Latest revision - January 24, 2024
This pancocojams post documents African American titles and variant forms of the children's song/rhyme "I Am A Little Dutch Girl" (also known as "I Am A Pretty Little Dutch Girl"). In these variant examples the girls' school year is substituted for the words "Dutch girl" i.e. "I Am A Pretty Little First Grader" or "I Am A Little First Grader"*
*Substitute the school grade (year) that the chanter is in .
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of the video that is included in this post.
-snip-
Another pancocojams post on these rhymes is "Some Changes In The Rhyme "I'm A Pretty Little First Grader" From Their Rhyme Source "I Am A Pretty Little Dutch Girl" is https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/08/some-changes-in-rhyme-im-little-first_22.html (first published August 22, 2019)
****
OPIES' BOOK EXCERPT ABOUT THE RHYME "I'M A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL"
I AM A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL
I am a pretty little Dutch girl.
As pretty as can be, be, be
And all the boys in the baseball team
Go crazy over me, me, me
My boy friend's name is Fatty,
He comes from Senoratti
With turned up toes and a pimple on his nose,
And this is how the story goes:
My mother sent me to the shop,
And told me not to stay, stay, stay
I met my boyfriend on the way
And stayed till Christmas Day, Day, Day .
First he gave me peaches,
Then he gave me pears
Then he gave me 25 cents
To kiss him on the stairs, stairs, stairs.
I gave him back his peaches,
I gave him back his pears,
I gave him back his 25 cents
And kicked him down the stairs, stairs, stairs.
One day when I was walking,
I saw my true love talking,
To a pretty little girl
With a strawberry curl,
And this is what he said:
I will T-A-K-E take you
to the P-A-R-K park,
I will K-I-S-S kiss you
In the D—R-K,
I will L-O-V-E love you
All the T-M-E time,
And the wedding bells will chime
"This light-hearted love story would be recognized as American even if the earliest recording did not come from New York. It appears to have arrived in Britain in 1959, when it was first noted, and it spread through the country like wildfire. A girl fround Twickenham taught it to the children of her new school in Wilmslow. A girl from
London SE8 taught it to the children in her new school in Worchester. A girl brought it back to her school in Spennymoor from the children's ward of Durham County Hospital where 'every was playing it". …But oral tradition, under pressure could not preserve the unfamiliar words, which diversified charmingly. The boy friend Fatty, originally from Cincinatti, is now from "Sixolatti, "Switzerlatti", "Madagassi", ot 'an Irish Naafi",; or his identiy iow "Tony from the land of Palony', or 'Shallow from Portomallow', or 'Martin from the Isle of Tartan', or "Sailor from Venezueloa' {it seems that rhyming a boy's name with a home town is part of the game}; or he has 'a red, red nose and cherries on his toes", or 'a pickle on his nose and ten black toes, 'or bubble gum feet that smell so sweet".
The text given here is an assemblage of all the possible component parts of the story which stem from different places. Children most often combine the first, second, and fifth parts , or the first, third, and fourth, In the very many versions collected almost every combination has been found, except all five parts in one version."
{text & example found in Iona and Peter Opies, "The Singing Game" p.452} reposted from https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=102055 [posted by Azizi 30 June 07]
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT THE RHYME "I'M A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL"
There are multiple children's rhymes that begin with the words "I am a (pretty) little Dutch girl." However, the rhymes that I'm focusing on in this post are those which begin with the lines "I'm a pretty little Dutch girl/as pretty as I can be"....
Many of those rhymes also include a verse that begins with the line "One day when I was walking". The addendum to this post includes beginning lines and links to other children's rhymes that have "little Dutch girl" in their title.
I first noted this change in the United States in the 1990s. However, it may have occurred earlier. The examples of this rhyme that I directly collected [from in-person contacts] were from African American girls ages 6-12 years, Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania [with the exception of one example in which Vietnamese girls recited this rhyme with their African American schoolmates in an elementary school that was more than 99% Black.]
I've found additional examples online of the "school year" form of "Pretty Little Dutch Girl" rhyme. The contributors of those examples didn't indicate their race/ethnicity.
The referent "Dutch girl" may have originally been dropped because the girls reciting that rhyme weren't of "Dutch" descent, and/or may not have known what "Dutch" meant. Nowadays, I think that girls recite the school year version of "Pretty Little Dutch girl" because that's the version that they've heard other people recite.
