Here We Come a Piping Lyrics
Pipers arrive in spring and May, a queen sits on the sand, and King John sends three letters that nobody can read one at a time.
Here We Come a Piping
Here we come a piping,
First in spring, and then in May;
The queen she sits upon the sand,
Fair as a lily, white as a wand:
King John has sent you letters three,
And begs you'll read them unto me.
We can't read one without them all,
So pray, Miss Bridget, deliver the ball!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/here-we-come-a-piping/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Chanted or sung
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Here we come a piping | Hold an imaginary pipe to your lips and wiggle your fingers. |
| King John has sent you letters three | Hold up three fingers. |
| deliver the ball | Pass a ball to the person next to you. |
What Does Here We Come a Piping Mean?
The rhyme sounds like two voices. The first group arrives piping in the spring and in May, and describes a queen sitting on the sand, as fair as a lily and as white as a wand, which is a slender stick. King John, they say, has sent three letters and wants someone to read them. The reply is a clever one: we cannot read one letter without the others, so please pass over the ball.
Those last two lines work as a trade, with the reading skipped for the ball, which suggests the rhyme belongs to a ball or ring game.
History and Origin
James Orchard Halliwell prints the verse in The Nursery Rhymes of England among the short rhymes and game rhymes, with no author or date given. The mentions of spring and May suggest it is a spring song.
It sits on the page next to a different counting song about the days of Christmas, which shows how many kinds of rhyme Halliwell gathered together.
Learning Activities
- Letter delivery: write three short notes and take turns delivering them.
- Ball pass: sing the last line as you pass a ball around a circle.
- Pipe craft: make a pipe from a paper roll and decorate it.
- May walk: go outside in spring and look for the first flowers.