Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?

Subject: Lyr Add: THE NAUGHTY RABBIT
From: GUEST,Andrea
Date: 10 Nov 13 - 02:31 PM

My dad used to sing this song to me as a child many years ago and I sang it to mine. Usual thing his dad sang it to him. Does anyone know of its origin? I've searched the internet but there's nothing. It's got a catchy tune so it might be a music hall song but then it's obviously a moral tale aimed at naughty children. Thanks.

THE NAUGHTY RABBIT

There was once a little rabbit in a family of six
Such a naughty, tiresome bunny he was always up to tricks
He would not mind his Mummy or his daddy or his aunt
And I hardly like to tell you but he sometimes said "I shan't".

Now one day this naughty bunny was in mischief in a field
Where a sportsman who was shooting lay behind a hedge concealed
The little rabbit's mother who had heard the gun before
Shouted out to Master Frisky "Make haste in and shut the door".

But that tiresome little bunny pretended not to hear
He did not know that danger was approaching very near
He could not see the sportsman and he would not leave the spot
So his mother called out "Quickly, or I'm sure you will be shot".

She had hardly got the words out when "bang bang" was heard the sound
And that naughty little bunny lay quite dead upon the ground
So the sportsman came and took him and 'fore many days passed by
That naughty little rabbit was made into a pie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Nov 13 - 04:02 PM

I found a few sites with the first stanza, but this is the only one so far with complete lyrics.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Me
Date: 30 Mar 14 - 12:09 AM

Did you ever figure out the origin or what the song is called. My Oma always sang this to us the words were a little different but not much and I would love to find a recording of it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Tony G
Date: 10 Jun 14 - 09:17 AM

What a godsend. I'm the eldest of 6 and now 61 years old myself. My mum used to sing this to us all when we were young. We're a Norfolk born and bred family, so it may have Norfolk origins. When trying to sing it to my grandson I always get stuck on the end of the second stanza...but not any more, so it will now carry on for at least another generation

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Tracey
Date: 01 Oct 14 - 08:16 PM

My nanny used to sing and taught me it, Norfolk bred c

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 02 Oct 14 - 05:31 AM

So glad the words came in useful for you. My Dad's family came from Leicestershire. So I have no obvious links to Norfolk but it sounds like that's the likely source.I'm a bit busy this weekend but will try to do a recording of my tune for you soon.Glad to know that it's a proper folk song passed down orally. When I originally posted this no-one knew anything about it so great to hear that it lives on.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,John
Date: 23 Dec 14 - 05:35 PM

It certainly is a Norfolk song, and my grandmother used to sing it to me (and I'm now 67).

We used to make up alternative endings in which Master Frisky shot the sportsman and made a pie out of him instead, but he was so tough that nobody could eat it.

I suppose the song must originate from the music halls.

We always used to sing it in tandem with, 'Your baby 'as gorn down the plug 'ole; your baby 'as gorn down the drain ...' etc. That was my father's contribution to cheering us all up :-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,anita (19 Feb 2015)
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 03:59 PM

i am in Ireland and my mother used to sing it to me . i now sing it to my grandson. i do think it it a song from England. i am 59, youngest of 9 and we all know this song
Anita

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur (19 Feb 2015)
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 04:00 PM

Good to know that it travelled to Ireland. Thanks for posting John and Anita. I do intend to do a youtube recording but need to rally my son to help. I'd love to know if my tune resembles everyone elses. As there is no definitive recorded version to start from I suspect it will have severely suffered from 'Chinese whispers'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Paul Miller
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 03:29 AM

Several times since Internet, I have searched for this. I never knew if it was an invention of my Grandad, but now I am sure it is not! Neither am I sure that it is from Norfolk! My Grandad, born in 1896 and brought up in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire learned it from his mother born in 1862 also in Bromsgrove. They had been several generations of "nailers" a very harsh living making hand made nails, extensive occupation in the West Midlands from about 1750.   Where it came from , I don't know but it is clearly of diverse folk origin and a cautionary and quite humorous tale for children. It has quite a jolly tune with a slight tone drop on the last line which enforces it's sad undertone! My mother sung it to us in the 1940s and 1950s and I have sung it to our children and now to my grandchildren, but sadly I think it may end there since my own children do not sing it themselves .....too much other media entertainment?
As to Chinese whispers mentioned in the last reply by "Andiliquer" I doubt that it is much altered. The words above are pretty much exactly as I know them and the tune is so simple that without a full re-work, there is little that would change.   The tune and words I know are the same as 130 years ago.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Paul Miller
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 03:54 AM

Actually, on checking, the exact words I know are a bit different but sentiment the same. They are as follows, so this is a Worcestershire derived version from my family use.

