Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit

Subject: There once was a rabbit
From: barnacle
Date: 05 May 04 - 12:12 PM

My mum used to sing - or maybe just recite - I cannot remember. She died many years ago. The words were

There once was a rabbit developed the habit of twitching the end of his nose
His sisters and brothers and various others all (noted) the way that it goes...
...
It ends ...
Now all the world over where rabbits eat clover ...

Does anyone recognise this and can they supply me with the comlete text?

Pleeeeeeeeease

Subject: RE: There once was a rabbit
From: Amos
Date: 05 May 04 - 12:19 PM

Rabbit Poem

There was once a rabbit
Developed the habit,
Of twitching the end of his nose.
His sisters and brothers
And various others
Said, "Notice the way that it goes".

Now one clever bunny
Said, "That's very funny,
I'll practise it down in the dell".
The rest said, "If he can,
I'm positive we can".
And did it remarkably well.

Now all the world over,
Where rabbits eat clover,
And burrow and scratch with their toes,
There isn't a rabbit,
Who hasn't the habit,
Of twitching the end of its nose.

(Authorship has unfortunately been lost from view).

---

Regards,
A

Subject: RE: There once was a rabbit
From: Sooz
Date: 05 May 04 - 12:33 PM

It never ceases to amaze me what we know between us all!

Subject: RE: There once was a rabbit
From: barnacle
Date: 05 May 04 - 01:46 PM

A

Wow, thanks - and so quick

I have been trying to find this for years. Have even contacted so called experts in children's literature.

Just shows - we do know lotsa stuff between us.

thank you again

S (barnacle)

Subject: RE: There once was a rabbit
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 05 May 04 - 02:31 PM

It's all due to the Girl Guide and Scouting movements I'm sure! I remember having to learn this for one of my merit badges, as a Brownie. It's driven me mad for years only being able to remember part of it!

LTS

Subject: RE: There once was a rabbit
From:
Date: 24 May 04 - 01:55 AM

I made the fatal mistake of teaching this little rabbit poem to someone in my office and she repeats it over and over. Anyway, it is sweet and should be perpetuated.   It was written by Georgia Roberts Durston who may have been American. The words I recall are almost 100% the same as the above.   I have taught it to every child I know.   Cheers everyone    Deirdre

Subject: RE: There once was a rabbit
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 24 May 04 - 02:58 AM

She was American. Ancestry thread:

"I am trying to find information about the above two people. They were my mothers parents. I have been led to believe that Bertram hailed from Charleston WV. I believe he died around 1947 and she died about 1955. They are both buried in San Antonio, Texas at the Sam Houston National Cemetary. His family apparently owned a large department store in West Virginia and sometime before WWI, he ran afoul of his family and joined the army. He remained in the army and retired/died as a Lt Col."

"Did you ever get any information on Georgia Roberts Durston. Is she the poet who wrote in the early 1900's?"

"Georgia Roberts Durston wrote a book called "Candlelight" for her daughter Georgia Roberts Durston Frankenberger. Mrs Durston also wrote a book called "Boy Scouts on the Trail" which was a Hardy Boys mystery-type book only about Boy Scouts."

More of her writings at Google

Cheers
Wilfried

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,shirpike
Date: 23 Jun 04 - 12:28 AM

This poem was repeated to me by a neighbor when I was just a little girl. Through the years, I have recalled the opening line and part of the last lines beginning with "And now the world over..." My friend tonight located the remainder of it, and I am overjoyed!

Subject: RE: letter
From: GUEST,steven
Date: 17 Nov 04 - 05:40 AM

I have the literature homework, so I need georgia r durston background. please send me her background to my e-mail: [e-mail]    may i accept it tommorow/ I beg u! pleeeease!    thank you so much

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Nov 04 - 02:33 AM

An old recording of Josh White had a track on it referring to rabbit habits.

Something like:

Jack the Rabbit
Had a bad habit
Ate up the corn
And all the cabbage
But I took him down
To the low low ground
And I cured that fool
Of his bad habit.

(The cut was titled "Don't Lie Buddy")

Or something like that.

Then there was the slogan for Bunny Bread

"Get the rabbit habit"

Yeah Sooz, I wonder at the amount of dubiously useful information. Mental Lint?

Coyote Breath

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Catherine H Hynes
Date: 16 Dec 05 - 09:41 AM

Georgia Roberts Durston is my Great-Grandmother. She was a poet and novelist. This is intriguing in that I was unaware that her daughter Georgia and husband Bertram Frankenberger had any other children besides Georgia (my mother), Ann and Patricia. Everything else you have down is correct. I would really appreciate it if you would e-mail me about this.

Many Thanks

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From:
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 04:34 PM

My 90 year old father taught us this version as kids. He got it from a lady, Cathy Rogers (sp?) who worked in the county borough offices at Croydon, England between 1945 and 1957. He thought she might have been the author, but Georgia Roberts Durston may have preceded her. Note the differences in the wording. Actually, I think this version flows better.

