One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
This article is about the nursery rhyme. For the Agatha Christie novel, see One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (novel).
| "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" | |
|---|---|
| Roud #11284 | |
| Song | |
| Written | England |
| Published | 1805 |
| Form | Nursery rhyme |
| Writer(s) | Traditional |
| Language | English |
"One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" is a popular English language nursery rhyme and counting-out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 11284.
Lyrics
A common version
- One, two,
- Buckle my shoe;
- Three, four,
- Open the door;
- Five, six,
- Pick up sticks;
- Seven, eight,
- Lay them straight:
- Nine, ten,
- A big, fat hen;
- Eleven, twelve,
- Dig and delve;
- Thirteen, fourteen,
- Maids a-courting;
- Fifteen, sixteen,
- Maids in the kitchen;
- Seventeen, eighteen,
- Maids a-waiting
- Nineteen, twenty,
- My plate's empty.[1]
Other versions
Some sources give differing lyrics.[2]
Origins and meaning
The rhyme is one of many counting-out rhymes. It was first recorded in Songs for the Nursery, published in London in 1805. This version differed beyond the number twelve, with the lyrics:
- Thirteen, fourteen, draw the curtain,
- Fifteen sixteen, the maid's in the kitchen,
- Seventeen, eighteen, she's in waiting,
- Nineteen, twenty, my stomach's empty.[1]
A version published five years later in Gammer Gurton's Garland (1810) had the following different lines:
- Three, four, Lay down lower ...
- Eleven twelve, Who will delve...
- Fifteen, sixteen, Maidsa-kissing...
- Nineteen, twenty, My Belly's empty.[1]
According to Henry Bolton, collector of counting rhymes in the 1880s, the rhyme was used in Wrentham, Massachusetts as early as 1780.[1]
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 333-4.
- ↑ Elizabeth M. Knowles (1999). The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Oxford University Press. p. 550. ISBN 978-0-19-860173-9.
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