One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

"One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"
Roud #11284
Song
Written	England
Published	1805
Form	Nursery rhyme
Writer	Traditional
Language	English

"One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" is a popular English language nursery rhyme and counting-out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 11284.

Lyrics

A common version^[1]

One, two,

Buckle my shoe;

Three, four,

Open the door;

Five, six,

Pick up sticks;

Seven, eight,

Lay them straight:

Nine, ten,

A big, fat hen;

Eleven, twelve,

Dig and delve;

Thirteen, fourteen,

Maids a-courting;

Fifteen, sixteen,

Maids in the kitchen;

Seventeen, eighteen,

Maids a-waiting

Nineteen, twenty,

My plate's empty.

Other versions

Some sources give differing lyrics.^[2]

Origins and meaning

The rhyme is one of many counting-out rhymes. It was first recorded in Songs for the Nursery, published in London in 1805. This version differed beyond the number twelve, with the lyrics:

Thirteen, fourteen, draw the curtain,

Fifteen sixteen, the maid's in the kitchen,

Seventeen, eighteen, she's in waiting,

Nineteen, twenty, my stomach's empty.^[1]

A version published five years later in Gammer Gurton's Garland (1810) had the following different lines:

Three, four, Lay down lower ...

Eleven twelve, Who will delve...

Fifteen, sixteen, Maidsa-kissing...

Nineteen, twenty, My Belly's empty.^[1]

According to Henry Bolton, collector of counting rhymes in the 1880s, the rhyme was used in Wrentham, Massachusetts as early as 1780.^[1]

Notes

1. I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 333-4.
2. Elizabeth M. Knowles (1999). The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Oxford University Press. p. 550. ISBN 978-0-19-860173-9.