Go to Sleepy

We found a lullaby out of an old songbook of Taylor's grandfather called, "The Ditty Bag," compiled by Janet E. Tobitt. We sing it to Lillian and she loves it. Unfortunately the song has its roots in a pretty dark place:

From Wikipedia:

Another famous lullaby is "All the Pretty Little Horses" which many children simply know by the first three words of the lyrics: "Hush a bye". It was originally sung by an African American slave who could not take care of her baby because she was too busy taking care of her master's child. She would therefore sing this song to her master's child (Lacy 1986, p. 76). Originally, the lyrics were "birds and butterflies, peck at his eyes" but were changed to "birds and butterflies, flutter 'round his eyes" to make the lullaby less violent for younger children. Like "Summertime" this song is also played in natural minor.

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,

Go to sleepy little baby.

When you wake, you shall have cake,

And all the pretty little horses,

Blacks and bays, dapples and greys,

Go to sleepy little baby.

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,

Go to sleepy little baby,

When you wake, you shall have cake,

And all the pretty little horses.

Way down yonder, down in the meadow,

There's a poor little lamby.

The bees and the butterflies pickin' at its eyes,

The poor little thing cried mammy.

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,

Go to sleepy little baby.

When you wake, you shall have cake,

And all the pretty little horses.

Here are a few videos of folks singing our lullaby. The words in these and pasted above are slightly different than the one in the songbook we have, but it's close enough.

Odetta tries her hand at "All the Pretty Horses"

Patty Griffin and the Chieftains

Nick Cave's version

Calexico

Here's Mitchell Hunt's version on YouTube.

and Charlotte Church's version