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This can't be circa if the linked article to Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book gives a sourced date of "May, 1744".
 
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{{short description|Traditional song}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox song
{{Infobox song
| title = Little Robin Redbreast
| name = Little Robin Redbreast
| English_title =
| cover =
| comment = [[Roud]] #20612
| alt =
| image =
| type = [[Nursery rhyme]]
| image_size =
| written =
| caption =
| published = 1744
| alt =
| writer = Unknown
| composer =
| original_artist =
| recorded_by =
| lyricist =
| performed_by =
| written = England
| Released = <!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| Published = c. 1744
| Length = <!-- {{Duration|m=MM|s=SS}} -->
| Writer = Traditional
| Composer =
| Lyricist =
| Language = [[English language|English]]
| Form = [[Nursery rhyme]]
}}
}}
⚫
[[File:LittleRobinMotherGoose1833.jpg|thumb|An illustration for the rhyme from ''The Only True Mother Goose Melodies'' (1833)]]
⚫
'''‘Little Robin Redbreast’''' is an [[English language]] [[nursery rhyme]], chiefly notable as evidence of the way traditional rhymes are changed and edited. It has a [[Roud Folk Song Index]] number of 20612.
⚫
{{Portal |Children's literature}}

⚫
'''‘Little Robin Redbreast’''' is an [[English language]] [[nursery rhyme]], chiefly notable as evidence of the way traditional rhymes are changed and edited. It has a [[Roud Folk Song Index]] number of 20612.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.vwml.org/record/RoudFS/S303787 | title=Roud Folksong Index S303787 Little Robin Redbreast came to visit me | publisher=[[English Folk Dance and Song Society]] | work=[[Vaughan Williams Memorial Library]] | accessdate=May 20, 2016}}</ref>


== Lyrics ==
== Lyrics ==
⚫
[[File:LittleRobinMotherGoose1833.jpg|thumb|An illustration for the rhyme from ''The Only True Mother Goose Melodies'' (1833)]]
This rhyme is one of the most varied English nursery rhymes, probably because of its crude early version. Common modern versions include:
This rhyme is one of the most varied English nursery rhymes, probably because of its crude early version. Common modern versions include:


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:Little Robin Redbreast
:Little Robin Redbreast
:Sat upon a rail;
:Sat upon a rail;
:Niddle noble went his head,
:Niddle noddle went his head,
:Widdle waggle went his tail.<ref name=Opie1997/>
:Wiggle waggle went his tail.<ref name=Opie1997/>
</poem>
</poem>
|style="padding-left:3em;"|<poem>
|style="padding-left:3em;"|<poem>
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:Came to visit me;
:Came to visit me;
:This is what he whistled,
:This is what he whistled,
:Thank you for my tea.<ref name=Opie1997>I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 371-2.</ref>
:Thank you for my tea.<ref name=Opie1997>[[I. Opie and P. Opie]], ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 371-2.</ref>


and:
and:
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:Catch me if you can.
:Catch me if you can.


:Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a spade,
:Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a wall,
:Pussy-Cat jumped after him, and then he was afraid.
:Pussy-Cat jumped after him, and almost got a fall.
:Little Robin chirped and sung, and what did pussy say?
:Little Robin chirped and sung, and what did pussy say?
:Pussy-Cat said Mew, mew mew,—and Robin flew away.<ref>Anon, ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28687/28687-h/28687-h.htm#titletext The Only True Mother Goose Melodies]'' (Munroe and Francis: Boston MA, 1833), p. 14.</ref>
:Pussy-Cat said Mew, mew mew,—and Robin jumped away.<ref>Anon, ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28687/28687-h/28687-h.htm#titletext The Only True Mother Goose Melodies]'' (Munroe and Francis: Boston MA, 1833), p. 14.</ref>


==Origins==
==Origins==
The earliest versions of this rhyme reveal a more basic humour. The earliest recorded is from ''[[Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book]]'' (c. 1744), which has the lyric:
The earliest versions of this rhyme reveal a more basic humour. The earliest recorded is from ''[[Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book]]'' (1744), which has the lyric:


:Little Robin Red breast,
:Little Robin Red breast,
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==Notes==
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
{{authority control}}


[[Category:English folk songs]]
⚫
{{Children's games}}
[[Category:English children's songs]]

[[Category:Traditional children's songs]]
[[Category:Songs about birds]]
[[Category:Songs about cats]]
[[Category:1744 songs]]
[[Category:1744 songs]]
[[Category:Finger plays]]
[[Category:Finger plays]]
[[Category:Nursery rhymes]]
[[Category:English nursery rhymes]]
[[Category:Fictional birds]]
[[Category:Songs with unknown songwriters]]

Latest revision as of 23:45, 24 November 2024

"Little Robin Redbreast"
Nursery rhyme
Published1744
Songwriter(s)Unknown
An illustration for the rhyme from The Only True Mother Goose Melodies (1833)

‘Little Robin Redbreast’ is an English language nursery rhyme, chiefly notable as evidence of the way traditional rhymes are changed and edited. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20612.[1]

Lyrics

[edit]

This rhyme is one of the most varied English nursery rhymes, probably because of its crude early version. Common modern versions include:

Words Fingerplay

Little Robin Redbreast
Sat upon a rail;
Niddle noddle went his head,
Wiggle waggle went his tail.[2]

Right hand extended in shape of a bird
poised on extended forefinger of left hand.
Little finger of right hand waggles from side to side.

Little Robin Redbreast
Came to visit me;
This is what he whistled,
Thank you for my tea.[2]

and:

Little Robin Redbreast
Sat upon a tree,
Up went the Pussy-Cat,
And down went he;
Down came Pussy-Cat,
Away Robin ran,
Says little Robin Redbreast—
Catch me if you can.
Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a wall,
Pussy-Cat jumped after him, and almost got a fall.
Little Robin chirped and sung, and what did pussy say?
Pussy-Cat said Mew, mew mew,—and Robin jumped away.[3]

Origins

[edit]

The earliest versions of this rhyme reveal a more basic humour. The earliest recorded is from Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (1744), which has the lyric:

Little Robin Red breast,
Sitting on a pole,
Nidde, Noddle, Went his head.
And poop[4] went his Hole.[2]

By the late eighteenth century the last line was being rendered 'And wag went his tail,' and other variations were used in nineteenth-century children's books, in one of the clearest cases of bowdlerisation in nursery rhymes.[2]

Fingerplay

[edit]

The rhyme has been used as a fingerplay. A version from 1920 included instructions with the lyrics:

Little Robin Redbreast
Sat upon a rail,
(Right hand extended in shape of a bird is poised on extended forefinger of left hand.)
Niddle noddle went his head,
And waggle went his tail.
(Little finger of right hand waggles from side to side.)[5]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "Roud Folksong Index S303787 Little Robin Redbreast came to visit me". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. English Folk Dance and Song Society. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 371-2.
  3. ^ Anon, The Only True Mother Goose Melodies (Munroe and Francis: Boston MA, 1833), p. 14.
  4. ^ the meaning of this word subsequently changed, towards the start of the 20th century
  5. ^ W. B. Forbush, H. T. Wade, W. J. Baltzell, R. Johnson, and D. E. Wheeler, ed., Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (New York, NY: University Society, 1920), p. 10.
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