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The Nursery Rhyme Origins
The rhyme originates from Scotland and possibly dates back to the 1715 Jacobite Rising. But who was Aiken Drum? He was possibly a mythical creature called a Brownie, who was generally benevolent but sometimes mischievous. A Brownie is a legendary kind of elf or fairy popular in folklore around Scotland and Northern England. In Scotland the most well-known individual brownie, was described in the poem "The Brounie o Blednoch" by William Nicholson, who goes by the name of Aiken Drum!

Aiken Drum

There was a man lived in the moon,
Lived in the moon, lived in the moon
There was a man lived in the moon,
And his name was Aiken Drum.

Chorus
And he played upon a ladle,
a ladle, a ladle
And he played upon a ladle,
and his name was Aiken Drum.

And his hat was made of good cream cheese,
of good cream cheese, of good cream cheese,
And his hat was made of good cream cheese
And his name was Aiken Drum.

Chorus

And his coat was made of good roast beef,
of good roast beef, of good roast beef,
And his coat was made of good roast beef,
And his name was Aiken Drum.

Chorus

And his buttons made of penny loaves,
of penny loaves, of penny loaves,
And his buttons made of penny loaves,
And his name was Aiken Drum.

Chorus

And his breeches made of haggis bags
of haggis bags, of haggis bags
And his breeches made of haggis bags,
and his name was Aiken Drum.

The words of the Nursery Rhyme and children's song, 'Aiken Drum ' have been suggested by Helen Layman. This tune first appeared as a nursery rhyme in Percy Society's Early English Poetry, Ballads, and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages (1841).

Our grateful thanks go to Helen Layman for
telling us about this song & rhyme

Thanks Helen!

Aiken Drum