Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky

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!