PEASE PORRIDGE HOT

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LS E-8

Formation: Double circle, partners facing; boys on inside, girls on outside.

SONG

Meas. (4 counts per meas.; i.e., 1-2 = 8 counts)

1- 2 Pease porridge hot; pease porridge cold;

3- 4 Pease porridge in the pot nine days old;

5- 6 Some like it hot; some like it cold;

7- 8 Some like it in the pot nine days old.

9-16 Tra, la, la, la, la, etc.

ACTION

1- 2 Clap own hands to thighs, clap own hands together, clap both hands with partner; repeat;

3- 4 Clap thighs, clap own hands, clap right with partner, clap own hands, clap left with partner, clap own hands, clap both hands with partner;

5- 8 Repeat Meas. 1-4;

9-16 Join both hands with partner and slide 16 steps in LOD; change direction and slide 16 steps in RLOD.

SUMMARY

1- 2 Thighs, clap, both, -; thighs, clap, both, -;

3- 4 Thighs, clap, right, clap; left, clap, both, -;

5 – 8 Repeat Meas. 1-4

9-12 Slide!

13-16 The other way!

Note: This is the great basic clapping game from which all of the more complicated ones have sprung. It is one of the oldest and most stable actions in our folk culture. Children seldom tire of it. The fundamental pattern called "Pease Porridge Hot" is in the very earliest Mother Goose books and has been done by English and American children for centuries.