Read my comment below this post for some ideas about the larger meaning of what changes in this playground rhyme -and other playground rhymes- may mean.
****
TEXT EXAMPLES
(Examples are posted in chronological order based on either their collection date or the date that they were posted online.)
Example #1:
Wooble Wooble Wooble and the deep blue sea
I am a little __ * first grade
as pretty as can __ be be.
And all the boys around my house
go crazy over __ me me.
My boyfriend's name is __ Yellow.
He comes from Ala__bama
with 25 toes
and a pickle on his nose
and this is how the story goes.
One day I was ah __ walkin
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
to a very pretty girl
with strawberry curls.
And this is what she said
"I L-O-V-E __ love you."
"I K-I-S-S __ kiss you."
"I A-D-O-R-E __ adore you"
So S-T-O-P. STOP!
- elementary school age African American and Vietnamese girls {6 years old} Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2000
-snip-
*The dash indicates that you pause for a beat before saying the next word or the next syllable.
Notice the introductory line in this example and most of the other examples.
I AM A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL
I am a pretty little Dutch girl.
As pretty as can be, be, be
And all the boys in the baseball team
Go crazy over me, me, me
My boy friend's name is Fatty,
He comes from Senoratti
With turned up toes and a pimple on his nose,
And this is how the story goes:
My mother sent me to the shop,
And told me not to stay, stay, stay
I met my boyfriend on the way
And stayed till Christmas Day, Day, Day .
First he gave me peaches,
Then he gave me pears
Then he gave me 25 cents
To kiss him on the stairs, stairs, stairs.
I gave him back his peaches,
I gave him back his pears,
I gave him back his 25 cents
And kicked him down the stairs, stairs, stairs.
One day when I was walking,
I saw my true love talking,
To a pretty little girl
With a strawberry curl,
And this is what he said:
I will T-A-K-E take you
to the P-A-R-K park,
I will K-I-S-S kiss you
In the D—R-K,
I will L-O-V-E love you
All the T-M-E time,
And the wedding bells will chime
"This light-hearted love story would be recognized as American even if the earliest recording did not come from New York. It appears to have arrived in Britain in 1959, when it was first noted, and it spread through the country like wildfire. A girl fround Twickenham taught it to the children of her new school in Wilmslow. A girl from
London SE8 taught it to the children in her new school in Worchester. A girl brought it back to her school in Spennymoor from the children's ward of Durham County Hospital where 'every was playing it". …But oral tradition, under pressure could not preserve the unfamiliar words, which diversified charmingly. The boy friend Fatty, originally from Cincinatti, is now from "Sixolatti, "Switzerlatti", "Madagassi", ot 'an Irish Naafi",; or his identiy iow "Tony from the land of Palony', or 'Shallow from Portomallow', or 'Martin from the Isle of Tartan', or "Sailor from Venezueloa' {it seems that rhyming a boy's name with a home town is part of the game}; or he has 'a red, red nose and cherries on his toes", or 'a pickle on his nose and ten black toes, 'or bubble gum feet that smell so sweet".
The text given here is an assemblage of all the possible component parts of the story which stem from different places. Children most often combine the first, second, and fifth parts , or the first, third, and fourth, In the very many versions collected almost every combination has been found, except all five parts in one version."
{text & example found in Iona and Peter Opies, "The Singing Game" p.452} reposted from https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=102055 [posted by Azizi 30 June 07]
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT THE RHYME "I'M A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL"
There are multiple children's rhymes that begin with the words "I am a (pretty) little Dutch girl." However, the rhymes that I'm focusing on in this post are those which begin with the lines "I'm a pretty little Dutch girl/as pretty as I can be"....
Many of those rhymes also include a verse that begins with the line "One day when I was walking". The addendum to this post includes beginning lines and links to other children's rhymes that have "little Dutch girl" in their title.
I first noted this change in the United States in the 1990s. However, it may have occurred earlier. The examples of this rhyme that I directly collected [from in-person contacts] were from African American girls ages 6-12 years, Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania [with the exception of one example in which Vietnamese girls recited this rhyme with their African American schoolmates in an elementary school that was more than 99% Black.]
I've found additional examples online of the "school year" form of "Pretty Little Dutch Girl" rhyme. The contributors of those examples didn't indicate their race/ethnicity.
The referent "Dutch girl" may have originally been dropped because the girls reciting that rhyme weren't of "Dutch" descent, and/or may not have known what "Dutch" meant. Nowadays, I think that girls recite the school year version of "Pretty Little Dutch girl" because that's the version that they've heard other people recite.
