Traditional Halloween Songs and Rhymes

Now that my niece and nephews are getting older, I've found that traditional songs are some of the best at getting them to sing along and have a blast. The following songs invoke the harvest season as well as Halloween and are easily memorized.

01. Hey-How for Halloween (A Scottish rhyme)

Hey-how for Hallowe'en!

A' the witches tae be seen,

Some are black, an' some green,

Hey-how for Hallwe'en.

02. Old Witch, Old Witch

I first heard this song when I was in elementary school. It is a long-established American doggerel.

Chicken my chicken my creamy crow,

I went to the well to wash my toe,

When I got there the water was low,

What time is it, Old Witch, Old Witch?

What time is it Old Witch?

Old Witch, Old Witch, she lives in a ditch,

And combs her hair with a hickory switch.

She lives on nails and snails and flies

And if you go near she'll wobble her eyes,

Oh, she'll wobble her eyes, Oh, she'll wobble her eyes.

Chicken my chicken my creamy cran,

I went to the well to wash my hand,

When I got there the water was sand,

What time is it, Old Witch, Old Witch?

What time is it Old Witch?

Old Witch, Old Witch, she lives in a ditch,

And combs her hair with a hickory switch.

She's fat as a feather but tight in the middle

And when she talks she sounds like a fiddle.

Oh, she sound like a fiddle! Oh, she sound like a fiddle!

Chicken my chicken my creamy crase,

I went to the well to wash my face,

But, when I got there the water was lace,

What time is it, Old Witch, Old Witch?

What time is it Old Witch?

Old Witch, Old Witch, she lives in a ditch,

And combs her hair with a hickory switch.

She sleeps on a bed with straw and corn

And when she snores she sounds like a horn,

Oh, she sound like a horn! Oh, she sound like a horn!

Chicken my chicken my creamy cregs,

I went to the well to wash my legs,

And when I got there the water was dregs,

What time is it, Old Witch, Old Witch?

What time is it Old Witch?

Old Witch, Old Witch, she lives in a ditch,

And combs her hair with a hickory switch.

And as I said she's very fat

And when she walks she jumps like a cat,

Oh, she jumps like a cat! Oh, she jumps like a cat!

03. Soul-Cakers Song

Soul-caking is a long-running tradition in the British isles. Soul-cakers go to every house, singing either a begging song or a plea for prayers for the dead. They also perform what is known as a mummer's play for the residents.

Soul, soul, for a souling cake,

I pray, good missus, a souling cake.

Apple or pear, a plum or a cherry,

Any good thing to make us all merry.

04. A Charm to Grow More Apples

Apples are a staple of Halloween celebrations and this traditional apples howling rhyme from Surrey, England is a great way to celebrate the harvest of this delicious fruit.

Here stands a good apple tree!

Stand fast at root,

Bear well at top,

Every little twig

Bear an apple big;

Every little bough

Bear an apple now;

Hats full! Caps full!

Full quarter sacks full!

And my breeches pockets full!

Hey-hey! Hello!

05. Bonfire Verse

There are traditions from all over the UK and America where bonfires are used for divination like finding a future husband. Samhain, the Celtic fire festival from which our modern Halloween is derived, was one of the nights in Ireland when all hearths were extinguished and relit from the Samhain bonfire.

We want a twig, to make it alight

Hatchet and duckets,

beetles and wedges

If you don't give us some,

we'll pull down your hedges.

06. Guy Fawkes Verse

If you are English, or English-American, you may wish to commemorate Guy Fawkes Night. Here is a traditional verse from Britain to help you do just that.

Guy! Guy! Poke him in the eye!

Put him on the fire top and

there let him die.

07. Little Old Man of the Barn

A Scottish tune. I first read about Old Callum in Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth by Donald Alexander Mackenzie. The Little Old Man of the Barn was a fairy whom would help Old Callum with the threshing of the corn. Below is the more common known version followed by the one printed in Wonder Tales (which is now in public domain).

When the peat will turn grey and shadows fall deep

And weary Old Callum is snoring asleep...

The Little Old Man of the Barn

Will thresh with no light in the mouth of the night,

The Little Old Man of the Barn.

-----

When all the big lads will be hunting the deer,

And no one for helping old Callum comes near,

Oh, who will be busy at threshing his corn?

Who will come in the night and be going at morn?--

The Little Old Man of the Barn.

Yon Little Old Man--

So tight and so braw, he will bundle the straw,

The Little Old Man of the Barn.

When the peat will turn grey, and the shadows fall deep,

And weary old Callum is snoring asleep;

When yon plant by the door will keep fairies away,

And the horseshoe sets witches a-wandering till day,

The Little Old Man of the Barn,

Yon Little Old Man

Will thrash with no light in the mouth of the night--

The Little Old Man of the Barn.

* Sources: Some songs I already knew and some came from www.jackolanterns.net