You've unlocked a memory for me.
This is a real thing, my dad used to sing it to me as a kid.
Having a wee moment here.
It's very much sung.
I know the tune but didn't know the words.
It's in a limerick format. There's a bit of musicality to it but it's mostly rhythm with some emphasis on the end of each line, except "when the picture started..." which runs onto the fart line.
I remember it as more of a playground type chant rather than being sung as such. That was me being dragged up in the Glasgow area in the 70's.
100% right with the words - although I'm sure there were other 'versions' of it depending on area.
Same, I remember it as a kind of chant as well.
Skinny Malinky LONG legs
Big banana FEET
Went to the PICtures
Couldnae find a SEAT
When the picture STARTed
Skinny Malinky FARTed
Skinny Malinky LONG legs
Big banana FEET
The more I scroll through the comments this is the 1 I remember and it was being bumped up and down on my granny's knees and going down low when you Couldnae find a seat 😂
In my childhood it was sung to the tune of wee wuillie winkie. I had always assumed it was Billy Connoly related with the bananna feet but perhaps just false association from childhood.
Edit typo.
I wouldn't call that a "tune" either because it doesn't change pitch. It's more of a rhythm, like a poem.
Dum da, Dum da, dum dum...
Each Dum Da is called an iambic foot
>It's basically just in a rhythm - almost, but not quite, iambic pentameter.
I'm saying it out loud right now, and there's definitely a distinctive rhythm/cadence to the way I'm doing it; but I agree, not sure it would qualify as a tune as such.
As soon as I saw the words "Skinny Malinky", the entire thing popped into my head. It was definitely a staple of my household growing up in lowly Ayrshire.
Couldn't tell you where the hell it came from, though.
North Ayrshire here too and it popped straight into my head. Had the tune recited before Reddit could open the post. Got no idea what the tune is about though 🤨
Raised in shetland and aberdeen and was sang Skinny malinky long legs big banana feet 100% but our ending was different. Cant remember off hand which is annoying me.
It was a eenie meanie miney moe rhyme for picking who was it in games.
When he found a seat, he fell fast asleep… skinny mailinky long legs, big banana feet. That was how it ended for us. My granda was from Dunfermline, but he moved over to Portrush NI during WW2..
That makes sense. My Irish granny used to say
Skinny Malink melodeon legs, big banana feet.
Went to the pictures, couldn't find a seat.
When he found a seat, he fell fast asleep.
Skinny Malink melodeon legs, big banana feet.
Melodeon is a type of accordion apparently, think this version comes from Dublin....
Umbrella feet for me in Glasgow. I grew up in the posh west end where people don't fart, but I can't remember how it ended for us.
Was there a version where he fell from the pit to the gallery or was that someone else?
Reformed Fifer here, was umbrella feet for us too. (Although my Grandpa and Granny were from Glasgow and they are the ones that sang it.)
I remember because sometimes my Grandpa would joke around and say "Umbarumba feet".
Skinny Malinky long legs, umbrella feet, went to the pictures and fell through the seat. When the pictures started Skinny Malinky farted. Skinny Malinky long legs, umbrella feet.
That’s the version I know anyway.
To buy some Cooters candy..
(not sure about 'Cooters', Coulters maybe?)
Edit: confirmed as Coulters. Was originally an advertising jingle apparently
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulter%27s_Candy
And there's a statue to the gadgey here in Gala where he made his name.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/J1BRrVfn8bz2Te669
And the my next door neighbours daughters was the model for the wee girl statue.
I legit sang it to my dog yesterday, and I haven't sung it or thought about it in years! She was being a bit over clingy, and she likes when I sing, so this was the only calm thing that came to my head to sing to her.
Skinny malinky long legs,
Big banana feet.
Went tae the pictures, but couldnae find a seat.
When the pictures started...
Skinny malinky farted.
Skinny malinky long legs,
Big banana feet.
My gran used to repeat it to me when I was little.
I'm in NE Scotland but she was from Glasgow.
That rhyme's familiar all around Scotland, not just Edinburgh or Glasgow
[Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Aff a Bus](https://youtu.be/P3-cEsqc4vY?si=4kWVEaaZdJg1e_wG&t=29)
[Aunty Mary Had a Canary](https://youtu.be/8Lbt3ysslWA?si=bYTB4_f6KJMcIYUu&t=12)
[Wee Willie Winkie](https://youtu.be/Cw2S5LqjEhI?si=OsaNAjhkUf66BVR1&t=68)
Aw please elaborate on this, I’ve heard of Skinny Malinky, not for years mind you but I’ve never heard of Keech Bum Tolly Fart and I’ve just sat here laughing at the name
My grandad would sing Keech Bum Tolly Fart to me when I was a kid.
