Chickee Chickee Ma Craney Crow (Hawks and Chickens)

DESCRIPTION: "Chickee chickee ma craney crow, Went to the well to wash my big toe, When I got there one of my black-eyed chickens was gone, What time o' day is it, old witch?" The witch answers, and eventually is allowed to catch one of the chickens circling her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (Newell-GamesAndSongsOfAmericanChildren)
KEYWORDS: witch playparty chickens cumulative jumprope
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Trent-Johns-PlaySongsOfTheDeepSouth, pp. 32-33, "Chickama, Chickama-Craney Crow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnold-FolkSongsofAlabama, p. 136, "Chicken McCraney Crow" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Killion/Waller-ATreasuryOfGeorgiaFolklore, pp. 223-224, "What Time, Old Witch" (1 text)
Randolph 570, "Chickee Chickee Ma Craney Crow" (3 texts)
Henry-SongsSungInTheSouthernAppalachians, p. 244, (no title) (1 short text, beginning "Chickamy chickamy crannie crow" and in which the singer's "clillun," not her chickens, is missing; it is a cumulative version in which the witch counts through one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.)
Scarborough-OnTheTrailOfNegroFolkSongs, p. 138, (no title) (1 fragment, with the first line "Chickamy, chickamy, crany crow")
Newell-GamesAndSongsOfAmericanChildren, #102, "Hawks and Chickens" (1 text with several parts and many variants); #154, "Old Witch" (1 text of "Old Witch" plus 1 text of "Chickee Chickee Ma Craney Crow (Hawks and Chickens)")
Skean-CircleLeft-FolkPlayOfKentuckyMountains, p. 26, "Chickie-Ma-Chickie-Ma-Craney-Crow" (1 text)
Withers-EenieMeenieMinieMo, p. 19, "(Cricky, cracky, craney, crow)" (1 text)
Abrahams-JumpRopeRhymes, #73, "Chicky, cricky, cranery, crow" (1 text)
Roud #7661
File: R570

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