Taffy was a Welshman: Racist nursery Rhymes

[Malthus]

I was reading a collection of nursery rhymes to my kid the other day when I came across one that was odd, to say the least - I'd never heard it before. The first verse went:

Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;
Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy wasn't in;
I jumped upon his Sunday hat and poked it with a pin.

It went on in that vein, with Taffy stealing more stuff and the narrator retaliating, culminating in the narrator beating "Taffy's" head in.

This struck me as inappropriate, even by nursery rhyme standards, in that it appears to unashamedly push an "racist" in the loose sense line (not to mention violence, which is nothing new for nursery rhymes!  ).

Any other examples of offensive nursery rhymes you guys know of?

[Heh Meri I thought of you when reading this.  ]   

[Savonarola]

It's Agatha Christie's fault that I've heard of these:

TEN LITTLE INDIANS, by Septimus Winner, 1868

Ten little Injuns standin' in a line,
One toddled home and then there were nine;
Nine little Injuns swingin' on a gate,
One tumbled off and then there were eight.
  One little, two little, three little, four little, five little Injuns boys,
  Six little, seven little, eight little, nine little, ten little Injuns boys.
Eight little Injuns gayest under heav'n,
One went to sleep and then there were seven;
Seven little Injuns cutting up their tricks,
One broke his neck and then there were six.
Six little Injuns kickin' all alive,
One kick'd the bucket and then there were five;
Five little Injuns on a cellar door,
One tumbled in and then there were four.
Four little Injuns up on a spree,
One he got fuddled and then there were three;
Three little Injuns out in a canoe,
One tumbled overboard and then there were two.
Two little Injuns foolin' with a gun,
One shot t'other and then there was one;
One little Injuns livin' all alone,
He got married and then there were none.

And an even worse derivative:


TEN LITTLE NIGGERS, by Frank Green, 1869

Ten little nigger boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self, and then there were nine.
Nine little nigger boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself, and then there were eight.
Eight little nigger boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there, and then there were seven.
Seven little nigger boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in half, and then there were six.
Six little nigger boys playing with a hive;
A bumble-bee stung one, and then there were five.
Five little nigger boys going in for law;
One got in chancery, and then there were four.
Four little nigger boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one, and then there were three.
Three little nigger boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one, and then there were two.
Two little nigger boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up, and then there was one.
One little nigger boys living all alone;
He got married, and then there were none.

[Malthus]

One little nigger boys living all alone;
He got married, and then there were none.[/i]

Was this written by a forefather of CdM? 

[Syt]

TEN LITTLE NIGGERS, by Frank Green, 1869

Ten little nigger boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self, and then there were nine.
Nine little nigger boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself, and then there were eight.
Eight little nigger boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there, and then there were seven.
Seven little nigger boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in half, and then there were six.
Six little nigger boys playing with a hive;
A bumble-bee stung one, and then there were five.
Five little nigger boys going in for law;
One got in chancery, and then there were four.
Four little nigger boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one, and then there were three.
Three little nigger boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one, and then there were two.
Two little nigger boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up, and then there was one.
One little nigger boys living all alone;
He got married, and then there were none.

I had that in German (though the first translation was in 1885, and different from mine) - according to Wiki the 1885 version ended:
"    Ein kleiner Negerknabe nahm sich 'ne Mama;
    Zehn kleine Negerknaben sind bald wieder da."
or
"One little nigger boy got himself a mama
soon there'lll be 10 little nigger boys again."

I think they exchange "Negerlein" (little negroes) with "Kinderlein" (little kids) these days. Which doesn't really make it better.

[DontSayBanana]

It's Agatha Christie's fault that I've heard of these:

TEN LITTLE INDIANS, by Septimus Winner, 1868

Ten little Injuns standin' in a line,
One toddled home and then there were nine;
Nine little Injuns swingin' on a gate,
One tumbled off and then there were eight.
  One little, two little, three little, four little, five little Injuns boys,
  Six little, seven little, eight little, nine little, ten little Injuns boys.
Eight little Injuns gayest under heav'n,
One went to sleep and then there were seven;
Seven little Injuns cutting up their tricks,
One broke his neck and then there were six.
Six little Injuns kickin' all alive,
One kick'd the bucket and then there were five;
Five little Injuns on a cellar door,
One tumbled in and then there were four.
Four little Injuns up on a spree,
One he got fuddled and then there were three;
Three little Injuns out in a canoe,
One tumbled overboard and then there were two.
Two little Injuns foolin' with a gun,
One shot t'other and then there was one;
One little Injuns livin' all alone,
He got married and then there were none.

And an even worse derivative:


TEN LITTLE NIGGERS, by Frank Green, 1869

Ten little nigger boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self, and then there were nine.
Nine little nigger boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself, and then there were eight.
Eight little nigger boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there, and then there were seven.
Seven little nigger boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in half, and then there were six.
Six little nigger boys playing with a hive;
A bumble-bee stung one, and then there were five.
Five little nigger boys going in for law;
One got in chancery, and then there were four.
Four little nigger boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one, and then there were three.
Three little nigger boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one, and then there were two.
Two little nigger boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up, and then there was one.
One little nigger boys living all alone;
He got married, and then there were none.

Never heard either of those variants, although the "nigger boys" variant is closer to the "sailor boys" theme used in And Then There Were None.

[derspiess]

The n-word was verboten in our house growing up, so all the rhymes & whatnot featuring that word were 'sanitized' (assuming 'Indian' is less offensive).  I was sheltered from the n-word until I started hearing one of my grandparents use it, and he used it pretty liberally. 

[Caliga]

When I was a kid my grandmother used to sing a nursery rhyme to me that started off with the line "What's so funny, Old Black Joe?" but I forget how it ended.  Oh and they called teh blacks "coloreds". 

[derspiess]

When I was a kid my grandmother used to sing a nursery rhyme to me that started off with the line "What's so funny, Old Black Joe?" but I forget how it ended.  Oh and they called teh blacks "coloreds". 

My dad's parents used the term "colored" but as far as I could tell didn't mean anything negative by it.  My mom's mom was the enlightened counterbalance to my mom's dad, who seemed to delight in using the n-word, though I wonder sometimes if he did that just to push her buttons.  I always watched him closely when he interacted with a black store employee, waiter, etc. and never saw him treat them with any less respect than he would show a white person.

[Caliga]

Also, Malthus... are you familiar with "Camptown Races"?

[Malthus]

Also, Malthus... are you familiar with "Camptown Races"?

Not I think a nursery rhyme, though. 

So far we have blacks, indians - and the welsh. Any others?

[Caliga]

When I was a kid we used to sing Camptown Races in elementary school chorus. :blackface:

Yeah, I guess you're right that it's not technically a nursery rhyme.

[Savonarola]

When I was a kid we used to sing Camptown Races in elementary school chorus. :blackface:

Yeah, I guess you're right that it's not technically a nursery rhyme.

Swannee River and Oh Susana also started out as minstrel songs. 

[Savonarola]

My mother told me when she was young this one was popular:

Ching Chong Chinaman sitting on a fence
Trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents.
Along came a choo-choo train, Knocked him in the cuckoo-brain, 
And that was the end of the fifteen cents.

That was the era when classic cartoons like "You're a Sap Mr. Jap" could still be shown on television.

[Caliga]

Now I want to go watch the "You Nazty Spy!" Three Stooges Movie.

[Ed Anger]

I'm offended.