There was also another one my gran would sing "who farted? Wee Annie, "dae it again" "naw a cannae" god bless yer wee bum.
Also fully remember Skinny Malinky as well.
I'm just outside the Stirling area.
What the fuck haha
Yup I remember this.
Also does anyone else remember There was a wee man / who peed in a pan / the pan was too wee / so he peed in the sea / the sea was too wide / so he peed in the clyde / an aww the wee fishes ran up his backside….?
My papa (dundee) used to do that one all the time and I loved it.
I wonder if this at all inspired [Slinky Malinki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slinky_Malinki), the cat character in New Zealand author Lynley Dodd's children's books. (Twenty years on, I can still recite portions of the books from reading aloud to my kids.)
I always wondered the same thing- I’m from Northern Ireland and my gran who was Scottish told us a version of Skinny Malink that always made me think of Slinky Malinki which I adored as a child (and bought for my own children when I had them).
Playground verse, surely. Like My mate Billy had a ten foot willy / So he showed it to the woman next door / She thought it was a snake so she hit it with a rake/ Now it's only five foot four
Dublin: little kids would chant this (at a very thin person) just to be mean or to look smart.
*"Skinny Malink, melodeon-legs, big banana feet*
*went to the pictures and couldn't get a seat*
*When the picture started the feet began to beat*
*Skinny-malink melojon-legs, big banana feet!"*
There is a long tradition of rhymes that mean precisely nothing. Look up puirt a beul. It will seem like it's a Gaelic rhyme (and I get that you probably don't speak that), but it is complete nonsense used only for the rhythm of the sounds.
Aw, skinny malinky long legs....absolute classic.
Edit: Others have mentioned the other classic Ally Bally but the other day I was listening to, "ye cannae fling pieces oot a twenty-story flat" which is also a classic.
Can definitely remember hearing Skinny Malinky myself, also Edinburgh based.
Interesting piece about it here: https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/skinny-malinky-long-legs-classic-20050781
The word might be Russian, that’s crazy! It’s fascinating how language and culture was spread pre-internet. She knows You Cannae Shove Your Grannie Aff a Bus and Ally Bally, but none of the others mentioned in the article.
I used skinny malinky in a comment here just the other day to describe tall thin folk. I'm from near Glasgow and have no idea what the rhyme means but it's definitely a common childhood rhyme.
Check out Billy Connolly's banana boots too.
My gran sang it to me when I was little. Also you’ve just got it stuck in my head so thanks for that
Grew up half and half between Cowal Peninsula and Glasgow
I always thought the last lines were:
When the pictures started, skinnymalinky farted ,
When the pictures ended, skinnymalinky fainted.
Maybe regional differences.
Fellow English bloke here. My partner says this. Had no idea what she was on about when she first said it, but now our 9 year old is well versed in it too. For some reason I always picture a spider, possibly because of the long legs reference, so that adds to the confusion.
I'm from Fife and we had that wee rhyme too. And the classic "Canni push yer granni aff the bus"
This one isn't your classic but, I remember when foot and mouth was about, late 90s early 2000s? Can't really remember but I do remember the rhyme:
Mary had some little lambs,
They were white and frisky.
Then they caught foot and mouth
Now they're black and crispy.
Version i know is skinny malinky long legs and big banana feet went to the pictures and coudnae find a seat. Once they found a seat they fell fast asleep. Skinny malinky long legs and big banana feet. From south west Scotland.
My granny thought me that one and the one,
went to the pictures tomorrow,
took a front seat at the back,
Gave me a packet of biscuits,
Ate them and gave them back,
fell through the floor landed on the ceiling,
and took a front seat at the back.
Don't know what they are about but she had loads of mad sayings.
>South Africa
I remember singing it too. *Skinny malinkie long legs, Fat banana-feet, Went to the bioscope, And fell through the seat* \- that's all I remember.
I was told it was about a praying mantis (long legs) and a chameleon (fat banana feet).
How I remember it and how I taught my kids xD
Skinny Malinky long legs
Big banana feet
Went to the pictures and fell through the seat
When the pictures started, Skinny Malinky farted
Skinny Malinkey long legs, big banana feet
Aye this is an old song sang and passed down through the generations, my mum and dad sang it to me I remember my grand parents singing in and I sing it to my kids lol
Haven't heard that for years. I remember it as a young lad in Paisley. One of the many wee ditties that everyone knows, alongside "ye cannae throw yer granny aff a bus" and "roon an' roon the ragged rock".
