Lois wrote me:
I have a song I’d like to find – I remember my mother singing it to me (with many other songs) in the car on long drives but I haven’t been able to find it.
It’s in the pattern “I sold my ….. and bought me a ….” (I remember ‘sold horse/ bought cow’) – reminiscent of “Hush little baby, don’t say a word, Papa’s going to buy you a mocking bird…”.
The chorus goes:
“With my whim wham whaddle-o
Scrim scram scraddle-o
Bubble-o, pretty boy,
Over the brow.”I’m wondering if it may be English, as ‘brow’ doesn’t seem as likely to turn up in an American song (surmise).
Thanks!
Lois
This article was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2007 at 5:14 pm and is filed under British Children's Songs, Canada, Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, England, English, Languages, Questions, Readers Questions, United Kingdom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
2 Responses to “Is Anyone Familiar with a Song with the Line “”With My Whim Wham Whaddle-o””?”
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May 2nd, 2007 at 8:27 pm
There’s a version of this on John Langstaff’s CD “Songs for Singing Children.” It’s called The Swapping Boy.
It might also be in a book of his called “Jim Along Josie.”
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Thanks Laurel!
You can get to a site where you can hear a sound clip of The Swapping Boy by clicking the link.
I found this description of the book called The Swapping Boy which may help find the lyrics, “This book has the traditional ending: ‘And now the songbook’s back on the shelf,/If you want any more, you can sing it yourself!’ The author’s notes discuss the 500-year history and different versions of this children’s song ‘about the foolish boy.'”
-Lisa