A New England Childhood Tradition, But Is It Still Popular With Parents and Their Young Children?

 

I recently had occasion to recall and research a tradition in my family that goes back at least five generations now (and probably more).  

My family on both my mother's side and my father's have deep New England roots going back to 1638 and 1640 in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  When I was a small child my younger siblings and I all enjoyed a little play time with our parents and maternal grandparents that involved a rhyming poem/song and some physical activity on the laps of the adults.  My wife never knew the tradition in her family (whose roots were in Canada and New York/Ireland), but she learned it from me and both our sons and our granddaughters were wildly entertained by it once they were old enough to sit up and before they became too old and too big to sit on an adult's lap.  My sister's daughter was particularly enamored of the play and especially when done with her older cousin, our elder son Jonathan.  My mother and her parents knew the form of adult/child play and I suspect it had been around for a few generations before them so that it qualifies as a true family tradition now.  With the recent marriage of our younger son, we look forward to a time in the not too distant future when we will have the opportunity to pass the tradition on to additional grandchildren.

What is the adult/child play I am talking about?  It is a rhyming poem/song that is accompanied by the gentle bouncing of a child on an adult's lap in time to the rhyme. In short it is referred to as "Trot tot to Boston."  The version that has been in our family for generations goes like this. . .

                                            Trot trot to Boston

                                            Trot trot to Lynn

                                            Watch out [child's name]

                                            That you don't fall in!

The activity that accompanies the rhythmic recitation or sing-song involved having the child sit on the adult's lap facing the adult with his/her legs draped across the outside of the adult's thighs.  The adult recites or sings the lines and with each word, until the last, the adult raises his or her heels so that the child gently bounces rhythmically up and down mimicking the trotting of a horse.  When the last word is reached, the adult quickly opens his/her legs (while holding the child securely by the hands or around the torso depending on the child's age) and the child "falls" in a bit with some surprise–and almost without fail a hearty smile and laugh.  As the child gets older the fun and excitement can be extended by drawing out the last line–usually with a repetitive use of the word "don't" and extra trotting motions on each repetition–until the adult decides to do the "fall in" motion after building the anticipation in the child.  It was never a failure with any of the children in our family and always became a favorite activity.  [To see a version of the play demonstrated using a baby doll and sitting on the floor rather than in a chair as we always did, go here.] 

As it turns out, based on a little research and as shown in the video link above there are different versions and variations of the song with appropriate motions for the last lines of each stanza. 

                                            Trot trot to Boston

                                            Trot trot to Lynn

                                            Watch out [child's name]

                                            That you don't fall in!

                                            Trot trot to Boston

                                            Trot trot to Dover

                                            Watch out [child's name]

                                            That you don't fall over!

                                            Trot trot to Boston

                                            Trot trot to town

                                            Watch out [child's name]

                                            That you don't fall down!

Another lyric variation–with different lap orientation–uses "Trit trot" in place of "Trot trot" and can be viewed here using a real, slightly older child. And research also revealed a completely different song that uses the "Trot trot" introduction with different wording from then on and could very well have been used with the lap bouncing activity.  The song can be heard here at Smithsonian Folk Ways Recordings.  It is surprising the number of variations on this song and activity that are revealed with a little internet surfing.

Not surprisingly there is reason to believe that the lyrics and activity is not originally from Massachusetts, but rather is another vestige of our colonial association with England.  Many of the towns in New England were named after towns of the same name in England from which early colonists came.  Boston, England and Kings Lynn in England are close to one another.  And, of course, Dover is a famous location in England. I suspect the song came to New England from England and has survived and spread from there.  English Canada also knows the rhyme according to internet discussions.

Horse trotting songs for kids have been around for a long time and some may be more familiar than "Trot trot to Boston."  A couple of examples from Mama Lisa's World are . . . 

Ride a Cock-horse to Banbury Cross

Ride a cock-horse* to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady upon a white horse;
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
And she shall have music wherever she goes.

This Is the Way the Ladies Ride

This is the way the ladies ride,
Tri, tre, tre, tree,
Tri, tre, tre, tree!
This is the way the ladies ride,
Tri, tre, tre, tre, tri-tre-tre-tree!

This is the way the gentlemen ride,
Gallop-a-trot,
Gallop-a-trot!
This is the way the gentlemen ride,
Gallop-a-gallop-a-trot!

This is the way the farmers ride,
Hobbledy-hoy,
Hobbledy-hoy!
This is the way the farmers ride,
Hobbledy-hobbledy-hoy!

There are many variations on the "Trot trot to Boston" rhyme and play activity and there has even been a book published about rhyming play games for children that uses it in the book title, "Trot-trot-to-Boston: Play Rhymes for Baby" (Lothrop Lee & Shepard, 1987) by Carol F. Ra; but I still wonder how many New Englanders today are familiar with and engage in the "Trot trot to Boston" play activity with their children.

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Trotting image from eDewcate English rhymes and the Trot, Trot, Trot! Horse nursery rhyme song and video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN7FLAX56xc

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Copyright 2022, John D. Tew

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