Since it’s the Halloween time of year, and I know that a lot of people out there are interested in the line, “The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out”, I’m going to talk a little more about the earliest sightings of this line in print.
In my last blog entry, I mentioned that a similar line was seen in print in 1796, in a ballad called Alonzo the Brave and Fair Imogine, in a novel called The Monk, by Matthew Gregory Lewis.
There was also a nursery rhyme, which can be found in Gammer Gurton’s Garland’s 1810 edition, that has a similar line. It’s hard to tell if the nursery rhyme came before The Monk, and that Lewis took the line from a rhyme he already knew, or vice versa.
Here’s the nursery rhyme…
There Was a Lady All Skin and Bone
There was a lady all skin and bone,
Sure such a lady was never known:
It happened upon a certain day,
This lady went to church to pray.When she came to the church stile,
There she did rest a little while;
When she came to the church yard,
There the bells so loud she heard.When she came to the church door,
She stopped to rest a little more;
When she came to the church within,
The parson prayed ‘gainst pride and sin.On looking up, on looking down,
She saw a dead man on the ground;
And from his nose unto his chin,
The worms crawled out, the worms crawled in.*Then she unto the parson said,
Shall I be so when I am dead?
O yes! O yes! the parson said,
You will be so when you are dead.
*The Annotated Mother Goose quotes Gammer Gurton’s Garland, “This line has been adopted in the modern ballad of Alonzo and Fair Imogene.” Which implies that the nursery rhyme came first. Yet, from what I can tell, The Monk has the earliest use of the line in print.
If anyone knows of any earlier sightings of this line, please let us know in the comments below.
***
Here you’ll find other versions of The Hearse Song or The Worms Crawled In, The Worms Crawled Out. Feel free to add the version you know in the comments.
This article was posted on Saturday, October 28th, 2006 at 5:33 pm and is filed under Alonzo the Brave and Fair Imogine, British Children's Songs, British Folk Songs, Countries & Cultures, English, English Nursery Rhymes, Halloween, Halloween Songs, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Nursery Rhymes, The Hearse Song, The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out, There Was a Lady All Skin and Bone, United Kingdom, USA. 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.
22 Responses to “Old Nursery Rhyme with “The worms crawled out, the worms crawled in””
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October 30th, 2006 at 10:05 am
In school – in the 50’s and 60’s – we used to say:
‘Nobody likes me, everybody hates me
I’m going to eat some worms – big, fat, juicy ones, slop, slop, sloppy ones. I’m going to eat some worms.
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the worms play pinnochle on your snout
Nobody likes me, everybody hates me
I’m going to eat some worms !’
October 31st, 2006 at 8:18 pm
This is what we have sung in the 137th Scout Group since
the early 70’s…
Nobody likes me everybody hates me think I’ll go and eat worms
Big fat juicy ones – small thin skinny ones
see how they wiggle and squirm
well, you bite off the head and you suck out the juice and
you throw the skin away
Nobody knows how I can Live on three worms every day
February 12th, 2007 at 4:15 am
When I was little I remember it going some thing like this:
‘Nobody likes me, everybody hates me
I guess I’ll go eat worms – big, fat, juicy ones, long thin skinny ones. All different types of worms.
They crawl in, they crawl out, they play pinochle on your snout.
They wrap you up in a clean white sheet and then they bury you six feet deep! Your stomach turns a gaspy green and pus comes out like whipping cream, you spread it on a piece of bread and that’s what you eat when you are dead…..’
March 29th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Here is the version my mom taught me….
The worms crawl in the worms crawl out.
In your stomach and out your mouth.
They eat your eyes, they eat your nose, they eat the goody between your toes.
Your stomach turns to grassy green and pus rolls out like whipping cream.
They spread it on a piece of bread and eat it while you lay there dead
September 30th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
this is the version i was taught
Did you ever think when a hearse goes by
That you might be the next to die
They wrap you up in a bloody sheet
And throw you in about six feet
You’re okay for about a week
Unless your casket springs a leak
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
The worms play pinochle on your snout
Your liver turns a lusty green
Your guts squirt out like shaving cream
You wrap it up in a piece of bread
And that’s what you eat when you are dead
November 5th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
This is the one I learned from my mom…
They wrap you up in a clean white sheet
And bury you down about six feet deep
Every thing goes well for about a week
And then your coffin begins to creak
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
The worms they pinochle on your snout
Your back caves in
Your eyes pop out
And your stomach explodes
And your guts roll out
Your stomach, it turns to a slimy green
And pus squirts out like shaving cream
You spread this on some moldy bread
And thats what you eat when you are dead.
November 17th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
the worms crawl in
the worms crawl out
in through your belly and out through your mouth
your hair turns gray
your teeth decay
and that is the end of a perfect day!
that is the version I remember
a friend’s mother sang it as she tickled
her baby daughter’s belly. I recall
mother & baby laughing –
as I watched on as a child
I didn’t quite get it.
November 24th, 2007 at 9:33 am
Woman in a churchyard sat
Oo oo oo oo ah ah ah ah
She was very short and fat
Oo oo oo oo ah ah ah ah
She was very short and fat
Oo oo oo oo ah ah ah ah
Saw three corpses carried in
Oo oo oo oo ah ah ah ah
They were very long and thin
Oo oo oo oo oh ah ah ah ah
The worms crawled in and the worms crawled out
oo oo oo oo ah ah ah ah
They went in and they came out stout
Woman to the corpses said
Oo oo oo oo ah ah ah ah
“Will I be like you when I am dead?”
