Little Lad, Little Lad Lyrics
Ask the little lad where he was born, and the answer takes you to the north of England, to a thorn bush and a cup made from a ram's horn.
Little Lad, Little Lad
Little lad, little lad,
Where wast thou born?
Far off in Lancashire,
Under a thorn;
Where they sup sour milk
From a ram's horn.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/little-lad-little-lad/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
What Does Little Lad, Little Lad Mean?
"Where wast thou born?" is old English for "Where were you born?" The boy comes from Lancashire, a county in north-west England, and says he was born under a thorn, a hawthorn bush. There, people sup (drink) sour milk out of a ram's horn. Cups carved from animal horn were common in country homes before cheap glass and china.
History and Origin
This version comes from Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes (1881), one of the best-known illustrated Mother Goose books. Rhymes that tease people from a particular county, with the answer always a little odd, were a playful part of English village life.
Learning Activities
- Where were you born? talk about where each person in the family was born and find the places on a map.
- Sour milk: taste buttermilk or plain yogurt, the modern cousins of sour milk.
- Old words: learn wast, thou and sup.