Read my comment below this post for some ideas about the larger meaning of what changes in this playground rhyme -and other playground rhymes- may mean.
****
TEXT EXAMPLES
(Examples are posted in chronological order based on either their collection date or the date that they were posted online.)
Example #1:
Wooble Wooble Wooble and the deep blue sea
I am a little __ * first grade
as pretty as can __ be be.
And all the boys around my house
go crazy over __ me me.
My boyfriend's name is __ Yellow.
He comes from Ala__bama
with 25 toes
and a pickle on his nose
and this is how the story goes.
One day I was ah __ walkin
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
to a very pretty girl
with strawberry curls.
And this is what she said
"I L-O-V-E __ love you."
"I K-I-S-S __ kiss you."
"I A-D-O-R-E __ adore you"
So S-T-O-P. STOP!
- elementary school age African American and Vietnamese girls {6 years old} Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2000
-snip-
*The dash indicates that you pause for a beat before saying the next word or the next syllable.
Notice the introductory line in this example and most of the other examples.
Directions:
This rhyme is recited in unison by girls. The girls stand
and form a circle. Each girl fi and holds the "pinky" (small finger)
of the person standing next two them on each side. The girls recite the
introductory line "Wooble Wooble Wooble and the deep blue sea" while
swinging their arms back and forth in rhythm with each word. "Deep blue
sea is chanted faster than "Wooble Wooble Wooble".
****
Example #2:
Zing Zing Zing at the bottom of the sea.
I am a little __* second grade
as pretty as can __ be be.
And all the boys around my house
go crazy over __ me me.
My boyfriend's name is __ Yellow.
He comes from Ala__bama
with 25 toes
and a pickle on his nose
and this is how the story goes.
One day I was ah __ walkin
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
to a very pretty girl
with cherry pie curls
And this is what she said
"I L-O-V-E __ love you."
"I K-I-S-S __ kiss you."
"I A-D-O-R-E __ adore you"
So S-T-O-P. STOP!
1-2-3-4
Get your black hands off of me!
- Diarra, K'azsa, and Michelle (African American girls), Fort Pitt Elementary School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Septemper 2004
*The dash indicates that you pause for a beat before saying the next word or the next syllable.
Editor:
I collected this example while visiting my elementary school teacher daughter’s after-school classroom in the beginning of a new school year. In this variant version of the "Dutch Girl" rhyme, two of the girls started to sing “I’m a little first grade”, but changed to “second grade” because they remembered that they had moved up to that grade. "First grade” and “second grade” means “first grader” and “second grader” (children in the first or second grade [division of school year] of elementary school after the kindergarten year of schooling.)
After they had finished performing that rhyme, I asked the girls which grade they usually use for that rhyme. They told me that the grade mentioned depends on the grade/s of the girls reciting this song.
In April 2010, I collected the same rhyme from two 9 year old African American girls (Takeya and Alexus) who live in the same neighborhood as Fort Pitt Elementary School. [When I collected this example, that school which is now closed had changed its name to "Fort Pitt Accelerated Learning Academy"]. When the rhyme called for the girls to give their grades, one girl chanted "I am a second grader" and the other girl chanted "I am a third grader". Both girls said the "get your black hands off of me" line.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/10/get-your-black-hands-off-of-me.html for my comments about that "get your black hands off of me" line in certain children' rhymes. Also, read the comment about that line which is found after Example #5 in this post.
****
Example #3:
imma little six grader
as pretty as can be be
my boyfriend name is bow wow
he lives in ohio
and this is how my story goes
one day I was walking
I saw my boyfriend talking
to the ugliest girl
in the whole wide world
and this is how my story goes
k-i-s-s kiss you
l-o-v-e love you
m-i-s-s miss you
and this is how my story goes
a b c d
so keep yo hands away from me.
- http://www.home-school.com.au/resource/skipping-rope-jump-rope-hopscotch, March 21, 2005
-snip-
*"Bow wow" is the stage name of the young African American rapper Shad Gregory Moss (born March 9, 1987). Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Wow_(rapper) for information about Bow Wow.
-snip-
It's interesting to note that the rhyming name "Jello" or "Mello from the land of Jello" that's found in many "standard" versions of "I'm A Pretty Little Dutch Girl" or the rhyming name "Tony" from "Bologna" have been replaced by the name of a Black male celebrity who is popular with younger females. Read the version given as #5 for an example of another celebrity's name that is used in a version of "I'm A Pretty Little First Grader".
