Song cupboard H

Had a little rooster

Hansel and Gretel

Happiness runs

Happy as a robin

Happy birthday – alternate version

Happy faces, sad ones

Happy to be me

Hear mosquito buzzing

Hear the blackbird sing

Hello, somebody, hello

Here’s to Cheshire, here’s to cheese

Hey, ho, the wind and the rain

Hey liley, liley lo

Hill an’ gully

Hoist the window

Honey spread on brown, brown bread

Hooray! The aliens are coming

Hop-a-long Peter

How to keep a fairy happy

Hurry, hurry, hurry

Last updated: 5/29/2023 9:44 AM

The songs below are part of ‘Away we go’ Round and about compiled, adapted and illustrated by Dany Rosevear

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To listen to music from these songs click on 🔊

To watch the author sing a song click on the title at:

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Had a little rooster 🔊

A cumulative song from the Southern Mountains.

Add as many farmyard animals as you like depending on your stamina, memory and enthusiasm!

Had a little rooster by the barnyard gate.

And that little rooster was my playmate.

And that little rooster went, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

Dee-doodle, dee-doodle, dee-doodle, dee-doo!

Had a little cat by the barnyard gate.

And that little cat was my playmate.

And that little cat went, “Meow, meow, meow!”

And that little rooster went, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

Dee-doodle, dee-doodle, dee-doodle, dee-doo!

Had a little dog by the barnyard gate…

And that little dog went, “Woof, woof, woof!”

Had a little duck by the barnyard gate…

And that little duck went, “Quack, quack, quack!”

Had a little pig by the barnyard gate…

And that little pig went, “Oink, oink, oink!”

Had a little sheep by the barnyard gate…

And that little sheep went, “Baa, baa, baa!”

Had a little cow by the barnyard gate…

And that little cow went, “Moo, moo, moo!”

Had a little horse by the barnyard gate,

And that little horse was my playmate,

And that little horse went, “Neigh, neigh, neigh!”

And that little cow went, “Moo, moo, moo!”

And that little sheep went, “Baa, baa, baa!”

And that little pig went, “Oink, oink, oink!”

And that little duck went, “Quack, quack, quack!”

And that little dog went, “Woof, woof, woof!”

And that little cat went, “Meow, meow, meow!”

And that little rooster went, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

Dee-doodle, dee-doodle, dee-doodle, dee-doo!

Hansel and Gretel 🔊

A well known fairy tale to dramatize. This simple retelling is by Laurence Swinyard and can be found in the book ‘Festivals’ published in 1986.

I used this song in one of my Nativity plays with a new arrangement.

You can also find a lovely energetic partner dance to accompany the story at: http://www.singinggamesforchildren.com/A%20Cluster%202.1%20HSAAWG/HSAAWG%2038-44%20whoareyou%20w.htm .

Hansel and Gretel were lost in the wood,

Soon it grew dark and they hadn’t any food.

They came upon a house made of gingerbread and spice

They wondered who could live in a little house so nice x2

Standing in the doorway a wicked witch they spied,

She seized those poor children and pulled them both inside;

She gave a wicked laugh and she rubbed her hands with glee,

I’ll bake you in the oven and have you for my tea x2

Close up to the oven the old witch stood,

They pushed her inside and then left her there for good

The witch was burnt to cinders, on that you may depend

But Hansel and Gretel ran home and that’s the end x2.

Happiness runs 🔊

A song from my hippy days, sung in different ways by Donovan, Mary Hopkins and the Beatles.

It can be sung as a part song; all sing part I and then part 2, the 1^st group sing part I followed by part 2 while the 2^nd sing part 2 then part 1, all finish by singing part 2.

Happiness runs in a circular motion.

Love is a little boat upon the sea.

Everyone is a part of everything anyway.

You can be happy if you let yourself be.

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa;

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa;

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa;

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa;

Happiness runs in the big wide ocean,

Happiness runs in the deep blue sea.

Happiness runs in the rain or the sunshine,

Happiness runs wherever I may be.

Happy as a robin 🔊

This is written by Emily Poulsson and can be found in ‘Songs for little people’ published 1905. It was originally part of a longer rhyme written for little girls.

Music and words adapted by Dany Rosevear.

Happy as a robin,

Gentle as a dove —

That's the kind of little child,

Everyone will love.

Frisky as a lambkin,

Busy as a bee,

That's the kind of little child

People like to see.

Fly away and seek her / him,

Little song of mine,

For I choose that very child

To be my Valentine.

Happy birthday 🔊

A lovely alternative for the birthday celebrations set to Franz Lehar’s (1870 - 1948) ‘The Merry Widow Waltz’ by Tom Chapin.

