The Farmer in the Dell

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The Farmer in the Dell, is a song that children sing. It tells the story of a farmer in a dell who takes a wife, who takes a child, who takes a nurse, etc, until finally a rat takes a cheese, and the cheese "stands alone".

Like most children's songs, there are geographic variations, and in the United Kingdom this is known as The Farmer's In His Den. The 'Hi-Ho, the derry-o' is variously replaced with 'Ee-i, tiddly-i' in London, 'Ee-i, the addio' in Northern England, and 'Ee-i, ee-i' in the West Country. In the UK, the rat is replaced with a dog and in the final verse, all other players pat the dog or alternatively its bone.

Circle Game: Ten children (or more) join hands and dance around the FARMER, who stands in the center of the circle as they sing. At the end of the first verse,the FARMER chooses his WIFE, who joins him inside the circle. At the end of the next verse, the WIFE takes a CHILD, and so on, until the last verse when everyone is in the circle except the CHEESE, who stands alone. Whoever ends up being the CHEESE becomes the FARMER for the next round.

[edit] Lyrics

The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer in the dell

The farmer takes a wife
The farmer takes a wife
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer takes a wife

The wife takes a child
The wife takes a child
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The wife takes a child

The child takes a nurse
The child takes a nurse
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The child takes a nurse

The nurse takes a cow
The nurse takes a cow
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The nurse takes a cow

The cow takes a dog
The cow takes a dog
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The cow takes a dog

The dog takes a cat
The dog takes a cat
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The dog takes a cat

The cat takes a rat
The cat takes a rat
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The cat takes a rat

The rat takes the cheese
The rat takes the cheese
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The rat takes the cheese

The cheese stands alone
The cheese stands alone
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The cheese stands alone

[edit] Trivia

On the HBO original television series The Wire, the Robin Hood-like thief Omar Little, who routinely robs Baltimore drug dealers at gunpoint, fearlessly whistles The Farmer in the Dell as he approaches.

The book I Am the Cheese takes its name from the song.

In the book "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt, the character Bunny sings The Famer in the Dell to taunt the other characters who have accidentally killed a farmer.

The Cheese Stands Alone is the name of a card in the Unglued set of Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering trading card game.