Cock a doodle doo facts for kids

"Cock a doodle doo" is a well-known English language nursery rhyme. It's a short, fun song that many children learn. Nursery rhymes are traditional poems or songs for young children. They often have simple words and a catchy rhythm.

What is "Cock a doodle doo"?

This rhyme is named after the sound a rooster makes when it crows. Roosters often crow early in the morning. The rhyme tells a little story about a family and their missing items.

The Main Lyrics

The most common version of the rhyme today goes like this:

Cock a doodle do!
My dame has lost her shoe,
My master's lost his fiddlestick,
And knows not what to do.

In this rhyme, "dame" means a lady or woman, and "master" means the man of the house. A "fiddlestick" is another name for a violin bow, which is used to play a fiddle (a type of violin).

Where Did the Rhyme Come From?

"Cock a doodle doo" is a very old rhyme. It first appeared in a book called Mother Goose's Melody. This book was published in London around the year 1765.

Later Versions and Extra Verses

By the middle of the 1800s, the rhyme was very popular. A person named James Orchard Halliwell collected many old rhymes. He found that "Cock a doodle doo" had grown to include three more verses. These extra verses might have been added later by different people.

Here are the additional verses that were collected:

Cock a doodle do!
What is my dame to do?
Till master's found his fiddlingstick,
She'll dance without her shoe.

Cock a doodle do!
My dame has found her shoe,
And master's found his fiddlingstick,
Sing cock a doodle do!

Cock a doodle do!
My dame will dance with you,
While master fiddles his fiddlingstick,
And knows not what to do.

These extra verses show how the story continues. The dame finds her shoe, and the master finds his fiddlestick. Then, they can dance and play music together!