Julie and Beth wrote looking for the origins of two Scandinavian rhymes that are played with little kids while touching their toes. We’re wondering if anyone’s ever heard of these rhymes and perhaps knows what country they’re from and/or anything else about their origins. Here’s what Julie wrote:
I have been searching for the origin of a nursery rhyme that my friend said to her kids. The child has his/her shoes off and starting with the little toe, she names the toes:
Little Pea (little toe)
Peter Lou (next toe)
Oosey Nossey (next toe)
Toosey tossey (next toe)
And a Great Big Oppososso (big toe)I am not sure of the spelling. However, the University of Wisconsin Children’s Library assures me that this toe rhyme has Scandinavian roots. They said: Scandinavia is known for naming toe rhymes.
Please help me, I have been searching the origin of this toe playing game for years with my friend’s blessing. My friend is Scandinavian and she doesn’t remember where she heard this toe playing game. I assume that she heard it as a child.
Julie
Beth Bookschlepper wrote in looking for the origin of a similar rhyme:
I know this as…
Little Pea,
Penny Rou,
Judy Whistle,
Mary Tossle,
And Big Tom Bumble.I am also interested in its origins.
If anyone can help, or would like to share other similar rhymes, please comment below.
Thanks!
Lisa
UPDATE: Check out Little One (aka Little Man) for an American Finger Naming Rhyme with origins in Medieval times.
This artilce was posted on Wednesday, December 13th, 2006 at 7:20 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Danish, Danish Nursery Rhymes, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Icelandic, Languages, Norway, Norwegian, Norwegian Nursery Rhymes, Nursery Rhymes, Questions, Rhymes by Theme, Sweden, Swedish, Swedish Nursery Rhymes, Toe Naming Rhymes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 25th, 2006 at 3:06 am
Hi;
This toe rhyme came down in my husband’s family, Richard O. McKinsey.
It goes like this: Beginning with the small toe; Itty Mitty, Pea Rou,
Rou Whistle, May Tossle and Old Tom Bumbo … and when you say “Old Tom Bumbo” you wiggle the toe. All of the children in the McKinsey
family were taught this as little ones. We always thought its orgin was Scotland as our family came from there. Sincerely, Ellen T. McKinsey
Will your comments be sent to my e-mail?
January 2nd, 2007 at 2:31 am
Interesting that the verse I am trying to track down, begins with the big toe and goes down to the littlest one – just opposite of those above.This is a phonetic approximation of the Norwegian toe-naming verse I heard my grandmother say: “Tum-a-tut, Shlek-a-put, Ling-a-man, Leya-span, and Little Putti Yonson”. I want very much to find a Norwegian who can tell me how it really goes!
Thanks for any help!
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Lois, I know of that rhyme, but for fingers, not toes. It sounds very similar to your rhyme, but is in swedish. It goes: Tummetott, slickepott, långeman, gullebrand och lilla vickevire.
Starting with the thumb (tumme) and going to the pinky (lillfinger). Slickepott also means dough-scraper and of cause the finger is called so small children use the finger for eating . Slicka mean (to) lick, you lick the finger. Slickepott also means dough-scraper. Långeman means long man and gullebrand (d is silent so it rhymes) comes from gull, meaning gold, that is the finger you place the wedding band on. Tummetott and vickevire are more nonsence words (vicka means to wiggle).
Personally I never learnt any rhymes for the toes, but I’ve heard of two from further north in Sweden. I found them on the internet and they go:
Lilltåa, Tåtilla, Tillerosa, Baggfrua och Gubben Stor!
(from the province of Härjedalen)
Lilltåa, Tåtilla, Mockafrua, Parrarota och Storbonden opp´ i vä´re!
(province of Jämtland)
A little hard to translate, but lilltåa means (the) pinky toe. Frua means wife and gubben stor the big old man. Store gubben is used the same way as the expression “big boy” in english. Storbonde means affluent farmer and that’s why he’s “opp i väre” that is up in the air, a proud man.
January 2nd, 2007 at 2:19 pm
just correcting myself: it should be “tall man” not “long man”. And I found a norweigan version of Lori’s rhyme:
“Tommeltott,
Slikkepott,
Langemann,
Gullebrand,
og Lille Petter Spillemann
Essentially it’s the same meaning. Lille Petter Spillemann means little Petter Musician/fiddler. Och/og means and. Hope it helps even if it’s still not your version perhaps?
February 18th, 2007 at 12:19 am
I learned something similar to the original toe names listed, with some variations, and I thought it came from the Scottish side of my family. Starting with the little toe-
Little Pea
Penny Lutie
Lucy Whissie
Mary Hossie
And Great Gobby-gobby-gobby!
(The last is said while tickling the child.)
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:18 pm
I’m looking for a Toe Name poem. I don’t remember any rhyming but two of the names are Tilly Lou and Best Fossil. My grandmother & my dad used to rattle off the names but we don’t remember them now. Can you help?
March 17th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
My grandfather who died recently, aged 106, and collected Irish Folklore called the fingers; thumbeen, lisbeen, longman, shortman, little jack a dandy. Does any one know what the origin is?
March 29th, 2007 at 4:01 am
Hi,
I’m a canadian but live in Norway now. The finger naming rhyme I know, as below, is similar to what Christina said above, just the pinky is different.
Tommeltott,
Slikkepott,
Langemann,
Gullebrand,
og Vesle Per Spillemann.
And the is for the toe, begining with the little toe.
Titil,
Tåtil,
Tilarus,
Megelfru,
og Gubbelesten den Store.
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:59 pm
I know the origin (author/year and exact verse)
It’s not Scandinavian.
Please keep posting versions and I’ll return soon with the “answer”.
May 5th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
My family sais
Little pead
peady lou
lutie fizzle
fizzle nozzel
and great big hobble nobble!
Wonder where this came from….intersting how many versions of this.
