lincoln I've been thinking what on Earth have you been drinking is it whiskey is it wine oh my gosh it's suppertime 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,New Jersey
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 11:51 PM

Down by the bank of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank singing
Eeep Op Eeep Op Skiddle diddle kernel pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola messed me up
Now I'm drinking seven-up
Seven-up has no caffeine
Now I'm drinking gasoline
Gasoline ran out of fuel
Now I'm drinking Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew fell off the mountain
Now I'm drinking from the fountain
Yesterday the fountain broke
Now I'm drinking plain old diet coke

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: and e
Date: 05 Jun 20 - 08:53 PM

Hokey, pokey, hanky, panky
I'm the Queen of Swinkey Swankey;
And I'm pretty well, I thanky.

Rhyme #686 of The Counting-Out Rhymes of Children (1888) by Henry Carrington Bolton

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jun 20 - 01:27 AM

Your versions are so weird to me
(I'm from south Jersey)

Down by the river with the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
sining ee ii ooh oh oh
skittle dittle tik tak toe
I pledge allegiance to the flag
michael jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola blew him up
Now I'm drinking seven up
Seven up has no caffeine
Now i'm drinking gasoline
gasoline gave me the flu
now i'm drinking mountain dew
mountain dew fell off the mountain
Now i'm drinking from a fountain
Uh oh fountain broke
now i'm drinking plain old diet coke
whoopsie gotta pee
now i'm drinking sunny D
Sunny D fell off the sun
okay now i'm done
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Jun 20 - 03:01 AM

Grew up in south Florida

Down by the lake with the hanky pank
Said the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank
say E-I-O-U
Yo Momma smell and so do you
Micheal Jackson went to town riding on a pony
stuck a feather in is eye and called him macaroni
resse pieces butter cup
u mess wit me ill bust you u up
bang bang choo-choo train
Let me see you do that thang.
I can't! Why not? I can't! Why not?
Cause my head hurt my bra too tight
and my booty shake from the left to the right
Go left, Go right, go left right left right (last smack)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,sal
Date: 25 Jul 20 - 12:32 PM

Down by the banks
with the hanky panks
the bullfrogs jumps from banks to banks
saying e i o u
your mama stinks and so do you
ping pong ding dong
your daddy smells like King Kong
on your feet and on your toes
your daddy wears pink pantyhose

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 26 Jul 20 - 08:36 AM

I love all these versions. It affirms what I've felt for years, that the last bastion of true folklore is the playground.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Lavender
Date: 30 Jul 20 - 04:03 AM

I’ve been interested in the different versions of this rhyme since forever and can’t believe it took so long to find this site! All versions I know are from the mid 2000s.

Heard in a Christian camp in Mississippi:
Down by the valley of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Sayin’ ooh, ah, skittle, skattle, big, fat, bull, frog
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson is so bad
Pepsi-Cola, burnin’ up
Now we’re drinkin’ 7-Up
7-Up has no caffeine
Now we’re wachin’ Billy Jean
Billy Jean went out of style
Now we’re wachin’ X-Files
X-Files, way too scary
Now we’re wachin’ Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry’s way too funny
Now we’re wachin’ Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny’s way too lame
Now we’re playin’ video games
Video games are way too boring
Then one morning I woke up snoring

Heard in an elementary school near Memphis, Tennessee:
Down by the valley of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Sayin’ ooh, ah, skittle, skattle, big, fat, bull, frog
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson is so bad
Pepsi-Cola, burnin’ up
Now we’re drinkin’ 7-Up
7-Up has no caffeine
Now we’re wachin’ Billy Jean
Billy Jean went out of style
Now we’re wachin’ X-Files
X-Files, way too scary
Now we’re wachin’ Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry’s way too stupid
Now we’re wachin’ Cupid (This line shifts from a chant to a song)
Once on Sunday morning
I looked up at the wall
I saw a team of cockroaches
Playing basketball
The score was none to six
Roaches in the lead
I think I need some bug spray
1, 2, 3

