Hot Boiled Beans and Very Good Butter Lyrics
The call that starts the search in an old version of hide-and-seek: supper is ready, so come and find it.
Hot Boiled Beans and Very Good Butter
Hot boil'd beans and very good butter,
If you please to come to supper!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/hot-boiled-beans-and-very-good-butter/
- Type
- Action Songs, Mother Goose
- Tune
- Called out loud
- Best for ages
- 4 to 10 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Hot boil'd beans | Cup your hands round your mouth and call out. |
| If you please to come to supper! | Wave the seekers off to start looking. |
What Does Hot Boiled Beans and Very Good Butter Mean?
In this game the hidden players are the "supper", and the call invites the seekers to come and find it. It is a polite, old-fashioned way of shouting "ready or not, here I come". Boil'd is simply boiled, with the E left out to fit the beat.
History and Origin
James Orchard Halliwell explains in Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales (1849) that hide-and-seek was called Beans and Butter in parts of Oxfordshire. When it was time to start the search, the cry was this two-line call.
Learning Activities
- Play it: use the call instead of "ready or not" in your next game of hide-and-seek.
- Supper time: say it at the table when beans are on the menu.
- Other calls: collect the starting calls your family uses for hide-and-seek.
Frequently Asked Questions
What game is this rhyme from?
Hide-and-seek, which was called Beans and Butter in parts of Oxfordshire.
When is it called out?
When it is time for the seekers to start looking.