Does Anyone Know a Song with the Line, “The Ship Sailed for the White Cliffs of Dover”?
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Contents
Posts
Does Anyone Know a Song with the Line, “The Ship Sailed for the White Cliffs of Dover”?
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Dan wrote,
I went to school in Chilton (England) when I was six (1972), in California now, and my class sang this song, but that is the only line I can recall, I even recall the melody…
“And when the journey was all over /
The ship sailed for the /
White Cliffs of Dover.”Anybody? Was it maybe a song about a ship with two cats and the crew were all mice, and when they got home all that was left were two fat cats?
Dan
If anyone can help Dan, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Lisa
Frere Jacques – Brother John with an MP3 Recording in French and English
Saturday, November 14th, 2009Here’s a nice recording of Frère Jacques in both French and English by Ezwa.
Here are the lyrics of the French and English versions of Frère Jacques. The version on the mp3 recording mixes these lyrics…
Frère Jacques,
Frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous?
Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines.
Sonnez les matines.
Ding, ding, dong.
Ding, ding, dong.Are you sleeping?
Are you sleeping?
Brother John,
Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing.
Morning bells are ringing.
Ding, dong, ding.
Ding, dong, ding.Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
There was an Old Woman All Skin and Bones – A Hallowe’en Song and Video
Saturday, October 24th, 2009I’ve posted several versions of this great Halloween song in the past… It’s called There Was an Old Woman All Skin and Bones.
Here’s yet another version below from Matt Vaughan and his friend Pam. They explain how to make it spookier for Halloween!
Here are the chords from Matt…
Am – Dm Am / Am Dm Am – ://There was an old woman all skin and bones
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
She lived down by the old graveyard
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
One night she thought she’d take a walk
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
She walked down by the old graveyard
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
She saw the bones a-laying around
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
She went to the closet to get a broom
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
She opened the door and…
BOO!Have a spooky-fun Halloween!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Song with the Line, “Summer Has Come from the Sunny Lands”?
Thursday, March 26th, 2009Geri wrote looking for help with a childhood song from England:
As a child in the UK (England) we used to sing a song at school (infant or juniors) that I thought started like this:
Summer has come from the sunny lands,
Summer is here again,
Bringing the birdies (not sure of this line)
In every woodland lane
Chirruping, chirruping high and low.*****
That is all I can remember.
This song has haunted me for years and I am now 65, it would be an old song from the late 40’s to the 50’s. I have searched and searched but found nothing I am not sure I have all the word’s down correctly but it does go something like that.
Can anyone help me please.
Thank you.
Geri
If anyone can help with this song, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Hindi Song about a Pussy Cat? It’s from an English Album – Also looking for the album!
Friday, February 20th, 2009Kathy emailed me asking for help finding a 30 year old album…
Hi Lisa,
My daughter had an album of children’s songs, which came out about 30 years ago. The album has long since disappeared but we really enjoyed one song on it. It starts off in English…
Pussy cat, pussycat with eyes so bright,
You sleep all day and you go out in the night,
There’s another line I can’t remember, and then..
…that a doggie doesn’t catch you up a tree!The singer then sings in Hindi (I think). It’s very lively – my daughter sang it all the time. Have you any idea where we can find it? Thanks,
Kathy
If anyone can help with the song or album, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe: How High Can You Do?
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
In my last blog post, I gave a couple of variations of One, Two, Buckle My Shoe that go up to the number twenty. It’s rare that this rhyme goes past that. When it does, it seems to be to play it as a ball bouncing game… how high can you go bouncing the ball?
This whole search for different variations of the One, Two, Buckle My Shoe rhyme, was all inspired by an email I received from Fran. She wrote…
Lisa, We used to do this rhyme up to 40 when we were kids. Have you ever heard the second part? I am trying to find the parts I can’t remember. Thanks, Fran
As I mentioned in my last post, most people know One, Two, Buckle My Shoe up to 10. Some people know it up to 20. Most people don’t know it past that. I myself had a hard time finding versions beyond 20. After some research, the highest I was able to find was 30. Given Fran’s email, there seems to be a version of this rhyme that goes up to forty. Do you know any versions that go that high?
