Title: Good Night, Sleep Tight

General Information about Item:

• Verbal: Lullaby

• Language: English

• Country where Item is from: US
• Date and Place of Collection: 10/24/16 in Hanover, NH

Informant Data:

Christopher was born in Englewood, NJ but he grew up in Fairfield County, CT. He attended Lake Forest College in Illinois and moved to California upon graduation. He eventually settled down in Falmouth, ME where he currently resides and works as a lacrosse coach at the University of New England.

 

Contextual Data:

Christopher attended summer camp on Cape Cod when he was younger. He said that every night a counselor would recite this rhyme before shutting off the lights in the cabin. It is every common for summer camps to have rhymes or sayings that campers remember years after they leave camp.

 

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

 

Transcript of Associated File:

“Good night, sleep tight

Don’t let the buggies bite

If they bite, squeeze them tight

They won’t bite another night”

 

Informant’s Comments:

Christopher said that the rhyme was easy to remember and lighthearted which is one of the reasons he chose to recite it to his children before bedtime.

 

Collector’s Comments:

Christopher said that while he doesn’t remember the name of the counselor who said the rhyme he distinctly remembers the rhyme itself. This struck me as important because it demonstrates how rhyming helps children with memorization. While this is not a traditional lullaby in the sense that it is not melodic and is very short, it still has some properties of a lullaby. It is meant to soothe children to sleep and it is something that is passed down from adult to child.

 Collector’s Name: Mikey Richards ’18

Tags/Keywords:

Camp traditions, rhyme, bed, bedtime, verbal lore