Little Robin Redbreast

Little Robin Redbreast is an English language nursery

rhyme, chiey notable as evidence of the way traditional
rhymes are changed and edited. It has a Roud Folk Song
Index number of 20612.

And down went he;

Down came Pussy-Cat,
Away Robin ran,
Says little Robin Redbreast

Catch me if you can.

Lyrics

Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a spade,

Pussy-Cat jumped after him, and then he was
afraid.
Little Robin chirped and sung, and what did
pussy say?
Pussy-Cat said Mew, mew mew,and Robin
ew away.[2]

2 Origins
The earliest versions of this rhyme reveal a more basic
humour. The earliest recorded is from Tommy Thumbs
Pretty Song Book (c. 1744), which has the lyric:
Little Robin Red breast,
An illustration for the rhyme from The Only True Mother Goose
Melodies (1833)

Sitting on a pole,
Nidde, Noddle, Went his head.

And poop[3] went his Hole.[1]

This rhyme is one of the most varied English nursery rhymes, probably because of its crude early version.
Common modern versions include:
By the late eighteenth century the last line was being rendered 'And wag went his tail,' and other variations were
used in nineteenth-century childrens books, in one of the
Little Robin Redbreast
clearest cases of bowdlerisation in nursery rhymes.[1]
Came to visit me;
This is what he whistled,
Thank you for my tea.[1]

3 Fingerplay

Little Robin Redbreast

The rhyme has been used as a ngerplay. A version from

1920 included instructions with the lyrics:

Sat upon a rail;

Niddle noble went his head,

Little Robin Redbreast

Widdle waggle went his tail.[1]

Sat upon a rail,

(Right hand extended in shape of a bird is
poised on extended forenger of left hand.)

and:

Niddle noddle went his head,

Little Robin Redbreast

And waggle went his tail.

Sat upon a tree,

(Little nger of right hand waggles from side to

side.)[4]

Up went the Pussy-Cat,

1

4 NOTES

Notes

[1] I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery

Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997),
pp. 371-2.
[2] Anon, The Only True Mother Goose Melodies (Munroe and
Francis: Boston MA, 1833), p. 14.
[3] the meaning of this word subsequently changed, towards
the start of the 20th century
[4] 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.

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

Little Robin Redbreast Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little%20Robin%20Redbreast?oldid=613670827 Contributors: Hyacinth,

Smjg, PhilKnight, Kjell Knudde, Sabrebd and Anonymous: 5

5.2

Images

File:LittleRobinMotherGoose1833.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/LittleRobinMotherGoose1833.

jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Anon, The Only True Mother Goose Melodies (Munroe and Francis: Boston MA, 1833), p.
14. Original artist: Anon
File:PeasePorridgeHotImage1920.png Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/PeasePorridgeHotImage1920.
png License: Public domain Contributors: In the Nursery of My Bookhouse. Chicago: The Bookhouse for Children Publishers (p. 5).
Original artist: Miller, Olive Beaupre

5.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0