Happy birthday, happy birthday,

We love you.

Happy birthday and may all your dreams come true.

When you blow out the candles,

One light stays aglow,

That’s the lovelight in your eyes

Where e’re you go.

Happy faces, sad ones 🔊

Chin up! We all have our moments.

Not sure where I found the first two lines; the second two and the tune are by Dany Rosevear.

Happy faces, sad ones, smiles and frowns;

Everyone has their ups and downs!

Funny faces, silly ones will cheer you up;

Make a sunshine chin with a yellow buttercup.

Happy to be me 🔊

Being content with oneself is a prerequisite to a good life.

In the words of Buddha, "We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world."

Written by John Edwards, music by Douglas Coombes for BBC Radio for schools ‘Time and tune’ Hassebu Spring 1971. ‘Hassebu’ was Time and Tune's first experimental cantata, with a complete set of original songs and narrative telling one story. http://www.broadcastforschools.co.uk/site/Time_and_Tune/Hassebu

Arranged by Dany Rosevear.

I can climb the highest mountain,

Sail across the widest sea,

Now that I’ve discovered

That I’m happy to be me. x2

I can study mathematics,

Be someone of high degree,

Now I’ve solved the puzzle

That I’m happy to be me. x2

I can make the finest music,

Write a book of poetry,

Now I’ve learnt the lesson

That I’m happy to be me. x2

I can do the things I’ve dreamed of,

Live a life that’s good and free,

Now I’ve found the secret

That I’m happy to be me. x2

Sing tune to ‘la’.

Hear mosquito buzzing 🔊

An Ojibway Indian Song from ‘Now and Long Ago’, Music for Living, Book 3, Silver Burdett Company, published in 1956.

Hear mosquito buzzing,

His song is coming near;

Oh, he is fond of gossiping,

The latest news I'll hear.

Skeeter heard me joking,

Saw me acting queer;

Oh, then he went and buzzed a tale

Into my sweet-heart's ear.

Skeeter made his story strong,

Buzzed it loud and clear;

So when I went to call on her,

She boxed me on the ear.

Hear the blackbird sing 🔊

A lovely Hungarian folk tune from a collection by Zoltan Kodaly with a simple ostinato. English words by Geoffrey Russell-Smith from Bicinia Hungarica Vol. 1, Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.

This song can also be found in BBC TV for Schools, Spring term 1971.

Arranged by Dany Rosevear.

In the meadow, in the forest,

In the meadow, in the forest.

Hear the blackbird sing,

Hear the blackbird sing.

Each little song he tries, and then

Hark, how he sings it over again.

Each little song he tries, and then

Hark, how he sings it over again.

In the meadow, in the forest,

In the meadow, in the forest.

Hello, somebody, hello 🔊

A ‘get to know you’ song to encourage children in a new class become acquainted.

It is based on a sea shanty of the same name. I found this in ‘Music through the day’ published in 1956.

Adapted and arranged by Dany Rosevear.

Hello, somebody, hello!

There's somebody knocking at the garden gate;

Hello, somebody, hello!

There's somebody knocking at the garden gate;

Hello, somebody, hello!

There’s somebody wants to know your name;

Hello, somebody, hello!

There’s somebody wants to know your name;

Hello, somebody, hello!

My name is Isaac, how are you?

Hello, Isaac, hello!

My name is Isaac, how are you?

We are very well, thank you!

Here’s to Cheshire, here’s to cheese 🔊

Another version of ‘Frog went a-courting’. This one was adapted by Leslie Haworth, a farmer from Kelsall, a village in Cheshire, England. He included a chorus paying homage to the farm produce of Cheshire.

This shorter version was sung by John McCutcheon on his CD ‘Howjadoo’.

Find out more at: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=1155.

A green frog lived at the bottom of a well,

Ding! Dang! Dong! go the wedding bells.

And a pretty little mouse lived under the mill,

Ding! Dang! Dong! go the wedding bells.

Here's to Cheshire, here's to cheese,

Here's to the pears and the apple trees,

And here's to the lovely strawberries.

Ding! Dang! Dong! go the wedding bells.

Froggy went a courting and he did ride....

He said Miss Mouse won't you be my bride....

I'll have to ask my old Aunt Rat....

Just what she does think of that...?

Now Aunt Rat laughed till her face got red....

Just to think that a frog and a mouse should wed....

Now who's gonna weave the wedding gown....

Old Miss Spider from Pumpkin Town....

So open the oysters and spill champagne....

Never will there be such a feast again...

O while they were a-going it hot and strong...

The good grey cat come prowling along...

She sprang to the kitchen right out of the yard....

