Saturday Rave: One, two, buckle my shoe, partly by Agatha Christie.

But One, Two, Buckle my Show is just a counting rhyme, you will say.

The thing's total nonsense.

 

One, two,

Buckle my shoe;

Three, four,

Open the door;

Five, six,

Pick up sticks;

Seven, eight,

Lay them straight:

Nine, ten,

A big, fat hen;

Eleven, twelve,

Dig and delve;

Thirteen, fourteen,

Maids a-courting;

Fifteen, sixteen,

Maids in the kitchen;

Seventeen, eighteen,

Maids a-waiting

Nineteen, twenty,

My plate's empty.

My family (except me) were firm believers in the poets-choose-words-just-because-they-rhyme school of...hm, I was going to say thought, but that's much to complimentary...school of opinion...and, really, in this case I'm afraid they were right.

BUT...

Could the rhyme make sense?

Well, in a way it can, because my rave isn't about the rhyme at all, but really about Agatha Christie's plots. In Agatha Christie's 1940 novel One Two, Buckle my Shoe, she uses the rhyme as a basis for her story.

If you've ever wondered how on earth Agatha Christie came up with her intricate plots, well, this novel is full of clues as to the process - as well, of course, as clues to the mystery.

I can, naturally, say no more. But do keep the words of the song carefully in mind as you read.

Word To Use Today: buckle. This word comes to us from the Old French bocler, from the Latin buccula, a little cheek, which in this case refers to the cheek strap of a helmet, from bucca, cheek.