Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow
Encyclopedia
Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow is a traditional British and American folk song, 1380 in the Roud Folk Song Index
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The tune normally used, goes by the name "Baltimore" and appears in Joshua Cushing's book "The Fifer's Companion" (1790). The sleevenotes to "The Wild Mountain Thyme" claim that the tune was written by John Playford (1650). According to Alice Bertha Gomme's book "The Traditional Games of England, Scotland and Ireland" (1894), this is a "play song", in which children perform actions with the song, standing in a ring. In "Notes and Queries" 7th series, number xii (c 1870) it is discussed, but the Columbia State University website claims that the earliest known version of the words is dated 1898 (Gomme).
The children's book character Spot the Dog
had spin-off albums. "Spot's Farmyard Animals" (date unknown) contains this song.
, Beans and Barley
, are common things to which people are allergic.
Roud Folk Song Index
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...
.
The tune normally used, goes by the name "Baltimore" and appears in Joshua Cushing's book "The Fifer's Companion" (1790). The sleevenotes to "The Wild Mountain Thyme" claim that the tune was written by John Playford (1650). According to Alice Bertha Gomme's book "The Traditional Games of England, Scotland and Ireland" (1894), this is a "play song", in which children perform actions with the song, standing in a ring. In "Notes and Queries" 7th series, number xii (c 1870) it is discussed, but the Columbia State University website claims that the earliest known version of the words is dated 1898 (Gomme).
Recordings
- Tim HartTim HartTim Hart was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Early years:...
and Maddy PriorMaddy PriorMaddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
on "Folk Songs of Olde England" Vol 2 (1968) - Roberts and BarrandRoberts and BarrandRoberts and Barrand is a musical group formed in 1969 by John Roberts and Tony Barrand while they were graduate students in psychology at Cornell University...
on "Mellow With Ale From the Horn" (1975) as "Oats and Beans and Barley Grows" - RaffiRaffi (musician)Raffi Cavoukian, CM, OBC , better known by his stage name Raffi, is a Canadian-Armenian singer-songwriter, author, essayist and lecturer...
on Baby BelugaBaby BelugaBaby Beluga is a music album by popular children's entertainer Raffi, released in 1980. The title track was inspired by a baby beluga that Raffi saw at the Vancouver Aquarium in Vancouver, BC and is considered by many to be his greatest hit....
as Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley 1980 - The Friends of Fiddler's GreenFriends of Fiddler's GreenFriends of Fiddler's Green is a Canadian folk music group based in Toronto. The original members of the group for its first recording, The Road to Mandalay, were Grit Laskin, Tam Kearney, Ian Robb, Laurence Stevenson, David Parry, and Jeff McClintock on keyboards...
This Side of the Ocean as Oats and Beans 1981 and 1997. The highest note is D, and the lowest note is G. The dynamic is soft, The part in this song that gets higher is mesure 5&6. - The Revels on "The Wild Mountain Thyme" (1994)
- Broadside Band on "Old English Nursery Rhymes" (1996)
The children's book character Spot the Dog
Spot the Dog
Spot the Dog is a series of children's books by Eric Hill, which were later made into a popular children's animation series, known as Spot, for BBC television by David McKee's King Rollo Films....
had spin-off albums. "Spot's Farmyard Animals" (date unknown) contains this song.
Published Versions
- Lucy BroadwoodLucy BroadwoodLucy Etheldred Broadwood was principally an English folksong collector and researcher during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As one of the founder members of the Folk-Song Society and Editor of the Folk Song Journal, she was one of the main influences of the English folk revival of that...
English County Songs - In Notes and QueriesNotes and QueriesNotes and Queries is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to "English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism". Its emphasis is on "the factual rather than the speculative"...
7th series, number xii (c 1870) - Hampshire Dance Tunes by Bob Shatwell & Paul Sartin (2007)
- The very first edition of the Journal of the EFDSS had an article on this song.
Allergies Nightmare
The song to some people is considered a nightmare, due to its contents, such as OatsOATS
OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...
, Beans and Barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
, are common things to which people are allergic.
External references
- Baltimore
- Gomme, Children's Games
- Music and lyrics
- Columbia State University
- Lyrics
- The British Library - Singing and dancing Audio recording of a variation of the song, Green Peas and Barley Grow, from 1961