Bought Me A Cat (Farmyard Song)

 The "Bought Me A Cat or Farmyard Song" (Roud number 544) is a cumulative song about farm animals, originating in the British Isles and also known in North America.

It is known by various titles, such as:

• "I Bought Me a Cat"
• "I Love My Rooster"
• "I Bought Me a Horse"
• "My Cock Crew"
• "The Green Tree"
• "The Barnyard Song"
• "There Was An Old Man of Tobago"

In the first verse, the narrator tells of buying or having a rooster, cat, horse or other animal, feeding them under a tree, and the call the animal makes. Each subsequent verse introduces a new animal, then repeats the calls of the animals from previous verses. 

There were several versions known in the Thames Valley in the early part of the 20th century. A version collected in Bampton, Oxfordshire around 1916 began as follows:

The very first thing my mother bought me,
It was a hen, you may plainly see;
And every time I fed my hen,
I fed her under the tree.

My hen went chick-chack,
My cock went cock-a-te-too;
Here's luck to all my cocks and hens,
And my cock-a-doodle-do.

Musicologists Loraine Wyman and Howard Brockway collected "The Barnyard Song" in Kentucky in 1916. This version began,

I had a cat and the cat pleased me,
I fed my cat under yonder tree.
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee. 

Some American variants are not cumulative, but instead group all the animal calls together at the end of the song. 

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

Bought me a cat and the cat pleased me. I fed my cat under yonder tree.

Cat goes "fiddle-i-fee".

Bought me a hen and the hen pleased me. I fed my hen under yonder tree.

Hen goes "chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck",

Cat goes "fiddle-i-fee".

Bought me a duck and the duck pleased me. I fed my duck under yonder tree.

Duck goes "quack, quack",

Hen goes "chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck",

Cat goes "fiddle-i-fee".

Bought me a goose and the goose pleased me. I fed my goose under yonder tree.

Goose goes "hissy, hissy",

Duck goes "quack, quack",

Hen goes "chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck",

Cat goes "fiddle-i-fee".

Bought me a sheep and the sheep pleased me. I fed my sheep under yonder tree.

Sheep goes "baaa, baaa",

Goose goes "hissy, hissy",

Duck goes "quack, quack",

Hen goes "chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck",

Cat goes "fiddle-i-fee".

Bought me a pig and the pig pleased me. I fed my pig under yonder tree.

Pig goes "oink, oink",

Sheep goes "baaa, baaa",

Goose goes "hissy, hissy",

Duck goes "quack, quack",

Hen goes "chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck",

Cat goes "fiddle-i-fee".

Bought me a cow and the cow pleased me. I fed my cow under yonder tree.

Cow goes "moo, moo",

Pig goes "oink, oink",

Sheep goes "baaa, baaa",

Goose goes "hissy, hissy",

Duck goes "quack, quack",

Hen goes "chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck",

Cat goes "fiddle-i-fee".

Bought me a horse and the horse pleased me. I fed my horse under yonder tree.

Horse goes "neigh, neigh",

Cow goes "moo, moo",

Pig goes "oink, oink",

Sheep goes "baaa, baaa",

Goose goes "hissy, hissy",

Duck goes "quack, quack",

Hen goes "chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck",

Cat goes "fiddle-i-fee".

Oh! Bought me a dog and the dog pleased me. I fed my dog under yonder tree.

Dog goes "bow-wow, bow-wow",

Horse goes "neigh, neigh",

Cow goes "moo, moo",

Pig goes "oink, oink",

Sheep goes "baaa, baaa",

Goose goes "hissy, hissy",

Duck goes "quack, quack",

Hen goes "chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck",

Cat goes "fiddle-i-fee".