The terms "nursery rhyme" and "children's song" emerged in the 1820s, although this type of children's literature previously existed with different names such as Tommy Thumb Songs and Mother Goose Songs. [1] The first known book containing a collection of these texts was Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book , which was published by Mary Cooper in 1744. [2] The works of several scholars and collectors helped document and preserve these oral traditions as well as their histories. These include Iona and Peter Opie, Joseph Ritson, James Orchard Halliwell, and Sir Walter Scott. [3] While there are "nursery rhymes" which are called "children's songs", not every children's song is referred to as a nursery rhyme (example: Puff, the Magic Dragon, and Baby Shark). This list is limited to songs which are known as nursery rhymes through reliable sources.
Title | Other titles | Place of origin | Year first recorded [a] | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ah! vous dirai-je, maman | 'Oh! Shall I tell you, Mama' | France | 1774 [4] [5] | The earliest known printed publication was in volume two of Recueil de Romances by M.D.L. (Charles de Lusse). |
Aiken Drum | United Kingdom | 1820 [6] | The rhyme was first printed in 1820 by James Hogg in Jacobite Reliques . | |
Apple Pie ABC | United Kingdom | 1871 [7] | Edward Lear made fun of the original rhyme in his nonsense parody "A was once an apple pie". | |
Akka bakka bonka rakka | Norway | 1901 [8] | Nora Kobberstad's Norsk Lekebok (Book of Norwegian Games). [8] | |
All The Pretty Little Horses | 'All the Pretty Horses' or 'Hush-a-bye' | United States | 1903 [9] [b] | Early version by Maud McKnight Lindsay (1874–1941), a teacher from Alabama and daughter of Robert B. Lindsay. |
Arthur o' Bower | United Kingdom | 1805 [10] | Evidence of a letter by William Wordsworth. | |
A Wise Old Owl | 'There was an owl lived in an oak, wisky, wasky, weedle.' | United Kingdom | 1875 [11] | First published in Punch on April 10, 1875. |
A-Tisket, A-Tasket | United States | 1879 [12] | Originally noted in 1879 as a children's rhyming game. | |
A-Hunting We Will Go | Great Britain | 1777 [13] | Composed in 1777 by English composer Thomas Arne. | |
Akai Kutsu | Akai Kutsu (赤い靴, 'Red Shoes') | Japan | 1922 | Poem by Ujō Noguchi, a basis on factual events is disputed. |
Alphabet Song | Several other titles... [c] | United States | 1835 [14] | The melody in this format was first copyrighted in 1835 by Boston music publisher Charles Bradlee. |
Alouette | Canada | 1870 [15] | Mentiond in "A Pocket Song Book for the Use of Students and Graduates of McGill Colle". | |
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep | Great Britain | 1744 [16] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. | |
Baloo Baleerie | 'The Bressay Lullaby' | United Kingdom | 1949 [17] [18] | Alliterative nonsense based around the Scots word for lullaby, "baloo". |
Billy Boy | United States | 1912 [19] | Variant of the traditional English folk song "My Boy Billy", collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams. | |
Bingo | Several other titles... [d] | Great Britain | 1780 [20] [21] | Attributed the song to William Swords, an actor at the Haymarket Theatre of London. The identity of "Bingo" in the song is formally ambiguous. |
Bobby Shafto's Gone to Sea | 'Bobby Shafto' | United Kingdom | 1805 [22] | 18th century British politician Bobby Shafto is a likely subject for this song. |
Bye, Baby Bunting | Great Britain | 1731 [23] | A version of this rhyme was first published in 1731 in England. | |
Christmas Is Coming | United States | 1885 [24] | Origin unknown, the lyrics begin appearing in print in 1885. | |
Did You Ever See a Lassie? | United Kingdom United States | 1909 [25] | First published in 1909, in Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie Hubbell Bancroft. | |
Ding Dong Bell | 'Ding Dong Dell' | England | 1580 [26] | The earliest recorded reference to the rhyme is from John Lant, the organist of Winchester Cathedral in 1580. |
Do Your Ears Hang Low? | 'Do your balls hang low' | United Kingdom | 1900 [27] | "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" is a sanitized version of the original song. |
Doctor Foster | United Kingdom | 1844 [28] | The rhyme was first published in its modern form in 1844. | |
Down By The Station | 'Down at the Station' | United States | 1947 [29] | Written by Paul Mills and Slim Gaillard and first recorded by The Slim Gaillard Trio in 1947. [30] |
