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Oh, when I was a little boy to London I did go,
I went on yonder steeple my valley for to show,
My head I left in Westminster, my heels I let hang down,
I jumped over Piccadilly and I never touched the ground.
To my fall the diddle liddle la, la, la, right fall the dall I day.
Before I reached to London a lofty giant I spied,
He lookéd down upon me and spoke as I passed by.
He then began to challenge me to wrestle, fight, or run,
I beat him out at all his games and killed him when I'd done.
To my fall the diddle liddle la, la, la, right fall the dall I day.
The people of this town oh they could not understand
How they'd get that lofty giant away out of the land.
I took him up by the nape of the neck and his heels I let hang down,
I gave him a twitch with all my might and I twitched him out of the town.
To my fall the diddle liddle la, la, la, right fall the dall I day.
They thanked me for my favour, likewise for what I'd done,
They gave me gold and silver, about five hundred ton,
So then I made a little box about eight acres square,
In it I put my gold and silver and the guineas laid so fair.
To my fall the diddle liddle la, la, la, right fall the dall I day.
Then I set out for Turkey, I travelled there by ox,
And in my breeches' pocket I put that little box,
But when I came to the Turkey shore they turned me from the door,
They would not trust me at the court because I was so poor.
To my fall the diddle liddle la, la, la, right fall the dall I day.
Oh, then I bought a little bull, his color it was brown,
He jumped from here to London and never touched the ground,
And when my bull he did blare out he made the echoes sound,
He shook the walls of London town and they all came tumbling down.
To my fall the diddle liddle la, la, la, right fall the dall I day.
So then I bought a flock of sheep and all of them were wethers,
Sometimes they yield me very good wool, more times they yield me feathers,
But of all the sheep in London town there's none like mine to increase,
For every month in the full of the moon they'll bring ten lambs apiece.
To my fall the diddle liddle la, la, la, right fall the dall I day.
So then I bought a little black hen, of her I took great care,
I set her in a mussel shell and she brought me forth a hare,
This hare grew up to a milk-white steed fourteen lanyards high,
And he that tells a bigger jest I'm sure must tell a lie!.
To my fall the diddle liddle la, la, la, right fall the dall I day.
This variant was collected in 1959 from George Decker of Rocky Harbour, NL, by Kenneth Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, pp.24-25, by the National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
Click to jump up to Variant A - A Tale Of Jests
Click to jump down to Variant C - The Lie Song
Once I was an infant 'bout a hundred years ago,
I took my way to London my value for to show;
While going over London Bridge my head I did hang down,
'Twas on my way to Maylandville[?] I never touched the ground.
And sing fall the diddle I day,
And sing fall the diddle I day.
First I met a lion, his head did reach the sky,
When he looked down on me and he bid me to pass by;
When I began to challenge him to wrestle, fight, or run,
I beat him out of all his fun and what he had done.
And sing fall the diddle I day,
And sing fall the diddle I day.
My friends they were amazed when they heard what I had done,
They gave me little money, somewhere 'round fifty ton;
I built myself a little box about an acre square,
And to the top I filled it up all with my silver clear.
And sing fall the diddle I day,
And sing fall the diddle I day.
I thought I'd go to London, a-travel I could not,
And in my britches pocket this little box I put;
I bought myself a score of sheep and thirteen of them being wethers,
And every night the moon shone bright they'd bring two lambs together.
And sing fall the diddle I day,
And sing fall the diddle I day.
Once I had a little black dog, a nice little dog was he,
Around the world in a half a day this little dog carried me;
His legs were eighteen lanyards high and his ears were twelve feet wide,
Around the world in a half a day on this little dog I did ride.
And sing fall the diddle I day,
And sing fall the diddle I day.
Oh, once I had a little black hen, of her I took great care,
I set her on a mussel shell, she brought me forth two hares;
Two hares brought forth so fine a colt 'bout eighteen lanyards high,
And if ever you hear a funnier joke you'll hear a great big lie!
And sing fall the diddle I day,
And sing fall the diddle I day.
This variant was collected in 1958 from Everett Bennett of St. Paul's, NL, by Kenneth Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, p.26, by the National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
Click to jump up to Variant A - A Tale Of Jests
Click to jump up to Variant B - Once I Had
Oh, when I was but a little boy about a two weeks old,
All for to show my value a-walking I did go,
I touched my heels up to the sky, I let my head hang down,
I travelled 'bout ten thousand miles, I never touched the ground.
I sung whack fall diddle I day.
Oh, I met an awful giant and his head reached to the sky,
He came gazing down upon me as I were passing by,
He tells me how to fight, my boys, to wrestle and to run,
I beat him out at all his tricks and killed him when I was done.
I sung whack fall diddle I day.
Then the people rushed around me to see what I had done,
Oh, they gave me a litte money, about a-fifty ton,
I built myself a little box about eighty acres square,
I filled it up right to the rim with all bright silver clear.
I sung whack fall diddle I day.
Then I started out for London all over hills and rocks,
And in my waistcoat pocket I carried my little box,
But when I got to London they kicked me out of doors,
They would not let me in the house because I was too poor.
I sung whack fall diddle I day.
Then I bought myself a flock of sheep, of course they were all wethers,
Sometimes they brought me wool, and sometimes they brought me feathers,
They were a beautiful flock of sheep so fast they did increase
That every time the moon would change they'd bring six lambs a piece.
I sung whack fall diddle I day.
Then I bought myself a coal-black hen as you may plainly hear,
I sot her on a mussel shell, she brought me forth a hare,
She brought me forth a hare, my boys, 'bout eighteen lanyards high,
And if I sing you another song I'll sing you a bigger lie.
I sung whack fall diddle I day.
This variant was collected in 1960 from Garland Ford of Port aux Basques, NL, by Kenneth Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, p.28, by the National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
Click to jump up to Variant A - A Tale Of Jests
Click to jump up to Variant B - Once I Had
Click to jump up to Variant C - The Lie Song
Kenneth peacock noted that this nursery ballad is not often represented in collections, so it is all the more unusual to find three different variants from Newfoundland. Another variant collected by A. P. Hudson may be found in Folksongs of Mississippi. Also, in Nursery Rhymes From Maine, William Wells Newell quotes a text which he says was given to him by the American poet James Russell Lowell, who found it in Maine just before his death. It is generally supposed to be a rhymed version of Jack The Giant Killer.
A similar variant of The Lie Song above was collected from Mrs. Bride Power [b.1873] of Tors Cove, NL, and published as The Lie in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
From The Free Dictionary: Wethers - castrated rams.
GEST notes that the word 'sot' appears several times in the Dictionary Of Newfoundland English within quotations which serve as examples of usage for defined words. The word itself is not formally defined; however, we readily assume 'sot' as used in this song is the past tense of the verb 'set' spoken with a Newfoundland dialect rather than a typographic error.
