Farmyard Song Explained

The "Farmyard Song" is a cumulative song about farm animals, originating in the British Isles and also known in North America.

It is known by various titles, such as:

• "I Bought Me a Cat"
• "The Green Tree"^[1]
• "The Barnyard Song"^{[2] [3]}

Summary

In the first verse, the narrator tells of buying or having a cat, horse or other animal, feeding them under a tree, and the call the animal makes. Each subsequent verse introduces a new animal, then repeats the calls of the animals from previous verses.

Versions

There were several versions known in the Thames Valley in the early part of the 20th century.^[4] A version collected in Bampton, Oxfordshire around 1916 began as follows:

Musicologists Loraine Wyman and Howard Brockway collected "The Barnyard Song" in Kentucky in 1916.^{[5] [2]} This version began,

Some American variants are not cumulative, but instead group all the animal calls together at the end of the song.^[3]

Adaptations and recordings

• Aaron Copland included the song as "I Bought Me a Cat" in his 1950 song cycle, Old American Songs (part I).
• "I Went to Market", The Watersons, Green Fields (1981)
• "My Cock Crew", Con Greaney, Traditional Singer (1991)
• "Fiddle I Dee," Kidsongs' Very Silly Songs (1991)
• "Bought Me a Cat", Barney & Friends, on the episode "Down on Barney's Farm" (1992)^[6]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Green Tree . 2016-03-18 . The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection . Missouri State University.
2. Book: Wyman. Loraine. Loraine Wyman. Brockway. Howard. Howard Brockway. Lonesome Tunes: Folk Songs from the Kentucky Mountains. 1916. H.W. Gray Company. 13.
3. Web site: Barnyard Song . 2016-03-18 . The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection . Missouri State University.
4. Web site: Song: Here's luck to all my cocks and hens . Wiltshire Community History . Wiltshire Council . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161022155402/http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getfolk.php?id=596 . 22 October 2016 . Internet Archive.
5. Book: Ralph Lee Smith. Madeline MacNeil. Folk Songs of Old Kentucky. 24 February 2011. Mel Bay Publications. 978-1-60974-264-5.
6. . 1 . 10 . Down on Barney's Farm . 1992 . The Lyons Group.