ID: 377
Date: 1900s - 2004
Title: Ask your mother
Gender: Male and Female 
Classification: Bawdy 
Rhyme: 

Ask your mother for sixpence,
To see the big giraffe, 
With pimples on his whiskers,
And pimples on his arse,
Ask me no questions,
Tell me no lies, 
Once I saw a German boy (Chinaman) doing up his..
Flies are a nuisance, 
Mosquitoes are worse, 
This is the end of my silly little verse.

(Whakatane, 1940s; Christchurch, 1950s)

--

Ask your mother for sixpence, 
To see your Uncle Jim,
Sitting in the pig trough, (dunny can)
Learning how to swim.
First he does the breast stroke, 
Then he does the crawl,
Over goes the pig trough, 
Uncle Jim and all.

(Wellington, 1930s)

--

Ask your mother for sixpence,
To see the big (jolly) giraffe,
With wrinkles on its back legs,
And wrinkles on his arrsssk..
Your mother for ..

(Swanson, 1950s; Barrytown, 2004)

--

Ask your mother for sixpence,
To see the tall giraffe,
With d (p)imples on his whiskers,
And pimples on his a..
Ask..

(Christchurch, 1940s; Coromandel, 1940s; Kerikeri, 1950s; Rotorua, 1950s)

--

Ask your mother for sixpence ,
To see the new giraffe,
With whiskers on its pimples,
And pimples on its
Ask..

(Te Aroha, 1900s)

--

Ask your mother for sixpence,
To see the new giraffe,
With pimples on its hind legs,
And pimples on his ..
Ask..

(Tauranga, 1950s)

--

Ask your mother for sixpence,
To see the new giraffe,
With whiskers on his forehead, (chin)
And whiskers on his a..
Ask..

(Hastings, 1960s; Auckland, 1990s)

--

Ask your mother for sixpence,
To see the big giraffe,
He's got pimples on his nostrils,
And pimples on his..
Ask your mother for sixpence.

(Christchurch, 1950s)

--
 
Background Info: Lowenstein, 1974:12 recorded:

Ask your mother for sixpence
To see the tall giraffe,
With pimples on his elbows
And pimples on his..
Ask your mother for sixpence.

(Melbourne, 1967)

Ask your mother for sixpence
To see the tall giraffe,
He sticks his head between his legs 
And whistles up his..
Ask your mother for sixpence.

(Newcastle, 1950s)

==

Lowenstein, 1974:34 records these variations: 
(Tune-Soldier's Chorus, Faust)

Oh Jemimah, look at your Uncle Jim,
Diving in the piss pot, teaching himself to swim,
First he's doing the breast stroke,
Now he's doing the side,
Now he's under water,
Swimming against the tide.

(West Victoria, 1930s)

Oh Jemimah, look at your Uncle Jim,
Out on a hike now don't you envy him.
The first day he did twenty miles,
The second only four,
The third day he met a furniture van, 
We won't say any more.

Oh Jemimah, look at your Uncle Jim,
Going on a diet, trying to get quite slim,
First he lived on dry toast,
Next he lived on bread and ale,
Now he's eating monkey nuts and growing a curly tail.

==
 
Keywords: circular rhyme 
Location: Various NZ 
Group size: 2 
Incidence: 14