One, Two, Three, Four, Five

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For the Lou Bega song whose lyrics begin "One, two, three, four, five", see Mambo No. 5.
"One, two, three, four, five"
Nursery rhyme
Publishedc. 1765

"One, two, three, four, five" is a popular English language nursery rhyme and counting-out rhyme.[1] It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13530.

Lyrics[]

Common modern versions include:

One, two, three, four, five,
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Then I let it go again.
Why did I let it go,
Because he bit my finger so!
Which finger did he bite?
This little finger on my right![2]

Origins and meaning[]

Illustration of the poem from the 1901 Book of Nursery Rhymes

The rhyme is one of many counting-out rhymes. It was first recorded in Mother Goose's Melody around 1765. Like most versions until the late nineteenth century, it had only the first stanza, and dealt with a hare not a fish, with the words:

One, two, three, Four and five,
I caught a hare alive;
Six, seven, eight, Nine and ten,
I let him go again.[1]

The modern version is derived from three variations collected by Henry Bolton in the 1880s from America.[1]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b c I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 334-5.
  2. ^ Lansky, Vicki (2009-02-01). Games Babies Play: From Birth to Twelve Months. Book Peddlers. p. 76. ISBN 9781931863650.

See also[]

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