Examples Of The Children's Rhymes "Order In The Court" ("Silence In The Court")

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents a compilation of examples of the children's rhyme "Order In The Court" (also known as "Silence In The Court)".

The content of this post is provided for folkloric purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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DISCLAIMER:
This compilation isn't meant to be a comprehensive listing of every example of these rhymes. If you know other versions of "Order in the court" ("Silence in the court") please share it in the comment section below, along with demographics (when [which decade] and where [city/state and nation if outside of the United States), along with any comments that you want to add. Thanks!

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EXAMPLES OF "ORDER IN THE COURT" ("SILENCE IN THE COURT")

Pancocojams Editor's Note:
The first excerpt given below dates "Order in the court" rhymes to the 1920s and 1930s (New York).

With the exception of that first excerpt, these examples are given in relative chronological order based on the publishing dates online (of the first example, if the excerpt includes multiple examples), with the oldest dated excerpts given first.

Examples with no online publishing dates were retrieved on January 11, 2018, and are placed after the excerpts that have publishing dates.

I've added italics for the rhyme when it is included in a long comment.

For referencing purposes, I've added numbers for the excerpts and for the multiple examples of this rhyme in some of those excerpts.

EXCERPT #1
From https://www.waywordradio.org/on-the-shoe-phone/ On the Shoe Phone
Posted by Grant Barrett on September 20, 2014 ·
"Monkey for a Week
“Order in the court, the monkey wants to speak, the first one to speak is a monkey for a week!” This children’s rhyme appears in print in the 1950s, and Israel Kaplan mentions it in When I Was a Boy in Brooklyn, his take on growing up in New York in the 20s and 30s. Many of his rhymes were less tame."

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EXCERPT #2
From https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=81350 "I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes"
1. Subject: RE: I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 May 05 - 11:41 AM

"Order in the court room!
Monkey wants to speak!
Speak, monkey, speak!


And the first to speak is the monkey. Used in our family car for years in an attempt to keep five battling kids quiet."

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2. Subject: Speak Monkey Speak
From: GUEST,sunday monkey
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 01:53 AM

from the sf bay area in the 60's:

"order in the court
the monkey wants to speak
speak monkey speak
the first one to speak
is the monkey of the week"

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3. Subject: RE: I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
From: firemonkey
Date: 22 Jul 07 - 09:42 PM

I remember this one

Order in the court!
The monkey wants to speak
The first one to talk
is a monkey for a week!

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4. Subject: RE: I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
From: GUEST,kfo
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 02:56 PM

Does anyone remember something like this:

Order in the courthouse,
The monkey wants to speak.
No laughing, no smiling
No showing your teeth!

Then if anyone talked or smiled, etc, they were "it".

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5. Subject: RE: I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
From: Big Mick
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 12:22 AM

from an unattributed GUEST post which is not allowed:

I remember:

Order in the court
the monkey wants to speak
the first one to speak is
the monkey for the week.

My parents used to use it on long car trips to try to get me not to talk.

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6. Subject: RE: I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Aug 08 - 05:35 PM

Silence in the gallery
Silence in the court
The biggest monkey in the world
is just about to talk!

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7. Subject: RE: I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
From: GUEST,Anje
Date: 22 Feb 09 - 06:49 PM

Only remember a little of this:

Order in the court
The judge is eating beans.
His wife is in the bathtub (bathroom?)
sinking submarines

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8. Subject: RE: I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
From: GUEST,Tom Jenkins (UK)
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 08:18 AM

Silence in the Courtyard,
Silence in the street
The biggest fool in [town name]
Is just about to speak

(Often closed with 'Starting froooooom... NOW!')

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9. Subject: RE: I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
From: GUEST,kenny boy
Date: 09 Aug 14 - 09:36 PM

"Growing up in Central California in the 1950s, My Mom & Dad would say at the dinner table:

Order in the court.
The monkey wants to speak.
Speak monkey speak.
The first one to speak is a monkey.


It made us all shut up for up to minutes at a time.
In the 1980s it worked just as well on my kids."
-snip-
Pancocojams Editor's note:
I started this discussion mudcat discussion thread on children's rhymes, and added a comment that I remember "Order in the court" from my childhood in the 1950s (Atlantic City, New Jersey). I didn't add the version that I remember reciting (with no accompanying hand clapping or other body motions. However, that version is
Order in the court
The monkey wants to speak.
Speak monkey speak!

[And then we tried not to make any sound, because the first person who talked or even made the slightest sound after that lost the game. That person was "the monkey".

This was a fun game. "Being the monkey" didn't have any racial derogatory association for us Black kids when we played that game. But when we were in later elementary school grades, we became aware that "monkey" was used as a put down for Black people.