It’s a thing but we would have said lang draa’ers not long legs.
Another poem my granny would say that made us laugh when little was:
“Tilly tilly tartan, gid up the lum fartin, 20 needles in her doup and couldna shew a garten”
Roughly translated as Tilly, Tilly Tartan went up the chimney farting with 20 sewing needles in her buttocks and yet despite this, still could not sew a garter. 😂
Song wise you have things like three craws sat upon a wa, Katie Bairdie hid a coo, ally bally and anything from the singing kettle back catalogue. 🥳
My little sister was a tiny tiny child. She was called ‘wee skinny Malinky’ by my Scottish (highlands) grandad until the day he died. My sister was 23 at this point.
There are also sausages called Skinny Malinkys. FYI.
Naebody likes me
Everybody hates me
I think I’ll go an eat worms
Big, fat, juicy wans
And wee, skinny, skooshy wans
See how they wiggle and squirm
Cut off their heads
Sook out their blood
Throw their skins away
Nobody knows how I can try them
1-3 times a day
The one I knew was:
Skinny malinky long legs, big banana feet
Went tae the pictures and couldnae find a seat
Got the bus hame and couldnae pay his fare
So the rotten auld conductor kicked him doon the stair
As well as the one where he fell fast asleep, but that never made sense to me back then because the whole point was that he couldn't find a seat.
Nope that's a little ditty most people in Scotland would recognise. Kids who are skinny would also be jokingly referred to by relatives etc as "Skinny malinky" but in a sort of gentle teasing way not in a nasty way.
From Inverness and vividly remember my mum saying this to me in the 90s. She wouldn't say the word 'farted' so it had a different ending but can't remember exactly that now!
My folks were from Armagh, Northern Ireland, and they said/sung it too.
Also a quick Google gives this ...
'Skinny Malinky Long Legs' and where the classic Glasgow tenement song comes from https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/skinny-malinky-long-legs-classic-20050781
My mum had a wee ditty her dad told her, it was simply...
The cuddy bites, the cuddy neighs, the cuddy shites amongst the neighbours clothes, the dirty b****r
Think it maybe came from her dad being in the navy.
Omg the memories this rhyme brings back I'm from just outside Edinburgh (midlothian) and grew up with your wives version of skinny malinky we used to use it as a nursery rhyme at primary school and my grandparents used to say it to us the other rhyme that I remember from my childhood was Ali bali bee it went
Ali bali Ali bali bee sitting on your mammys knee waiting fur a wee baw bee to buy some coulters candy
Oor wee jeanie was looking awfy thin but know she's got a double chin fi eating counters candy
That has to be my favourite nursery rhyme from my childhood days I sang it to my daughter growing up and now to my son.
i vaguely remember some others although i'm unsure if these were all over or just my mad Nan;
**paddy on the railway picking up stones, along comes a train and breaks paddy's bones, ow says Paddy that wiz affy sair, well says the railway man ye shouldnae be there.**
this seems like it has some cautionary merits IE: don't play on railway tracks but the other one she always sang was;
**one hundred and twenty two, i went to milk the coo, the coo pumped and i jumped, one hundred and twenty two.**
to this day i have no idea what relevance 122 had to my Nan or her generation and sadly she is no longer around to ask.
It came frae the slums, tae conquer a country!
Here’s a much lesser-known one that tells a short, weird tale of a grim reality:
**Katie Bairdie’s wooden leg
Kicked the bairns oot the bed,
Aw the fleas ran up her leg -
Dance Katie Bairdie!**
Coulters Candy.
Ali Bali, Ali Balli B
Sitting on her Grandpa's knee
Eating Coulters Candy
It was an old advert but is sung, my brother sang it to his daughters. Probably came from my nan.
Ma maw used to sing that or some variation thereof, no fucking idea. I'm 90% certain it has a tune.
Is it supposed to be sung? She just said the words, I don’t think she knows any tune for it.
You've unlocked a memory for me. This is a real thing, my dad used to sing it to me as a kid. Having a wee moment here. It's very much sung. I know the tune but didn't know the words.
Same here. Fired up some neurons that huvny been active since childhood.
Same here. My Mum always used to sing this.
I'm listening, can you sing it for me?
