Rock-a-bye Baby
Encyclopedia
'Rock-a-bye Baby' is a nursery rhyme
and lullaby
. The melody is a variant of the English satirical ballad Lilliburlero. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
number of 2768.
's Melody (London, c. 1765), has the following lyrics:
The version from Songs for the Nursery (London, 1805), contains the wording:
Alternate Lyrics as shown in The Real Mother Goose
published in 1916:
The most common version used today is:
One identifies it as the first poem written on American soil, suggesting it may date from the 17th century and have been written by an English immigrant who observed the way native-American women rocked their babies in birch-bark cradles, which were suspended from the branches of trees, allowing the wind to rock the baby to sleep. A difficulty with this theory is that the words appeared in print first in England in c. 1765.
In Derbyshire, England, local legend has it that the song relates to a local character in the late 18th century, Betty Kenny (Kate Kenyon), who lived with her charcoal-burner husband, Luke, and their eight children in a huge yew tree in Shining Cliff Woods in the Derwent Valley, where a hollowed-out bough served as a cradle. However this "late 1700s" date is incompatible with the poem's appearance in print c. 1765.
Yet another theory has it that the lyrics, like the tune "Lilliburlero" it is sung to, refer to events immediately preceding the Glorious Revolution
. The baby is supposed to be the son of James VII and II, who was widely believed to be someone else's child smuggled into the birthing room in order to provide a Roman Catholic heir for James. The "wind" may be that Protestant "wind" or force "blowing" or coming from the Netherlands bringing James' nephew and son-in-law, William III of England, a.k.a. William of Orange, who would eventually depose King James II in the revolution (the same "Protestant Wind
" that had saved England from the Spanish Armada a century earlier). The "cradle" is the royal House of Stuart. The earliest recorded version of the words in print appeared with a footnote, "This may serve as a warning to the Proud and Ambitious, who climb so high that they generally fall at last", which may be read as supporting a satirical meaning. It would help to substantiate the suggestion of a specific political application for the words however if they and the 'Lilliburlero' tune could be shown to have been always associated.
Another possibility is that the words began as a "dandling" rhyme - one used while a baby is being swung about and sometimes tossed and caught. An early dandling rhyme is quoted in The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book which has some similarity:
Contemporary American Sculptor, Sandy Graves, believes that this may have been a birthing story, politely explaining the process of birth where the mother is the tree, the winds are contractions, the bough is the "water", and "Cradle and all" is the placenta.
(1713–1767) in the 18th century, which was reprinted in Boston in 1785. Rock-a-bye as a phrase was first recorded in 1805 in Benjamin Tabart
's Songs for the Nursery, (London, 1805).
newspaper in 1887 for a performance in London by a minstrel
group featuring a "new" American song called 'Rock-a-bye':
"Moore and Burgess Minstrels, St James's-hall TODAY at 3, TONIGHT at 8, when the following new and charming songs will be sung...The great American song of ROCK-A-BYE..."
This minstrel song, whether substantially the same as the nursery rhymes quoted above or not, was clearly an instant hit: a later advertisement for the same company in the paper's October 13 edition promises that "The new and charming American ballad, called ROCK-A-BYE, which has achieved an extraordinary degree of popularity in all the cities of America will be SUNG at every performance."
This implies the song was an American composition and already popular there. An article in the New York Times of August 1891 (p. 1) refers to the tune being played in a parade in Asbury Park, N.J. and clearly by this date the song was well established in America. Newspapers of the period, however, credit its composition to two separate persons, both resident in Boston
: one is Effie Canning
(later referred to as Mrs. Effie D. Canning Carlton and the other the composer Charles Dupee Blake.
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
and lullaby
Lullaby
A lullaby is a soothing song, usually sung to young children before they go to sleep, with the intention of speeding that process. As a result they are often simple and repetitive. Lullabies can be found in every culture and since the ancient period....
. The melody is a variant of the English satirical ballad Lilliburlero. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
Roud Folk Song Index
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...
number of 2768.
Lyrics
The first printed version from Mother GooseMother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
's Melody (London, c. 1765), has the following lyrics:
- Hush-a-by baby
- On the tree top,
- When the wind blows
- The cradle will rock.
- When the bough breaks,
- The cradle will fall,
- And down will fall baby
- Cradle and all.
The version from Songs for the Nursery (London, 1805), contains the wording:
- Rock-a-bye, baby, thy cradle is green,
- Father's a nobleman, mother's a queen...
Alternate Lyrics as shown in The Real Mother Goose
Mother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
published in 1916:
- Rock-a-bye, baby, thy cradle is green;
- Father's a nobleman, mother's a queen;
- And Betty's a lady, and wears a gold ring;
- And Johnny's a drummer, and drums for the king.
The most common version used today is:
- Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetops,
- When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,
- When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
- And down will come baby, cradle and all.
