Dany Rosevear, Mar 4, 2014
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a video of and words for the children's singing and chasing game "Chicama Chicama Craney Crow".
This post also presents some history, play instructions, and other online quotes about the "Chickama Chickama Craney Crow" game.
The Addendum to this post presents an excerpt from a 2014 pancocojams post on Caribbean children's games whose link is given immediately below.
The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown creators of this children's song and game, and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/03/congotay-childrens-game-words-play.htm "Congotay Children's Game (words, play instructions, and comments)"
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/03/connections-between-british-caribbean.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Examples Of "What Time Is It Mr. Wolf?", "I'm Going Downtown To Smoke My Pipe", & "Children Children" (Where Are You Going?) Games"
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WORDS AND PLAY INSTRUCTIONS FOR "CHICKAMA CHICKAMA CRANEY CROW
These quotes are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Quote #1
http://www.singinggamesforchildren.com/A%20Cluster%202.2%20Awaywego/20%20Playground%20and%20outside%20games%20web.htm, published June 20, 2022
[…]
"Chickama Chickama craney crow O
A playground game very similar to the more familiar ‘What’s
the time Mr. Wolf?’
Children (the chickens) stand against the wall facing the witch. The children at the end of the song ask her ‘What time is it Mrs Witch?’ She answers a time for instance ‘3 o’clock’ The children continue to ask the question until she says ’12 o’clock’ at which the children then run to a home base as the witch chases and tries catches a child who becomes the new witch.
Chickama Chickama craney crow,
Went to the well to wash his toes,
When he got back his chicken was gone.
What time is it Mrs. Witch?
SPOKEN:
Three o’clock!
What time is it Mrs. Witch?
Six o’clock!
What time is it Mrs. Witch?
Twelve o’clock!"
-snip-
This is one version of the lyrics to this singing/chasing game. The words to this song may vary slightly.
****
Quote #2
https://blindpigandtheacorn.com/chickama-chickama-craney-crow/ Appalachia, children, Games, Rhymes: Chickama, Chickama, Craney Crow; August 25, 2018
Today’s guest post was written by Charline Venturini.
1. I was recently reading a very dry history of Rowan
County, North Carolina for research, published long ago in that scholastic and
flowery style in which writers prided themselves. In one section, the author
mentioned pre-Revolution Era schoolyard games. What caught my attention was
“Chickama, Chickama Craney Crow” (he spelled it “chichama”). My Daddy (b. 1918
Ark) used to say this rhyme while any of us children were on his lap, or at
bedtime:
Chickama, Chickama Craney Crow
I went to the well to wash my toe
When I got back, the old black-eyed chicken was gone-
What time is it, Old Witch?
One!
I never realized it was a game at one time, but you can easily picture kids joining hands, going in a circle, perhaps one in the middle? What were the other verses? Two, three, four? I’m sure the rhyme was taught to him by his own Daddy.
Have you ever heard this?”…
Ben Holding says:
May 26, 2021
"Check out Caney Crow recorded by Mac Rebennack (Dr. John)
from 1971 album The Sun, Moon & Herbs. I got here trying to figure out what
he was singing about. The Night Tripper was into a lot of cool stuff. His
background singers do the Chichama, chichama vocals that people here talk
about.
Jim Dorrell says:
May 23, 2021
"
Chickama, Chickama Craney Crow.
I went to the well to wash my toe
When I got there the water was low
What time is it old witch, old witch?
What time is it old witch?
Chorus(?)
Old Witch, old witch, she lives in a ditch
And combs her hair with a hickory stick.
She lives on snails and nails and flies,
And when she walks, she jumps like a cat.
Ohhhh, she jumps like a cat.