June 5th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
I am 62 years old. My mother thought the origin was Norwegian as their church in eastern Kentucy had a minister from Norway and he played this toe game with the little ones in Sunday school. Starting with the little toe:
Little Pea
Allie Lou
Ludie Ossel
Mary Whissel
and (with great emphasis and tickling) BIG BOM BOLLY
June 7th, 2007 at 2:18 am
My Grandfather was Danish. He played the toe game with us as kids. I don’t know the spellings as this was always said aloud. I will spell them as they sounded to me, though, my guess is that the spellings posted by others is more accurate. I’ve also gotten the order of the middle ones mixed up over the years, but will assume the order that other have posted.
Starting with the big toe, and wiggling the final little toe, as someone else mentioned:
Tummeltot
Schlickapot (or Schligapot)
Lingamot (or Lingamont, the t is very soft)
Gullebrot (the “r” is rolled, the “t” at the end could be a “d”)
Little Pita Schpillamot
I am thrilled to find others with similar recollections, and to get, perhaps, some proper Danish spellings! I think Kristina’s is the closest, and sheds some light on the little toe’s name. I also recall my Grandfather pointing out “Tall Man” in English, as we struggled to get it right.
Thanks, All!
June 7th, 2007 at 10:21 am
I too have always wanted to know what a toe rhyme my grandfather and then father always did for us when we were kids. I have now started to do it with my 2year old daughter and she loves, but I have no idea what I am saying. It starts with the little toe and ends with pulling the big toe and saying the last phrase in a high excited way.
lil toe-a, toe tilla, tilla rosa, spuf lua, tu-tupa lua!
No idea on the exact spelling but this a phoenetic interpretation.
June 29th, 2007 at 7:25 am
As a child along with my sisters and cousins, we were all taught by our Grandmother (nee: Gulbransen) our Norwegian fingers,(spelling not sure) Thumb a kin, Schlak a pot, Long a mon, Vesslly haun, and Little Peter yenssen. This was a sunday dinner before the pudding rhyme. This caused a finger in the pudding bowl at the last by Grandfather, much to the dislike of our Grandmother. PS nice site. Dr. Boersma.
July 12th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
I was recently reminded of this when my mother did it with my newborn daughter. Hers was (not sure about spelling):
eekie pee
penny rue
ruey whistle
pele hostle
and old tom bumble
She reports that she learned it as a child, but has no knowledge of where it came from.
July 13th, 2007 at 1:18 am
I was taught it this way by another teacher:
Little Pea
Penny Rue
Rudy Whistle
Sarah Hustle
and Big Tom Bumbo
August 8th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
The rhyme in our family for toes is:
(Little toe-Big toe)
Icky Pea
Penny Rue
Rue Whistle
Jerry Ostle
Big Tom Bumble
We, too, are interested in the origin of this.
August 12th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
My Grandmother who grew up in rural Western Wisconsin (ancestors moved here in the middle 19th century) and spoke Norwegian at home until the Second World War used a similar yet different version than the ones listed above.
It went (phonetically)
Fingers, thumb first:
Tum-astat
Letch-a-put
Long-a-mine
Stick-fer-hine
pity-pity-pity-mine
Toes, little one first:
leigh-te-ta
til-tilla
ted-a-dos
mag-a-flugga
steig-a-loo-ga (useally a long “Steig” and “looooo”)
It’s really the only Norwegian I’ve ever known, and yet I never knew what it meant.
August 29th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
OK. I’m back. Your versions are very interesting. Here are the original version names:
Little Pea
Tilly Lou
Lu Whistle
Bess Throstle
Tom Bumble
Keep posting and I’ll return soon with the author’s name.
September 14th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
I was just telling a co worker about how my Dad used to do this to my fingers when I was a little kid. I’m not sure how far back it goes but I’m only 34 and I think his parents taught it to him.
I grew up with as: (Spelled Phonetically)
Tummututten
Slickaputin
Longamon
Little Yohann
Little Vickaveena
October 1st, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Amazing. The iterations of this sound similar to the “Telephone” game (where you whisper one phrase in someone’s ear and when it comes out at the other end (through at least four or five people) it is completely different (but similar enough to laugh at the original phrase).
My grandmother taught me the following (starting from the smallest toe):
Little Twee
Pally Lou
Louttie Whistle
Whistle Ossle
and great big Whoppy Dopple
I have no idea of the origin but will surely try to get more information and post here.
November 17th, 2007 at 10:00 am
My Family originated in Iceland and we were all taught the toe/finger song
we sang
Tommeltott,
Slikkepott,
Langemann,
Gullebrand,and litte bitty spitty mott (phonetic)
November 18th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Funny, I just had a big disagreement with my significant other about me making this up, as I was doing this on our 3 yr olds toes and it was just something my family made up…
We Say
Little Petie
Petie Lou
Lounie Whistle
Monie Wastle
Ohhh Hoble Gooble Gooble
I went on line an sure enough here are several versions of this- so it was not my imagination
December 12th, 2007 at 2:02 am
My dear Norwegian mother in rural Wisconsin wiggled toes with:
Inka Pea
Penny Rue
Rue a Whistle
Mary Tossle
BIG TOM BUMBA LOW ! ! !
(I guessed at the spellings). How wonderful to read all the different versions that people submitted! I’ll bet babies loved them all.
December 21st, 2007 at 6:24 pm
My Norwegian father-in-law who grew up on a homestead in North Dakota and spoke Norwegian, played a “toe game” with our daughters. Wiggling the little toe first he would say (phonetically):
Litato tou
Tilerou
Magerfrus —-
Kromphestin, kromphrestin (as he wiggled the big toe).
January 15th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
I was looking for the names of toes from my family. They came from Denmark in the 1860’s. We have surely changed it from the ones given here. So American of us! They are now
tomal tot
slicko pot
lunga mung
gooler brown
and little itsy bitsy speeder man
How funny! Thank you for all of the more accurate history everyone.
January 29th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Here is the version my sister taught me from her husbands family.
Little Pea
Peadle Lou
Lucy Whistle
Whistle Nossel
Great Big Hottentoten
Hottentot was a name given to a tribal group in S. Africa by the Dutch from the Eighteenth Century. Look this name up it is very interesting.