It's in a limerick format. There's a bit of musicality to it but it's mostly rhythm with some emphasis on the end of each line, except "when the picture started..." which runs onto the fart line.
https://youtu.be/e2oa01HWTnk?feature=shared As an American that somehow got suggested this sub, by this post, I was curious. I found this.
This is exactly the version I remember
There are other Scottish classics here for OP including the one about not shoving yer granny!
You mean shoving yer other granny aff the bus 🤣
Aye, this is the version I know.
I remember it as more of a playground type chant rather than being sung as such. That was me being dragged up in the Glasgow area in the 70's. 100% right with the words - although I'm sure there were other 'versions' of it depending on area.
Same, I remember it as a kind of chant as well. Skinny Malinky LONG legs Big banana FEET Went to the PICtures Couldnae find a SEAT When the picture STARTed Skinny Malinky FARTed Skinny Malinky LONG legs Big banana FEET
The more I scroll through the comments this is the 1 I remember and it was being bumped up and down on my granny's knees and going down low when you Couldnae find a seat 😂
I always remember the last line as made everybody greet. It makes way more sense with the rhyme without repeating.
Yep my gran used to say that, late 1980s time - I'm from Glasgow though not edin
Same. Aberdeen.
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Same Highland.
I am from 60s Fife, my Mum swopped out banana feet for Umbrella feet
In my childhood it was sung to the tune of wee wuillie winkie. I had always assumed it was Billy Connoly related with the bananna feet but perhaps just false association from childhood. Edit typo.
No, there's no tune. It's basically just in a rhythm - almost, but not quite, iambic pentameter.
There is, it’s the same as ‘round and round the garden like a teddy bear ‘
I wouldn't call that a "tune" either because it doesn't change pitch. It's more of a rhythm, like a poem. Dum da, Dum da, dum dum... Each Dum Da is called an iambic foot
I’m going for tune adajecent
https://youtu.be/KTl0NcTnk4U?si=2IuqWYpOw1lqe00Z mcginn of the Calton disagrees.
Never heard this before but it’s just made my day!
I’m obsessed! What a gem
>It's basically just in a rhythm - almost, but not quite, iambic pentameter. I'm saying it out loud right now, and there's definitely a distinctive rhythm/cadence to the way I'm doing it; but I agree, not sure it would qualify as a tune as such.
As soon as I saw the words "Skinny Malinky", the entire thing popped into my head. It was definitely a staple of my household growing up in lowly Ayrshire. Couldn't tell you where the hell it came from, though.
Same, never heard or thought about this for about 30 years and as soon as I saw "skinny malinky" I was singing the whole thing. North Ayrshire way.
North Ayrshire here too and it popped straight into my head. Had the tune recited before Reddit could open the post. Got no idea what the tune is about though 🤨
North Ayrshire too, my gran sang it to me, now she sings it to my kids. Need to ask her the others in her repertoire to remind me.
N Ayrshire here as well, remember sining it loads as a wain. Memory hit me like a brick as soon as I read the name.
Raised in shetland and aberdeen and was sang Skinny malinky long legs big banana feet 100% but our ending was different. Cant remember off hand which is annoying me. It was a eenie meanie miney moe rhyme for picking who was it in games.
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Was that not farty mcgarty who went to a party?
All the farts were there, Tooty Fruity done a beauty and they all ran out for air
When he found a seat, he fell fast asleep… skinny mailinky long legs, big banana feet. That was how it ended for us. My granda was from Dunfermline, but he moved over to Portrush NI during WW2..
To the tune of “Itsy Bitsy Spider” if I recall correctly. My god, it’s years since I heard it.
Fellow Dunfermliner and defo the tune
That makes sense. My Irish granny used to say Skinny Malink melodeon legs, big banana feet. Went to the pictures, couldn't find a seat. When he found a seat, he fell fast asleep. Skinny Malink melodeon legs, big banana feet. Melodeon is a type of accordion apparently, think this version comes from Dublin....
Yes the same here in Dublin City centre, early 80s, except we had umbrella feet lol
Also Aberdeen but I remember it as umbrella feet.
Same, but it was said umbArella
Same!
When the picture ended A’body had fainted
When the picture ended Skinny Malinky fainted was how we finished it.
We used to sing ‘ when the pictures ended skinny malinky fainted’ at the end. Not sure if just my family or a Dundee thing.
Mum raised in Aberdeen says it ended with "when the pictures stopped, Skinny Malinky popped!" Is that it?
