Girls and Boys Come Out To Play

Girls and Boys Come Out to Play is a nursery rhyme that was in existence at least by 1708. It appeared in the first extant collection of nursery rhymes, Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (1744).

Text

: Girls and boys, come out to play,: The moon doth shine as bright as day;: Leave your supper, and leave your sleep,: And come with your playfellows into the street.: Come with a whoop, come with a call,: Come with a good will or not at all.: Up the ladder and down the wall,: A halfpenny roll will serve us all.: You find milk, and I'll find flour,: And we'll have a pudding in half an hour. [James Orchard Halliwell, The nursery rhymes of England (London, 1846), p. 206. ( [http://books.google.com/books?id=7CkEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA203 at books.google.com] )]

History

The verse presumably goes back to the time when children were expected to work during the daylight hours, and play was reserved for late in the evening. [ [http://www.rhymes.org.uk/a114-boys-and-girls.htm Nursery Rhyme Lyrics and Origins.] ] The first two lines at least appeared in dance books (1708, 1719, 1728), satires (1709, 1725), and a political broadside (1711). The 1744 version included the first six lines. [William S. Baring-Gould and Ceil Baring-Gould, "The Annotated Mother Goose", p. 35.]

Other uses

Girls and Boys Come Out To Play is featured in the 1960s television series The Prisoner in the episodes The Girl Who Was Death and Once Upon a Time.fact|date=July 2008

References