****
Example #4
Sea sea sea at the bottom of the sea!
I am a little __ 3rd grader
As cute as can__ be
My boyfriend's name is ___ Jell-o
He comes from Ala__bama
With a booger from his nose
All the way to his toes
And this is how my story goes!
One day when I was __ walking
I heard my boyfriend __ talking
To the prettiest girl
With strawberry curls
And this is what he said:
I L-O-V-E Love you!
I K-I-S-S Kiss you!
S-T-O-P STOP! Don't move!
-Becky; http://hubpages.com/hub/Recess-is-BACK-Hand-Clapping-Games, 2009
****
Example #5
I am a pretty __ first grader
As pretty as can___ be be.
My boyfriend's name is__ Chris Brown*
He lives in Ala__bama.
One day when I was___walking
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
To the ugliest girl in the whole wide world.
And this is what he said.
I K-I-S-S
I M-I-S-S miss you.
I L-O-V-E love you.
ABCDEFG
Get your black hands off of me.**
I K-I-S-S Kiss you!
-Naijah S.; (African American female, 9 years old; Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; January 14, 2011; Collected by Azizi Powell 1/14/2011
-snip-
The dash indicates that the chanter pauses one beat before saying the next word or the next syllable.
I met Naijah and her mother and baby sister when they came early for a community African story telling session that I was asked to do in a local Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania library. That session was sponsored by a chapter of a historically Black Greek lettered sorority. While we were waiting for other children to come, Naijah was playing with her computer tablet and I asked her to share with me some rhymes that she knew. Naijah recited this rhyme without my asking for it by name. She said "Girls say the grade they are in when they say this rhyme (like first grade or second grade or fifth grade)." Naijah also said that when she was in the second grade she forgot and said "I am a pretty first grader".
*"Chris Brown" is a currently popular young African American R&B singer and actor. Besides his popularity, I think that Chris Brown's last name "Brown" is one reason why he joins a long line in children's playground rhymes of other people or characters whose last name is "Brown"-for instance "Buster Brown", "Charlie Brown", "James Brown", and probably others.
**Naijah said "The reason why the girl in the rhyme said "Get your black hands off of me" is "because she was mad at him because he was cheating on her".
Another rhyme that Naijah recited for me "ET From Outer Space" also included the "Get your black hand off of me" line. I said to Naijah that I heard that "get your Black hands off of me" line before in other rhymes, and I wondered if if meant that people were ashamed of being Black. Naijah looked shocked and said "I enjoy my heritage".
****
ADDENDUM: INFORMATION ABOUT THE "I'M A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL" RHYME
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Little_Dutch_Girl
"Pretty Little Dutch Girl" is a children's nursery rhyme, clapping game and jump-rope rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12986...
Origins and distribution
The origins of the rhyme are obscure. The tune of the song is similar to "A Sailor Went to Sea" and "Miss Suzie Had A Steamboat" (though some notes are removed to account for the double-syllable words "pretty" and "little", and some notes are added in). The earliest record found so far is for New York around 1940.[1] It seems to have spread over the USA by the 1950s and reached Britain in 1959, where it was taken up very quickly across the country to become one of the most popular skipping rhymes among girls.[1]"
-snip-
“Record” here means “documented use”
****
There are at least three other families of children's songs/playground rhymes that have refer to "little Dutch girl".
The rhymes that I'm referring to begin with the lines
"I'm a little dutch girl dressed in blue/these are the things i can do"
Or
"I am a little Dutch Girl, a Dutch Girl, a Dutch Girl, I am a little Dutch Girl, a Dutch Girl I am" [or “from over the sea"]
Or
"There was a little Dutch boy and a little Dutch girl,
In a chalet on the hill.
Tick tock, tick tock went the funny old clock"
For examples of those "little Dutch girl" rhymes other than those which include the lines "as pretty as can be" and the verse that begins with "one day when I was walking" click http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=29995 and http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=37757.
