I'm a little Dutch girl

Description

English

This recording was made by Iona Opie in the children’s playground of Coram Fields, London in 1974. To perform this singing game, the players must form two lines, with each child facing one another. Originally one line would have been for girls and the other for the boys. The players then take it in turns to skip and dance up to one another and perform certain actions. For example, when the ‘girls’ sing ‘go away I hate you’ they turn and stamp their feet, retreating from the ‘boys’ line. The ‘boys’ are then expected to follow, pretending to hold a necklace while singing: ‘Oh, please will you forgive me, forgive me, forgive me, Oh, please will you forgive me, from over the sea’. What follows is an enactment of the different stages of life including getting married, having babies, dying, getting buried and becoming angels.

Transcript

Iona Opie:

What’s it for?

Girl:

You go …

[Singing]

I’m a little Dutch girl, Dutch girl, Dutch girl,
I’m a little Dutch girl far across the sea,
I’m a little Dutch boy, Dutch boy, Dutch boy,
I’m a little Dutch boy far across the sea.
Go away I hate you, hate you, hate you
Go away I hate you far across the sea.
Why do you hate me, hate me, hate me?
Why do you hate me far across the sea?
Because you stole my necklace, my necklace, my necklace,
Because you stole my necklace far across the sea.
Here is your necklace, necklace, necklace

Girl: [interrupting]

Miss! They’re doing it wrong!

Iona Opie:

Shh

Girl: [singing]

Here is your necklace far across the sea
Go away I hate you, hate you, hate you
Go away I hate you, far across the sea.

Girl:

Why do you?

Girl: [Singing].

Why do you hate me, hate me, hate me,
Why do you hate me far across the sea?
‘Cause you sold my ring, ring, ring,
‘Cause you sold my ring far across the sea,
Here is your ring, ring, ring,
Here is your ring, far across the sea.
Go away I hate you, hate you, hate you,
Go away I hate you far across the sea.
Why do you hate me, hate me, hate me?
Why do you hate me, far across the sea?
‘Cause you sold my bracelet, bracelet, bracelet,
‘Cause you sold my bracelet far across the sea,
Here is your bracelet, bracelet, bracelet,
Here is your bracelet far across the sea
Now we’re getting married, married, married,
Now we’re getting married far across the sea
Now we’re having babies, babies, babies,
Now we’re having babies fart across the sea
Now we’re getting older, older, older,
Now we’re getting older far across the sea
Now we’re up in heaven, heaven, heaven,
Now we’re up in heaven far across the sea.
Now we’re are angels, angels, angels,
Now we are angels far across the sea.