Mother Loosey Goosey

As some might have noticed, I am fascinated by the small differences that individuals have - especially if those differences have been passed down by family members. This doesn't make one group of people or family better than another. It just makes life extra interesting to me! Like pronunciation, I have found that nursery rhymes fall into this category. It is odd that the same nursery rhymes have been a large part of most of our childhoods yet there are some big differences in how we were taught them (and how most of us are now passing them on to our children.) It seems Mother Goose is really more Mother Loosey Goosey. The following are some of the versions that were taught to Aaron and me by Mom and Dad....along with some alternate versions I've heard from friends and other family members.

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for the master, one for the dame,
One for the little boy who lives down the lane.
Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

Alternate versions: Some use the pronoun 'my' before master & dame. And, some use the line 'But none for the little boy, who cries in the lane.'

Hickory dickory dock,
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck one, the mouse ran down,
Hickory dickory dock!

Alternate versions: Instead of 'the mouse ran down,' some use 'and down he run' so that it rhymes. I like that!

Rock-a-bye, baby, in the tree top.
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Alternate versions: I've heard many sing "Hush-a-bye, baby" in the first line.

I'm a little teapot, short and stout.
Here is my handle, here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up, here me shout.
Tip me over, and pour tea out.

Alternate versions: I guess the big "controversy" is whether one says 'TEA' or 'ME' in the last line.

Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Roll it...Pat it...
Mark it with a B.
And, put it in the oven for baby and me.

Sometimes we also ended it this way:
Roll it... Pat it...
Mark it with a T.
And, put it in the oven for Tracy and me.
(It always worked out well if the first initial of the baby rhymed with 'me.')

Alternate versions: This seems to be the rhyme with the most variance. Some folks throw the cake in the oven, and others simply throw it away. Some folks don't pat it at all and say "Roll the dough." There's all sorts of endings after that. I just heard some new ones while I was down in Arkansas.

So, the big questions are the following: How did you learn Patty Cake? Are there other nursery rhymes that you were taught that seem different from the versions that others were taught?