Song cupboard J-K

Jack the lad and Jim

Jelly on a plate

Jim crack corn / Big old owl

Joe Rattle

Joe the carrier’s lad

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

John Jago

John, the rabbit

Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Grotto was a fisherman’s son

Johnny Todd

Katie Beardie

Keemo kimo

Keep on the sunny side

Keyman, keyman

Kitty and mousie / Long time ago

Last updated: 8/16/2021 11:07 AM

The songs below are part of ‘Away we go’ Round and about

compiled, adapted and illustrated by Dany Rosevear

Return to the ‘Singing games for children’ home

To listen to music from these songs click on O or 🔊

To watch the author sing a song click on the title at:

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Jack the lad and Jim O

A nautical song from BBC television’s Music Time. First published in 1983.

There were two pirates went to sea,

Jack the lad and Jim.

The terrors of the Barbary,

Jack the lad and Jim.

Gold and silver they did plunder,

Jack the lad and Jim.

They raised the flag and cried, ‘Hooray!’

Jack the lad and Jim.

Then Jack says, ‘Jim we’ve lost our way’.

Jack the lad and Jim.

Run aground, on rocks they foundered,

Jack the lad and Jim.

And then one day a ship they spied,

Jack the lad and Jim.

A-sailing westward on the tide,

Jack the lad and Jim.

‘Ship ahoy!’ they called, so joyous,

Jack the lad and Jim.

The ship drew near with all her crew,

Jack the lad and Jim.

And then they saw the flag she flew,

Jack the lad and Jim.

Pirates all, oh what misfortune,

Jack the lad and Jim.

Then fifty pirates came aboard,

Jack the lad and Jim.

And stole their gold and silver hoard,

Jack the lad and Jim.

Cried ‘Hooray!’ and sailed away from,

Jack the lad and Jim.

Jelly on a plateO

Get moving to this wibbly wobbly song.

Jelly on a plate,

Wibble wobble, wibble wobble,

Jelly on a plate.

Jelly on a spoon,

Wibble wobble, wibble wobble,

Jelly on a spoon.

Jelly in my tum,

Wibble wobble, wibble wobble,

Jelly in my tum.

Jelly on my face,

Wibble wobble, wibble wobble,

Jelly on my face.

Jelly on the floor,

Wibble wobble, wibble wobble,

Jelly on floor.

Jelly everywhere,

Wibble wobble, wibble wobble,

Jelly everywhere!

With palms facing up wobble hands from side to side.

Hold imaginary spoon and make it wobble.

Rub tummy and make it wobble.

Lift up face and move it around.

Stamp on the floor.

Shake whole body..

Jim crack corn / Big old owl 🔊

Another from the Ruth Seeger’s delightful collection’American folk songs for children’. This slight adaptation is from Pete Seeger’s singing. It was notated from a phonograph recording of an old man who learnt it as a young boy from an aged banjo picker. In the 1960s I was much more familiar with the more commonly known ‘Jimmy crack corn’, a much simpler version.

Big old owl with eyes so bright,

On many a dark and starry night,

I’ve often heard my true love say,

“Sing all night and sleep all day.”

Refrain

Jim crack corn, I don’t care,

Old Master’s gone away.

Said the blackbird to the crow;

Down to the cornfield let us go;

Pulling up corn has been our trade,

Ever since Adam and Eve was made. Refrain

Said the sheldrake to the crane:

When do you think we’ll have some rain?

The farm’s so muddy and the brook so dry,

If it wasn’t for the tadpoles, we’d all die. Refrain

When I was young I used to wait

On Master’s table and pass the plate,

Hand round the bottle when he got dry,

Ad brush away the blue-tail fly. Refrain

Joe Rattle 🔊

From the Dutch Pennsylvania tradition; a young children's folk song related to old German songs from the Odenwald. This version is from ‘Music for living through the day’ by James L. Mursell and published by Silver Burdett in 1962

Joe Rattle, Joe Rattle, come into the grass,

Where the birdies keep whistling as the rabbits hop past.

You’ll see the ox dancing, you’ll hear the cow moo,

While the mule beats the drum for me and for you.

Joe the carrier’s lad 🔊

A cheerful folk song whatever the weather. Sometimes called ‘Jim the carter’s lad’.

My name is Joe the carrier’s lad, a merry chap am I,

I always am contented, be the weather wet or dry,

I snap my fingers at the frost, I whistle at the rain,

I've braved the storms for many a day and will do once again.

