Hokey Cokey

The dance and game, but not the tune, originated as a children's singing game from Gloucestershire called 'Looby Light' which was collected by Cecil Sharp on 29 July 1909 in Stow-on-the-Wold and published in 1912. The modern dance containing almost the identical figures from those collected by Sharp, was set to a new tune by Jimmy Kennedy (composer of Teddy-Bears' Picnic, who died in Cheltenham) and swept the country in the 1940's. (Hugh Rippon)