Yes, I well remember a similar rhyme from my childhood days, although it went:- eeny meeny miny mo catch a n***er by his toe if he squeals let him go eeny meeny miny mo (better not type that naughty word in full!) I remember this one too:- if yower bob dont give ower bob the bob yower bob owes ower bob ower bob's gonna give yower bob a bob on the nose I also remember something about:- ........... is no good chop him up for firewood ........................... but can't remember the rest of the saying - certainly nothing to do with Stafford Jail. I was brought up in Birmingham, but my Grandad's family came from Cradley. And as for the Fanny issue - my great-aunt was registered in the name of Fanny, but was known as Auntie Fan. On her marriage and death certificates, she is shown as Frances. So, take your pick. Wendy X-Message: #24 Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 22:30:29 -0000 From: "LindaFH" <lindafh@blueyonder.co.uk> To: ENG-BLACK-COUNTRY-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <004e01c647b6$e6151880$6401a8c0@linda> Subject: Re: [B.C.] Stafford Jail saying Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=response Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sounds like a very similar to one from my childhood. They are all derivations of the same rhyme known nationwide: eeny meeny miny mo catch a german by his toe if he squeals pull his tail send him off to jerry jail Usually used in the playground to ascertain who was 'it'. Regards Linda Staffs UK Researching: Cook(e) Plant Mason Keys Pearsall and variants Broster Rastall Turner Smith Miller Morgan Simmons Baker