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Dancing Dolly (1898)

Dancing Dolly had no sense, / For to fiddle for eighteenpence…

ChantsLong rope

Dancing Dolly had no sense,
For to fiddle for eighteenpence;
All the tunes that she could play,
Were "Sally get out of the donkey's way."

Where this rhyme comes from

Printed
1898
Where
Deptford, London

We have copied these words exactly as they were printed in 1898, spelling and all. The book marks it as a skipping rhyme.

Compare the 1916 London version, "Dancing Dolly".

Source: Alice Bertha Gomme, The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, vol. II (London: David Nutt, 1898), 'Skipping', pp. 200–204. Rhymes collected by Miss Chase (public domain).

Older and newer versions

The same rhyme, changed by children over the years.

ChantsPrinted 1916Dancing DollyDancing Dolly had no sense,
She bought a fiddle for eighteen pence…

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