Leaks from General Motors’ Cruise robotaxi unit reveal some of their plan to rebuild after their failure in San Francisco may involve working in another state like Texas or Arizona, and to continue the pause on deploying their custom-designed robotaxi known as the Origin. While painful, this plan makes a lot of sense in their current state.

MORE FROM FORBESKyle Vogt Resigns As CEO Of GM’s Cruise Robotaxi UnitBy Brad Templeton

Earlier, Cruise suffered a long series of setbacks leading to them being pulled from the streets of California, voluntarily halting service in other states and the eventual resignation of their founder/CEO.

Cruise built itself in San Francisco. It’s an obvious choice, given that they company was founded there and their staff live there. It also presents a challenging, but not impossible driving environment where cars can learn most of what they need to drive in any city, but at the same time has no snow to make the task a bit easier. Cruise invested a lot in San Francisco and the idea that it was a great place to learn the ropes.

Politically, it was not at all friendly, and Cruise became quickly at odds with city officials who, though they do not have jurisdiction over driving, wanted it out. To a lesser degree they also wanted Silicon Valley native Waymo out, too.

Cruise also quickly announced plans, and even began production, on a custom vehicle designed to be only a robotaxi. Waymo and most other companies do their service in modified standard cards, though Amazon’s Zoox unit intends to begin with a somewhat similar custom vehicle as well. Making cars is what GM does, of course, so for Cruise this was a natural exploitation of their parent’s skills After Cruise lost their permits, GM paused production on the Origin and this now seems to be indefinite, and Cruise will work to get a robotaxi service working with the regular GM cars (today the Chevy Bolt) they already use.

These are not permanent decisions—Cruise certainly intends to return to SF and to build the Origin—but they are correct decisions for now.

Right Decisions

Even though Cruise says it wants to rebuild trust, and may put a fair bit of effort into that, they have a tough task to do this in San Francisco. SF is biased against it and will continue to be biased against it for some time. Even though they don’t have jurisdiction, they are not without power and influence.

The harsh reality is that SF, though often seen as the world capital of technology, is also sometimes quite the opposite. When the Segway scooter was introduced, the company made a big effort to reach out to towns to make sure it would be legal in them. SF was one of the very few places to ban it before it seriously arrived.

When we were building the Starship delivery robot, we planned to move the company HQ to San Francisco. Then a city supervisor decided to go on a campaign to effectively ban sidewalk delivery robots, and passed laws restricted them where other cities were passing laws to welcome them. Starship elected not to move to SF.

So San Francisco may not, in spite of its many advantages, be a good place to begin. Certainly operating far from where most staff work is a challenge, both in terms of cost, and in giving up the opportunity for all staff to live and work with the product on a regular basis. And indeed, due to the DMV restricting Cruise, the rest of California may not be immediately favorable, though it can’t be avoided in the long term.

While Cruise has had much better relations with the public and governments in Texas and Arizona where it has also deployed, the situation has not been perfect. And obviously people will ask there, “If it got banned in California, why should we want it here?” They must still be answered, as does California, but that answer will be easier to give.

Pausing the Origin is easier. While Waymo is developing a custom robotaxi with Geely Zeekr, it is much more car-like. You can do most of what you need for a long time in regular cars, and if you have to prioritize that’s what you do. It’s a long time before having a custom vehicle like the Origin, Zoox or Waymo/Zeekr will be an important competitive difference. Indeed it’s a long time before competition is a major factor.

There are a few attributes to the Origin that Cruise will miss, though. The first is the ability to serve the disabled. This is a good thing to do, and required by law once you get to real deployment, and it’s likely to improve pubic appraisal of the value of the service—look good by actually doing some good.

