USING THIS SERIES: More Rhymes

In addition to the rhymes that Miss Natalie adapted to music for the Cabinet of Wonder series, we’ve gathered other Mother Goose’s poems for you to enjoy. 

One Two, Buckle My Shoe
One two, buckle my shoe,
Three, four, shut the door,
Five, six, pick up sticks,
Seven, eight, lay them straight,
Nine, ten, a good fat hen!

Pease Porridge

Pease porridge hot,
Pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot,
Nine days old.
Some like it hot,
Some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot,
Nine days old.

Pat-a-Cake

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man,
Bake me a cake, as fast as you can.
Pat it, prick it, and mark it with B,
Put it in the oven for baby and me.

Wee Willie Winkie
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs, downstairs in his night gown.
Tapping at the windows, crying through the locks,
“Are the children in their beds?” 

It’s eight o’clock.

Jack-a-Dandy

Handy Pandy, Jack-a-Dandy,
Loves plum cake and sugar candy.
He bought some at a grocer’s shop,
And out he came hop, hop, hop!

The Muffin Man
Do you know the Muffin Man,
The Muffin Man, the Muffin Man?
Do you know the Muffin Man
Who lives in Drury Lane?

Mistress Mary

Mistress Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockleshells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

Rings on Her Fingers

With rings on her fingers
And bells on her toes,
She shall have music
Wherever she goes.

Rock-a-Bye, Baby

Rock-a-bye baby, your cradle is green,
Father’s a nobleman, mother’s a queen,
And Betty’s a lady, and wears a gold ring,
And Johnny’s a drummer, and drums for the king.

Smiling Girls, Rosy Boys

Smiling girls, rosy boys,
Come and buy my little toys,
Monkeys made of gingerbread
And sugar horses tinted red.

Milkman, Milkman

Milkman, Milkman, where have you been?
“In Buttermilk Channel up to my chin,
I spilt my milk, and I spoilt my clothes,
And got a long icicle hung to my nose.”

A Sailor Went to Sea
A sailor went to sea, sea, sea,
To see what she could see, see, see.
But all that he could see, see, see,
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea.

Bobby Shaftoe
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 forevermore,
Pretty Bobby Shaftoe.

My Son John

Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John
Went to bed with his trousers on,
One shoe off and one shoe on.
Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John.

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie!
When the pie was open, the birds began to sing.
Wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the king?

The king was in his counting house,
Counting out his money.
The queen was in the parlor,
Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes,
Down came a blackbird
And pecked upon her nose.

Tommy Was a Piper’s Son

Tommy was a piper’s son,
He learned to play when he was young.
And all the tune that he could play
Was over the hills and far away,
“Over the hills is a great way off,
The wind shall blow my top-knot off.”

The Man in the Wilderness

The man in the wilderness asked of me
How many strawberries grow in the salt sea?
And I answered him as I thought good,
As many a ship sails in the wood.

The man in the wilderness asked me why
His hen could swim and his pig could fly?
And I answered him, as I thought best,
They were both born in a cuckoo’s nest.

The man in the wilderness asked me to tell
All the sands in the sea and I counted them well.
He said with a grin, well, not one more?
I answered him, you go make sure.

Cuckoo, Cherry Tree
Cuckoo,
Cherry tree,
Catch a bird
And give it to me.

Reuben and Robin
Up in the green orchard there is a green tree,
The finest of pippins that ever you’ll see.
The apples are ripe, and ready to fall,
And Reuben and Robin shall gather them all.

I Had a Little Hen

I had a little hen, the prettiest ever seen,
She washed up the dishes, and kept the house clean.
She went to the mill to fetch me some flour,
She brought it home in less than an hour.
She baked my bread, she brewed my ale,
She sat by the fire and told a fine tale.

A Farmer Went Trotting

A farmer went trotting upon his gray mare,
Bumpety, bumpety, bump,
With his daughter behind him, so rosy and fair,
Lumpety, lumpety, lump.

Owl in the Oak
There was an owl who lived in an oak,
Wisky, wasky, weedle.
And every word he ever spoke
Was fiddle, faddle, feedle!

The King of China’s Daughter
The King of China’s daughter,
So beautiful to see,
With her face like yellow water,
Left her nutmeg tree.

Her little rope for skipping
She kissed and gave it me,
Made of painted notes of singing-birds
Among the fields of tea.

I skipped across the nutmeg grove,
I skipped across the sea,
But neither sun nor moon, my dear,
Has yet caught me.

I Had a Little Husband
I had a little husband no bigger than my thumb.
I put him in a pint pot, and there I bid him drum.
I bought a little handkerchief to wipe his little nose,
And a pair of little garters to tie his little hose.

