Origins: Five O'Clock Is Striking

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Origins: Five O'Clock Is Striking

27 Apr 17 - 04:09 AM (#3852660)
Subject: Origins: Five O'Clock Is Striking
From: Joe Offer

I posted this on another thread:

Thread #30159 Message #385463
Posted By: Joe Offer
30-Jan-01 - 02:01 AM
Thread Name: Irish Kid's Songs
Subject: ADD; Five O'Clock Is Striking ^^

FIVE O'CLOCK IS STRIKING
And five o'clock is striking, Mother may I go out?
My true love is a-waiting for me without.
First he brought me apples, then he brought me pears,
And then he gave me sixpence to kiss him on the stairs.
I would not take his apples, I would not take his pears,
I gave him back his sixpence when he kissed me on the stairs.

Source: "Cut the Loaf: Irish Children's Songs," Carmel O Boyle, Mercier Press, 1986.
@Irish @kids
filename[ FIVOCLOK
JRO
Apr01 ^^

I got an email response today:

Very similar to the rhyme "9 o'clock is striking..." dated 1943 on your site, was my great-grandmother's song that went like this:

"8 o'clock is striking
mother may I go out
for my beau is waiting
waiting to take me out

first he gave me peaches
then he gave me pears
and then he gave me 50 cents
to kiss him on the stairs!

Six generations of us sing this song. I've never seen it in print, but I'm certain that your 1943 version comes from the same southern NJ. ( Salem Co.) roots.
Thank you.
Carol

I can't find the 1943 song the writer says is posted here. Can anyone find it? I'm looking for other lyrics and other sources of this song. Can anyone help?

-Joe-

27 Apr 17 - 04:32 AM (#3852666)
Subject: RE: Origins: Five O'Clock Is Striking
From: Joe Offer

Our Jumprope Archive has this version:

Nine o'clock is striking. (* from Missouri circa 1943 *)
Mother may I go out?
All the boys are waiting
For to take me out.

Some will give me apples.
Some will give me pears.
Some will give me fifty cents
And kiss me on the stairs.

I don't want the apples.
I don't want the pears.
I don't want the fifty cents
To kiss me on the stairs.

I'd rather do the dishes.
I'd rather scrub the floor.
I'd rather kiss the iceman
Behind the kitchen door.

The Jumprope Hypertext Archive came to us from a university professor from Florida, Stan Kulikowski II. I haven't heard from Stan for years.

27 Apr 17 - 04:42 AM (#3852667)
Subject: RE: Origins: Five O'Clock Is Striking
From: Joe Offer

Here's one from Werner's Magazine: A Magazine of Expression, Volume 22 (1898)

Ten o'clock is striking, mother may I go out?
All the girls are waiting for to take me out.
Hand me down my bonnet, hand me down my shawl,
Hand me down my calico dress, and take me to the calico ball.
First he gave me candy, second he gave me cake;
Third he gave me fifty cents to kiss behind the stairs.
I don't want your candy, I don't want your cake,
I don't want your fifty cents to kiss behind the stairs.

27 Apr 17 - 04:54 AM (#3852671)
Subject: RE: Origins: Five O'Clock Is Striking
From: Joe Offer

It's called "Ten O'Clock Is Ringing" in a book called Jeannie Robertson: Emergent Singer, Transformative Voice, By James Porter, Herschel Gower, pp 114ff.

There are several versions in this book:

TEN O'CLOCK IS RINGING

Ten o'clock is ringing,
Mother let me out;
My love is standing waiting
To take me out a walk.
First he gave me apples,
then he gave me pears,
Then he gave me sixpence
To kiss him on the stairs.

My love's a bonnie lad,
My love's a dandy,
My love's a bonnie lad,
Sweet as sugar candy.

And a version from Montgomerie, 1948, page 112 (can't ID this book further):

EIGHT O'CLOCK BELLS ARE RINGING

Eight o'clock bells are ringing
Mother, let me out;
My sweetheart is waiting
For to take me out.

He's going to give me apples,
He's going to give me pears,
He's going to give me sixpence,
And kisses on the stairs.

The Jeannie Robertson also gives a version from Hammond's Belfast collection titled "Five O'Clock Is Striking" that's the same as the version I posted from Cut the Loaf above.

27 Apr 17 - 05:03 AM (#3852674)
Subject: RE: Origins: Five O'Clock Is Striking
From: Joe Offer

One last version, from The Ladies' Home Journal, Volume 31 (1914):

NINE O'CLOCK IS STRIKING

A vivid description of the evening's entertainment follows, and ends with the happy conclusion:

27 Apr 17 - 05:41 AM (#3852683)
Subject: RE: Origins: Five O'Clock Is Striking - our versio
From: GUEST,Carol Woolman

Eight o'clock is striking,
Mother may I go out?
For my beau is waiting,
Waiting to take me out.

First he gave me peaches,
Then he gave me pears,
Then he gave me 50 cents
To kiss him on the stairs.

The version above was handed down from my great-grandmother to my grandmother to my mother to me. My mother and I taught it to my children and grandchildren by oral tradition (song). I had never seen a version in print before 4/26/2017 on this site. My roots are in Salem County, NJ. My great-grandmother was born in 1870 there.
Carol Woolman