Rock-a-bye Baby

Rock a bye baby, in the treetop,

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,

And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Rock-a-bye, baby, thy cradle is green;

Father’s a nobleman, mother’s a queen;

And Betty’s a lady, and wears a gold ring;

And Johnny’s a drummer, and drums for the king.

Everyone has heard this lullaby, most likely sung to them by their parents or grandparents and the tune is familiar to many people. The first stanza is the most well known whilst the second is not as common. It’s a perfect rhyme to sing to any lucky (or unlucky as the case may be) child whilst you rock with them in your rocking chair. Or is it?

But where did this poem originate from? As an American poem, it is claimed by some to be the first poem written in America with it’s tune derived from the English ballad, “Lilliburlero”. It’s title was altered from “Hush-a-bye Baby” to “Rock-a-bye-Baby” possibly due to the events the poem mentions and the fact that rocking chairs and cradles were becoming more common.

There is evidence that the poems roots reach back as far as the 1600’s and was written by an early American pioneer who sailed on the Mayflower. It is believed that the first paragraph was written by this pioneer and the second is a later invention.

Ever wonder why the poor baby came tumbling down from the bough? Well I did and as a child I always had to be reassured that the baby made a safe landing and found the whole event quite enjoyable. (I was never quite convinced). Wikipedia mentions a few reasons for the falling baby.

1. The Mayflower pioneer is said to have written the poem whilst observing native-American mother’s hanging their children in birch-bark cradles from trees to allow the wind to gentle rock the baby to sleep. Unfortunately the supporting branches had a tendency to break, injuring the infant and thus the events in the poem.
2. The changing of the title from ‘hush’ to ‘rock’ was first recorded in 1805 and may be referring to to the Earl of Sandwich’s son who in 1706 was accidentally tossed without warning from his cradle into the Thames River and was never found. However I cannot find any evidence of this anywhere. Does anyone know which Earl of Sandwich it was because there was/is 11 of them!
3. Other sources say that the poem relates to a woman living in the late 1700’s in England who had a hollow bough cradle for her children.
4. A political meaning for the poem refers to the events that preceded the revolution during King James II of England’s reign. It’s said a baby was smuggled into the birthing chamber of King James II’s wife to insure a Catholic heir. The wind can be symbolic for William of Orange coming from the Netherlands to eventually dispose of King James II. The cradle is a metaphorical representation of the House of Stuart monarchy.

So there you have it. The somewhat murky origins of this lullaby. I guess it’s a personal choice whether you sing this lullaby to your child. The tune itself is worth humming as it’s soothing and will definitely send a child to sleep but the words are indeed thought provoking. Just don’t get me started on the lullaby “Ring a Round a Rosy”!

I wrote a similar essay on the poem here.