Heard near Wichita, Kansas:
Down by the valley of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Sayin’ eeps, ipes, opes, ops
And a little flicker-doodle and a big ker-plop
(This version uses the same tune I saw mentioned by someone else earlier)

Heard in Texas:
Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
E I O U east side, west side
Ping, pang, pong

Half remembered near Memphis, Tennessee:
Down by the valley of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Sayin’ ooh, ah, skittle, skattle, big, fat, dirty, rat
I pledge allegiance to the flag (to the flag said faster than normal rhythm)
Michael Jackson was so bad (was so bad said faster than normal)
Pepsi-Cola, burp it up
Now we’re drinkin’ 7-Up
7-Up has no caffeine
Now we’re drinkin’ gasoline
Gasoline made me puke (or possibly throw up)
(Don’t remember a few lines)
Now we all drink Coke

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Lavender
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 03:19 AM

After more thought, I had more info to add. The tune posted by ADalton is very similar but not quite the same as the tune I learned.
(Spaces indicate separation of words)
F F F AA A A A#A# CC
C C FF A A A# A# C
CC F (rest) A (rest) A# (half rest) B
C C CC CCCD C A# A FF
Also, the cockroaches’ basketball section is to the tune of Ms. Suzie had a Steamboat.
The transition from chant to song starts on F# with the chin of watchin’ then goes to GF# for Cupid. Once starts on G, and the 1, 2, 3 at the end is G F# G.

I heard the Coca-Cola went to Town rhyme as part of I’m a Nut, rather than Hanky Panky. A similar version is posted here on a list of Girl Scout songs, but I learned it this way.
Coca-Cola went to town
Pepsi-Cola shot him down
Dr. Pepper fixed him up
Now we all drink 7-Up
I’m a nut (click click) x2
I’m a nut x3 (click click)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 27 Sep 20 - 03:53 AM

My friends and I put all this together in fourth grade:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky saying fee fi fo fum. i pledge allegiance to the flag that Micheal Jackson is my dad. Coca Cola burned him up. Now we're drinking seven up. Seven up has no caffeine. Now we're talking jelllybeans. Jellybeans are out of sight. Now we're talking dynamite. Dynamite blew up the school. Now we're talking really cool. Mickey mouse built a house. Donald duck messed it up. Who will pay for all the damage? Y O U spells you. Tarzan the monkey man swinging from a rubber band. Fell down broke his crown. What color was his blood?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 30 Oct 20 - 05:48 AM

Here's what I remember:

Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
saying eeps ipes opes oops chilly willy ding dong
Michael Jackson went to town
Coca cola him down
Coca cola brought him up
Now he's drinking 7-up
7-up has no caffeine, now we're talking Billie Jean
Billie Jean's momma said 'Do wa diddy, diddy dum, diddy do"
Inky pinky ponky daddy had a donkey
Donkey died, daddy cried
Inky pinky ponk-Y

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Nov 20 - 11:47 PM

So many versions. The one I remember from my childhood is kinda creepy now if I think about

Down by the riverside hanky, panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Saying oosh, oosh, osh, osh
Della Della ding dong
Daddy smells like King Kong
Coca-Cola burns you up
Now you're drinking 7-up
7-up has no caffeine
Now you're drinking gasoline
Gasoline was made for cars
Now you're eating candy bars
Candy bars have too much fat
Now you're driving a Cad-i-llac

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,person
Date: 13 Jan 21 - 09:12 AM

down by the backs of Hanky Panky where there bullfrogs jump from banky to banky singing epes ipes os ues you are a ding dong your daddy smells like king kong apples cherries peaches plums tell me when your birthday comes

then whoever it landed on they would tell their birthday then we would count up to there birthday

Example: May 4
January February March April May 1 2 3 4

then whoever it landed on would out then we kept going until only one person was left

