Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series on the English language children's recreational rhyme "There's A Party 'Round The Corner" (also known as There's A Party Up The Hill" Will you please Come?"
This post presents information about this rhyme including its history and its accompanying play activities. In addition, this post presents some examples of "There's A Party 'Round The Corner" (a;so known as "There's A Party Up The Hill".
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/10/examples-of-theres-party-round-corner.html for Part II of the pancocojams series on "There's A Party 'Round The Corner" recreational rhymes. That post presents examples from multiple countries of the "Please Bring bubble gum...and blowing kisses" version of "There's A Party 'Round The Corner" (also known as "There's A Party Up The Hill" Would You Please Come?" and similar titles.)
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/10/some-more-australian-examples-of-theres.html for Part III of "There's A Party 'Round The Corner" recreational rhymes. That post presents more examples of Australian versions of "There's A Party 'Round The Corner" (also known as "There's A Party Up The Hill" Would You Please Come?" and similar titles
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, socio-cultural, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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HISTORY AND GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CHILDREN'S RECREATIONAL RHYME
These sources are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Source #1
"AI Overview [retrieved Cctober 25, 2025]
The phrase "There's a party round the corner" is
part of a traditional British skipping rhyme, though variations exist. While
the exact lyrics can differ, a common call-and-response version asks,
"There's a party round the corner, would you like to come?" with the
response "Yes!" and further verses about who is attending and what
games will be played. The rhyme was particularly popular during and after World
War II, according to one source. *
Traditional rhyme: It's a call-and-response
children's rhyme, often used for skipping.
Regional variations: The lyrics can vary, but a
common version includes:
Call: "There's a party round the corner, would you like
to come?"
Response: "Yes!"
Next: "Then who is your best chum?"
followed by a name or another character's name.
Historical context: The rhyme was common in Britain,
especially during and immediately after World War II.*
-snip-
A symbol was given for the link to the online page given as Source #2 directly below:
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Source #2
From https://www.facebook.com/RedAphorist/posts/the-kids-song-about-having-a-party-around-the-corner-is-very-liberalthey-ask-wha/681102038599959/
"Elizabeth Robson, 2015
Wartime or immediate post-war version in Britain. It was
a skipping rhyme, possibly with actions."There's a party round the corner,
will you come? Bring your own cup and saucer and a bun. Who is your best chum?
""Charlie" Charlie then runs into the rope. "Charlie will
be there, sitting on a chair with his own cup and saucer and a bun."
Child 1 then runs out of the rope while Child 2 goes through the rhyme again."
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Source #3
"AI Overview [retrieved October 25, 2025
The lyrics to the children's rhyme are often: "There's a party round the corner, will you please come? Bring
your own cups and saucers and your own bubblegum.". The exact words vary
by region and school, and the rhyme is often used to choose a person to be
"it" in a game, where the song ends on a specific person.
Common variations
To choose someone to be "it":
"There's a party round the corner, will you come? Bring
your own cup and saucer and a bun. Who is your best chum? [Name]"
The last line of the rhyme is used to choose a player, and
when the song is over, that person is "it".
For other games:
With a name: "There's a party on the hill, would
you like to come? Yes. Then bring a bottle of rum tum tum. Can't afford it.
Then pack your bags and get lost!"
For another game: "There's a party on the hill
would you like to come? Bring your own toilet paper and your own sticky
bum."
How to play
The rhyme is often used as a way to choose someone to be
"it" in a game.
Players stand in a circle and clap their hands in time with
the lyrics.
The person on whom the song ends is the one who is chosen to
be "it"."
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
Online examples of There's A Party 'Round The Corner..." document that its large number of variants, many of whom were (are) probably the result of accidental folk processing (i.e. the words being changed because of misremembering and/or mishearing and then substituting what you thought was said for similar sounding words or sounds.
Folk processing explains the three common titles for this children's recreational rhyme: "There's A Party 'Round The Corner", "There's A Party Up The Hill" and "There's A Party On The Hill".
Evidence of folk processing in these rhymes is even more apparent in the evolution of the lines "Bring your own cup and saucer and a cream bun. Who is your best chum?" in early examples of this rhyme. Those lines have changed to "bring your own cappacino and your own bubblegum", or "bring your own toilet paper and a bottle of rum" or "Bring your own smelly feet and your own dirty bum", and numerous other variants. Most of these variant forms of "There's A Party 'Round The Corner" can be traced to mishearing or misremembering the word "chum" which means "friend".
(Also, for my fellow United Staters, the word "bum" in the phrase "dirty bum" means "butt"/"behind").
