Robbin, a bobbin, the big-bellied Ben,
He ate more meat than threescore men;
He ate a cow, he ate a calf,
He ate a butcher and a half;
He ate a church, he ate a steeple,
He ate the priest and all the people.
Notes
Here's a longer version from The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897):
ROBIN the Bobbin, the big-bellied Ben,
He ate more meat than fourscore men;
He ate a cow, he ate a calf,
He ate a butcher and a half;
He ate a church, he ate a steeple,
He ate the priest and all the people!
A cow and a calf,
An ox and a half,
A church and a steeple,
And all the good people,
And yet he complained that his stomach wasn't full.
Here's the version from The Little Mother Goose (1912), illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith:
ROBIN the Bobbin, the big-bellied Ben,
He eat more meat than fourscore men;
He eat a cow, he eat a calf,
He eat a hog and a half;
He eat a church, he eat a steeple,
He eat the priest and all the people!
A cow and a calf,
An ox and a half,
A church and a steeple,
And all the good people,
And yet he complain'd that his stomach wasn't full.
Photos & Illustrations
Thanks and Acknowledgements
A version of this rhyme can be found in A History of Nursery Rhymes (1899) by Percy B. Green.
The 1st illustration is from The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes (circa 1920) edited by Walter Jerrold (1865 - 1929) and illustrated by Charles Robinson (with some graphical editing of the above image by Lisa Yannucci). The 2nd illustration is from The Mother Goose; Containing All The Melodies The Old Lady Ever Wrote, edited By Dame Goslin (1850), with some graphical editing by Lisa Yannucci.
