Counting out Rhymes 163
him and goes around, will end with him. That would count him out. The guess has to be made at once; and if there are a number in the party, the guess is apt to be wrong.
In some communities the initial question is as follows:—
My father has a horse to shoe,
How many nails do you think’ll do?
14
Nigger in the woodpile,
Don’t you hear him holler?
Bring him down to my house,
Give him quarter of a dollar.
15
Nigger on the woodpile,
Don’t you hear him squeal?
Bring him down to my house,
Give him a peck of meal.
16
One is all, two is all, zickerzall, zan,
Poptail, vinegar, tickle and tan,
Harum, scarum, English mare-um,
See, taw, buck—uldy, guldy, goo,
Out goes y-o-u.
17
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
