1
To market
To market, to market,
To buy a plum bun:
Home again, home again,
Market is done.
2
Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
3
Ding-dong-bell
Ding-dong-bell,
Pussy’s in the well!
Who put her in?
Little Tommy Lynn.
Who pulled her out?
Little Jack Sprout.
What a naughty boy was that
To drown a pretty pussy cat,
Who never did any harm
But killed the mice in his daddy’s barn.
4
Little Poll Parrot
Little Poll Parrot
Sat up in a garret,
Eating toast and tea.
A little brown mouse
Jumped into the house
And stole it all away.
5
Cock-a-doodle-do!
Cock-a-doodle-do!
My dame has lost her shoe;
My master’s lost his fiddle-stick,
Alack! what shall I do?
Cock-a-doodle-do!
What is my dame to do?
Till master finds his fiddle-stick,
She’ll dance without a shoe.
Cock-a-doodle-do!
My dame has lost a shoe.
But master’s found his fiddle-stick,
Sing doodle, doddle-do!
Cock-a-doodle-do!
My dame will dance with you,
While master fiddles with fiddle-stick
For dame and doodle-do!
6
Little Jack-a-dandy
Little Jack-a-dandy
Wanted sugar-candy,
And fairly for it cried.
But little Billy Cook,
Who always reads a book,
Shall have a horse to ride.
7
Bye-baby-bunting
Bye-baby-bunting,
Daddy’s gone a-hunting,
To buy a little rabbit skin
To wrap up little baby in.
8
Rock-a-bye
Rock-a-bye, baby, on the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock,
When the wind lulls, the cradle will fall,
Down will come baby and cradle and all.
9
Sing hey diddle diddle
Sing hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed
To see such craft,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
10
The rose is red
The rose is red, the violet’s blue,
The honey’s sweet, and so are you.
Thou art my love, and I am thine,
I draw thee for my Valentine.
The lot was cast, and then I drew,
And Fortune said it should be you.
11
Rub-a-dub
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub.
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker,
The candlestick maker;
Turn ’em out, they’re knaves all three.
12
Little Dicky Diller
Little Dicky Diller,
Married a wife of siller,
He took a stick and broke her back
And sold her to the miller.
The miller said he wouldn’t have her,
So he threw her into the river.
13
Bah! bah! White Sheep
Bah! bah! White Sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, marry, have I
Three bags full.
There’s one for my master,
And one for my dame,
But none for the naughty boy
Who cries in the lane.
14
Pat-a-cake
Pat-a-cake! Pat-a-cake! Baker’s man;
Pat it and bake it as fast as you can.
Prick it and prick it, and mark it with C,
And that will do purely for Charlie and me.
15
Birds of a feather
Birds of a feather flock together,
And so will pigs and swine.
Rats and mice will have their choice,
And so will I have mine.
16
Pussy-cat
Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?
I’ve been to London to see the Queen.
Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there?
I frightened a little mouse under the chair.
17
Goosie, goosie gander
Goosie, goosie gander,
Whither do you wander?
Upstairs, downstairs, in my lady’s chamber.
With a quack, quack, quack.
Call for a cup of sack
And a little sugar and ginger.
18
Humpty-dumpty
Humpty-dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty-dumpty had a great fall;
Not all the king’s horses, nor all the king’s men
Can put Humpty-dumpty on the wall again.
19
Yanky Doodle
Yanky Doodle came to town,
How do you think they served him?
One took his bag, another his gown,
The quicker for to starve him.
20
Dickery, dickery, dock
Dickery, dickery, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
And down he run;
Dickery, dickery, dock!
21
Wee Willie Winkie
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs in his night gown,
Tapping at the window, crying at the lock,
‘Are the babes in their beds, for now it’s ten o’clock?’
22
Old King Cole
Old King Cole
Was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe,
And he called for his glass,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
Every fiddler, he had a fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he.
Twee-tweedle-dee, tweedle-dee, went the fiddlers.
Oh, there’s none so rare
As can compare
With King Cole and his fiddlers three.
23
Cobbler, cobbler
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,
Give it a stitch, and that will do.
Here’s a nail, and there’s a prod,
And now my little maid’s well shod.
24
Simple Simon
Simple Simon met a pieman
Going to the fair;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
‘Let me taste your ware.’
Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
‘Show me first your penny.’
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
‘Indeed I have not any.’
Simple Simon went a-fishing
For to catch a whale;
All the water he had got
Was in his mother’s pail.
Simple Simon went to look
If plums grew on a thistle;
He pricked his fingers very much,
Which made poor Simon whistle
25
One, two, buckle my shoe
One, two, buckle my shoe;
Three, four, shut the door;
Five, six, pick up sticks;
Seven, eight, lay them straight;
Nine, ten, a good fat hen;
Eleven, twelve, who will delve?
Thirteen, fourteen, draw the curtain;
Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen;
Seventeen, eighteen, who is waiting?
Nineteen, twenty, my stomach’s empty,
Please, mamma, give me some dinner.
26
Whimma whimmee
‘Whimma whimmee wobble, O!
Jigga-jiggee-joggle, O!
Little boys a wobble, O! lived under the gloam.’
This from Somersetshire; another from Yorkshire is:—
‘Withamy, widy, waddle, O!
Jack has sold his saddle, O!
Bubble ho! pretty boy, over the brow.’
27
‘I’ll give you a chicken
‘I’ll give you a chicken that has no bone,
I’ll give you a cherry without any stone,
I’ll give you a ring without any rim,
And I’ll give you an oak that has no limb.’
‘I’ll give you a home wherein you may be,
Where you may be kept fast without any key.’
‘O my heart is the house wherein you may abide,
And not a key is wanted to keep you inside.’
28
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday Dear (name)
Happy Birthday to You.
From good friends and true,
From old friends and new,
May good luck go with you,
And happiness too.
29
Row Your Boat
Row row – row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream!
Row row – row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
If you see a crocodile,
Don’t forget to scream!
Row row – row your boat,
Gently to the shore,
If you see a dinosaur,
Don’t forget to roar!!
30
Red Light Yellow Light
Red light, red light
What do you say?
I say stop-stop
Right away.
Yellow light, yellow light
What do you say?
I say wait-wait
Right away
Green light, green light
What do you say?
I say go-go
Go away.
31
Kookaburra
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh,
Kookaburra! Gay your life must be
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop,
Kookaburra! Leave some there for me
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop,
Kookaburra! That’s not a monkey that’s me