Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush

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This article is about the traditional nursery rhyme and song. For the film, see Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (film), for the song by Traffic, see "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (Traffic song)"

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (or simply Mulberry Bush) is a children's nursery rhyme. The phrase is also the first line of a popular nursery tune. The tune is similar to that of the Christmas carol I Saw Three Ships.^{[citation needed]}

The words to the first verse are:

"Here we go round the mulberry bush,"
"The mulberry bush,"
"The mulberry bush."
"Here we go round the mulberry bush"
"On a cold and frosty morning".

The song and associated game is traditional, and has parallels in the Scandinavian languages and in Dutch (although the mulberry bush is replaced by a juniper bush in Scandinavia). However, R.S. Duncan (then governor of the Wakefield prison) has suggested that the song derives from female prisoners at HMP Wakefield entertaining their children by walking around a mulberry bush within the prison area. According to Wakefield tourist information, the actual "mulberry bush (or more accurately, tree) still thrives at the prison today"^[1].

In 1953, Bill Haley & His Comets recorded a rock and roll version of this song, which was retitled "Stop Beatin' Round the Mulberry Bush" and had topical rock-related lyrics added.

In a 1970s commercial for Oster electric toothbrushes, the song was used with the line "This is the way we brush our teeth".

A commercial for Scoop Away cat litter used the song with the line "This is the way we wash our face".

Anne Dalton wrote a book called "This is the Way" using this song.

[edit] The Merry-Go-Round

The Merry-Go-Round is a song with the same tune as "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush", but some notes are removed. The song tells the story of several children on a merry-go-round that—in a sadistic twist—collapses due to the fact that so many children are riding it. The circle game that accompanies it is similar to the one for Ring Around the Rosie.

[edit] Sources

Part of the content is based on the Norwegian article no:Så går vi rundt om en enebærbusk.

For the suggestion of a Wakefield prison origin of the song, cf. Duncan, R.S.: Here we go round the mulberry bush' The House of Correction 1595 / HM Prison Wakefield 1995 (published by author 1994)

In Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, Gordon in the ditch all day and the Boys singing at him:

Silly old Gordon fell in the ditch,
fell in the ditch,
fell in the ditch.
Silly old Gordon fell in the ditch
all on a monday morning.