Precocious Piggy Lyrics
A voice keeps asking a little pig where it is going. Each time the pig answers with a plan that rhymes with pig: leave its mother, dig with a spade, ride in a gig, dance a jig, run a rig, buy a wig. The questioner can hardly believe it.
Precocious Piggy
Where are you going to, you little pig?
"I'm leaving my Mother, I'm growing so big!"
So big, young pig,
So young, so big!
What, leaving your Mother, you foolish young pig?
Where are you going to, you little pig?
"I've got a new spade, and I'm going to dig!"
To dig, little pig!
A little pig dig!
Well, I never saw a pig with a spade that could dig!
Where are you going to, you little pig?
"Why, I'm going to have a nice ride in a gig!"
In a gig, little pig!
What, a pig in a gig!
Well, I never yet saw a pig ride in a gig!
Where are you going to, you little pig?
"Why, I'm going to the Ball to dance a fine jig!"
A jig, little pig!
A pig dance a jig!
Well, I never before saw a pig dance a jig!
Where are you going to, you little pig?
"I'm going to the fair to run a fine rig!"
A rig, little pig!
A pig run a rig!
Well, I never before saw a pig run a rig!
Where are you going to, you little pig?
"I'm going to the Barber's to buy me a wig!"
A wig, little pig!
A pig in a wig!
Why, whoever before saw a pig in a wig!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/precocious-piggy/
- Type
- Animal Rhymes
- Tune
- Bouncy question and answer, with a surprised voice for the short echo lines
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| A jig, little pig! | Dance on the spot, lifting your knees. |
| A pig in a wig! | Pat your head with both hands as if wearing a big wig. |
What Does Precocious Piggy Mean?
The joke is the sound: every plan the pig announces rhymes with its own name. The pig is going to dig, to ride in a gig, to dance a jig, to run a rig and to buy a wig. After each answer, a short echo repeats the plan in two ways, such as a pig dance a jig, and in most verses the questioner then says that never before has such a thing been seen. The questioner is quite right, since pigs do none of those things, and that is what makes the poem funny.
Some words are worth explaining. Precocious means grown up too early, or doing things beyond one's age, which fits a little pig that is already leaving its mother. A gig was a light, two-wheeled carriage pulled by one horse. A jig is a lively dance. To run a rig is an old phrase for playing a trick or a frolic (see Wiktionary on rig and gig).
History and Origin
The rhyme appears in Childhood's Favorites and Fairy Stories, a large collection of stories and verses for children edited by Hamilton Wright Mabie and others. The original has seven verses, and one of them is left out of this page.
Learning Activities
- Make your own verse: ask the child for an animal and a word that rhymes with it, such as a cat with a hat, and ask the where-are-you-going question.
- Rhyme chain: list every word in the poem that rhymes with pig, then add a few of your own.
- Wig time: put a scarf or a paper wig on a toy pig and let the child answer the questions for it.
- Dance a jig: clap a quick beat and dance a jig, just as the pig plans to do.