There is no original. The rhyme is shared among many languages with variants based on the language.

Earliest known variant: Hana, man, mona, mike; Barcelona, bona, strike; Hare, ware, frown, vanac; Harrico, warico, we wo, wac.

The rhyme potentially comes from old English.

I believe you should understand "original" in the parent as in quotation marks as well. The "original" here is akin to referencing the "original" pledge of allegiance in the US, the one with "under god" appended during the red scare.

That is, the parent is saying they won't be surprised if Florida requires the line "catch a tiger by the toe" to instead be sung as "catch an [racial slur] by the toe".

If someone said "the original pledge of allegiance" I think most people would interpret that as being about its form before any alterations. And so, the 1892 "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

(Before the 1923 addition of "the Flag of the United States of America" and the 1954 addition of "under God")

"The one my great grandfather would have used" could you well-actually that one as hard for me please?