Below are the different versions I found that go higher than twenty…
First are two versions that go up to twenty-four. They’re from Southern California Jump-Rope Rhymes: A Study in Variants by Ray B. Browne (Western Folklore, Jan. 1955). The first one was “Given as a ball bouncing game”…
One, two,
Buckle my shoe.
Three, Four,
Open the door.
Five, Six,
Pick up sticks.
Seven, Eight,
Lay them straight.
Nine, Ten,
A big fat Hen.Eleven, twelve,
Mind your self (or, roast ‘er well).
Thirteen, fourteen, maids are sporting.
Fifteen, sixteen, maids are kissing.
Seventeen, eighteen, maids are waiting.
Nineteen, twenty, maids are plenty.
Twenty-one, twenty-two,
If you love me as I love you
My knife can cut our love in two.
Twenty-three, twenty-four,
Mary at the kitchen door
Eating apples by the score.
One, two, three, four.[Original Source: Nebraska: Sue Hall, "That Spring Perennial-Rope Jumping!" Recreation, XXXIV (March, 1941), 713-716. (verbal changes only, 11. 1-2)]
Here’s a variation Brown gave on the second verse:
Eleven, twelve, in the well.
Thirteen, fourteen, boys are courting.
Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen.
Seventeen, eighteen, maids in waiting.
Nineteen, twenty, my plate is empty
(and sometimes ends,…
Twenty-four, Mary’s at the cottage door
Eating grapes upon a plate,
Five, six, seven, eight.)[Original Source: Paul G. Brewster, "Rope-Skipping, Counting-out, and other Rhymes of Children," SFQ, III (1939), 173-185. (verbal changes only, 11. 1-2)]
Western Folklore by California Folklore Society (1954) has the ending simply as:
Twenty-one, twenty-two,
If you love me as I love you
My knife can cut our love in two.The book 10,000 reasons for everything; How to win; Why you lost; Folklore supporting our best superstitions (1998), by William Carroll, has the ending as:
Twenty-one, twenty-two,
That will do.Beverly Flanigan, from the American Dialect Society, posted this: “I only know the 4-and-20 rhyme as the ending of ‘One, two, buckle my shoe’ which we chanted while trying to bounce a ball non-stop without grasping it or losing it (I can still do it!)”…
One, two, buckle my shoe
Three, four, shut the door
Five, six, pick up sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight
Nine, ten, a big fat hen
Eleven, twelve, dig and delve
Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting
Fifteen, sixteen, maids a-kissing
Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting
Nineteen, twenty, the larder is empty
Twenty-one, twenty-two, my old shoe,
Dressed in blue, died last night at half-past two,
Twenty-three, twenty-four, last night at half-past four,
Twenty-four burglars came up to my door;
I opened the door and let them in;
I knocked them down with a rolling pin!Finally, here’s an incomplete version of the rhyme that goes up to thirty. It’s from The Counting-out Rhymes of Children by Henry Carrington Bolton (1888). Bolton wrote that it was “Used in Wrentham Mass as early as 1780″…
One, two, buckle my shoe
Three, four, open the door
Five six, pick up sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight
Nine, ten, kill a fat hen
Eleven, twelve, bake it well
Thirteen, fourteen, go a courtin’
Fifteen, sixteen, go to milkin’
Seventeen, eighteen, do the bakin’
Nineteen, twenty, the mill is empty
Twenty-one, charge the gun
Twenty-two, the partridge flew
Twenty-three, she lit on a tree
Twenty-four, she lit down lower
Twenty-five*,
Twenty-six*,
Twenty-seven*,
Twenty-eight*,
Twenty-nine the game is mine,
Thirty make a kerchy.*Asterisks denote portions forgotten by the aged contributor.
If anyone knows of any other versions of One, Two, Buckle My Shoe that go higher than twenty, please let us know about it in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Illustration from “National Rhymes of the Nursery” (circa 1895), illustrated by Gordon Browne (with a little graphical editing by Lisa Yannucci).
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Most people know One, Two, Buckle My Shoe up to the number 10. Here’s a well-known version…
One Two,
Buckle my shoe.
Three, Four,
Open the door.
Five, Six,
Pick up sticks.
Seven, Eight,
Lay them straight.
Nine, Ten
Do it again.Some people know One, Two, Buckle My Shoe up to 20. Below is the version from Walter Crane’s The Buckle My Shoe Picture Book (1910). I’ve posted his illustrations after the rhyme…
One Two,
Buckle my shoe.
