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As a child we used to play a game to a rhyme that went like this:
William Trimbletoes he's a good fisherman
catches hens, puts em in the pins
liar briar limber lock
three geese in a flock
one flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo's nest
O U T spells out
you old dirty dish rag!
Now, I have searched a lot online and have only managed to find this part of the rhyme, also I have found nothing about origins (which I am very interested in.. I assumed it was a cajun game considering that is my family's origin.) But the thing that gets me is we had a continuation of the game! The person that landed on the word "rag" would then go hide behind something, and the next part would commence:
The person doing the pointing (usually my grandmother) would say: When yuh comin home?
Child: Tumarruh afternoon!
Grandma: What yuh gunna bring?
Child: Uh fish n' uh spoon n uh FAT RACCOON! (that was emphasized)
Grandma: Wut yuh comin home on?
Then the child would choose an animal, say a DOG! and one of the other kids would go pick them up and bring them "home" as that animal.
Grandma: SHAKE EM TIL HE SPITS!
Then the dog would shake shake shake until the kid fell off.
Repeat.
This little game has always fascinated me. Where does it come from? Did my family make up the ending? Also... I believe I heard once that "one flew over the cuckoo's nest", like the title of the Nicholson movie, originated here... that seems hard to believe as no one seems to know this rhyme!
Does anyone have any information?
I am not sure as to the origin. My grandmother (born 1923) and great-grandmother used to tell it to me. My grandmother's family is from New Mexico and West Texas. We are not cajun, but that doesn't mean the ryme isn't. I would guess it is a southern thing anyways.
This ryme was used as a way of counting down to select something or to make a choice (i.e. who will be picked to go first; or, which item do I want, etc.). I am not familiar with the particular game you describe. Here is my recollection of the ryme:
William Trimbletoe, he's a fine fisherman
Catches hens, puts 'em in pens
Some lay eggs, some none
Wire, briar, limber, lock
Three geese in a flock
One flew east and one flew west
And one flew over the cookoo's nest
O-U-T spells out and gone
You old dirty dish rag - you go.
Welcome to the forum! Don't usually get two new members in the same thread.
Google Ngrams (which catalogs almost all the books in print) shows this usage for "over the cuckoo's nest"
Would need to investigate more to deduce the cultural origins, but the phrase first appears in 1860, and shows a large spike shortly after the popular book and movie came out in the 70s. Ngrams has an easy learning curve. Good for answering questions like this. Hope this helps.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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