February 13th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
it is known in Danmark as (my memory – I’m 63) :Tommeltot, slikkepot, langemand, guldbrand og (and) lille peter spillemand (d is silent), “spille” refers to playing music. It all goes – as far as I remember – on “learning” the fingers . Today a “spillemand” is a person who plays danish/scandinavian folk-dance music.
March 5th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
My grandmother taught us to begin with the Big toe:
Big Tom Rommer
Mary Tossle
Penny Rue
Rue Whistle
Little Locker Pea
She was from Georgia and had a french and english background. I love this !
April 10th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
My dad had a funny one he taught me. It goes like this:
Starting with the little toe, (either foot!)
Eenie Wee
Penny Rue
Roadie Winkle
Sadie Hawkins
And….
Ol’ Tom Bumboo ( in a deep voice while shaking the toe)
May 18th, 2008 at 10:51 am
I am the 6th of 7 children. We all know the toe rhyme as follows. No one knows where it originated. I am trying to find out for my granddaughters school assignment about family customs.
Eckie pee
Pecky roo
Roo whistle
Mary ossle
Tommy bumble (drawn out while you wiggle the last toe)
I suspect it is a variation of some of the other rhymes mentioned
here.
Jean
May 20th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I was just looking up to find out where we got this weird tradition of ours… we name our toes:
Eckie Peeky
Pennie Rudy
Rudy Whistle
Mary Hossle
Old Tom Bumble (shaking the big toe)
June 30th, 2008 at 3:21 am
Egg-a-peep
Penny Rue
Rue de Whistle
Mary Hustle
Old Tom Bumble
(spellings assumed…said while wiggling each toe)
This in California, from a friend who learned it from her father, a man of mostly German descent, who grew up in Iowa. The variations of this are amazing: It’s like that old game of “telephone”!
July 5th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
My father was a Native Norwegian speaker from North Dakota, born 1903, so his Norwegian was a little stultified. Thumb to pinkie went like this..I looked it up while in Norway 1974. Tommelstot (Fell in the water. Slikkespot (licks the pot, pulled him out) Langeman (Tall man, carried him home) Gulebrand (Gold ring, dried him off) Lille Pete Spelleman ( Little Peter the student – spelleman means reader our equivalent for student, went and told Mama!) The toes were from the smallest up, teetel, totel, telerose, mekelfrukt, Stodel guben hesten (the big rocking horse, hest[en] means the horse.
August 4th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Does anyone out there know a Ukrainian toe rhyme (of sorts) that sounds like
Suroku, wuronu, gytym kashu varyla
tomudala, tomudala, tomudala, tomudala
tomu huloku zidvala y hai hai pulykela hai hai
As far as I know it has to do with a mother bird feeding cereal to her babies but then tearing off the head of the smallest and tossing it into the air. Sounds gory, but that’s the way I remember it. I’m looking for a proper translation and spelling in Ukrainian.
Thanks.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Hello
I am Norwegian.
Here are the finger rhymes and toe rhymes that i learned as a kid from grandparents and parents.
fingers start with thumb and goes
Tommeltott (thumb)
Slikkepott (slikkepott refers to licking the finger..as children do
when you bake something, they lick the pot)
langemann (long man/tall man…the longest finger on the hand)
gullebran (gull=gold refers to the goldring you get on the finger when getting married/engaged)
og lille petter spellemann (little peter fiddleman…it is a nursery rhyme in itself..fiddler on the roof.)
as for toes (megelfru,negelfru loved child has many names..)
youstart with the pinky finger.
here is the one i learned
Tittil, tottil, tillerot, megelfru og store-gubbe-hesten..
only thing making sense is the big horse *big toe*
Lawrence had a pretty good translation too.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:34 am
My mom and my uncle have been telling me for years about the names of the fingers in Norwegian but I always figured they were just making it up.
Their version sounded like
Thumb-oo-stadt
Schlicky-poot
lingbrahn
goolbrahn
little-pit-eh-schmil-a-mit
Completely inaccurate, but that is the version they always told me. And we didn’t use it as a game or anything, they just assumed those were the names of the fingers in Norwegian!
August 19th, 2008 at 10:40 am
My grandfather taught me the 5 Swedish words for each of my fingers, and as I grew I would recite them for him. My father, my grandfather’s son, was never taught the words. I have never seen the words in writing until now. As I remember the phonetics:
tomatut
slickaput
logamon
slipmahon
vika vika vena
The only translation that I knew was for logamon (long man).
Thanks for stirring up some wonderful memories!
August 19th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I recently found an old business card of my fathers from when I was a baby in 1960. I can remember the rhyme just barely, my Father is of Scotch ancestry, but I will have to ask him where he heard it. Here is is in his spelling:
Little Locher Pea
Penny Roo
Roo Whistle
Tommy Tossle
Great Big Tom Bummer
I cannot believe all the variations passed down. Wonderful to remember this stuff, I’ll have to teach it to my daughters.
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
My father taught my 8 siblings and me the names of our toes which are as follows starting with the big toe:
Tom Pumpkin, Long Larkin, Betty Pringle, Johnny Jingle and Little Dick. Has anyone heard of these names and if so do you know the origin? I would be very interested in hearing. I have only met 1 other person who knew these same names.
December 17th, 2008 at 6:03 am
My grandparents were from Norway, The toe rhyme I remember, is: (no clue on spelling).
teetale
tautale
tilaroos
negafloo
studadubalessin(drawn out)
would love to know any tranlation, if it could be figured our from my spelling
December 17th, 2008 at 6:06 am
I think Lawrence above answered my question
December 21st, 2008 at 8:10 pm
The Norwegian finger song that my Great Aunt Tomina taught me went very similar to the others except;
tummeltut (thumb)
slikaput (first finger)
langalasa (second finger)
little e o (third finger)
velta hans e dahlen (fourth finger – little finger- and gently shake while saying that)
Another one taught to me by my father-in-law is Danish for parts of the head (excuse the spelling)
ponabean (forehead)
eyestean (eyes)
nasatip (nose)
monalip (mouth)
hagafip (chin)
tickle, tickle tickle (doing that under the chin)
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:05 pm
I’m looking for a similar Dutch rhyme. My great grandma who passed away several years ago taught it to me & my sister in Dutch and English when I was little.
