The farmer in the dell - wikipedia The farmer in the dell For the 1936 American comedy film, see The Farmer in the Dell ( film ). `` The Farmer in the Dell '' Nursery rhyme Published 1492 Songwriter ( s ) Unknown `` The Farmer in the Dell '' is a singing game, nursery rhyme and children 's song. It probably originated in Germany, and was brought to North America by immigrants. From there it spread to many other nations and is popular in a number of languages. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6306. Contents 1 Lyrics 2 Origins and dissemination 2.1 Variations 3 Game 4 In popular culture 5 References Lyrics Lyrics vary even within the same country. The following is a common version in the United States : The farmer in the dell ( 2x ) Hi - ho, the dairy - o The farmer in the dell The farmer takes the wife ( 2 × ) Hi - ho, the derry - o... The farmer takes the wife The wife takes the child ( 2 × ) Hi - ho, the derry - o... The wife takes the child The child takes the nurse ( 2 × ) Hi - ho, the derry - o... The child takes the nurse The nurse takes the bull ( 2 × ) Hi - ho, the derry - o... The nurse takes the bull The bull takes the cow ( 2x ) Hi - ho, the derry - o... The bull takes the cow The cow takes the dog ( 2 × ) Hi - ho, the derry - o... The cow takes the dog The dog takes the cat ( 2 × ) Hi - ho, the derry - o... The dog takes the cat The cat takes the mouse ( or rat ) ( 2 × ) Hi - ho, the derry - o... The cat takes the mouse ( or rat ) The mouse ( or rat ) takes the cheese ( 2 × ) Hi - ho, the derry - o... The mouse ( or rat ) takes the cheese The cheese stands alone ( 2 × ) Hi - ho, the derry - o... The cheese stands alone The UK variant has the nurse and the dog, it ends by patting the dog. Origins and dissemination The rhyme is first recorded in Germany in 1826, as `` Es fuhr ein Bau'r ins Holz, '' and was more clearly a courtship game with a farmer choosing a wife, then in turn the selecting of a child, maid, and serving man, who leaves the maid after kissing. This was probably taken to North America by German immigrants, where it next surfaced in New York City in 1883 much in its modern form and using a melody similar to `` A Hunting We Will Go ''. From here it seems to have been adopted throughout the United States, Canada ( noted from 1893 ), the Netherlands ( 1894 ) and Great Britain ; it is first found in Scotland in 1898 and England from 1909. In the early twentieth century it was evident as wide as France ( `` Le fermier dans son pré '' ), Sweden ( `` En bonde i vår by '' ), Australia, and South Africa. A dell is a wooded valley. In the Dutch language, the word deel means, among other things, the workspace in a farmer 's barn. The use of dell in this song may be a bastardisation of this term. Variations Like most children 's songs, there are geographic variations. In the United Kingdom the first line is frequently changed to `` The Farmer 's in his den ''. The rhyme progresses through the farmer being in the dell / his den, his desire for a wife, hers for a child, its for a nurse, a dog, ending with a bone, ending in : `` we all pat the bone ''. Every player then pats the one picked as the bone. The ' Hi - Ho, the derry - o ' is variously replaced with `` Ee - i, tiddly - i '' in London, ' Ee - i, adio ', ' Ee - i, andio ' or ' Ee - i, entio ', ( in Northern England ), and ' Ee - i, ee - i ' ( for instance in the West Country ). The Romanian language version is `` Țăranul e pe câmp '' ( The farmer is on the field ) but the hey - o is replaced with `` Ura, drăguţa mea '' ( Hooray, my sweet heart ) and the last verses are -- the child has a nurse, the nurse has a cat, the cat catches a mouse, the mouse eats a cheese, the cheese was in a cask, the cask is in the garbage, the farmer to choose. There is also a Thai version to the same tune but with a slightly different story. The three verses roughly translate to `` Why does the frog have a stomach ache ? Why does the frog have a stomach ache ? Because he has been eating wet rice. Why is the rice wet ? Why is the rice wet ? Because it has been raining. Why has it been raining ? Why has it been raining ? Because the frog has been croaking. '' The song was published as an illustrated children 's book by David R. Godine, Publisher in 2004. Game The players form a circle holding hands