It was also used by Rudyard Kipling in his 'A Counting-Out Song', from Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides, published in 1935. But when you get money, your little bride Will surely find out where you hide, So there's the door and when I count four, Then out goes you. It was used in the chorus of Bert Fitzgibbon's 1906 song 'Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo': Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo, Catch a nigger by his toe, If he won't work then let him go Skidum, skidee, skidoo. This version was similar to that reported as the most common version among American schoolchildren in 1888. Eeny, meena, mina, mo, Catch a nigger by the toe If he squeals let him go, Eena, meena, mina, mo. Controversial versionĪlternative versions of this poem have the word nigger instead of tiger, which in the eyes of some has tainted the rhyme entirely. He also found a similar rhyme in German: Ene, tene, mone, mei, Pastor, lone, bone, strei, Ene, fune, herke, berke, Wer? Wie? Wo? Was? Īnother possibility is that the British occupiers of India brought a doggerel version of an Indian children's rhyme used in the game of carom billiards: ubi eni mana bou, baji neki baji thou, elim tilim latim gou. The rhyme seems to have been unknown in England among collectors until the late nineteenth century, although it was found by Henry Bolton in the USA, Ireland and Scotland in the 1880s.

However, the first record of the modern rhyme is from America, where, as early as 1815 children in New York are said to have repeated the rhyme: Hana, man, mona, mike Barcelona, bona, strike Hare, ware, frown, vanac Harrico, warico, we wo, wac. One major theory about the origins of the rhyme is that it is descended from Old English or Celtic counting, as can be seen in the East Anglian Shepherd's count, ' Ina, mina, tehra, methera' or the Cornish 'Eena, mea, mona, mite'. Occasionally the line copies ' Ip dip': Not because you're dirty, Not because you're clean, Just because you kissed a boy/girl behind the magazine. Sometimes additional lines are added at the end of the rhyme to draw out or manipulate the selection process or make it seem less predetermined, such as: Moe means no, So out you go!Īnd: My mother told me to pick the best one, And you are not it!Īlso sung as: My mother told me to pick the very best one, And that is Y-O-U.

Ĭommon variations, particularly in Britain, substitute 'tinker' or 'chicken' for tiger and use 'squeals' rather than hollers.

If he hollers let him go, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Common modern versions include: Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, Catch a tiger by the toe.

Eenie meenie miney mo rhyme