Gate Cherry Rhyme
Date Collected
11-2017
Place item was collected
Riverton, Utah
Informant
Kaleb Van Wagoner
Point of Discovery/Informant Bio
Kaleb is a 6 year old male, who has grown up in Riverton, Utah. He goes to a charter elementary school. He is the youngest of five sibling, and there is a significant gap between him and the next sibling, and so he gets a lot of attention. He is my youngest cousin, is very athletic, academic, and all around adorable. He belongs to an LDS family, that is pretty tight knit.
Context
This rhyme was told at my mother’s extended family thanksgiving dinner in the late afternoon. The younger kids ate first, and so Kaleb was finished at the time it was told, but the adults were all still eating and sitting around many dinner tables in a small room. It was loud because so many people were there. Kaleb went around doing this action rhyme with a bunch of my family members, this time he was doing it with my brother Seth (age 12). Context of use is similar to context of selection, because I caught him telling it naturally. He would also tell it at recess, and during other play times to kids 6-12.
Text
“(holding his hands together like a gate) Open the gate (Seth opens Kaleb’s hands as if opening a gate, and Kaleb then holds hands parallel to each other), who would you date? [ummm, hahahaha Jessica]. (Kaleb cups his hands in a ball) Open the cherry. (Seth opens the “cherry”, which looks like he’s opening a ring box) Who would you merry? (squeals of laughter)”
Texture
Kaleb was thrilled to tell this rhyme, he thought he was very clever. He ran from table to table, doing it with anyone that would react (mostly cousins 12 and younger). Everytime he rehearsed it, his rhyme was riddled with laughter. It was told at a high volume because the room was so loud, and with high energy.
Course
Introduction to Folklore/English 2210
Instructor
Dr. Lynne S. McNeill
Semester and year
Fall 2017
Theme
G3: Children's Rhymes and Sayings
EAD Number
1.2.52
Recommended Citation
Ivie, Jess, "Gate Cherry Rhyme" (2017). USU Student Folklore Fieldwork. Paper 21.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_folklore_all/21