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 08:37 PM

We always sang

Down by the river on the hanky pank
where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank
saying EIOU
your mama stinks and so do you
so ping pong ding dong
your daddy smells like king kong
on your feet and on your toes
your brother wears pink pantyhose
coca-cola cole fills you up
now we're talking 7up
7up has no caffeine and
now we're talking billie jean
billie jean blew up the school
now we're talking really cool
really cool is out of sight
now we're talking dynamite
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Rye Bread
Date: 15 Feb 21 - 12:48 PM

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
singing eeps, opps, eeps opps opps
skiddle diddle kernel pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
michael jackson makes me gag
coca cola blew up
now I'm drinking 7-up
7-up caught the flu
now I'm drinking mountain dew
mountain dew fell off the mountain
now I'm drinking from the fountain
yesterday the fountain broke
now I'm drinking plain old diet coke

it went around a large circle and whoever it landed on on the last word was out and the circle decreased and the song repeated until there was a winner

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,madalena hughes
Date: 28 Feb 21 - 12:50 AM

down by the bank of the Hanky Panky where the bullfrog jumps from bank to banky
say eep opp eep opp opp skiddle diddle kernel pop
say 1. 2. 3. 4.
I pledge allegiance to the flag
sour apples make me gag
coca cola keeps me up
now im drinking seven up
seven up has no caffeine
now im drinking gasoline
gasoline gave me the flu
now im drinking mountain dew
mountain dew fell off the mountain
now im drinking water fountain
water fountain sprang a leak
now im drinking iced tea
iced tea has too much ice
now im drinking water ice
water ice has too much water
now im drinking
plain
old
di-et
coke

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Mar 21 - 11:29 PM

In 2001 in TN it was :
Down by the river hanky pank where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank,
Say E, I, O, U
Your mama she says "soda" (this may be been misheard)
You say ding dong donkey Kong,
Went to school with nothing on,
Ask the teacher what she wears,
Polka dotted underwear.
Not too big, not too small,
Just the size of Brown mall.
I pledge allegiance to the flag,
Michael Jackson is a drag.
Coca cola pump it up,
Now we're talking 7Up.
7up has no caffeine,
Now we're talking Billie Jean,
Billie Jean is out of site,
Now we're talking dynamite,
Dynamite blue up the school,
Now we're talking really cool.
Really cool is saying you are out,
O-u-t out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,c
Date: 09 Apr 21 - 10:41 AM

at camp in eastern pa, roughly 2008-2011, it was this:


Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Saying ding-dong ding-dong,
your Momma looks like Donkey Kong
I pledge allegiance to the flag
That Micheal Jackson is my dad.

Pepsi-cola's burning up,
now we're drinking 7-up
7-up has no caffeine,
now we're drinking gasoline
gasoline is bad for you,
now we're drinking mountain dew
mountain dew fell off a mountain,
now we're drinking from a fountain
the fountain broke and now we're drinking
plain, old, di-et, coke

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Apr 21 - 06:55 PM

I think I learned a few variations of the chant throughout elementary in the mid to late 2000s in NC, but the ones I best remember are:

Down by the banks of the hanky pank,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank,
Goin' east side, west side, east side, west side,
Chilly Willy ding dong

I pledge allegiance to the flag,
Michael Jackson makes me gag

Coca-cola burned his butt,
Now we're talkin' Seven Up

Seven Up has no caffeine,
Now we're talkin' Billy Jean

Billy Jean went outta sight,
Now we're talkin' dynamite

Dynamite blew up the school,
Now we're talkin' really cool

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1

And the other version was the exact same except for the first few verses where it was

Down by the banks of the hanky pank,
Where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank,
Singin' eeps, ipes, opes, opps
Chilly Willy ding dong

But the same second chant.

We'd sit in a circle with one palm on top of one neighbors' and the other underneath our other neighbors' and do like a slap circle. The last two people would sit facing each other with one person's hands palm down in the air and the other person's hands palm up underneath the first pair and they'd go up and down slapping (if that makes sense) and whoever's palms were last palm up and got slapped was the loser.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Columbus, Ohio
Date: 29 Apr 21 - 10:07 AM

Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs leap from bank to banky
With a, fee fi fo fum,
pass it to the next one.

