One, Two, Three, Four, Five

"One, Two, Three, Four, Five" (also known as "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" or "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Once I Caught a Fish Alive" in other versions) is a nursery rhyme and counting-out rhyme.[1] It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13530.[2]

"One, Two, Three, Four, Five"
Nursery rhyme
Publishedc. 1765

Text and melody

A common modern version is:


\header { tagline = ##f }

\layout { indent = 0
  \context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } }

global = { \key f \major \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \autoBeamOff }

sopranoVoice = \relative c'' { \global
  a4 a g8 f f4 | c8 f a c c bes bes4 |
  bes bes8. bes16 a8 g g4 | f8 e d e g f f4 |
  a a8. a16 g8 f f8. f16 | c8 f a c c bes bes4 |
  bes bes8. bes16 a8 g g4 | f8 e16 e d8 e g f f4 \bar "|."
}
verseOne = \lyricmode { \set stanza = \markup \bold "1."
  One, two, three, four, five,
  Once I caught a fish a -- live.
  Six, se -- ven, eight, nine, ten,
  Then I let it go a -- gain. 
}
verseTwo = \lyricmode { \set stanza = \markup \bold "   2."
  Why did you let it go?
  Be -- cause he bit my fin -- ger so.
  Which fin -- ger did it bite?
  This lit -- tle fin -- ger on my right.
}

\score {
  \new Staff \with { midiInstrument = "vibraphone" }
  { \sopranoVoice }
  \addlyrics { \verseOne \verseTwo }
  \layout { }
  \midi { \tempo 4=100 }
}

One, two, three, four, five,
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?
Because he bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on my right.[3]

Origin

Illustration of the poem from the 1901 Book of Nursery Rhymes

This is one of many counting-out rhymes. It was first recorded in Mother Goose's Melody around 1765. Like most versions until the late 19th century, it had only the first stanza and dealt with a hare, not a fish, with the words:

One, two, three, four and five,
I caught a hare alive;
Six, seven, eight, nine and ten,
I let him go again.[1]

The modern version is derived from three variations collected by Henry Bolton in the 1880s from America.[1]

See also

Notes

  1. Iona and Peter Opie (1997) [1951]. The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 334–335.
  2. "Roud Number 13530". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.
  3. Lansky, Vicki (1 February 2009). Games Babies Play: From Birth to Twelve Months. Book Peddlers. p. 76. ISBN 9781931863650.
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