We grew up at Sudlows next door to Commander Phillimore and I remember him well. We moved there in 1964…
I well remember this dipping song from my primary school days in Horwich (near Bolton) Lancashire. Its full version for…
Hi Kevan, I really enjoyed your appreciation when I first read it on the Old Priceans site a few years…
Hi Richard, The Paper Mill remains as a ruin. Its a few hundred yards downstream for Durley Mill. Unfortunately it…
Hi Melanie, as I think you now know it was Mr Beardon’s desk, not Mrs Howarth – I wouldn’t have…
Does the paper mill still exist. I was walking today and came across the Durely mill but a lady there…
Popular in Tamworth in the mid Sixties was Eeny meeny mackaracka Rare rye dominacka Chickalacka lollipoppa Om Pom push version…
Yesterday on a school trip, I overheard my daughter (age 7, London school) teaching her friends this rhyme on the…
We appreciative Priceans were not the only one’s to have been influenced by Alan : a special influence on Rushdie’s…
Hi Lorraine, That’s a very interesting account of how the game of flick cards was kept up – survived -…
Hi Rob – Yes, good point. However, I investigated KK’s song and concluded it was a distraction from the story…
Have you heard Kishore Kumar’s 1950s song, Eena Meena Deeka? It seems so similar. The internet offers these lyrics for…
Our version of Flick cards which we called cigarette cards was to take an empty packet of cigarettes and meticulously…
In Winlaton, nr Blaydon on Tyne around 1955 to 1958 Our version when skipping was: Rare Roe Dom inAca Ala…
In Plymouth in the 1950s I remember it as a dip (a method of elimination: a meaning known to every…
Hello Kevan, also Hello to Linda and Joy. I have lived in Australia since 1974 a long time. Recently I…
Hello Kevan, we used to play this in the school playground all the time but with varying names. The two…
Laurence ! Great to hear fom you. You have often been remembered when we meet up at Eastwick, as we…
Hi Kevan, My name is Laurence Robinson. I have just found your page. I may have a few photos I…
Good to hear another Pricean had survived. Got to the 300 th anniversary in Fareham and the reception at the…
Primary school in Oxfordshire in the 70s – as a dip to see who was it: Eeny meeny Makaraka Ra…
Hi Melanie – We’re planning to meet up at the Eastwick May Fair on the 20th May (2023) . .…
Fond memories of Commander Phillimore at Shedfield Church and at his home. I also remember the archeological excavations in the…
Hi Tony. I remember your brother. we were in The Mikado together. I also remember the grand opening of the…
Yes please Mahli, send all you can remember, with hand movements described too.
I was at primary school in the 90s and made the move from Nottingham to Liverpool in 1994. I remember…
Hi Tony, I’m afraid I’ve not heard from anyone from your year, but I remember you and Michael well. He…
I was at Eastwick from 1958 – 1965 when I left aged 11. My older brother Michael left two years…
Hi Melanie, Good to hear from you. The wall was not entirely gone the last time I visited. Something remained…
Hello, I have just discovered this page. I was Melanie Burt and was at Eastwick from 1966 until 1969. My…
Wonderful. A friend taught me the rhyme in my 20’s. I am nearing 40 now and my friend has since…
I remember Commander Phillimore being a nice person and going to Gen in Shedfield house. Must of been 1968 ish.…
We had people line up palms up, one person was “on” would slap each palm and sing my black cat…
I grew up in in the 1960s in Stretford, then Lancashire, 4 miles SW of Manchester. The version I remember…
Thanks Allison – I hope you still enjoy it !
eeny meeny macka racka air dom chikka pokka lollipoppa on pom push No idea why, but as primary aged school…
Thanks Dave. I presume you’re commenting on ‘Royton Lancs’ rather than ‘Eeny meenie etc’ – ? But maybe not ?…
Oops Alla balla bush bam
I knew this rhyme when I lived in West Cornwall in the 1950s. It ended: Chinese juju one two three…
Thanks Rob. Most interesting. I’ll share this with my local history society friends and see what they know . .…
I have found a reference to this memorial in a book written by William Stables ‘The Cruise of the Land…
What a lovely thing to say, and you’re right of course! I don’t quite know what made me reach for…
THis was a Glasgow version from my childhood circa 1970’s but is probably much older. eeny meeny macka racka um…
Hello Anne – Good to hear from you. So what do you remember ? More recollections very welcome. Kx
A long time ago and yet no time at all.
We sang “Om Bombay and wheezy Anna My black cat can play the pianer. Leeds 1948
Well I wouldn’t normally be happy when someone stumbles, but on this occasion – hello Dave !
More on ‘High, low, dolly, pepper’ : https://www.bl.uk/playtimes/articles/skipping-games
Just spotted this page – and I must say I have no memory at all of that first one attributed…
It was a skipping rhyme – But why ? !
Spot on with this one , well done: Eeny meeny macka racka Rare-rye dominacker Chickenpokker lollippopper Om pom push! Sixties…
Thanks Sharon. When was your grandmother at primary school ?
I forgot to ask – when was your version in use ? When were you at primary school ?
The version I was thought by my grandmother, who was passed it down from her mother was Eeny meeny, makaraka,…
Hello Lindsey B, I think you must have been in the year below me. I remember your name, and some…
Thanks Andy. Posted.
Thanks Karen. When was this ?
I’m from Royton. Alabalabusha whose got the ball. It was the same guessing game, but if the person who had…
Our version in Stoke on Trent was as a “dip” to ascertain who was “it” in a game was as…
I have only just seen this website today! I was at Eastwick for only a year or two before moving…
Have fond memories of Sunday School with him…my late dad was his postman for many years.
Hi Kevan – Just put the Christmas things away in the attic and came across my old Flick Cards from…
Lovely to stumble across this…
Now available on this site.
Hi Graham, Thanks for your comment. I have a feeling I already replied to you, but there’s nothing here, so…
I received a Rupert Annual every Christmas from 1956 to 1963. I kept all of them and often re-read them.…
Well worth the read, I expect, if it were available.
As you recollect, probably, the first Folk concert was in 1969. The evening was organized with a folk group -…
I met Commander Phillimore in what was Rhodesia during our (Rhodesia’s) war, in the 1980s. He had come out to…
I was lucky enough to have him as a teacher as well. Regretfully only for the first two years at…
This is a wonderful piece. Great memories which continue with your Tanglewood Festival every year, which has kept the juices…
Thanks Alan.
Manchester,Wytheshawe 1952 .Ala pala busha who’s got the ball ? I havent got you havent got ( screaming and shouting)…
Hi Sandy – Thanks for your message. You may wish to know that Mr Daysh passed away at the end…
Hello Kevan I too remember Mr Glynne-Howell very fondly (I’m not sure I even knew Alan was his name). My…
Thanks John. Your version sound more likely/realistic than the Opies’ ‘piano’ ! But what might ‘wheezy anna’ come from ?…
I came across this by accident when looking for the origin of “my black cat can play the piano” In…
Dear Mairead – Thanks for your post. You win the prize for the first person to post to my site…
I used this version of “My black cat” in a playground in the south-east of Ireland in the mid-1970s: Bumblebee…
Hi Anne – Can you say more about how Tram Lines was played ? I presume it was a chasing…
Games Peep behind the curtain What’s the time, Mr. Wolf? Grandmother’s footsteps Tram lines Jacks You crossed your fingers and…
Eenie meenie macca racca. Rareye dominacca. Chickaracka lollipopper. Om, pom – Push! Chickeracca choo chah, chickeracca chee. Nickernacker noo nah,…