There was once a little rabbit in a family of six,
Such a troublesome young fellow, full of naughty little tricks,
And he would not mind his mother,nor his father nor his aunt
And I hardly like to tell you that sometimes he said "I shan't"

One day this little rabbit was at mischief in the field
And he did not see a sportsman lay behind the hedge concealed
And his mother called "Come quickly or I'm sure you will be shot"
But that naughty little fellow stood quite rooted to the spot.

Well she'd hardly got the words out when Bang Bang was heard the sound
And this naughty little rabbit lay quite dead up the ground
And the huntsman came and took him and 'this many days gone bye
Since the naughty little fellow was made into a pie.

Now the moral to this story is never say I shan't
And be sure to mind your mother and your father and your aunt.
And if you're very lucky, are good and never lie,
You may grow strong and healthy and not end in a pie!


So a little different and the third verse is rather different but the moral verse was present.
Hope this helps and long may the little rabbit from his family of six live on in folk memory!

Paul

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 04:27 AM

Thanks Paul

I will add the last verse to mine. My Dad's Mum came from Birmingham and I assumed that the song came from my Dad's Dad from Leicestershire but I have since found out from a relative that my little quiet Grandmother sang as well as my Grandad so it could have origins in Bromsgrove.
We are travelling around the festivals this year so I think I might start singing it out. Your tune description does sound similar to mine.

Mudcat really works when we use it like this and not as a vehicle to be nasty to each other.

Andrea

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Beck
Date: 20 Jul 15 - 11:32 PM

I know I'm a bit late to this party, but I'd like to report that this song made it all the way to Australia as well. I'm in my late 20s and remember my grandfather singing this to me. It's almost like the song is a family heirloom. My uncles sang it to my cousins, and my cousins sing/sang it to their kids. Dad tried singing it to me but I just had to be the black sheep, and the only song that could put me to sleep was Puff The Magic Dragon. We're all Australian and my grandfather never told us where he heard it. The lyrics my grandfather taught us were a bit different from everyone else here though.

There was once a little rabbit in a family of six
Such a naughty little rabbit, full of naughty little tricks
He wouldn't mind his mother, his father or his aunt
I'd hardly like to tell you he sometimes said "I shan't!"

Now one day this little rabbit was out playing in the field
And a sportsman out a hunting lay behind a hedge concealed
The little rabbit's mother who had heard the guns before
cried out to Master Frisky "Be quick and shut the door!"

But the naughty little rabbit, he pretended not to hear
And the sportsman out a hunting, he came creeping very near
The little rabbit's mother who had heard the guns before
cried out to Master Frisky "Be quick and shut the door!"

The words were hardly uttered when "Bang! Bang!" went the sound
And the naughty little rabbit? He lay dead upon the ground
The sportsman came and took him and not a day went by
Before poor old Master Frisky was baked into a pie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 21 Jul 15 - 05:53 AM

Thanks Beck. Brilliant to hear our shared heirloom made it to Australia. Thanks for posting your words. I must put a recording on soon so we can compare tunes. I need to pin down my nomadic son to do this!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,heisenberg
Date: 21 Jul 15 - 12:24 PM

rabbits are very naughty. like playboy sign. is also rabbit.:P
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,heisenberg
Date: 21 Jul 15 - 12:26 PM

rabbits are very naughty. like playboy sign. is also rabbit.:P
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Sep 15 - 01:07 AM

Yes I remember my mother singing it to me when I was little. In New Zealand. Her family were from Cornwall. My remembrance of the words are different in places but basically the same. I am so delighted to find this song again. I am 84 and the eldest in the family. We lived in the Waikato. N.Z.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 26 Sep 15 - 04:31 AM

This thread has been such a joy to me and now I find the 'Naughty Rabbit'has travelled to the other side of the world. I still intend to put it on Youtube. Thanks for the posting New Zealand Guest.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 08 Jan 16 - 01:49 PM

At last I finally got around to putting Naughty Rabbit on Facebook/Soundcloud. Nothing sophisticated just a simple children's song. Please keep it alive mudcatters.

Naughty Rabbit

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Feb 16 - 05:25 AM

Anne, Melbourne Australia
My mother sang this to me, also my Grandmother, who lived in Redditch, Worces. I was telling a friend about this lullaby, and so when I looked it up it was such a joy to see the words, and they are much as I remember them. I'm 85!
What an interesting thread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 29 Feb 16 - 03:44 PM

Lovely to hear from you Anne and so glad you found this song again. If your Grandmother sang Naughty Rabbit then this would make it a cautionary Victorian tale and even older than I thought. We have had a few replies linking the song to the Birmingham area so I guess my Dad born in 1920 must have learnt it from his Mum who was born there.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Norma
Date: 17 May 16 - 01:09 PM

As a small child I always requested my grandmother sing this to me whenever she came to visit. The last (and only!) line I remembered was "and that naughty little bunny he got made into a pie!" I hope a recording is made soon, because I don't remember that either!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 17 May 16 - 03:29 PM

Norma, if you use the link 'naughty rabbit'posted by me on 8th January 2016 you will hear a rough recording of the tune as I remember it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 17 May 16 - 03:32 PM

I should say click on my soundcloud photo and you will hear it

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Oct 16 - 09:19 PM

I know very late to this thread, but my grandfather taught me this song, and I was born in Bromsgrove (1986)

There was once a little rabbit in a family of six
Such a naughty little rabbit who played such naughty tricks,
And he didn't mind his sister or his mother or his aunt,
And I hardly like to tell you that he sometimes said I shan't.