Oo oo oo oo ah ah ah ah
Corpses to the woman said
“Aaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhh!”
(I sang this as a Girl Guide sitting in a circle with the lights out. We linked arms ans swayed as we sang. The final line was a piercing scream which terrified those who’d never sung it before!
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I have heard a very old recording of this song, sung by two, in a wonderfull harmony. I would love to find this recording again, but i don’t know where to look. The lyrics are a bit different. “It happened on a holiday, that lady went to church to pray” and rather than “rested” it says “tarried” which is such a nice word for waiting or wasting time.
Also, rather than Parson, it used the word Sexton.
February 11th, 2010 at 2:28 am
Have you ever thought when a hearse went by
that maybe you’ll be the next to die?
They wrap you up in a bloody sheet
and throw you down six odd feet.
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
they play pinochle in your snout.
They eat the goo between your toes
and pus comes out like soft whipped cream.
Whoops I forgot my spoon!
September 15th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Did you ever think when a hearse goes by
That you might be the next to die
They wrap you up in a bloody sheet
And throw you in about six feet deep
You’re okay for about a week
Unless your casket springs a leak
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
The worms play pinochle on your snout
Your liver turns, your guts come out.
Your eyes pop open and goo runs out.
You sop it up with a piece of bread.
And that’s what you eat when you are dead.
May 31st, 2011 at 4:37 pm
The version my mother rembered goes like this
Did you ever wonder when you saw a hearse go by
That you would be the next to die
They wrap you in a big black sheet
and bury you in the ground six feet
Everything goes fine for about a week
and then your coffin begins to leak
The worms march in and the worms march out
Your eyes fall in and your teeth fall out
Your tummy turns to a sicknin green….
…Good evening friends…. (this part is done in a singsong voice)
They eat your eyes
They eat your nose
They eat the jelly between your toes….
She said there was more to the version she knew but cannot remember the rest.
November 12th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
The version I remember, which is similar to the rest, is:
Did you ever see a hearse go by,
And think that you’d be the next to die?
They wrap you up in a dirty old sheet
And throw you in a hole about eight feet deep.
All goes well for about a week
And then the coffin begins to leak.
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The ants play pinochle on your snout.
Your blood it turns a slimy green,
And pus comes out like thick whipping cream.
And me without my spoon…boom, boom.
February 18th, 2012 at 11:50 am
I know this version
Knowbody likes me
Everybody hates me
Think I’ll go and eat worms
Big, fat, juicy one’s
Little, thinny, skinny one’s
Worms that squirm and squirm
Bit their head of slurp
Thats juicy
knowbody know
How much I grows
On worms three times a day.
February 18th, 2012 at 11:52 am
Knowbody likes me
Everybody hates me
Think I’ll go and eat worms
Big, fat, juicy one’s
Little, thinny, skinny one’s
Worms that squirm and squirm
Bit their head of slurp
Thats juicy
Throw their skins away
knowbody know
How much I grows
On worms three times a day.
May 19th, 2017 at 2:10 pm
My grandfather used to recite this poem to me, my sister and my cousins in the early 1960s. He would gradually lower his voice drawing us closer and closer until after the section:
Then she unto the parson said,
Shall I be so when I am dead?
spoken in almost a whisper, he would shout “YES” !!!
Despite hearing it many times it always made us jump.
July 7th, 2017 at 3:18 am
We used to sing a version that began with Nobody likes me… and ends with see how they wiggle and squirm. Don’t recall the rest but know there wasn’t anything about snouts or slurping. Anyone know of a sanitized version suitable for parental and younger siblings ears.
March 19th, 2018 at 5:58 am
So my mom would sing this one to me because I asked and I saw it in a school library book so here is my version:
Did 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 from your head down to your feet.
The worms crawl in, and the worms crawl out.
Into your stomach and out your snout.
Your hair falls out and they eat your eyes.
Did you ever think as a hearse goes by that you may be the next to die.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:46 pm
I was taught this Ulster version by my Granny around 1975, I think she left all the gory bits out
“Whenever you see a Hearse go by,
remember too, that you must die,
Hey Ho, Hey Ho, How happy we will be.
Well the worms crawl in
and the worms crawl out,
they crawl in thin,
and they crawl out stout,
Hey Ho, Hey Ho, How happy we must be”
September 25th, 2020 at 4:00 pm
I didn’t understand this line “Shall i be so when i am dead? You’ll be so when you are dead.” Please,someone tell me.
May 31st, 2022 at 12:26 am
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out in your stomach and out your mouth. A traveler sees a hearse go by, now I think your going to die.
August 6th, 2022 at 3:00 pm
So many folk variations, I love it! Dad use to recite and act it out. It was the funniest thing as a young kid. His version went like this:
Have you ever seen the graveyard go by, wondering if you’re the next one to die? They put you in a big white sheet , and bury you under six feet deep. The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the ants play pinochle on your scalp. Your guts turn mushy green, aww man I forgot my spoon but I got my fork *slurp swallow* mmmm.