Finger Family | Unknown | 2007 [31] | Origin unknown, this song first appeared on YouTube in 2007. | |
For He's a Jolly Good Fellow | 'The Bear Went Over The Mountain' | France Great Britain | 1709 [32] | Allegedly composed the night after the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709. [33] |
Frog Went A-Courting | 'Frog Wen A-Courtin'' | Scotland England | 1549 [34] | First mentioned in The Complaynt of Scotland, it later appeared in 1611 as an English song by Thomas Ravenscroft. |
Georgie Porgie | 'Georgy Peorgy' | United Kingdom | 1841 [35] | Origin unknown, first appeared in The Kentish Coronal where the rhyme was described as an "old ballad". |
Girls and Boys Come Out to Play | 'Boys and Girls Come Out to Play' | Great Britain | 1708 [36] | The first two lines appeared in dance books in 1708. |
Goosey Goosey Gander | Great Britain | 1784 [37] | The earliest recorded version of this rhyme is in Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus published in London in 1784. | |
Green Gravel | United Kingdom | 1835 [38] | Version collected in Manchester in 1835. | |
Hark, Hark! The Dogs Do Bark | 'Hark, Hark' | Great Britain | 1788 [39] | This rhyme was first published in 1788. [39] |
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes | United Kingdom | 1912 [40] | Origin unknown, lyrics from this song are mentioned as early as 1912. | |
Hickory Dickory Dock | 'Hickety Dickety Dock' | Great Britain | 1744 [41] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. |
The Hokey Cokey | 'The Hokey Pokey' | United Kingdom | 1842 [42] | Included in Robert Chambers' Popular Rhymes of Scotland from 1842. |
Hot Cross Buns | Great Britain | 1767 [43] | This originated as an English street cry that was later perpetuated as a nursery rhyme. The words closest to the rhyme that has survived were printed in 1767. | |
Humpty Dumpty | Great Britain | 1797 [44] | The earliest known version was published in Samuel Arnold's Juvenile Amusements in 1797 [44] | |
Hush Little Baby | 'Hush Little baby, don't say a word' | United States | 1918 [45] | English folklorist Cecil Sharp collected and notated a version from Endicott, Franklin County, Virginia in 1918. |
I Can Sing a Rainbow | Several other titles... [e] | United States | 1955 | This was featured in the 1955 film Pete Kelly's Blues, where it was sung by Peggy Lee. |
Ichinensei Ni Nattara | When I Become A First-Grader (一年生になったら) | Japan | 1966 | This song was composed by Naozumi Yamamoto and written by the poet Michio Mado. |
If Wishes Were Horses, Beggars Would Ride | 'If wishes were horses' | England | 1628 [46] | First recorded about 1628 in a collection of Scottish proverbs. |
I Do Not Like Thee, Doctor Fell | England | 1680 [47] [48] | Allegedly translated by satirical English poet Tom Brown in 1680. | |
I Had a Little Nut Tree | Great Britain | 1797 [49] | The first recorded instance of the rhyme is in Newest Christmas Box, printed in London in 1797. | |
I'm a Little Teapot | United States | 1939 [50] | Originally written by George Harry Sanders and Clarence Z. Kelley and published in 1939. | |
I've Been Working On The Railroad | 'Working on the Railroad' or 'I Have Been Working on the Railroad' | United States | 1894 [51] | The first published version appeared as "Levee Song" in Carmina Princetonia, a book of Princeton University songs published in 1894. |
I Love Little Pussy | 'I Love Little Kitty' | United Kingdom | 1830 [52] | The poem is first recorded in The Child's Song Book published in 1830. |
It's Raining, It's Pouring | United States | 1912 [53] | The first two lines of this rhyme can be found in "The Little Mother Goose", published in the United States in 1912. | |
Jack Sprat | England | 1639 [54] | First appearance in John Clarke's collection of sayings. | |
Kookaburra | 'Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree' | Australia | 1932 [55] | Attributed to Marion Sinclair, who was a music teacher at Toorak College. |
Ladybird, Ladybird | 'Ladybug Ladybug' | Britain | 1744 [56] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. |
Little Boy Blue | England | 1744 [57] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. | |
Little Jack Horner | 'Little Jack Horner sat in a corner' | Great Britain | 1791 [58] | The earliest surviving English edition is from 1791. |
