The Piper and His Cow Lyrics
A piper has nothing to feed his cow, so he plays her a tune instead. The cow thinks it over, pays him a penny and asks for a different song.
The Piper and His Cow
There was a piper had a cow,
And he had naught to give her;
He pulled out his pipes and played her a tune,
And bade the cow consider.
The cow considered very well,
And gave the piper a penny,
And bade him play the other tune,
"Corn rigs are bonny."
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-piper-and-his-cow/
- Type
- Animal Rhymes, Mother Goose
- Tune
- Traditional
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| There was a piper had a cow | Pretend to play the bagpipes, puffing out your cheeks. |
| And bade the cow consider | Stroke your chin like the cow, thinking hard. |
| And gave the piper a penny | Hold out a pretend coin. |
| And bade him play the other tune | Point at the piper and nod. |
What Does The Piper and His Cow Mean?
The piper is poor and has no hay for his cow, so he offers the only thing he has: music. He tells the cow to consider, to think about it. The joke is that the cow does think it over, pays him a penny and requests a different tune, as if she were a customer at a concert.
Corn Rigs Are Bonny was a real Scottish tune. Corn rigs are the long ridges of grain in a plowed field, and bonny means pretty.
History and Origin
The rhyme is Scottish in flavor, and the tune it names was well known in Scotland in the 1700s. Robert Burns later used "corn rigs are bonie" as the chorus of one of his songs. The version here is from The Real Mother Goose (1916).
Learning Activities
- Request a song: take turns being the piper and the cow. The cow pays a pretend penny and asks for any song they like.
- Music for animals: ask children which song they would play for a cow, a dog or a cat.
- Listen to bagpipes: find a short recording of bagpipe music and talk about how it sounds.