Bye, baby Bunting facts for kids

Quick facts for kids "Bye, baby Bunting"
Sheet music
Nursery rhyme
Published	1784
Songwriter(s)	Unknown
Audio sample

"Bye, baby Bunting" is a very old and popular English nursery rhyme and lullaby. Many parents sing it to help their babies fall asleep. It's a gentle song that has been loved for hundreds of years.

What Are the Words and Music?

This rhyme has a simple, sweet melody. It is often sung softly to calm a baby. The most common words you hear today are:

Bye, baby Bunting,

Daddy's gone a-hunting,

Gone to get a rabbit skin

To wrap the baby Bunting in.

You can see how the words fit the music here:

<score %vorbis="1"%%T257066% lang="lilypond"> \relative c' { \time 3/4 e2. | d2 f4 | e2. | d2. | e2 e4 | d2 f4 | e2. | c2 c4 | e2. | d2 f4 | e2. | d2. | e2 e4 | d2 f4 | e2. | c2 r4 \bar "|." } \addlyrics { Bye, ba- by Bun- ting, Dad- dy's gone a- hunt- ing, - Gone-to get a rabbit skin To-wrap the ba- by Bunting in. }

</score>

Where Did This Song Come From?

The word "bunting" in the rhyme is a loving nickname for a child. It might also mean someone who is a bit plump or chubby.

One of the first times this rhyme was written down was in 1731 in England. This shows that the song is nearly 300 years old!

Later, in a book called Songs for the Nursery published in 1805, a longer version of the rhyme appeared. It included more family members going off to do different things:

Bye, baby Bunting,

Father's gone a-hunting,

Mother's gone a-milking,

Sister's gone a-silking,

Brother's gone to buy a skin

To wrap the baby Bunting in.

This longer version gives us a peek into what daily life might have been like for families long ago.