One Two Three Four, Mary at the Cottage Door

DESCRIPTION: "One, two, three, four, Mary at the cottage door, Five, six, seven, eight, Eating cherries off a plate." Continuations vary: O-U-T spells out." "Fish, fish, in the dish, how many fishes do you wish?" "Out goes the rat, out goes the cat...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970 (Carey)
KEYWORDS: playparty wordplay food
FOUND IN: US(MA) New Zealand Ireland
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 387, "One, Two, Three, Four" (1 text)
Carey-MarylandFolkloreAndFolklife, p. 77, "(no title)" (1 text)
Sutton-Smith-NZ-GamesOfNewZealandChilden/FolkgamesOfChildren, p. 89, "(Two, four six eight, Mary at the cottage gate)" (1 text); p. 97, "(Two, four, six, eight)" (1 text); p. 118, "(Two, four, six, eight)" (1 text)
Brady-AllInAllIn, p.54, "(One, two, three, four, Jinny at the cottage door)" (1 text)
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, p. 63, "One two three four" (1 text)
Peirce-KeepTheKettleBoiling, p.37, "(One, two, three, four)" (1 text)
Delamar-ChildrensCountingOutRhymes, p. 119, "One, two, three, four" (1 text)
Withers-EenieMeenieMinieMo, p. 8, "(One, two, three, four)" (1 text)
Abrahams-JumpRopeRhymes, #573, "Two, four, six, eight, Meet me at the garden gate" (1 text)
Roud #19295
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ena, Mena, More, Mi" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "Ickle Ockle Black Bottle"("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "Spelling Game (Blue spells B-L-U-E; T-W-O Spells Two; My Mother and Your Mother)" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "Engine, Engine, Number Nine" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "Monkey, Monkey, Draw the Beer" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "Old Father Christmas, Guess What He Did" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "Bake a Pudding, Bake a Pie" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "William a Trimbletoe" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "Intery Mintery Cutery Corn" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "Ink Stink" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "One, Two, Three, Four, I Bumped My Nose Against the Door" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "Tilly on the Telephone" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. "Little Black Doctor" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
cf. (notes to) "Eenie Meenie Minie Mo (Counting Rhyme)" ("O-U-T spells out" lyric)
f. "Lady Lady at the Gate" (eating cherries motif)
cf. "One, Two, Three, Mother Caught a Flea" (especially the version "Two, four, six, eight, Papa caught a rattlesnake")
NOTES [132 words]: The "O-U-T spells out" tag is so common in counting-out rhymes that the above list is surely not comprehensive; it can be grafted into everything. Abrahams-JumpRopeRhymes in effect gives it its own number, #449. But at least this list gives you a start. It should not be assumed that any of these pieces always include the line.
It also seems to float loose; see Solomon-ZickaryZan, p. 72, "Out Goes You."
Roud lumps "One Two Three Four, Mary at the Cottage Door" and "Lady Lady at the Gate"; Abrahams-JumpRopeRhymes splits them. I could argue either way, but I initially filed them separately, so I am retaining that. Abrahams has three different "Two, four, six, eight" rhymes, which likely all derive from this, but two have very different plots, so I've filed only one of them here. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: CarMF077

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