"Pretty Little Dutch Girl" is a children's nursery rhyme, clapping game and jump-rope rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12986.

Lyrics

The lyrics of the song vary considerably. British versions of this rhyme differ significantly, perhaps because many of the allusions in the rhyme were unknown to British children at the time. Common versions include: Variation 1 Variation 2 Variation 3 Variation 4 Variation 5 (Western Canada, 1960s) Variation 6 Variation 7 Variation 8 Variation 9 (Northwest England, 2010s) Variation 11 Variation 12 (Long Island, NY, 1970s - a clapping game) Variation 13 (from Australia) Variation 14 (from Tóg Sos CD, Ireland 2003) Variation 15 (from USA, East Coast Early 2000s) Variation 16 (from Cincinnati, Ohio 1950's) I am a pretty little Dutch girl, My home is far away. I fell in love with a rubby-dub-dub Way down in USA. First he gave me peaches And then he gave me pears. And then he gave me fifty cents And kissed me on the stairs. I gave him back his peaches, I gave him back his pears. I gave him back his fifty cents And kicked him down the stairs! Variation 17 (from USA, Columbus, Ohio 1970s)

Story told within the song

The rhyme (and at least some of its variants) tells the story of an extremely beautiful girl (of Dutch descent, hence the song's title) who is popular with boys (particularly around the neighborhood, block or the whole town) and has a rather unattractive boyfriend; some versions mention that the boyfriend dumps the pretty Dutch girl in favor of an even prettier girl. The Dutch girl is often depicted from illustration to illustration wearing traditional Dutch clothing, complete with ribbon-adorned long braids in her hair, wooden shoes and (occasionally exaggerated) Dutch cap. The rhyme follows with another variation, where the Dutch girl receives peaches, pears, and 50 cents from her boyfriend, which she then gives back to him and kicks him down the stairs. This is a play on the betrayal the Dutch girl feels after her boyfriend leaves her for another girl (variation 3), the Dutch girl's revenge for her boyfriend throwing her down the stairs (variation 9), as well as the Dutch girl's frustration with the boys around her neighborhood leaving her alone after enticing her (variation 8). Within each of these variations, the Dutch girl ultimately defends herself against her boyfriend and the group of boys in her neighborhood rather than simply accepting their disloyalty. While the nursery rhyme expresses this in a witty manner, it is also an informative story that may teach little girls not to accept mistreatment because of charm, admiration, and captivation with favorable items.

Origins and distribution

The origins of the rhyme are obscure. The tune of the song is similar to "A Sailor Went to Sea" and "Miss Suzie Had A Steamboat" (though some notes are removed to account for the double-syllable words "pretty" and "little", and some notes are added in). The earliest record found so far is for New York around 1940. It seems to have spread over the US by the 1950s and reached Britain in 1959, where it was taken up very quickly across the country to become one of the most popular skipping rhymes among girls. The tune is also used in British pubs as a drinking song in which a person is challenged by their companions to down their drink. This version goes like this:

Use in children's media

In the Wee Sing Video Series video Grandpa's Magical Toys, the song is represented and sung by a blonde-haired Barbie-like doll in Dutch traditional costume aptly named "Dutch Girl", played by Jacqueline Drew. In the 1977 Australian animated film Dot and the Kangaroo, two hopping mice near the end of the waterhole scene sang a song about a bushgirl to the tune of Pretty Little Dutch Girl.