I only remember the English version now, but it’s funny how some of the finger names translate so similarly.
If anyone knows this in Dutch please let me know!
Starting with the thumb & moving towards the pinky:
“Let’s go to bed said the thumb.
But first let’s get something to eat said the licker.
But where shall we get it? said the Longfellow.
From grandmother’s cupboard said the ring finger.
Then I’m going to tattle! said the little finger ((shaking finger vigorously))”
April 1st, 2009 at 6:23 pm
My grandfather was Norwegian. Arnold Sundheim. My mom says:
My father taught us these poems when we were little. Using our toes and fingers as he recited them. He was born in 1911 and they spoke Norwegian at home and he was schooled and confirmed in his church in the Norwegian language.
His parents came over here from Norway .
Fingers
Thumb – Tumutut
second -s lagaput – licking finger
third – lungamon – longest finger
fouth – gulbrung – ring finger
Little finger – litta pity Yonson(Johnson)
toes (starting with the little one)
teetle
taatle
toetle
monkafoot
stodagubalyson
I haven’t a clue how they are correctly spelled-this is how it sounded.
April 1st, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Those are cool!
-Mama Lisa
April 8th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
My great grandmother came to Saxon, Wisconsin from Sweden in the 1880’s. The finger naming game was passed down as written above. The only difference is the name of the little finger which (phonetically) is “lilla flika setz de ashka spun” meaning a little girl sat in the ashes and spun. Is anyone familiar with this variation and the correct spelling?
April 11th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
It was fun to read our version of the rhymes.
Thanks, daughter Cindy Smith
April 17th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
My grandfather was from norway and he used to do these rhymes for my toes as well.
Starting with the big toe
Toomastut
Slikaput
Lungalasa
Yilienta
Mittafair
Excuse the spelling. I have no idea how to spell them or the translation.
Hope this helps.
May 5th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I taught creative dance for children for 30 years and I knew and taught the rhme as:
picky pete
petey roo
rooey whistle
mary ossel
and big tom bumble !
June 28th, 2009 at 12:47 am
When I was little, my mother would play a toe rhyme. I didn’t actually learn it until I had children of my own and wanted to play with them. Thank you all so much for your versions!!
My mother’s went like this:
Starting at the little toe, grab each toe and begin naming them…
Little Pea
Penny Rue
Rue Whistle
Mary Ossle
Gobble, gobble, gobble … as the big toe was grabbed three times.
June 29th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I’ve been searching for this ‘toe game’ for over 30 years. My father, now passed away, used to play it on my son’s toes. He never was sure of the spelling, but phonetically we managed. Thank you all for your input and refreshing my memories of daddy.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:33 am
I was playing this game with my 3 y/o niece.. And I noticed her chipping toe nail polish and I asked her “who did your pedicure??” and she said “Old Tom Bumbo”… :) I cracked up!!
We do…
Old Tom Bumbo
Mary Horsle
Rue Whistle
Penny Woo &
Picky Pete
We start with OTB… and tickle on Picky Pete
July 12th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
This toe rhyme has been in my wife’s family for 40 years. Taught by my brother-in-law’s nanny. It makes our baby happy every time:
Little Pead
Polly Oud
Oudie Whistle
Mary Wastle
and the Great Big Wabbaduck!
August 11th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Hi all!! Thank you for this wonderful website!! An old family friend used to do the toe names with my oldest son (who is now 5). My family never did anything like this (nor my hubby’s) so Keith’s cute rhyme was much enjoyed by all of us (mostly because of our sons giggles and satisfaction from the toe name game). Keith recently passed away and although he recited it frequently, when I went to recite it myself for our new bundle of joy I couldn’t remember it all for the life of me!! So I went searching the web and found you all, thank you all, this site was enough to spark my memory!! This how our beloved friend Keith used to say it to our babies Gus and Oscar, now I will pass it on to our newest edition, Walker.
Icky Pea (My husband swears it was Icky Peep)
Penny Rue
Rudy Whistle
Mary Hustle (I think Mary Thistle may sound right too tho…)
and Old Tom Bumble
I remember my grandfather used to say one about my fingers but I can’t remember the slightest about that one now.
Thanks again, I can’t wait to see the giggles (once he’s big enough of course) from my little Walker man! It’s so funny to see the evolution of this simple nursery rhyme from one family to the next!!
I want to learn the other one from Norway and use one for each for each foot!!
FYI: another cool site for nursery rhymes I found in my web search for this toe name game is http://www.smart-central.com/ it has thousands of nursery rhymes with the music!!
Cheers!!
August 21st, 2009 at 3:43 am
My mom also had variations of this, i can only remember 4, maybe somebody knows the 5th toe
icky pea
ruth whistle
mrs saussil
tom bamba
September 19th, 2009 at 12:31 am
My father-in-law (born in 1928) taught us his childhood version when our firstborn came along. It’s very similar to some of the English ones listed here…but just a tad different.
Icka Pea
Penny Roo
Rudy Whistle
Penny Oddle
and Old Tom Bumbo (said slowly with a deep, grumbly voice)
September 19th, 2009 at 9:21 am
These are really cool! I’d love to hear the intonation. Andie, if you, or anyone else out there, would like to record it for us, I’d love to post a recording! -Mama Lisa
November 4th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
My grandmother, who hailed from New Brunswick of Scottish parents, used to say:
Inky Pee
Penny Rue
Rudy Whistle
Mary Ossle
and OLD TOM BUMP!
Love you grandma. : )
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:45 pm
How wonderful these posts are! Here is what my mother-in-law taught me and what I now teach my daughter:
Nickapee
Penny Roo
Roo Whistle
Cherry Tossel
and Old Tom Wassum
December 12th, 2009 at 5:43 am
my mother would recite a very similar rhymewhile playing with me and my sisters toes as children, she is 100% full blooded Danish and her mother sang the same tune. it went like this, starting from the smallest toe going to the big toe.