Three, Four,
Open the door.
Five, Six,
Pick up sticks.
Seven, Eight,
Lay them straight.
Nine, Ten,
A good fat Hen.Eleven, Twelve,
Ring the Bell.
Thirteen, Fourteen,
Maids are courting.
Fifteen, Sixteen,
Maids in the Kitchen.
Seventeen, Eighteen,
Maids in waiting.
Nineteen, Twenty,
My plate is empty.
Here’s another version that goes up to 20, from A Gift for All Seasons, edited by Lawrence Lovechild (1847)…
One, two, buckle my shoe ;
Three, four, open the door ;
Five, six, pick up sticks ;
Seven, eight, lay them straight ;
Nine, ten, a good fat hen ;
Eleven, twelve, I hope you ‘re well ;
Thirteen, fourteen, draw the curtain ;
Fifteen, sixteen, the maid ’s in the kitchen ;
Seventeen, eighteen, she ’s in waiting ;
Nineteen, twenty, my plate is empty ;
Please, mamma, to give me some dinner.The Counting-out Rhymes of Children by Henry Carrington Bolton gave this variation of the second part of this rhyme…
9, 10, a good fat hen,
11, 12, roast her well,
13, 14, boys a courtin’,
15, 16, girls a fixin’,
17, 18, maids a bakin’,
19, 20, weddings plenty.Check out more versions of One, Two, Buckle My Shoe on my nursery rhyme site.
Please feel free to post any versions of this rhyme that you know in the comments below.
Mama Lisa
Coming next on the blog: Versions of One, Two, Buckle My Shoe that go past the number 20!
Does Anyone Know the Song, “I’m a Little Chinese Doll from Across the Sea”?
Sunday, October 19th, 2008Sandy wrote looking for help with lyrics to a Chinese New Years song. Here’s what she wrote…
Looking for the entire words to an old song “I’m a Little Chinese Doll from across the sea. Where the lovely lotus blooms neath a cherry tree. Paper dragons you will meet on a Chinese New Year, Winding up and down the street on a Chinese New Year. Evil Spirits cannot stay when the dragon’s on his way. Firecrackers POP all day on a Chinese New Year…” Anyone ever heard this song and is there more of it? Please let me know, I need it for my little granddaughter to sing… She so loves it but we think there is more. Thanks for the help.
If anyone know of more lyrics to this song, or if you know anything about the origins of it, please let us know about it in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
The Hearse Song Animation for Halloween
Saturday, October 18th, 2008I’ve talked in the past about how all the kids in my neighborhood loved The Hearse Song when I was growing up. (We called the song The Worms Crawl In the Worms Crawl Out.) Evidently, we weren’t the only ones who loved this song. I’ve gotten many people writing in about the different versions of The Hearse Song they sang as kids.
Here’s an animation of a vampire singing the song from YouTube, for you to enjoy for Halloween. It’s followed by the lyrics to read along with while watching…
The Hearse Song
Didn’t you ever think, as a hearse goes by,
That you may be the next to die?They wrap you up in a big white sheet,
And bury you down in the 6 feet deep.They put you in a big black box,
And cover you up with dirt and rocks.And all goes well for about a week,
And then the coffin begins to leak.The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play pinochle on your snout.They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,
They eat the jelly between your toes.A great big worm with rolling eyes,
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes.Your stomach turns a slimy green,
And puss pours out like whipping cream.You spread it on a slice of bread,
And that’s what the worms eat, when you are dead.Have a spooky Halloween!
Mama Lisa
New Recordings of Some American Songs
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008Heather was nice enough to send me a few recordings of some American children’s songs that she did. She sent me mp3’s of the following songs:
I’m Popeye the Sailor Man (Spoof)
Don’t Put Your Trash in My Backyard/Fish and Chips and Vinegar
Animal Fair
Home on the Range/Oh Give Me a Home (the regular song and a spoof version)
Mmm mmm Went the Little Green Frog One Day
Eeny Meeny DesimeenyYou can click the link the links to access each song page.
We always welcome recordings of traditional songs to post on Mama Lisa’s World. Heather wrote about how she recorded her mp3’s:
“I recorded these on my iPod, edited them in Audacity, then exported them from Audacity as mp3’s.”