Mickey Mouse built a house,
Donald Duck messed it up,
who will pay the consequences
Y - O - U!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Jim Grace
Date: 01 May 21 - 09:11 AM

Seems like the original purpose of this thread is done and I hate to make it longer. Not enough not to do that though!

The ‘down by the banks of the hanky panky’ version I know is very similar to a lot of the shorter one-verse versions here. I was taught (by a teacher or similar) a song with the same tune and shape, to the same try-and-avoid-the-hand-slap circle game, that went:
Down in the jungle where nobody goes
There’s a big fat gorilla, blowing his nose...
[then some sounds that are supposed to be like him blowing his nose. I don’t remember them, sorry!]

I grew up in London, England; my friend who grew up in oxford & cambridge knows the gorilla words but not the frog words. In my school we played ‘oranges and lemons’ more often in the playground - hanky panky was more of a sitting down game.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,me
Date: 03 May 21 - 10:18 PM

Down in the banks of the hanky panks where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank give me a fee, fie, foe, fum, me say, you say ding dong.

I pledge allegiance to the flag Micheal Jackson is my dad

coco cola fizzes up, now were talking seven up

seven up has no caffeine now were talking jelly bean

jelly bean is out site now were talking dinomite

dinomite blew up the school now were talking REALLY COOL!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,A southern girl
Date: 14 May 21 - 04:55 AM

I grew up in Memphis and this is how I personally heard the song for the game goes:
Down by the river of hanky Panky
Bullfrog jumps from bank to bank he
Says "ooh! Ah! Skittle skat! Big fat dirty rat!"
I pledge allegiance to the flag, Michael Jackson is so bad
Coca-cola burnin' up, now it's time for seven up
Seven up has no caffeine, now it's time for billy Jean
Billy Jean went out of town riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his head and called it macaroni
Mickey Mouse had a house
Donald Duck messed it up
Who will pay the con-se-quenc-es
Y-O-U

And the person who's hand gets hit on the last U is the "loser" and is removed from the circle and we keep going with the game

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,yui
Date: 16 May 21 - 08:54 AM

I heard at camp
Down by the bank with a hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
say E I O U
Listen to the words song (probably misheard)
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson is my dad
Pepsi cola burned him up
now he's drinking gasoline
gasoline is meant for cars
Now he's shootin up to mars
there's a place on Mars
where the women smoke cigars
and the men wear bikinis
and the babies drink martinis
every step you take is enough to kill a snake
when the snake is dead
you put mustard in its eyes
when the mustard dries
It is 1948
Mickey mouse builds a house
Donald trump messes up
Mirror mirror on the wall
Who the fairest of them all
Y O U

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,ag
Date: 16 May 21 - 05:44 PM

the one i knew (around 2010-12?) went:
down by the bay with the hanky panky
when the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with an A, E, I O U,
i pledge allegiance to the flag
that cody simpson makes me gag!
up, up, 7-up,
now we're drinking 7-up
7-up got the flu, now we're drinking mountain dew
mountain dew fell off the mountain, now we're drinking from the fountain
fountain broke, now we're drinking plain old coke

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,R Duncan
Date: 25 May 21 - 04:28 PM

The one I remember from elementary school in the south was:

Down by the banks of the hanky panks
Where bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Sayin eeps ips oops oups
Silly Willy ding-dong
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca-Cola burned him up
Now we're talkin 7up
7up has no caffeine
Now we're talkin Billy Jean
Billy Jean was out of sight
Now we're talkin dynamite
Dynamite blew up the school
Now we're talkin really cool
Really cool is really neat
Now we're sittin on the street
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Whoever landed on 1 was out

Really cool to read all the different variations and how far off some of these verses can be. I wonder what the official original of this song was?

