See Saw Margery Daw
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See Saw Margery Daw is a nursery rhyme. Roud Folk Song Index 13028
- See Saw Margery Daw
- Johnny shall have a new master
- He shall earn but a penny a day
- Because he can't work any faster
As with many such rhymes, differing versions exist:
- See-Saw, Margery Daw,
- Jacky shall have a new master;
- And he shall have but a penny a day,
- Because he can't work any faster.
- See-saw, Margery Daw,
- Sold her bed and lay on straw;
- Was not she a dirty slut
- To sell her bed and lie in the dirt.
- See-saw, Margery Daw,
- The old hen flew over the malt house;
- She counted her chickens one by one,
- Still she missed the little white one,
- And this is it, this is it, this is it.
Margery was a name used in poor rural regions of 18th and 19th century England; and Daw meant an untidy person or a slut.
- The second line sometimes varies among Johnny, Jack, or Jackie
- The third line also varies but in general refers to the wages earned by Johnny or Jackie
