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25/06/2008

When it comes to nursery rhymes, your favourite ditty may say a lot about where you were brought up, according to a poll of the nation’s favourite rhymes revealed today. Shoving grannies off buses and bonnie laddies dancing are some of the childhood songs most treasured by the Scots.

Sponsored by Openreach, a BT business, the research revealed that "Oh Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny off a Bus" was the overall number one choice of traditional local favourites, whilst "Ally Bally Bee" and the Scots version of "Wee Willie Winkie" earned second and third places respectively.

Children’s communication charity I CAN created the online "Rhyme Stars" campaign which attracted more than 50,000 contributions from members of the UK public and more than 3,000 from Scotland. For each rhyme voted for, Openreach contributed £1 to I CAN, which works to develop speech, language and communication skills for all children with a particular focus on children who find communication difficult.

Other rhymes to make the Scottish top 10 chart include "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean", "Three Craws sat upon a Wa’" and "Hey Jock Ma Cuddy."

Dancing on Ice star Suzanne Shaw said: "As a mum, it's heart-warming to see that so many people have given their time to support this campaign to help encourage communication in children. My personal favourite is Twinkle Twinkle and my son Corey and I love to sing together all the time."

The overall UK favourite, as well as Scotland’s best non-indigenous rhyme, is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. England’s favourite is "This Little Piggy Went to Market," Wales’ number one ditty is "I’m a Little Teapot" and Northern Ireland’s most cherished song is "Hush Little Baby."

Despite the affection for dancing laddies, in the chart at number 4, Scotland’s official most annoying rhyme is the English version of the same song, "Dance to Your Daddy" with a mere single vote.

The campaign reached further afield than the shores of Britain, with hundreds of votes from countries abroad, including unlikely entries from Mexico with "Baa Baa Black Sheep", Peru with "10 Green Bottles Sitting on the Wall" and Yugoslavia with "Each Peach Pair Plumb."

 

 

"We were especially pleased to see so many traditional favourites cropping up in the Scottish results – it seems their popularity remains undiminished. Seeing Ally Bally Bee as a firm Scottish favourite brought back many happy memories, as I learnt it as child and sang it with my own children too."

While remaining an important part of BT, Openreach has its own headquarters, distinct identity and around 30,000 staff. The business is the second largest within BT Group by number of employees and has assets of around £8 billion and revenues of more than £5 billion, making it comparable in size to many FTSE 100 companies. Openreach in Scotland has a workforce of 2500, including 2000 engineers living and working in every part of the country. They manage a network which carries 30 million telephone calls every day from three million customer lines.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

Scotland’s Top 10 nursery rhymes as voted for in the Rhyme Stars campaign:

1. Oh Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Off A Bus

2. Ally Bally Bee

3. Wee Willie Winkie (In Scots)

4. Dance Tae Yer Daddy My Bonnie Laddie

5. Twa Craws

6. Three Craws Sat Upon a Wa'

7. Roon' Aboot, Roon' Aboot Catch A Wee Moose

8. Skinny Malinky Long Legs

9. Hey Jock Ma Cuddy

10. My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean

 

Inquiries about this news release should be made to Lishai Oz or Maddy Durrant at IncrediBull Ideas on +44 (0) 207 9403800 or email

Liz Mallinson, general manager for Openreach in the East of Scotland, who leads for Openreach in Scotland on corporate responsibility, said: "Good communication is key to children’s development, and Openreach is proud to support I CAN’s work in encouraging language and communication skills amongst young people. Virginia Beardshaw, Chief Executive of I CAN said: "I’m delighted that so many people added their votes and voices to Rhyme Stars. The search for the nation’s favourite nursery rhyme has been a fantastic and fun way to highlight how important these songs are for helping to develop children’s speech, language and communication. Communication is the 21st century life skill; the bedrock for all children’s future learning and literacy. It is the foundation for social and emotional development and with the support of Openreach and the public, we are helping to build a future generation of excellent communicators."lishai.oz@incredibullideas.com or maddy.durrant@incredibullideas.com