Five little speckled frogs
Encyclopedia
Five little speckled frogs is a nursery rhyme
similar to Ten Green Bottles
in its format.
The verse is then repeated, but with one fewer frog each time.
Alternatives include using the word bugs instead of grubs, and adding "Yum, yum!" after that line.
Line one: By show of fingers hold up the number of frogs sitting on the log.
Line two: Draw in your hands close to your chest and curl your fingers downward, facing the floor as though you are a frog perched atop a log.
Line three: Mimic eating while you sing 'Eating some scum', then rub your belly delightfully while singing 'yum, yum!'.
Line Four: Hold one finger up to represent the frog who fell off the log.
Line Five: Pretend to fall over.
Line Six: By a show of fingers, hold up the number of frogs still remaining on the log while singing "Now there's only four speckled frogs". Upon singing "(glub, glub)", repeat the same movement as in the second line except look upward as though you were a frog underneath water.
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
similar to Ten Green Bottles
Ten Green Bottles
Ten Green Bottles is a song for children that is popular in the United Kingdom. In essence the song is a single verse repeated, each time with one bottle fewer:...
in its format.
- Five little speckled frogs
- Sat on a speckled log
- Eating some most delicious grubs.
- One jumped into the pool
- Where it was nice and cool
- Then there were four green speckled frogs.
The verse is then repeated, but with one fewer frog each time.
Alternatives include using the word bugs instead of grubs, and adding "Yum, yum!" after that line.
Variant
- Five dumb speckled frogs
- Sitting on a speckled log
- Eating some some scum (yum, yum!)
- One little speckled frog
- Fell off the speckled log
- Now there's only four dumb speckled frogs (glub, glub!)
Another variant
- Five little speckled frogs
- Sitting on a hollow log
- Eating some moist delicious bugs (yum, yum!)
- One jumped into the pool
- Where it was nice and cool
- Now there are four speckled frogs! (Ribit! Ribit!)
Hand motions
There are hand motions that allow children to participate during the song.Line one: By show of fingers hold up the number of frogs sitting on the log.
Line two: Draw in your hands close to your chest and curl your fingers downward, facing the floor as though you are a frog perched atop a log.
Line three: Mimic eating while you sing 'Eating some scum', then rub your belly delightfully while singing 'yum, yum!'.
Line Four: Hold one finger up to represent the frog who fell off the log.
Line Five: Pretend to fall over.
Line Six: By a show of fingers, hold up the number of frogs still remaining on the log while singing "Now there's only four speckled frogs". Upon singing "(glub, glub)", repeat the same movement as in the second line except look upward as though you were a frog underneath water.
Trivia
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are rumored to have used the melody of this nursery rhyme for their song Heart of a Dragon on their debut album Valley of the DamnedValley of the Damned-Track listing:-Demo track listing:Note: The Japanese edition of the demo included a remastered recording of "Where Dragons Rule" as a bonus track. The original demo version of the song is extremely rare, much like the original versions of "Black Fire" which was never released...
. Herman Li, the band's guitarist said in an interview that every band steals some songs, and that they steal theirs from nursery rhymes, adding credence to this rumor. - The Goth Metal band Type O NegativeType O NegativeType O Negative was a gothic metal band from Brooklyn, New York City. The band also incorporated elements of doom metal and thrash metal. Their dramatic lyrical emphasis on themes of romance, depression, and death resulted in the nickname "The Drab Four"...
used the nursery rhyme in the soundscape Lung on their album World Coming DownWorld Coming DownWorld Coming Down is the fifth album by Brooklyn band Type O Negative. Even though the band has often expressed dark themes through their music, the lyrical content of this album is markedly morbid.-Overview:...
. It's recited by a child towards the end of the track. - The error that frogs eat pond scum, is similar to an error long before in the Greek mock-epic BatrachomyomachiaBatrachomyomachiaBatrachomyomachia or the Battle of Frogs and Mice is a comic epic or parody on the Iliad, definitely attributed to Homer by the Romans, but according to Plutarch the work of Pigres of Halicarnassus, the brother of Artemisia, queen of Caria and ally of Xerxes...
, which says that frogs eat green vegetation. (Real frogs eat insects and similar.)