ID: 37
Date: 1948 -2002
Title: Tinker, tailor
Gender: Female 
Classification: Skipping 
Rhyme: 

Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, 
Rich man, poor man,
Beggar man thief.

(NZ ex Australia, 1948; Auckland, 1960s x 2; Christchurch, 1960s; Awanui, 1980s; Christchurch, 1990s; Dannevirke, 2000; Whakatane, 2002)

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Background Info: Opie, 1967:339,  In 1823 a recount given from 1770s of the rhyme which foreshadowed the destiny of a young school boy. "Sowja, sailor, tinker, tailor, apothecary, plow-boy, thief.." used when counting buttons on a new waistcoat. Girls similarly counted beads on a necklace to predict their future.

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Sutton-Smith,1959:41, describes Flower and Grass Games being played by girls where details relating to a husband and future life is determined by pulling off petals or ears of a rye grass. (1870-1920)

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Turner, 1978:106 records 1960s version of this universal rhyme:

Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, 
Rich man, poor man,
Beggar man thief.
Lady, baby, gypsy queen,
Elephant, monkey, mandarin.

(Canberra, 1961)

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Opie, 1992:404 records variation:

Lady, lady on the sea-shore,
She has children one to four,
The eldest one is twenty-four,
Then she shall marry a tinker, tailor..

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Onwuchekwa, 2003:122 records from urban black America:

Gypsy, Gypsy, please tell me,
What my husband's gonna be.
Rich man, poor man, baker man, thief,
Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief.

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From Gullen, 1950:11comes the Scottish variant:

A laird, a lord,
A rich man, a thief,
A tailor, a drummer,
A stealer o' beef.
(Button count rhyme)

A lord, a laird, a lily, a leaf,
A piper, a drummer, a hangman, a thief.
(Counting rings on a top)

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Keywords: divination 
Location: Various NZ 
Group size: 2 
Incidence: 8