Three Little Angels

DESCRIPTION: "Three little angels all dressed in white, Trying to get to heaven on the end of a kite, but the kite string broke, and down they all fell, Instead of going to heaven they all went to...." "Two little angels...." "One little angel..." -- went to... bed?
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 2006 (mudcat.org thread "Lyr Req: Three Little Angels")
KEYWORDS: humorous Hell campsong jumprope
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, p, 220, "Four Little Angels" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ainsworth-JumpRopeVerses, #72, "(Three little Negroes dressed in white)" (1 text)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 129, 288, 321-322, 382, 499, "Three Little Angels" (notes only, with a sample verse on pp. 321-322)
Abrahams-JumpRopeRhymes, #561, "Three little Negroes dressed in white" (1 text)
Roud #15420
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hush, Little Baby" (tune, according to Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs)
cf. "Charlie Chaplin Has Big Feet" (general form of wordplay)
cf. "There Was a Little Fellow, His Name Was Jack" (general form of wordplay)
NOTES [81 words]: Some versions of the "Raise a Ruckus" family apparently include verses similar to this, but this seems to exist separately. Some versions may go as high as ten angels.
The Ainsworth-JumpRopeVerses version is fascinating. Instead of angels trying to reach heaven, we have three little "Negroes" (at least, that's the word Ainsworth prints) who want to go to... Harvard. They don't make it: "Now don't get excited and don't turn pale. They didn't go to Harvard; they went to... Yale." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: ACSF129T

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