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,The Louisiana Version
Date: 26 May 21 - 04:03 PM

Down by the riverside
Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
I said a a-e-i-o-u beetle juice

I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson is so fat
Coca-Cola bust his butt
Now he's drinking 7 Up.
7 Up has no caffeine
Now he's drinking gasoline.
Gasoline was made for cars
Now he's eating candy bars.
Candy bars have too much fat
Now he's driving Cadillacs.
Cadillacs are out of style.
Now. He. Has. To. Walk. A. Mile.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,LA Version, Again.
Date: 26 May 21 - 04:06 PM

That's how black kids in Louisiana that were born in the 90's play it!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest; Ri
Date: 11 Jul 21 - 06:44 PM

Down by the banks with the hanky pank
where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank
singing eeps iips opes oops
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca cola burned his butt
now were talking 7-up
7-up has no caffeine
now were talking Billie Jean
Billie Jean went out of sight
now were talking dynamite
dynamite blew up the school
now were talking really cool
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,...1!

and then on 1! whoever had their hand slapped last is out and the game keeps going until it is down to the last player AKA the Winner. ( when there are only 2 players left the 2 players face each other and do the game again to determine the winner!)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Dinonysus
Date: 12 Sep 21 - 06:14 PM

I remember back home, around Salina, KS, we'd sing it
"Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank-y
With a 'fe-fi-fo-fun'
Micheal Jackson lost his thumb
Now we're talkin' 7-Up
7-Up has no caffeine
Now we're talkin' jellybeans
Red, blue, yellow, green"

Of course I was too young to know who Billie Jean was at that time, though, which is probably where the jellybeans verse came from.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,An NC native born in 2000
Date: 17 Jul 22 - 07:21 AM

I was in elementary and early middle school from 2008-2012 in North Carolina, U.S., and the version me and the kids in my class would play went like:

Down by the bank with the hanky panky,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank(y),
Singing east side, west side,
East side, west side
East side, west side
Dilly/diddily dang dong!

We would usually stand in a circle with our palms out to the side, each persons right hand on top of the person beside them’s left hand. As we sang we would pass a clap around the circle by hitting the person on our left’s hand. If you hit someone’s hand on “dong” you got them out, but if they pulled their hand away quick enough and you hit your own, you were out. If you caught yourself and didn’t hit them or you you continued in the game.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,kar
Date: 06 Aug 22 - 07:29 PM

this is how I did it!

down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank, said e bop e bop bop skittle dittle kernel pop, i pledge allegiance to the flag, Micheal Jackson makes me gag, coca cola has caffeine, now im drinkin gasoline, gasoline gave me the flu, now im drinkin mt due, mt due fell off the mt now im drinkin from the fountain, yesterday the fountain broke now im drinking cherry coke, cherry coke fell off the tree now im drinking sunny dee, sunny dee fell of the sun now im drinking 7up 7 6 5 4 3 2 1!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,leanrd it at camp
Date: 14 Sep 22 - 01:24 PM

i dont know when this came out but this my verison

Down by the banks in the hanky panky where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky with the eeps iips opes oops someone stepped in the bullfrog poop Pepsi Cole ginger ale ginger ale ginger ale ginger ale, Pepsi Cole ginger ale 7-up 7-up 7-up your out

heres the other one

Down by the banks in the hanky panky where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky with the eeps iips opes oops, opp daly opp in the opp flop flop, Pepsi Cole went to town ginger ale shot him down Dr Pepper fixed him up now we drinking 7-up, 7-up 7-up 7-up your out.


