Origins: Over in the Meadow

Subject: Origins: Over in the Meadow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Jan 17 - 04:15 AM

I hadn't known this song when I was growing up - I learned it from John McCutcheon's performance, and i liked it right away. Here are the words we have in the Digital Tradition:

OVER IN THE MEADOW
(Olive A. Wadsworth)

Over in the meadow, in the sand in the sun,
Lived an old mother toadie and her little toadie one.
"Wink!" said the mother. "I wink!" said the one,
So they winked and they blinked in the sand in the sun.

Over in the meadow, where the stream runs blue,
Lived an old mother fish and her little fishes two.
"Swim!" said the mother. "We swim!" said the two,
So they swam and they leaped where the stream runs blue.

Over in the meadow, in a hole in a tree,
Lived an old mother bluebird and her little birdies three.
"Sing!" said the mother. "We sing!" said the three,
So they sang and were glad in a hole in the tree.

Over in the meadow, in the reeds on the shore,
Lived an old mother muskrat and her little ratties four.
"Dive!" said the mother. "We dive!" said the four,
So they dived and they burrowed in the reeds on the shore.

Over in the meadow, in a snug beehive,
Lived a mother honey bee and her little bees five.
"Buzz!" said the mother. "We buzz!" said the five,
So they buzzed and they hummed in the snug beehive.

Over in the meadow, in a nest built of sticks,
Lived a black mother crow and her little crows six.
"Caw!" said the mother. "We caw!" said the six,
So they cawed and they called in their nest built of sticks.

Over in the meadow, where the grass is so even,
Lived a gay mother cricket and her little crickets seven.
"Chirp!" said the mother. "We chirp!" said the seven,
So they chirped cheery notes in the grass soft and even.

Over in the meadow, by the old mossy gate,
Lived a brown mother lizard and her little lizards eight.
"Bask!" said the mother. "We bask!" said the eight,
So they basked in the sun on the old mossy gate.

Over in the meadow, where the quiet pools shine,
Lived a green mother frog and her little froggies nine.
"Croak!" said the mother. "We croak!" said the nine,
So they croaked and they splashed where the quiet pools shine.

Over in the meadow, in a sly little den,
Lived a gray mother spider and her little spiders ten.
"Spin!" said the mother. "We spin!" said the ten,
So they spun lacy webs in their sly little den.

This seems to be the original version. Variants exist.
filename[ OVRMEDOW
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I copied and posted these exact same lyrics from the kididdles Website, and posted them here (click) in 1999. I'm guessing the Digital Tradition lyrics may have come from my post. Kididdles said Wadsworth wrote the lyrics in the 1800s, nothing more.

Subject: ADD Version: Over in the Meadow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Jan 17 - 04:28 AM

Here are the lyrics from John McCutcheon's http://www.folkmusic.com Website, which are slightly McCutcheonized.

     C                                   G
  1) Over in the meadow in a pond in the sun
         Am                      F      G       C
  Sat an old mother frog and her little froggie one
   C                      F C
  "Hop" said the mother, "I hop" said the one
           Am                           F    G      C
  And they hopped and were happy in the pond in the sun
  
2) Over in the meadow in a worn out shoe
  Sat an old mother cat and her little kittens two
  "Purr" said the mother, "we purr" said the two
  And they purred and were happy in the worn out shoe
  
3) ...nest in a tree...bird (birdies)...sing
  
4) ...old apple core...worm (wormies)...squirm
  
5) ...old bee hive...queen bee (bees)...buzz
  
6) ...house made of sticks...dog (puppies)...bark
  
7) ...tree of heaven...owl (owlets)...hoot
  
8) ...old packing crate...duck (ducklings)...quack
  
9) ...a ball of twine...mouse (mice)...squeak
  
10) ...cozy little den...spider (spiders)...spin