Hark! Hark! The Dogs Do Bark
Hark! Hark! The Dogs Do Bark
Nursery Rhyme
Hark! hark! the dogs do bark,
The beggars are coming to town;
Some in rags and some in tags,
And some in silken gowns.*
Some gave them white bread,
And some gave them brown,
And some gave them a good horse-whip,
And sent them out of the town.
Notes
*Some versions read, "And some in velvet gowns."
Others read, "And one in a velvet gown."
The version from Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784) didn't have the second verse.
Here's the version from The Real Mother Goose (1916):
Hark, hark! the dogs do bark!
Beggars are coming to town:
Some in jags*, and some in rags,
And some in velvet gown.
*Jags can mean either a point on the edge of cloth to show the color of the undergarment or it can mean rags and tatters and shredded cloth.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
The 1st illustration comes from Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose (1881). The 2nd illustration comes from The Real Mother Goose (1916), illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright. The 3rd illustration is from On the Tree Top (1881) by Clara Doty Bates, illustrated by F.T. Merrill and Jessie Curtis. the 4th illustration can be found in The Sleeping Beauty Picture Book, illustrated by Walter Crane. Another image is from Traditional Nursery Songs of England with Pictures by Eminent Modern Artists edited by Felix Summerly (1843) with some graphical editing by Lisa Yannucci.