Now one day this little rabbit was at mischief in a field
Where the huntsman who was shooting lay behind a hedge concealed
And he saw that there was danger but he would not leave the spot
And his mother said come quickly or I'm sure you will be shot

But before she got the words out bang bang bang there came a sound
And that naughty little rabbit lay quite dead up on the ground
And the huntsman came and took him and then many days passed by
And that naughty little rabbit has been made into a pie

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 16 Oct 16 - 08:50 AM

Thanks for posting Guest.Yours is a more compact version. Bromsgrove is mentioned a few times in this thread now so this is looking like the likely origin of the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Betty
Date: 16 Mar 18 - 06:59 AM

Hervey Bay Australia

Thank you for posting the lyrics. I grew up in Victoria Australia. My Grandmother used to sing it to me and my sisters. Then my Grandmother and my Mother sung it to my children. I am 69. Over the years have forgotten some of the verses. How wonderful to have found them again.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 16 Mar 18 - 09:33 AM

That's wonderful Betty. My Dad would have loved this thread and to know how far this little song has travelled.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jul 19 - 01:27 PM

My mother who has recently passed away aged 97 years sang this to her 7 children and grandchildren.im trying to find a singer who possibly recorded it. If anybody can help I would be more than grateful.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 13 Jul 19 - 02:10 PM

oh... so.. not a song about a battery powered sex toy, then...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,RJ
Date: 13 May 20 - 04:57 PM

My grandmother born in rural Oxfordshire around 1875 used to sing this to us kids in the early 1950s. I only remember the first verse though. Probably my mother protected us from the latter verses. I often sing it to my grandkids.

Also remember my grandfather reciting the verse from what I now know to be The Little Brown Jug "With a bottle of beer at my head and feet" etc.

My great grandparents kept The Quart Pot pub in Milton-under-Wychwood.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 13 May 20 - 09:37 PM

Here's Mick and Andrea Scott singing it on Soundcloud.

https://soundcloud.com/mickandandrea/naughty-rabbit?fbclid=IwAR1w5Auf-sf7RHkvXMDH--YtdhqlKr4KTOULQ-Kz0RC5iI49uC8L8YeVQjI

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Vivienne
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 09:25 AM

My grandmother was born in Burton-on-Trent. As granny (late 1940s-70s), she lived in Somerset and Bristol. This song was one of her repertoire. She had a lovely voice and always had time for her grandchildren.
I remember the tune she sang the words to, but don't know how to record it for the thread. It always made me think of Beatrix Potter's tales.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Andiliqueur
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 11:14 AM

Vivienne do you know the Naughty Rabbit sung to a different tune compared to the one above?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Feb 21 - 03:42 PM

Oh wow actually can't believe I've found this finally other people who have heard this. My dad used to tell me this as a child I had forgotten some of the words but I now tell it to my children. My dad has passed away I vaguely remember him telling me when he had been naughty he had to write it all down as lines. He was brought up in Barnardo's children home in the late 1930s 1940s. I've often wondered if others had heard it
too.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Apr 21 - 11:16 AM

My nan used to tell me this poem
There was once a naughty rabbit in a family of six
Such a naughty little fellow full of naughty little tricks
And he would not mind his mother or his father or his aunt
And I hardly like to tell you but he sometimes said I shan’t
Now the naughty little rabbit was at mischief in a field
Where a sportsman out a shooting lay behind the hedge concealed
He could see no signs of danger and he would not leave the spot
Till his mother shrieked come quickly or I’m sure you will be shot
Well she’d hardly got the words out. when bang bang was heard a sound
And that naughty little rabbit lay quite dead upon the ground
And I hardly like to tell you how many days passed by
Before that naughty little rabbit, he was made into a pie

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Apr 21 - 11:36 AM

I haven't heard the telephone game being called Chinese whispers since the 1960s...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Naughty rabbit. Anyone know this?
From: GUEST,Dee
Date: 22 Jan 22 - 10:47 AM

This has brought. Back so many memories of my grandpa who used to sit me on his knee and tells me this rhyme …I always thought it was his own Made up story so it’s lovely to hear it has such a history for others too!
My grandparents were Welsh and lived in small village near neath this would have been in early 1960’s … I’m so pleased to have found all the words again..feeling quite emotional x