The song/rhymes that I'm referring to begin with
****
VIDEO OF A STANDARD VERSION OF "I'M A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL"
Pretty little dutch girl
Lauren Gabriel, Uploaded on Nov 18, 2010
-snip-
This is a clip from the 1988 Wee Sing video "Grandpa's Magic Toys". Here are the words to that version:
I am a pretty little Dutch girl
As pretty as I can be
And all the boys in the neighborhood
Are crazy over me
My boyfriend's name is Mello
He comes from the land of Jello
With pickles for his toes
and a cherry for his nose
And that's the way my story goes
-snip-
The woman dressed up in a traditional Dutch outfit sings this song while jumping rope. The second time she sings the song, the adults and children perform a partner hand clap routine without reciting the rhyme. These two performance activities may reflect that doing hand clap routines while chanting rhymes was beginning [?] to be the preferred activity rather than jumping rope while reciting the same rhymes. In the USA now, it appears to me that almost all the jump rope rhymes are now hand clap rhymes.
****
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Visitor comments are welcome.
Zing Zing Zing at the bottom of the sea.
I am a little __* second grade
as pretty as can __ be be.
And all the boys around my house
go crazy over __ me me.
My boyfriend's name is __ Yellow.
He comes from Ala__bama
with 25 toes
and a pickle on his nose
and this is how the story goes.
One day I was ah __ walkin
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
to a very pretty girl
with cherry pie curls
And this is what she said
"I L-O-V-E __ love you."
"I K-I-S-S __ kiss you."
"I A-D-O-R-E __ adore you"
So S-T-O-P. STOP!
1-2-3-4
Get your black hands off of me!
- Diarra, K'azsa, and Michelle (African American girls), Fort Pitt Elementary School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Septemper 2004
*The dash indicates that you pause for a beat before saying the next word or the next syllable.
Editor:
I collected this example while visiting my elementary school teacher daughter’s after-school classroom in the beginning of a new school year. In this variant version of the "Dutch Girl" rhyme, two of the girls started to sing “I’m a little first grade”, but changed to “second grade” because they remembered that they had moved up to that grade. "First grade” and “second grade” means “first grader” and “second grader” (children in the first or second grade [division of school year] of elementary school after the kindergarten year of schooling.)
After they had finished performing that rhyme, I asked the girls which grade they usually use for that rhyme. They told me that the grade mentioned depends on the grade/s of the girls reciting this song.
In April 2010, I collected the same rhyme from two 9 year old African American girls (Takeya and Alexus) who live in the same neighborhood as Fort Pitt Elementary School. [When I collected this example, that school which is now closed had changed its name to "Fort Pitt Accelerated Learning Academy"]. When the rhyme called for the girls to give their grades, one girl chanted "I am a second grader" and the other girl chanted "I am a third grader". Both girls said the "get your black hands off of me" line.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/10/get-your-black-hands-off-of-me.html for my comments about that "get your black hands off of me" line in certain children' rhymes. Also, read the comment about that line which is found after Example #5 in this post.
****
Example #3:
imma little six grader
as pretty as can be be
my boyfriend name is bow wow
he lives in ohio
and this is how my story goes
one day I was walking
I saw my boyfriend talking
to the ugliest girl
in the whole wide world
and this is how my story goes
k-i-s-s kiss you
l-o-v-e love you
m-i-s-s miss you
and this is how my story goes
a b c d
so keep yo hands away from me.
- http://www.home-school.com.au/resource/skipping-rope-jump-rope-hopscotch, March 21, 2005
-snip-
*"Bow wow" is the stage name of the young African American rapper Shad Gregory Moss (born March 9, 1987). Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Wow_(rapper) for information about Bow Wow.
-snip-
It's interesting to note that the rhyming name "Jello" or "Mello from the land of Jello" that's found in many "standard" versions of "I'm A Pretty Little Dutch Girl" or the rhyming name "Tony" from "Bologna" have been replaced by the name of a Black male celebrity who is popular with younger females. Read the version given as #5 for an example of another celebrity's name that is used in a version of "I'm A Pretty Little First Grader".
****
Example #4
Sea sea sea at the bottom of the sea!
I am a little __ 3rd grader
As cute as can__ be
My boyfriend's name is ___ Jell-o
He comes from Ala__bama
With a booger from his nose
All the way to his toes
And this is how my story goes!
One day when I was __ walking
I heard my boyfriend __ talking
To the prettiest girl
With strawberry curls
And this is what he said:
I L-O-V-E Love you!
I K-I-S-S Kiss you!
S-T-O-P STOP! Don't move!
-Becky; http://hubpages.com/hub/Recess-is-BACK-Hand-Clapping-Games, 2009
****
Example #5
I am a pretty __ first grader
As pretty as can___ be be.
My boyfriend's name is__ Chris Brown*
He lives in Ala__bama.
