French
DeutschFarmyard Song
The "Farmyard Song" (Roud number 544) is a cumulative song about farm animals, originating in the British Isles and also known in North America.
It is known by various titles, such as:
Summary[edit]
In the first verse, the narrator tells of buying or having a cat, horse or other animal, feeding them under a tree, and the call the animal makes. Each subsequent verse introduces a new animal, then repeats the calls of the animals from previous verses.
Versions[edit]
There were several versions known in the Thames Valley in the early part of the 20th century.[4] A version collected in Bampton, Oxfordshire around 1916 began as follows:
The very first thing my mother bought me,
It was a hen, you may plainly see;
And every time I fed my hen,
I fed her under the tree.
My hen went chick-chack,
My cock went cock-a-te-too;
Here's luck to all my cocks and hens,
And my cock-a-doodle-do.[4]
Musicologists Loraine Wyman and Howard Brockway collected "The Barnyard Song" in Kentucky in 1916.[5]: 5 [2] This version began,
I had a cat and the cat pleased me,
I fed my cat under yonder tree.
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.[2]
Some American variants are not cumulative, but instead group all the animal calls together at the end of the song.[3]
Adaptations and recordings[edit]
- Aaron Copland included the song as "I Bought Me a Cat" in his 1950 song cycle, Old American Songs (part I).
- "I Went to Market", The Watersons, Green Fields (1981)
- "My Cock Crew", Con Greaney, Traditional Singer (1991)
- "Fiddle I Dee," Kidsongs' Very Silly Songs (1991)
- "Bought Me a Cat", Barney & Friends, on the episode "Down on Barney's Farm" (1992)[6]
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References[edit]
- ^ "The Green Tree". The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection. Missouri State University. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
- ^ a b c Wyman, Loraine; Brockway, Howard (1916). Lonesome Tunes: Folk Songs from the Kentucky Mountains. H.W. Gray Company. p. 13.
- ^ a b "Barnyard Song". The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection. Missouri State University. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
- ^ a b "Song: Here's luck to all my cocks and hens". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Ralph Lee Smith; Madeline MacNeil (24 February 2011). Folk Songs of Old Kentucky. Mel Bay Publications. ISBN 978-1-60974-264-5.
- ^ "Down on Barney's Farm". Barney & Friends. Season 1. Episode 10. The Lyons Group. 1992.