Little Miss Muffet | 'Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet' | United Kingdom | 1805 [59] | The rhyme first appeared in print in Songs for the Nursery. |
Little Robin Redbreast | Great Britain | 1744 [60] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. | |
Little Tommy Tucker | Great Britain | 1744 [61] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. | |
London Bridge Is Falling Down | 'My Fair Lady' or 'London Bridge' | Great Britain | 1744 [62] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. |
Lucy Locket | 'Lucy Locket lost her pocket' | United Kingdom | 1842 [63] | The rhyme was first recorded by James Orchard Halliwell. |
Mary Had a Little Lamb | 'Mary had a Little Lamb, Little Lamb, Little Lamb' | United States | 1830 [64] | First published by the Boston publishing firm Marsh, Capen & Lyon, as a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale on May 24, 1830. |
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary | Great Britain | 1744 [65] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. | |
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John | "Black Paternoster" | England | 1656 [66] | Thomas Ady's witchcraft treatise A Candle in the Dark, or, a treatise concerning the nature of witches and witchcraft. |
Miss Polly had a Dolly | Several other titles... [f] | United Kingdom | 1986 [67] | This song was published as early as 1986 by Maureen Sinclair in Glasgow Scotland. |
Monday's Child | United Kingdom | 1836 [68] | This rhyme was first recorded in A. E. Bray's Traditions of Devonshire (Volume II, pp. 287–288). | |
Needles and Pins | United Kingdom | 1842 [69] | First recorded in the proverbs section of James Orchard Halliwell's The Nursery Rhymes of England. | |
Old King Cole | Great Britain | 1709 [70] | The song is first attested in William King's Useful Transactions in Philosophy for January and February 1709. | |
Old Mother Hubbard | United Kingdom | 1805 [71] [72] | The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog is attributed to Sarah Catherine Martin (1768–1826). | |
On Top of Spaghetti | 'The Meatball Song' | United States | 1963 [73] | Children's parody by Tom Glazer of the song "On Top of Old Smoky". |
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe | '1, 2, Buckle My Shoe' | United States United Kingdom | 1805 [74] | While the first recorded version is of English origin, this song may go back to 1780 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. |
Oranges and Lemons | Great Britain | 1744 [75] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. | |
Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Baker's Man | "Pat-a-cake", "patty-cake" or "pattycake" | England | 1698 [76] | This rhyme first appears in Thomas D'Urfey's play The Campaigners from 1698. |
Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater | Great Britain | 1797 [77] | First published in Infant Institutes, part the first: or a Nurserical Essay on the Poetry, Lyric and Allegorical, of the Earliest Ages, &c., in London. | |
Peter Piper | United Kingdom | 1813 [78] | Published in John Harris' Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation in 1813. | |
Polly Put the Kettle On | United Kingdom | 1803 [79] | "Molly Put the Kettle On or Jenny's Baubie" was published by Joseph Dale in London. | |
Polly Wolly Doodle | 'Polly Wolly Doodle All Day' | United States | 1843 [80] | Sung by Dan Emmett's Virginia Minstrels, who premiered at New York's Bowery Amphitheatre. |
Pop Goes the Weasel | United Kingdom | 1852 [81] | By December 1852, "Pop Goes The Weasel" was a popular social dance in England. | |
Pussy Cat Pussy Cat | United Kingdom | 1805 [82] | The earliest record of the rhyme is publication in Songs for the Nursery. | |
Rain Rain Go Away | 'Rain, Rain Go Away, come again another day' | England | 1659 [83] | James Howell in his 1659 collection of proverbs noted "Raine, raine, goe to Spain: faire weather come againe". |
Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross | 'Ride a Cock Horse', 'Ride a White Horse to Banbury Cross' | Great Britain | 1784 [84] | The earliest surviving version of the modern rhyme can be found in Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus. |
Ring-a-Ring o' Roses | 'Ring Around the Rosie' | United Kingdom | 1881 [85] | Origin unknown, there is no evidence linking it to the Great Plague or earlier outbreaks of bubonic plague in England. |
Roses Are Red | Great Britain | 1784 [86] | A rhyme similar to the modern standard version can be found in Gammer Gurton's Garland . | |
