Els esclops d'en Pau
Els esclops d'en Pau
Paul's Clogs
Circle game
Circle game
(Catalan)
(English)
Els esclops d'en Pau fangaven,
Sant Joan triava el gram,
Sant Pere li va al darrere,
Amb el trico trico trac.
Paul's clogs were digging,
St John was sorting out Bermuda grass,
St Peter goes behind him
With the trico trico trac.
Notes
There are other versions of this song.
Els esclops d'en Pau
fan guerra. Sant Joan
triava grà.
Sant Pere li va darrere
amb el tripi-tripi-trap!
(English Translation)
Paul's clogs
Are making war. Saint John
Was sorting out seeds.
Saint Peter goes behind him
With the tripi-tripi-trap.
*****
Els esclops d'En Pau
fan guerra a Sant Joan;
Sant Pere li va darrera
amb el triqui-triqui-trac.
(English Translation)
Paul's clogs
Are making war on Saint John
Saint Peter goes behind him
With the triqui-triqui-trac.
Game Instructions
Sit in a circle on the floor or around a table and take one of your shoes (or a stone) in your right hand. Sing this song and in time to the tune you pass your shoe to the next person on the right and pick up the shoe from the person on the left who had placed the shoe in front of you. So every shoe is passed one place around in the circle in time to the beat. However when the line "Trico trico trac" begins you hold onto the shoe, bang it down to the left and then pass it to the right.
Sing it faster each time you sing it.
Comments
Sylvia wrote as she thought the song was in Spanish (Castilian), "I am an English grand-mother, I do not have any Spanish.
As a child (1950's) we played a singing game taught to us by the father of a friend whose parents were Spanish. I remember the words phonetically, but I was a young child so there needs to be some imagination to get it. I have tried to find this song or to learn of anyone who has played this game to no avail…
…The game that goes with this song, I remember very clearly because we loved to play it, there would have been six or more of us. We sat in a circle on the floor, or round a table and took one of our shoes in our right hand. We would begin to sing this song and in time to the tune would pass our shoe to the next person on the right and pick up the shoe from the person on the left who had placed the shoe in front of me, so every shoe is passed one place round in the circle in time to the beat. However when the line "Trica trick track" began we had to remember to hold onto the shoe, bang it down to the left and then pass it to the right.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Sylvia Thorne for bringing our attention to this game and the different versions of the song that goes with it.