One day when I was___walking
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
To the ugliest girl in the whole wide world.
And this is what he said.
I K-I-S-S
I M-I-S-S miss you.
I L-O-V-E love you.
ABCDEFG
Get your black hands off of me.**
I K-I-S-S Kiss you!
-Naijah S.; (African American female, 9 years old; Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; January 14, 2011; Collected by Azizi Powell 1/14/2011
-snip-
The dash indicates that the chanter pauses one beat before saying the next word or the next syllable.
I met Naijah and her mother and baby sister when they came early for a community African story telling session that I was asked to do in a local Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania library. That session was sponsored by a chapter of a historically Black Greek lettered sorority. While we were waiting for other children to come, Naijah was playing with her computer tablet and I asked her to share with me some rhymes that she knew. Naijah recited this rhyme without my asking for it by name. She said "Girls say the grade they are in when they say this rhyme (like first grade or second grade or fifth grade)." Naijah also said that when she was in the second grade she forgot and said "I am a pretty first grader".
*"Chris Brown" is a currently popular young African American R&B singer and actor. Besides his popularity, I think that Chris Brown's last name "Brown" is one reason why he joins a long line in children's playground rhymes of other people or characters whose last name is "Brown"-for instance "Buster Brown", "Charlie Brown", "James Brown", and probably others.
**Naijah said "The reason why the girl in the rhyme said "Get your black hands off of me" is "because she was mad at him because he was cheating on her".
Another rhyme that Naijah recited for me "ET From Outer Space" also included the "Get your black hand off of me" line. I said to Naijah that I heard that "get your Black hands off of me" line before in other rhymes, and I wondered if if meant that people were ashamed of being Black. Naijah looked shocked and said "I enjoy my heritage".
****
ADDENDUM: INFORMATION ABOUT THE "I'M A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL" RHYME
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Little_Dutch_Girl
"Pretty Little Dutch Girl" is a children's nursery rhyme, clapping game and jump-rope rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12986...
Origins and distribution
The origins of the rhyme are obscure. The tune of the song is similar to "A Sailor Went to Sea" and "Miss Suzie Had A Steamboat" (though some notes are removed to account for the double-syllable words "pretty" and "little", and some notes are added in). The earliest record found so far is for New York around 1940.[1] It seems to have spread over the USA by the 1950s and reached Britain in 1959, where it was taken up very quickly across the country to become one of the most popular skipping rhymes among girls.[1]"
-snip-
“Record” here means “documented use”
****
There are at least three other families of children's songs/playground rhymes that have refer to "little Dutch girl".
The rhymes that I'm referring to begin with the lines
"I'm a little dutch girl dressed in blue/these are the things i can do"
Or
"I am a little Dutch Girl, a Dutch Girl, a Dutch Girl, I am a little Dutch Girl, a Dutch Girl I am" [or “from over the sea"]
Or
"There was a little Dutch boy and a little Dutch girl,
In a chalet on the hill.
Tick tock, tick tock went the funny old clock"
For examples of those "little Dutch girl" rhymes other than those which include the lines "as pretty as can be" and the verse that begins with "one day when I was walking" click http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=29995 and http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=37757.
The song/rhymes that I'm referring to begin with
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VIDEO OF A STANDARD VERSION OF "I'M A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL"
Pretty little dutch girl
Lauren Gabriel, Uploaded on Nov 18, 2010
-snip-
This is a clip from the 1988 Wee Sing video "Grandpa's Magic Toys". Here are the words to that version:
I am a pretty little Dutch girl
As pretty as I can be
And all the boys in the neighborhood
Are crazy over me
My boyfriend's name is Mello
He comes from the land of Jello
With pickles for his toes
and a cherry for his nose
And that's the way my story goes
-snip-
The woman dressed up in a traditional Dutch outfit sings this song while jumping rope. The second time she sings the song, the adults and children perform a partner hand clap routine without reciting the rhyme. These two performance activities may reflect that doing hand clap routines while chanting rhymes was beginning [?] to be the preferred activity rather than jumping rope while reciting the same rhymes. In the USA now, it appears to me that almost all the jump rope rhymes are now hand clap rhymes.
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Visitor comments are welcome.
It occurs to me that the changes in the words to "I'm A Pretty Little Dutch Girl" and the topical changes that have been made in the text of a number of other contemporary American playground rhymes suggest that children consider it normal to change things in their environment to better fit them. Instead of considering the words of rhymes or songs as being incapable of change, American children (and probably other children throughout the world) take a flexible approach to those words, and act on the belief that those words can be changed -at least as far as their group is concerned - to better fit that group.
