“How Many Days Has My Baby to Play?”Lyrics

How many days has my baby to play?
Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday, Sunday, Monday.

Solomon Grundy poem was first recorded in 1842 by nursery rhyme and fairy-tale collector James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps. The song was translated in different languages including French, German or Italian. Being very easy to memorize, Solomon Grundy is used as a tool to teach kids the days of the week.

Solomon Grundy Poem Meaning

The song is telling the story of Solomon Grundy, a man who, metaphorically, lives and dies his entire life in one single week. Born on Monday, each day of the week he is growing older facing a different stage of his life, and his life ends on Saturday.

Solomon Grundy born on a Monday, became a character of urban legends and comics. To scare children who are not wise, it is said that Solomon Grundy will return on Monday, in a similar way to a bogeyman.

There are many suggestions that Solomon Grundy phonetically derived from the food with the same name which is a pickled fish pâté, with salad and eggs.

The word for the English dish comes from the Salmagundi, an ingredient used in Solomon Grundy, originally a Jamaican mix of meat and salad, adapted into French Cuisine around the 17th century and then English cuisine around the 18th century.

Solomon Grundy Nursery Rhyme Lyrics

Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Grew worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
That was the end,
Of Solomon Grundy.

Monday’s Child lyrics were first published in the second volume of “The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy” (1836) “Traditions, legends, superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire” (1838) by the British novelist Anna Eliza Bray.

Fortune-telling tradition is dating back to 1570’s England. The Sunday is missing in the song as that time it was referred to as Sabbath day. In the 1840s the song was included in James Orchard Halliwell’s book English Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales. In this version Sunday or Sabbath day was replaced with Christmas Day.

Each day’s prediction has varied over the years. For instance some superstitions considered Friday an unlucky day, while for Christians Good Friday is the commemoration of Jesus’s Crucifixion. Thus, the line “Wednesday’s child is full of woe” was once “Friday’s child is full of woe”.

However there are more than just one accepted versions of this nursery rhyme. Below are the lyrics of one of the most known versions sung today:

Monday’s Child Lyrics

Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay;

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush Origin and Game

Its exact origins are quite unclear. James Orchard Halliwell, who first published the song in the 1840s also refers to a similar singing game “Here we go round the bramble bush” that might be an old version of it.

“Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” is a very popular game with equivalent versions in Dutch and Scandinavian languages.

The game is very easy to play. At first everybody is holding the hands singing the first verse and moving around in a circle. When singing the next verse they have to stop and imitate the right actions, according to the lyrics.

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush Lyrics

Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we wash our face,
Wash our face,
Wash our face.
This is the way we wash our face
On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we comb our hair,
Comb our hair,
Comb our hair.
This is the way we comb our hair
On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth.
This is the way we brush our teeth
On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we put on our clothes,
Put on our clothes,
Put on our clothes.
This is the way we put on our clothes
On a cold and frosty morning.

Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a cold and frosty morning.

The last verse is often sung as:

This is the way we get dressed up, get dressed up, get dressed up,
This is the way we get dressed up, so early Sunday morning.

The structure of the rhyme allows for endless variation within the same framework, and as such lets children add their own everyday activities. It is also a good exercise for the little ones to remember the day of the week.