As an American community foIklorist, I'm not familiar with "There's A Party 'Round The Corner", except as lines that are occasionally found in long form versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky". I wonder if this rhyme was in the past or still is chanted by itself in the United States as a jump rope (skipping) rhyme, or as a counting out rhyme, or as a partner hand clap rhyme, or group hand slapping (elimination) rhyme as appears to have been the case (or is still the case) in Great Britain, Australia, and some other English speaking countries and with some other English speaking populations.
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PLAY INSTRUCTIONS
These play instructions are given in no particular order and are given with alphabetical or number entries for referencing purposes only.
Skipping (Jumping) Rope
Read the entry for Historical Information: Source #2 that is found above.
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Choosing It
a. Atibug, 2022,
https://www.reddit.com/r/AustralianNostalgia/comments/1123fea/theres_a_party_on_the_hill_would_you_like_to_come/ Australian Nostalgia comments: There's A Party On The Hill"
"Ours was different.
There's a party on the hill would you like to come? Bring your own toilet paper and your own sticky bum. Who is your best friend?
Steve
Steve will come will a sausage up his bum, pull it in pull it out, you are out!
It's for choosing who is "it" in a game. Everyone started with 2 hands in. If the song ended on you, one hand would be taken away until there's only one hand left and that person is "it".
**
b. echo-94-charlie, 2022,
https://www.reddit.com/r/AustralianNostalgia/comments/1123fea/theres_a_party_on_the_hill_would_you_like_to_come/
"There's a party on the hill, would you like to come?
Edit: Ok, I'm surprised at how many variations of this there
are, and none are the way I remember it. It's a call and response.
Call: There's a party on the hill, would you like to come?
Response: Yes
Call: Then who is your best chum?
Response: <Respondent's best friend, let's say Steve>
Call: Then Steve will come with a sausage up his bum and that will be the end of him."
**
c. pastelcower, 2022, https://www.reddit.com/r/AustralianNostalgia/comments/1123fea/theres_a_party_on_the_hill_would_you_like_to_come/
1. ..."Was it a clapping song? With the who is your best friend bit
changing from up and down clapping to putting your hands together and smacking
them sideways against the other person's hands?
Do kids still do that? Do they play skippings and elastics? I feel so old"
**
Reply
2. echo-94-charlie, 2022
"It was for choosing who was it for tiggy and such."
-snip-
AI Overview for "Tiggy" [results retrieved October 25, 2025]
" "Tiggy" is a name for the popular chasing game
"tag," used in parts of Australia and New Zealand. The basic game
involves one person being "it" and chasing the others to
"tig" (tag) them, with the tagged person becoming the new
"it". While "tag" is the most common term in many places,
"tiggy" is a well-known variant, often associated with specific
regions like parts of Victoria and Queensland in Australia.”…
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Hand Clap Game (two to four people)
Some hand clap examples are found on various Tik Tok videos of "There's A Party 'Round The Corner" games
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Hand Slapping Game (more than four people elimination game)
Here's an example of this play activity for 'There's A Party 'Round The Corner":
Holy Rosary School Rowing Club, December 5, 2019 "“There’s a party ‘round the corner...” It’s getting competitive!, 2020
-snip-
Here's my description of this video: A small group of young White men and White women are seated
indoors on a rug and playing this like a hand slap version of “Down by the banks
of the hanky panky]
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Lines From This Rhyme Are Chanted In Combination With Certain Other Recreational Rhymes
1."There’s a party on the hill would you like to come bring
your own toilet paper and your big fat bum.
Ip dip dog sh-t you are not it."
-sarajevogold, 2022,
https://www.reddit.com/r/melbourne/comments/zdkwp7/what_phrases_did_you_use_as_a_child_to_choose_who/
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this counting out rhyme.
**
2. . I learned this and forgot most of it (not complete! but it
goes sort of like this....
Down by the bay in beverly hills
where the bull frog jumps from bank to banky
and the heeps hops, coffee shops,
we all drink mochas and we wear flip flops
(faster)
I pledge allegence to the flag
Michal jackson makes me gag
coca cola has cafeine and now we're talking billy jean
billy jean when out of style now lets sit and talk a while
diddy diddy donkey
daddy had a donkey
donkey died, daddy cried
diddy diddy donkey!
theres a party round the corner wont you please please
come
bring your own cappuchinos and your own chewing gum
what is your boy friends name?______ (whoever the clap
lands on has to come up with a name)
_______ will be there blowing kisses in the air saying I
love ______ (who ever came up with the name) saying I love_____ saying O U T
spells you are out!
OR
______will be there blowing kissed in the air singin'
I... Love...Ma..Ma...Mia, singin' I love ma...ma...mia singin' O U T spells you
are out!
-GUEST,mooseormeece?, Date: 21 May 08, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034&messages=476&page=4 "Origins:
Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky"
-snip-
The lines in this examples are given in italics for highlighting purposes only.
This example is also given in Part II of this pancocojams series.
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This concludes Part I of this three part pancocojams series.
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