Jolly Fishermen Lyrics
A singing game from North Staffordshire in which two children in the centre of a ring each pick another child, so four sing the last lines together.
Jolly Fishermen
They were two jolly fishermen,
They were two jolly fishermen,
They were two jolly fishermen,
And just come from the sea,
And just come from the sea.
They cast their nets into the sea,
And jolly fish caught we,
And jolly fish caught we,
And jolly fish caught we,
They cast their nets into the sea,
And jolly fish caught we.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/jolly-fishermen/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Sung in a ring
- Best for ages
- 4 to 9 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| They were two jolly fishermen | Two children walk round inside the ring. |
| They cast their nets into the sea | Make a big throwing movement with both arms. |
| jolly fish caught we | Each of the two in the centre picks a child from the ring. |
What Does Jolly Fishermen Mean?
The song is built on repetition. The first three lines are the same, so the group has time to join in, then "just come from the sea" is sung twice. At the seventh line, And jolly fish caught we, the two children in the centre each choose a child from the ring, so four are in the middle for the last four lines. Those words repeat the catch: jolly fish caught we.
When the song ends, the first two children go back to the ring and the other two begin the game again with new partners.
History and Origin
Alice Bertha Gomme prints the game in The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1894). The words and tune come from Tean, North Staffordshire, through Miss Burne. A shorter form, "There was three jolly fishermen", comes from the Potteries.
Miss Burne says the game is more often played as "Three Jolly Fishermen", and that at nearby Cheadle it was played by grown-up men and women as well as children.
Learning Activities
- Play the ring: sit or stand in a ring and pick new partners each time.
- Net art: draw fish and a net on paper and count the fish.
- Repeat the line: count how often 'jolly' appears in the song.