ID: 390
Date: 1980s - 1995
Title: A,B,C
Gender: Female 
Classification: Clapping 
Rhyme: 

A,B,C going up, going down,
Going criss cross, lollipop, turn around,
Paper, scissors, rock,
Draw a snake upon your back.
Paint it white, paint it black.
What finger did I poke you with?

(Auckland, 1980s; Christchurch, 1995)

--
 
Background Info: See Sutton Smith, 1959:67-68, for description of the 'draw the snake' ritual, known also as "Tip the Finger".

Draw a snake down your back,
This is the way it went.
North, south, east, west, 
Who tipped your finger?

(Wellington, 1935)

==

Also described in Opie, 1984:157-158, as a game-starting ritual related to hide and seek, with the players drawing a snake on the leader's back and chanting the rhyme:

I draw a snake upon your back,
Who will put in the eye?

The leader then has to guess who 'put in the eye'.

==

Further details under "Draw a Snake" in this collection.

==
 
Location: Various NZ 
Group size: 2 
Incidence: 2