Hiram Gordon, Where's Your Pa? Lyrics
A boy asks where Hiram Gordon's father is and learns he has gone with Uncle Peter to put a board across the fence for a seesaw.
Hiram Gordon, Where's Your Pa?
Hiram Gordon, where's your pa?
He's gone with Uncle Peter,
To put a board across the fence,
So that we boys can teeter.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/hiram-gordon-wheres-your-pa/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Hiram Gordon, where's your pa? | Shrug with open hands and look around. |
| So that we boys can teeter | Rock your arms up and down like a seesaw. |
What Does Hiram Gordon, Where's Your Pa? Mean?
A short question and answer. One child asks where Hiram Gordon's father is, and the reply is a cheerful list of what he is doing: he has gone off with Uncle Peter to put a board across the fence so that the boys can teeter. To teeter means to ride up and down on a balanced board, the way a seesaw works.
The last word of line two, Peter, rhymes with teeter, which is the part children like to say. It is a nice short rhyme to say while playing on a seesaw.
History and Origin
The rhyme is printed in The Little Mother Goose (1912), and is followed there by a different verse about Taffy. The book names no writer.
The name Hiram Gordon sounds like a real boy from a particular place, which may mean it began as a local rhyme that children passed on.
Learning Activities
- Seesaw play: say it on a playground seesaw, one line for each up and down.
- Plank balance: lay a board over a log and watch it balance, with grown-ups supervising.
- Your own name: swap in a friend's name and make up the answer.
- Rhyme pairs: find the two rhyming pairs and clap on each one.