Anery, Twaery, Duckery, Seven Lyrics
A counting-out rhyme full of made-up numbers. It counts its way to twenty-one, and whoever the last word lands on is out.
Anery, Twaery, Duckery, Seven
Anery, twaery, duckery, seven,
Alama, crack, ten am eleven;
Peem, pom, it must be done,
Come teetle, come total, come twenty-one;
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/anery-twaery-duckery-seven/
- Type
- Counting Rhymes
- Tune
- Chanted counting-out rhyme
- Best for ages
- 4 to 10 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Anery, twaery, duckery, seven | Point to each player in turn, one word each. |
| Come twenty-one | The player pointed to on the last word steps out. |
What Does Anery, Twaery, Duckery, Seven Mean?
Anery, twaery and duckery are not real numbers, but they sound like one, two and three, said in a sing-song way. The rhyme mixes them with real numbers (seven, ten, eleven, twenty-one) and with sounds like peem, pom and teetle. It does not need to make sense: its job is to give a steady beat for choosing who is out.
History and Origin
Robert Ford prints it in Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories (1904), along with a version from Aberdeen that begins "Enery, twa-ery, tuckery, taven". He repeats an old claim that the rhyme came from the Druids, which nobody can prove. It belongs to the same family as One-ery, Two-ery, Dickery, Davy.
Learning Activities
- Count out: stand in a circle and use it to choose who is It.
- Word count: count the words and check that there really are twenty-one.
- Make your own: invent nonsense numbers for a new counting-out rhyme.