Another ability which the Origin did not strictly have is the ability to drive backwards. The Zoox has no front or back, so if it faces a situation where it needs to turn around, it doesn’t need to turn—it just switches direction. This turns out to me more important than initially expected, because it’s a good option when a vehicle encounters a situation like an emergency scene or vehicle, a closed road or any other such problem. Now it is possible for a regular vehicle to drive backwards, as long as it can have red brake lights on the front and white headlights on the back at night. It would be a bit confusing to others on the road (in a way the Zoox would not, since it lacks a front or back.) To avoid that confusion, a vehicle can just reverse until it sees a good spot to quickly do a 3 point turn in a driveway or similar. Electric cars are usually able to go full speed in reverse. If Cruise vehicles had the means to just quickly get back out when they encountered emergency scenes, they might not have angered the SF Fire Department so much.

The final ability of the Origin is that it’s better at delivering a shared ride to a group, like UberPool style rides. This isn’t something companies will do on day one, but it’s their long term answer to those critics who worry that “this is just more private cars clogging the streets.” Unlike UberPool, which had trouble getting riders to accept detours to pick up other people, Robotaxis, when combined with single person pods and minimobility vehicles can create a much more appealing service that customers would like, particularly with the lower prices.

Waymo will become the known brand in San Francisco, but it is so early in the game that they won’t get any monopoly over the next year. There is great debate over how big the first mover advantage really is in the robotaxi space. Of course Waymo also plans to deploy in some of the Texas towns that Cruise has been serving, so they will be competitors of a sorts, but both with fleets too small to saturate the market.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website. 

I founded ClariNet, the world’s first internet based business, am Chairman Emeritus of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and a fellow of the Foresight Institute. My current passion is self-driving vehicles and robots. I worked on Google’s car team in its early years and am an advisor and/or investor for car OEMs and many of the top startups in robocars, sensors, delivery robots and even some flying cars. Plus AR/VR and software. I am founding faculty and computing chair for Singularity University, and I write, consult and speak on robocar technology around the globe.

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Chances are that when you were a kid, your parents sang you nursery rhymes to get you to sleep. And if that was the case, it is very likely they sang old nursery rhymes that were passed on from generation to generation like some family relic. A relic whose origins are unknown, meaning undiscovered, and powers unchanged. However, there comes a time when every mystery is solved, so if you came here to figure out nursery rhyme origin stories, you’ll absolutely find just that in this list.

But, before you begin gleaning the information on origin stories of nursery rhymes, be warned that most of them are much more sinister than you would’ve cared to think. Nursery rhymes often served the purpose of cautionary tales, although who thought that slipping the idea of chopped-off fingers to kids would help them fall asleep is beyond us. It’s probably because life, in general, used to be much more brutal than in our time, and these nursery rhymes for kids seemed appropriate, well, for kids. However, we do warn you again – chopped-off fingers are just a cherry on top, and revisiting these children’s rhymes in your adult years might make you all goose-bumpy with their cruelty and brutishness.

Okay, now that we’ve shared our warnings not once but twice, and since you’re still here, you can now proceed to the children’s nursery rhymes and the stories behind them. Once you are done with these shocking tales, be sure to upvote the old nursery rhymes whose origin stories were the most unexpected to you; we’re very curious to see which one of them will be the winner!

“Baa Baa Black Sheep”

This poem is allegedly about the medieval wool tax imposed by King Edward I, under which he earned one-third of the proceeds of every sack. Having three sacks of wool meant that one was for the king, so to speak. Additionally, since black sheep wool couldn’t be coloured, it sold for less money, making it less profitable.

“Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full;
One for my master,
One for my dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.”

bbc.com Report

“Little Miss Muffet”

Patience Muffet, often known as Little Miss Muffet, was a little child. Her dad, Dr. Muffet, was a well-known entomologist who published the first academic list of British insects between 1553 and 1604. Little Miss Muffet was eating curds and whey for breakfast when she was startled by one of his spiders and fled. According to Dr. Muffet’s birthdate, this specific Little Miss Muffet nursery rhyme is believed to have been written in the late 16th century.

“Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
There came a big spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“Three Blind Mice”

Three Blind Mice was first recorded in writing in 1609. Three Protestant allies known as “the three blind mice” were charged with conspiring to overthrow Queen Mary I. The queen who shared extensive estates with her husband, King Philip of Spain, is referred to as the “farmer’s wife.” The three guys were burned at the stake.

“Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
As three blind mice?”

education.com Report

“One for Sorrow”

The poem is based on ornithomancy myths about magpies, which were thought to be a sign of bad luck in various cultures and in Britain at least as early as the seventeenth century. The poem was originally mentioned in a remark in John Brand’s Observations on Popular Antiquities of Lincolnshire, which was published about 1780.

“One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.”

Iona Opie and Moira Tatem Report

“Rub a Dub Dub”

This poem originally dealt with sexual amusement. “Three maids” were in a tub in the story. The limerick was about a peep show where guests may see ladies wash, a common feature at traveling fairs. The baker, the candlestick maker, and the butcher were among the onlookers. Later, the Victorians modified the terms to place the three men in the tub and referred to themselves as cleaning it up.

“Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,
And all of them out to sea.”

Chris Roberts Report

“Doctor Foster”

The origins of this rhyme may go back more than 700 years, to the reign of King Edward I, despite being first printed in 1844. Edward was a powerful guy, stood over six feet tall. He was frequently called Longshanks. Edward was also regarded as a smart and knowledgeable man, earning the moniker Dr. Foster; the name’s origins are lost to time. Edward, who was not a big friend of the Welsh, was probably at Gloucester because of its advantageous location at a significant River Seven crossing into Wales.
According to legend, the king rode his horse in the wrong direction after mistaking a a huge ditch for a minor puddle when he arrived during a storm. Infuriated and perhaps humiliated by the ordeal, he vowed never to return to the town when his horse and rider became stuck in the muck and had to be dragged out.

“Doctor Foster went to Gloucester,
In a shower of rain;
He stepped in a puddle,
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again.”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“Jack and Jill”

This well-known rhyme, originally titled “Jack and Gill,” describes King Charles I’s attempt to enact a reform of liquid taxes. Jacks and gills were apparently used as units of measurement. Charles lowered the volume of these measures after Parliament rejected the tax.

“Jack and Gill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Gill came tumbling after.”

Albert Jack Report

“Row, Row, Row Your Boat”

The song’s first publication dates back to 1852, when it was released with words that are close to those used today but a radically different music. Two years later, it was issued once more with new music and the same words. The Franklin Square Song Collection initially included the words and the contemporary music in 1881, naming Eliphalet Oram Lyte but leaving it unclear as to whether or not he was the composer or adaptor.

“Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.”

William E. Studwell Report

“Roses are Red”

A children’s rhyme and love poem, it has produced several hilarious and parodic variations and has come to be associated with Valentine’s Day.
The rhyme is based on literary devices that may be found in Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene from 1590.

“Roses are red
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet
And so are you.”

sacred-texts.com Report

“Akai Kutsu”

The widely accepted idea holds that the lyrics were inspired by a real-life event. Iwasaki Kimi, a young woman from Fushimi in Shizuoka Prefecture, is thought to have served as the inspiration for the image of the woman wearing red shoes.
In the beginning, Kimi’s mother, Kayo Iwasaki, raised her alone until relocating to Hokkaido and marrying Shirou Suzuki. When Kimi was 3 years old, her parents moved to a Hokkaido commoner’s farm, which at the time was being closely scrutinized as a component of the Socialist movement. However, farming was a hard life, so Kayo gave Kimi’s upbringing to a married American missionary couple named Hewitt, using her father-in-law Sano Yasuyoshi as a middleman.
The Hewitt family eventually made the decision to move back to the United States, but they were unable to bring Kimi with them since she had the then-incurable disease tuberculosis. Instead, they sent her to the church’s orphanage in Azabu, Tokyo, and left without her. Kimi passed away at the orphanage at age nine, never getting to see her mother again. Kayo believed during her whole life that Kimi had traveled to America with the Hewitts, but in reality, Kimi had passed away from tuberculosis at a Tokyo orphanage.

