Ten Little Indians

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Ten Little Indians" Roud #13512
Written by	Traditional
Published	1868
Written	USA
Language	English
Form	Nursery Rhyme

"Ten Little Indians" is a children's rhyme The song is usually performed to the Irish folk tune "Michael Finnegan". It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13512.

Contents 1 Lyrics 2 Origins 3 Derivative songs 4 Notes

[edit] Lyrics

The modern lyrics are believed to be public domain and are as follows:

One little, two little, three little Indians

Four little, five little, six little Indians

Seven little, eight little, nine little Indians

Ten little Indian boys.

Ten little, nine little, eight little Indians

Seven little, six little, five little Indians

Four little, three little, two little Indians

One little Indian boy.^[1]

The song sometimes begins with a repeated verse, "John Brown met a little Indian" before entering the well-known verses.

[edit] Origins

The original piece, then called "10 Little Injuns", was written by songwriter Septimus Winner in 1868 for a minstrel show and was much more elaborate:

Ten little Injuns standin' in a line,

One toddled home and then there were nine;

Nine little Injuns swingin' on a gate,

One tumbled off and then there were eight.

One little, two little, three little, four little, five little Injun boys,

Six little, seven little, eight little, nine little, ten little Injun boys.

Eight little Injuns gayest under heav'n.

One went to sleep and then there were seven;

Seven little Injuns cuttin' up their tricks,

One broke his neck and then there were six.

Six little Injuns all alive,

One kicked the bucket and then there were five;

Five little Injuns on a cellar door,

One tumbled in and then there were four.

Four little Injuns up on a spree,

One got fuddled and then there were three;

Three little Injuns out on a canoe,

One tumbled overboard and then there were two.

Two little Injuns foolin' with a gun,

One shot t'other and then there was one;

One little Injun livin' all alone,

He got married and then there were none.^[1]

[edit] Derivative songs

This song was adapted, possibly by Frank J. Green in 1869 as "Ten Little Niggers" and became a standard of the blackface minstrel shows.^[2] It was sung by Christy's Minstrels and became widely known in Europe, where it was used by Agatha Christie in her novel which was later retitled as And Then There Were None (1939), about ten killings on a remote island.^[3]

The following version of the song that was included in the American edition of And Then There Were None (1945), which largely took Green's lyrics and replaced already sensitive "nigger", with "indian" (in some versions "soldiers"):

Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;

One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;

One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Indian boys travelling in Devon;

One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;

One chopped himself in half and then there were six.

Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;

A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Indian boys going in for law;

One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Indian boys going out to sea;

A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Indian boys walking in the zoo;

A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two Little Indian boys sitting in the sun;

One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Indian boy left all alone;

He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.^[4]

Because this song, and even the original term Indians, are politically sensitive, modern versions for children often use "soldier boys" or "teddy bears" as the objects of the rhyme.^[5]

[edit] Notes