Children’s self-created rhymes often delineated in- and out-groups. Opie noted that antagonistic groups of children, like two schools or two football teams, generated cruel taunting rhymes that children would shout at each other. She pointed to an 1858 record of a children’s rhyme used against a particular village: “The Spittal wives are no’ very nice,/ They bake their bread wi’ bugs and lice.”
Two, Four, Six, Eight, Who Do We Appreciate?
