The Baby's Opera
'Dance a Baby' by Walter Crane
Walter Crane was the second son of Thomas Crane, portrait painter and miniaturist. Early on in his career he came under the influence of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and was a student of John Ruskin.
In 1864 he began to illustrate a series of sixpenny books of nursery rhymes in three colours for the printer Edmund Evans. The Baby's Opera (Museum no. Misc 18-196) , a selection of popular nursery rhymes, songs and lullabies, was published in 1877 by George Routledge & Sons.
Each rhyme and song has the music included on each sheet. You will need to have
Acrobat Reader to download the sheets.
Baa Baa Black Sheep
'Baa! Baa! Black sheep, have you any wool?'
'Yes, marry, have I, three bags full...'
Three Blind Mice
Little Bo Peep
'Little Bo Peep, she lost her sheep
And didn't know where to find them...'
Hickory Dickory Dock
Ding Dong Bell
'Ding dong bell! Pussy's in the well!
Who put her in? Little Tommy Lin...'
Girls and boys come out to play
'Girls and boys come out to play.
The moon doth shine as bright as day...'
Hush-a-by Baby
'Hush-a-by baby on the tree top
When the wind blows the cradle will rock...'
Little Jack Horner
Jack and Jill
Old King Cole
Lavender's Blue
I had a little nut tree
'I had a little nut tree, nothing would it bear
But a silver nutmeg, and a golden pear...'
Here we go round the mulberry bush
'Here we go round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush...'
My Lady's Garden
'How does my lady's garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells...'
Oranges and lemons
'Oranges and lemons, says the bells of St. Clemen's
You owe me five farthings, says the bells of St. Martins...'
My Pretty Maid
'Where are you going to, my pretty maid?
I'm going a-milking, sir, she said...'
Puss at Court
Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?
'I've been to London to look at the Queen...'
Song of Sixpence
'Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie...'
