To Market, To Market

Today's nursery rhyme can be downloaded here. This nursery rhyme[1] which is based upon the traditional rural activity of going to a market or fair where agricultural produce would be bought and sold. For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Thank you and God Bless!

Three Blind Mice

Today's English nursery rhyme can be downloaded  here. This nursery rhyme was first published by Frederick Warne & Co., an illustrated children's book by John W. Ivimey entitled The Complete Version of Ye Three Blind Mice, fleshes the mice out into mischievous characters who seek adventure, eventually being taken in by a farmer whose wife chases them from the house and into a bramble bush, which blinds them. Soon after, their tails are removed by "the butcher's wife" when the complete version incorporates the original verse. The story ends with them using a tonic to grow new tails and recover their eyesight, learning a trade (making wood chips, according to the accompanying illustration), buying a house and living happily ever after. Published perhaps in 1900,[3] the book is now in the public domain. For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Thank you and God Bless!

The original lyrics are:

Three Blinde Mice,

Three Blinde Mice,

Dame Iulian,

Dame Iulian,

the Miller and his merry olde Wife,

she scrapte her tripe licke thou the knife.

 This is the modern version :

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

Read a different version:

Three blind mice, three blind mice
See how they spin, see how they spin
They pin the tail on the kitty cat,
While wearing silly party hats.
Did you ever see such a silly sight,
As three blind mice.

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Today's well known English nursery rhyme can be downloaded here. For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Thank you and God Bless!

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing—
Wasn't that a dainty dish
To set before the king?

The king was in the 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.
Along came a blackbird
And snipped off her nose.

Mistress Mary, Quite Contrary

Today's popular English nursery rhyme can be downloaded here. For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Thank you and God Bless!

“Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” Lyrics

Modern Version:

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

“Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” Original Version:

Mistress Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells,
And so my garden grows.

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Today's English nursery rhyme can be downloaded here. More information can be found here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Thank you and God Bless!


Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out,
But still it lingered near,
And waited patiently about
Till Mary did appear.

Why does the lamb love Mary so?
The eager children cry;
Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know,
The teacher did reply.

London Bridge is Falling Down

Today's traditional nursery rhyme can be downloaded here. The Nursery Rhyme is based on the one of the most famous landmarks in London. It's history can be traced to the Roman occupation of England in the first century.  For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Thank you and God Bless.


London Bridge is broken down,
Broken down, broken down.
London Bridge is broken down,
My fair lady.

Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, wood and clay,
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair lady.

Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, wash away,
Wood and clay will wash away,
My fair lady.

Build it up with bricks and mortar,
Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar,
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
My fair lady.

Bricks and mortar will not stay,
Will not stay, will not stay,
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
My fair lady.

Build it up with iron and steel,
Iron and steel, iron and steel,
Build it up with iron and steel,
My fair lady.

Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Bend and bow, bend and bow,
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
My fair lady.

Build it up with silver and gold,
Silver and gold, silver and gold,
Build it up with silver and gold,
My fair lady.

Silver and gold will be stolen away,
Stolen away, stolen away,
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
My fair lady.

Set a man to watch all night,
Watch all night, watch all night,
Set a man to watch all night,
My fair lady.

Suppose the man should fall asleep,
Fall asleep, fall asleep,
Suppose the man should fall asleep?
My fair lady.

Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
Smoke all night, smoke all night,
Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
My fair lady

Little Jack Horner

Today's English Nursery Rhyme can be downloaded here. Little Jack Horner was reputed to have been the Steward to Richard Whiting (1461 - 1539) the Bishop of Glastonbury. For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Thank you and God Bless.


Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I!"

Little Boy Blue

Today's nursery rhyme can be downloaded here. For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Thank you and God Bless!


Little Boy Blue,
Come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow,
The cow's in the corn;
But where is the boy
Who looks after the sheep?
He's under a haystack,
He's fast asleep.
Will you wake him?
No, not I,
For if I do,
He's sure to cry.

Jack and Jill

Today's traditional English nursery rhyme can be downloaded here. For more information, look here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Thank you and God Bless.

Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up Jack got
And home did trot
As fast as he could caper,
Went to bed
To mend his head
With vinegar and brown paper.

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, that can be downloaded here. For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion below. Thank you and God Bless!


Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Home on the Range

Today's classic western song can be downloaded here. For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion below. Thank you and God Bless!


Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Chorus Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Where the air is so pure, and the zephyrs so free,
The breezes so balmy and light,
That I would not exchange my home on the range,
For all of the cities so bright.

The Red man was pressed from this part of the west,
He's likely no more to return,
To the banks of the Red River where seldom if ever
Their flickering campfires burn.

How often at night when the heavens are bright,
With the light from the glittering stars,
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed,
If their glory exceeds that of ours.

Oh, I love these wild flowers in this dear land of ours,
The curlew I love to hear cry,
And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks,
That graze on the mountain slopes high.

Oh give me a land where the bright diamond sand,
Flows leisurely down in the stream;
Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along,
Like a maid in a heavenly dream.

Then I would not exchange my home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play;
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Hey, Diddle, Diddle

Today's English nursery rhyme can be downloaded here. For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion below. Thank you and God Bless!



Hey diddle diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed,
To see such fun,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Baa baa black sheep

Today's song is an English nursery rhyme that can be downloaded here. For more information, look here and here. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion below. Thank you and God Bless!


Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

'Round the Mulberry Bush

Today's song is a nursery rhyme that can be downloaded here. The same tune is also used for "Lazy Mary, Will You Get Up". For more information, look here and here. Please leave a comment or suggestion below. Thank you and God Bless!


Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning.


This is the way we wash our face,
Wash our face,
Wash our face.
This is the way we wash our face
So early in the morning.


This is the way we comb our hair,
Comb our hair,
Comb our hair.
This is the way we comb our hair
So early in the morning.


This is the way we brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth.
This is the way we brush our teeth
So early in the morning.


This is the way we put on our clothes,
Put on our clothes,
Put on our clothes.
This is the way we put on our clothes
So early in the morning.


Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning.

                                      

Michael Row The Boat Ashore

Welcome! Today's popular Alpha Notes song can be found here. "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" (also called "Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore", "Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore", or "Michael, Row That Gospel Boat") is an African-American spiritual first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina. The best-known recording was released in 1960 by the U.S. folk band The Highwaymen; that version briefly reached number-one hit status as a single.

It was sung by former slaves whose owners had abandoned the island before the Union navy arrived to enforce a blockade. Charles Pickard Ware was an abolitionist and Harvard graduate who had come to supervise the plantations on St. Helena Island from 1862 to 1865, and he wrote down the song in music notation as he heard the freedmen sing it. Ware's cousin William Francis Allen reported in 1863 that the former slaves sang the song as they rowed him in a boat across Station Creek.

The song was first published in 1867 in Slave Songs of the United States by Allen, Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison. Folk musician and educator Tony Saletan rediscovered it in 1954 in a library copy of that book. The song is cataloged as Roud Folk Song Index No. 11975.

The version of "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" that is widely known today was adapted by Boston folksinger and teacher Tony Saletan, who taught it to Pete Seeger in 1954. Saletan, however, never recorded it. Seeger taught it to the Weavers, who performed it at their Christmas Eve 1955 post-blacklist reunion concert. A recording of that performance was released in 1957 on an album titled The Weavers on Tour. In the same year, folksinger Bob Gibson included it on his Carnegie Concert album. The Weavers included an arrangement in The Weavers' Song Book, published in 1960. Similarly, Seeger included it in his 1961 songbook, American Favorite Ballads, with an attribution to Saletan. The American folk quintet the Highwaymen had a #1 hit in 1961 on both the pop and easy listening charts in the U.S. with their version, under the simpler title of "Michael", recorded and released in 1960. The Highwaymen's arrangement reached #1 for three weeks on Top 40 radio station WABC in New York City in August 1961, and for two weeks in September 1961 on Billboard's Top 40 nationally, remaining in the top ten into October. This recording also went to #1 in the United Kingdom. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 3 song of 1961.