Bluebells, Cockle Shells (Easy Ivy Over)

Blue bells, cockle shell Easy ivy over / Oh no, here comes Miss Blackwell…

Blue bells, cockle shell Easy ivy over

Oh no, here comes Miss Blackwell
with her big black stick
Now its time for arithmetic

One plus one is?
(jumper responds) Two

Two plus two is?
(jumper responds) Four

Four plus four is?
(jumper responds) Eight

Eight plus eight is?
(jumper responds) Sixteen

Now its time for spelling
Spell cat.
(jumper responds) C-A-T

Spell dog.
(jumper responds) D-O-G

Spell hot.
(jumper responds) H-O-T

How to play

The rhyme starts with the rope being swung back and forth, not over. On "over" swing the rope over head and continue in a normal rope swing. When the jumper finishes spelling HOT, swing the rope as fast as possible till they get it wrong. (That'll fox 'em.)

Where this rhyme comes from

Sung in: UK, Ireland, US, Canada, New Zealand
Roud number: 19213; 19426

'Bluebells, cockle shells, evie ivy over' is sung while the rope swings back and forth, and on 'over' it goes right round. The Ballad Index calls it one of the most popular rope rhymes in English and lists Abrahams (1969, nos. 41–42), but its earliest dated text is Sutton-Smith (NZ, 1972). The schoolteacher and arithmetic verses are a separate add-on.

Sources: Traditional Ballad Index (balladindex.org), 'Bluebells, Cockleshells'; Abrahams, Jump-Rope Rhymes: A Dictionary (1969), nos. 41–42 (cited by the Ballad Index); Sutton-Smith, Folkgames of Children (1972), pp.104, 107 (cited by the Ballad Index).

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Older and newer versions

The same rhyme, changed by children over the years.

ChantsPrinted 1916Evie, Ivy, OverEvie, Ivy, over,
The kettle is boiling over…

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