Row, Row, Row Your Boat | United States | 1852 [87] | The earliest printing of the song has published lyrics similar to those used today, but with a different tune. | |
Rub-a-dub-dub | Great Britain | 1798 [88] | One early recorded version is in Christmas Box, published in London in 1798. | |
Shabondama | 'シャボン玉' or 'Soap Bubbles' | Japan | 1922 | Composed by Shinpei Nakayama with lyrics written by Ujō Noguchi. |
She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain | 'When She Comes', 'When the Chariot Comes' | United States | 1924 [89] | The earliest known recording of this song was by Henry Whitter on Okeh Records (OKeh 40063) in 1924. [g] |
Simple Simon | Great Britain | 1764 [90] | The verses used today are the first of a longer chapbook history first published in 1764. | |
Sing a Song of Sixpence | Great Britain | 1744 [91] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. | |
Skidamarink | 'Skinnamarink', 'Ski-dy-mer-rink-adink-aboomp', 'Skiddy-Mer-Rink-A-Doo' | United States | 1910 [92] | The initial version of the song was written by Felix F. Feist (lyrics) and Al Piantadosi (music) for the 1910 Charles Dillingham Broadway production The Echo. |
Solomon Grundy | United Kingdom | 1842 [93] | First collected by James Orchard Halliwell and published in 1842. | |
Soft Kitty | Poland | 1857 [94] | Władysław Syrokomla and Wiktor Każyński published a version of this song in 1857, in Pieśniach ludu polskiego ("Songs of the Polish people"). | |
Ten Little Indians | United States | 1868 [95] | Songwriter Septimus Winner created an elaborated version called "Ten Little Injuns" for a minstrel show. | |
The Farmer in the Dell | 'The Farmer's in his Den' | Germany | 1826 [96] | This rhyme was first recorded in Germany in 1826, as "Es fuhr ein Bau'r ins Holz". |
The Grand Old Duke of York | 'The Noble Duke of York' | England | 1642 [97] | First mentioned under the title 'Old Tarlton's song', attributed to the stage clown Richard Tarlton (1530–1588). |
The Lion and the Unicorn | Great Britain | 1708 [98] | In 1708, William King (1663–1712) recorded a verse very similar to the first stanza of the modern rhyme. | |
The Old Woman and Her Pig | 'The Old Woman who found a Silver Penny' | United Kingdom | 1806 [99] | "The True History of a Little Old Woman Who Found a Silver Penny" published by Tabart & Co. at No. 157 New Bond Street, London, for their Juvenile Library. |
The Queen of Hearts | Great Britain | 1782 [100] | Originally published in the British publication The European Magazine , vol. 1, no. 4, in April 1782 with lesser known stories. | |
The Three Jovial Huntsmen | United Kingdom | 1880 [101] | This is the title of a picture book illustrated by Randolph Caldecott, engraved and printed by Edmund Evans and published by George Routledge & Sons in London. | |
The Three Sisters | 'Jennifer Gentle' | United Kingdom | 1823 [102] | Given by Davis Gilbert in his supplement to "Some Ancient Christmas Carols in the West of England" in 1823. |
There Was a Crooked Man | United Kingdom | 1842 [103] | First recorded in print by James Orchard Halliwell in 1842. | |
There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe | Great Britain | 1784 [104] | The earliest printed version is in Joseph Ritson's Gammer Gurton's Garland . | |
There Was an Old Woman Who Lived Under a Hill | Great Britain | 1714 [105] | First appeared as part of a catch in The Academy of Complements. | |
This Is the House That Jack Built | 'The House That Jack Built' | Great Britain | 1755 [106] | Included in Nurse Truelove's New-Year's-Gift, or the Book of Books for Children, printed in London in 1755. |
This Old Man | Several other titles... [h] | United Kingdom | 1906 [107] | The origins of this song are obscure and possibly very old. The "first recorded" date refers to an early published version. |
Three Blind Mice | England | 1609 [108] | Published in Deuteromelia or The Seconde part of Musicks melodie (1609). | |
Three Little Kittens | United Kingdom United States | 1843 [109] | Published by Eliza Lee Cabot Follen in New Nursery Songs for All Good Children. [i] | |
Tinker, Tailor | England | 1695 [111] | The first record of the opening four professions being grouped together is in William Congreve's Love for Love (1695). | |
To Market, to Market | England | 1611 [112] | Based upon the traditional rural activity of going to a market or fair. | |
Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son | Great Britain | 1795 [113] | First published in a chapbook called Tom the Piper's Son. | |
Tweedledum and Tweedledee | United Kingdom | 1805 [114] | The familiar form of the rhyme was first printed in Original Ditties for the Nursery. | |
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star | United Kingdom | 1806 [115] | Written by Jane Taylor as "The Star" and first published in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery . | |
Wee Willie Winkie | United Kingdom | 1841 [116] [117] | First published in a collection of poems called Whistle-Binkie: Stories for the Social Circle. | |
Where, O Where Has My Little Dog Gone? | 'Der Deitcher's Dog' | United States | 1864 | Joseph Eastburn Winner first published this song as "Der Deitcher's Dog". |
Who Killed Cock Robin? | 'The Cock Robin Song' | Great Britain | 1744 [118] | First mentioned in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book. |
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod | 'Dutch Lullaby' | United States | 1889 | Written by American writer and poet Eugene Field and published on March 9, 1889. |
Title | Other titles | Place of origin | Date first recorded [a] | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
Animal Fair | United States | [119] | c. 1898Origin unknown, sung by minstrels and sailors as early as 1898. | |
As I was going by Charing Cross | 'As I was going to Charing Cross' | United Kingdom | [120] | c. 1845Origin unknown, the rhyme is thought to refer to the equestrian statue of Charles I. |
As I was going to St Ives | Great Britain | [121] | c. 1730Exact origin unknown. | |
Cock-a-Doodle Doo | Great Britain | [122] | c. 1765First full version recorded in Mother Goose's Melody, published in London around 1765 | |
Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling, My Son John | Great Britain | [123] | c. 1797The rhyme is first recorded in The Newest Christmas Box published in London around 1797. | |
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe | 'Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Mo' | Unknown [j] | [124] | < 1820Unknown |
Frère Jacques | 'Brother John', 'Are You Sleeping', 'Are you sleeping, Brother John?' | France | [125] | c. 1780The earliest version of the song's melody is on a French manuscript. |
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush | 'Mulberry Bush', 'This Is the Way', 'This is the way (we)' | England | [126] | c. 1750While the tune is from The Beggar's Opera , this was adapted into a children's game in the mid-nineteenth century. [127] |
Hey Diddle Diddle | 'Hi Diddle Diddle', 'The Cat and the Fiddle', 'The Cow Jumped Over the Moon' | Great Britain | [128] | c. 1765The rhyme itself may date back to at least the sixteenth century. Early medieval illuminated manuscripts depicting a cat playing a fiddle were also popular images. [129] |
How Many Miles to Babylon? | United Kingdom | [130] | c. 1801Origin unknown, but studies have suggested the rhyme may be older than attested. | |
Jack and Jill | 'Jack and Gill' | Great Britain | [131] | c. 1765|
Jack-a-Nory | Great Britain | [132] | c. 1760||
Jack Be Nimble | United Kingdom | [133] | c. 1815||
Lavender's Blue | 'Lavender Blue' | England | [134] | c. 1675|
Little Bo-Peep | 'Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep' | United Kingdom | [135] | c. 1805|
Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be? | 'Johnny's So Long at the Fair' | Great Britain | [136] | c. 1775|
One for Sorrow | Great Britain | [137] | c. 1780||
One, Two, Three, Four, Five | '1, 2, 3, 4, 5', '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Once I Caught A Fish Alive', 'One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Once I Caught A Fish Alive' | Great Britain | [138] | c. 1765|
Pease Porridge Hot | 'Peas Porridge Hot' or 'Pease Pudding Hot' | Great Britain | [139] | c. 1760|
Pretty Little Dutch Girl | United States | [140] | c. 1940||
Rock-a-bye Baby | 'Hush a bye Baby', 'Rock a Bye Baby on the treetop' | Great Britain | [141] | c. 1765|
Round and Round the Garden | United Kingdom | [142] | c. 1945||
See Saw Margery Daw | Great Britain | [143] | c. 1765||
Taffy was a Welshman | Great Britain | [144] | c. 1780||
This Little Piggy | 'This Little Pig' | Great Britain | [145] | c. 1760|
Three Wise Men of Gotham | Great Britain | [146] | c. 1765||
The Muffin Man | 'Do you know the muffin man?' | United Kingdom | [147] | c. 1820|