That was over 60 years ago though, so I am probably remembering them wrong…"
**
Linda Chickering says:
July 25, 2020
"I read about Chickema chickema craney crow in Gone Away Lake
by Elizabeth Enright, when I was little. It was there described as an old
children’s song, sung by a lady born in the late 1800s. Now that we are in the
age of the internet I was able to look it up and I see that it’s a southern
(often referred to as an African American) chase/counting game with
accompanying song. A “witch” (like the “it” in tag) chases “chickens” until she
has several and then they have a little tug of war, and the loser becomes the
new “witch”."
Tod Norman
September 10, 2019
"Have heard my grandmother (born in Tar Flat Kentucky in
1918) sing the chikama craney crow song many times! I didn’t know it was a
game!"
**
Paul Gamble says:
August 25, 2018
"When l was a young’un we had an old Burl lves record with a
story/song called The Witch at the Well. It had them words. It also said
chickama chickama cranny crow/l went to the well to wash my hand/when l got
there the water was sand/what time is it old witch old witch oh what time is it
old witch"
Quote #3
December 2nd, 2009
"In the 1930’s, the US government did a series of interviews
with former slaves. Project Gutenberg, just posted some of the interviews from
Texas from 1936-1938. They’re called Slave Narratives.
[…]
MADISON BRUIN, 92, spent his early days as a slave on the
Curtis farm in the blue grass region of Kentucky, where he had some experience
with some of the fine horses for which the state is famous. Here, too, he had
certain contacts with soldiers of John Morgan, of Confederate fame. His eyes
are keen and his voice mellow and low. His years have not taken a heavy toll of
his vitality.
Chickama, Chickama, craney crow,
Went to de well to wash my toe;
When I git back my chicken was gone,
What time, old witch?
Den somebody holler out, ‘One o’clock’ or ‘Two o’clock’ or
any time, and dem on one side try to cotch dem on de other side.”
-snip-
This is the entire quote that was given about that singing game.
****
Quote #4
Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise And Otherwise, edited by Thomas W. Talley, originally published in 1922
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm#Page_74
"HAWK AND CHICKENS PLAY
****
Quote #5
https://everything2.com/title/Chicory+Chicory+Craney+Crow by Junkill Jul 11 2005
"Early 20th Century Schoolyard Game
My father was born in 1904, how I got to be born in 1964 is a tale for another day. Anyway, dad told me of the games that he would play as a child in central Texas. One stuck out, for its rather dull-seeming repetition and very bizarre little rhyme that was a part of it. The game itself was a version of tag.
Apparently, the children would stand in a large circle. In the centre of the circle would be a designated "it," the so-called "Old Witch." The children in the ring would chant:
"Chicory Chicory Craney Crow
Went to the well to wash his toe.
When he got back, the chickens were gone.
What time is it, Old Witch?"
The Old Witch would then shout "One O'clock!" The
kids would resume the chanting ...
"Chicory Chicory Craney Crow
Went to the well to wash his toe.
When he got back, the chickens were gone.
What time is it, Old Witch?"
...and the Old Witch would say "Two O'clock." The
game would progress like this through the numbers up to twelve, presumably with
the tension (such as it might have been) mounting.
When the OW shouted the words "Twelve O'Clock," that was the signal for the children to flee in all directions, probably shrieking madly, with the OW hot on their little heels, trying to tag them. Whichever child got tagged would then be the Old Witch for the next round.
Even as a child, this sounded really tedious to me. All I could think is that, before there was television, kids must've had a lot of time on their hands. I would have thought that, what with all the chores and the church and learning the three R's and the walking uphill to school and getting whipped with hickory switches and whatnot, early 20th century youngsters would not have had time to stand around for hours, chanting strange rhymes and watching one of their fellows increment a number ... but apparently this was a very popular game.
I have no idea what the rhyme means, it is probably just schoolyard nonsense like "Cinderella/Dressed in yella/Went upstairs to kiss a fella ..." or "Girls are sexy/made out of Pepsi/Boys are rotten/made out of cotton..." Still, it could be a fun project for some post-Freudian or tongue-in-cheek sociologist to examine.
