The other, much older,
Elizabethan version...an English counting song.
I'll sing you one-ho, green grow the rushes-ho.
What is your one-ho?
One is one, and all alone, and ever more shall be so!
I'll sing you two-ho, green grow the rushes-ho.
What is your two-ho?
Two, two, the lily white boys, cloth-ed all in green-ho...
One is one, and all alone, and ever more shall be so!
Continue, adding each verse and repeating backwards as a repetition song, to "One is one, and all alone, and ever more shall be so"
Three, three, the rivals;
Four for the Gospel makers;
Five for the symbols at your door;
Six for the six proud walkers;
Seven for the seven stars in the sky;
Eight for the April rainers;
Nine for the nine bright shiners;
Ten for the ten commandments;
Eleven for the eleven who went to heaven;
Twelve for the twelve apostles.