Cock a doodle doo

Cock a doodle doo,

My dame has lost her shoe,

My master’s lost his fiddling stick,

And doesn’t know what to do;

And doesn’t know what to do;

And doesn’t know what to do;

My master’s lost his fiddling stick,

And doesn’t know what to do.

~~~~~

Cock a doodle doo,

What is my dame to do?

Till master’s found his fiddling stick,

She’ll dance without her shoe;

She’ll dance without her shoe;

She’ll dance without her shoe;

Till master’s found his fiddling stick,

She’ll dance without her shoe.

~~~~~

Cock a doodle do,

My dame has found her shoe,

And master’s found his fiddling stick -

Sing doodle doodle doo;

Sing doodle doodle do;

Sing doodle doodle doo;

My master’s found his fiddling stick -

Sing doodle doodle doo.

~~~~~

Cock a doodle doo,

My dame will dance with you,

While master fiddles his fiddling stick,

For dame and doodle doo;

For dame and doodle doo;

For dame and doodle doo;

While master fiddles his fiddling stick,

For dame and doodle doo;

Origin

The earliest version of this rhyme appeared in 1765 although just the first four lines. The other verses were added later, probably in the 19th century.

It is supposed to have a gruesome origin starting with a young girl witnessing the murder of her three year old brother. To stop her talking the murderer cut her tongue out.

Some years later she was being teased by local children – known as ‘mocking the cock’ – with the words, ‘Cock a doodle dooe, Peggy hath lost her shoe.’

Encouraged by a friend she tried to say the words back to them and miraculously did so. This story was published in a pamphlet in 1606.

This is the way we stretch our arms
Stretch our arms, stretch our arms
This is the way we stretch our arms
On a cold and frosty morning

This is the way we catch a ball
Catch a ball, catch a ball
This is the way we catch a ball
On a cold and frosty morning

This is the way we kick a ball
Kick a ball, kick a ball
This is the way we kick a ball
On a cold and frosty morning

This is the way we throw a ball
Throw a ball, throw a ball
This is the way we throw a ball
On a cold and frosty morning

This is the way we bounce a ball
Bounce a ball, bounce a ball
This is the way we bounce a ball
On a cold and frosty morning

Origin

This dancing game was very popular at the end of the 19th century.

Daddy’s gone a-hunting,

To get a little skin

To wrap the baby bunting in.

Origin

In the 17th century, ‘bunting’ was a term of endearment.

Three score and ten.

Can I get there by candlelight?

Yes, and back again.

If your heel are nimble and light,

You may get there by candlelight.

Nursery rhyme origin

This rhyme dates at least from Elizabethan times, when the phrase, “Can I get there by candlelight” was in common usage.

My little babby,

Dance to your daddy,

My little lamb.

You shall have a fishy

In a little dishy,

You shall have a fishy

When the boat comes in.

Origin

This dandling* song is popular in the north of England and Scotland. It sometimes has a second verse as follows:

Baby shall have an apple,

Baby shall have a plum,

Baby shall have a rattle

When Daddy comes home.

* Dandling means a song that you bounce a baby or small child to on your knee in time with the rhythym.

Hey diddle diddle

Hey, diddle, diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Origin

This old nonsense rhyme is probably just that – nonsense, however some people have suggested that the cat is Elizabeth Ist and the dog is Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester who she once referred to as her ‘lap dog.’

Hey Diddle Diddle was a new dance accompanied by a fiddle according to a play written by Thomas preston in 1569.

Michelle Cheng kindly contacted me with the theory that the characters in this rhyme are actually constellations of stars, and the line, ‘the dish ran away with the spoon’ relates to the stars disappearing over the horizon.

Andy Bowers from the UK also suggested the following origin for this rhyme which certainly seem quite plausible. He says ….

“I understand that the origins date back to 1765.
It’s named after an old-fashioned pubcrawl along the A537 Macclesfield to Buxton road in Cheshire/Derbyshire UK. The pubs featured in the nursery rhyme were built in the early 1700s by wealthy stone quarry owners..
Hey Diddle Diddle The Cat and the Fiddle = The Cat and Fiddle public house, which is still trading..
The cow jumped over the moon = the Half Moon pub, which ceased trading long ago.
The little dog laughed to see such fun (The Setter Dog public house, which ceased trading in 2002, was built in 1740).
And the dish ran away with the spoon (The Dish and Spoon public house, which in very recent years has changed its name, currently Peak View Tearooms).
The pubs are about 6 miles apart. The I’m not surprised there was merriment and jumping over moons, fortified by strong ale!”

Here is a picture reproduced with kind permission of Andy Bowers of the The Setter Dog pub

Setter Dog Pub

Hush a bye baby

Hush a bye baby, on the tree top,
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock;
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
Down will come baby, cradle and all.

Nursery rhyme origin

This very popular rhyme probably originates from the days when women working in the hop fields, would tie their babies cradles to the branches of trees to allow the wind to rock them to sleep.

Another possibility is that a Pilgrim youth, a passenger on the Mayflower, wrote the rhyme after seeing the way Native American women rocked their babies in birchbark cradles.

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

Nursery rhyme origin

It is a very old rhyme and is known throughout Europe in very much the same form.
It’s possible however that ‘Humpty Dumpty’ refers to a powerful cannon used during the English Civil War (1642-49). It was mounted on top of the St Marys at the Wall Church in Colchester defending the city against seige in the summer of 1648 which fell ‘off the wall’ and couldn’t be mended.

Hot-cross buns! Hot-cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot-cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons,
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot-cross buns!
But if you have none of these little elves,
Then you may eat them all yourselves.

Nursery rhyme origin

This cry was heard on Good Fridays when these sacred, spicy buns were sold and eaten. The custom of eating buns on special days and holy days was probably introduced by the Romans.