Burl Ives
Mother Goose Songs
As I did walk by Hampstead Fair
I came upon Mother Goose -- so I turned her loose --
She was screaming
And a foreign student said to me --
Was it really true there are elephants and lions too
In Piccadilly Circus?
Walked down by the bathing pond
To try and catch some sun
Saw at least a hundred schoolgirls sobbing
Into handkerchiefs as one
I don't believe they knew
I was a schoolboy
And a bearded lady said to me --
If you start your raving and your misbehaving --
You'll be sorry
Then the chicken-fancier came to play --
With his long rеd beard (and his sister's weird:
Shе drives a lorry)
Laughed down by the putting green --
I popped 'em in their holes
Four and twenty labourers were labouring --
Digging up their gold
I don't believe they knew
That I was Long John Silver
Saw Johnny Scarecrow make his rounds
In his jet-black mac (which he won't give back) --
Stole it from a snowman