ReplyDeleteI hasten to say that I think that most children probably don't recognize that they are making changes in the words of rhymes- unless those rhymes call for different words with each iteration like the soloist's portion of some foot stomping cheers. But when children, pre-teens, or teenagers are shown [on YouTube viewer comment threads or elsewhere] that other people have different versions of the rhyme that they recite/d, it's become increasingly common for them to say something like "This is the way I learned it" instead of "Your example is wrong. Here's the right way to say that rhyme."
The notion that there are multiple versions of rhymes and no one version is the right version is actually a revolutionary concept which is reflective of the normalization of multiple choices that people experience and can make up for themselves in everyday life - from their internet screen name and screen saver to the ring tune that they chose or make up for their telephone.
This flexible, expanding the boundaries of what is standard approach to life is also evident in more "heavy duty" ways in the increased acceptance of people of different races, ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations, and the recognition that there are different definitions of "family" and all of those ways of making a family are acceptable.
This flexibility also is reflected in the recognition that there are multiple standards of beauty ... and the recognition that a Black man or Latino or Native American man or man of another race/ethnicity besides White can also be Santa Claus.
It occurs to me that this flexible way of experiencing the world may be one result of multiculturalism instead of the so-called melting pot theory where there was only one right way of looking and worshiping, and experiencing life.
Congratulations to children for rejecting that world view, perhaps without even knowing that they are doing so.
Sea sea sea at the bottom of the sea
ReplyDeleteIm a little_ first grader
Pretty as can_ bee be
And all the boys around my block are fightin' over_ me me
My best friends name is_ Jello
He lives in ala_Bama
With 24 toes and a big fat nose
and this is how my story goes
one day I was_ Walkin
I saw my best friend- talking
To the ugliest girl in the whole wide world
And this is what I said to her
See my pinkie see my thumb see my fist you betta run
Peanut butter reesces cup mess with me I jack you up
Wait_ come back_ you need a tick tack
Not a one not a two _ but the whole darn pack
Started to be mean now you through is dry don't on sip_ two sip_ but the whole dang bottle
1234 If I see you at the store
Buying presents for her
You will pe history.
Thanks for sharing that example of "I am a first grader".
DeleteI haven't read or heard that example before.
I'd love to know where you learned it and when. (city/state/ decade if not year).
this is a ecxample sea sea at the bottom of the sea Im a little firts grader as pretty as can be be and all the boys aronud my block are fighting over me me my boy friends name is jello he from alabama with 25 toes and a pretty fat noes and this how my story goes one day I was walking I saw my boy friend talking to the pretiest girl in the whole wide world and this what I sayed to her see my pickie see my thumb see my fist you better run wait come back you need a tik tak not one not two but the the whole six pack sorry to mean but you some vasuline 123 get your black hands off me
DeleteThanks, Unknown for sharing your example of the rhyme "I am a little first grader".
DeleteI wish you would share the city and state your learned this rhyme and when you learned it.
I also shared your example of this rhyme on two other pancocojams posts: a post on the rhyme "see my pinky, see my thumb", and a post on the line "get your black hands off of me".
Thanks again!
im a pretty little first grader as pretty as can be be my boyfreinds name is je-llo he lives in ala-bamo with a pickle up his nose and 25 toes this is how my story goes one day i was walking i saw my boyfreind talking to the ugliest girl in the whole wide world and this is what he said to her k-i-s-s kiss you l-o-v-e love you d-u-m-p dump you m-i-s-s miss you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that example, Anonymous.
DeleteI appreciate it! I guess there's a number of examples that say that the boyfriend is talking to the ugliest girl. Earlier versions say "prettiest girl"...
Sea sea sea at the bottom of the sea
ReplyDeleteI'm a little first grader
Pretty as can be be
And all the boys around my block
Is fighting over me me
My boyfriend name is hello
He lives in alabamo
With 65 toes
And a big fat nose
And this is how my story goes
One day I walking
I saw my boyfriend talking
To the ugliest girl in the whole wide world
And this is what I said to her
See my pinky see my thumb see my fist you better run
Peanut butter reesce cup you mess With me Ill jack you up
Wait come back you need a tik tak not One not two but the whole 6 pack
Sorry to be mean
But you need some Listerine
Not a sip not a swallow but he whole dang bottle
Jello**
DeleteThanks, Unknown.
