> Tim Hart and Friends > Songs > Sing a Song of Sixpence

Sing a Song of Sixpence

[ Roud 13191 ; Ballad Index GGGSiSo6 ; trad.]

Maddy Prior sang Sing a Song of Sixpence in 1981 on Tim Hart and Friends’ album My Very Favourite Nursery Rhyme Record. This track was later included on their compilation CD Favourite Nursery Rhymes and Other Children’s Songs.

Lyrics

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 countinghouse,
  Counting out his money;
The Queen was in the parlour
  Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
  Hanging out the clothes.
Then down came the black bird
  And pecked off her nose!