Collection Information: Here is the Family was collected on April 20th, 2014 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. It belongs to the sub-genre of nursery rhymes called fingerplay.
Informant: The informant is Chris Faulkner. He is a 22 year old male from Seattle, Washington. He grew up as the oldest of three brothers, and his parents were both physicians. He is currently a college senior studying economics.
Text:
(start with a closed fist)
This is the mother, kind and dear. (extend and wiggle thumb)
This is the father sitting near. (extend and wiggle pointer finger)
This is the big brother standing tall. (extend and wiggle middle finger)
This is the little brother, who plays with his ball. (extend and wiggle ring finger)
This is the baby, littlest of all. (extend and wiggle pinky)
And here is the family, large and small. (wiggle all five fingers)
Context: This piece of folklore is usually performed just before bed. The informant reported that his mother used to sing this song to him when she was putting him to sleep, but acknowledged that it could be performed at any point during the day. Because it is about family, however, it is usually only performed within a familial environment.
Meaning and Interpretation: The informant remembers this piece of folklore as a fun, interactive way of appreciating the value of family. The original way the song was composed was with a brother, a sister, and a baby, but because his family had three boys, the brother and sister became big brother and little brother. When his mother would sing it to him, she would gesture towards him when she got to the big brother because he was the oldest of three boys. As he got older, he would sing the song with his mother when they put his younger brothers to bed. As such, this fingerplay song was a soothing way to help put little ones to bed while helping the family bond
Collector’s Information: Chris Faulkner, Dartmouth ’14, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