The Twelve Days of Christmas | Great Britain | [148] | c. 1800||
Two Little Dickie Birds | 'Two Little Black Birds' | Great Britain | [149] | c. 1765|
Wind the Bobbin Up | United Kingdom | [150] | c. 1895||
Yankee Doodle | Thirteen Colonies | [151] | c. 1755Written at Fort Crailo around 1755 by British Army surgeon Richard Shuckburgh while campaigning in Rensselaer, New York. |
Title | Other titles | Place of origin | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
Apples and Bananas | 'Oopples and Boo-noo-noos' | North America | |
Ants Go Marching | United States | The melody dates to 1863 as 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home'. | |
Backe, backe Kuchen | 'Bake a Cake, Bake a Cake' | Germany | The original form of the text with the rhymed list of ingredients can be found as early as 1450 in Maister Hannsen's von Wirtenberg Koch Cookbook. |
Bahay Kubo | 'Field House' | Philippines | Tagalog-language folk song from the lowlands of Luzon, Philippines. |
Chizhik-Pyzhik | 'Чи́жик-Пы́жик' | Russia | |
Come Follow Me (To the Redwood Tree) | 'Come Follow Me' | United States | |
Coulter's Candy | 'Ally Bally', 'Ally Bally Bee' [152] | United Kingdom | Advertising jingle for a aniseed-flavoured confectionery manufactured in Melrose. [153] |
Dandini Dandini Dastana | 'Dan-dini Dan-dini Dastana', 'Dandini', 'Dan-dini' | Turkey | |
Dong, Dong, Dongdaemun | '동, 동, 동대문' | Korea | Possibly borrowed from the German carol Lasst uns froh und munter sein. |
Down By the Bay | England | ||
Down Down Baby | 'Roller Coaster' [154] [155] | United States | Origin unknown, this has been used in various songs and media productions since the mid 20th century. [156] |
Eeper Weeper | 'Heeper Peeper' | England | |
Five Little Ducks | 'May Limang Pato Akong Nakita'[ citation needed ] | Unknown | |
Five Little Monkeys | '5 Little Monkeys', 'Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed', '5 Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed' | United States | Origin unknown, this song uses a similar tune to Hush, Little Baby and Shortnin' Bread. |
Five Little Speckled Frogs | '5 Green & Speckled Frogs' | United States | |
Foxy's Hole | England | Origin unknown, possibly from the 16th century. | |
Here Comes an Old Soldier from Botany Bay | 'Here Comes an Old Soldier' or 'Old Soldier | Unknown | This nursery rhyme is known in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom and dates to at least the late nineteenth century. [157] |
Johnny Johnny Yes Papa | Unknown | ||
Little Poll Parrot | United Kingdom | ||
Here We Go Looby Loo | 'Looby Loo', 'Loopty Loo', 'Loop de Loo', 'Here We Go Loopty Loo' | United States | |
I Have Two Hands | Philippines | ||
If You're Happy and You Know It | 'If You Are Happy and You're Know it' | United States | |
Itsy Bitsy Spider | 'Eensy Weensy Spider', 'Insey Winsey Spider', 'Incy Wincy Spider', 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' | England | |
John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt | Unknown | Origin unknown, some evidence places its roots with vaudeville and theatre acts of the late 19th century and early 20th century popular in immigrant communities. | |
Little Arabella Miller | Unknown | ||
Old MacDonald Had a Farm | 'Old McDonald Had a Farm', 'Old MacDonald', 'Old McDonald', 'Ol' McDonald', 'Ol' McDonald Had a Farm', 'Ol' MacDonald', 'Ol' MacDonald' | England | |
One Potato, Two Potato | 'One Potato, Two Potatoes' | Unknown | |
Poor Mary | 'Poor Jenny' or 'Poor Sally' | England | |
Star Light, Star Bright | United States | ||
Ten in the Bed | 'There were ten in the Bed', '10 in the Bed', 'There were 10 in the bed' | Unknown | Origin unknown, there is a picture book dating to 1988 which uses similar lyrics. |
Ten Green Bottles | 'Ten Green Bottles hanging on the wall', '10 Green Bottles hanging on the Wall', '10 Green Bottles' | Unknown | |
The Cat Sat Asleep by the Side of the Fire | England | ||
The More We Get Together | United States | ||
There Was a Man in Our Town | 'The Wondrous Wise Man' or 'There Wan a Man in Thessaly' | United Kingdom | |
Two Tigers | 'Two Little Tigers' or 'Liang Zhi Lao Hu' | China | |
Weddings and Funerals | England | ||
What Are Little Boys Made Of? | 'What Are Little Girls Made Of?' | United Kingdom | |
When I was a Bachelor | England | ||
Where is Thumbkin | United States |
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes.
