This Is the Way We Wash Our Clothes

DESCRIPTION: "This is the way we wash our clothes, Wash our clothes, wash our clothes, This is the way we wash our clothes, (all on a summer's day)." Similarly, "Here we come with our dollies dear," "This is the way we comb their hair," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad clothes
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE) New Zealand
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 96, "The Dolly-Play Song" (1 text)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 96, "The Dolly-Play Song" (1 tune plus a text excerpt)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 264, "Early Sunday Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sutton-Smith-NZ-GamesOfNewZealandChilden/FolkgamesOfChildren, pp. 28-29, "(Here we go round the mulberry bush)" (1 text, opening with "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" and continuing with "This Is the Way We Wash Our Clothes")
Roud #3645
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" (tune, lyrics) and references there
cf. "The Old Soap-Gourd" (form)
cf. "She Washes the Dishes Three Times a Day" (form)
cf. "Days of the Week" (theme)
NOTES [32 words]: This looks much like "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush," and the two share lyrics, but the intent seems different, so I tentatively split them, pending discovery of more versions and tunes. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: Br3096

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