Instead of "Order in the court", I played another "silence competition" game with my children that I had also played when I was growing up. That game begins after someone says "Next one to talk is a rotten egg". The first person who says anything loses i.e she or he is a "rotten egg".

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EXCERPT #3
From https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-should-i-say-to-my-neighbor-about-her-kids.2175196/page-3 What should I say to my neighbor about her kids?

TEENEE, May 13, 2009
"Sounds like normal kid stuff to me. They have been together every school day and are comfortable with each other, no big deal. It's also the end of the school year and they are ready for summer. All kids get a little antsy this time of year. Try to distract them, sing a silly song, ask them questions, anything to change their routine. When we were kids my mom would say "order in the court room, the monkey wants to speak, no laughing, no talking, no showing your teeth." The first person to speak, laugh or show their teeth is the monkey. I use that little game with kids all the time, it works. The first time you try it they won't understand. Once you explain it they will have fun with it. Explain it to your dd before they get in the car so she has the upperhand. That way she won't be the monkey the first time you play."
-snip-
dd= dear daughter

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EXCERPT #4
From http://transgressors-grace.blogspot.com/2010/01/order-in-court.html
JANUARY 20, 2010 Posted by Jess
"Order in the Court
I was walking through my kitchen last night when a song popped into my head. Well, not a song really. More like a ditty. It's been stuck there ever since. I can't sing it for you, obviously, but it goes like this:

Order in the court.
The judge wants to speak.
The first one to talk is the monkey of the week.

Now my question is, where the hell did that come from? I mean, I recognize it. It's a little song that my fourth grade teacher used to sing when she wanted us to quiet down. How's that for sudden and serious clarity of memory? But the point is, it's not been a part of my waking consciousness for the past 21 years. So why now? Why that moment as I passed the fridge heading for the sink? Seriously. It makes me wonder what else is lurking around in there.

[...]

There are years of useful information floating around up there, just waiting for the appropriate trigger to activate the pathways to memory and I end up with Order in the Court? I'm certain this says something important about my early childhood development. I just can't remember what."
-snip-

Comment:
Anonymous said...
"I remember:
Order in the court, the monkey wants to speak. No laughing or talking or showing your dirty teeth.

I too am trying to find the origin of the saying. Please let us know if you find out.
December 17, 2012

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EXCERPT #5
From https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/survivorsucks/childhood-ryme-t71488.html
1. Old Guy Don
22 Jun 2010
"Order in the court, the Judge is eating beans, his wife is in the bathtub floating submarines.

So, what in the hell was this all about..............Google provides squat"

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2. StatelyWayneManor
22 Jun 2010,
"Just checked the internets.
The original ryme/rhyme may have been...
Order in the court
Judge is eating beans
Now he 's in the bathtub
Shooting submarines

In brief...it's about the bubbles you make
while farting underwater."

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3. elhongotom
30 May 2013
"When I was a kid, about a hundred years ago, I assumed that the submarines were her turds that she crapped into the bath water."

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EXCERPT #6
From http://www.essentialkids.com.au/forums/index.php?/topic/1087465-naughty-rhymes-from-childhood/ Naughty Rhymes from childhood.
Elemenopee
Posted 23 June 2013 - 10:42 PM
"My husband says:
Silence in the court
Monkey wants to talk
Speak up monkey, speak!
(and the next one to speak is 'the monkey')"

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EXCERPT #7
From https://www.deepfun.com/not-laughing/ Not Laughing
[comment posted about the article]
Steve Wilson on July 3, 2013 at 9:29 am
"This rhyme was the start for a childhood game in Philly: “Order in the court, the monkey wants to speak. No laughing, no talking, no showing your teeth.” The one who is the monkey then tries anything–but no touching–to get one of the other players to smile or laugh or talk, who then becomes the monkey"

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EXCERPT #8
From http://www.funnysongsforkids.com/funny-poems-for-kids/category/folk-rhymes
Order in the Court – Traditional American
10/4/2014
Order in the court
The judge is eating beans
His wife is in the bathtub
Shooting submarines

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EXCERPT #9
From https://mudcat.org/jumprope/jumprope_display.cfm?rhyme_number=213
Order in the courts
The judge is eating beans.
His wife is in the bathtub
Counting submarines.
One, two, three, ... (* Continue counting *)
Source: Abrahams (1969), Hastings (1990)
-snip-
Note that this is a jump rope rhyme.

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EXCERPT #10
From http://dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/songbook/songs5/S5_128.htm Announcements Song
Announcements, Announcements, Announcements,

[...]

Order in the court
Order in the court
Monkey wants to speak
SPEAK monkey SPEAK!
-snip-
This is one of the latter verses given for this song. Each four line verse begins with the words "Announcements, Announcements, Announcements"

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