She didn't even have no invitation card...

Now this is the end of him and her....

Guess there won't be no tadpoles covered with fur....

Hey, ho, the wind and the rain / When that I was and a little tiny boy 🔊

From Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or What You Will; sung by Feste, one of the most graceful and complex of fools. His song, concludes the play, a celebration of misrule.

I have only included the first and last verses, the ones that are most suitable for young children, the comic middle verses can easily be found on line.

When that I was and a little tiny boy,

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,

A foolish thing was but a toy,

For the rain it raineth every day,

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,

For the rain it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begun,

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,

But that’s all one, our play is done,

And we’ll strive to please you every day,

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,

For the rain it raineth every day.

Hey liley, liley lo O

Or ‘ Hey lidey, lidey lo’ ‘ Hey li dee, li dee lo’.‘ Hey lolly, lolly lo’ take your pick!

This calypso probably originated in the Bahamas and was very popular in the 1960s; it has been recorded by many artists over the years.

This is a great song for teasing friends and making up rhyming verses. Apart from the first verse all the other couplets are my own. Children will find it very easy to make up their own verses, using the framework below, about friends and family – the cheekier the better!

Chorus

Hey liley, liley, liley, Hey liley, liley lo,

Hey liley, liley, liley, Hey liley, liley lo.

Sing this song in ev’ry land, Hey liley, liley lo,

Dance together hand in hand, Hey liley, liley lo.

I have a friend her name is Kate, Hey liley, liley lo,

She can shimmy and she can shake, Hey liley, liley lo.

My friend Ethan, how he snores! Hey liley, liley lo,

He sounds just like a dinosaur, Hey liley, liley lo.

I have a friend her name is Anna, Hey liley, liley lo,

She dances on her old pianna, Hey liley, liley lo.

My friend Isaac has a snake, Hey liley, liley lo,

It slurps and burps when eating cake, Hey liley, liley lo.

Rhyming’s easy, singing’s fun, Hey liley, liley lo,

Make up more for ev’ryone! Hey liley, liley lo.

Hill an’ gully 🔊

A a call and response song from Jamaica which used to be sung by workmen constructing new roads.

In the 1970s I taught the children of first generation Jamaican immigrants in Handsworth, Birmingham and had great fun finding music like this from the West Indian tradition especially calypsos.

This one I learnt at my teacher training college in the late 1960s. It also features in BBC TV for Schools live ‘Making Music’ broadcast in Summer 1964. I have a feeling John Langstaff was involved in this series as it was included in his book ‘Hi! Ho! The Rattlin’ Bog’ where he suggested singing it in two or three part harmony.

Hill an’ gully rid-a, hill an’ gully,

Hill an’ gully rid-a, hill an’ gully.

An’ a ben down, low down, hill an' gully,

An’ a low down, bessy down, hill an' gully,

An’ yuh better min’ yuh tumble down, hill an' gully.

Hoist the window 🔊

This is more commonly known as an Afro-American gospel song from the Windward and the Georgia Sea Islands. The version below, with no mention of Noah, was published in the ‘The Music Box Songbook’ in 1987; it is listed as traditional English but there are no other clues as to its origin.

Hoist the window, hoist the window,

Let the dove come in.

Hoist the window, hoist the window,

Let the dove come in.

When that dove went away,

Well it rained most every day.

There was storm, there was tempest,

All the children started to cry.

But when the dove flew this way,

Well the sun came out to stay.

All the children sang together

And the dry bones lived again.

Honey spread on brown, brown bread O

Mmmmm!

I believe this is a Czech song.

The words are by Edith M Clark; I wrote the middle verse.

Honey spread on brown, brown, bread.

Nothing else I'll have instead.

Supper comes at nine,

I shall have for mine

Honey spread on brown, brown bread.

All the little bees, it’s said,

Pollinate the flowerbeds,

And when they get back home,

Fill their honeycombs

With honey for my brown, brown bread.

How do all those tiny bees,

Make their honey with such ease?

They make lots and lots,

To fill so many pots

With honey for my brown, brown bread.

When I'm led away to bed,

Beneath my counterpane of red

I shall dream of bees

And of yellow seas,

Honey spread on brown, brown bread.

Hooray! The alien’s are coming 🔊

They come from afar and what do they see, not an Eden, not a paradise but a place that desperately needs a helping hand.

Words and music by Dany Rosevear.

In outer space there is a race,

To see who can set the fastest pace,

A fleet of aliens on their way,

Looking forward to a well earned holiday!

Chorus:

The aliens are coming!

For a holiday!

Hooray! For a holiday!

