Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky

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: 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: 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: 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
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: 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,me
Date: 17 May 07 - 09:44 PM

thats how i play it too

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,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: 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,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: 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: 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
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 - 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: 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: 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: 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,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: 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,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: 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 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: 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 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,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,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,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,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,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,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,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: 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,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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 06:37 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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...