Girls and Boys Come Out To Play
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Girls and Boys Come Out to Play is a nursery rhyme that was in existence at least by 1708. It appeared in the first extant collection of nursery rhymes, Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (1744).
[edit] Text
- Girls and boys, come out to play,
- The moon doth shine as bright as day;
- Leave your supper, and leave your sleep,
- And come with your playfellows into the street.
- Come with a whoop, come with a call,
- Come with a good will or not at all.
- Up the ladder and down the wall,
- A halfpenny roll will serve us all.
- You find milk, and I'll find flour,
- And we'll have a pudding in half an hour.[1]
[edit] History
The verse presumably goes back to the time when children were expected to work during the daylight hours, and play was reserved for late in the evening.[2] The first two lines at least appeared in dance books (1708, 1719, 1728), satires (1709, 1725), and a political broadside (1711). The 1744 version included the first six lines.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ James Orchard Halliwell, The nursery rhymes of England (London, 1846), p. 206. (at books.google.com)
- ^ Nursery Rhyme Lyrics and Origins.
- ^ William S. Baring-Gould and Ceil Baring-Gould, The Annotated Mother Goose, p. 35.
