Dame Duck's Lessons to Her Ducklings Lyrics
Nine ducklings hatch, and Dame Duck wastes no time: waddle from side to side, turn your toes in, walk in a row, swim, and then comes a last lesson at the feeding dish.
Dame Duck's Lessons to Her Ducklings
Old Mother Duck has hatched a brood
Of ducklings, small and callow:
Their little wings are short, their down
Is mottled grey and yellow.
There is a quiet little stream,
That runs into the moat,
Where tall green sedges spread their leaves,
And water-lilies float.
Close by the margin of the brook
The old Duck made her nest,
Of straw, and leaves, and withered grass,
And down from her own breast.
And there she sat for four long weeks,
In rainy days and fine,
Until the Ducklings all came out,
Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
One peeped out from beneath her wing,
One scrambled on her back:
"That's very rude," said old Dame Duck,
"Get off! quack, quack, quack, quack!"
"'T is close," said Dame Duck, shoving out
The egg-shells with her bill,
"Besides, it never suits young ducks
To keep them sitting still."
So, rising from her nest, she said,
"Now, children, look at me:
A well-bred duck should waddle so,
From side to side, d'ye see?"
"Yes," said the little ones, and then
She went on to explain:
"A well-bred duck turns in its toes
As I do, try again."
"Yes," said the Ducklings, waddling on.
"That's better," said their mother;
"But well-bred ducks walk in a row,
Straight, one behind another."
"Yes," said the little Ducks again,
All waddling in a row:
"Now to the pond," said old Dame Duck,
Splash, splash! and in they go.
"Let me swim first," said old Dame Duck,
"To this side, now to that;
There, snap at those great brown-winged flies,
They make young ducklings fat.
"Now when you reach the poultry-yard,
The hen-wife, Molly Head,
Will feed you, with the other fowls,
On bran and mashed-up bread;
"The hens will peck and fight, but mind,
I hope that all of you
Will gobble up the food as fast
As well-bred ducks should do.
"You'd better get into the dish,
Unless it is too small;
In that case, I should use my foot,
And overturn it all."
The Ducklings did as they were bid,
And found the plan so good,
That, from that day, the other fowls
Got hardly any food.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/dame-ducks-lessons-to-her-ducklings/
- Type
- Animal Rhymes
- Tune
- Spoken as a story poem
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| A well-bred duck turns in its toes | Point your toes inward and take a few waddling steps. |
| well-bred ducks walk in a row | Line up and march behind a leader. |
| Splash, splash! and in they go | Squat and jump into a pretend pond. |
What Does Dame Duck's Lessons to Her Ducklings Mean?
A few old words need a gloss. Callow describes a young bird that has not yet grown its feathers, a moat is a ditch of water round a house or castle, and sedges are grass-like plants that grow at the water's edge. Well-bred means well brought up, and "'T is close" means it is stuffy in the nest. A hen-wife is the woman who looks after the poultry yard. The joke is in the ending. Dame Duck fusses about well-bred manners, then teaches her ducklings to push into the dish and tip it over, so the other birds go hungry. Ask children: was that really well-bred? Dame Duck also gets the timing right, since most domestic ducks sit on their eggs for about four weeks.
History and Origin
The poem is printed in Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes, a large illustrated collection with pictures by John Gilbert, Walter Crane, John Tenniel, Harrison Weir and Johann Zwecker. It is longer than most nursery rhymes and tells a small story, so it works best as a poem to read aloud, one stanza at a time.
Learning Activities
- Duck parade: line up behind a Dame Duck leader and waddle round the room with toes turned in.
- Count to nine: hand out nine toy or paper ducklings and count them out of the nest.
- Pond watch: visit a pond in spring and see whether any ducklings follow their mother in a line.
- Chorus parts: let the children answer every "Yes," said the little ones, while you read the rest.
- Table manners talk: after the last stanza, ask whether tipping over the dish was fair to the other fowls, and what a really well-bred duck would do instead.