Tom, He Was a Piper's Son Lyrics
Tom only knows one tune, but when he plays it, nobody can keep still. Girls, boys, pigs, a cow and old Dame Trot all start dancing.
Tom, He Was a Piper's Son
Tom he was a piper's son,
He learn'd to play when he was young,
But all the tunes that he could play,
Was, "Over the hills and far away;"
Over the hills, and a great way off,
And the wind will blow my top-knot off.
Now Tom with his pipe made such a noise,
That he pleas'd both the girls and boys,
And they stopp'd to hear him play,
"Over the hills and far away."
Tom with his pipe did play with such skill,
That those who heard him could never keep still;
Whenever they heard they began for to dance,
Even pigs on their hind legs would after him prance.
As Dolly was milking her cow one day,
Tom took out his pipe and began for to play;
So Doll and the cow danced "the Cheshire round,"
Till the pail was broke, and the milk ran on the ground.
He met old dame Trot with a basket of eggs,
He used his pipe, and she used her legs;
She danced about till the eggs were all broke,
She began for to fret, but he laughed at the joke.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/tom-he-was-a-pipers-son/
- Type
- Mother Goose, Animal Rhymes
- Tune
- Over the Hills and Far Away
- Best for ages
- 4 to 9 years
What Does Tom, He Was a Piper's Son Mean?
Tom is the son of a piper, someone who plays the pipe, a simple wind instrument. The only tune he knows is "Over the Hills and Far Away", but it is so catchy that everyone who hears it dances: children, pigs on their back legs, Dolly and her cow, and Dame Trot with her basket of eggs, until the milk is spilled and the eggs are broken. The Cheshire round was a country dance.
History and Origin
This is a different rhyme from Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son, the one about the stolen pig. James Orchard Halliwell printed it in The Nursery Rhymes of England and noted that part of it appears in a song in Pills to Purge Melancholy (1719). "Over the Hills and Far Away" was a popular tune in the 1700s. Halliwell's text has one more verse, which we leave out.
Learning Activities
- Freeze dance: play music and dance like the pigs and the cow; freeze when it stops.
- Make a pipe: try a recorder or a straw whistle.
- Who danced? list everyone who danced to Tom's pipe, in order.