Bye, baby Bunting

"Bye, baby Bunting"
"Bye, baby Bunting"
	Sheet music
Nursery rhyme
Published	1784
Songwriter(s)	Traditional

"Bye, baby Bunting" (Roud 11018) is an English-language nursery rhyme and lullaby.^{[citation needed]}

Lyrics and melody

The most common modern version is:

Bye, baby Bunting,
Daddy's gone a-hunting,
Gone to get a rabbit skin [To get a little rabbit's skin^[1]]
To wrap the baby Bunting in.^[2]^[3]

$\relative c' { \time 3/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"clarinet" \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 2. = 108 e2. | d2 f4 | e2. | d2. | e2 e4 | d2 f4 | e2. | c2 c4 | e2. | d2 f4 | e2. | d2. | e2 e4 | d2 f4 | e2. | c2 r4 \bar "|." } \addlyrics { Bye, ba- by Bun- ting, Dad- dy's gone a- hunt- ing, - Gone-to get a rabbit skin To-wrap the ba- by Bunting in. }$

From 1784:^[4]

$<< \new ChordNames \chordmode { \set chordChanges = ##t % Only display chord when there is a change (e.g., don't repeat the Am here) c4.: g4.:7 c4.: c4.: c4.: g4.:7 c4.: c4.: f4.: f4.: c4.: c4.: g4.:7 g4.:7 c2.: } \relative c' { \time 6/8 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"clarinet" \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 4. = 75 (e4 g8) d4 f8 | (e4 g8) g4. | e4 g8 d4 f8 | (e4 d8) c4 g'8 | a4 gis8 a4 f8 | g4 fis8 g4 e8 | f4 e8 d4 g8 | e4 d8 c4. \bar "|." } \addlyrics { Bye, ba- by Bun- ting, Dad- dy's gone a- hunt- ing, To get a lit- tle rab- bit skin, To wrap the ba- by bunt- ing in. } >>$

Origins

The expression bunting is a term of endearment that may also imply 'plump'.^[2] A version of the rhyme was published in 1731 in England.^[5] A version in Songs for the Nursery 1805 had the longer lyrics:^{[citation needed]}

Bye, baby Bunting,
Father's gone a-hunting,
Mother's gone a-milking,
Sister's gone a-silking,
Brother's gone to buy a skin
To wrap the baby Bunting in.^[2]^[6]^[7]

There have been many interpretations^[which?] of the meaning behind this nursery rhyme, with some claiming^[who?] that the skin is akin to a winding sheet.^{[citation needed]} But it contains many similar elements to other lullabies from the British Isles, including absence of the parents, and gifts for the baby upon their promised return.

Notes

^ Rackham, Arthur (1913). Mother Goose: The Old Nursery Rhymes, p.4. Century Company.
^ ^a ^b ^c I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 63.
^ Kaye Bennett Dotson (2020). The Value of Games, p.66. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9781475846416.
^ Pamela Conn Beall, Susan Hagen Nipp (2002). Wee Sing Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies, p.50. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 9780843177664.
^ "Weekly Essays". The Gentleman's Magazine. No. IV. London, England. April 1731. p. 150.
^ Eulalie Osgood Grover, ed. (1915). Mother Goose. P.F. Volland. [ISBN unspecified].
^ (1899). The Child Life Quarterly Volumes 1-2, p.94. C.F. Hodgson & Son

External links

Media related to Bye, baby Bunting at Wikimedia Commons

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[1] Rackham, Arthur (1913). Mother Goose: The Old Nursery Rhymes, p.4. Century Company.

[opie1997-2] I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 63.

[3] Kaye Bennett Dotson (2020). The Value of Games, p.66. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9781475846416.

[4] Pamela Conn Beall, Susan Hagen Nipp (2002). Wee Sing Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies, p.50. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 9780843177664.

[5] "Weekly Essays". The Gentleman's Magazine. No. IV. London, England. April 1731. p. 150.

[6] Eulalie Osgood Grover, ed. (1915). Mother Goose. P.F. Volland. [ISBN unspecified].

[7] (1899). The Child Life Quarterly Volumes 1-2, p.94. C.F. Hodgson & Son

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Lyrics and melody

Origins

See also

Notes

External links