There once was a rabbit, developed the habit
Of twitching the end of his nose.
His sisters and brothers and various others
Said "Look at the way that it goes!".

Now, one little bunny said "Isn't that funny.
I'll practice it down in the dell".
She practiced, and practiced, and practiced,
And did it remarkably well.

Now all the world over where bunnies eat clover,
And scribble and scratch with their toes,
There isn't a rabbit that hasn't the habit
Of twitching the end of its nose.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Chloe
Date: 09 Feb 06 - 04:29 AM

My Grandma used to tell this poem to me when I was a little girl. I've always kept pet rabbits.

My Grandma worked on a farm during the war and looked after about 70 rabbits!

My Mum and I were trying to remember the words to the poem last night and we're so pleased to find the whole poem. Its put a smile on my face, and given me a happy memory again.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Rita Rhino
Date: 10 Sep 06 - 11:22 PM

I live in Sydney, Australia, and used to recite this poem when I was 5-6 years old, in 1952-3

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Pamela
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 12:49 AM

I learned this poem when I was a child in Bellingen, Australia. I have always remembered it, and the words as first quoted are as I remember.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Louise Bratton
Date: 18 Mar 07 - 04:05 PM

Thank God for all you people! I learnt this poem (with the words as quoted by Amos at the top of the thread) as a song with a very simple tune in primary school. I now sing it to my three year old but knew I had the last verse wrong. Really really pleased to be corrected!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a h
From: GUEST,Martin Bond
Date: 16 May 07 - 11:44 AM

The first time I saw this was jn a magazine called "Men Only" in about 1949. Sorry I don't know the author but it made such an impression that even though I'm now 80 I still remember it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,GUEST, Sharon
Date: 23 Jun 07 - 07:57 PM

Thank you so much for the words to the poem. I am in my 40s now and my Dad used to recite this poem when I was little. The poems we learnt when we were kids are timeless classics and I am putting them together for my kids. Things like the Triantiwontigongolope by CJ Dennis, gets some funny looks when you say it but such great verse.

Thanks again
Sharon

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Jun 07 - 09:11 PM

Thomas W. Talley, African American professor of chemistry at Fisk University and collector of African American folk rhymes, included an example of this rhyme in his now classic 1922 book "Negro Folk Rhymes-Wise and Otherwise".

See this excerpt about Talley from a recent edition of his classic book:

"Thomas W. Talley collected these tales during the 1920s from childhood memories of stories told during the post–Civil War era by friends and family in rural Middle Tennessee. A chemistry professor at Fisk University in Nashville, Talley was a twentieth-century pioneer in African-American folklore who used his keen insight and imagination to confront the complex and little-known wellsprings of his own cultural background. The result is a dynamic representation of an African-American tradition".

Thomas W. Talley; Negro Folk Rhymes

Here's the version of this particular rabbit song that Talley included in his book:

I'LL GET YOU RABBIT

Rabbit! Rabbit! You'se got a mighty habit,
A-runnin' through de grass,
Eatin' up my cabbages;
But I'll git you shore at las'.

Rabbit! Rabbit! Ole rabbit in de bottoms,
A-playin' in de san',
By to-morrow mornin',
You'll be in my fryin' pan.

{Talley, Negro Folk Rhymes, Kennikat Press edition, 1968, p. 116, originally published in 1922, The Macmillan Company}

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a h
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 24 Jun 07 - 12:12 AM

ANZI

Your version is much closer to Summerst/Yoevil England verses of:
Black Bird also in the DT.....but from memory.

Wer be de black bird be?
Ah know wer he be
He be up yon werzel tree
That be wer he be

Now he see's ah
An ah see's he
Buggered (or jiggered) if ah don git um
Black-bird ah'll git ye.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Whoops NOPE - not in the DT - (can't imagine why - I posted over ten years ago.) So lyrics added. Learned it from swine-testicle-ripper from Sommerset.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Helen Ensor - Blenhiem NZ
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 03:03 AM

I learnt this from my mum and dad from a poster sitting on our kitchen wall from the age of 3.

There once was a rabbit who developed the habit of eating his vegetables raw.
His sisters and brothers and various others said I've not seen that done before!
Yes one clever bunny said "that's very funny, it makes such a crunchy sound".
Yes, I'm sure his food is doing him good cos his teeth are the whitest I've found.

Yes! His teeth are the whitest, his fur is the softest, he is frisky and has lots of fun, lets make it a habit to copy that rabbit, the others agreed, every one.