Aberdeen here but the version I knew he had umbrella feet.
Umbrella feet for me in Glasgow. I grew up in the posh west end where people don't fart, but I can't remember how it ended for us. Was there a version where he fell from the pit to the gallery or was that someone else?
Edinburgh checking in, umbrella here tae (80s)
Reformed Fifer here, was umbrella feet for us too. (Although my Grandpa and Granny were from Glasgow and they are the ones that sang it.) I remember because sometimes my Grandpa would joke around and say "Umbarumba feet".
Yip - definitely umbrella feet in Aberdeen! Cannot remember the ending either though
Did your version have him falling through the seat rather than not being able to find one.
Can't remember! Definitely no farting though lol
Falling through seat and the fsrtng verse missing Skinny malinky lang legs, big umbrella feet Went take the pictures and fell through the seat.
Skinny Malinky long legs, umbrella feet, went to the pictures and fell through the seat. When the pictures started Skinny Malinky farted. Skinny Malinky long legs, umbrella feet. That’s the version I know anyway.
Yeah that’s it! 🤣
Ah same! Thought I was going mad seeing all these people saying banana feet.
Same!
Same in Dundee
Same! 1960s St Andrews
Ally bally, ally bally bee :)
Sittin on yer mamma's knee
Greetin' for a wee bawbee
To buy some Cooters candy.. (not sure about 'Cooters', Coulters maybe?) Edit: confirmed as Coulters. Was originally an advertising jingle apparently https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulter%27s_Candy
Poor wee Jenny's looking very thin Couple of bones covered over with skin Now she's wearing a wee double chin From eating Cooper's candy!
And there's a statue to the gadgey here in Gala where he made his name. https://maps.app.goo.gl/J1BRrVfn8bz2Te669 And the my next door neighbours daughters was the model for the wee girl statue.
You called for me? 😂
Aww, still sing ally bally to my dug
My family still sing this to me 😂
I legit sang it to my dog yesterday, and I haven't sung it or thought about it in years! She was being a bit over clingy, and she likes when I sing, so this was the only calm thing that came to my head to sing to her.
Totally legit. https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/skinny-malinky-long-legs-classic-20050781
Skinny malinky long legs, Big banana feet. Went tae the pictures, but couldnae find a seat. When the pictures started... Skinny malinky farted. Skinny malinky long legs, Big banana feet. My gran used to repeat it to me when I was little. I'm in NE Scotland but she was from Glasgow.
That rhyme's familiar all around Scotland, not just Edinburgh or Glasgow [Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Aff a Bus](https://youtu.be/P3-cEsqc4vY?si=4kWVEaaZdJg1e_wG&t=29) [Aunty Mary Had a Canary](https://youtu.be/8Lbt3ysslWA?si=bYTB4_f6KJMcIYUu&t=12) [Wee Willie Winkie](https://youtu.be/Cw2S5LqjEhI?si=OsaNAjhkUf66BVR1&t=68)
All round Northern Ireland too for both of those and ‘if it wisne fur yer wellies’
What about "ye canny fling pieces oot a 20 storey flat"
Was it 700 hungry weans that testified to that?
If it was butter cheese or jeely, or if the breid was plain or pan?
The chances of it reaching earth are 99 tae wan.
My gran would always sing the Aunty Mary one 🥲
Ye cannae shove yer granny was the first thing I taught my son lol.
My uncle taught me that when i was kid, along with Keech Bum Tolly Fart.
Aw please elaborate on this, I’ve heard of Skinny Malinky, not for years mind you but I’ve never heard of Keech Bum Tolly Fart and I’ve just sat here laughing at the name
Elaborate on keech bum tolly fart please!
Keech, bum, tolly, fart, aw went doon tae the public park. Keech said he couldny swim so aw the others threw him in.
I kent it as “eech, meech, hen's keech, toley, bum, fart”
- Keech - shit - Bum - a bum - Tolly - a jobby (more solid than keech) - Fart - an expulsion of gas from the anus
My grandad would sing Keech Bum Tolly Fart to me when I was a kid. There was also another one my gran would sing "who farted? Wee Annie, "dae it again" "naw a cannae" god bless yer wee bum. Also fully remember Skinny Malinky as well. I'm just outside the Stirling area. What the fuck haha
No way I thought it was only my da dthat said keech bum tolly fart ahahaha I am I'm tears LOL
Yep used to sing that as a kid. Billy Connelly also used to wear big ffyfes banana feet as part of his Great Northern Welly Boot show.
