"Mary Mack" ("Miss Mary Mack") is a

clapping game A clapping game (or hand game) is a type of usually cooperative (i.e., non-competitive) game which is generally played by two players and involves clapping as a rhythmic accompaniment to a singing game or reciting of a rhyme, often nursery rh ...

of unknown origin. It is first attested in the book The ''Counting Out Rhymes of Children'' by Henry Carrington Bolton (1888), whose version was collected in West Chester, Pennsylvania. It is well known in various parts of the

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and in

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and has been called "the most common hand-clapping game in the English-speaking world". In the game, two children stand or sit opposite to each other, and clap

hands A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each " ...

in time to a

rhyming A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

. The same song is also used as a

jumprope A skipping rope (British English) or jump rope (American English) is a tool used in the sport of skipping/jump rope where one or more participants jump over a rope swung so that it passes under their feet and over their heads. There are multi ...

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...

, although rarely so according to one source.

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 (or "Up and down her back, back, back") :She asked her mother, mother, mother :For 50 cents, cents, cents :To see the elephants, elephants, elephants :Jump over the fence, fence, fence :They jumped so high, high, high :They reached the sky, sky, sky :And didn't (or never) come back, back, back (or come down, down, down) :Till the 4th of July ly ly An alternate version, sung in Canada, includes the words: :She could not read, read, read :She could not write, write, write :But she could smoke, smoke, smoke :Her father’s pipe, pipe, pipe An alternate version, sung in the American South: :Mary Mack, :Dressed in black, :Silver buttons all down her back. :She combed her hair :And broke the comb :She's gonna get a whoopin' when her Momma comes home :Gonna get a whoopin' when her Momma comes home

Clap

A common version of the accompanying clap is as follows: *pat arms across chest: Arms across chest *pat thighs: Pat thighs *clap hands: Clap hands *clap right hands together: Clap right palms with partner *clap left hands together: Clap left palms with partner *clap both hand together : Clap both palms with partner Another version: *&: One palm up, one palm down *4: Clap both partners hands *&: Clap own hands *1: Cross arms to chest *2: Slap thighs *3: Clap own hands Another Version: *4: Pat thighs *&: Clap hands *1: Clap partners right hand *&: Clap hands *&: Clap partners left hand *&: Clap hands *2: Clap both partners hands *&: Clap hands Another Version: *&: One palm up, one palm down *1: Clap both partners hands *&: Reverse hands *2: Clap both partners hands *&: Clap own hands *4: clap partners right hand *&: clap hands *5: clap partners left hand *&: clap hands *6: clap partners right hand *&: clap hands repeat

Possible origins

The song may have originated from the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, but those claims are disputed due to lack of evidence. Miss Mary Mack was a performer in

Ephraim Williams Ephraim Williams Jr. (Wyllis Eaton Wright, Colonel Ephraim Williams, a documentary life' (1970), p. 4.Correct date of birth of February 24, 1714 is obtained from primary source: Massachusetts Vital Records "Newton Births 1674-1801 Book 1 Vol 106 ...

’ circus in the 1880s, and the song may be reference to her and the elephants in the show. The first verse, the repetition, is also a riddle with the answer "coffin". Early mentions of the part about the elephant do not include the part about Mary Mack.

References

{{Hand games American folk songs English children's songs Traditional children's songs Songs about fictional female characters Clapping games Skipping rhymes

Rhyme

Clap

Possible origins

See also

References