The rhyme was chanted or sung to a tune approximately the same as "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush". My father told me that sometimes it was "Hickory Chicory Craney Crow" but most often, it was the version above. The only source that I could find on a couple of InterWeb searches was also from Texas, also from the turn of the century. They had the rhyme as:
Went to the well to wash his toe.
When he got back his black-eyed Susan was gone.
What time is it, Old Witch?"
I have to confess, I like Dad's version a lot better.
Black-eyed Susan is way too many syllables for that line."
-snip-
This is the way this entire passage was given in that online post.
Quote #6
https://www.loc.gov/item/afc9999005.19029
Chickama-chick ma craney crow
Title
Chickama-chick ma craney crow
Names
Lomax, Alan -- 1915-2002 (recordist)
Unidentified group of girls (singer)
Created / Published
Friars Point, Mississippi.
Headings
- United States of
America -- Mississippi -- Friars Point
Notes
- Sung by 4 little
girls with clapping. (statement of responsibility)
- Clapping
(instrument)"
-snip-
No lyrics are given with this quote.
Quote #7
I'm looking for the origin of the term or nick-name
"Craney-Crow." There are other spellings, but this turns up as the
name of a character in the "Uncle Remus" stories. I'm wondering if it
originated elsewhere, was part of an earlier slave tale upon which Harris based
his stories, or if it goes further back, maybe to an African folktale. Thank
you!"
edited Jun 22, 2017
Sven Yargs
asked Jun 22, 2017
susieb
**
"Possibly it was part of a rhyme from a children´s game.
"Chickama, chickama, craney crow; I went to the well to wash my toe. When
I got back my black-eyed children was gone. What time is it, Old Witch?"
(1928) "
Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
Jun 22, 2017
"
'But Elle's friends came early, and she had no time or higher
thoughts than filling small mouths with bread and butter,
"run-the-thimble," the vexed question of "how many miles to
Babylon?" and "Chicken-me-chicken-me-craney-crow;" pastimes,
whose barbarous names caused the refined juveniles of this precocious '53, to
join their gloved hands in thanksgiving, that their lot was not cast in those
times!'
From the same year, Eliza Leslie, The American Girl's Book: Or, Occupation for Play Hours (1854) lays out the rules for the hiding game "The Hen and Chickens," which begin as follows:
THE HEN AND CHICKENS
One of the girls who personates a Fox takes her seat on the floor in the middle of the room. The others, having the eldest at the head, form a procession holding each other's skirts in both hands a walk round the Fox, the foremost girl who performs the Hen saying,
"Chickany chickany craney crow,/ I went to the well to wash my toe,/ And when I came back a chicken was dead."
A later book, Henry Bolton, The Counting-Out Rhymes of Children: Their Antiquity, Origin, and Wide Distribution (1888) offers these specimens of the term:
846. Chickany, chickany, craney crow,/ I went to the well to wash my toe;/ When I came back one of my chicks was gone!/ What time is it, old witch?
J. B. B.
Said to be used in S[outh] C[arolina] for "counting out."
847. Hippiney, pippiney, craney crow,/ The cat's asleep, the crow's awake./ It's time to give my chickens some meat./ Down in the cellar and get a good supper;/ Up again, up again! What time is it, old buzzard?
P. B. P., Amenia, N[ew] Y[ork]
...
871. Chicky, cricky, craney, crow,/ I went to the well to wash my toe;/ High and low, out you go,/ Chicky, cricky, craney, crow.
G. B. D. Indiana.
Used in a special game. Compare rhyme 846.'
I don't know whether the phrase "craney crow" is older than the counting games where it was used. But that usage is certainly older than the character Old Craney Crow as told by Harris.
An Elephind newspapper database search turns up an instance from 1848. From "Children Half Price," in the Lancaster [Pennsylvania] Intelligencer (May 23, 1848), evidently originally published in the New Orleans [Louisiana] Delta as part of trial testimony:
'[Q.] What do you mean by a child?
