Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request Yellow Belly

What was the origins of this rhyme, was it plague related or something similar?
I remember as a child singing it in the playground etc.

Yellow belly custard
Green snot pie
All mixed together with a dead dogs eye
slap it on a butty, nice and thick
wash all it down with a cup of cold sick.


Enjoy your breakfast.

Me too Bert but think it was just one of those nasty little rhymes rather than a reference to something in history?

Horrible kids weren't we?

Perhaps so Helles, I remember it in the 50s, any advance on that.

Another rhyme

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails
That's what little boys are made of !"
What are little girls made of?
"Sugar and spice and all things nice
That's what little girls are made of!"

The origin of the "What are little boys made of" poem can be traced to the early 19th century - the battle of the sexes was raging even then! The words of "What are little boys made of" obviously reflect this, but what is the meaning of 'snips and snails'? Several interpretations have been suggested but the one with the most credibility is that the original words were in fact 'snips of snails' - the origin of snips meaning 'little bits of'. No redemption there for describing what little boys are made of'! And, of course, little girls love to hear that they are made of
"Sugar and spice and all things nice!

now you come to think of it bert i think? thats what i had for breakfast this morning!.

It was popular when I was young, and still revolting!

We don't seem to get snotty-nosed children these days.

There were a couple of green snotty-nosed waifs in my class, who were pale and a bit dirty. One girl had two permanent green candles and used to sit opposite me at school dinners. She was a nice girl and good fun, and when she laughed the candles went up and down.
In the winter she and a couple of others used to come to school in cheap black pumps.

I told my dad who said in his day at St Joseph's Wallasey some came in bare feet. The nuns would supply them with shoes and socks but later they were back with their feet bare. I would think this dire poverty is not as evident these days.

It opened my eyes to the fact that although we did not have much there were school friends who had so much less and problems at home.

Nice one, bert.

There were a few alternative versions. The one favoured by scousers was:

Yellow matter custard,
Green slop pie,
All mixed together with a dead dog's eye.
Slap it on a butty, ten foot thick,
Then wash it all down with a cup of cold sick.

A bit of music trivia: John Lennon used part of the rhyme in his song “I am the Walrus”

“Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye”.

Don't think it was plague related - just a nonsense song from the 1950s.

Instead of 'snips and snails' we used to say 'slugs and snails'.

Thanks Nightwalker,

“Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye”. yes a line from I'm a Walrus and not forgetting "Sugar and Spice and all things nice", a line from the Searches Hit.

Does anyone remember when kids would do a 'dip' to choose who went first in some game or other?

You'd point at each kid in turn, chanting a rhyme and moving your finger with each syllable. The last kid you pointed at was the chosen one.

One popular dip was a real tongue-twister which went something like...
'Eeny-meeny, macaraca, der-die, dominaca, chick-a-poppa, lollipoppa, term-time tish.'

And there was ..
'Dip-dip, my blue ship, sailing on the water like a cup and saucer, dip-dip, my blue ship.'

Remember the little ditties and it's funny how the words differ slightly, obviously according to how old you are and where you was brought up but the idea was the same.
With regard to the "yellowbelly" bit, the people of Lincolnshire are known as "Yellowbellies" but not because of any links to cowardice, it was because their locally raised regiment wore yellow waistcoats under their redcoats, I used to know who raised the local militia but I've forgotten it now, along with a lot of other stuff.

I remember the rhyme too, and if you think too much about it it really can turn your stomach, especially (for me) the cup of cold sick.
Does anyone remember this one too;
Jesus Christ Almighty
A mouse ran up my nighty,
bit my tit and made me shit
Jesus Christ Almighty!

We were only young when we'd sing that one, possibly 8 or 9. It's funny what you can recall word perfect, despite being four decades ago

Here's a NICE one.

True friends are like diamonds precious and rare,
False friends are like Autumn leaves, found everywhere.
So treasure a friend that's good and true,
For that is life's greatest gift to you.


We used to say "slugs and snails" too.

aw thats nice Woodley.
i agree on that one xx

I heard 'Ring o Ring of Rosies' can be sourced back to The Plague? Is this true?
What was that ditty all to do with London Bridge names? (two kids would 'catch' another kid under their 'bridge', that was made by facing each other and holding hands)??