Eekie Pee
Penny Rue
Root Whistle
Merry Tostle
and the big… fat…. hush… bush…… BUMBLE (dramatic build up followed by extreme tickling)
I’m going to ask my grandmother where she got it from, hopefully she knows :-)
January 1st, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Great memories from rural northern Indiana, in the 1950’s, I remember my dad and mom taking each toe starting with the little one:
Little Pea
Penny Rue
Rudy Whistle
Mary Ossle
and Gobble, Gobble, Gobble
January 6th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
My grandmother’s norwegian parents, who lived in Kansas, had a version that went like this…
Tommelstot (Thumb)
Slikkepott (Index)
Langemann (Middle)
Helluhind (phonetic – held behind) (Ring)
Little Peter Yenssen (Pinky)
January 11th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
I’ve been looking for a rhyme my Norwegian grandmother used to say to us– I thought it was a toe-naming rhyme but don’t see anything like it here. Does anyone recognize it?
Ella, mella, d for della, snip, snap, snu.
January 15th, 2010 at 8:22 am
TO KAREN’S COMMENT NOV 2008 : YOUR DANISH FATHER-IN LAW:
IT IS A POEM BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN : PANDEBEN, GODT DET GROR …. THERE IS A MELODY TO IT , WHICH GOES ON ANOTHER ( OLDER) POEM TOO : LILLE FØL, VED DU HVAD (LITTLE FOLE, YOU KNOW WHAT…. . BOTH CAN BE GOOGLED ON ” GAMLE DANSKE SANGE : PANDEBEN! GODT DET GROR!
February 10th, 2010 at 1:52 am
my grandmother, from swedish descent knows the fingers as follwed:
(phonetically)
Tomatut- Thumb
Slickaput- 1st Finger
Longamon- Middle Finger
Yetlyhun- Ring Finger
Little vikavinne- Pinky Finger
it seems the first three are almost always the same but the ring and pinky fingers have many variations
February 13th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
What a great page! I’m a norwegian and was searching for toe-rhymes and got loads! and your norwegian is very funny! (phonetically written anyway)! To give something back…for you Karen who ask about Elle melle.. which is a rhyme you say when you have to chose between something.. like who you want on your team, or what cress to choose and so on:
“Elle, melle,
deg fortelle
Skipet går
ut i år
Rygg i rand
to i spann
Snipp snapp snute
– du er ute
For each word you point at your “options” the one that get the last word is Out (=ute)
Hope you got something out of this!
February 13th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Thanks Marit! How’s this for a translation?
Elle, melle,
You tell,
The ship goes,
Out this year
Back on brim,
Two in the bucket
Snipp*, snap, snout,
You are out!
*Literally collar
This is a nonsense rhyme like Einey, miney miney moe. “Elle melle” seems to be complete nonsense.
I welcome corrections to this translation/analysis!
Cheers!
Mama Lisa
February 16th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
This is for Terri, who posted the rhyme on June 7th 2007 and whose grandfather was Danish. Terri expressed interest in the correct spelling of the rhyme and I would like to help out. The rhyme is about the fingers starting with your thumb and goes like this:
Tommeltot
slikkepot
Langemand
Guldebrand
og lille Peter Spillemand
April 5th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
I was trying to find “our” toe song because I have a new granddaughter. My mom and dad used to do one that went:
little toah
toah teah
makky fooah
likky booah
cuckoo (shaking big toe and squeeling!)
My dad was pure Swedish, so I always assumed it was Scandanavian in origin, but I haven’t seen anything like it here. Please understand that the above is phonetically spelled, have no idea how it is supposed to be spelled.
May 4th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
I haven’t seen this combination yet:
Pea…..
Penny Roo….
Mary Rossel….
Rhodie Whistle….
And Gobble, gobble, gobble!
We started with the little toe and drew out the syllables until the big finish.
May 15th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Our family is not Scandanavian, but our father taught us the names of the toes as:
Tom Pumpkin
Long Larkin
Betty Pringle
Johnny Jingle
Little Dick
Does anybody know this origin?
May 26th, 2010 at 7:37 am
An Croenen Brutsaert wrote…
There is a Flemish equivalent:
Duimeloot, Likkepoot, Lange Jaap, Korte Knaap en Klein Petoetje!
Thank you for triggering this memory about my own grandfather!
June 28th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
My grandmother (from Maine) taught it to me and all my cousins like this:
Icky Pee
Penny Roo
Rootie Whistle
Mary Ostle
Big Tom Bumble
June 29th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Interesting Wendy. My grandmother was from Maine as well and had a very similar rhyme. See my entry on this page from 11/4/2009. : )
July 2nd, 2010 at 6:43 pm
My grandmother and her son (my dad — both from maine) would say
little pig
penny wu
chu-da whistle
mary hustle
and great big tum-bubble, tum bubble, tum bubble
I bet my grandmother was taught completely different words. She sometimes has trouble remembering…… She probably grew up with the original wording, as she is second generation Polish.
July 12th, 2010 at 10:55 am
Teetilla
Toetilla
Tillarose
Ebenfroo
Rubenhesstesstess
This is what I learned from my mom… who learned it from her mom… who is full Norwegian. (Phonetic spelling of course)
July 15th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
This site is wonderful! I have looked through all the posts and haven’t found one with the one word I remember from my husband’s grandfather’s version. He did it on my kid’s toes, and my 29 year old son still remembers having it done on him, but none of us remembers the words.
The two words I remember, and I think they were for the little toe, sounded like “litchikin.” (Could actually have been “lille kin”?)
I’d love to have the complete rythme or something close.
Thanks. Terrific memories!
July 17th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
My father did the toe count to all of his eleven children. Liten tå, Tå natril, Tå la rosa, iben fru, gubben hest — spelling is probably incorrect. I beleive dad got this from his dad, who came from Molay, Norway in 1895.
July 19th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Thanks, Peter. I bet the word I remember was “liten” (little?) Not sure about the rest, but its closer than anything else I’ve seen. Thanks for your help. Anyone else have any ideas?
