Hitch Up Your Cattle Lyrics
Hitch up the cattle, drive to Seattle and watch the boats come in. They come from far-off places with playful names, such as Kibi and Kobi and the Islands of Myn, bringing rice, cocoa, spices and tinned pineapples. Maybe Aunt Dinah will be on one, home from China.
Hitch Up Your Cattle
Hitch up your cattle
And drive to Seattle
To see all the boats come in, -
From Kibi and Kobi
And Panama Dobi
And some from the Islands of Myn.
They're bringing us rices
And cocoa and spices
And pineapples done up in tin,
And maybe Aunt Dinah
Will come back from China
If ever the boats get in.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/hitch-up-your-cattle/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Leroy F. Jackson
- Tune
- A cheerful wagon-driver's call, getting quicker on the place names
- Best for ages
- 4 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Hitch up your cattle | Hold pretend reins in both hands and flick them. |
| To see all the boats come in | Shade your eyes with one hand and look out over the water. |
What Does Hitch Up Your Cattle Mean?
The poem starts as a trip and becomes a list. Seattle is a real harbour city on the west coast of the United States, and to hitch up is to harness animals to a wagon, so the speaker is telling the listener to drive there to watch the ships arrive. After that the names turn silly and fun to say: Kibi and Kobi, Panama Dobi, the Islands of Myn. These names are there for their sound, and Kobi and Dobi rhyme. The cargo is real: rice, cocoa, spices and pineapples "done up in tin", which means packed in tins.
The last three lines sound like a family hope: Aunt Dinah may come home from China "if ever the boats get in". Rices and spices rhyme.
History and Origin
Leroy F. Jackson's Peter Patter Book of 1918 prints this poem under the one-word title Boats.
Learning Activities
- Cargo list: make a list of what a boat could bring to your town, and add a made-up place name for each.
- Find the places: look at a map or globe for Seattle, Panama and China, and trace a boat's route with a finger.
- Boats in the bath: float toy boats and load them with the poem's cargo: rice, spice jars or toy pineapples.
- Waiting for Aunt Dinah: ask the child who they would like to see come home on a boat.