> Tim Hart and Friends > Songs > Old MacDonald Had a Farm
The Farmyard / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
[
Roud 745
; Master title: The Farmyard
; Ballad Index R457
; GlosTrad
Roud 745
; Folkinfo 522
; Mudcat 78094
; trad.]
Maud Karpeles: Cecil Sharp’s Collection of English Folk Songs The Crystal Spring
Gid Tanner recorded Old MacDonald Had a Farm it Atlanta, Georgia on 31 October 1927. Originally issued on a 78rpm record, this was also included in 2015 on the Nehi anthology of British songs in the USA, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. Steve Roud noted:
One of the most widely known songs in the English language and still going strong in classrooms and children’s organisations the world over. As noted elsewhere in these notes, songs with animal noises often go back a long way and Old MacDonald is no exception. What is clearly an ancestor (and probably the original) is a song called A Charming Country Life written by Thomas D’Urfey for an English opera called The Kingdom of the Birds in 1706. There have been numerous versions down the years, including a Christy minstrel song and an army song in both world wars, and each was influential in its time. It is not clear quite why MacDonald comes into the picture, but the farm only gets his name in the early 20th century, and the reason why this particular version became the dominant one is that it was in fashion when sound recording was invented, and influential recordings fixed the song’s form, probably for ever.
Tim Hart, Maddy Prior and Melanie Harrold sang Old MacDonald Had a Farm in 1981 on Tim Hart and Friends’ album My Very Favourite Nursery Rhyme Record. This track was included in 1989 on their compilation CD Favourite Nursery Rhymes and Other Children’s Songs.
And Martin Carthy sang Old MacDonald Had a Farm in 1979 on the video 70 Golden Nursery Rhymes.
Jess and Richard Arrowsmith and friends sang Old MacDonald in 2014 on their second CD of nursery songs, rhyms and lullabies, Off We Go Again!.
Lyrics
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Oh Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
And on that farm he had some ducks
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
With a quack quack here
And a quack quack there
Here a quack there a quack
Everywhere a quack quack
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
And Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
And on that farm he had some cows
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
With a moo moo here
And a moo moo there
Here a moo there a moo
Everywhere a moo moo
A quack quack here
And a quack quack there
Here a quack there a quack
Everywhere a quack quack
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
And Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
And on that farm he had some sheep
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
With a baa baa here
And a baa baa there
Here a baa there a baa
Everywhere a baa baa
A moo moo here
And a moo moo there
Here a moo there a moo
Everywhere a moo moo
A quack quack here
And a quack quack there
Here a quack there a quack
Everywhere a quack quack
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
And Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
And on that farm he had some dogs
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
With a woof woof here
And a woof woof there
Here a woof there a woof
Everywhere a woof woof
A baa baa here
And a baa baa there
Here a baa there a baa
Everywhere a baa baa
A moo moo here
And a moo moo there
Here a moo there a moo
Everywhere a moo moo
A quack quack here
And a quack quack there
Here a quack there a quack
Everywhere a quack quack
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
And Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
And on that farm he had some donkeys
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
With a ee-aw here
And a ee-aw there
Here a ee there a aw
Everywhere a ee-aw
A woof woof here
And a woof woof there
Here a woof there a woof
Everywhere a woof woof
A baa baa here
And a baa baa there
Here a baa there a baa
Everywhere a baa baa
A moo moo here
And a moo moo there
Here a moo there a moo
Everywhere a moo moo
A quack quack here
And a quack quack there
Here a quack there a quack
Everywhere a quack quack
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee-i, ee-i, oh
Links
Donald E. Knuth: The Complexity of Songs