And so the world over where rabbits eat clover and burrow and scratch with each paw. There isn't a rabbit who hasn't the habit of eating his vegetables raw.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a h
From: GUEST,Neil
Date: 22 Jan 08 - 02:48 AM

I was doing a crossword puzzle this evening, and the word "dell" was an answer. This triggered the memory of the rabbit poem (as in the 2nd posting) which I recited much to the delight of my wife. I hadn't thought of it for possibly over forty years. I learned it in Newcastle NSW Australia in about 2nd or 3rd class from a teacher Mrs Renwick to whom I am thankful for much. I would have been six or seven at the time. I am now 57. Is this incipient senility creeping in?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,john
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 05:23 PM

poo

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 09:41 PM

Georgia Roberts Durston was my husband's great grandmother - so it seems he is related to some of the people posting here. He is Patricia's son - she passed away three weeks ago. Are Georgia and Babette the same person?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Dave MacKenzie
Date: 15 Jun 08 - 07:32 PM

This is the way had it from my mother (who was in the Guides pre-war):

There was once a rabbit
Developed the habit,
Of twitching the end of his nose.
His sisters and brothers
And various others
Said, "Look at the way that it goes".

Now one little bunny
Said, "That's very funny,
I'll practise it down in the dell".
They allrest said, "If he can,
Then certainly we can".
And did it remarkably well.

Now all the world over,
Where rabbits eat clover,
And scrabble and scratch with their toes,
There isn't a rabbit,
Who hasn't the habit,
Of twitching the end of its nose.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Dave MacKenzie
Date: 15 Jun 08 - 07:36 PM

Sorry - second verse should read:

Now one little bunny
Said, "That's very funny,
I'll practise it down in the dell".
They all said, "If he can,
Then certainly we can".
And did it remarkably well.

Keep forgetting I'm not in Word!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 08:24 AM

I found this poem on a typed scrap of paper in an old politics text book. The Author on the sheet was M.A Nathan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Jul 08 - 09:47 AM

thank you my dad used to tell me this poem the rabbits and I had forgotton the middle section (i will practice it down in the dell). I am 35 and he passed on 4 years ago, was just thinking of it and him - australia central and mid north east coast.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Mike
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 06:14 AM

I sang this at a concert in the Isle of Man about 28 years ago, I am now 35 and have just started singing it to my two children who are 4 and 2 and they love it !

BTW the version I sang was the original one posted.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a h
From: GUEST,Geoffrey Luck
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 02:42 AM

This little poem goes back a long way. My mother, a school teacher in Queensland, certainly knew it in the 1920s, and taught it to me by 1934.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Henry Taylor
Date: 09 Feb 09 - 03:32 PM

I don't know if you're still monitoring this thread or not, but in case you are: You must be my cousin. My mother was Patricia. I'll check back here periodically. If you'd like to communicate, leave me an email address or something.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Henry Taylor
Date: 09 Feb 09 - 03:34 PM

Sorry, I thought this would post under the message I was responding to. My previous message was directed to Catherine Hynes.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,GUEST, Julie Baudino
Date: 04 Apr 09 - 06:10 PM

I can remember when I was 4 years old, standing in front of a very large congregation in Dumas, Texas on Easter Sunday and reciting this poem.

Over the years all I could remember was "There once was a rabbit, who had the bad habit".

This year, I will be 70, so this has been around for a long time.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST, australia
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 07:18 PM

hurrah! I've been looking for nearly 40 years for the correct wording to this poem; remembered the first lines easily but the rest was forgotten. This is a poem that enchants children and makes for a very good "Assembly item" too. many thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Carol Robbins
Date: 10 Apr 09 - 06:28 AM

I cried when I saw all the references to this poem that my darling daddy used to tell me every night to help me sleep....
I thought I was the only person who knew it!
I have/am passong it on to my darling grandchildren so they have the magic of it.
I think the magic is the way it scans when you 'tell it' gently to a loved one?
I am painting pages to go with the words for my grandchildren & they can pass it on to theirs!
I woulds be delighted to hear from anyone who loved this poem in the 1950's! Please contact me [e-mail] There is a majic about this poem....
Carol xx

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Carolyn
Date: 26 Sep 09 - 09:47 AM

Thank you. My dad died 8 weeks ago and I was trying to remember this verse as he use to say it to me a lot. Now I can tell my kids...means HEAPS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a habit
From: GUEST,Catherine Hynes
Date: 15 Oct 09 - 07:03 PM

Dear Mr. Taylor:

You are my cousin. Your mother Patricia Frankenberger is my Aunt. My mother was Babette MacKenzie Hastings (nee Georgia Frankenberger).

I was looking for this poem to share with my grandchildren.

For some reason our families were not close. My mother rarely discussed anything relating to her side of the family. I have no idea why and I know very little.

Best wishes,

Catherine Hastings Hynes ([e-mail])

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There once was a rabbit developed a h
From: GUEST,Kate
Date: 07 Nov 09 - 08:45 AM

My singing teacher Barbara Dix from Southport (Merseyside, England) taught me this, I now have a daughter and couldn't remember all the words, but thanks to this forum I now have all of them. Thanks all x