One for the Money

DESCRIPTION: "One for the money, Two for the show, Three to get ready, And four to go" Perhaps used to start a race; possibly a jump rope rhyme.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (Bolton)
KEYWORDS: wordplay racing nonballad jumprope
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Sackett/Koch-KansasFolklore, p. 118, "(One for the Money)" (1 text)
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 384, "(One for the money)" (1 text in the notes to "One to make ready")
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #656 note, p. 259, "(One for the money)"
Solomon-ZickaryZan, p. 59, "Four to Go!" (1 text)
Ainsworth-JumpRopeVerses, #28, "(One for the money)" (1 text)
Delamar-ChildrensCountingOutRhymes, p. 123, "One for the money"; p. 130, "One for the money" (2 texts)
Abrahams-JumpRopeRhymes, #419, "One for the money" (1 text)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 540, "One for the Money, Two for the Show" (notes only)
MidwestFolklore, W. L. McAtee, "Some Folklore of Grant County, Indiana, in the Nineties," Volume 1, Number 4 (WInter 1951), p. 255, "(One for the money)" (1 text)
Roud #16216
NOTES [77 words]: It is not clear if the song cited by Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs is this one or merely a song that quotes it. It is not Travis Edmonson's "One for the Money, Sing for a Penny," which Averill also cites but which does not meet the popularity criterion for inclusions in the Index. Ironically, I have found the Edmonson song (under the title "Travels," and with some oral changes) in a Girl Scout songbook, but have not found "One for the money, two for the show." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: SaKo118A

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