“A young girl with red shoes
was taken away by a foreigner.
She rode on a ship from Yokohama pier
taken away by a foreigner
I imagine right now she has become blue-eyed
living in that foreigner’s land.
Every time I see red shoes, I think of her
And every time I meet a foreigner, I think of her.”

Tokuma Shoten Report

“If Wishes Were Horses, Beggars Would Ride”

The lines “If wishes were thrushes beggars would feed birds” from William Camden’s “Remains of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine,” published in 1605, are the rhyme’s first recognized predecessor. The phrase “and wishes were horses, pure [poor] folks wald ride” originally appeared in James Carmichael’s Proverbs in Scots, published in 1628. “If wishes would bide, beggars would ride” is the first time beggars are mentioned in English proverbs, appearing in John Ray’s Collection of English Proverbs in 1670.

“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
If turnips were watches, I’d wear one by my side.
If “ifs” and “ands” were pots and pans,
There’d be no work for tinkers’ hands.”

G. L. Apperson Report

“Jack Sprat”

Jack Sprat could have been King Charles I, who was left “lean” when parliament refused to tax him but was free to “wipe the plate clean” after dissolving parliament with his queen Henrietta Maria, according to history writer Linda Alchin.

“Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean.
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.”

Linda Kathryn Alchin Report

“Old McDonald Had a Farm”

The first known version of the song is “In the Fields in Frost and Snow,” which appears in Thomas d’Urfey’s 1706 opera “The Kingdom of the Birds or Wonders of the Sun.” It’s unclear if this is where the song first appeared or if his interpretation was based on an older folk tune. The animals shift from verse to verse, and the rhythm is quite similar to current renditions, but the melody is in a different minor key.

“Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!
And on his farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O!
With a moo-moo here and a moo-moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo,
Everywhere a moo-moo,
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!”

tunearch.org Report

“Georgie Porgy”

It is believed that the “Georgie Porgie” was actually the Prince Regent, afterwards known as George IV. George, who was a little on the tubby side and weighed more than 20 stone with a waist of 50 inches (Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie), was often made fun of in the popular press of the day because of his appearance.

“Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry,
When the girls came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.”

historic-uk.com Report

“John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt”

The verses of the nursery rhyme “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt” are American in origin and may be an allusion to the massive influx of German immigrants throughout American history. Both the last name Schmidt and the last name prefix “heimer” have Germanic roots. It is a popular children’s rhyme that is sometimes referred to as a “bus song.” In order to parody the lengthy names that are frequently encountered in this language, the pseudo-German term “Jingleheimer” was presumably utilized.

“John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
His name is my name too
When ever we go out
The people always shout
There goes
John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.”

Dairy River Report

“Star Light Star Bright”

The rhyme which alludes to the idea that you can wish upon a star, is said to have its roots in late 19th-century America.

“Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.”

Iona Opie and Moira Tatem Report

“The Grand old Duke of York”

The Battle of Wakefield, which took place on December 30, 1460, and Richard, Duke of York, the pretender to the throne of England and Protector of England are said to be referenced in the nursery rhyme. Richard set up a defensive posture against the Lancastrian army while the Duke of York and his army marched to the castle he owned at Sandal.

“Oh, the grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“Lavender’s Blue”

Mr. Robert B. Waltz claims “The singer tells his girlfriend that since he loves her, she must also love him. He describes a valley where a young guy and a maid had camped together and advises them to follow suit”. This broadside version, according to Sandra Stahl Dolby, is about a girl named Nell who keeps the singer’s bed warm.

“Lavender’s blue, dilly dilly, lavender’s green,
When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen:
Who told you so, dilly dilly, who told you so?
‘Twas mine own heart, dilly dilly, that told me so.”

fresnostate.edu Report

“Jack be Nimble”

The rhyme was initially discovered in a manuscript from approximately 1815, and James Orchard Halliwell began collecting it in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Jumping candlesticks was both a sort of sport and fate reading. It was believed that clearing a candle without putting out the flame would bring good fortune.

“Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over
The candlestick.”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“How Many Miles to Babylon?”

Although the poem was not written down until the nineteenth century, some have speculated that Caledon during the Crusades is what is meant by the allusion to Cantelon in the Scottish version. While the city was a frequent reference, notably in seventeenth-century England, and “Can I reach there by candlelight?” was a familiar phrase in the sixteenth century, Babylon may be a corruption of “Babyland.” It refers to the time of day when a candle needed to be lit as the daylight dwindled.

“How many miles to Babylon?
Three score miles and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again …
If your heels are nimble and your toes are light,
You may get there by candle-light”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“See Saw Margery Daw”

The rhyme may have its roots in a sawyer’s labor song that helped maintain rhythm while using a two-person saw.

“See Saw Margery Daw,
Jacky shall have a new master;
Jacky shall earn but a penny a day,
Because he can’t work any faster.”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“There Was an Old Woman Who Lived Under a Hill”

This children’s song first appeared in The Academy of Complements in 1714 as a catch.

“There was an old woman lived under the hill,
And if she’s not gone she lives there still.
Baked apples she sold, and cranberry pies,
And she’s the old woman that never told lies.”

J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps Report

“The Lion and the Unicorn”

The words of The Lion and the Unicorn were written in 1603 when James VI of Scotland united the Scottish and English kingdoms as James I of England. James, the son of Mary Queen of Scots, was designated as Elizabeth 1’s successor. As a result of the two nations’ union, a new royal coat of arms, known as “The lion and the unicorn” was created by merging Scotland’s two unicorns with England’s two lions. The British coat of arms now has one Lion and one Unicorn as a result of a compromise, and the poem “The Lion and the Unicorn” was written as a result.

“The lion and the unicorn
Were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn
All around the town.”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“London Bridge is Falling Down”

Although there are a number of potential sources for this incredibly well-known rhyme, it is most probable that the Vikings chanted it as they attacked the bridge in 1014. Variations of the song allegedly were sung by Vikings during a number of their victories.

“London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“Round and Round the Garden”

This nursery rhyme has very recent beginnings. One of the most popular presents to give a newborn infant is a “Teddy Bear,” and this tradition dates back to the early 1900s, when the Ideal Novelty and Toy Co. in America and the Steiff company in Germany created the first plush Teddy Bears. Teddy, the nickname of former American President Theodore Roosevelt, is where the term Teddy Bear originated. Theodore Roosevelt, the president, went bear hunting in Mississippi in 1902. Members of the group surrounded a juvenile black bear, which Roosevelt found injured and ordered to be mercy killed.

“Round and round the garden
Like a teddy bear;
One step, two step,
Tickle you under there!”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“Eeper Weeper”

The narrative of a chimney sweep who murders his second wife and puts her body up a chimney is depicted in this well-known English nursery rhyme and skipping song.
The rhyme has been used in this form at least since the first decade of the 20th century, according to Iona and Peter Opie.

“Eeper Weeper, chimney sweeper,
Had a wife but couldn’t keep her.
Had another, didn’t love her,
Up the chimney he did shove her.”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“To market, to Market”

The rhyme is first mentioned in John Florio’s 1598 book “A Worlde of Wordes, or Most Copious, and exact Dictionarie in Italian and English,” which defines “Abomba” as “a man’s home or resting place: home againe, home againe,” and the 1611 edition, which is even clearer, refers to “the place where children playing hide themselves… Also as we used to say Home againe home againe, market is done.”