Robbin the Bobbin
Robin the Bobbin, the big bouncing ben,
He ate more meat than fourscore men.
He ate a cow, he ate a calf,
He ate a butcher and a half,
He ate a church,
He ate a steeple,
He ate the town and all the people!

When I Was a Little Boy
When I was a little boy, 

I lived by myself,
And all the bread and cheese I had 

I put upon a shelf.

The rats and the mice, 

They made such a strife,
I had to go to London 

To get myself a wife.

The streets so broad, 

And the lanes so narrow,
I had to bring her home

In an old wheelbarrow.

The wheelbarrow broke, 

And my wife had a fall,
And down came the wheelbarrow, 

Wife and all.

Old Woman Tossed Up in a Basket
There was an old woman tossed up in a basket,
Seven times as high as the moon.
What she did there, I cannot tell you,
But in her hand she carried a broom.

“Old woman, old woman, old woman,” said I,
“Tell me why you fly so high?”
“I sweep the cobwebs from the sky.”

Once in My Life
Once in my life I married a wife,
And where do you think I found her?
On Gretna Green, in velvet sheen,
With brambles all around her.

Risselty Rosselty
I married my wife in the month of June.
Risselty rosselty, now, now, now!
I carried her off in a silver spoon.
Risselty rosselty, hey bombosity, nickety nackety,
Rustical quality, willaby wallaby, now, now, now!

She combed her hair but once a year.
Risselty rosselty, now, now, now!
With every rake she gave a tear.
Risselty rosselty, hey bombosity, nickety nackety,
Rustical quality, willaby wallaby, now, now, now!

She swept the floor, but once a year.
Risselty rosselty, now, now, now!
She swore that brooms, they cost too dear.
Risselty rosselty, hey bombosity, nickety nackety,
Rustical quality, willaby wallaby, now, now, now!

Bonny Lass!

Bonny lass! Bonny lass!
Will you be mine?
You shall neither wash dishes
Nor serve the wine,
But sit on a cushion and sew up a seam,
And you shall have strawberries, sugar, and cream.

Girls and Boys
Girls and boys, come out to play,
The moon does shine as bright as day.
Leave your supper and leave your sleep,
And come meet your playfellows down the street.

Come with a whoop, and come with a call,
And come with good will or not at all.
Up the ladder and down the wall,
A halfpenny roll will serve us all.
You find milk and I’ll find flour,
And we’ll have pudding in half an hour.

How Many Miles to Babylon?

How many miles to Babylon?
Threescore miles and ten.
Can I get there by candlelight?
Yes, and back again.

Big A, Little a

Big A, little a, bouncing B,
The cat’s in the cupboard, and she can’t see.

Little Lad, Little Lad
Little lad, little lad,
Where were you born?
Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn,
Where they sip buttermilk
With a ram’s horn.
And a pumpkin scooped
With a yellow rim
Is the bonny bowl they breakfast in.

Monday’s Child
Monday’s child is fair of face.
Tuesday’s child is full of grace.
Wednesday’s child is full of woe.
Thursday’s child has far to go.
Friday’s child is loving and giving.
Saturday’s child works hard for a living.
But the child born on Sabbath day
Is bonny, blithe, and good and gay.

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider 
The itsy-bitsy spider 

climbed up the waterspout.

Down came the rain
And washed the spider out.
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
And the itsy-bitsy spider 

climbed up the spout again.

Little King Boggen
Little King Boggen he built a fine hall,
Pie-crust and pastry-crust, that was the wall.
The windows were made of black-puddings and white,
And slated with pancakes, you ne’er saw the like.

Said John to Joan
Said John to Joan, will you marry me?
My cow, my calf, my house, my rents,
And all my land and tenements,
My Joan, will that not do?
I cannot come each day to woo.

I’ve corn and hay in the barn hard by,
And three fat hogs pent up in a sty.
I have a mare, and she’s coal black,
I ride on her tail to save her back.

I have cheese upon the shelf,
And I cannot eat it all myself.
I’ve three good coins tied in a rag
In the nook of the chimney instead of a bag.

Two Birds on a Stone
There were two birds sitting on a stone.
One flew away, and then there was one.
The other flew away, and then there was none.
So, the poor little stone was left all alone.

One of these birds back again flew,
The other came after, and then there were two.
Said one to the other, “How do you do?”
“Very well, thank you, and how are you?”

Fiddle Cum Fee
A cat came fiddling out of a barn,
With a pair of bagpipes under her arm.
She could sing nothing but “fiddle cum fee,”
The mouse has married the bumblebee!
Pipe, the cat!
Dance, the mouse!
We’ll have a wedding at our good house.