Bye, baby Bunting

"Bye, baby Bunting"
"Bye, baby Bunting"
	Sheet music
Nursery rhyme
Published	1784
Songwriter(s)	Unknown
	Audio sample; Play (help·info)

"Bye, baby Bunting" (Roud 11018) is a popular English-language nursery rhyme and lullaby.

Lyrics and Melody[]

The most common modern version is:

Bye, baby Bunting,

Daddy's gone a-hunting,

Gone to get a rabbit skin

To wrap the baby Bunting in.^[1]

When matched to the melody:

$\relative c' { \time 3/4 e2. | d2 f4 | e2. | d2. | e2 e4 | d2 f4 | e2. | c2 c4 | e2. | d2 f4 | e2. | d2. | e2 e4 | d2 f4 | e2. | c2 r4 \bar "|." } \addlyrics { Bye, ba- by Bun- ting, Dad- dy's gone a- hunt- ing, - Gone-to get a rabbit skin To-wrap the ba- by Bunting in. }$

Origins[]

The expression bunting is a term of endearment that may also imply 'plump'.^[1] A version of the rhyme was published in 1731 in England.^[2] A version in Songs for the Nursery 1805 had the longer lyrics:

Bye, baby Bunting,

Father's gone a-hunting,

Mother's gone a-milking,

Sister's gone a-silking,

Brother's gone to buy a skin

To wrap the baby Bunting in.^[1]

In popular culture[]

The dystopian novel Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley contains the adapted form "Bye baby Banting, soon you'll need decanting". ("Streptocock-Gee to Banbury T", a reference to "Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross", is also mentioned.)

Notes[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 63.
^ "The Gentleman's Magazine (London, England)". 1731.

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[opie1997-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 63.

[2] "The Gentleman's Magazine (London, England)". 1731.

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