"Ten Little Indians" is a children's rhyme. The song is usually performed to the Irish folk tune "Michael Finnegan

Michael Finnegan (song)

Michael Finnegan is an example of an unboundedly long song, which can continue with numerous variations until the singer decides to stop. Like most other unboundedly long songs, this song tends to be sung by schoolchildren. It is a popular song often sung around a campfire or during scouting events...

". It has a Roud Folk Song Index

Roud Folk Song Index

The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...

 number of 13512.

Lyrics

The modern lyrics are believed to be public domain and are as follows:

One little, two little, three little Indians

Four little, five little, six little Indians

Seven little, eight little, nine little Indians

Ten little Indian boys.

Ten little, nine little, eight little Indians

Seven little, six little, five little Indians

Four little, three little, two little Indians

One little Indian boy.

The song sometimes begins with a repeated verse, "John Brown met a little Indian" before entering the well-known verses.

Origins

The original piece, then called "10 Little Injuns", was written by songwriter Septimus Winner

Septimus Winner

Septimus Winner is best known as a songwriter of the nineteenth century. He used his own name, and also the pseudonyms Alice Hawthorne, Percy Guyer, Mark Mason, Apsley Street, and Paul Stenton...

 in 1868 for a minstrel show

Minstrel show

The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....

 and was much more elaborate:

Ten little Injuns standin' in a line,

One toddled home and then there were nine;

Nine little Injuns swingin' on a gate,

One tumbled off and then there were eight.

One little, two little, three little, four little, five little Injun boys,

Six little, seven little, eight little, nine little, ten little Injun boys.

Eight little Injuns gayest under heav'n.

One went to sleep and then there were seven;

Seven little Injuns cuttin' up their tricks,

One broke his neck and then there were six.

Six little Injuns all alive,

One kicked the bucket and then there were five;

Five little Injuns on a cellar door,

One tumbled in and then there were four.

Four little Injuns up on a spree,

One got fuddled and then there were three;

Three little Injuns out on a canoe,

One tumbled overboard and then there were two.

Two little Injuns foolin' with a gun,

One shot t'other and then there was one;

One little Injun livin' all alone,

He got married and then there were none.

Derivative songs

This song was adapted, possibly by Frank J. Green in 1869, as "Ten Little Nigger

Nigger

Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...

s" and became a standard of the blackface

Blackface

Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...

 minstrel shows. It was sung by Christy's Minstrels

Christy's Minstrels

Christy's Minstrels, sometimes referred to as the Christy Minstrels, were a blackface group formed by Edwin Pearce Christy, a well-known ballad singer, in 1843, in Buffalo, New York. They were instrumental in the solidification of the minstrel show into a fixed three-act form...

 and became widely known in Europe, where it was used by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...

 in her novel of the same name. The novel was later retitled And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939 under the title Ten Little Niggers which was changed by Dodd, Mead and Company in January 1940 because of the presence of a racial...

(1939), and remains one of her most famous works, about ten killings on a remote island.

The following version of the song was included in the first film version of And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939 under the title Ten Little Niggers which was changed by Dodd, Mead and Company in January 1940 because of the presence of a racial...

(1945), which largely took Green's lyrics and replaced the already sensitive word "nigger", with "indian" (in some versions "soldiers"):

Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;

One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;

One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Indian boys travelling in Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

;

One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;

One chopped himself in half and then there were six.

Six little Indian boys playing with a hive

Beehive

A beehive is a structure in which bees live and raise their young.Beehive may also refer to:Buildings and locations:* Bee Hive, Alabama, a neighborhood in Alabama* Beehive , a wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings...

;

A bumblebee

Bumblebee

A bumble bee is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. There are over 250 known species, existing primarily in the Northern Hemisphere although they are common in New Zealand and in the Australian state of Tasmania.Bumble bees are social insects that are characterised by black...

 stung one and then there were five.

Five little Indian boys going in for law;

One got in Chancery

Court of Chancery

The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...

 and then there were four.

Four little Indian boys going out to sea;

A red herring

Red herring

A red herring is a deliberate attempt to divert attention.Red herring may refer to:* Red herring , the informal fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question....

 swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Indian boys walking in the zoo;

A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two Little Indian boys sitting in the sun;

One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Indian boy left all alone;

He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

Because this song, and even the original term Indians, are politically sensitive, modern versions for children often use "soldier boys" or "teddy bears" as the objects of the rhyme.

Popular culture

The Ten Little Indians are guests of Old King Cole

Old King Cole

"Old King Cole" is an English nursery rhyme. The historical identity of King Cole has been much debated and several candidates have been advanced as possibilities...

 in the 1933 Disney cartoon

Old King Cole (Disney cartoon)

Old King Cole is a 1933 Disney cartoon in the Silly Symphonies series, based on several nursery rhymes and fairy tales, including Old King Cole...

 of the same name. They perform a catchy dance which inspires the other nursery rhyme characters to join in.

The rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is a rock musical with music and lyrics written by Michael Friedman, and a book by its director Alex Timbers.The show is a comedic Wild West rock musical about the founding of the Democratic Party...

 includes a song called "Ten Little Indians" that is modeled after this rhyme.

The opening sequence of Blackstone

Blackstone (TV series)

Blackstone is a Canadian television series, which airs on APTN and Showcase. Written, created, directed and produced by Canadian producer Ron E. Scott, the series began filming its eight episodes, plus a pilot, in 2010 in and around Edmonton, Alberta....

 on APTN

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network is a Canadian broadcast and cable television network. APTN airs and produces programs made by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples...

features a version of the song.

Harry Nilsson also wrote a song of the same title.

The novel by Agatha Christie presently published under the title "And Then There Were None" is about this nursery rhyme.