The Farmer in the Dell

About this arrangement

The circle game, in 6/8 with two big beats to a bar. It starts on a pickup, “The”, on the G below middle C: the thumb plays it and then moves up to C for “farm-er”. After that the tune stays in C position, mostly repeated notes, climbing to E and then G, with one stretch to A on “the” in bar 5. “Dell” is held across the bar line with a tie, so count two big beats through it. The left hand plays one bass note and one chord in every bar, C all the way until G7 under “farmer in” in bar 7.

Practice tip: Count “one, two” in each bar and let “dell” ring on through the tie. The tune is almost all repeated notes, so keep the finger that repeats light and bouncy.

The words

The farmer in the dell, The farmer in the dell, Heighho, the derryo, the farmer in the dell.

A short history

The Farmer in the Dell is a singing game that German immigrants brought to America. The Opies trace it to “Es fuhr ein Bau’r ins Holz”, first recorded in Germany in 1826, in which a farmer chooses a wife, the wife a child, and so on round the circle. The English words were first collected in the United States by William Wells Newell for his Games and Songs of American Children (1883), and the game crossed back to Britain soon after.

The tune is the same in every version that has been written down, a simple chain of repeated notes that rises a step for each new line and comes to rest for “the cheese stands alone”. The final verse, in which the cheese is left on its own in the middle of the ring, is the whole point of the game.

Quick facts

Tune

Traditional (German, 1826; English words American, 1883)

Key

C major

Time signature

6/8

Length

8 bars and a pickup

Tempo

Bouncing, dotted crotchet = 66

Difficulty

Level 3: Notes below middle C (piece 85 of 201)

Type

Children's song

Hands

Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left

Copyright

Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use

Questions and answers