Games galore in Gryphon’s Garden

Song cupboard rounds and partner songs O-Z

Oh, how lovely is the evening

Oh, my hen

One bottle pop!

Peace round – The scarlet rose

Peace round – What a wondrous thing

Round and round the Earth is turning

Sing, sing together

Sweetly sings the donkey

The frog in the bog

The little bells of Westminster / at Christmas time

There was an Old Man with a beard

Thirty days hath September

Trees grow tall

Two ducks on a pond

Where is John?

Whippoorwill

White coral bells

Whose pigs are these?

Why doesn’t my goose?

Find more rounds at:

A ram sam sam

Ah my little Augustine

Bonjour mes ami

Have you seen the Ghost of Tom?

The more we get together

The sun it rises

Three blind mice

Last updated: 7/5/2021 10:55 AM

The songs below compiled, adapted and illustrated by Dany Rosevear

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Oh, how lovely is the evening 🔊

This is a German canon ‘O wie wohl ist mir am Abend’; it is usually sung as a three part round.

Oh, how lovely is the evening, is the evening,

When the bells are sweetly ringing, sweetly ringing,

Ding, dong, ding, dong, ding, dong!

Oh, my hen 🔊

A plaintive round by Dorothy Dino Rice based on the rather sad Elizabethan round ‘Ah, poor bird’.

Second verse written by Dany Rosevear.

Oh, my hen,

Will she never, ever

Lay an egg again?

My dear hen,

For Easter she has kindly

Laid an egg again.

One bottle pop!O

A good song for a topic on recycling.

It works well as a round.

Directions:

Put up thumbs and fingers one at a time.

Rub tummy.

Throw thumbs over shoulders.

Peace round – The scarlet rose 🔊

A hopeful song and three part round.

Author unknown; I have not been able to find the source of this song but it appears to be inspired by the prayer card often used as an epitaph : “Out of darkness shall come dawn, out of winter shall come spring, out of striving shall come peace, not by our power, but by the power of God.” which was possibly written by Saint Nazianz, October 1895.

Out of darkness shall come dawn,

In the spring of winter the seeds,

And the seed there grows the scarlet rose,

Out of striving, ways for peace.

Peace round – What a wondrous thing 🔊

Caring for each other.

A beautiful and haunting old English canon, possibly ‘Hey ho, nobody home’.

The words are adapted from the Psalm 133:1.

Add simple instrumentals for effect.

What a wondrous thing

When the children of the world

Will run together

And live in peace.

Round and round the earth is turning 🔊

Sing as the world turns and the seasons change.

A traditional round that can also be sung as a lullaby. I have added a second verse courtesy of Mudcat and also my own chord arrangement but if you wish to sing it as a round you can omit these.

Round and round the Earth is turning,

Turning always round to morning,

And from morning round to night.

Round and round the Year is turning,

Turning always round to darkness,

And from darkness round to light.

Sing, sing together 🔊

There is so much pleasure with singing in unison whatever age you are.

Sing, sing together, merrily, merrily sing.

Sing, oh sing, sing, oh sing.

Sweetly sings the donkey O

Children will love making the donkey noises. Make up more verses of other animals and the sounds they might make to get their first meal.

Sing as a round or accompanied by chime bars.

Sweetly sings the donkey,

At the break of day,

If you do not feed him,

This is what he’ll say:

Hee haw! Hee haw! Hee haw! Hee haw! Hee haw! Hee haw!

The frog in the bog O

A sad, sad song by Gertrude Mander and Harvey Worthington Loomis.

This can be played as a round.

There once was a frog who lived in a bog

And played a fiddle in the middle of a puddle,

What a muddle! Better go round!

Better go round!

His music was short for soon he was caught

And now in the middle of the griddle he is frying,

And he's crying, "Rather be drowned.

Rather be drowned."

The little bells of Westminster O

(The little bells at Christmas time)

A simple bell round is about the smallest bell that rings at London’s Houses of Parliament. I have used the Christmas version from my early days of teaching.

Young children can sit opposite each other in pairs and gently rock back and forth.

The little bells of Westminster go ding, dang, ding, dang dong.

The little bells of Westminster go ding, dang dong.

The little bells at Christmas time go ding, dang, ding, dang dong.

The little bells at Christmas time go ding, dang dong.

There was an Old Man with a beard 🔊

Can be sung as a round.

A poem by Edward Lear, the music is by Alec Rowley.

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, "It is just as I feared!—

Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard.

Thirty days hath September O

This mnemonic can also be sung as a round.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November,

All the rest have thirty one,

Saving February all alone,

Which has twenty eight, rain or shine,

And on leap years, twenty nine.

Trees grow tall 🔊

Can be sung as a round and / or played as an action rhyme.

Hands move upwards. Hands to heart. Stretch as high as you can. Fingers point and move downwards. Spread hands, palms down outwards.

Trees grow tall

In the heart of the forest,

High in the sky;

As the roots grow down

To the deep dark Earth.

Two ducks on a pond 🔊

This three part round comes from ‘The Ditty Bag’ compiled by Janet E’ Tobitt published 1946. It is also fun to sing as it is or to move in a wibbley wobbley way.

Two ducks on a pond,

Wibble wobble, wibble wobble,

Two ducks on a pond,

Wibble wobble, wibble wobble,

Two old ladies going to market,

Wibbily wibbily wobble, wibbily wibbily wobble.

Where is John? O

Another round from Czechoslovakia based on a melody by Frederick Smetana from the opening chorus of The Bartered Bride.

Where is John?

The old grey hen has left her pen,

Oh, where is John?

The cows are in the corn again,

Oh, John!

Whippoorwill 🔊

An evening song for 9-10 year olds. This is traditionally a three part round.

Hear the round and find out more about this night bird which is found widely throughout North and Central America at: https://www.musick8.com/html/current_tune.php?songorder=12&numbering=119

Gone to bed is the setting sun,

Night is coming and day is done;

Whippoorwill, whippoorwill,

Has just begun.

White coral bells O

A traditional round that has been popular in the Girl Guiding movement.

Find more about its origins and provenance at:

http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=37342

White coral bells upon a slender stalk,

Lilies of the valley deck my garden walk.

Oh, don't you wish that you could hear them ring?

That will happen only when the fairies sing.

Whose pigs are these? O

Sing just the first verse as a round or all of it as a rhyming song; make up more verses about other animals.

Find out more about this song and other versions at:

http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=35690

Whose pigs are these?

They are John Cook's,

I can tell’m by their looks,

And they live in the vicarage garden.

…They are John Pott's,

I can tell’m by their spots…

…They are Bill Spear's,

I can tell’m by their ears…

…They are Sally Dale's,

I can tell’m by their tails…

…They are Farmer Hunt's,

I can tell’m by their grunts…

…They are Geoff Potter's,

I can tell’m by their trotters…

What's their disease?

They've got the pox,

I can tell by the spots,

And they live in the vicarage garden.

Why doesn’t my goose? O

This song makes a great round. It is even more fun performed with actions.

1. Throw out hands and point to self

2. Wiggle fingers from side to side – point to neighbour

3. Fold arms, stand up on tiptoes.

4. Hands on hips point to neighbour.

Why doesn't my goose,

Sing as much as thy goose,

When I paid for my goose,

Twice as much as thine?

Why doesn't my goose,

Lay as much as thy goose,

When I paid for my goose,

Twice as much as thine?

Why doesn't my goose,

Fly as much as thy goose,

When I paid for my goose,

Twice as much as thine?

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