As I Went Over Lincoln Bridge Lyrics
Crossing Lincoln bridge, the speaker meets Mister Rusticap with pins and needles on his back, on his way to Thorney fair. The old collection that prints it gives the answer: a hedgehog.
As I Went Over Lincoln Bridge
As I went over Lincoln bridge
I met mister Rusticap;
Pins and needles on his back,
A going to Thorney fair.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/as-i-went-over-lincoln-bridge/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- A brisk walking pace, ending with a pause before the answer
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Pins and needles on his back | Hold your fingers up like spikes along your back. |
| A going to Thorney fair | Walk on the spot with small, quick steps. |
What Does As I Went Over Lincoln Bridge Mean?
The answer is a hedgehog, and the riddle is built from one good clue. A hedgehog's back is covered with spines, which look like "pins and needles". Calling the hedgehog Mister Rusticap dresses it up as a person out on the road. "A going to Thorney fair" is just the walk: the hedgehog is on the move to a fair.
A hedgehog protects itself by rolling into a ball, so its spines point out in every direction. The riddle hides the animal in a different way: it gives the spines as a clue, but talks about the hedgehog as if it were a man going to a fair.
History and Origin
The riddle is in James Orchard Halliwell's The Nursery Rhymes of England, a collection of rhymes he gathered, in the 1886 printing published by Frederick Warne. The book prints the answer, a hedgehog, in square brackets above the verse.
Learning Activities
- Guess and check: read the four lines and let the child guess before you say the answer.
- Hedgehog picture: look at a photograph of a hedgehog and find the spines, the nose and the feet.
- Spiky or soft? make a draw-a-hedgehog craft by pressing a thumbprint body onto paper and adding spines with a pencil.
- Write a riddle: choose another prickly or spotty animal and give two clues in the same pattern.