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:40 pm
I was reminded of the toe names a couple of weeks ago when I went back to Maine with my new baby to visit my family. Our version goes:
Eeney Pea
Penny Rude
Rudy Whisle
Mary Hossel
and Old Tom Bumble! (grabbing and shaking big toe, deep slow voice)
My grandmother says she learned it from her Grandmother Wing (born in 1888, family origin English)
August 12th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
I was saying this to my 6 week old grandson and his mother said that she had never heard it. I remember my grandfather saying it to me when I was about 5. The way that he said it was:
Eckie Pea
Penny Rue
Rudy Whisle
Mary Hossel
and Old Tom Bumble! (grabbing and shaking big toe, deep slow voice.
I always thought that my grandfather made it up since the only people that I heard say it were from his family.
My grandfather lived in New Hampshire and all of his life. He was born in 1880 and most of his ancestors came from England in the 1600’s.
August 14th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
My great grandparents who were Norwegian played the finger and toe games with me and my cousins and siblings. I never remembered how to recite the finger game (thanks to the posts here, though, now I have remembered it), but I still remember how the toe game sounded to me. Totally inaccurate, hah hah.
littel-toe
teel-toe
telero
mauthrow
kariben-essen (horse in the stall)
September 21st, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Here is the finger naming game my Norwegian grandmother used to play with me. It is similar to the Danish version posted by Karina Allen above.
Tommeltott (Thumb)
Slikkapott (Pot licker)
Stormann (Big man)
Gullbrann (Gold fire)
Lille Peter spillemann (Silly little Peter).
The dictionary gives “foot-loose and fancy-free” as the meaning of “spillemann”, so my grandmother’s translation seems reasonable.
The amazing thing is that this is still stuck in my head after nearly 60 years.
October 8th, 2010 at 1:02 am
My grandmother played with me starting with the little toe:
Little toah
Toah tillah
Tillah roosah
bung fruah
Ster-tip-a-nup-a-vera
She was 100% Swedish.
October 11th, 2010 at 2:56 am
My mum was from western Pennsylvania, b. 1905. I learned this bunch of names for fingers from her — and she learnt it from her father, who was either an immigrant from England or else Ist generation American. Start with the little finger: Little Pete, Peter Root, Rooter Whistle, Mary Ostle (Ossle??), and Big Tom Postle (Possle??). My mum never knew the origin of the names. I’ve kind of wondered if it might possibly be connected to English ‘change ringing,’ i.e. if perhaps the fingers might have gotten these nick-names from the different sized bells rung in the ‘change’ patterns. Any ideas? Or answers?
November 8th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
My childhood toe version was:
(small toe to big one, with the big toe resulting in a big full body tickle)
Little Pea
Pea Roo
Rooty Whistle
Ossie Ostle
And Great Big Gobbly Gostle
November 16th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
My mom used to say this all the time:
Little Peed
Penny Rude
Rudy whistle
Mary Hustle
Gibble Gobble!!! (With tickling!)
I’m pretty sure this is from our Welsh roots.
Does anyone have a solid history for this?-Dylan
November 29th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
My mother’s Swedish family an my grandmother’s Danish family always threw in another name in the last line….
OG LILLE PETTER JENSEN” SPILLEMANN…made the “flow “go better I guess..
GOD JUL….GLAEDIG JUL….
November 29th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
my sons and grandson love the game..so do I!!
December 31st, 2010 at 9:23 pm
A friend in high school taught me:
Little Peety
Peety Rudy
Rudy Whistle
Mary Bossel (Martha Bossel on the other foot. It doesn’t matter which foot you start on.
And Old Tom Bongle!
It’s interesting that Rudy Whistle seems to be the most standard of all the names.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
My mother taught it to me this way and she learned it from her father. We live in Maine
Icky Pea
Penny Rew
Rewie Whistle
Mary Ossle
and
Old TOm Bumble
February 21st, 2011 at 9:35 pm
my dad told me the toe rhyme and said it was “this little piggy” in norske. it goes somthin’ like this…
ti till
ta till
mogafrost
speilros
stodakubelheston
this is my best attempt to spell exactly what he said as i heard it.
obviously it is phonetic
i would be very happy if someone could help me to decipher this as to the meaning of it P L E A S E!!!
he pass away almost two years ago and i still havent been able to get it right yet
February 28th, 2011 at 3:32 am
i too grew up having the toe song played on my toes by my grandmother, whose parents immigrated from norway, i cannot spell the words correctly but it sounds like litatoa, totalita, titarosa, abafrua, stogabinisen
March 4th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
I am also trying to find the toe name saying that my father used to say to me when I was little and he passed away just over a year ago. Most have a Norwegian & Swedish background, so wasn’t sure where it came from originally. I have found similar ones beginning with the little toe that are close:
Titil, Tåtil, Tilarus, Megelfru, og Gubbelesten den Store. (although I remember something with “stoda” in it
BUT … he also used to go to other foot starting at Big Toe and all I remembered was the “Little Puli-mus” at the end when he would just wiggle the little toe. Can’t seem to find anything with THAT, again I have no idea how to spell it.
March 6th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
The version I remember is:
Inky Pead,
Penny Zood,
Zoody Whistle,
Mary Hustle,
Old Tom Bumble.
I was surprised and delighted to find the same poem in a book about everyday life in Tudor England. It was in a chapter about children’s games. Of course, some of the words have changed slightly over the generations but it remains basically the same. So the poem is at least that old!
March 10th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
My family background is Swedish and Norwegian, but it seems to have come from the Norweigian side of the family. Here is how I learned it:
Little Pea
Peadie Lou
Ludie Whistle
Nissle Nossle
and Great Big Whopple Topple (as you wiggle the BIG Toe)
March 11th, 2011 at 12:34 am
The variation from my family.
Little Peed
Peedy Lou
Looney Whistle
Nissle Nossle
and Great Big Wopple Topple
My Great Grandmother was from Norway. That’s our know origin for the rhyme.
March 25th, 2011 at 8:13 am
We were taught the toe naming by my father’s side of the family, who said they learned it from my great, great grandmother, who immigrated to the U.S. from Sweden. I’m not sure of the spellings, but we recited it as follows starting with the little toe:
Picky Pea
Penny Roo
Roo Whistle
Mary Hossle
Big Tom Bumble Bee – after which we poke the bottom of the foot and say “Buzz.”
