My Daddy is Dead, But I Can't Tell You How
My Daddy is Dead, But I Can't Tell You How
Nursery Song
My daddy is dead, but I can't tell you how;
He left me six horses to follow the plough;
With my whim wham waddle ho!
Strim stram straddle ho!
Bubble ho! pretty boy, over the brow.
I sold my six horses to buy me a cow;
And wasn't that a pretty thing to follow the plough?
With my whim wham waddle ho!
Strim stram straddle ho!
Bubble ho! pretty boy, over the brow.
I sold my cow to buy me a calf,
For I never made a bargain but I lost the best half.
With my whim wham waddle ho!
Strim stram straddle ho!
Bubble ho! pretty boy, over the brow.
I sold my calf to buy me a cat,
To sit down before the fire to warm her little back.
With my whim wham waddle ho!
Strim stram straddle ho!
Bubble ho! pretty boy, over the brow.
I sold my cat to buy me a mouse,
But she took fire in her tail and so burnt up my house.
With my whim wham waddle ho!
Strim stram straddle ho!
Bubble ho! pretty boy, over the brow.
Notes
Percy B. Green gives this variation of the song in A History of Nursery Rhymes (1899):
My father he died, I cannot tell how,
He left me six horses to drive out my plough,
With a wimmy lo! wommy lo!
Jack Straw, blazey boys.
Wimmy lo! wimmy lo! wob, wob, wob.
Green goes on to talk about this song being very old, "Mr. Halliwell dates it as of Richard II.'s time [note: Richard II was King from 1377 - 1399], and this much may be said for this opinion, that there is no greater authority than he on the subject of early English rhymes and carols. Mr. Halliwell also believes that of British nursery rhymes it is the earliest extant. There are those, however, who dissent from this view, holding that many of the child's songs sung to-day were known to our Saxon forefathers."
Here's what Halliwell said about this rhyme in "The Nursery Rhymes of England" (1842): "The following version of a popular rhyme is in one of Douce's books. I consider it to refer to the rebellious times of Richard II." Then Halliwell gives the version just above. (Jack Straw led a peasant rebellion against Richard II in 1381.)
Thanks and Acknowledgements
The illustration and first version of the song, the score and tune all come from The Baby's Opera by Walter Crane (1877).
