Kid's Songs, Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes For Your Little Stars

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Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop,
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Rock-a-bye, baby, cradle of green;
Father's a nobleman, mother's a queen;
And Betty's a lady, and wears a gold ring;
And Johnny's a drummer, who drums for the king

Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop,
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

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The words to this well known lullaby were first published in 1765, in "Mother Goose's Melody", accompanied by a footnote:

Hush-a-by baby
On the tree top,
When the wind blows
The cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall,
Down tumbles baby,
Cradle and all.

This may serve as a Warning to the Proud and Ambitious, who climb so high that they generally fall at last

The melody, like "There Was An Old Woman Tossed Up In A Basket", is a variant of the English satirical ballad "Lilliburlero".

One theory on the origin of the lyrics is that they, like "Lilliburlero", refer to events immediately prior to the "Glorious" Revolution of 1688. It was widely believed that James Francis Edward Stuart, the baby son of James VII and II, was not his child, but had been smuggled into the birthing room to provide a Roman Catholic heir to the British Throne. The political winds were blowing in James' Protestant nephew, William of Orange, who would ultimately depose James in the revolution to become William III. The "cradle" is the Royal House of Stuart. The footnote accompanying the publication in "Mother Goose's Melody", and the satirical melody that the rhyme is sung to suggest that this theory may be correct.

Another (incorrect) theory suggests that "Rock-A-Bye Baby" was the first poem written on American soil. This theory seems to be based on the text that accompanied the lullaby's 1904 publication in "A Book for Bairns and Big Folk, Children's Rhymes, Games, Songs, and Stories" by Robert Ford:

This is a rhyme which 'every child has joyed to hear.' Its origin, as told in the records of the Boston (U.S.) Historical Society, is not more curious than beautiful and significant. 'Shortly after our forefathers landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts (I am quoting), a party were out in the fields where the Indian women were picking strawberries. Several of the women, or squaws as they were called, had papooses - that is babies - and, having no cradle, they had them tied up in Indian fashion and hung from the limbs of the surrounding trees. Sure enough, when the wind blew these cradles would rock! A young man of the party observing this, pulled off a piece of bark and wrote off the above words, which is believed to be the first poetry written in America.'

This theory is debunked by the fact that the earliest record of the lullaby was in England in 1765.

There are several variations on the rhyme, for example, "Hush-a-bye Baby", "Catch Him, Crow" and the second verse of the Scottish lullaby, "O, Can Ye Sew Cushions".

Origins text ©2011 TwinkleTrax Children's Songs.