Comparative childhood folklore

[ladyofastolat]

"Not last night but the night before..."

What's the rest of the verse? And, yes, I know there's no single right answer, and it's a rhyme that's been recorded in loads of different versions, but I'm always interested in comparing different childhood versions of playground rhymes and games.

EDIT: Oh well... It seems that hardly anyone else knows this rhyme, after all. Strange. Everybody present during the conversation at work knew a version, but everyone knew a different one. However, they didn't provide a big enough sample for me to find out if the differences were regional or due to date. For the record, the version I knew went "not last night but the night before, 3 little pussycats came knocking at the door, [something something] let them in, [something-thing] with a ROLLing pin!" However, when I was chanting it to try to track down the missing words, I kept getting sidelined by "OUT went the doctor, OUT went the nurse, OUT went the lady with the alligator purse," which comes from a different rhyme, one nobody else had heard before.

Comments

yes, i guess it has been applied to many cultures for kids, including chinese..

[pigshitpoet.livejournal.com]

Not last night but the night before,
24 robbers came knocking at my door
I asked them what they wanted, and this is what they said:
Spanish Dancer do the splits, the twist
the turnaround and touch the ground, and out the back door
Spanish Dancer please come back, back, sit on a tack, read a book and do not look,

here is a spanish dancer for you..



; )

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Not one I know ...

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Nor me!

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Odd. Someone at work said, in conversation, "not last night but..." "the night before," I chanted, and everybody there - variety of ages and sexes - knew a version, although we all knew different ones, and some were only dimly remembered. It seems that we have an uncharacteristic concentration of people who know this particular rhyme. I wonder why... :-)

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

I know it as a skipping rhyme.

Not last night but the night before
24 robbers came knocking at the door
As I went out [run out from rope, circle round swingers]
to let them in [enter rope from other side]
one of the robbers began to sing:
Chinese lady turn around [skipper turns 180deg on last 2 jumps]
Chinese lady touch the ground [skipper touches ground]
Chinese lady do the splits [skipper lands with feet either side of rope]
Chinese lady show your knicks [skipper raises skirt to scandalised shrieks from onlookers]

Neuromancer

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I remember those last four lines as part of a skipping rhyme, but not the thing about the robbers.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Now I'm doubting things. We did the turn around/touch the ground thing as a skipping rhyme. I think it was "teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around," but I can't remember if this was the start of the verse, or if there were other lines beforehand which led into it. I can't remember what happened after "touch the ground," though. There were definitely more lines/actions, but I don't think they involved flashing our knickers. :-D

[bookwormsarah.livejournal.com]

The version I knew went:
Not last night but the night before
24 robbers came knocking at the door
And they said:
"Spanish lady, Spanish lady turn around,
"Spanish lady, Spanish lady touch the ground,
"Spanish lady, Spanish lady do the kicks,
"Spanish lady, Spanish lady do the splits"

[jane-somebody.livejournal.com]

Bit late to this, but

...24 robbers at my door
(step back baby, step back)
open the door and let them in
(step back baby, step back)
hit them on the head with a rolling pin
(step back baby, step back)
I took out my frying pan
(step back baby, step back)
Some ran east and some ran west
(step back baby step back)
One jumped over the cuckoo's nest
(step back baby, step back.)

I feel there must be a missing line here, to rhyme with 'pan', but I cannot for the life of me think what. Definitely nothing about Spanish/Chinese ladies/dancers though!