As High as a Castle Lyrics
Something rises higher than a castle and has no strength at all, yet the king's horses still cannot pull it down. What is it?
As High as a Castle
As high as a castle,
As weak as a wastle;
And all the king's horses
Cannot pull it down.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/as-high-as-a-castle/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken riddle
- Best for ages
- 4 to 9 years
What Does As High as a Castle Mean?
The answer is smoke. Smoke rises from a chimney higher than the castle walls, and it is so thin that a breath of wind breaks it up. But there is nothing to grab, so all the king's horses could pull all day and never bring it down. Wastle is an old dialect word used mainly to rhyme with castle; here it stands for something flimsy.
History and Origin
The riddle is printed in The Little Mother Goose (1912), with the answer, smoke, printed beside it. The king's horses also appear in Humpty Dumpty, another riddle whose answer (an egg) was once left for the listener to guess.
Learning Activities
- Guess first: read it aloud and give everyone three guesses before telling the answer.
- Watch the steam: look at steam rising from a kettle or a warm drink and see how it vanishes.
- Riddle pair: say it together with Humpty Dumpty and compare the two.