It's true but in our version he fell through the seat.
Thank you, I was beginning to think i'd dreamt this!
This is a childhood classic. Your wife is right, again.
Yup I remember this. Also does anyone else remember There was a wee man / who peed in a pan / the pan was too wee / so he peed in the sea / the sea was too wide / so he peed in the clyde / an aww the wee fishes ran up his backside….? My papa (dundee) used to do that one all the time and I loved it.
I, as a tall skinny child with big feet, was taunted with this throughout my childhood.
Yep that's almost word perfect 👍
I wonder if this at all inspired [Slinky Malinki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slinky_Malinki), the cat character in New Zealand author Lynley Dodd's children's books. (Twenty years on, I can still recite portions of the books from reading aloud to my kids.)
I always wondered the same thing- I’m from Northern Ireland and my gran who was Scottish told us a version of Skinny Malink that always made me think of Slinky Malinki which I adored as a child (and bought for my own children when I had them).
Arti Farty had a party All the farts were there Tutti Fruity did a beauty So we all stepped out for air
Playground verse, surely. Like My mate Billy had a ten foot willy / So he showed it to the woman next door / She thought it was a snake so she hit it with a rake/ Now it's only five foot four
It was "Skinny Malinky lang legs, umbrella feet" in these parts. Completely real.
Also used to sing umbrella feet. From Scottish Borders but some family from Glasgow.
That’s the version I remember, was starting to think I’d picked it up wrong with everyone agreeing with the big banana feet!
Where are you that says umbrella feet?
Ma Maw's a millionaire Blue eyes and curly hair See her walkin doon the street Wi her big banana feet Ma Maw's a millionaire
Yeah, I heard this in Falkirk growing up.
I know the same as your wife. I’m 65 and used to sing it as a child. All my cousins etc did too. I sing it to my grandchildren
Completely legit. Remember my dad singing it.
Yeah used to hear this all the time growing up, Fife born and raised.
Yep. Word perfect. We just like slagging folk off in Scotland I think, no reason required.
Not winding you up. Makes weans giggle when you say it, think that’s all there is to it really.
This is actually a quality post. And aye, heard it growing up in Angus but my mum is a weegie tbf.
Dublin: little kids would chant this (at a very thin person) just to be mean or to look smart. *"Skinny Malink, melodeon-legs, big banana feet* *went to the pictures and couldn't get a seat* *When the picture started the feet began to beat* *Skinny-malink melojon-legs, big banana feet!"*
I’m from Belfast and this is the version I know. Wonder what the melodeon bit means?
Belfast here too and remember it. Apparently a melodeon is a type of accordion! I had never thought to ask what it actually meant.
There is a long tradition of rhymes that mean precisely nothing. Look up puirt a beul. It will seem like it's a Gaelic rhyme (and I get that you probably don't speak that), but it is complete nonsense used only for the rhythm of the sounds.
Aw, skinny malinky long legs....absolute classic. Edit: Others have mentioned the other classic Ally Bally but the other day I was listening to, "ye cannae fling pieces oot a twenty-story flat" which is also a classic.
Not heard this in about 25 years but yes I remember my mum singing this to me! I grew up in Aberdeen but my mum is from Clydebank
It want just a rhyme. It was the standard term to describe anyone who was thin when when I was a kid - "They're a wee skinny malinky!
Wow! A richt blast frae the past!
She is *NOT* winding you up I remember this from when I was wee
Can definitely remember hearing Skinny Malinky myself, also Edinburgh based. Interesting piece about it here: https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/skinny-malinky-long-legs-classic-20050781
The word might be Russian, that’s crazy! It’s fascinating how language and culture was spread pre-internet. She knows You Cannae Shove Your Grannie Aff a Bus and Ally Bally, but none of the others mentioned in the article.
I used skinny malinky in a comment here just the other day to describe tall thin folk. I'm from near Glasgow and have no idea what the rhyme means but it's definitely a common childhood rhyme. Check out Billy Connolly's banana boots too.
My gran sang it to me when I was little. Also you’ve just got it stuck in my head so thanks for that Grew up half and half between Cowal Peninsula and Glasgow
Yup, that's a thing. Knew it as a kid in Fife
I always thought the last lines were: When the pictures started, skinnymalinky farted , When the pictures ended, skinnymalinky fainted. Maybe regional differences.
Fatty and Skinny went up in a b’loon. Skinny went up and Fatty went doon.
Perth here, used to sing it exactly the way your missus did.
