About the Bush, Willy Lyrics
Four short lines about a bush, a beehive and a promise to meet. It is one of the most mysterious little rhymes in Mother Goose.
About the Bush, Willy
About the bush, Willie,
About the beehive,
About the bush, Willie,
I'll meet thee alive.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/about-the-bush-willy/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 2 to 6 years
What Does About the Bush, Willy Mean?
Someone tells Willie to go round the bush and round the beehive, and promises to meet him there. That is all the rhyme says. It may once have been part of a chasing game in a garden, where players ran around a bush and past the hives, and "I'll meet thee alive" was a cheerful promise to find each other on the other side.
Thee is an old form of "you".
History and Origin
Victorian collectors recorded it in the 1840s, and it appears in The Real Mother Goose (1916). Many cottage gardens once had a few beehives in a corner, so a bush and a beehive would have been an everyday sight for the children who first said it.
Learning Activities
- Round the bush: in the garden or park, walk around a bush in opposite directions and meet on the other side.
- Chase game: one child is Willie, the other chases him around a chair "bush" until the rhyme ends.