“To market, to market, to buy a penny bun,
Home again, home again, market is done.”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“Bobby Shafto’s Gone to Sea”

The song was used by the followers of Robert Shafto, a British Member of Parliament for County Durham in the eighteenth century, and afterwards the borough of Downton in Wiltshire.
When he married Anne Duncombe of Duncombe Park in Yorkshire, the song is claimed to tell the tale of how he shattered Bridget Belasyse’s heart at Brancepeth Castle in County Durham, where his brother Thomas served as rector. According to reports, Bridget Belasyse passed away two weeks after learning the news.

“Bobby Shafto’s gone to sea,
Silver buckles at his knee;
He’ll come back and marry me,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!
Bobby Shafto’s bright and fair,
Combing down his yellow hair;
He’s my love for evermore,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!”

newcastle.gov.uk Report

“Humpty Dumpty”

A small, clumsy individual who was frequently full of ail was referred to as Humpty Dumpty in the past.

Additionally, because intoxicated people tend to stumble, they wouldn’t have the ideal balance when engaging in drunken antics.

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

Eric Partridge Report

“Pop Goes the Weasel”

Pop goes the Weasel for Fun and Frolic was released as sheet music by Miller & Beacham of Baltimore in the early 1850s. The first source that links the name to this song is this one. The music by Miller and Beacham was an adaptation of the 1700s song “The Haymakers.” The “Haymakers” country dance or jig can be found in Gow’s Repository of the Dance Music of Scotland (1799 to 1820).

“Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! Goes the weasel.”

Albert Jack Report

“There was a Little Guinea Pig”

Like many classic nursery rhymes, the roots and lyrics of “There was a tiny guinea-pig” have buried, hidden meanings and make references to historical figures and events. The characters at King Richard III of England’s Plantagenet court are said to be the subject of references in the poem “There was a tiny guinea-pig.”
Sir Thomas Catesby was the Cat. Sir William Ratcliffe of Ordsall Hall was the Rat. Francis, Lord Lovell was a dog, a now-extinct hunting hound breed, talbot. Richard III was “The Hog” (his emblem was a white boar).

“There was a little Guinea-pig,
Who, being little, was not big;
He always walked upon his feet,
And never fasted when he eat.”

richardiii.org.uk Report

“Arthur o’ Bower”

In 1823, William Wordsworth recalled hearing this rhyme “in the time of a strong wind” as a young boy. According to an anonymous contributor to The Spectator in 1893, in the 1830s, “We yelled or sung as we ran whenever we were joyful enough to be running around in a strong wind as kids. In fact, it was frequently performed while dangling from the top of a tree since it was thought to be an essential accompaniment to the wind.”

“Arthur o’Bower has broken his band,
He comes roaring up the land.
King of Scots with all his power
Cannot turn Arthur of the Bower.”

babel.hathitrust.org Report

“As I was going by Charing Cross”

The equestrian statue of Charles I that was built during the Restoration in 1660 and transported to the location of the former Charing Cross in central London in 1675 is supposed to be the subject of the poem. Although the tarnished bronze statue’s color is mostly dark, the word “black” might be a reference to the king’s hair color.

“As I was going by Charing Cross,
I saw a black man upon a black horse;
They told me it was King Charles the First-
Oh dear, my heart was ready to burst!”

Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie Report

“Baby Shark”

It began as a chant or song over a campfire. The original song was likely written in the 20th century and may have been inspired by the Jaws film by camp counselors. The campers use their hands to mimic the sharks’ jaws as they introduce each member of a family of sharks in the chant.

“Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo
Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo
Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo
Baby Shark.”

cbc.ca Report

“Did You Ever See a Lassie?”

Although this song was first collected in the United States in the latter decade of the nineteenth century and was not discovered in Great Britain until the middle of the twentieth, the usage of the names “lassie” and “laddie” indicate that it may have Scottish origins. However, it might be suggested that Scottish immigrants or Scottish-Americans may have contributed to the song’s lyrics.

“Did you ever see a lassie,
A lassie, a lassie?
Did you ever see a lassie,
Go this way and that?
Go this way and that way,
Go this way and that way.
Did you ever see a lassie,
Go this way and that?”

J. J. Fuld Report

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