A Bag o' Malt, a Bag o' Salt Lyrics
Back to back with arms linked, two children take turns lifting each other, like sacks being weighed at the market.
A Bag o' Malt, a Bag o' Salt
A bag o' malt, a bag o' salt,
Ten tens a hundred.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/a-bag-o-malt/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Chanted game
- Best for ages
- 5 to 10 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| A bag o' malt | Stand back to back and link arms at the elbows. |
| A bag o' salt | One child bends forward and lifts the other gently off the ground. |
| Ten tens a hundred | Swap: the other child does the lifting. |
What Does A Bag o' Malt, a Bag o' Salt Mean?
The game pretends the children are sacks being weighed, like the bags of grain and salt that farmers and shopkeepers once weighed out. Malt is grain, usually barley, that has been soaked and dried, and o' is short for of. "Ten tens a hundred" sounds like the shopkeeper totting up the weight.
History and Origin
Alice Bertha Gomme describes the game in The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1894), quoting the words from Northall's English Folk Rhymes. She explains that two children stand back to back, linked near the armpits, and weigh each other as they say the lines.
Learning Activities
- Play it gently: match partners of a similar size and lift only a little way.
- Real weighing: weigh bags of rice and salt on kitchen scales and compare.
- Count by tens: count ten tens on your fingers to reach a hundred.