It looks like this is somewhat like the game I’ve Got A Secret, where it starts out as one thing and ends up somewhat different through telling.
We did not even know the “This Little Piggy” toe thing til we were a lot older.
April 2nd, 2011 at 8:53 am
I just found this English one:
Harry Whistle, Tommy Thistle,
Harry Whible, Tommy Thible,
And little Oker-bell.
From Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales by James Halliwell.
April 26th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
My youngest son sent me this link. I was so surprised to see so many responses. I’ve met only one person in my life outside my family who had similar toe names to my family’s tradition. I found the listings of toe names very interesting, especially the similarity in names from different locations. My family, heritage is primarily English, German & Irish. The toe naming in our family was, beginning with the little toe:
Little Peetie
Penney Rudy
Judy Whistle
Mary Hossel
Old Tommy Bungle-Bungle.
June 16th, 2011 at 2:06 am
My Grandma just passed at age 96. I grew up hearing the rhyme this way, as have my children.
tummatoot (thumb)
slickaput (pointer finger, or finger you lick to page turn)
longamon (middle finger/longest)
ringamon (ring finger0
“and” little pippi anna
June 19th, 2011 at 8:15 pm
My Dad taught me the following, which he learned from his grandmother (who was originally from Monson, Maine)
Little Peed
Ally Lood
Lood the Whistle
Mary Jane
and… OLD TOMBLY BOMBLY BOMBLY
I LOVE that there are so many variations of this little rhyme. I was hoping to find out a little bit more of the origin, but instead am thrilled to know there are kiddos out there getting as much enjoyment from this as our family did and still does.
July 6th, 2011 at 11:45 pm
When I was growing up my mom played a toe game…start with the big toe
excuse the spelling…
Pity crapo
la te day
jean le voe
pity pucee
quee quee quee….does anyone recognize or know this one!
July 7th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Michelle wrote:
Hello, and thank you for this site, it takes me back to when my grandpa used to sing me Norwegian rhymes
there was one he used to say to me, and he said it was like this little piggy and he would touch my fingers and say something like
-tomletut
-slaytiput
-longmon
-gooliblan
-lille petta strulamon
Im not sure if that is the correct saying but would love it if someone could translate or tell me the correct pronunciation
thank you so much
Michelle Bussey
July 8th, 2011 at 10:50 am
Martha, looks like French to me, the first being “Petit crapaud” (little toad) and the last “Petit Poucet” (Tom Thumb- lit. Little “Thumby”) “quee quee quee” being more or less “quiriquiqui” that we say while tickling a child. But I can’t figure out what can the two in the middle be.
July 28th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
My mother-in-law’s family used this rhyme:
toe types
airy wipes
toe tissle
bill whistle
and ookie-bell
Starting with the big toe and ending with the little toe.
August 11th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
From western Kansas ca.1943
Little Pead
Penny Rood
Mary Rozzel
Rhody Whistle
Old Tom Gibble Gobble
Started with the little toe and ended by wiggling the big toe.
September 7th, 2011 at 12:37 am
Now THIS is going to drive me bananas! My Icelandic Mom did this “toe” thing and I can’t, for the life of me, remember the names. I just remember that when it came to the little toe it was really funny!
September 13th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
My Grandmother palyed the toe game with us and here are the names we grew up with:
Peedy Weedy
Pally Ludie
Lady whistle
Lodie Wassle
Great Doe-a-man dot
The spellings are my best phonetic effort.
September 21st, 2011 at 3:21 am
Some of you guys have come close to the right rhyme but you probably didn’t quite understand what they were saying…it’s easy enough to do with Danish or Norwegian.
My parents taught the FINGER rhyme to me and my siblings – they were both Danish and immigrated to Canada in 1956.
The rhyme is:
Tommeltott, Slikepott, Langemand, Guldebrand, og Lille Peter Spillemand
It’s easier to get when you understand that “mand” means “MAN”. TOMMEL means “THUMB”, “SLIKE” means “LICK”, “LANGEMAND” is “LONG/TALL MAN” “GULDE/BRAND” means “GOLD/FIRE”, and finishes with “AND LITTLE PETER GAMBLING MAN ”
I sorta always thought it meant
Thumb (Tot?), (one for) licking pots, long man, gold one? (because that’s where you wear wedding ring – but brand means FIRE), and little Peter spilling Man. But then I was pretty young.
I tried a translation site but TOTT and POTT in Danish don’t seem to mean anything, but “spiller” means GAMBLING or GAMING
September 30th, 2011 at 1:53 am
This website was quite a pleasant surprise when I googled the rhyme! I find it quite fascinating the different family versions of the same toe-naming game!
While re-reading reminisces written in 1989 from my paternal grandmother, who passed away in 1991 at the age of 97, she twice mentioned this little rhyme. She wrote that it sounded like a really old rhyme and had often wondered about the origin of the little rhyme that Mother Peavey, her mother-in-law, used when counting the baby’s toes. Instead of the usual “This little piggy”- she used to say, “Tom Bumble, Mary Hossle, Penny Rude, Rudy Whistle and little Baby Wee-wee.”
My great-grandmother (Mary Edith Hayes Peavey) was of Scottish descent. In my understanding of the history of the British Isles and noting northern Scotland’s proximity to the Scandinavian countries, my guess, the rhyme’s origins was probably Norwegian or Swedish. The English, Gaelic and Welsh translations (of what the Scandinavian grandparents were saying) developed over time into the various versions passed down by each family.
October 12th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
Loved to find this
Norwegian uncle when I was little, said
Titer, tawter, tillarose, abafo, gobahesnigarden..that what it sounded like, now from here…this it was
Titil, Tåtil, Tilarus, Ebenfroo, gubbe hesten den Garden
dont know the first part, but starting at gubbe..it means, sleepy horse in the garden…very fun.
i would love to know the first part.
October 25th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
I’m amazed by how many variations of this toe rhyme are posted here. When I was a little girl in the 1950’s this version was taught to me by my great uncle in eastern Oregon. (Start with little toe)
Little Pea
Peady Loo
Loodie Whistle
Whistle Wossle
GREAT BIG WHOPPY TOSSLE! (Big voice…shake the big toe.)
