Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky

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...