Bobby Shafto's Gone to Sea
Bobby Shafto's Gone to Sea
Nursery Rhyme
Bobby Shafto's gone to sea,
With silver buckles at his knee;
He'll come back and marry me,-
Pretty Bobby Shafto!
Bobby Shafto's fat and fair,
Combing out his yellow hair,
He's my love for evermore,-
Pretty Bobby Shafto!
Notes
Here's a slightly different version from The Real Mother Goose (1916):
Bobby Shaftoe's gone to sea,
With silver buckles on his knee:
He'll come back and marry me,
Pretty Bobby Shaftoe!
Bobby Shaftoe's fat and fair,
Combing down his yellow hair;
He's my love for evermore,
Pretty Bobby Shaftoe.
The version below is from The Little Mother Goose (1912), illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith. There are only minor differences from the version just above:
Bobby Shaftoe's gone to sea,
Silver buckles on his knee;
He'll come back and marry me,
Pretty Bobby Shaftoe.
Bobby Shaftoe's fat and fair,
Combing down his yellow hair;
He's my love for evermore;
Pretty Bobby Shaftoe.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks and Acknowledgements
This rhyme can be found in Children's Literature, A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes (1920) by Charles Madison Curry and Erle Elsworth Clippinger.
Many thanks to Monique Palomares for creating the midi tune.
The illustration comes from The Real Mother Goose (1916), illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright.
