# Sing a Song of Sixpence

"Sing a Song of Sixpence" is an English nursery rhyme in print by about 1744, whose pie full of live blackbirds recalls a real Tudor banquet trick; its hidden-meaning theories are unproven.

## At a glance

| | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Sung in | English |
| Words by | Traditional |
| First known | c. 1744 |
| Best for ages | 2–7 |
| Mood | playful, traditional |
| Page | https://littlesongbook.com/songs/sing-a-song-of-sixpence/ |

## Lyrics

### Verse 1 (en)

Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?

### Verse 2 (en)

The king was in his counting house counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!

## Common questions

**Were pies really filled with live birds?**

Yes — as a spectacle, not a meal. A 16th-century entertainment involved baking a pie crust and slipping live birds inside so they flew out when it was cut open. An Italian cookbook of 1549 (in English by 1598) even gives a recipe "to make pies so that birds may be alive in them and fly out when it is cut up". The rhyme remembers that party trick.

**How old is the rhyme?**

The earliest known printing is from about 1744, in "Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book", though echoes of the line appear in plays as early as the 1600s.

**Does "Sing a Song of Sixpence" have a hidden meaning?**

Many have been proposed — from Reformation politics to the number of hours in a day — but as the Oxford scholars note, none has any supporting evidence. It is best enjoyed as a bright, slightly absurd little story.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — Sing a Song of Sixpence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sing_a_Song_of_Sixpence)
- https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3278172