Oh, crick, crack, goes my whip, I whistle and I sing,

I sit upon my wagon I’m as happy as a king;

My horse is always willing, and I am never sad,

There's none can lead a jollier life than Joe the carrier’s lad.

My father was a carrier ‘bout twenty years ago,

He used to rise at daybreak and to market he would go,

He’d often took me with him, especially in the spring,

I loved to sit upon the box and hear my father sing.

The ladies they all smile at us as we go trotting past,

My horse is such a beauty and he trots along so fast,

It’s many a mile we’ve travelled and such good times we've had,

There’s none can treat a horse more kind as Joe the carrier’s lad. Chorus

I never think of politics or anything so great,

I care not for their high born talk about the church or state,

For I act right to every man, and that's what makes me glad,

You'll find there beats an honest heart in Joe the carrier’s lad. Chorus

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt O

A community song that encourages quiet and loud singing.

It is sung in United States and Canada especially in scouting get-togethers and probably had its roots in humour, appropriate or not, linked to names of German-American immigrants Find out more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jacob_Jingleheimer_Schmidt

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt,

His name is my name too!

Whenever we go out,

The people always shout:

“There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt!"

Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da!

John Jago O

Snail racing was a popular pastime in times gone by and this song from Cornwall U.K. may well have accompanied such an activity.

John Jago, John Jago put out thy great horn,

Thy mother and father are dead.

Thy brother and sister are out the back door

Crying for barley bread.

John, the rabbit 🔊

A traditional call and response song from the American South. Another from Tony Saletan’s delightful collection ‘The Song Bag’.

Oh, John, the rabbit, Yes, ma'am!

Got a mighty bad habit, Yes, ma'am!

Jumping in my garden, Yes, ma'am!

Cuttin’ down my cabbage, Yes, ma'am!

My sweet potatoes, Yes, ma'am!

My fresh tomatoes, Yes, ma'am!

And if I live, Yes, ma'am!

To see next fall, Yes, ma'am!

I ain't gonna have, Yes, ma'am!

Any garden at all, No, ma'am!

Johnny Appleseed 🔊

Be thankful for the bounty of the Earth.

‘John Chapman, often called Johnny Appleseed, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as the northern counties of present-day West Virginia.’ These words are quoted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed where you can find out more about this wonderful missionary, storyteller and gardener who understood the need for conservation. He is celebrated on his birthday 26^th September 1774.

Oh, the Earth is good to me,

And so I thank the Earth,

For giving me the things I need:

The sun, the rain and the apple seed;

The Earth is good to me!

And every seed I sow,

Will grow into a tree,

And someday there'll be apples there

For everyone in the world to share;

The Earth is good to me!

Oh, here I am 'neath the blue, blue sky,

A-doing as I please.

Singing with my feathered friends,

Hummin’ with the bees.

I wake up every day,

As happy as can be,

Because I know that with good care,

My apple trees will still be there.

The Earth is good to me;

Johnny Appleseed!

Johnny Grotto was a fisherman’s son 🔊

A call and response story folksong from Trinidad and Tobago.

Johnny Grotto was a fisherman’s son.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, ho!

Johnny Grotto was a fisherman’s son.

Is a long time ago.

He went out to sea to catch jackfish for me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, ho!

If we catch plenty fish we go cook a nice dish.

Is a long time ago.

The sea was all rough and the fish pulling tough.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, ho!

The sea was all rough and the fish pulling tough.

Is a long time ago.

It was late in the evening when fish start to bite.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, ho!

Just before dark when the fish start to bite.

Is a long time ago.

When the fishing was good he was feeling alright.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, ho!

Said the fishing was good he was feeling alright.

Is a long time ago.

And the night was so bright that a star was in sight.

Yeah yeah yeah ho

Said the night was so bright that a star was in sight.

Is a long time ago.

He catch so much fish that he stayed out all night.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, ho!

He catch so much fish that he stayed out all night.

Is a long time ago.

Johnny Grotto was a fisherman’s son.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, ho!

He catch plenty fish; we go cook a nice dish.

Is a long time ago.

Johnny Todd O

I learnt this at teacher training college in the 1960s and remember singing it on teaching practice in a convent school on the Isle of Wight. It also appeared in Singing Together, Autumn 1968, BBC Publications. According to Joe Offer of Mudcat it was taken from a 1891 collection of traditional tunes by Frank Kidson. His says ‘Johnny Todd is a child's rhyme and game, heard and seen played by Liverpool children.’

