Uncle Billy lost his willy

[ThreeLocusts]

Jingle bells, Batman smells/Robin flew away/uncle Billy lost his willy/on the motorway...
(sung to the tune of the Xmas song)

it's one of a handful of rude rhymes my children learned early on in primary school. This was in the Southeast in the 2010s, but a friend who grew up in Manchester in the 1970s said he knew this rhyme too.

I'd just like to get a sense of how widespread and how old it is. Has it been around since the first Batman TV series of the late 50s (I think)? And do you have other examples of disrespectful children's rhymes featuring pop cultural references? Or rude rhymes full stop? I find this one oddly joyful....

I remember being on a school trip in the sixties, and a group of girls singing loudly on the coach, their version of "He'll be coming round the mountain when he comes".
"Oh he's got a lovely bottom set of teeth
Yes he's got a lovely bottom set of teeth
He's got a lovely bottom, got a lovely bottom,
Got a lovely bottom set of teeth!"
The teachers looked uneasy. Then the group started the second verse:
"Oh he says he likes my countryside estate,
Yes he says he likes my countryside estate,
Yes he says he likes my......"
The teachers yelled "Stop it, girls!!" before they sang the really rude bit!

We sang

"We break up, we break up
We don't care if the school blows up
No more English....etc."

I think "Friggin in the riggin" was originally a Sea Shanty called The Good Ship Venus (and later, as Sinnerboy says, a Rugby song).

I recall that in Junior school, 1950s!

From the 50s

Hey diddle diddle
The cat did a piddle
On the kitchen floor.
The little dog laughed
To see such fun
So the cat did a little bit more

There was a lady who triplets begat
Nat, Pat and Tat
It was fun breeding
But trouble feeding
Cause she didn't have a tit for Tat

Did we go to the same school?! 😂

That's the way we "learned it", in my part of the USA (Midwest).

@ThreeLocusts My DD's teammates taught her DB (10 years younger), a little ditty about Barney the Dinosaur. He then sang it in nursery school. I have a feeling some of those kids are still in therapy.
"I hate you, you hate me,
Let's hang Barney from a tree.
With a knife in his back,
And a bullet to his head,
Aren't you glad that purple thing is dead."

I can't remember why I walked into the kitchen earlier, but 30 years later...the above is still floating in my brain.

Great post. And solidarity on the forgetfulness, currently (after covid) have about a 30% chance of remembering what I wanted by the time I reach the kitchen cupboard from the stove.

Mochudubh · 08/10/2024 17:18

I think "Friggin in the riggin" was originally a Sea Shanty called The Good Ship Venus (and later, as Sinnerboy says, a Rugby song).

It sounds very likely to me!

We have it to here too over the other side of the world, but it was
Jingle bells, Batman smells/Robin flew away/he lost his pants in the middle of France/ and found them in Bombay.

Mater's brother William misplaced his penis whilst commuting....

Public school version daaaahlings 😀

Bum
Tit tit
Bum
Tit tit
Play the Willy Banjo

(We also did the actions)

Simple but made the 7 yr old me giggle......

My daughter (age 12) sang something similar to me recently
I love you, you love me
Let's join up and kill Barney
With an AKA (?) and a 4 by 4
No more purple dinosaur

We three traders of Lester Square, selling purple underwear. They're fantastic, no elastic only at 2 pence a pair.
Sung to We Three Kings. I also knew of Jingle bells, Batman smells, robin laid an egg, uncle Billy lost his willy on the Milky Way, hey! Back in the 80's.

We three kings of Leicester Square, selling knickers tuppence a pair, they’re fantastic, no electric, buy your granny a pair!

“Oh, star of wonder
star of light
Jesus caught his pants alight”

We sang a just slightly more 'respectable' version:

Sarah and John sitting in a tree
K I S S I N G
first comes love
then comes marriage
then comes Johnny in a baby carriage.

I think this is a rugby song called 'Shake your leg Dinah'.(won't quote it!)

To the tune of 'Greensleeves':

Green stamps were all she gave.
Green stamps were all I took.
Green stamps were all she gave,
And I stuck them all in my green stamp book.

(London, 70s)

Here comes the bride,
Fair, fat and wide.
Here comes the vicar,
A thousand inches thicker.
Here comes the groom,
Thin as a broom,
Waiting for their honeymoon.

We 4 Beatles of Liverpool are
John in a taxi Paul in a car
George on a scooter bibbing his hooter
Followed by Ringo Starr

Or we 3 Kings in Leicester Square
Selling ladies underwear
how fantastic no elastic
only a shilling a pair

Also when Shepherds washed their socks by night
all seated round the tub
a bar on sunlight soap came down
and they began to scrub

The only willy one I know is not a Christmas one
My son billy had a ten foot willy
and he showed it to the woman next door
she thought it was a snake and hit it with a rake
and now it's only 2 foot 4

Uggh...Barney . I.hate.that.dinosaur. Peppa Pig is another kids tv character that needs to be spit roasted and turned into crackling. I will provide the apple sauce myself.

My gran in the 30s :

Oh what a pity
She's only one ty
To feed the baby on
The poor little b*r
Will never play trigger
Nor grow up big and strong

Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Mrs Simpson's pinched our king

Onward Christian soldiers marching up the wall...

My 80s childhood, southwest england:

Postman Pat
Postman pat
Ran right over his black and white cat
Blood and guts are flying
Poor old Jess lies dying
Pat feels he's a really happy man!

I went to a Chinese restaurant
To buy a loaf of bread
He wrapped it in a five pound note
And this is what he said said said

"My name is Hi Lo Chic o Lo..."

Can't remember the next bit but something about Elvis Presley,, girls are sexy, sitting in the back seat drinking Pepsi. Or sometimes ending with ooh, aah, Cantona, I left my knickers in my boyfriends car

mum was on the bog
So I did it on the dog
Diarrhoea, diarrhoea

Uncle billy lost his Willy, I'm nearly 40 and live in the south for reference.

All my kids have also sang it too, although I may have taught them I can't remember...