One, Two, Three, Four

One, two, three, four, song / Deborah Crowley, Kitty Shields & Marie Smith, singing in English

One, two, three, four, song / Deborah Crowley, Kitty Shields & Marie Smith, singing in English

ITMA Reference	55068
Creator	Crowley, Deborah, singing in English ; Shields, Kitty, singing in English ; Smith, Marie, singing in English
Contributor	Shields, Hugh, collector
Date	July 1968
Location	Hugh Shields’s house, Dublin
Type	Sound
Extent	1 computer file (MP3 file, 11 secs.) : digital, stereo
Collection	Hugh Shields Collection
Subject	Ireland: Singing in English
Language	English
Publisher	Irish Traditional Music Archive
Copyright	Performer(s), Hugh Shields and Irish Traditional Music Archive
Source	1020-ITMA-REEL [HS 6818]
View in ITMA catalogue:	Go to catalogue

Notes

Riddle answer

One two three four
Anastasia at the door
Kissing Gabbie at the gate
Five, six, seven, eight.

Notes from Hugh Shields

“Fou(e)r,” and “doo(e)r” are pronounced with two syllables. This pronunciation potentially goes back to a “tetral" system of counting (see GB Adams article “Counting rhymes and systems of numeration” in Ulster Folklife 11 (1965:91–92). Children’s rhymes use all sorts of numeration. Other examples from this collection include “Three, six, nine,” “Bluebells,” and “One, two, three.”