Sing a Song of Sixpence
The Mysterious Origins of Nursery Rhymes
Today we are looking at a nursery rhyme, and one of our household favorites.
The rhyme goes like this:
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 his 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,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose.
What a great story, full of imagery and a nice gory end, to satisfy any child. So where did it come from?
Origins
Here is the earliest published version of the rhyme:
Sing a Song of Sixpence,
A bag full of Rye,
Four and twenty Naughty Boys,
Baked in a Pye!
This version was published in Volume II of Tom Thumb’s Pretty Song Book, circa 1744. It’s not a book you can borrow from your local library, however…
