But elephants can’t jump.…!
I’m familiar with the song, but never knew all the words beyond the first verse.
Are you a boy? When I was young, boys didn’t play those slap and clap games.
The award for “Most Blatantly Sexual” goes to a jump rope one:
Cinderella, dressed in yellow
Went upstairs to kiss a fellow
Made a mistake
Kissed a snake
How many doctors will it take? (And then you jump until you fail out, and that’s how many abortionists you need, I guess.)
Actually, I think Mary had a job “Walking the Dog”.
Hmm. Not familiar with this. I thought the thread was going to be about this song.
In Canada (or at least in my neck if the woods) the boys climbed the fence and they never came back till the middle of July. I guess fences are higher in Canada. Takes longer to climb down.
Another favorite was Say, Say, Oh, Playmate.
Say, Say, oh playmate
Come out and play with me
and bring your dollies three
Climb up my apple tree
slide down my rain spout
into my cellar door
and we’ll be jolly friends
forever more - more - more !
Verse 2:
Say, say oh playmate,
I cannot play with you.
My dolly has the flu,
Boohoo, hoohoo, hoo, hoo.
Ain’t got no rain spout,
Ain’t got no cellar door.
But we’ll be jolly friends,
Forever more, more, more, more, more.
That was my thought too.
As to the rhyme, it was always silver buttons and it was usually boys who climbed the fence, though sometimes it was elephants (plural, not singular).
I remember this one:
Cinderella, dressed in mustard
Went downtown to buy some custard
On the way her girdle busted
How many people were disgusted?
we do know that her mother made her marry me…
Really? Cause my mother’s making me marry Mary Mac.
This is hilarious to read, since I literally thought of this song yesterday while working. Haven’t thought about it in years…
Is Mary Mack related to or friends with Miss Suzy?
You’re not the only one. I’m either too old or the wrong gender, or both.
Few people have heard the original version of the song - it’s a charming take on an Irish ménage à trois. The song’s since been PCised, of course. Pity.
I have daughters. They learn these things through some sort of female cultural osmosis, invisible to boys (who are busy learning to make fart noises using anything that is at hand).
No answer for the OP, but just to point out that the version in I Love You Death has a few extra lines (The song starts about 1:20 in).
I hope that isn’t about Miss Lucy, she of the steamboat, because I had an argument over that one not all that long ago and I am still all het up over it and I will tear you up.
Never heard of Miss Mary Mack, but I’ve heard of Marie Mac. Marie Mac’s mother’s making Marie Mac marry me, and my mother’s making me mary Marie Mac.
I hate to break it to you all, but Mary Mack isn’t the only buttoned beauty on the scene. From 1870s England (Shropshire):
Betsy Blue came all in black
Silver buttons down her back
Every button cost a crown
Every lady turn around
Alligoshi, alligoshee
Turn the bridle over my knee
Iona Opie (my direct source, in Children’s Singing Games) says “the episode of the elephant’s spectacular leap over the fence is purely American.” Our heroine also appears as May Mack.
“Silver buttons” may derive from “sword and buckle,” which appear in an early Victorian nursery rhyme. “Mary” is just a very common girl’s name, and “Mack” rhymes with black / back and is a common enough surname and, in areas with high Irish and Scottish populations, a prefix.
This one is regional. Suzy is western, Lucy is eastern. There is some variation (I’m from San Diego and I learned “Lucy.”) Suzy seems to be gaining ground.
You know, though I clearly remember the buttons being silver, I have no idea any more if boys or elephants climbed the fence.