around one who is designated as the farmer, singing the first verse while moving around. When the verse is over they stop and the farmer makes his choice of a wife ( sometimes without looking ). The wife joins him in the center for her verse and so through the verses until either the cheese or dog is selected or only one person is left to become the last character. They usually become the farmer for the next round. In popular culture This section indiscriminately collects miscellaneous information. Please compress this material to remove any irrelevant or unimportant information. ( March 2017 ) The book I Am the Cheese revolves around this rhyme. In the television show The Wire Omar Little commonly whistles `` The Farmer in the Dell ''. This has inspired references in other series : In season 8, episode 8 of How I Met Your Mother, Lily Aldrin whistles the tune during a flashback to her being intimidating in high school. In season 1, episode 11 of The Magicians, The Beast whistles the tune before going on a rampage. The cyborg villain Tenaya 7 on Power Rangers RPM whistles `` A-Hunting We Will Go '', which has the same melody, when she is hunting her enemies. References ^ Jump up to : I. Opie and P. Opie, The Singing Game ( Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1985 ), pp. 183 - 9. Jump up ^ William Wells Newell ( 1883 ). William Wells Newell, ed. Games and songs of American children, collected and compared by W.W. Newell. Harper and Brothers. pp. 129 -- 30. Retrieved 2 August 2012. Children 's literature portal Nursery rhymes ( list ) `` A-Tisket, A-Tasket '' `` Aiken Drum '' `` Baa, Baa, Black Sheep '' `` Did You Ever See a Lassie ? '' `` Hey Diddle Diddle '' `` Hickory Dickory Dock '' `` Hot Cross Buns '' `` Humpty Dumpty '' `` I 'm a Little Teapot '' `` It 's Raining, It 's Pouring '' `` Jack and Jill '' `` Little Bo - Peep '' `` Little Boy Blue '' `` Little Jack Horner '' `` Little Miss Muffet '' `` Mary Had a Little Lamb '' `` Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary '' `` Old King Cole '' `` Old MacDonald Had a Farm '' `` Old Mother Hubbard '' `` Peter Piper '' `` Polly Put the Kettle On '' `` Poor Mary '' `` Pop Goes the Weasel '' `` Pussy Cat Pussy Cat '' `` Rain Rain Go Away '' `` Roses Are Red '' `` Rub - a-dub - dub '' `` Simple Simon '' `` Sing a Song of Sixpence '' `` Sticks and Stones '' `` The Grand Old Duke of York '' `` The Queen of Hearts '' `` There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe '' `` Three Little Kittens '' `` Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star '' Clapping `` A Sailor Went to Sea '' `` Down Down Baby '' `` Mary Mack '' `` Miss Susie '' `` Miss Lucy '' `` Pat - a-cake '' `` Pretty Little Dutch Girl '' `` Pease Porridge Hot '' `` Stella Ella Ola '' Counting `` Duck, duck, goose '' `` Eeny, meeny, miny, moe '' `` One, Two, Buckle My Shoe '' `` One, Two, Three, Four, Five '' `` This Old Man '' `` Tinker, Tailor '' Finger - plays `` Five Little Monkeys '' `` Five Little Ducks '' `` Five Little Speckled Frogs '' `` Itsy Bitsy Spider '' `` Little Robin Redbreast '' `` Round and Round the Garden '' `` This Little Piggy '' `` Two Little Dickie Birds '' Games `` London Bridge '' `` The Muffin Man '' `` Mulberry Bush '' `` Oranges and Lemons '' `` Ring a Ring o ' Roses '' `` The Farmer in the Dell '' Riddle `` As I was going to St Ives '' Lullabies `` Hush, Little Baby '' `` Rock - a-bye Baby '' Rounds `` Ding Dong Bell '' `` Frère Jacques '' `` Kookaburra '' `` Row, Row, Row Your Boat '' `` Scotland 's Burning '' `` Three Blind Mice '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Farmer_in_the_Dell&oldid=842571169 '' Categories : Songs about men Children 's songs Singing games Fictional farmers German nursery rhymes Roud Folk Song Index songs 1820 songs Songwriter unknown Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014 Articles with unsourced statements from March 2016 Articles with unsourced statements from December 2012 Articles with trivia sections from March 2017 All articles with trivia sections Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Norsk Svenska Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 23 May 2018, at 08 : 52. 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Question: what's a dell from farmer in the dell
Answer: a wooded valley