To a blue and green world that’s ages old,

A jewel in the universe, they’ve been told,

It’s Earth, our planet, for they have heard,

Of snowy mountains high and little birds.

Of oceans wide and forests tall,

Rivers and streams and waterfalls,

With lots of animals, every kind,

What will they see there, what will they find?

Chorus

Oh, what a happy little band,

They jump up and down and clap their hands

As nearer and nearer to Earth they come,

Ready for adventure, and worldwide fun!

Excited creatures dressed in their best.

Look through the window and see - A MESS!

The air is polluted from chimneys tall

Cars on the motorways in thousands crawl,

Forests are burning, it’s far too hot

Ice caps are melting, Earth has LOST THE PLOT!

Plastic waste floats out at sea,

“Help us!” cry the animals “Help us please!”

Spoken

What will the aliens do, turn and zoom?

Away from the Earth and past the moon?

Off to Jupiter, Venus or Mars?

Away from the factories, waste and cars?!

Then down on Earth through a megaphone

A voice cries loud and clear, “Don’t go home

We’d love to see you, you’re welcome here,

We’ll clean it up together for a holiday next year?!!”

The aliens are coming!

For a working holiday!

HOORAY! For a working holiday!

Hop-a-long Peter 🔊

A traditional Appalachian song and fiddle tune, possibly written by Frank Dumont before 1875, see: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=141259 .

Old Uncle Peter, he got tight,

Started up to heaven on a stormy night;

The road being rough and him not well,

He lost his way and he went to ...

Chorus

Hopalong Peter where you goin'?

Hopalong Peter won't you bear in mind,

I ain't comin' back 'til the gooseberry time.

Old Mother Hubbard and her dog were Dutch,

A bow-legged rooster and he hobbled on a crutch;

The hen chewed tobacco and the duck drank wine,

The goose played the fiddle on the pumpkin vine.

Down in the barn yard playin' seven up,

The old tomcat and the little yellow pup;

The old Mother Hubbard she's a pickin' out the fleas,

The rooster in the cream jar up to his knees.

I've got a sweet gal in this old town,

If she weighs an ounce she weighs seven hundred pounds;

Every time my sweet gal turns once around,

The heels of her shoe makes a hole in the ground.

How to make a fairy happy 🔊

Take a look at nature’s little wonders. Imagine how the bounty of the natural world appears through the eyes of a fairy.

A whimsical take on the magical world of childhood.

When I was ill as a young child and lay in bed for six weeks or so I was convinced, encouraged by my aunt and parents, that the fairies came to visit me. There was a large tree outside my window and when the moonlight shone through the rustling leaves, little shadows ran up and down the hill made by my blanket covered legs – quite enchanting. However as an imaginative child at that time I also regularly saw a penguin dancing on the paraffin stove in the corner!

Words and music by Dany Rosevear, set to an adapted folk tune.

Place a ring of daisies upon her tiny head,

Dance around the buttercups, be careful where you tread;

Play ‘Follow my leader’ around the foxgloves high,

With grasshopper and ladybird, ant and dragonfly.

Play games of hide and seek, be quiet as quiet can be;

Hush! little robin redbreast and buzzing bumble bee.

Ring the bluest bluebell when its time for tea,

Serve fairy cakes on petal plates, she’ll clap her hands with glee.

Let her fly around you, she’ll dance and dive and dip,

She’ll catch some dew drops in a cup and offer you a sip,

She’ll make you smile with fairy tales of little folk so wild;

And she’ll love you, yes she’ll love you, for you are just a child. x2

Gather downy gossamer to make the softest bed,

Sprinkle silver stardust about her sleepy head.

Read her bedtime stories in whispers soft and sweet;

Sing her lovely lullabies as she goes off to sleep.

Never try to catch her for she will fly away,

Never more to see you, forever and a day;

Then when you grow much older such magic fades and flies.

But she’ll leave you, yes she’ll leave you with dreams that never die. x2

Hurry, hurry, hurry! 🔊

A campfire song to get everyone out of bed in the morning or awake, up and ready to do the chores.

Not sure where I originally found this song and whether I set it to a tune or not, the memory is a fragile thing and search machines not as perfect as they would seem! I have however adapted the few words I’ve found to make a song that I hope hangs together.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, come on the run,

Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, day has begun.

Come along and hurry there is work to be done,

When you are finished there’ll be time for fun!

Get along you sleepyhead and get on the run,

Must you be so slow and lazy? Day is begun!

If you do not finish with the work to be done,

You can't go out to play and have some fun!

All right I’m coming now, all right I’ll come,

No need to hurry now and no need to run,

It is far too early and where is the sun?

I am so tired that I can’t run, run, run!

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