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Fingers

Two Little Dicky Birds

Good for:
Baby, Toddler
Tune:
None: say it in a sing-song voice

Two little blackbirds sitting on a wall One named Peter, one named Paul, Fly away Peter, fly away Paul, Come back Peter, come back Paul.

How to play

  1. “Two little blackbirds sitting on a wall” Hold up one finger on each hand, side by side in front of you, where your baby can see them. Give them a little wiggle.
  2. “One named Peter, one named Paul,” Wiggle one finger for Peter, then the other for Paul.
  3. “Fly away Peter, fly away Paul,” Flutter one hand away behind your back, then the other. Look surprised: where did they go?
  4. “Come back Peter, come back Paul.” Bring one hand back with its finger up, then the other, and wiggle them both.

Where it comes from

The oldest version we know of is in Mother Goose’s Melody, printed in London in about 1765. In that one, two blackbirds sit on a hill, and they’re called Jack and Gill.

Peter and Paul came later. In English Folk-Rhymes (1892), G. F. Northall describes the Peter and Paul version being played in the Midlands as a trick: a speck of paper was stuck on the nail of each forefinger, and each finger was flung over the shoulder and brought back as the middle finger, so the mark had vanished. These words come from a collection of old jingles in 75 British Nursery Rhymes (1904).

Today most people say “Two little dicky birds”. The oldest printings of the Peter and Paul version we could find say “blackbirds”, so that’s what’s written here. Say whichever you like: the rhyme works the same.

Old words

  • dicky bird: a nursery name for any small bird. As James Orchard Halliwell put it in 1849, children called all small birds Dick.

Tips

  • With a young baby, keep your hands close to their face and move slowly, so they can follow the birds.
  • Make Peter and Paul fly back from somewhere new: from behind your head, under your baby’s chin, or out of a sleeve.
  • Toddlers can join in with their own fingers. Let them choose the birds’ names.

Where these words come from

Public domain. A traditional English rhyme. A version with two blackbirds called Jack and Gill was printed in about 1765, and Peter and Paul were in print by 1892. Text from 75 British Nursery Rhymes (and a Collection of Old Jingles), with pianoforte accompaniment by Alfred Moffat, edited by Frank Kidson (London: Augener, 1904), page 64, as scanned by the Internet Archive. Original source

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