Hokey Pokey (I)

DESCRIPTION: We kneel on the carpet, then stand to choose a lover. The baby sits on its mother's knee crying for "hokey-pokey": a penny a lump, "that's the stuff to make you jump" and fall.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (Greig/Duncan8)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad children
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig/Duncan8 1573, "Hokey Pokey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brady-AllInAllIn, p. 96, "(Ice-cream a penny a lump)" (1 short text, which might be this although it's almost too short to classify)
Abrahams-JumpRopeRhymes, #193, "Hoky, poky, penny a lump" (1 fragment)
Roud #13519
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Here's Three Beggars" (tune, per Greig/Duncan8)
cf. "This Pretty Girl of Mine" (one verse)
NOTES [59 words]: I would not consider this the same as the horrid "Hokey Pokey" game they inflicted upon us in elementary school in Minnesota in the 1960s. I have no idea if this song inspired that, or if the school version was just some well-intentioned teacher's nightmare project. It appears that song does have some traditional roots; see the "Hokey Pokey (II)." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: GrD81573

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