Clap Hands, Clap Hands

DESCRIPTION: "Clap hands, clap hands, Till father/mammie comes home; For father's got money/Mammie will bring something But mother's got none/Daddy will bring none." Or, "...till Daddy comes home. Cake in his pocket For (someone) alone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Maclagan)
KEYWORDS: game baby father mother money
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,High)), Canada(Ont) Ireland
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Greig/Duncan8 1564, "Clap Your Handies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 200, "Clap hands, clap hands" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #602, p. 240, "(Clap hands, clap hands)"
Brady-AllInAllIn, p. 5, "Clap hands, clap hands" (1 text)
Peirce-KeepTheKettleBoiling, p. 18, "(Clap hands for daddy-o)" (1 text, which might be "Clap Hands, Clap Hands" but seems to have a little of "Dance to your Daddy" in it as well)
JournalOfAmericanFolklore, W.J. and Katherine H. Wintemberg, "Folk-Lore from Grey County, Ontario," Vol. XXXI, No. 119 (Jan 1918), #356, p. 112 "Clap Hands"
ADDITIONAL: R.C. Maclagan, "Additions to _The Games of Argyleshire_" in Folk-Lore, (London, 1905 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. XVI, p. 453, ("Clap hands, clap hands till Mammie comes hame")

Roud #12963
NOTES [47 words]: According to Brady, this is one of the first game songs a child would learn -- parents would use it to teach very young children to clap their hands. Brady's version is very simple; those for older children more complex. Peirce also puts it among the rhymes for the very young. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: GrD81564

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.