Sitting in a Tree (K-I-S-S-I-N-G, First Comes Love, Dick and Jane)

DESCRIPTION: "Dick and Jane [or any other boy and girl] SItting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, First comes love, then comes marriage, Then comes (something) with a baby carriage." Sometimes used as a taunt, sometimes as a jump-rope rhye
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970 (Carey)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting baby marriage jumprope | spelling kissing
FOUND IN: US(MA,NE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Carey-MarylandFolkloreAndFolklife, p. 81, "(no title)" (1 short text)
Solomon-ZickaryZan, p. 64, "K-i-s-s-i-n-g" (1 text)
Ainsworth-JumpRopeVerses, #1, "(John and Mary, Up in a tree") (1 text)
Delamar-ChildrensCountingOutRhymes, p. 139, "(Boy's name) and (Girl's name), Sitting in a tree" (1 text)
Abrahams-JumpRopeRhymes, #286, "John and Mary" (1 text)
Roud #19216
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Fire Alarm" ("first comes love" lines)
NOTES [84 words]: I seem vaguely to remember this chant from... somewhere... so I have included it here. Considering how few traditional rhymes I learned from tradition, I would imagine it is very common -- but it rarely seems to be cited, perhaps because the names are always changing. In my experience, it's used to tease: children too young to be interested in the opposite sex use it to harass the children who are interested.
Abrahams-JumpRopeRhymes suggests it is an autograph album rhyme. Not where I came from.... - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: CarMF81A

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