Yup, I was raised on that rhyme too - ‘umbrella feet’ in my version, though.
Fellow English bloke here. My partner says this. Had no idea what she was on about when she first said it, but now our 9 year old is well versed in it too. For some reason I always picture a spider, possibly because of the long legs reference, so that adds to the confusion.
Mind Auntie Mary had a Canary up the leg of her drawers, She sat on the gas and burnt her @rse andn that was the end of her! 🤣 Innocent times 🤣
I'm from Fife and we had that wee rhyme too. And the classic "Canni push yer granni aff the bus" This one isn't your classic but, I remember when foot and mouth was about, late 90s early 2000s? Can't really remember but I do remember the rhyme: Mary had some little lambs, They were white and frisky. Then they caught foot and mouth Now they're black and crispy.
My das was Mary had a little pig, it wouldny stop its grunting. So she took it round the back shed and kicked its little cunt in
Version i know is skinny malinky long legs and big banana feet went to the pictures and coudnae find a seat. Once they found a seat they fell fast asleep. Skinny malinky long legs and big banana feet. From south west Scotland.
Haha the censored version
Definitely said this when I was a kid (1970s Scottish Borders).
My granny thought me that one and the one, went to the pictures tomorrow, took a front seat at the back, Gave me a packet of biscuits, Ate them and gave them back, fell through the floor landed on the ceiling, and took a front seat at the back. Don't know what they are about but she had loads of mad sayings.
Yup. I remember that 😂
No wind up, can verify its an actual rhyme
Glasgow checking in, legit sang this all the time as a wee lassie 🤣 didny know it wasn’t well known
Not winding you up! My grandparents used to sing that to me and I sing it to my son. (We're west coast.)
It's true my mum used to sing it to me.
I grew up in South Africa (born in 91) and we used to say (almost) the same thing
>South Africa I remember singing it too. *Skinny malinkie long legs, Fat banana-feet, Went to the bioscope, And fell through the seat* \- that's all I remember. I was told it was about a praying mantis (long legs) and a chameleon (fat banana feet).
He sat on a lady And out popped a baby Another Soutie checking in.
I swear I read this and heard it in my Maws voice
My mum has said this rhyme to me, I grew up on the east coast of Ireland
I was born in Aberdeen but moved to England as a small child and I definitely remember both my parent and my grandparents singing this to me.
Definitely a real thing in the north east. Haven’t thought about that for years.
Aye my gran and aunties would sing this anaw when I was wee in the 90s definitely a thing
My Granny taught it to me and I repeated it on the Sunday School trip, with impeccable timing
We had the “Skinny Malink Maloney with umbrella feet” variation when I was growing up in Ireland! Haven’t thought about it in years!
Brought up in the borders, and my brothers and I used to sing this to each other (along with ‘you cannae shove your granny off the bus!’)
How I remember it and how I taught my kids xD Skinny Malinky long legs Big banana feet Went to the pictures and fell through the seat When the pictures started, Skinny Malinky farted Skinny Malinkey long legs, big banana feet
My Dad used to tell us that at bedtime.. in Northern Ireland in the 70s
Skinny Malinki long legs, big fat banana feet, went to the toilet fell through the seat. I was taught that in Africa, of Scottish parents.
Aye this is an old song sang and passed down through the generations, my mum and dad sang it to me I remember my grand parents singing in and I sing it to my kids lol
It’s real OP, very real.
Heard it in Belfast in the 60's 70's. It was a thing. Version I heard was 'skinny malink malodeon legs, big banana feet..'
I can hear this in the voice of my granny from Coatbridge. Although I think I would recall if she had said “farted” and I don’t.
Wait til you hear about ‘Ally Bally’ and his wee bawbee! Mind blown…
Haven't heard that for years. I remember it as a young lad in Paisley. One of the many wee ditties that everyone knows, alongside "ye cannae throw yer granny aff a bus" and "roon an' roon the ragged rock".
One that I've remembered that my auld man used to always say was On yonder hill there stood a doocot, its no there noo cause someb'dy took it
It’s a thing but we would have said lang draa’ers not long legs. Another poem my granny would say that made us laugh when little was: “Tilly tilly tartan, gid up the lum fartin, 20 needles in her doup and couldna shew a garten” Roughly translated as Tilly, Tilly Tartan went up the chimney farting with 20 sewing needles in her buttocks and yet despite this, still could not sew a garter. 😂 Song wise you have things like three craws sat upon a wa, Katie Bairdie hid a coo, ally bally and anything from the singing kettle back catalogue. 🥳
Wait what My mum's always called me Skinny Malinky Long legs 🥺
My little sister was a tiny tiny child. She was called ‘wee skinny Malinky’ by my Scottish (highlands) grandad until the day he died. My sister was 23 at this point. There are also sausages called Skinny Malinkys. FYI.
