Helter-skelter

Disordered haste, a confused state of affairs dates from the late 16th century and is a rhyming jingle like harum-scarum, hurly-burly, etc. The OED says helter-skelter perhaps derives from the Middle English word skelte meaning to hasten. Shakespeare used the expression in Henry IV Part II Act V, Scene III, “And helter-skelter have I rode to thee” but did not coin it. Helter-skelter as the lighthouse-shaped fairground ride down which people slide on mats dates from the late 19th/early 20th century.