One Man Went to Mow Lyrics
A counting song in which one more man goes to mow a meadow in every verse, with his dog, from one man to ten. This ten-verse printing comes from a 1917 book of songs British soldiers sang.
One Man Went to Mow
One man went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
One man and his dawg
Went to mow a meadow.
Two men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
Two men, one man (and his dawg)
Went to mow a meadow.
Three men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
Three men, two men, one man (and his dawg)
Went to mow a meadow.
Four men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
Four men, three men, two men, one man (and his dawg)
Went to mow a meadow.
Five men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
Five men, four men, three men, two men, one man (and his dawg)
Went to mow a meadow.
Six men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
Six men, five men, four men, three men, two men, one man (and his dawg)
Went to mow a meadow.
Seven men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
Seven men, six men, five men, four men, three men, two men, one man (and his dawg)
Went to mow a meadow.
Eight men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
Eight men, seven men, six men, five men, four men, three men, two men, one man (and his dawg)
Went to mow a meadow.
Nine men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
Nine men, eight men, seven men, six men, five men, four men, three men, two men, one man (and his dawg)
Went to mow a meadow.
Ten men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
Ten men, nine men, eight men, seven men, six men, five men, four men, three men, two men, one man (and his dawg)
Never mowed that meadow.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/one-man-went-to-mow/
- Type
- Counting Rhymes
- Tune
- Sung steadily, one number to a beat
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| One man went to mow | Hold up one finger and walk forward. |
| Went to mow a meadow | Swing one arm slowly from side to side as if cutting long grass. |
| Two men, one man (and his dawg) | Hold up the right number of fingers on each count. |
| Ten men went to mow | Count down the fingers from ten to one on the third line. |
What Does One Man Went to Mow Mean?
To mow is to cut grass or hay, and a meadow is a field of long grass. In the song, a man sets out to mow one, and every verse another man joins him. The dog goes too. In the print the word is spelled dawg, which is just how a dog is said in some places.
The pleasure of the song is the countdown. In verse 1 there is one man and his dog. In verse 2 the third line counts two men and one man; in verse 3 it counts three, two and one; and so on, so the third line of verse ten has ten numbers in it, from ten men down to one man and his dog.
In this printing the tenth verse ends differently from the others. Instead of Went to mow a meadow the last line says Never mowed that meadow, and a note tells the singers to carry on and so on, until out of breath. The joke seems to be that all those men and the dog never get the meadow mown.
History and Origin
This version comes from F. T. Nettleingham's Tommy's Tunes, first published in London in October 1917. The book calls the song The Man, the Dog and the Meadow. From the second verse on, it puts the dog in brackets at the end of the counting line, as (and his dawg).
The shape is the one counting-up songs still use: one more each verse, and the earlier numbers sung back in a list. The book gives ten verses and then tells the singers to keep going as long as they have breath.
Learning Activities
- Walk the meadow: line up the children and send one more out each verse, and see who is the dog.
- Countdown fingers: hold up the right number of fingers and count down to one on the third line of each verse.
- Draw the meadow: draw the long grass and add one man each verse.
- Until out of breath: keep going past ten as the book suggests, and see how high the group can get.