Imperial Rhyme

[Chessman]

I'm not sure if this is the right place, but my father used to recite this rhyme, and I wonder if anyone can finish it.

[England was Hungary, so she eat a bit of Turkey, off a bit of China, dipped in Greece].

Thanks.

[Peter Pedant]

Iam probably your father's age and that was it.

There isnt any more....I then asked the schoolboy what it meant, and he said,

mean ? mean ? it doesnt mean anything - Pedant you're weird.....

it is a sort of microcosm of my schooldays.....

[Zen]

Weary teachers used to provide a rhyme to assist British schoolchildren who were confused by the geography of parts of Europe that the English Channel didn't reach.

It went: 'Austria was Hungary, Very Very Hungary, Ate a bit of Turkey, Dipped in Greece. Long-legged Italy, kicked poor Sicily, Into the Mediterranean Sea.'

[Chessman]

Thanks Peter and Zen,

During my research, (because after all these years its really bugging me), it is apparently Austrian, dating from the Austro Hungarian empire, in my fathers version. Austria was substituted for England.

[Patch49]

The one I remember is: Germany was Hungary, ate a bit of Turkey, on a bit of China, dipped in Greece. Greece was slippery, slipped into Italy, kicked a bit of Sicily right into the middle of the Mediterranean Sea!

[Chessman]

Thanks Patch,

Thats another, i'm writing these down so I don't forget them,

Much Appreciated.