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. The first recorded versions of the rhyme date from late eighteenth-century England and the tune from 1870 in James William Elliott's National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs. Its origins are obscure, and several theories have been advanced to suggest original meanings.
"Georgie Porgie" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has the Roud Folk Song Index number 19532.
"Jack Be Nimble" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13902.
"Solomon Grundy" is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19299.
"Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" is an English nursery rhyme, the earliest printed version of which dates from around 1744. The words have barely changed in two and a half centuries. It is sung to a variant of the 18th century French melody "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman".
A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied in some cultures more than others, they appear to be universal in human society.
"Tinker, Tailor" is a counting game, nursery rhyme and fortune telling song traditionally played in England, that can be used to count cherry stones, buttons, daisy petals and other items. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 802. It is commonly used by children in both Britain and America for "counting out", e.g. for choosing who shall be "It" in a game of tag.
"There Was a Crooked Man" is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 1826.
"As I was going by Charing Cross", is an English language nursery rhyme. The rhyme was first recorded in the 1840s, but it may have older origins in street cries and verse of the seventeenth century. It refers to the equestrian statue of King Charles I in Charing Cross, London, and may allude to his death or be a puritan satire on royalist reactions to his execution. It was not recorded in its modern form until the mid-nineteenth century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20564.
"Ding Dong Bell" or "Ding Dong Dell" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12853.
"Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top" is a nursery rhyme and lullaby. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 2768.
"Little Poll Parrot" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20178.
"Taffy was a Welshman" is an English language nursery rhyme which was popular between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19237.
"Eeper Weeper" or "Heeper Peeper" is an English nursery rhyme and skipping song that tells the story of a chimney sweep who kills his second wife and hides her body up a chimney. The rhyme has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13497.
"Girls and Boys Come Out to Play" or "Boys and Girls Come Out to Play" is a nursery rhyme that has existed since at least 1708. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 5452.
"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride" is a proverb and nursery rhyme, first recorded about 1628 in a collection of Scottish proverbs, which suggests if wishing could make things happen, then even the most destitute people would have everything they wanted. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20004.
'I Had a Little Nut Tree' is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3749. The song mentions a visit by the daughter of the King of Spain to request nutmeg and a pear. James Orchard Halliwell suggested that the song commemorates the 1506 visit of the Queen regnant Joanna of Castile to the English court of her brother-in-law, Henry VII. However, the oldest known version of the song dates to 1797.
I do not likethee, Doctor Fell is an epigram, said to have been translated by satirical English poet Tom Brown in 1680. Later it has been recorded as a nursery rhyme and a proverb.
"Arthur o' Bower" is a short British nursery rhyme or rhymed riddle originally published in 1805 but known, on the evidence of a letter by William Wordsworth, to have been current in the late 18th century in Cumberland. The title character is a personification of a storm wind, sometimes believed to represent King Arthur in his character as storm god or leader of the Wild Hunt. The Roud Folk Song Index, which catalogues folk songs and their variations by number, classifies this rhyme as 22839.
It is a variant of the traditional English folk song My Boy Billy, collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams and published by him in 1912 in Novello's School Songs.