“Milking Pails (China Doll)”

Description

The child begs, "Mama, buy me a china doll." The mother asks where the money will come from. The child proposes selling Papa's bed. Mama asks where Papa will sleep. The child keeps proposing ideas, each more impractical. Finally Mama ends the discussion

Supplemental text

Milking Pails (China Doll)
  Complete text(s)

          *** A ***

Chiney Doll

From the singing of Gail Heil on the Bob Bovee & Gail Heil album "Rural
Route 2." Gail learned the song from Almeda Riddle.

Mama, buy me a chiney doll,
Mama, buy me a chiney doll,
Mama, buy me a chiney doll,
Please, mummy, do.

Oh, what would it take to buy it with,
And what would it take to buy it with,
What would it take to buy it with?
Please, mummy, do.

We could take daddy's feather bed,
Take daddy's feather bed,
Take daddy's feather bed,
Please, mummy, do.

Then where would our daddy sleep,
Where would our daddy sleep,
Where would our daddy sleep?
Please, mummy, do.

He could sleep in the puppy's bed,
Sleep in the puppy's bed,
Sleep in the puppy's bed,
Please, mummy, do.

Then where would our puppy sleep,
Where would our puppy sleep,
Where would our puppy sleep,
Please, mummy, do.

He could sleep in the horsey's bed,
Sleep in the horsey's bed,
Sleep in the horsey's bed?
Please, mummy, do.

Then where would our horsey sleep,
Where would our horsey sleep,
Where would our horsey sleep?
Please, mummy, do.

He could sleep in the piggy's bed,
Sleep in the piggy's bed,
Sleep in the piggy's bed,
Please, mummy, do.

Then where would our piggy sleep,
Where would our piggy sleep,
Where would our piggy sleep?
Please, mummy, do.

He could root out in our front yard,
Root out in our front yard,
Root out in our front yard,
Please, mummy, do.

Then where would my children play,
Where would my children play,
here would my children play?
Please, mummy, do.

We could swing on the garden gate,
Swing on the garden gate,
Swing on the garden gate,
Please, mummy, do.

Yes, and get a spanking, too,
Yes, and get a spanking, too,
Yes, and get a spanking, too,
Please, mummy, do.

          *** B ***

Milking-pails

From W. W. Newell, Games and Songs of American Children, item
#114, pp. 166-167. From English children in America.

"Will you buy me a pair of milking-pails,
  Oh, mother! Oh, mother?
Will you buy me a pair of milking-pails
  Oh, gentle mother of mine?"

Where is the money to come from,
  Oh, daughter, Oh, daughter?
Where is the money to come from,
  Oh, gentle daughter of mine?"

[Presumably at least one verse, about selling father's bed,
is missing at this point. See Alice B. Gomme, The Traditional
Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, volume I, pp. 376-386,
for similar examples containing this verse.]

"Where shall your father sleep?"
"Sleep in the servant's bed."
"Where shall the servant sleep?"
"Sleep in the stable."
"Where shall the pigs sleep?"
"In the wash-tub."
"Where shall we wash the clothes?"
"Wash them in the river."
"What if they should wash away?"
"You can jump in and go after them."

Notes

Randolph's informant claims to have learned this in Oklahoma. I know of only two verified American collections, though: Randolph's, and a version ("Chiney Doll") by Almeda Riddle. Thus American texts, and the "China Doll" wish, may be confined to the Ozarks.

On the other hand, Newell's text, "Milking-Pails" (from England) is so close in form (if not in the object of desire) that the song must be considered ancient, and Gomme has more than a dozen British texts. The British version is a singing game, though the American texts seem to have lost this trait. - RBW

References

1. Randolph 356, "Buy Me a China Doll" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. Randolph/Cohen, pp. 291-293, "Buy Me a China Doll" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 356)
3. Montgomerie-ScottishNR 192, "(Buy me a milking pail)" (1 text)
4. DT, MILKPAIL
5. ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #75, "Milking Pails" (1 text)
6. ST R356 (Full)
7. Roud #3515
8. BI, R356