Sing a Song of Sixpence Lyrics
Twenty-four blackbirds in a pie sounds impossible, but cooks once really did hide live birds under a crust to surprise dinner guests. This rhyme was printed around 1744.
Sing a Song of Sixpence
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye;
Four-and-twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie!
More verses
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing;
Was not that a dainty dish
To set before the king?
The king was in his counting-house,
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlor,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes;
When down came a blackbird
And snapped off her nose.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/sing-a-song-of-sixpence/
- Type
- Mother Goose, Animal Rhymes
- First published
- c. 1744
- Tune
- Traditional
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Sing a song of sixpence | Hold up a pretend coin and sing loudly. |
| Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie | Flap your arms like wings, then make a round pie shape. |
| When the pie was opened the birds began to sing | Open your arms wide and whistle or tweet. |
| The king was in his counting-house, counting out his money | Count on your fingers. |
| The queen was in the parlor, eating bread and honey | Pretend to take a sticky bite. |
What Does Sing a Song of Sixpence Mean?
"Four-and-twenty" is an old way of saying twenty-four, and sixpence was a small silver coin. The rhyme paints a funny picture of a royal household: a pie full of singing birds, a king counting money, a queen eating bread and honey and a maid hanging out the washing.
Birds in pies were not pure fantasy. Old cookbooks describe a party trick of placing live birds under a pie crust so they flew out when it was cut. The birds were not baked.
History and Origin
The rhyme appeared in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book around 1744. A 16th-century Italian cookbook, later translated into English, gave instructions for making a pie so that live birds would fly out when it was opened, a trick to amaze dinner guests.
Many modern books soften the ending, so the blackbird simply pecks the maid on the nose, or a kind bird puts it back on.
Learning Activities
- Count to 24: count twenty-four paper blackbirds into a paper plate pie.
- Money game: look at coins and count them out like the king.
- Bread and honey: have a royal snack while you sing.