Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest update- Nov. 11, 2023
This pancocojams post presents a 19th century Black American song entitled
"Who Dare" that is an early source for the 20th century
hand clap rhyme "Bobo Ski Otten Totten" (and similar titles).
This post also includes my editorial notes about that 19th century song.
The content of this post is given for historical, folkloric, socio-cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composer of the song "Who Dare". Thanks also to Ben Zimmer whose comment in Donna Richoux's 2005 post about this rhyme led me to a 1845 book on Google books that includes an African American song with the words "otten totten". Here's the link to Donna Richoux's post. https://alt.usage.english.narkive.com/SPfvaYzU/what-is-this-thing ".
Thanks also to all the publisher of that 1845 book and
thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
WARNING - This pancocojams post includes forms of what is
commonly called "the n word".
That word is usually given with amended spelling in this
blog. However, I decided to retain the original spelling because this song
appears to be difficult to find and I want to preserve it as it is originally
written in that 19th century book.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/11/seven-youtube-examples-of-hand-clap.html and https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/11/some-examples-of-bo-bo-ski-otten-totten.html for two other pancocojams posts about "Bo Bo Ski Otten Totten" rhymes.
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THE 2005 ONLINE COMMENT THAT LEADS TO A 1845 BLACK AMERICAN SONG WHICH INCLUDES THE WORDS 'OTTEN TOTTEN"
https://alt.usage.english.narkive.com/SPfvaYzU/what-is-this-thing
****
"WHO DARE"
https://www.google.com/books
The Popular National Songster And Lucy Neal And Dan Tucker's Delight: Containing A Choice Collection Of The Most Admired, Patriotic, Comic, Irish, Negro & Sentimental Songs;
published by Perry, John B
Date: 1845
Publication Place: Philadelphia
SKU b00481
"PAGE 155
Come all you jolly niggars
To you the truth I tell, ah
Neber lib wid white folks
For de neber use you well, ah
-Dingee, I otten
totten
Ballio otten dotten
Dingee I otten dotten ,
WHO DARE?
Cold frosty mornin
Niggar bery good
ah ! With he axe on his shoulder ,
He go to cut the wood ,
…..-ah ! Dingee , & c
.
Come home to breakfast
Get something to eat
An de set before him
A little stinkin meet, ah!
----Dingee, & c
156
Den at noontide come,
He come home to dine, ah!
And dey take em in de corn field
And sweet thirty-nine, ah!
----Dingee, &c.
Den de night come on.
An dey cum home to supper, ah!
And dey nock down an break down,
An hop ober Juber., ah!
----Dingee ,&c
Den a little cold pancake,
an a little hog fat, ah!
An dey grumble like de debil
If you can eat too much of dat, ah!
----Dingee,& c.
Den massa he tell him
For to go to bed, ah!
He up wid a broom-stick
And hit him ober de head, ah!
---Dingee, &c.
Den dey go up stairs
An he take off he shoe, ah!
An he cut off de back
Like oder niggas do, ah!
----Dingee, &c
Go down to momo Dinah’s
Why yu tink we do, ah!
We play upon de banjo
And dance a jig a bou, ah!
---Dingee, & c.
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITORIAL NOTES
Part #1- Explanation about the song's format
The chorus of this song begins with the words "Dingee,
I otten totten"
The symbol "&" and letter "c" is a no longer used way of writing etc.(etcetera).
Part #2- My Position About The Overall Meaning Of The Song "Who Dare"
The 19th century song "Who Dare" was published in the "Negro Songs" section of John B. Perry's 1845 book The Popular National Songster And Lucy Neal And Dan Tucker's Delight: Containing A Choice Collection Of The Most Admired, Patriotic, Comic, Irish, Negro & Sentimental Songs.
The song "Who Dare" also implores Black people to circumvent those unjust conditions even iif it's only in small ways such as sneaking out at night to play music and dance.
"Dingee, I otten totten
Ballio otten dotten
Dingee I otten dotten
WHO DARE?"
-end of quote-
* The 20th & 21st century hand clap rhyme & hand slapping rhyme "Bo Bo Ski ten Totten" (and similar titles) is a folk processed form of the chorus of the song "Who Dare"
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Part #3 -My guesses about the meanings of certain words in
this song
"Who dare' - The title for this song "Who Dare" is repeated
in the chorus. The composer of this song dares [has the courage to] sing about how life really is
for Black people during the 1840s. He also calls upon other Black people to be
daring (i.e. to be courageous in spite of the consequences).This song "Who Dare" is a call for Black
people to dare to be strong in the face of the "double
trouble" that is their lives.
