Bye, Baby Bunting

Where it comes from

This little rhyme has been sung to babies for well over 200 years. An early version, “Bee baw bunting”, was in Gammer Gurton’s Garland, a collection of nursery rhymes first printed in about 1784. These words come from James Orchard Halliwell’s The Nursery Rhymes of England, a famous Victorian collection.

Over the years the skin has been a lamb’s, a hare’s and a rabbit’s. Today most people sing “Gone to get a rabbit skin”. It all means the same thing: something soft and warm to wrap the baby in.

There’s no one tune for it. Sing it to any gentle tune, or just say it softly with a rocking rhythm.

Old words

• bunting: an old pet name for a baby, perhaps meaning plump and cuddly. A bunting is also a small bird.
• a hunting: out hunting.
• hare: an animal like a big rabbit, with long ears and long legs.

How to sing it

• It’s short enough to sing while you swaddle or tuck in a blanket, finishing as the last corner goes in.
• Swap in another grown-up’s name for “Daddy” if you like.