We would usually stand in a circle with our palms out to the side, each persons right hand on top of the person beside them’s left hand. As we sang we would pass a clap around the circle by hitting the person on our left’s hand. If you hit someone’s hand on "your out"you got them out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Dinah from the 90’s in the south Chicago sub
Date: 11 Oct 22 - 09:07 AM

Down by the farm said hanky pank
Said bulldog bulldog hanky pank
Said fee fi fo fum pass it to the bulldog
Mickey Mouse built a house
Donald Duck messed it up
Who will pay the consequences
Y-O-U and that spell YOU!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Kat 2000s an hour south of Chicago
Date: 01 Mar 23 - 11:45 PM

Bullfrog Bullfrog Hanky Pank
Say Bullfrog Bullfrog Hanky Pank
Say fee fi foe fum
Pass it to the next one
Mickey Mouse built a house
Donald Duck mess it up
Who will pay the consequences
Y-O-U spells you are OUT!
(Bullfrog and Bulldog were interchangeable at any given time/day)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Central New jersey
Date: 27 Apr 23 - 10:26 PM

Down by the bank if hanky pank
Where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank
Singing eep op eep op op
Skiddle diddle kernel pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola has caffeine
Now I’m drinking gasoline
Gasoline was made by you
Now we’re drinking Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew fell of the mountain
Now we’re drinking from the fountain
Yesterday the fountain broke
Now we’re drinking plain old Diet Coke

( some people used to play with the gasoline line , while others just directly went from Coca Cola to Mountain Dew , skipping the gasoline line , when reciting the rhyme ) !

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Northeast Ohio (2005-2012)
Date: 04 May 23 - 11:01 AM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With an eeps opps soda pop
Eeps opps silly and it goes kersplat

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,MICHIGAN!
Date: 11 Jun 23 - 12:05 AM

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
with a hip hop soda POP
i pledge allegiance to the flag
michael jackson makes me gag
coca cola burned his butt
now i’m drinking 7up
7up has no caffeine
now i’m drinking billie jean
billie jean went outta sight
now i’m drinking SPRITE
spell it
S
p
R
I
T
E

this is the “correct” version. ????????

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 23 Jun 23 - 03:47 PM

As kids we obviously didn’t know the words well- we just sang what we thought we heard other people singing and it kind of became telephone…so it makes zero sense. I’m pretty sure we even said “bay” instead of “bank.” But we sang something like…

Down by the bank with a hanky pank
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Singing E-I-O
Oooh yo momma stinks and so do you so
Ping pong diddly ding your father smells like old king king
Tell your teacher what to wear, polka dotted underwear
Not too big
Not too small
Just the size of the palm beach mall
Dan Marino’s number is
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

I guess that was a south Florida version- the palm beach mall doesn’t even exist anymore lol.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest-Kaylie
Date: 27 Sep 23 - 11:13 AM

Down by the bank of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With an eep, op, ah, ouuu, ooup flop belly and a ooup flop flop
Pepsi-cola, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale
Pepsi-cola, ginger ale, 7 up, 7 up, 7 up, your out!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Colorado
Date: 28 Sep 23 - 03:06 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
where he heeps, hops, over the tops
and the pink salamander goes ker-plop.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Oct 23 - 01:16 PM

all of you are wrong.the right version is
down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frog jumps from bank to bank
with n eeps ops soda pop hey
smackadoodle and he went kerplop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Justin Beiber makes me mad
pepsi cola burnt his butt
now he's drinking 7-up
7-up has no caffine
now he's drinking gasoline
gasoline is made for cars
now he's shooting up to mars
there's a place on mars where babies smoke cigars
mean wear bakinies and women drink martinis
every step you take is enough to kill a snake
when the snake is dead you put mustard on his head
when the mustard dries you put diamonds in his eyes
when diamonds break it is 1968
mirror mirror on the wall who's the fairest of them all
mickey mouse build a house
donald duck broke it down
who will face the consequences?
Y-O-U

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Oct 23 - 05:00 PM

I grew up in northestern Wisconsin and the version I learned was

“Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With a
Hip
Hop
Soda pop
And they all go down with a big ker-plop”

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Lali - Tucson, Arizona
Date: 25 Oct 23 - 08:33 PM

We sang two versions I think but this is the one I remember.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
with an e, i , o , u
stick a needle in your shoe
ding, dong, do.