They sound really good! Thanks for sending these Heather!
Mama Lisa
PS If you’re interested in learning more, check out a blog post I wrote in the past for more on Recording onto the Computer.
Does Anyone Know the Song, “There were three little owls sitting in the barn inky dinky doo dum day”?
Saturday, September 27th, 2008Tricia wrote:
Hi Lisa,
I am really hoping you can help me with this. I am looking for the lyrics to a children’s song. I know the song starts out like this…
“There were three little owls sitting in the barn inky dinky doo dum day”.
My grandfather has always sung that to us, and he is dying. He has sang it to my children, and I would love to teach them the song in full for them to sing to him. If you could help me I would so appreciate it. It is really important to me. Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.
Tricia
If anyone can help Tricia with her song, please comment below.
Thanks in advance.
Lisa
Can Someone Help with a Swedish or English Nursery Rhyme?
Monday, September 15th, 2008Ronnie wrote:
My Father and uncle used to put us on their knees and bounce us and say this rhyme. Something about a fox. I don’t know if they were speaking Swedish or English (and pronouncing the words badly)…
“A raven come a walkin
a balkin, a talkin a piddlee peekin.”They’d start down at our bellies and work their hand up under our chins.
Have you ever heard of this?
Thank you for your time,
Ronnie LarsonIf anyone can help out with any information about this rhyme and/or provide the words to it, please comment below.
Thanks in advance!
Lisa
A Poem or Lullaby called “The Child Lulls Himself to Sleep”
Thursday, June 12th, 2008Here’s a beautiful poem, which can also be sung as a lullaby, by Walter de la Mare (1873 – 1956)…
THE CHILD LULLS HIMSELF TO SLEEP
“Hide and seek,” says the Wind
In the shade of the woods;
“Hide and seek,” says the Moon
To the hazel buds;
“Hide and seek,” says the Cloud,
Star on to star;
“Hide and seek,” says the Wave
At the harbour bar;
“Hide and seek,” say I
To myself, and step
Out of the dream of Wake
Into the dream of Sleep!Walter de la Mare.
Poems, Songs and Rhymes about Cleanliness and Washing Up
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008Kishan emailed me requesting a poem about cleanliness.
Here are some rhymes and poems I found that are generally about cleanliness, keeping clean or washing up…
First, here’s a traditional nursery rhyme that mentions having a clean face:
The Clock
There’s a neat little clock,
In the schoolroom it stands,
And it points to the time
With its two little hands.And may we, like the clock,
Keep a face clean and bright,
With hands ever ready
To do what is right.This next rhyme is about washing feet:
Marguerite
Marguerite, go wash your feet;
The board of health is ‘cross the street.Here’s a song you can sing when washing up or brushing teeth:
This is the Way We Wash our Hands
(To the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)This is the way we wash our hands
Wash our hands, wash our hands,
This is the way we wash our hands
In the afternoon (or “To keep us very healthy”)(You can continue with washing other body parts or substitute the line “This is the way we brush our teeth”.)
Here’s a song about washing away germs:
GERMS!
Wash your face and hands with soap,
Wash them every day!
Keeping clean by using soap
Will help keep germs awayFinally, below you’ll find an old poem called Cleanliness by Charles and Mary Lamb from around 1874. First I’ve given a shortened version that I found and after that you’ll find the full, longer version of it:
Cleanliness
All-endearing cleanliness,
Virtue next to godliness,
Easiest, cheapest, needfull’st duty,
To the body health and beauty;
Who that’s human would refuse it,
When a little water does it?Here’s the longer version:
Cleanliness
Come, my little Robert, near-
Fie! what filthy hands are here!
Who, that e’er could understand
The rare structure of a hand,
With its branching fingers fine,
Work itself of hands divine,
Strong, yet delicately knit,
For ten thousand uses fit,
Overlaid with so clear skin
You may see the blood within,-
Who this hand would choose to cover
With a crust of dirt all over,
Till it look’d in hue and shape
Like the forefoot of an ape!
