One, Two, Three, Four, Five Explained

One, Two, Three, Four, Five
Type:	Nursery rhyme
Published:	1765

"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]

Text and melody

A common modern version is: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

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

• List of nursery rhymes

Notes and References

1. Book: Iona and Peter Opie. The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes. Oxford University Press. 1951. 2nd. 1997. 334–335.
2. Web site: Roud Number 13530. Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.
3. Book: Lansky, Vicki. Games Babies Play: From Birth to Twelve Months. Vicki Lansky. 2009-02-01. Book Peddlers. 9781931863650. 76.