Song cupboard O

Oh, dear! What can the matter be?

Oh, Jemima, look at your Uncle Jim

Oh, we can play on the big brass drum

Old Dan Tucker

Old Joe Clark

Old MacDonald had a farm

Old Molly Hare

Old Mother Mitchell

On Ilkley Moor baht‘at

On Saturday night I lost my wife

One cold and frosty morning

One little pebble

One misty moisty morning

One more river

One more step

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Last updated: 7/6/2020 1:04 PM

The songs below are part of ‘Away we go’

compiled, adapted and illustrated by Dany Rosevear

Return to the ‘Singing games for children’ home

To listen to music from these songs click on 🔊

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

You are free to copy, distribute, display and perform these works under the following conditions:

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Oh, dear! What can the matter be? O

This nursery rhyme can be traced back as far as the 1780s see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_Dear!_What_Can_the_Matter_Be%3F

Roud index 1297.

Oh, dear! What can the matter be?

Johnny’s so long at the fair.

He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,

He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons.

To tie up my bonny brown hair.

He promised to buy me a pair of sleeve buttons,

A pair of new garters that cost him but tuppence,

He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons.

To tie up my bonny brown hair.

He promised to buy me a basket of posies,

A garland of lilies, a gift of red roses;

A little straw hat to set off the blue ribbons,

That tie up my bonny brown hair.

Oh, Jemima, look at your Uncle Jim 🔊

A Music Hall classic sung to the tune of the ‘Soldiers Chorus’ from Gounod’s Faust. The first verse is based on one misheard by myself and because my grandchildren love to play with crocodiles at bath times, but the others are more commonly known; you can find many more traditional verses at: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=35057

Oh, Jemima, look at your Uncle Jim,

He's in the bathtub learning how to swim;

First he does the breaststroke, he does it with a smile,

Now he's under the water, catching crocodiles.

Oh, Jemima, look at your Uncle Jim,

Diving in the duck pond, learning how to swim;

First he does the left stroke, then he does the right,

Then he does a belly flop and vanishes out of sight.

Oh, Jemima, look at your Uncle Jim,

Scrubbing the floor with water, soap and Vim;

First he kneels on the left leg, then he kneels on the right,

Then he kneels on a bar of soap and skids right out of sight.

Oh, Jemima, look at your Uncle Jim,

He’s in the bathtub learning how to swim;

First he tries the backstroke, then he tries the crawl,

Over goes the bathtub, Uncle Jim and all!

Oh, we can play on the big brass drumO

Make a percussion band or mime playing other instruments of the orchestra.

Oh, we can play on the big bass drum,

And this is the music to it:

Boom, boom, boom goes the big bass drum,

And that’s the way we do it.

Oh, we can play on the castanets,

And this is the music to it:

Clickerty clack go the castanets,

Boom, boom, boom goes the big bass drum,

And that’s the way we do it.

Oh, we can play on the silver bells,

And this is the music to it:

Jingle, jingle, jingle go the silver bells,

Clickerty clack go the castanets,

Boom, boom, boom goes the big bass drum,

And that’s the way we do it.

Old Dan Tucker 🔊

This American folksong reminds me of a childhood chant: ‘Dan, Dan, the dirty old man, Washed his face in a frying pan. Combed his hair with the the back of a chair, Dan, Dan, the dirty old man’.

Chorus:

Get out the way, old Dan Tucker,

You’re too late to get your supper,

Supper's over and breakfast’s cookin',

Old Dan Tucker just stands there lookin'.

Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man,

Washed his face in the frying pan,

Combed his hair with a wagon wheel,

And died with a toothache in his heel.

Old Dan Tucker is a nice old man,

He used to ride our darby ram,

He sent it whizzing down the hill,

If he hadn’t got up he'd lay there still,

Jay bird in the martin's nest,

To save his soul he got no rest.

Old Dan Tucker in the foxes’ den,

Out come the little ones eight, nine ten.

Old Dan Tucker is come to town,

Riding on a billygoat, leading a hound.

Hound dog bark and billygoat jump,

Threw Old Dan right over the stump.

Old Dan began in early life,

To play the banjo and the fife;

He’d play the boy’s and gals to sleep,

And then into his bunk he’d creep.

Old Joe Clark O

A traditional North American song and square dance tune; there are many, many more nonsense verses to be found on the internet. Most of the version below comes from the wonderful ‘American folk songs for children’ 1948 by Ruth Crawford Seeger; she notes all the refrains lend themselves to free rhythmic play.

There is also a great circle game that can be played just using the first refrain at:

http://www.schools.utah.gov/CURR/fineart/Elementary/Songbook/Music/OldJoeClark.aspx

Old Joe friends he had a house,

Sixteen stories high,

Every story in that house

Was filled with chicken pie.

Round and round old Joe Clark,

Round and round, I say,

Round and round old Joe Clark,

I ain't got long to stay.

Old Joe Clark he had a dog

As blind as he could be;

Chased a redbug 'round a stump

And a 'coon up a hollow tree.

Fly around, old Joe Clark,

Fly around and gone,

Fly around, old Joe Clark,

With your golden slippers on.

I went down to old Joe's house,

Never been there before,

He slept on a feather bed,

And I slept on the floor.

Rock-a-rock, Old Joe Clark,

Rock-a-rock, I say.

Rock-a-rock, Old Joe Clark,

Rock your cares away.

Old Joe Clark had a violin,

Played it all the day.

Never did he fiddle around,

All he did was play.

Clap-a-clap, Old Joe Clark,

Clap-a-clap, I say.

Clap-a-clap, Old Joe Clark,

Clap your cares away.

When I was a little boy,

I used to play in ashes,

Now I am a great big boy

Wearing dad's moustaches.

Roll and roll old Joe Clark,

Roll around I say,

Roll and roll old Joe Clark,

You'd better be gettin' away.

Round and round old Joe Clark,

Round the other way,

Round and round old Joe Clark,

I ain't got long to stay.

Old MacDonald had a farm 🔊

A classic children’s song that I remember on coach trips and any children’s get togethers; the more raucus the better.

Each time the song is sung add more farm animals. Very young children might find the cumulative effect difficult and will probably just join in with the fun noises.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!

And on that farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O!

With a moo-moo here, and a moo-moo there,

Here a moo, there a moo,

Everywhere a moo-moo!

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!

And on that farm he had a pig, E-I-E-I-O!

With an oink-oink here and an oink-oink there,

Here an oink, there an oink,

Everywhere an oink-oink!

With a moo-moo here, and a moo-moo there,

Here a moo, there a moo,

Everywhere a moo-moo!

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!

And on that farm he had a duck, E-I-E-I-O!

With a quack-quack here and a quack-quack there,

Here a quack- there a quack,

Everywhere a quack-quack!

With an oink-oink here and an oink-oink there,

Here an oink, there an oink,

Everywhere an oink-oink!

With a moo-moo here, and a moo-moo there,

Here a moo, there a moo,

Everywhere a moo-moo!

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!

Old Molly Hare 🔊

A comical question and answer song.

This is more familiar as a fiddle song, it was also a popular American square dance tune in the past.