Little Sally Walker

Little Sally Walker

Little Sally Walker (sways in rhythm)
Sitting in a saucer,
Ride, Sally, ride! (struts and sasshays in rhythm around circle)
Put your hands on your hips, (both hands on hips)
Awww, let your back bone slip... (roll hips during "Awww"; lean back and rock back)
Shake it to the east (shake one hip to one side)
Shake it to the west (shake other hip to other side)
Shake it to the very one (shimmy and shake both hips back and forth)
That you love the best (walks around circle)
Come on now...

Shake it to the east! (shake one hip to one side)
Shake it to the west!(shake other hip to other side)
Shake it the very one, (shimmy and shake both his)
That you love the best! (stop in front of the next child to be in the center)
Come on now... (pulls child into center and takes that child's place in the ring)

Players stand in a ring around one child, standing in the center. This "Sally" struts around the circle and acts out the words to the song, as the others sing and clap. When the Sally shakes it "to the very one that you love the best," she stands in front of another player, she had picked who will be the next Sally.

That Sally goes into the center. The game begins again and continues until everyone has had a chance to be the Sally.

Boys playing this game could be refered to as "Little Sammuel Walker" or "Little Sammy Walker."

In the 1940's, folklorist Leah Yoffie observed that some of the singing games among African American children were borrowed from singing games among the caucasian population. However, the African American children had created their own cultually unique versions, changing the words, rhythm and melody. As quoted by Lawrence W. Levine in Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom, 2007 (p.198), Yoffie explained, "They [African American children] have syncopated the rhythm, and they accompany the hand-clapping with a 'jazz' and 'swing' rhythm of the body."

Versions of this singing game can be traced all the way back to 19th century Britain with somewhat different lyrics and slightly different directions. It is known as "Sally Walker" or "Sally Water." ("Sally Water" may be the original British name of this game.)

There are many other American variations of Little Sally Walker. I have included four below:

Little Sally Walker

Little Sally Walker, sitting in a saucer
Weeping and a-moaning like a turtledove.
Rise, Sally, rise, wipe your weeping eyes
Fly to the east, fly to the west
Fly to the one you love the best.

From Unknown - Little Sally Walker Lyrics

Little Sally Walker

Little Sally Walker,
Sitting in a saucer,
Crying and a-weeping over all she done.
Oh, rise up on your feet,
Oh, wipe your cheeks,
Oh, turn to the east,
Oh, turn to the west,
Oh, turn to the very one that you love the best.

Oh, shake it to the east,
Oh, shake it to the west,
Oh, shake it to the very one that you love the best.
Step it down.

Nancy I. Sanders, A Kid's Guide to African American History: More Than 70 Activities, 2007 (p. 76).

Little Sally Walker

Little Sally Walker,
Sitting in a saucer,
Weeping and crying over a nice young man.

Rise, Sally, rise;
Wipe your weeping eyes.
Put your hand on your hip,
Let your back bone slip;
Shake it to the east, O baby,
Shake it to the west;
Shake it to the one you love the best.

Lawrence W. Levine, Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom, 2007 (p.198).

Little Sally Walker

Little Sally Walker, sitting in a saucer,
Rise, Sally, rise.
Now wipe your rosy cheek
And put your hand on your hip
And let your back-bone slip.
Oh shake it to the east; shake it to the west,
Shake it to the very one that you love the best.

Little Sally Walker, sitting in a saucer,
Rise, Sally, rise.
Now wipe your rosy cheek
And put your hand on your hip
And do the Mobile dip.
Oh shake it to the east; shake it to the west,
Shake it to the very one that you love the best.

From Little Sally Walker, Alabama Folklife Association. Collected in Atmore, Alabama, in 1947.

Little Sally Ann, Sitting in the sand, Cry, Sally, cry, Wipe your eyes. Turn to the east, Turn to the west, Turn to the one, You love best.

My husband learned this version in 1963 in Catonsville, Maryland.

Here Comes Sally Down the Alley
Spirituals and Singing Games
"That Hoodoo..." home page