Remember 'Dip dip dip my blue ship...' and also 'Eeny meany miny mo' but the version i remember had morphed into being un P.C!- not that we knew this as kids!!
When did the words change and why? I'm referring to the early 1980s. Hmmm

:r:that is so funny

i remember a very racist one...eeny meany miney mo catch a n.gger by his toe if he squeals let him go eeny meany miney mo. we never questioned it as kids and in all honesty i may not have understood what the word meant im so glad we've come along way since then!
another was one potatoe two potatoe etc and then there was the rhymes you sang as you clapped the other persons hand, mainly girls played this

A lot of these kind of songs were from kids street games, and playground games like skipping and hop-scotch.

Who remembers

'Queenie Eye, Queenie Eye, who's got the ball?
I haven't got it, it isn't in my pocket,
Queenie Eye, Queenie Eye, who's got the ball?'

And what about the way kids always re-interpreted the words to Christmas Carols?

'We three kings from Orient are,
One on a bike, and one in a car,
One on a scooter, beeping his hooter,
Followed by Ringo Starr...

ha i remember the first one but hadnt heard the other

Refering back to bert1's original post, most of the web-sites I've seen say that the 'Yellow belly custard' rhyme only dates back as far as the 1950's and seems to originate from the Liverpool area.

There were loads of silly songs, mostly sung by the girls when they were skipping, like -

Jelly on a plate,
Jelly on a plate,
Wibble-wobble, wibble-wobble,
Jelly on a plate!



There were quite a few rude ones as well!

Yes Rude, Ring O'Ring O' Roses has been sourced back to the plague. Ring of roses was said to be the rash, pocket full of posies well I;m not too sure on that bit.I have a feeling that was something to do with carrying herbs for medicinal purposes. Then ah tishoo ah tishoo was when they all dropped dead. Of oourse all of this has been disputed by some. So we are not really any the wiser.

There was another rhyme which went like this:

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me,
Think I'll go and eat worms.
Long thin slimy ones, big fat hairy ones,
Gooey, Gooey, gooey gooey worms.
Long thin slimey ones slip down easily
Big fat hairy ones don't
When thin big fat hairy ones get stuck in your teeth
??
I can't remember the last line.

Geekus is pretty hot on this stuff. He must have had a sister or played with the girls.

There was a book i remember back from primary school called Inky Pinky ponky. Had loads of crazy nonsense rhymes.. for example

The title..

Inky Pinky Ponky..
Daddy Brought a Donky
Donky died
Daddy cried
Inky Pinky Ponky..

Adam and eve in the garden of eden armaining the beauty of nature. A devil jumped out with a brussell sprout and hit them in the eye with a potatoe..

One fine day in the middle of the night
Two Dead men got up to fight..
Back to back they faced each other.
Draw there swords and shot each other.
they plaized a donkey passing by
Hit a blind man in the eye.
Knocked him through a rubber wall
In to a dry ditch and drowned them all..

And so on..

'Inky Pinky' is a traditional nursery rhyme, but the book which you refer to was probably Michael Rosen's collection of these rhymes and songs. You can still buy copies of it on sites like Amazon if you want to reminisce.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/6458350

There's some other great stuff on his website: http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/poems.html

Another 'dip' one:

Ink pink, pen and ink,
I smell a dirty stink
and it comes from I O YOU.

Bri

My dad used to recite this. I haven't got a clue what it's about but I vaguely remember him saying it was Chinese, as if !!
I'll try to write it as it sounds.

Eenie Meenie racka racka um pum push,
R r chicker ah chicker ah
Oonie poonie ping pong piney
Ala gala wester richi poo!


What a load of rubbish.

Whatever you're drinking granny, I'll have the same...

Cheers and a Happy New Year to you!

There was a little man and he had a little gun. Across the fields he used to run. With a belly full of fat and a big straw hat and a pancake tied to his bum bum bum!


I had an uncle his name was Jim. Somebody threw a tomato at him. Now tomatos are soft and don't hurt your skin but this tomato was wrapped in a tin.

My uncle could tell em!

Just found a web-site which might be of interest to wiki members who are following this thread. Haven't looked at it properly yet but it looks good. Lots of theories on the origins of nursery rhymes and kid's songs:

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/