My niece is five now, and I've been trying to teach her the clapping games. I tried to remember some of the songs we used to sing as kids.

Before we start, please remember that these songs are products of their time and therefore might be considered a little offensive at times. When teaching my niece, I will alter these to make them acceptable, but I'm documenting them here just for a record of my school days.

Ai Shu Shweila

I don't know how this name is meant to be spelt. It's pronounced like "eye", "shoe" and "shweila" to rhyme with the name "Layla/Leila". I can't find a record of this particular variant. I've also forgotten how the first line goes, so I've taken it from others that I've seen online.

I used to know a girl
Called Ai Shu Shweila*
And all the boys in the football match
Loved Ai Shu Shweila*

How is your mother?
All right! Died in the fish shop
Last night!
What did she smell of?
Raw fish!
How did she die?
Like this!**

* At Ai, you point to your left eye, at Shu, you point to your left shoe or foot, and at Shweila, you do a wiggle as you lower your body a bit.
** One player turns and falls backwards into the other's arms.

I Went to a Chinese Restaurant

This one is kinda... ugh. Yeah.

I went to a Chinese restaurant
To buy a loaf of bread bread bread
She wrapped it up in a £5 note
And this is what she said said said

My name is...
Elai Elai
Chikalai Chikalai
Um pum pooni
Winnie Winnie Whiskers
Chinese chopsticks
Indian tea
Whooooooa bump!

At the bump bit, I think you were meant to bump into each other.

Yeah, like I said, this one was very...

From what I've found online, our local version was a lot more offensive than the other variants. I don't think I'll be teaching my niece this one.

Cherry Coca Cola

I can't remember how the beginning of this song went. Here's the last verse:

What's for dinner?
Turkey!
What's for afters?
Jelly!
What's for drinks?
Cherry Coca Cola
Cherry Coca Cola
Cherry Coca Cola
PEPSI!

Under the Apple Tree

This was one that my cousin taught me.

Under the apple tree
My boyfriend said to me
Kiss me, hug me, tell me that you love me

Anyway, that was one of my cousin's songs, so that's all I know.

My Boyfriend Gave Me an Apple

Another one of my cousin's.

My boyfriend gave me an apple
My boyfriend gave me a pear
My boyfriend gave me a kiss on the lips
So I threw him down the stairs

I'm not sure if the last was was that, or "and threw me down the stairs". I seem to remember him being the one thrown.

Down, Down, Baby

My cousin's again. She seemed to have all the boyfriend songs!

Down, down, baby
Down, down the rollercoaster
Sweet, sweet baby
Sweet, sweet don't let me go

That's all I know.

Miss Mary Mack

Everyone knows Miss Mary Mack. The UK one was a little different at the end. We sang "the end of July July July" instead of the 4th, because that date means nothing to us. Strangely enough though, we didn't change the currency to pence. We still sung it as "cents".