Buy a Broom Lyrics
A young broom seller has walked all the way from Germany to England and calls to every lady she meets: a big broom for you, a small one for the baby.
Buy a Broom
From Deutschland I come with my light wares all laden,
To dear happy England in summer's gay bloom;
Then listen, fair lady, and young pretty maedchen,
Come buy of the wandering Baierin a broom;
A large one for the lady, and a small one for the baby,
Come buy ye, pretty lady, come buy ye a broom.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/buy-a-broom/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Sung street song
- Best for ages
- 4 to 9 years
What Does Buy a Broom Mean?
The singer is a Baierin, a girl from Bavaria in southern Germany (Deutschland), selling brooms in England. Mädchen is the German word for girl. Her cry is simple: a large broom for the lady of the house and a small one for the baby.
History and Origin
Walter Crane set the song to music in The Baby's Bouquet (1878). In the early 1800s, broom sellers from Bavaria really did walk the streets of London selling their wares, and "Buy a Broom" became a popular song about them.
Learning Activities
- Sweep and sing: sweep with a small broom while singing the song.
- Find Bavaria: look for Bavaria and England on a map of Europe.
- German words: learn Deutschland (Germany) and Mädchen (girl).