Mary Mixed a Pudding Up Lyrics
Mary mixes a sweet pudding and will not cut it until John comes home, then the ring claps hands and sings of the bells.
Mary Mixed a Pudding Up
Mary mixed a pudding up,
She mixed it very sweet,
She daren't stick a knife in
Till John came home at neet.
Taste John, taste John, don't say nay,
Perhaps to-morrow morning will be our wedding-day.
The bells shall ring and we shall sing,
And all clap hands together.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/mary-mixed-a-pudding-up/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Sung by a ring of children, with a clap on the last line
- Best for ages
- 4 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Mary mixed a pudding up | Stir a big pretend bowl with one hand. |
| She daren't stick a knife in | Hold your hand flat and pretend to hold back a knife. |
| And all clap hands together | Clap in time as the ring moves round. |
What Does Mary Mixed a Pudding Up Mean?
Mary has made a sweet pudding, but she daren't stick a knife in it until John comes home at neet, which is how the Yorkshire singers said night. The song then tells John to taste it and not say no, and adds a hopeful guess that the next morning might be their wedding day.
In the second verse the bells ring, everyone sings, and the whole ring claps hands together, so the song ends on a bright sound.
History and Origin
Alice Bertha Gomme prints the song in The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1894) as a game from Hanging Heaton in Yorkshire, sent in by Herbert Hardy.
She describes the play. The children join hands in a ring with one child in the middle, and the first verse is sung. Two children from the ring go up to the child in the middle and ask her who her love is, or, as they say in Yorkshire, who she goes with. After that the rest is sung.
Learning Activities
- Ring game: stand in a ring with one child in the middle and sing the first verse together.
- Pudding picture: draw Mary's pudding and decorate it with fruit.
- Yorkshire words: say the word neet and talk about how people in different places say words differently.
- Clap along: clap in time to the second verse as the ring turns.