Over in the Meadow
"Over in the Meadow" is an old counting song. Different versions of this song exist and you can create your own… changing the order of the animals or even using different ones. People generally sing this song with ten verses (counting up ten).
The version below of "Over in the Meadow" is the general way this song has been sung since the 1880's or earlier...
Over in the Meadow
Children's Song
Over in the meadow,
In the sand, in the sun,
Lived an old mother toadie
And her little toadie one.
"Jump!" said the mother;
"I jump!" said the one.
So they jumped and they jumped,
In the sand in the sun.
Over in the meadow,
Where the stream runs blue,
Lived an old mother fish
And her little fishes two.
"Swim!" said the mother;
"We swim!" said the two.
So they swam and they swam,
Where the stream runs blue.
Over in the meadow,
In a hole in a tree,
Lived an old mother bluebird
And her little birdies three.
"Sing!" said the mother;
"We sing!" said the three.
So they sang and they sang,
In their home in a tree.
Over in the meadow,
By the reeds on the shore,
Lived an old mother muskrat
And her little ratties four.
"Dive!" said the mother;
"We dive!" said the four.
So they dived and they splashed,
By the reeds on the shore.
Over in the meadow,
In a snug beehive,
Lived a mother honey bee
And her little honies five.
"Buzz!" said the mother;
"We buzz!" said the five.
So they buzzed and they buzzed,
In their snug beehive.
Over in the meadow,
In a nest made of sticks,
Lived a black mother crow
And her little crows six.
"Caw!" said the mother;
"We caw!" said the six.
So they cawed and they cawed,
In their nest made of sticks.
Over in the meadow,
In the grass soft and even,
Lived a mother cricket
And her little crickets seven.
"Chirp!" said the mother;
"We chirp!" said the seven.
So they chirped cheery notes,
In the grass soft and even.
Over in the meadow,
On an old mossy gate,
Lived a brown mother lizard
And her little lizards eight.
"Bask!" said the mother;
"We bask!" said the eight.
So they basked, and they basked,
On the old mossy gate.
Over in the meadow,
Where the cool pools shine,
Lived a green mother frog
And her little froggies nine.
"Croak!" said the mother;
"We croak!" said the nine.
So they croaked and they croaked,
Where the cool pools shine.
Over in the meadow,
In a sly little den,
Lived a gray mother spider
And her little spiders ten.
"Spin!" said the mother;
"We spin!" said the ten.
So they spun silken webs,
In their sly little den.
Notes
Originally written as a poem by Olive A. Wadsworth (1816 - 1879). Olive A. Wadsworth is the pen name of Katherine Floyd Dana (1835 - 1886). It wasn't typical or acceptable for women to be writers at that time so they would often write under pen names. The initial of her chosen pen name are OAW, which was tongue in cheek for "only a woman".
Thanks!
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Illustration by Monique Palomares.
Thanks so much!