Gilly Silly Jarter Lyrics
Silly has lost a garter in the rain, the miller finds it, grinds it in his mill, and hands it back, none the worse.
Gilly Silly Jarter
Gilly Silly Jarter,
Who has lost a garter?
In a shower of rain,
The miller found it,
The miller ground it,
And the miller gave it to Silly again.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/gilly-silly-jarter/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Who has lost a garter? | Look around and shrug with open hands. |
| The miller ground it | Turn one fist in a circle on top of the other, as if grinding. |
| Gave it to Silly again | Hold out both hands to hand something back. |
What Does Gilly Silly Jarter Mean?
A garter is a band worn below the knee to hold up a stocking. In the rhyme Silly loses one in a shower of rain and the miller finds it. Millers grind grain into flour, so the joke is that he grinds the garter too, as if it were wheat, before giving it back to Silly. The sounds of found it, ground it and the repeated "the miller" give the rhyme a bouncing beat.
The first line is a tongue-tickling name that is easy to say over and over. The rhyme is also a short way to introduce what millers did.
History and Origin
James Orchard Halliwell prints this rhyme in The Nursery Rhymes of England, where it sits among the short rhymes children said aloud. He gives no author or date for it.
The miller appears in many old nursery rhymes, including a well-known one about a dusty miller, because a mill was at the center of every village.
Learning Activities
- Grinding game: pretend to grind flour in a bowl with a spoon while you say the last three lines.
- Lost and found: hide a sock in the room and have children look for it as you say the first two lines.
- Name twister: say Gilly Silly Jarter five times fast.
- Bread baking: talk about how flour becomes bread.