Pippen Hill Lyrics
A muddy hill, a polite little girl, and a curtsy. Pippen Hill (sometimes spelled Pippin Hill) is a short walking rhyme with a surprisingly sweet second verse.
Pippen Hill
As I was going up Pippen Hill,
Pippen Hill was dirty;
There I met a pretty Miss,
And she dropped me a curtsy.
The second verse
Little Miss, pretty Miss,
Blessings light upon you;
If I had half-a-crown a day,
I'd spend it all upon you.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/pippen-hill/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Traditional
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| As I was going up Pippen Hill | March on the spot, lifting your knees as if climbing. |
| Pippen Hill was dirty | Look down at your feet and make a face. |
| There I met a pretty Miss | Stop and wave hello. |
| And she dropped me a curtsy | Hold out an imaginary skirt and bend your knees in a curtsy. |
What Does Pippen Hill Mean?
The singer climbs a muddy hill and meets a well-mannered young girl who greets them with a curtsy, the small knee bend girls once made as a polite hello. In the second verse the singer wishes her well and says that if they earned half a crown a day, they would spend it all on her.
Half a crown was a British coin worth an eighth of a pound, so it is a generous promise.
History and Origin
The rhyme is in the 1810 edition of Gammer Gurton's Garland, one of the earliest English nursery collections, and James Orchard Halliwell later placed it among his rhymes of "love and matrimony". No real Pippen Hill has ever been identified. The name may simply come from pippin, an old word for an apple.
Learning Activities
- Greetings around the world: practice a curtsy, a bow, a wave and a handshake, and talk about when people use each one.
- Muddy walk: next rainy day, put on boots and find your own "Pippen Hill" to climb.
- Apple tasting: try a pippin apple, such as a Cox's Orange Pippin, if you can find one.