Rock-a-bye Baby

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Rock-a-bye Baby is an American nursery rhyme, whose melody is a variant of the English satirical ballad Lilliburlero. Originally titled "Hushabye Baby," this nursery rhyme was said to be the first poem written on American Soil. Although there is no official date in which this song was written, it was said to have been written in the 1500s. It was rumoured that this rhyme was written by a young pilgrim who sailed to America on the Mayflower. During this trip, the young passenger was said to have observed the way Native American women rocked their babies in birch bark cradles, which were suspended from the high branches of a tree, allowing the wind to rock the baby to sleep. One source reports that Effie Crockett, a relative of Davy Crockett, wrote the lyrics in 1872 while babysitting a restless child.

The lyrics are:

Rock a bye baby on 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.

Baby is drowsing cozy and fair

Mother sits near in her rocking chair

Forward and back the cradle she swings

And though baby sleeps he hears what she sings

From the high rooftops down to the sea

No ones' as dear as baby to me

Wee little fingers, eyes wide and bright

Now sound asleep until morning light

The words in the first four lines are supposed to be from a Pilgrim boy in America. Lines 5-12 are a later invention.

Rock-a-bye Baby

See also