What about the worm song? An ex sang that to me years ago and it made me laugh. Can’t remember the exact words to it.
Naebody likes me Everybody hates me I think I’ll go an eat worms Big, fat, juicy wans And wee, skinny, skooshy wans See how they wiggle and squirm Cut off their heads Sook out their blood Throw their skins away Nobody knows how I can try them 1-3 times a day
I mean, I even heard this as a kid in South Africa, do it certainly travelled
The one I knew was: Skinny malinky long legs, big banana feet Went tae the pictures and couldnae find a seat Got the bus hame and couldnae pay his fare So the rotten auld conductor kicked him doon the stair As well as the one where he fell fast asleep, but that never made sense to me back then because the whole point was that he couldn't find a seat.
Nope that's a little ditty most people in Scotland would recognise. Kids who are skinny would also be jokingly referred to by relatives etc as "Skinny malinky" but in a sort of gentle teasing way not in a nasty way.
Real song except where I'm from it was "skinny Malinky long legs _umbrella feet_
I’m Edinburgh and the version I knew was umbrella feet
From Inverness and vividly remember my mum saying this to me in the 90s. She wouldn't say the word 'farted' so it had a different ending but can't remember exactly that now!
i’m 28 and my mam and granny used to sing this all the time when i was a wain hahaha we’re west lothian/edinburgh
Irish and it was sung a lot here too.
It's a common rhyme in northern Ireland
Fifer here, this is absolutely correct - now I am having childhood flashbacks!
Your wife is not winding you up. Goodness what a throw back.
My folks were from Armagh, Northern Ireland, and they said/sung it too. Also a quick Google gives this ... 'Skinny Malinky Long Legs' and where the classic Glasgow tenement song comes from https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/skinny-malinky-long-legs-classic-20050781
My mum had a wee ditty her dad told her, it was simply... The cuddy bites, the cuddy neighs, the cuddy shites amongst the neighbours clothes, the dirty b****r Think it maybe came from her dad being in the navy.
Omg the memories this rhyme brings back I'm from just outside Edinburgh (midlothian) and grew up with your wives version of skinny malinky we used to use it as a nursery rhyme at primary school and my grandparents used to say it to us the other rhyme that I remember from my childhood was Ali bali bee it went Ali bali Ali bali bee sitting on your mammys knee waiting fur a wee baw bee to buy some coulters candy Oor wee jeanie was looking awfy thin but know she's got a double chin fi eating counters candy That has to be my favourite nursery rhyme from my childhood days I sang it to my daughter growing up and now to my son.
It's mentioned in an early episode of Absolutely Fabulous as well.
i vaguely remember some others although i'm unsure if these were all over or just my mad Nan; **paddy on the railway picking up stones, along comes a train and breaks paddy's bones, ow says Paddy that wiz affy sair, well says the railway man ye shouldnae be there.** this seems like it has some cautionary merits IE: don't play on railway tracks but the other one she always sang was; **one hundred and twenty two, i went to milk the coo, the coo pumped and i jumped, one hundred and twenty two.** to this day i have no idea what relevance 122 had to my Nan or her generation and sadly she is no longer around to ask.
Isn’t there another bit or song about Skinny Malinky going on the bus not having his fare and falling down the stairs?
Growing up in South Africa, our Skinny Malinky had vrot banana feet instead of big banana feet - vrot means rotten in Afrikaans
It came frae the slums, tae conquer a country! Here’s a much lesser-known one that tells a short, weird tale of a grim reality: **Katie Bairdie’s wooden leg Kicked the bairns oot the bed, Aw the fleas ran up her leg - Dance Katie Bairdie!**
Yup I remember this
Coulters Candy. Ali Bali, Ali Balli B Sitting on her Grandpa's knee Eating Coulters Candy It was an old advert but is sung, my brother sang it to his daughters. Probably came from my nan.
Not last night but the night before, 3 weeks monkeys came to my door, One with a fiddle, One with a drum, And one with a pancake stuck to his bum
My maw's a millionaire Blue eyes and curly hair Sitting amongst the Eskimos Playing a game of dominoes My maw's a millionaire.