Over the Water to Charley Lyrics
Someone is heading over the sea to Charley. They want none of the beef or barley on offer, only the very best flour, to bake a white cake for him.
Over the Water to Charley
Over the water, and over the sea,
And over the water to Charley,
I'll have none of your nasty beef,
Nor I'll have none of your barley;
But I'll have some of your very best flour
To make a white cake for my Charley.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/over-the-water-to-charley/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Old Scottish tune
- Best for ages
- 4 to 10 years
What Does Over the Water to Charley Mean?
Charley is a favorite person far away, and the singer is crossing the water to reach him. Plain beef and barley will not do: only the finest white flour is good enough to bake his cake. White bread and cakes made from fine flour were a treat in the days when most people ate coarse brown bread.
History and Origin
The song goes back to the 1700s and to Prince Charles Edward Stuart, called Bonnie Prince Charlie, who lived abroad, "over the water", while his supporters in Scotland hoped he would return. Robert Burns wrote his own version, "O'er the Water to Charlie". In America the same lines became part of the play-party song "Weevily Wheat". This nursery version is from The Real Mother Goose (1916).
Learning Activities
- Bake a white cake: make a simple sponge cake and talk about the flour you used.
- Map trip: find Scotland and France on a map and trace a path over the water.
- Clap the beat: clap on "water", "sea" and "Charley".