List of nursery rhymes


The term "nursery rhyme" emerged in the third decade of the nineteenth century although this type of children's literature previously existed with different names such as Tommy Thumb Songs and Mother Goose Songs. The very first known book containing a collection of these texts was Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, which was written by H. Cooper and was published in 1744. The works of several scholars and collectors helped document and preserve these oral traditions as well as their histories. These include Iona and Peter Opie, Joseph Ritson, James Orchard Halliwell, and Sir Walter Scott.

English nursery rhymes

The following is a list of English nursery rhymes.
TitleOther titlesPlace of OriginDate First Recorded
'Aiken Drum'Scotland1825
'A Was an Apple Pie'England1672
'A Wise Old Owl'USA1915
'A-Tisket, A-Tasket'USAc. 1879
'As I was going by Charing Cross''As I was going to Charing Cross'England17th century
'As I was going to St Ives'Englandc. 1730
'Baa, Baa, Black Sheep'Englandc. 1744
'Billy Boy'England1912
'Bingo'Englandc. 1780
'Bobby Shafto's Gone to Sea'England1805
'Bye, Baby Bunting'England1784
'Can you count the stars'Germany1837
'Cock-a-Doodle Doo'England1765
'Did You Ever See a Lassie?'USA Scotland1895-1900
'Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling, My Son John'England1797
'Ding Dong Bell'England1580
'Doctor Foster'England1844
'Donkey, Donkey I Beg You'Englandc.1780s
'Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe'Britain or USA1888
'Eeper Weeper''Heeper Peeper'Englandlate 19th early 20th century
'Five Little Ducks'May Limang Pato Akong NakitaPhilippines1921
'Five Little Monkeys'Limang Unggoy Na Natalo Sa PusoyPhilippines1871
'Five Little Speckled Frogs'Philippines20th century
‘Foxy's Hole’England16th century
'Frère Jacques''Brother John'Francec. 1780
'Frog Went A-Courting''A frog he would a-wooing go'England1611
'Georgie Porgie'Englandc. 1850
'Girls and Boys Come Out To Play''Boys and Girls Come Out to Play'England1708
'Goosey Goosey Gander'England1784
'Green Grow The Rushes, O'England-
'Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush''Mulberry Bush'Englandc. 1850
'Hey Diddle Diddle'Englandc. 1765
'Hickory Dickory Dock''Hickety Dickety Dock'Englandc. 1744
'Hot Cross Buns'England1797
'How Many Miles to Babylon?'Scotland1801
'Humpty Dumpty'England1803
'Hush Little Baby'USA
'If Wishes Were Horses, Beggars Would Ride''If wishes were horses'Britain1605
'I Do Not Like Thee, Doctor Fell'England1680
'I Had a Little Nut Tree'England1789
'I'm a Little Teapot'USA1939
'I Love Little Pussy'England1830
'It's Raining, It's Pouring'USA1939
'Itsy Bitsy Spider''Eensy Weensy Spider', 'Insey Winsey Spider', 'Incy Wincy Spider'USA1910
'Jack and Jill'Englandc. 1765
'Jack-a-Nory'Englandc. 1760
'Jack Be Nimble'Englandc. 1815
'Jack Sprat'England1639
'Johny Johny Yes Papa'USA2009
'Ladybird Ladybird''Ladybug Ladybug'Britainc. 1744
'Lavender's Blue''Lavender Blue'Englandlate 17th century
'Little Arabella Miller'USA20th century
'Little Bo-Peep'Englandc. 1805
'Little Boy Blue'Englandc. 1744
'Little Jack Horner'England1725
'Little Miss Muffet'England1805
'Little Poll Parrot'England1853
'Little Robin Redbreast'Englandc. 1744
'Little Tommy Tucker'Englandc. 1744
'London Bridge Is Falling Down'Englandc. 1744
'Lucy Locket'England or USA1842
'Mary Had a Little Lamb'USA1830
'Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary'Englandc. 1744
'Matthew, Mark, Luke and John'"Black Paternoster"Britain1656
'Monday's Child'England1838
'Needles and Pins'England1843
'Nuts in May''Gathering Nuts in May'England1894
'Old King Cole'England1708-1709
'Old MacDonald Had a Farm'USA1917
'Old Mother Hubbard'England1805
'On Top of Old Smoky'USA1951
'One for Sorrow'Britainc. 1780
'One, Two, Buckle My Shoe'USA1805
'One, Two, Three, Four, Five'Englandc. 1765
'Oranges and Lemons'Englandc. 1744
'Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Baker's Man'"Pat-a-cake", "patty-cake" or "pattycake"England1698
'Pease Porridge Hot''Peas Porridge Hot' or 'Pease Pudding Hot'Englandc. 1765
'Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater'USAc. 1825
'Peter Piper'England1813
'Polly Put the Kettle On'England1803
'Poor Mary''Poor Jenny' or 'Poor Sally'England1880s
'Pop Goes the Weasel'England1850s
'Pretty Little Dutch Girl'USA1940s
'The Queen of Hearts'Britain1782
'Pussy Cat Pussy Cat'Britain1805
'Rain Rain Go Away'England17th century or earlier
'Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross'England1784
'Ring-a-Ring o' Roses''Ring Around the Rosie'England1881
'Rock-a-bye Baby'Hush a bye BabyEnglandc. 1765
'Roses are Red'England1784
'Round and Round the Garden'Britain1940s
'Row, Row, Row Your Boat'USA1852
'Rub-a-Dub Dub'England1798
'See Saw Margery Daw'Britainc. 1765
'Simple Simon'England1764
'Sing a Song of Sixpence'Englandc. 1744
'Solomon Grundy'Britain1842
'Star Light, Star Bright'USAlate 19th century
'Sticks and Stones'Britainbefore 1872
'Taffy was a Welshman'Englandc. 1780
'Ten Little Indians'USA1868
'The Farmer in the Dell''The Farmer's in his Den'Germany1820
'The Grand Old Duke of York''The Noble Duke of York'England1642
'The Lion and the Unicorn'England1708-1709
'The Muffin Man'Englandc. 1820
'The Moon Has Been Arisen'Germany1779
'The Wheels on the Bus'USA1939
'There Was a Crooked Man'Britain1842
'There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe'England1794
'There Was an Old Woman Who Lived Under a Hill'England1714
'This Is The House That Jack Built''The House That Jack Built'England1755
'This Little Piggy''This Little Pig'Englandc. 1760
'This Old Man'England1906
'Three Blind Mice'England1609
'Three Little Kittens'USA1843
'Three Wise Men of Gotham'Englandc. 1765
'Tinker, Tailor'England1695
'To Market, to Market'England1611
'Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son'Britain1795
'Tweedledum and Tweedledee'Britain1805
'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'France1806
'Two Little Dickie Birds'Britainc. 1765
'Wee Willie Winkie'Scotland1841
'What Are Little Boys Made Of?''What Are Little Girls Made Of?'Britainc. 1820
'Where, O Where Has My Little Dog Gone?''Der Deitcher's Dog'Germany1846
'Who Killed Cock Robin?'Englandc. 1744
'Wind the Bobbin Up'England1890s
'Wynken, Blynken, and Nod'USA1889