Inty, Tinty, Tethery, Methery Lyrics
An eight-line counting-out rhyme from Edinburgh in which a bonnie white horse gallops, trots and carries the mustard pot before the last child is counted out.
Inty, Tinty, Tethery, Methery
Inty, tinty, tethery, methery,
Bank for over, Dover, ding,
Aut, taut, toosh;
Up the Causey, down the Cross,
There stands a bonnie white horse:
It can gallop, it can trot,
It can carry the mustard pot.
One, two, three, out goes she!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/inty-tinty-tethery-methery/
- Type
- Counting Rhymes
- Tune
- Chanted at speed, one word to a point
- Best for ages
- 4 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Inty, tinty, tethery, methery | Point at one player for each word. |
| It can gallop, it can trot | Slap your knees fast, then slowly. |
| It can carry the mustard pot | Hold out both hands as if carrying a heavy pot. |
What Does Inty, Tinty, Tethery, Methery Mean?
The first three lines are nonsense words for counting. They give the leader plenty of beats to point with. The next four lines tell a tiny story: up the Causey, down the Cross there stands a bonnie white horse. The Causey is the causeway, the paved street, and the horse can gallop, trot and even carry the mustard pot.
The final line, One, two, three, out goes she!, drops the count onto a player, and that child is out. A short story in the middle makes the rhyme longer than most, so it works when a group is large.
History and Origin
Robert Ford prints the rhyme in Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories with the introduction "This curious one in Edinburgh".
The book gives no author or date. A shorter rhyme on this site, Eezy Ozy Moolin's o' Bread, ends with the same lines about the white horse and the mustard pot.
Learning Activities
- Choose a player: use the rhyme to see who goes first.
- Draw the horse: draw a white horse with a small pot on its back.
- Speed test: see how quickly a group can say it without tripping.
- Compare: read this rhyme next to Eezy Ozy Moolin's o' Bread and find the shared lines.