Man or boy that works or plays
In the fields or the highways,
May, without offence or hurt,
From the soil contract a dirt
Which the next clear spring or river
Washes out and out for ever-
But to cherish stains impure,
Soil deliberate to endure,
On the skin to fix a stain
Till it works into the grain,
Argues a degenerate mind,
Sordid, slothful, ill-inclined,
Wanting in that self-respect
Which does virtue best protect.
All-endearing cleanliness,
Virtue next to godliness,
Easiest, cheapest, needfull’st duty,
To the body health and beauty;
Who that’s human would refuse it,
When a little water does it?If you know of any songs, rhymes, poems, or sayings about cleanliness or washing up, please let us know about them in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Give Info about a Song about a Mother Bathing Her Baby and the Baby Goes Down the Drainpipe?
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008Bettina wrote to me asking about a song:
20 years ago I was in Sale, Manchester as an Au Pair. Lorraine, the Mom in “my” family sometimes sang this song to her two boys Zac and Jake when they had their bath. I have never seen or heard it since then. Can anyone tell me something about this song? I didn’t ask her at the time and they don’t live at the address from back then anymore so I can’t ask her now.
Here it comes:
A mother was bathing her baby,
Bathing her baby one day.
The mother was fat, and the baby was thin,
Just like a skeleton wrapped up in skin.She only turned ’round for a minute,
To fetch some soap of the rag.
She only turned ’round for a minute,
But oh when she turned back…The baby had gone down the plughole,
The baby had gone down the plug.
He wasn’t too small to be bathed at all,
But should have been bathed in a jug.Now sailing away down the drainpipe,
Happy as happy can be,
Sailing away down the drainpipe,
Into the deep blue sea.I hope to get wiser on this quite dramatic song.
Bettina Damm
Sydals, DenmarkIf anyone knows anything about this song, please let us know about it in the comments below. If anyone would like to sing this song for us, we’d love to hear it!
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Song about a Frog with the Line, “Ring tong bell a dilla coy me”?
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008I recently received this question:
My welsh gran use to sing a song to my sisters and myself close to the following: “A little green frog hopped down to the brook singing ‘ring tong bell a dilla coy me’. A lily white duck came and gobbled him up singing ‘ring tong bell a dilla coy me’…”
I don’t remember the rest but would like to find out how it went so that I could sing it to my grandson. Thanks!
If anyone can help with the lyrics, please comment below.
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Song about an Acorn, most likely from Britain, with the line, “A little Brown Baby Round and Wee”?
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008Brenda wrote to me from Australia…
Dear Mama Lisa,
I am trying to find the words of a song our mother sang to us, and then to my children and I would like to sing to my grandsons about “A little Brown Baby Round and Wee”. It is a song about an acorn who fell down thru’ the treetops right to the ground but he wasn’t hurt at all. I can only remember bits and pieces of this song, I am not sure of its origin possibly English because of it being an acorn from the Oak Tree?
Hope one of your readers can help?
Brenda Taylor
Australia
If anyone is familiar with this song, please let us know about it in the comments below.
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
Does Anyone Know an English or Spanish Song Called “Now The Duck Is In The Stew Pot”?
Thursday, March 13th, 2008Cathy wrote to me looking for help with a song:
Hello,
I am looking for a song I learned as a child, years ago. It was called “Now The Duck Is In The Stew Pot”. I remember learning the English and Spanish version but cannot find it anywhere.
It goes something like this:
Now the duck is in the stew pot.
Come and look while it is red hot
All the neighbours hungry looking,
Come and watch while it is cooking…Does this sound familiar to you? If so, do you have both the English and Spanish lyrics?
Thanks in advance,
Cathy
I’m not familiar with this song. If anyone else can help, please comment below or email me.
Thanks in advance!
Lisa
Can Anyone Help with an English Song that Starts “Sing a song of winter…”?
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Krissy wrote to me from Germany, looking for help with an English song:
Hi Mama Lisa,
I wonder if you could help me.
At school – in our English lessons, which is long, long ago – we had learnt an English song, which I know the melody of and the beginning of the text.
For some other old songs I have found answers by “Google”, but not for my song which goes like that:
Sing a song of winter,
Happiness and fun.
Frosty nights and mornings
Tell us it’s begun.I would be very glad to hear from you.
Kind regards
Krissy from Germany
(Jadebusen/North Sea)If anyone can help with the lyrics to this song, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks in advance!
-Mama Lisa
________
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