Mary Mack

"Mary Mack" ("Miss Mary Mack") is a clapping game 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 United States, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and in New Zealand and has been called "the most common hand-clapping game in the English-speaking world".[1]

For other uses, see Mary Mack (disambiguation).
Melody Playⓘ

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

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

Rhyme

Various versions of the song exist; a common version goes;[4]

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

Alternate versions use "15 cents", "never came down" and end with repeating "July, July, July".[5]

An alternate version, sung in Canada and England, 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:[6]

  • &: 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, but those claims are disputed due to lack of evidence. Miss Mary Mack was a performer in Ephraim Williams’ circus in the 1880s, and the song may be reference to her and the elephants in the show.[7]

The first verse, the repetition, is also a riddle with the answer "coffin".[8]

Early mentions of the part about the elephant do not include the part about Mary Mack.[9][10]

See also
  • "DemiRep" – a song from the punk rock band, Bikini Kill, which includes "Mary Mack"
  • "Tobacco Origin Story" – a poem by Joy Harjo, refers to the song
  • "Walking the Dog" – 1963 single by Rufus Thomas with lyrics based on "Mary Mack"
  • "Witchcraft" – 1989 single by Book of Love with a reference to "Mary Mack"

References
  1. Gaunt, Kyra Danielle (6 February 2006). The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-hop. NYU Press. p. 63. ISBN 0-8147-3120-1. 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 0-688-08809-0. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  4. "Rhymes." The Lima News. 15 Mar 1992, Page 23 (C3).
  5. Creamer, M. (1972) "Chants skip through years". Tampa Bay Times. 27 Feb 1972. Page 91.
  6. Bernstein, Sara (1994). Hand Clap!, p.88-9. ISBN 1-55850-426-5. Rhythm not provided.
  7. "The Black Circus and the Multiplicity of Gazes". News. 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  8. 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. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  9. Heath, Lilian M. (1902). Eighty Good Times Out of Doors. Fleming H. Revell Co. p. 186. Retrieved 2011-04-08. elephant jump the fence.
  10. Day, Holman F. (1905). Squire Phin: A Novel. A. L. Burt Co. p. 21. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
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