"Daddy, would you hoop-tap me? Please . . . !?
The following verses were sung to children in the Ferguson household while they
were bounced up and down on their father's knees (which we referred to as
hoop-tapping or being hoop-tapped). The sing-song rhythem of the verses sounded
somewhat like modern rap music. As such, I have given this the title of The Hoop-Tap Rap:
The Hoop-Tap Rap
There was a little boy who lived by himself
And all the bread and cheese he got he put it on the shelf
And the rats and the mice gave him such a strife
That he had to go to London to buy him a wife
And the road's so muddy and the gate's so narrow
That he had to bring her home on an old wheelbarrow
And the wheelbarrow broke and the wife had a fall
And away went little boy wife and all
And a hoop-tap, toop-tap, two...
~ ~ ~
Coon up a ‘simmon tree, possum on a log
Along came a [hunter] with a big bull dog
Bow-wow-wow, said the possum on the log,
I can whip your big bull dog...
No you can't, bet you half-a-dollar
My dog can whip you before you can holler!
And a hoop-tap, toop-tap, two...
~ ~ ~
I went to Platterville, there I met a Flattermill
He laughed, he drank, he had many pretty little bitty things
Ride-jack, whip-tom, bow-bellied scooter-man
Can y'shoe a horse o'mine
Yes Sir, that I can, good as any other man--hoot!
And a hoop-tap, toop-tap, two...
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