Johnny Todd he took a notion

For to sail the ocean wide;

And he left his true love behind him,

Weeping by the Liverpool tide.

For a week she wept with sorrow,

Tore her hair and wrung her hands,

Till she met another sailor,

Walking on the Liverpool sands.

"Why fair maid, are you a-weeping

For your Johnny gone to sea?

If you wed with me tomorrow

I will kind and constant be.”

"I will buy you sheets and blankets,

I'll buy you a wedding ring;

You shall have a gilded cradle

For to rock your baby in."

Johnny Todd came home from sailing,

Sailing o'er the ocean wide,

But he found that his fair and false one

Was another sailor's bride.

All young men who go a-sailing

For to fight the foreign foe,

Do not leave your love like Johnny,

Marry her before you go!

Katie Beardie O

A great song for making up your own rhymes.

This is an anglicized version of the Scottish nursery rhyme. If you would like to try it in dialects go to: http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Katie_Beardie.htm .

You can also find a skipping / ball against the wall version online: http://www.glesga.ukpals.com/memorylanesongs.htm

Katie Beardie had a sheep,

She taught it how to skip and leap,

Wasn’t that a clever sheep,

Dance, Katie Beardie.

Katie Beardie had some mice,

She taught them how to skate on ice,

Weren’t they all such clever mice,

Dance, Katie Beardie.

Katie Beardie had a cat,

It pulled a rabbit from a hat,

Wasn’t that a clever cat,

Dance, Katie Beardie.

Katie Beardie had a hen,

It could count from one to ten,

Wasn’t that a clever hen,

Dance, Katie Beardie.

Katie Beardie had a crocodile,

We haven’t seen her for a while,

The crocodile he had a smile,

Whoops! Katie Beardie.

Keemo kimo O

This song which probably originated in Scotland can be found in so many forms it is difficult to know where to start; try: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=53292!

My version comes from several sources – perhaps a bit too ‘pick and mix’ for some traditionalists but it hangs together nicely when sung J

You can find a dance with a slightly different tune at: http://www.lorenz.com/Med/Pages/9780934017572.pdf

There was an old frog and he lived in a spring,

Sing song kitty can’t you kimeo.

He could dance and he could sing,

Sing song kitty can’t you kimeo.

Chorus

Keemo kimo dayro dime,

With mi hi, mi ho and in come Sally singing;

Sometimes penny winkle, blue-eyed pussy cat,

Sing song kitty can’t you kimeo.

I grabbed that frog and pulled him out...

He hopped and he skipped and he danced all about…

Froggy went swimming across a lake…

But he got swallowed by a big black snake…

Oh, I went east and I went west…

A-looking for the turkey's nest…

Keep on the sunny side 🔊

Keeping a positive outlook despite difficulties is the way to go, ‘Look up at the stars, not down at your feet’ was the advice of the late Stephen Hawking.

This song was originally written in 1899 by Ada Blenkhorn (1858–1927) with music by J. Howard Entwisle (1866–1903). The song was popularized in a 1928 recording by the Carter Family. The last couplet is by Dany Rosevear for a younger audience.

Keep on the sunny side,

Always on the sunny side,

Keep on the sunny side of life;

It will help us every day,

It will brighten all the way,

If we keep on the sunny side of life.

There's a dark and a troubled side of life;

There's a bright and a sunny side, too.

Though we meet with the darkness and strife,

The sunny side may also find you.

Let us greet with a song of hope each day;

Though the moment be cloudy or fair.

Let us show each other the way,

Till the sun shines again everywhere.

Keyman, keyman 🔊

A joyous song from Jamaica; this Revival song tells the story of Noah and the Ark, one of the most popular children’s Bible stories. Keyman or God, locks up the animals securely to save them from the floods. It was originally a wake song, ‘A fear of every animal’, a display of communal solidarity and support p234 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/326507775.pdf

The last four verses here were written by the talented PM Adamson, you can find his version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnE1ht6fWU8

There are several great versions sung in the Jamaican Patois including this great one by the fantastic St. George's College Choir JA .

As a young teacher in Handsworth Birmingham in the late 1960s I taught many children of recent immigrants from Jamaica; we often sang songs from that part of the world especially calypsos!– I had not come across this song before but found it recently in a little booklet called Dandy Shandy OUP 1975.