Sing a Song of Sixpence
Common Version:
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing;
Wasn't that a dainty dish,
To set before the king?
The king was in his counting house,
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes;
When down came a blackbird
And snapped off her nose.
The final line of the fourth verse is sometimes slightly
varied, with nose pecked or nipped off. One of the following
additional verses is often added to moderate the ending:
They send for the king's doctor,
who sewed it on again;
He sewed it on so neatly,
the seam was never seen.
or:
There was such a commotion,
that little Jenny wren;
Flew down into the garden,
and put it back again.
