Ways That The Winner Is Determined In "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" Circle Games

Girl Scout Troup 7579, November 7, 2021

"DOWN BY THE BANKS Have the players make a circle and put their right hand on top of the person to their right’s hand, and their left hand under the hand of the person to the left. When ready - start singing this song, while one person claps their right hand to the person on their left, and it is passed around the circle. When the song ends, whoever receives the final clap is out, or if the person takes her hand out and the person gets their own hand they are out. Continue the game until only one person is left. Song: Down on the banks, Of the Hanky Panky, Where the bull frogs jump, from bank to banky with an: Eep! Ipe! Oop! Op! Eases off the lily with a Kerplop! Optional second verse: Pepsi cola, ginger ale, Ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale. Pepsi cola, ginger ale, Seven up, seven up, seven up, you're out!"

****
Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases four YouTube videos of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" that show the way that the winner was determined.

This post also presents a few additional examples of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" that include an explanation about how the winner is chosen in the version of that game that the commenters' shared.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to their publishers on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
This is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the recreational rhyme "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky".

There are LOTS of pancocojams posts about this rhyme.  
 
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/part-i-of-some-examples-of-down-by_22.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Part I of Some Examples Of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" Rhymes With Geographic Locations (A - J)" 

and

https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/part-ii-of-some-down-by-banks-of-hanky.html "Part II of Some "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" Rhymes" With Geographic Locations (K - Z)" 

Also, click the tags below for additional pancocojams posts for history about and additional examples of the HUGE recreational rhyme family of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky".
-snip-
DISCLAIMER:
This pancocojams post doesn't purport to include all the ways that a winner could be determined in  "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" circle games or in similar children's recreational hand slapping games. 

Please share the way/s that you know if the comment section below. Thanks!

****  

SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Down By the Banks of the Hanky Panky =P

Mickayla Royer, Jul 28, 2009

random game we played when we were boredddd

ahhaa

****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky

CJ Bomagat, May 14, 2010

This was right after I lost...(oh darn it, I lost the game... :( :P ) & we were on a break at championships

oh & no one really knows who won...either Shanen or Stephanie...

& thanks to Kayla for singing for us ;D

****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #4 - hanky panky from ActiveMusic.com



Active Music, Sept. 18, 2012

****
SELECTED EXAMPLES OF "DOWN BY THE BANKS OF THE HANKY PANKY" WITH EXPLANATIONS OF THE WAYS THAT THE WINNER IS DETERMINED IN CIRCLE HAND SLAPPING GAMES

All of these are selected comments from the Mudcat folk music discussion thread entitled "Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky"
 https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034&messages=477&page=1

I started that discussion thread August 21, 2006 and it is still open for comments. As of December 10, 2023 there are ten pages of comments with the latest comment posted on December 9, 2023.  

There are other comments in that discussion thread (and elsewhere on the internet) that include similar explanations of how a winner is chosen in their versions of this recreational game.

These selected examples are quoted in their entirety and are presented in chronological order with the contributor's name and publishing date.
 
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky

EXAMPLE #1
From: GUEST,Guest, Walker , 03 Jun 08

"One of my 2nd graders taught a hand clapping game in our music class in Abilene, Texas 5-30-08.

 

Down by the bay, by the bay, the bay,

Where the bullfrogs jump from bay to bay,

Where the eeps, ahps, ohps, ahps

Bowl fulla jelly and a ker-plop.

 

The children stand in a cirle with hands extended palms up. The right hand is on top of the one to the right and the left in beneath the one to the left. The beat is passed around clockwise as the players slap their neighbor to the left. On 'plop' they must hit the neighbor's hand before it is pulled away. If you hit your own hand, you're out. If you hit the neighbor's hand, he is out. The last two standing lock fingers and "saw" to the beat and tug on plop like tug of war. The one who pulls someone over the line is the winner."

****
EXAMPLE #2
From: GUEST,Guest- Missouri, 19 Jan 11 

"From northern Missouri about 1993 or so:

 

Down by the banks of the hanky panky

where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky

saying e a-poppa, i a-poppa, o a-poppa, POW

 

It was the circle elimination game with slaps coming on each beat until the last, and that person was out. When you got to two players you grabbed hands and pushed back and forth with every beat until the POW and whoever's arm was extended with the pow won."

****
EXAMPLE #3
From: GUEST,  01 Jun 11

"Hi,

the way I learned it maybe 8 years ago in Ooltewah, Tennessee was - "Down by the banks, of the hanky panks, where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank, eeps, eipes, ops, oops, chilly, willy, ding, dong, I pledge alleigance to the flag, michael jackson makes me gag, coca cola brought it up, now were talkin 7up, 7up has no caffiene, now were talkin billie jean, billie jean is outta sight, now were talking dynomite, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." and whoever messed up during it was out until there was two people left and the person that got smacked right after 1 was out."

****
EXAMPLE #4
from GUEST,Ginger98, 30 May 12

"I'm from beaverton oregon here how we sing it.

 

Down by the banks of the hanky pank pank pank where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank with an eeps, Ipes , opes, opps, here comes the bull frog with a big KER-PLOPPP!

 

Repeats until there only one person left and that person is the winner. Every time the song repeats the song gets faster. Whoever hand is clapped on the words KER-PLOP is out.

 

I learned this six year ago.

 

Pank pernounced ( P-ay-n-k) (pain-k)"

****
EXAMPLE #5
from GUEST, 17 Apr 21

"I think I learned a few variations of the chant throughout elementary in the mid to late 2000s in NC, but the ones I best remember are:

Down by the banks of the hanky pank,

Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank,

Goin' east side, west side, east side, west side,

Chilly Willy ding dong

 

I pledge allegiance to the flag,

Michael Jackson makes me gag

 

Coca-cola burned his butt,

Now we're talkin' Seven Up

 

Seven Up has no caffeine,

Now we're talkin' Billy Jean

 

Billy Jean went outta sight,

Now we're talkin' dynamite

 

Dynamite blew up the school,

Now we're talkin' really cool

 

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1

 

And the other version was the exact same except for the first few verses where it was

 

Down by the banks of the hanky pank,

Where the bull frogs jump from bank to bank,

Singin' eeps, ipes, opes, opps

Chilly Willy ding dong

 

But the same second chant.

 

We'd sit in a circle with one palm on top of one neighbors' and the other underneath our other neighbors' and do like a slap circle. The last two people would sit facing each other with one person's hands palm down in the air and the other person's hands palm up underneath the first pair and they'd go up and down slapping (if that makes sense) and whoever's palms were last palm up and got slapped was the loser."

****

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.