Animal nursery rhymes
A cat came fiddling out of a barn
With a pair of bag-pipes under her arm
She could sing nothing but fiddle–dee-dee
The mouse has married the bumble-bee
Pipe, cat, dance, mouse
We’ll have a wedding at our house.
The rooster is on the housetop blowing his horn
The bull’s in the barn a-threshing of corn
The maids in the meadows are making of hay
The ducks in the river are swimming away.
A wise old owl sat in an oak
The more he heard, the less he spoke
The less he spoke, the more he heard
Why aren’t we all like that wise old bird?
Baa, baa, black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir
Three bags full
One for the master
One for the dame
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
A swarm of bees in May
Is worth a load of hay
A swarm of bees in June
Is worth a silver spoon
A swarm of bees in July
Is not worth a fly.
Bow–wow-wow
Whose dog art thou?
Little Tom Tinker’s dog
Bow–wow-wow.
A little cock-sparrow sat on a green tree
And he chirruped, he chirruped, so merry was he
A naughty boy came with his wee bow and arrow
Determined to shoot this little cock-sparrow.
“This little cock-sparrow shall make me a stew
And his giblets shall make me a little pie, too.”
“Oh, no,” says the sparrow “I won’t make a stew.”
So he flapped his wings and away he flew.
Butterfly, butterfly
Whence do you come?
“I know not, I ask not
Nor ever had a home.”
Butterfly, butterfly
Where do you go?
“Where the sun shines
And where the buds grow.”
Cushy cow, bonny, let down thy milk
And I will give thee a gown of silk
A gown of silk and a silver tee
If thou wilt let down thy milk to me.
Dame Trot and her cat
Led a peaceable life
When they were not troubled
With other folks’ strife.
When Dame had her dinner
Pussy would wait
And was sure to receive
A nice piece from her plate.
Great A, little a
Bouncing B!
The cat’s in the cupboard
And can’t see me.
Hey Diddle Diddle
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
The little dog laughed to see such fun
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
Hickety Pickety my black hen
She lays eggs for gentlemen.
Sometimes 9 and sometimes 10.
Hickety Pickety, my black hen.
Hickory Dickory Dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
And down he run
Hickory Dickory Dock.
Higglety, pigglety, pop!
The dog has eaten the mop
The pig’s in a hurry
The cat’s in a flurry
Higglety, pigglety, pop!
Hoddley, poddley, puddle and fogs
Cats are to marry the poodle dogs
Cats in blue jackets and dogs in red hats
What will become of the mice and the rats?
If I had a donkey
That wouldn’t go
Do you think I’d beat him?
Oh, no, no!
I’d put him in a barn
And give him some corn
The best little donkey
That ever was born.
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.
Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home
Your house is on fire and your children are gone
All except one who is called little Ann
For she crept under the frying pan.
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And doesn’t know where to find them
Leave them alone and they’ll come home
Bringing their tails behind them.
Little Bo Peep fell fast asleep
And dreamt she heard them bleating
But when she awoke, she found it a joke
For they were all still fleeting.
Then up she took her little crook
Determined for to find them
She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed
For they’d left their tails behind them.
It happened one day, as Bo Peep did stray
Into a meadow hard by
There she espied their tails side by side
All hung on a tree to dry.
She heaved a sigh and wiped her eye
And over the hillocks went rambling
And tried what she could, as a shepherdess should
To tack again each to its lambkin.
Little Poll Parrot
Sat in his garret
Eating toast and tea
A little brown mouse
Jumped into the house
And stole it all away.
Little Robin Redbreast
Pit-pat all the day
Then he opened up his wings
And he flew away.
I went to look for Robin.
Where can Robin be?
I found him in the orchard
Up in a cherry tree.
Little Robin Redbreast sat upon a tree
Up went Kitty cat, and down went he
Down came Kitty, and away Robin ran
Says little Robin Redbreast, “Catch me if you can.”
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece was white as snow
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day
Which was against the rule
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.
And so the teacher turned it out
But still it lingered near
And waited patiently about
Till Mary did appear.
Why does the lamb love Mary so?
The eager children cry
Why Mary loves the lamb, you know
The teacher did reply.
Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone
Oh where, oh where can he be?
With his ears cut short and his tail cut long
Oh where, oh where is he?
Once I saw a little bird
Come hop, hop, hop
So I cried, “Little bird
Will you stop, stop, stop?”
And was going to the window
To say, “How do you do?”
But he shook his little tail
And far away flew.
Half a pound of tuppenny rice
Half a pound of treacle.
That’s the way the money goes
Pop goes the weasel.
Up and down the City Road
In and out the Eagle.
That’s the way the money goes
Pop goes the weasel.
Every night when I go out
The monkey’s on the table.
Take a stick and knock it off
Pop goes the weasel.
A penny for a ball of thread,
Another for a needle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop goes the weasel.
Shoe a little horse
Shoe a little mare
But let a little colt
Go bare, bare, bare.
Six little mice sat down to spin
Kitty passed by and she peeped in.
What are you doing, my little men?
Weaving coats for gentlemen.
Shall I come in and cut off your threads?
No, no, Mistress Kitty, you’d bite off our heads.
Oh, no, I’ll not; I’ll help you spin.
That may be so, but you can’t come in.
I had a little hen, the prettiest ever seen
She washed me the dishes and kept the house clean
She went to the mill to fetch me some flour
She brought it home in less than an hour
She baked me my bread, she brewed me my ale
She sat by the fire and told many a fine tale.
Dickory, dickory, dare
The pig flew up in the air
The man in brown soon
Brought him down
Dickory, dickory, dare.
The lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn all around the town
Some gave them white bread and some gave them brown
Some gave them plum cake and drummed them out of town.
Once I saw a little bird
Come hop, hop, hop
So I cried, “Little bird
Will you stop, stop, stop?”
And was going to the window
To say, “How do you do?”
But he shook his little tail
And far away he flew.
The little black dog ran ‘round the house
And set the bull a-roaring
And drove the monkey in the boat
Who set the oars a-rowing,
And scared the cock upon the rock
Who cracked his throat with crowing.
The owl and the pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat
They took some honey and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above
And sang to a small guitar
‘O lovely Pussycat! O Pussycat, my love
What a beautiful Pussycat you are
You are, You are!
What a beautiful Pussycat you are!’
Pussycat said to the Owl, ‘You elegant fowl
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried
But what shall we do for a ring?’
They sailed away, for a year and a day
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood, a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose
His nose, his nose
With a ring at the end of his nose.
‘Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’
So they took it away and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince and slices of quince
Which they ate with a runcible spoon
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the moon
The moon, the moon
They danced by the light of the moon.
There was a little guinea pig
Who being little was not big
He always walked upon his feet
And never fasted when he eat
When from a place he ran away
He never at the place did stay
And while he ran, as I am told
He ne’er stood still for young or old.
He often squeaked and sometimes violent
And when he squeaked he ne’er was silent
Though ne’er instructed by a cat
He knew a mouse was not a rat.
One day, as I am certified
He took a whim and fairly died
And as I’m told by men of sense
He never has been living since.
Three blind mice, three blind mice
See how they run, see how they run
They all ran after the farmer’s wife
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife
Did you ever see such a thing in your life
As three blind mice?
There were two birds sat on a stone
Fa, la, la, la, lal, de
One flew away, and then there was one
Fa, la, la, la, lal, de
The other bird flew after
And then there was none
Fa, la, la, la, lal, de
And so the stone
Was left alone
Fa, la, la, la, lal, de.
If I’d as much money as I could tell
I never would cry young lambs to sell
Young lambs to sell, young lambs to sell
I never would cry young lambs to sell