October 26th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
My grandmother was swedish/norwegian and it went:
teetle,
toytle,
slickaput,
longemun,
and
studagubalaysush!
October 26th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
My grandma used to say the toe rhyme to me when I was a kid. I believe she is English and French. Here’s how her version went.
Little Pete
Pete Root
Root Whistle
Mary Hostle
And Old Fat Hobble Gobble (said in a deep gravely voice while pinching the big toe)
October 30th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Pete —- Our family version of this is Little Pea, Penny Rue, Rue Whistle, Sarah Horsel and Great big Tom Bumble….. The Kimball side of my family came over in 1726 from England…. So who really knows the orgin I’d say at this point…
October 30th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
My father in law played a Danish game with my daughters as he named their forehead, nose, chin and under their chin. We have no idea what the words were and it always made them giggle. Can anyone help?
October 31st, 2011 at 1:19 pm
[...] Do our toes have names? Mother Goose and Scandinavian nursery rhymes gave us variants of Tom Pumpkin, Long Larkin, Betty Pringle, Johnny Jingle, and Little Dick. Sounds cooler than big toe, no? A whole lot more shared here. [...]
November 6th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Maybe the English version of the Danish game is:
“Head achker,
Eye winker
Bill berry
Cheek cherry,
gilly, gilly, gilly, gilly!” — where the kid’s neck gets tickled.
Silly game, but we all loved the attention and it never got olde… but we did!
November 6th, 2011 at 9:51 pm
I am Swedish and Dutch, so I heard the finger story from both sides of the family (60+ years ago). It was a story that always began with the finger names. My family versions sounded like the Flemish contribution above, with differing names for some of the digits.
…And Croenen Brutsaert wrote “There is a Flemish equivalent:
Duimeloot, Likkepoot, Lange Jaap, Korte Knaap en Klein Petoetje!”
(phonetic: doymalot, lickapot, longayaap,korte knaap, kline a ding)
I think the Swedish version used “Vetle gude ma skogen” for the little finger.
In my family’s story, as above, the children went into the forest and got lost. Duimeelot fell in a fen – swamp – the next three sibling digits tried to help, but in the end, it vas “Vetle gude ma Skogen” who saved them all.
Some how I liked that story better than all the kids sneaking to the kitchen, and the little tell-tale finger tattling.
– Greg in mid-Minnesota
November 6th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
I am sure the most common toe poem has to be:
This little piggy went to market. (Likely never to be seen again!)
This little piggy stayed home
This little piggy had roast beef — (a carnivore toe?)
This little piggy had none… and… (long anticipation)
THIS little piggy went…
Wee wee wee —
All the way home! ( Maybe it was supposed to be “whee”
Any way, I would like to see the worldly translations!
November 8th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
hmmm, as I recall my grandmother saying (she was a Furgeson and not from the Sarah Furgeson lineage), and we believed it was an old English tradition, we named our toes:
Icky Pooh
Penny Rue
Rooty Whistle
Mary Hustle
and Big TOM BUMBLE..as we wiggle the big toe.
November 10th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
http://omas-liedjes.clubs.nl/nieuws/detail/424247_naar-bed
(The scandinavian Go-to-bed Finger Story)… Naar Bed (to bed).
This is for Isabel: — Geplaatst op maandag 07 maart 2005 @ 21:00
http://omas-liedjes.clubs.nl/nieuws/detail/424247_naar-bed
— NAAR BED –
Duimeloot is in ‘t water gevallen.
Likkepoot heeft hem eruit gehaald.
Lange Jaap bracht hem weer naar huis.
Korte Knaap heeft hem in ‘t bedje gelegd
En het kleine, kleine Pietje,
heeft het allemaal aan zijn moeder gezegd.
Duimeloot is uit het bedje gekropen.
Likkepoot heeft hem eruit gejaagd.
Lange Jaap is er achteraan gelopen.
Korte Knaap heeft hem naar huis geleid.
En het kleine, kleine Pietje,
heeft het allemaal aan zijn moeder gezeid.
— — — — — — —
Many versions of the rhyme may be found in Google searching “Duimeloot Korte Knaap”
I keep looking for the one with “Vetle Gude ma Skogen” (Little man in the forest?)
There is a song “auch, Kline Dinge” (little one),
November 14th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
[...] terzo, quarto e quinto dito, ma piace pensare che esistano nomi più specifici. Barrett segnala la discussione nata da un post dedicato a una filastrocca scandinava su, appunto, le dita dei piedi: nei commenti [...]
March 5th, 2012 at 12:39 am
My father had names for each toe. I only remember 6 of them and only the phonetic sounds. They were passed down from generation to generation but originated in Sweden. I’m sure they changed quite a bit from generation to generation. The ones I remember are:
Young-a-man
Yetliham
Molly Hossell
Little Whistle
Great big gobble gobble gobble (for big toe)
Shlek-a-put
I wish I could remember the rest…
April 10th, 2012 at 11:53 am
My grandmother taught us something similar–she was of English decent. It went:
Little pea,
Pear Roo,
Rudy Whistle,
Mary Hostle
and gobble gobble
She always started at the big toe and ended at the little toe.
April 23rd, 2012 at 2:16 pm
The toe rhyme in my family goes (wiggle each toe and say the name):
Aqua Pea
Penny Rou
Roy Whistle
Mary Hawtom
and Ol’ Tom Bumbo (said in a deep voice, slow cadence, while bending the big toe back and forth)
May 4th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Debra wrote:
“My husband’s mother used to do this with our small children’s fingers too!
Thumb 1st:
Tumble tot
lick a pot
lang a man
gouleh bran
little peter
spill a man
OMG Now I know where it came from thank you so much.”
May 5th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
My great grandmother did one similar to the ones above… We always thought it was German… Not sure on spelling
Hacky pea
Penny woo
Mae hauffin
Pea hauffin
And wiggling the big toe and in a deep voice… Ol’ Tom bone!
May 8th, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Here’s one:
Little Pea
Polly Lou
Lucy Whistle
Mary Muscle
And Ole Hubble Bubble