Ans.—A young female human being.
[Q.] What constitutes the difference between a young lady and a young female human being?
Ans.—Why, a young female human being wears pinafores, long frocks, check aprons, eats large quantities of bread and butter, giggles at boys, hugs wax dolls, and plays "puss in the corner" and "chickemy, chickemy, craney crow"—whilst a young lady carries her hair done up behind, reads Byron and Bulwer, wears balzarines from Madame Voizin's, eschews pantalettes, casts her eyes down at the sight of young gentlemen, has a small appetite, and generally, when there's room enough, sits at the first table.' "
edited Jun 15, 2020
CommunityBot
answered Jun 22, 2017 6
Sven Yargs
An excellent answer. The book by E. Leslie was first
published in 1831, and is the earliest use I've been able to find for any of
the spellings. –
JEL, Jul 1, 2017
Quote #8
[This excerpt identifies "Chickama Chickama Craney Crow" as a game that originated in England.]
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1495942
"California Folklore Quarterly
Vol. 5, No. 4 (Oct., 1946), pp. 412-414 (3 pages)
Published By: Western States Folklore Society
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This is part of a journal entry about a book in which a teacher reports about the play
experiences that a teacher observed her rural “Negro” students playing.]
“of three well- known English folk games included-“Water-Flower”, “Rise, Sugar,
Rise or Little Sally Ann” and “Chickama Chickama Craney Crow”-the first has
been given a curious Negro twist to the lines
‘The White folks say, the White folks say
Turn your back and say your beau’s name’”...
-snip-
The JSTOR excerpt didn't include the title of this book, but given the examples that are cited in the quote that is shown above and in the rest of that JSTOR excerpt, I'm certain that the book that is being reviewed is Altona Trent Johns' Play Songs Of The Deep South.(published in 1944)
ADDENDUM
from http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/03/congotay-childrens-game-words-play.html Congotay Children's Game (words, play instructions, and comments)
..."COMPARISON OF "CONGOTAY" WITH OTHER CHASING GAMES
Several children's chasing games involve children in the role of "chickens" being protected by their mother from attackers. Among those games are "Bull Inna Penn" (original source location: Jamaica), “Chicamy" (original source location: The United Kingdom ?); and "Chicka Ma Chicka Ma Craney Crow" (African American version of "Chicamy", given as "Hawk and Chickens" in Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise and Otherwise.
Other closely related children's chasing games in the United States are "What's the time, Mr. Wolf", "What time is it Mrs. Witch", "What's The Time, Mr Fox", and "I'm going downtown to smoke my pipe".
To serve as an example, here is a description of "Bull Inna Penn" from Xavier Murphy; "Games played by children in Jamaica", https://jamaicans.com/childgames/ Published May 1, 2002, retrieved October 29, 2010:
"[Bull Inna Penn] is a tense, rough and super exciting game, much loved by every child (and adults) in Jamaica.
This game is basically a story of a mother hen and her chicken, a bull in the pen and a hawk.
The mother hen is protecting her brood who are tightly lined up behind her, each little chick clutching tightly onto each other and in step with every move that mother hen does.
The Bull is standing a couple feet in front of mother hen, taunting and jeering, making noise, and trying everything to reach behind Mother Hen to grab one of her precious chicks. The game has a song and little play..."
-snip-
The word "pen" in that quote is a locked outdoor enclosure for animals.
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Visitor comments are welcome.
I remember reading somewhere online (I think it was on Mudcat folk music forum) that the word "chickama" in the singing/chasing game "Chicama Chicama Craney Crow" means "my chick" (i.e. "my chicken"). That same commenter wrote that the word "craney" in that game song is a folk processed (oral tradition) form of the Scottish word "ken" which means "know". Therefore, "Craney Crow" means something like the "smart crow" or the "wise crow".
ReplyDeleteI don't know who shared that explanation for those words and I don't know if it's correct, but it makes sense to me.