# Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush

“Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” is an English singing game that James Orchard Halliwell recorded in 1849; a related action song was first printed with music in Boston around 1858, and the tune is the one Nancy Dawson danced to fame in mid-18th-century London.

## At a glance

| | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Sung in | English |
| Words by | Traditional |
| First known | 1849 (Halliwell, Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales); c. 1858 (first printing with music, as “Morning Song”) |
| Best for ages | 2–7 |
| Mood | dancing, playful, traditional |
| Page | https://littlesongbook.com/songs/here-we-go-round-the-mulberry-bush/ |

## Lyrics

### Verse 1 (en)

Here we go round the mulberry-bush,
—The mulberry-bush, the mulberry-bush:
Here we go round the mulberry-bush
On a sunshiny morning.

### Verse 2 (en)

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 hands,
We wash our hands, we wash our hands;
This is the way we wash our hands,
On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we dry our hands,
We dry our hands, we dry our hands;
This is the way we dry our hands,
On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we clap our hands,
We clap our hands, we clap our hands;
This is the way we clap our hands,
On a cold and frosty morning.

This is the way we warm our hands,
We warm our hands, we warm our hands;
This is the way we warm our hands,
On a cold and frosty morning.

### Verse 3 (en)

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.

We rub our hands to keep us warm,
Keep us warm,
Keep us warm;
We rub our hands to keep us warm,
On a cold and frosty morning.

We stamp up and down to keep us warm,
Keep us warm,
Keep us warm;
We stamp up and down to keep us warm,
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.

## How to sing it

1. Hold hands and walk around in a circle during the opening stanza.
2. Release hands for the later verses and mime washing, drying, clapping, and warming them.

## Common questions

**How old is “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”?**

James Orchard Halliwell printed it as a children's game in 1849, in Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales, with the closing line “On a sunshiny morning” and the note that a “bramble-bush” game was sung the same way on a “cold frosty morning”. The Morgan Library catalogues the first printing of words and music together as “Morning Song” in Asa Fitz's The Exercise Song Book (Boston, c. 1858) — a version that begins “This is the way we wash our face” and never mentions a mulberry bush. Dorothy Canfield Fisher's What Shall We Do Now? (1907) prints the familiar mulberry-bush opening.

**Where does the tune come from?**

It is the melody that the dancer Nancy Dawson made famous in The Beggar's Opera in mid-18th-century London; the same tune serves “Nuts in May” and “Lazy Mary, Will You Get Up”.

**Why are there different action verses?**

The song is a flexible action game. Halliwell's 1849 “motion-cries” were washing and drying clothes, making and mending shoes, and the way the gentlemen and the ladies walk; Nursie's Little Rhyme Book, an undated Augener picture book illustrated by H. Willebeek le Mair, lists washing, drying, clapping and warming the hands; other collections use weekday chores.

**Why are there three text panels?**

The first is Halliwell's 1849 text. The second expands the washing, drying, clapping and warming actions that Nursie's Little Rhyme Book abbreviates with “etc.”, so it can be sung straight through. The third preserves a supplied modern classroom sequence with rubbing hands and stamping; the repeated structure makes new routine verses easy to add.

## Sources

- [J. O. Halliwell, Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales (1849), Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35707)
- [Wikipedia — Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_We_Go_Round_the_Mulberry_Bush)
- [The Morgan Library & Museum — Asa Fitz, The Exercise Song Book (Boston, c. 1858)](https://www.themorgan.org/music-manuscripts-and-printed-music/113468)
- [Dorothy Canfield Fisher, What Shall We Do Now? (1907), Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31186)
- [Nursie’s Little Rhyme Book, illustrated by H. Willebeek le Mair (Augener, London; undated), Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59812)
- [National Literacy Trust, Words for Life — Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush](https://wordsforlife.org.uk/activities/here-we-go-round-the-mulberry-bush/)