And the person whom "do" landed on was out. There was also one that subbed in at the "with an" part with "with an eeps, ops, soda pops, one fell in and went kerplop" something like this. I heard maybe 3-5 other version at camps in the region as a young kid.

This was in the northeren part of Tuscon AZ, we had a number of other rhyming songs, not related to Hanky Panky, like "Ms Susie" and "Lemonade Crunchy Ice", and one I learned as a kid in NY "Mrs Mary Mac"

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Lali - Tucson, Arizona
Date: 25 Oct 23 - 08:37 PM

We sang two versions at my school I think but this is the one I remember.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
with an e, i , o , u
stick a needle in your shoe
ding, dong, do.

And the person whom "do" landed on was out. There was also one that subbed in at the "with an" part with "with an eeps, ops, soda pops, one fell in and went kerplop" something like this. I heard maybe 3-5 other version at camps in the region as a young kid. This was all from maybe 2001-2007 at the latest. (forgot to include time frame in my original post!)

This was in the northeren part of Tuscon AZ, we had a number of other rhyming songs, not related to Hanky Panky, like "Ms Susie" and "Lemonade Crunchy Ice", and one I learned as a kid in NY "Mrs Mary Mac"

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest - Northern Michigan
Date: 01 Nov 23 - 09:29 PM

We sang this in elementary (so somewhere between 1993 and 1997.)

All I can remember is “down by the bank of the hanky lanky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank, with an e-I-o-u, in goes out and out goes you.”

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest-Kaylie
Date: 27 Sep 23 - 11:13 AM

Down by the bank of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With an eep, op, ah, ouuu, ooup flop belly and a ooup flop flop
Pepsi-cola, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale
Pepsi-cola, ginger ale, 7 up, 7 up, 7 up, your out!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Colorado
Date: 28 Sep 23 - 03:06 PM

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
where he heeps, hops, over the tops
and the pink salamander goes ker-plop.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Oct 23 - 01:16 PM

all of you are wrong.the right version is
down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frog jumps from bank to bank
with n eeps ops soda pop hey
smackadoodle and he went kerplop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Justin Beiber makes me mad
pepsi cola burnt his butt
now he's drinking 7-up
7-up has no caffine
now he's drinking gasoline
gasoline is made for cars
now he's shooting up to mars
there's a place on mars where babies smoke cigars
mean wear bakinies and women drink martinis
every step you take is enough to kill a snake
when the snake is dead you put mustard on his head
when the mustard dries you put diamonds in his eyes
when diamonds break it is 1968
mirror mirror on the wall who's the fairest of them all
mickey mouse build a house
donald duck broke it down
who will face the consequences?
Y-O-U

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Oct 23 - 05:00 PM

I grew up in northestern Wisconsin and the version I learned was

“Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
With a
Hip
Hop
Soda pop
And they all go down with a big ker-plop”

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Lali - Tucson, Arizona
Date: 25 Oct 23 - 08:33 PM

We sang two versions I think but this is the one I remember.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
with an e, i , o , u
stick a needle in your shoe
ding, dong, do.

And the person whom "do" landed on was out. There was also one that subbed in at the "with an" part with "with an eeps, ops, soda pops, one fell in and went kerplop" something like this. I heard maybe 3-5 other version at camps in the region as a young kid.

This was in the northeren part of Tuscon AZ, we had a number of other rhyming songs, not related to Hanky Panky, like "Ms Susie" and "Lemonade Crunchy Ice", and one I learned as a kid in NY "Mrs Mary Mac"

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Lali - Tucson, Arizona
Date: 25 Oct 23 - 08:37 PM

We sang two versions at my school I think but this is the one I remember.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
with an e, i , o , u
stick a needle in your shoe
ding, dong, do.

And the person whom "do" landed on was out. There was also one that subbed in at the "with an" part with "with an eeps, ops, soda pops, one fell in and went kerplop" something like this. I heard maybe 3-5 other version at camps in the region as a young kid. This was all from maybe 2001-2007 at the latest. (forgot to include time frame in my original post!)

