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If he hollers make him pay, Fifty dollars every day. There are considerable variations in the lyrics of the rhyme, including from the early twentieth century in the United States of America:Įeny, meeny, miny moe, Catch a tiger by the toe. The 'olla' and 'toe' are found as nonsense words in some 19th century versions of the rhyme. This, combined with evidence of various other versions of the rhyme in the British Isles pre-dating this post-slavery version, would seem to suggest that it originated in North America, although the apparently American word " holler" was first recorded in written form in England in the 14th century, whereas according to the Oxford English Dictionary the words "Niger" or "'nigger" were first recorded in England in the 16th century with their current disparaging meaning. Iona and Peter Opie pointed out in The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1951) that the word "nigger" was common in American folklore, but unknown in any English traditional rhyme or proverb. This may have helped popularise this version in the United Kingdom where it seems to have replaced all earlier versions until the late twentieth century. 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":Įeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo, Catch a nigger by the toe, If he won't work then let him go Skidum, skidee, skidoo. This version was similar to that reported by Henry Carrington Bolton as the most common version among American schoolchildren in 1888. Iona and Peter Opie (1951) quote the following version:Įena, meena, mina, mo, Catch a nigger by his toe If he squeals let him go, Eena, meena, mina, mo. Some versions of this rhyme used the racial slur " nigger" instead of " tiger". The rhyme was recorded in 1904 by Nynke van Hichtum in Goor in the eastern Netherlands.Īnne manne miene mukke, Ikke tikke takke tukke, Eere vrouwe grieze knech, Ikke wikke wakke weg.

Ī possible origin is a centuries-old, possibly Old Saxon, divination rhyme, argued for in 1957 by the Dutch philologists Jan Naarding and Klaas Heeroma of the Nedersaksisch Instituut (Low Saxon Institute) at the University of Groningen. Īnother possible origin is from a Swahili poem brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans: Iino ya mmiini maiini mo. Īnother possibility is that British colonials returning from India introduced a doggerel version of an Indian children's rhyme used in the game of carom billiards:īaji neki baji thou, elim tilim latim gou. One theory about the origins of the rhyme is that it is descended from Old English or Welsh counting, similar to the old shepherd's count " Yan Tan Tethera" or the Cornish "Eena, mena, mona, mite". Ī Cornish version collected in 1882 runs:Įna, mena, mona, mite, Bascalora, bora, bite, Hugga, bucca, bau, Eggs, butter, cheese, bread. This was one of many variants of "counting out rhymes" collected by Bolton in 1888. Variations of this rhyme, with the nonsense/counting first line have been collected since the 1820s, such as this one, which includes the 'toe' and 'olla' from Kipling's version:Įenie, Meenie, Tipsy, toe Olla bolla Domino, Okka, Pokka dominocha, Hy! Pon! Tush! Bolton also found a similar rhyme in German:Įne, tene, mone, mei, Pastor, lone, bone, strei, Ene, fune, herke, berke, Wer? Wie? Wo? Was? Henry Carrington Bolton discovered this version to be in the US, Ireland and Scotland in the 1880s but was unknown in England until later in the century. Hana, man, mona, mike Barcelona, bona, strike Hare, ware, frown, vanac Harrico, warico, we wo, wac. The first record of a similar rhyme, called the "Hana, man," is from about 1815, when children in New York City are said to have repeated the rhyme:

spells out, And out goes she, In the middle of the deep blue sea" or "My mother told me/says to pick the very best one, and that is Y-O-U/you are it" while another source cites "Out goes Y-O-U." " Tigger" is also used instead of "tiger" in some versions of the rhyme.

The scholars Iona and Peter Opie noted that many variants have been recorded, some with additional words such as ". If he hollers, let him go, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. (po on rst or Second)nnenie meenie miney montch a bad chick by her toenIf she holla (if, if, if she holla) let her gonnnShes indecisivennShe cant decidennShe keeps on lookinnnrom left to rightnnnrl, come on get closenLook in my eyesnnSearchin is so wrongnnI’m Mr.A common modern version is: Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, Catch a tiger by the toe.