Thursday, March 11, 2010

English nursery rhymes

I'm sure you've heard of these, even if you didn't understand them:
  • Baa, Baa, Black Sheep (c. 1744)
  • Georgie Porgie (c. 1850)
  • Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (c. 1850)
  • Hey Diddle Diddle (c. 1765)
  • Hickory Dickory Doc (c. 1744)
  • Humpty Dumpty (1803)
  • Jack and Jill (c. 1765)
  • Jack Be Nimble (c. 1815)
  • Jack Sprat (1639)
  • Little Bo Peep (c. 1805)
  • Little Jack Horner (1725)
  • Little Miss Muffet (1805)
  • London Bridge Is Falling Down (c. 1744)
  • Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary (c. 1744)
  • Old King Cole (1708)
  • Old Mother Hubbard (1805)
  • Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man (1698)
  • Pease porridge hot (c. 1760)
  • Peter Piper (1813)
  • Ring Around the Rosie (1881)
  • Rock-a-bye Baby (1765)
  • Roses are red (1784)
  • Rub A Dub Dub (1798)
  • Simple Simon (1764)
  • Sing a Song of Sixpence (c. 1744)
  • There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe (1794)
  • This Little Piggy (c. 1760)
  • This Old Man (1906)
  • Three Blind Mice (1609)
  • Tinker, Tailor (1695)
  • Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (1806)
  • What Are Little Boys Made Of? (1820)
I've learned several more since I've been in England:
Ladybird, ladybird fly away home,Your house is on fire and your children are gone,
All except one,
And her name is Ann,
And she hid under the baking pan.
(c. 1744)
Doctor Foster went to Gloucester,
In a shower of rain;
He stepped in a puddle,
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again.
(Doctor Foster, 1844)
One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret, never to be told
Eight for a wish
Nine for a kiss
Ten for a bird you must not miss
(c. 1780, a rhyme about magpies)
The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half-way up,
They were neither up nor down.
(1642)
Do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Do you know the muffin man,
Who lives in Drury Lane?

Yes I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Yes I know the muffin man,
Who lives in Drury Lane.
(c. 1820)
Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clement's
You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin's
When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.
When I grow rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.
When will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney
I do not know,
Says the great bell of Bow
Here comes a candle to light you to bed
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!
(c. 1744)
Oh, and just so you know, Ring around the Rosies is not about the plague.

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