This Little Piggy
| "This Little Piggy" | |
|---|---|
 This Little Pig Went to Market by Lilly Martin Spencer, 1857 | |
| Song | |
| Written | England |
"This Little Piggy" or "This little pig" is an English language nursery rhyme and fingerplay. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19297.
Lyrics
The most common modern version is:
| Words | Fingerplay |
|---|---|
This little piggy went to market, |
Wiggle the "big" toe |
Another version often cited is:
- This little piggy went to market,
- This little piggy stayed home,
- This little piggy had jam and bread,
- This little piggy had none,
- And this little piggy went crying all the way to town[3]
Another version widely used throughout Ireland and the UK:
- This little piggy went to the market,
- This little piggy stayed at home,
- This little piggy had bread and butter,
- This little piggy had none,
- And this little piggy went wee wee wee, all the way home.[1]
Another found native to Boston, MA:
- This little piggy went to market,
- This little piggy went to town,
- This little piggy had roast beef,
- This little piggy had clam chowder,
- And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home.
Another verse from the "This Little Piggy Singing Bear" is:
- This little piggy rode a bicycle,
- This little piggy flew an airplane,
- This little piggy drove a car,
- This little piggy rode a train
- And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home.
For the laugh and learn puppy is:
- This little puppy went to market
- This little puppy stayed home
- This little puppy had a biscuit
- This little puppy had a bone
- And this little puppy said arf arf arf arf arf arf arf all the way home
Finger play
The rhyme is usually counted out on a person's toes, each line corresponding to a different toe, usually starting with the big toe and ending with the little toe. A foot tickle is usually added during the "Wee...all the way home" section of the last line.[citation needed] The rhyme can also be seen as a counting rhyme, although the number of each toe (from 1 for the big toe to 5 for the little toe) is never stated.[citation needed]
Origins
In 1728, the first line of the rhyme appeared in a medley called "The Nurse's Song". The first known full version was recorded in The Famous Tommy Thumb's Little Story-Book, published in London about 1760.[4]
The full rhyme continued to appear, with slight variations, in many late 18th and early 19th century collections. Until the mid-20th century, the lines referred to "little pigs".[4]
Other versions
In 2013, Australian children's music group: The Wiggles wrote a song "This Little Piggy Went to Market" with the same lyrics as the original This Little Piggy with different background music. The song is on The Wiggles' 2014 release: Apples and Bananas DVD and CD and the song is sung with American journalist: Lee Hawkins.
On Monday, February 23, 2015, singer Christina Aguilera sang the rhyme in the voice of Britney Spears on "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon".[5]
References
- ^ Wentworth. Work and Play with Numbers. p. 14.
- ^ Herman, D. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 9.
- ^ Rizzo, C. (1995). All the Ways Home: Parenting and Children in the Lesbian and Gay Communities. Norwich VT: New Victoria Publishers. p. 104.
- ^ a b Opie, I.; Opie, P. (1951). The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1997 ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 349–50.
- ^ Boardman, Madeline (24 February 2015). "Christina Aguilera Does Incredible Britney Spears Impression on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon". usmagazine.com. US Weekly. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
Bibliography
- Wentworth, George; Smith, David Eugene (1912). Work and Play with Numbers. Boston: Ginn & Company.
- Brewster, Paul G. (1976). Children's Games and Rhymes. Ayer Co Pub. ISBN 978-0405079146.
