Skip to My Lou

"Skip to My Lou" is a popular children's song. Skip to My (The) Lou was a popular American partner-stealing dance from the 1840s. It was also a popular lyrical game in Abraham Lincoln's youth in southern Indiana and Kentucky (1826) with verses such as "Hurry up slow poke, do oh do", "I'll get her back in spite of you", "Gone again, what shall I do", and "I'll get another one sweeter than you".

In early America, some Puritans regarded the fiddle as a tool of the devil (since it led to dancing, which was regarded as sinful). Faced with such a religious obstacle to socializing, young people developed the “play-party,” in which the objectionable features of dancing were removed or masked. The dancers sang and the audience clapped to create rhythm for their own music. The play-party became a popular pastime for teenagers and young married couples. As people moved westward square dancing and barn dancing became acceptable, at least to some.

"Skip to My Lou" is a simple game of stealing partners (or swapping partners as in square dancing). It begins with any number of couples skipping hand in hand around in a ring. A lone boy in the center of the moving circle of couples sings, "Lost my partner, what'll I do?" as the girls whirl past him. The young man in the center hesitates while he decides which girl to choose, singing, “I'll get another one just like you.” When he grasps the hand of his chosen one, the latter's partner moves to the center of the ring the game. It's an ice-breaker, providing an opportunity for the participants to get acquainted with one another and to get into a good mood.

Lou

Lou may refer to:

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Skip

Skip may refer to:

General usage

Acronyms

Nursery rhyme

A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the late 18th /early 19th century. In North America the term Mother Goose Rhymes, introduced in the mid-18th century, is still often used.

History

Lullabies

The oldest children's songs of which we have records are lullabies, intended to help a child sleep. Lullabies can be found in every human culture. The English term lullaby is thought to come from "lu, lu" or "la la" sound made by mothers or nurses to calm children, and "by by" or "bye bye", either another lulling sound, or a term for good night. Until the modern era lullabies were usually only recorded incidentally in written sources. The Roman nurses' lullaby, "Lalla, Lalla, Lalla, aut dormi, aut lacta", is recorded in a scholium on Persius and may be the oldest to survive.

Many medieval English verses associated with the birth of Jesus take the form of a lullaby, including "Lullay, my liking, my dere son, my sweting" and may be versions of contemporary lullabies. However, most of those used today date from the 17th century. For example, a well known lullaby such as "Rock-a-bye, baby on a tree top", cannot be found in records until the late-18th century when it was printed by John Newbery (c. 1765).

Sing Along

Sing Along may refer to:

Music

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