Origins and development
Various theories exist to explain the origins of the rhyme.One identifies it as the first poem written on American soil, suggesting it may date from the 17th century and have been written by an English immigrant who observed the way native-American women rocked their babies in birch-bark cradles, which were suspended from the branches of trees, allowing the wind to rock the baby to sleep. A difficulty with this theory is that the words appeared in print first in England in c. 1765.
In Derbyshire, England, local legend has it that the song relates to a local character in the late 18th century, Betty Kenny (Kate Kenyon), who lived with her charcoal-burner husband, Luke, and their eight children in a huge yew tree in Shining Cliff Woods in the Derwent Valley, where a hollowed-out bough served as a cradle. However this "late 1700s" date is incompatible with the poem's appearance in print c. 1765.
Yet another theory has it that the lyrics, like the tune "Lilliburlero" it is sung to, refer to events immediately preceding the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
. The baby is supposed to be the son of James VII and II, who was widely believed to be someone else's child smuggled into the birthing room in order to provide a Roman Catholic heir for James. The "wind" may be that Protestant "wind" or force "blowing" or coming from the Netherlands bringing James' nephew and son-in-law, William III of England, a.k.a. William of Orange, who would eventually depose King James II in the revolution (the same "Protestant Wind
Protestant Wind
The phrase Protestant Wind has been used in more than one context, notably:#The storm that lashed the Spanish Armada. According to Protestant propaganda, the wind wrecked the Spanish fleet and thus saved England from invasion by the army of Philip II of Spain...
" that had saved England from the Spanish Armada a century earlier). The "cradle" is the royal House of Stuart. The earliest recorded version of the words in print appeared with a footnote, "This may serve as a warning to the Proud and Ambitious, who climb so high that they generally fall at last", which may be read as supporting a satirical meaning. It would help to substantiate the suggestion of a specific political application for the words however if they and the 'Lilliburlero' tune could be shown to have been always associated.
Another possibility is that the words began as a "dandling" rhyme - one used while a baby is being swung about and sometimes tossed and caught. An early dandling rhyme is quoted in The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book which has some similarity:
- Catch him, crow! Carry him, kite!
- Take him away till the apples are ripe;
- When they are ripe and ready to fall,
- Here comes baby, apples and all.
Contemporary American Sculptor, Sandy Graves, believes that this may have been a birthing story, politely explaining the process of birth where the mother is the tree, the winds are contractions, the bough is the "water", and "Cradle and all" is the placenta.
Publication
The words first appeared in print in Mother Goose's Melody (London, c. 1765), possibly published by John NewberyJohn Newbery
John Newbery was an English publisher of books who first made children's literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market. He also supported and published the works of Christopher Smart, Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Johnson...
(1713–1767) in the 18th century, which was reprinted in Boston in 1785. Rock-a-bye as a phrase was first recorded in 1805 in Benjamin Tabart
Benjamin Tabart
Benjamin Tabart was an English publisher and bookseller of the Juvenile Library in New Bond Street, London. Many of the books in his list were written by himself. In an age of strictly moralizing children's literature, he broke ground with his fairy tales and light-hearted nursery stories and...
's Songs for the Nursery, (London, 1805).
Melody
It is unclear though whether these early rhymes were sung to the now-familiar tune. At some time however the Lilliburlero-based tune and the 1796 lyric, with the word "Hush-a-bye" replaced by "Rock-a-bye", must have come together and achieved a new popularity. A possible reference to this re-emergence is in an advertisement in The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper in 1887 for a performance in London by a minstrel
Minstrel
A minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Although minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty...
group featuring a "new" American song called 'Rock-a-bye':
"Moore and Burgess Minstrels, St James's-hall TODAY at 3, TONIGHT at 8, when the following new and charming songs will be sung...The great American song of ROCK-A-BYE..."
This minstrel song, whether substantially the same as the nursery rhymes quoted above or not, was clearly an instant hit: a later advertisement for the same company in the paper's October 13 edition promises that "The new and charming American ballad, called ROCK-A-BYE, which has achieved an extraordinary degree of popularity in all the cities of America will be SUNG at every performance."
This implies the song was an American composition and already popular there. An article in the New York Times of August 1891 (p. 1) refers to the tune being played in a parade in Asbury Park, N.J. and clearly by this date the song was well established in America. Newspapers of the period, however, credit its composition to two separate persons, both resident in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
: one is Effie Canning
Effie Crockett
Effie Crockett , also known as Effie I. Canning, also known as Effie C. Carlton, was an American actress. She is credited with having written and composed the lullaby "Rock-a-bye Baby"; by some accounts she created the song in 1872 while babysitting...
(later referred to as Mrs. Effie D. Canning Carlton and the other the composer Charles Dupee Blake.
See also
- Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie MelodyRock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody"Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" is a popular song written by Jean Schwartz, with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. The song was published in 1918....
- Eugene FieldEugene FieldEugene Field, Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays.-Biography:...
, Rock-a-Bye Lady
External links
- Rock-a-bye-baby
- http://www.zelo.com/family/nursery/rock.asp
- musipedia