A Swimming Hole on Wingohocking Creek

Just below [the Germantown Hospital] the "brickyarders" (the boys from the neighborhood of the old brick yard at the foot of Collom Street) built a swimming dam [forming a pool] about nine feet deep. The stream by this time...was now called "the dye creek," on account of a dye house along its course which polluted the waters. It was much like the famous coat: sometimes it was one of either red, green or brown, but it made no difference to the "brickyarders." They had their daily swim.. Once in a great while an outsider was permitted to dive into the turbulent waters, but before he took his "outer," he was reminded of what was in store for him, for he heard a great chorus shouting, "Chaw beef!"

For those who may not know what it is to be "chaw beefed," let me explain. While the boy was in the water having a glorious time, someone would try to find his clothes. Very often the swimmer hid his clothes; other times they were left where he had taken them off. When the clothes were secured, they were tied in knots, and tied so tight that it was often difficult to untie them. Now, when the boy came out of the water, he usually ran for his clothes with all the speed he could command. Imagine his dismay and what he said, if you can, when he found those clothes tied in knots. If he could not loosen the knots with his fingers, he would try his teeth, and then the boys would yell and shout:

Chaw beef, chaw beef,
Doggie, doggie, chew your beef!
The beef was tough, and he couldn't get enough!
Chaw beef!

SOURCE: East Germantown: A New Name for Ancient Villages, Thomas E. Clemens, 1936, p.33. See also by same author, Quaint Old Landmarks in East Germantown, 1939. Both volumes available at the Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania.