Half Pound Tuppeny Rice

Half pound tuppeny rice, / Half a pound of treacle…

ChantsLong rope

Half pound tuppeny rice,
Half a pound of treacle,
Penny 'orth of spice
To make it nice,
Pop goes the weazle.

Where this rhyme comes from

Printed: 1898
Where: Crockham Hill, Kent

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

Collected at Crockham Hill in Kent in the 1890s. More than a century later J B. of Crockham Hill CE Primary sent skip-hop “Granny’s in the Kitchen”, the first rhyme ever sent in to us.

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.

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