DeleteI appreciate you sending in this version of "I Am A Pretty Little First Grader".
It's interesting that the "I saw my boyfriend" talking verse has been changed to "to the ugliest girl in the world" (from the earlier line "to the prettiest girl in the world".
Thanks for correcting the typo "hello" with the correct [often used] word "Jello".
i love u
ReplyDelete;)
ReplyDeleteThanks bigboyenergy.
DeleteI think :o)
Well this is the one I always used-
ReplyDeleteSea sea sea at the bottom of the sea!
I am a little__First grader!
Who is pretty as can, be be
and all the boys around my block are fighting over, me me!
My boyfriends name is Jell-o,
He comes from alabam-o,
With 24 toes and a pocket full of gold and this is how my story goes:
I saw my boyfriend, talk-ing to the ugliest girl in the whole wide world and this is how my story goes:
Kawala-wala, A! Kawala-wala B!
Chi-bang-bag C! hi-bang bang D!
See my pinkie see my thumb, see my fist, you better run!
Wait, come back. You need a Tic-Tac. Not one, not two, but the whole six pack!
And, Sorry to be mean, but you need some Listerine.
Hello, Unknown.
DeleteThanks for sharing the version of "I Am A Pretty Little First Grader" that you remember.
I haven't come across that version before. When did you first chant it (year or decade) and where (citystate)?
For the folkloric record, I also would like to know your race and gender and did you do any movements while chanting this rhyme.
Also, does the __ mean you pause before saying the next word?
Thanks again for sharing!
It's sea sea sea Bottom of the sea there was a little 1st grader as pretty as can be be My boyfriend name is jello he lives in LA Alabama
ReplyDeleteWhat's a pickle up his nose with 25 toes and This is how my story goes 1 day I was walking I saw my boyfriend talking to the Ugliest girl in the whole wide world This is what I said to him I KISS kiss you I MISS miss you I dump Dump you
Hello, Anonymous. Thanks for sharing that version of "I am a little first grader".
DeleteI hadn't come across that version before! Where and when did you learn it?
I am a little first grader
ReplyDeleteAs pretty as can be be be
And all the boys around my block
Go crazy over me me me
My boyfriends name is Patty
He comes from Cincinnati
With 48 toes and a pickle up his nose
This is how my story goes:
One day when I was walking
I heard my boyfriend talking
To a pretty little girl with strawberry curls
And this is what he said to her
"I L-O-V-E love you
I K-I-S-S kiss you"
So I jumped in a lake
And swallowed a snake
And now I have a belly ache!
Thanks, Smiley_21.
DeleteI L.O.V.E it!
Same it was different than most
DeleteThanks, Anonymous!
DeleteSome would end it like so:
ReplyDelete"I L-O-V-E love you
I K-I-S-S kiss you
I M-I-S-S miss you
I will D-U-M-P dump her"
So I jumped in a lake
And swallowed a snake
And now I have a belly ache!
:o))
DeleteFor the folkloric record, in what city/state did you chant this and when (what decade)? I'm assuming that girls were the ones to chant this rhyme. What race chanted it? And was it done as a partner hand clap? And how did you learn it?
Also, did people change the "I am a first grader" line to reflect their actual grade?
Thanks again!
My boyfriends name is fatty
ReplyDeleteHe came from Cincinnati with a pickle on his nose and three black toes. This is how my story goes one day as I was walkin I heard my boyfriend talkin to a perty little girl with bubble gum curls and this is what he said to her
I will L-O-V-E. Love you.all the T-I-M-E time if you'll only promise to be mine and only mine.
Anonymous thanks for sharing that version of "My Boyfriend's Name Is Fatty". I haven't come across that version before.
DeleteBest wishes!
I love this it taught me so fast.
ReplyDeleteHello, Anonymous. Thanks for your comment. I'm glad you learned this rhyme. Pass it on to others :o)
Deletei’m a pretty little- first grader
ReplyDeletepretty as can be be
and all the boys around my house go crazy over me me
my boyfriend s name is jello
he comes from alabamo
with a pickle in his nose and 25 toes and this is how the story goes
one day i was-walking
i saw my boyfriend- talking
to a pretty little girl with strawberry curls and this is what he said to her
i l-o-v-e love you and K-i-s-s kiss you
and S—t—o—p stop
Anonymous, thanks for sharing the version of "I'm a pretty little first grader" that you know.
DeleteI appreciate it!