This was in the northeren part of Tuscon AZ, we had a number of other rhyming songs, not related to Hanky Panky, like "Ms Susie" and "Lemonade Crunchy Ice", and one I learned as a kid in NY "Mrs Mary Mac"

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,Guest - Northern Michigan
Date: 01 Nov 23 - 09:29 PM

We sang this in elementary (so somewhere between 1993 and 1997.)

All I can remember is “down by the bank of the hanky lanky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank, with an e-I-o-u, in goes out and out goes you.”

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Dec 23 - 07:32 PM

Down by the bank with the hanky panky
And the bull frogs jump from bank to banks
And a hip hop sody pop
Skittle skittle sody pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Justin beiber makes me gag
7up, Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew fell of the mountain
Now we’re drinking from the fountain
Yesterday the fountain broke
Now we’re drinking plain old Diet Coke

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Dec 23 - 09:49 PM

In Tennessee i learned:
Down by the river by the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jumped from bank to banky saying A E I O U bamboo, sugar is sweet and so are you so bing bang bong youre OUT

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,EddieIzVeryDed :D
Date: 19 Dec 23 - 06:15 PM

yall r sooo off
the correct version is:

down by the banks of the hanky panks
where the bullfrogs jump from banks to banks
singing eeps ipes opes oops
chilly willy ding dong
i pledge allegiance to the flag
michael jackson makes me gag
coca cola burned his butt
now we're talking 7 up
7 up has no caffeine
now we're talking billie jean
billie jean is out of sight
now we're talking dynamite
dynamite blew up the school
now we're talking really cool
really cool is really neat
now we're talking stinky feet
stinky feet is way tot smelly
now we're talking big fat belly
big fat belly ate too much
now we're talking double dutch
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

then the person gets out and stuff
this is the correct version

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Mar 24 - 09:58 AM

YALL ARE ALL WRONG!!
Down by the banks with the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
saying eeps ipes opes ooops
skiddle diddle kernel pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Micheal Jackson makes me gag
coca cola has caffiene
now were talking jelly beans
jelly beans are out of sight
now were talking dynamite
dynamite is so much fun
now were back to down by the banks
with the hanky panky where the bullfrogs
jump from bank to bank saying eeps ipes opes oops
skiddle diddle kernel pop

(whoever says pop last is out)

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Mar 24 - 01:43 PM

That last one is so close to mine-- we would slap hands while someone sang and whoever had their hand slapped last was out

Down by the banks with the hanky panks
Where the bullfrogs jump from banks to banks
Singing eeps ipes opes oops
Skittle diddle crackle pop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson makes me gag
Coca Cola has caffeine
Now we're talking jelly beans
Jelly beans are out of sight
Now we're talking dynamite
Dynamite is oh so fun
Now we're talking
Down by the banks with the hanky panks
Where the bullfrogs jump from banks to banks
Singing eeps ipes opes oops
Skittle diddle crackle pop

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST,anonymous?
Date: 30 Mar 24 - 09:49 PM

wRoNg
its:

down by the banks in a hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky saying
eeps
eyepps
oepps
ohpps
one fell in and went KERPLOP
i pledge allegiance to the flag
justin bieber makes me gag
mtn dew fell off the mtn
now im drinking from the fountain
fountain broke so now im drinking
plain
old
coke!

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Mar 24 - 10:28 PM

These versions aren't "wrong," they're all just different. The folk process, illustrated.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Apr 24 - 10:16 PM

Mine was.

Down by the bank where the hanky pank.
The bull frog jumps from bank to bank.
I say I, e,o,u, ur daddy smells like so do you.
Ping pong ding dong ur daddy smells like king Kong,
A b c d e f g ur momma smells like coffee.


We sung it in a circle hand in hand palms up whoever got smacked at the end of coffee was out until last one standing.