Mary Mack

For the Scottish song see Mary Mack (Scottish folk song); for the California Congresswoman see Mary Bono Mack.

Mary Mack is a clapping game played by children in English-speaking countries. It is known in various parts of the United States and in New Zealand and has been called "the most common hand-clapping game in the English-speaking world".^[1]

In the game, two children stand or sit opposite to each other, and clap hands in tune to a rhyming song.

The same song is also used as a jumprope rhyme,^[2] although rarely so according to one source.^[3]

Rhyme

Various versions of the song exist; a common version goes:

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack

All dressed in black, black, black

With silver buttons, buttons, buttons

All down her back, back, back.

She asked her mother, mother, mother

For fifty cents, cents, cents

To see the elephant, elephant, elephant

Jump over the fence, fence, fence.

He jumped so high, high, high

He reached the sky, sky, sky

He never came back, back, back

'Til the 4th of July, ly, ly!

In some variations, Mary Mack asks her mother for fifteen cents rather than fifty.^[4] These variations may represent an earlier version of the song. It changed because of the speed of the rhyme and the similarity of the spoken words "fifteen" and "fifty", and because there were few things one could buy with 15 cents in the later part of the 20th century.^{[citation needed]}

Possible origins

The first verse, without the repetition, is also a riddle with the answer "coffin".^[5]

Early mentions of the part about the elephant do not include the part about Mary Mack.^[6][7]

Merrimack

The origin of the name Mary Mack is obscure, and various theories have been proposed. According to one theory Mary Mack originally was Merrimack (an early ironclad that would have been black, with silver rivets) suggesting that the first verse refers to the Battle of Hampton Roads during the American Civil War.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Gaunt, Kyra Danielle. The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-hop. NYU Press. p. 63. ISBN 0814731201. http://books.google.com/books?id=N45OBoLx-mYC&pg=PA63. Retrieved 2011-04-08. 
2. ^ Gaunt, Games Black Girls Play, p. 68
3. ^ Cole, Joanna (1989). Anna Banana: 101 Jump-rope Rhymes. HarperCollins. p. 13. ISBN 0688088090. http://books.google.com/books?id=GkWMP7SbnLIC&pg=PA13&dq=%22Mary+Mack%22. Retrieved 2011-04-08. 
4. ^ Bronner, Simon J. (2006). American Children's Folklore. August House. p. 65. ISBN 0874830680. 
5. ^ Odum, Howard W. (1928). Rainbow Round My Shoulder: The Blue Trail of Black Ulysses (2006 ed.). Indiana University Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-253-21854-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=tIvR3vDw3B8C&pg=PA33&dq=Mary+Mack#v=onepage&q=Mary%20Mack&f=false. Retrieved 2011-04-08. 
6. ^ Heath, Lilian M. (1902). Eighty Good Times Out of Doors. Fleming H. Revell Co. p. 186. http://books.google.com/books?id=mkcCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA186&dq=%22elephant+jump+the+fence%22. Retrieved 2011-04-08. 
7. ^ Day, Holman F. (1905). Squire Phin: A Novel. A. L. Burt Co. p. 21. http://books.google.com/books?id=zzo3AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA21. Retrieved 2011-04-08.