**
"Niggar bery good" - The Black man is very good
(meaning, he's not doing anything wrong)
**
"Neber lib wid white folks" - Stay away from White people; Don't involve yourself with White people
**
For de neber use you well" - because they never treat you well
**
"Dingee, I otten totten
Ballio otten dotten"
-end of quote-
My position is that the Black man who composed this 19th century "protest song' purposely used vernacular "Pig Latin-like" words to hide their meaning from White people. "Pig Latin is not a true language. It's a coded way of speaking based on English"."https://lighthouseonline.com/blog-en/what-is-pig-latin/
-snip-
The word "Dingee" may be a form of the word "dingy" meaning "dirty". However, that word might have been understood by Black people during those times (or made up by that composer for the purpose of that song) to be a substitute for the referent "Black people".
The words " I otten totten" might be a "pig latin"-like form of the words "I ought to tell you".
The word 'ballio" may be another pig latin-like word that is based on the French word "battre" meaning "fight". (Assuming that the Black composer was from Louisiana where a number of Black people spoke a form of French.)
-
-"And dey take em in de corn field
-"And dey nock down an break down", - and they knock down and break down (throw on the ground)
-"An hop ober Juber., ah!" - and jump all over Juber (a generalized term for "Juba"- meaning "a Black man"
-Den massa he tell him
For to go to bed, ah!" - Then master (the White man who owned the enslaved man" told him to go to bed ("retire for the night")
-"He up wid a broom-stick
And hit him ober de head, ah!" - He (the White man) picked up a broom and hit him on his head
-"Den dey go up stairs" =The White men who beat the
Black man live upstairs from him.
-"An he take off he shoe, ah!" = He took off his shoes so that he could sneak away without being heard
-An he cut off de back
Like oder niggas do, ah!" - "He snuck out the back
of the building like other Black men are known to do".
-"Momo Dinah" = Mama Dinah ("Dinah" being a generalized name for a Black woman).
-"And dance a jig a bou, ah!"= "jog" =dance; a "bou" = I believe that "jig a bou' in this song is an early source for the word "jigaboo" which became a derogatory referent for Black people.
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ADDENDUM #3- An Example Of And A YouTube Video Link To
A "Bobo Ski Watten Totten"
Rhyme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj07ESavLZ8 "Bo Bo Ski Watten! With Subtitles!" published by sisterearthification, Jul 28, 2017
-snip-
Here are the words from the video’s transcript (and the
video’s sub-titles)
"Bo bo see otten totten Nay nay I am boom boom boom
Itty bitty otten totten Bo bo see otten totten
Bo bo see otten totten Boom boom boom"
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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Here's a 2014 "tweet" (if they are still called that) about this rhyme:
ReplyDelete" 🔞 toilet cleaning club 👻🔪
@glitterandtrash
a shiny penny to anyone who can find me the origin of "bo-bo ski watten totten" (spelling may vary). racist? gibberish? cant tell
7:00 PM · Oct 15, 2014"
https://twitter.com/glitterandtrash/status/522522466770374656?lang=en
As I noted in this pancocojams post, I believe the source of the rhyme "Bo Bo Ski Watten Totten" (and similar titles) is the chorus of this 19th century song "Who Dare" which was composed by a Black man (name unknown). Here's that chorus:
Delete"Dingee, I otten totten
Ballio otten dotten
Dingee I otten dotten ,
WHO DARE?"
-snip-
My position is that the Black man who composed this 19th century "protest song' purposely used vernacular "Pig Latin-like" words to hide their meaning from White people. "Pig Latin is not a true language. It's a coded way of speaking based on English"."https://lighthouseonline.com/blog-en/what-is-pig-latin/
-snip-
The word "Dingee" may be a form of the word "dingy" meaning "dirty". However, that word might have been understood by Black people during those times (or made up by that composer for the purpose of that song) to be a substitute for the referent "Black people".
The words " I otten totten" might be a "pig latin"-like form of the words "I ought to tell you".
The word 'ballio" may be another pig latin-like word that is based on the French word "battre" meaning "fight". (Assuming that the Black composer was from Louisiana where a number of Black people spoke a form of French.)