I Love a Sixpence
I Love a Sixpence
Nursery Song
I love sixpence, pretty little sixpence,
I love sixpence better than my life;
I spent a penny of it, I spent another,
And took fourpence home to my wife.
Oh, my little fourpence, pretty little fourpence,
I love fourpence better than my life;
I spent a penny of it, I spent another,
And I took twopence home to my wife.
Oh, my little twopence, my pretty little twopence,
I love twopence better than my life;
I spent a penny of it, I spent another,
And I took nothing home to my wife.
Oh, my little nothing, my pretty little nothing,
What will nothing buy for my wife?
I have nothing, I spend nothing,
I love nothing better than my wife.
Notes
Here's the version that can be found in The Real Mother Goose (1916):
I love sixpence, a jolly, jolly sixpence,
I love sixpence as my life;
I spent a penny of it, I spent a penny of it,
I took a penny home to my wife.
Oh, my little fourpence, a jolly, jolly fourpence,
I love fourpence as my life;
I spent twopence of it, I spent twopence of it,
And I took twopence home to my wife.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Kolemegil L.S. for sending the full version of this rhyme.
The full version of this song can be found in, "Songs, Duets, Choruses, etc. ... as sung in the highly popular new broad comic extravaganza entertainment, yclept Giovanni in London; or, the Libertine reclaimed," by William Thomas Moncrieff, 1818.
The shorter version of this rhyme and the illustration can be found in The Real Mother Goose (1916), illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright.
