Episode 36: Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow

In Episode 36 of the "A Tisket-Tasket Podcast," host Gina embarks on an intriguing journey to uncover the mysteries surrounding the nursery rhyme, "Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow." Despite its widespread popularity, the rhyme's origins prove to be elusive, leaving Gina with more questions than answers. She explores the catchy lyrics that teach children about essential agricultural practices and staple crops like oats, peas, beans, and barley. While the rhyme's history remains uncertain, its enduring relevance and educational value continue to captivate audiences. Stay tuned for more fascinating nursery rhyme explorations in future episodes. Learn how to support the podcast and get me out to Portland to speak at the AFS conference in November! #NurseryRhymes #OatsPeasBeansBarleyGrow #HistoryOfRhymes #AgriculturalPractices #TaskPodcast

Transcript

  📍   Hello, and welcome to episode number 36 of  task podcast. I'm your host, Gina. And today we are going to be talking about the nursery rhyme. Oats peas beans in barley grow. But first, just a reminder, please check out my website at task@podcast.com. Lincoln the description to see how you can help me get out to Portland, Oregon, November 1st through the fourth, this year to speak at the American folklore conference. Oh my goodness. It is coming up quickly and I am not ready, but I sure am excited. Also on the website, you can see my blog, where I keep by reference lists and sometimes illustrations based on the nursery rhyme. As well as a bunch of other interesting information about my episodes. So please check that out. 

 Bye.

 Today we are talking about the nursery rhyme, oats, peas, beans, and barley grow. And I got to tell you, it was a really difficult one to research, even though it was one that I heard of before. And it took me quite a while to dig up some audio recordings, but I did. And it took me even longer to dig up the history of this nursery rhyme. I just realized I made a farming based pun there, and I totally did not mean to. But what I can tell you right now is that oats, peas, beans in barley growths. Has a route folk song index number of 1,380. 

What I found most interesting when I was researching, this was how little really is out there about this nursery rhyme. Compared to how prevalent it is as far as how often I found it an audio version. When I was researching, I really just found the following. And this appears on a website called N academia.com, which is. Not what I would consider a super academic source, but is really the best source I have. It doesn't appear in opiate ops, the Oxford English dictionary of nursery rhymes, which is surprising because it is a. British from the UK nursery rhyme. So here's what I have about it says the two normally used for oats, peas, beans, and barley grow.  It goes by the name of Baltimore and appears in Joshua Cushing's book, the Pfeiffer's companion 1790, which I did find evidence for. The sleeve notes to the wild mountain time. Another book. Claim that the tune was written by John Playford, 1650. Now I am going to try to see if I can find more here because I have talked about John Playford before. And I referenced. John Playford's the dancing master, which appeared. In, I think the late 16th century that early. And when I talk about John Playford here, I'm assuming it's not one person, but it's the name the author or editors went by and we've talked about like different Johns. We I've talked about different Johns in  nursery rhyme research or different names. 

That mean different occupations. And so what I'm assuming here is that John Playford is the pseudonym of an editor or whatnot who. Worked on these pamphlets that would have dancing instructions and a usually like sheet music for a piano or whatnot. And so It very well could have appeared in John Playford's, the dancing manuals or the dancing masters. From around the mid 17th century, but I have not found  firsthand evidence of this. The website goes on to say that according to Alice Bertha, Gum. In the traditional games of England, Scotland and Ireland published in 1894. This is a place song in which children perform actions with the song standing in a ring. Now, whenever I went to go look in gums book. Which you could find free on project Gutenberg, which is a really awesome site. I could not find it anywhere. It's like this. It's like this nursery room doesn't exist is so strange. 

In notes and queries seventh century number seven, published 1870, no authors. Given it it is discussed, but the Columbia state university website claims that the earliest known versions of the words is dated. From 1898. And again, this is from gum, but. Again. Hi. Can not find any evidence about this. And so I posit it to you guys. If you want to do research and you want to contribute. In any way to this podcast, I encourage you to look and see because. Going back from what I've learned from researching nursery rhymes. It very well could have been an oral tradition song passed down. By what children new and that is. Planting staple crops, which are oats, peas, beans, and barley. And so it doesn't take much imagination at all to see that this is a nursery room that could have been passed down. And help children learn to staple agricultural crops that they were most likely eating. And it's specifically has a stanza, which I'll read here in a minute that invites children to play or dance. So it very well could have appeared in Playford's manual as a dancing game. 

The one thing that does appear frequently. Our lyrics to this, and it's really hard not to  sing it because it's just a catchy tune, but I will go ahead and play some recordings, but here are the lyrics of oats and beans and barley grow. oats and beans and barley grow oats and beans and barley grow. Do you or I, or anyone know how oats and beans and barley grow? First the farmer plants, the seeds stands up tall and takes this ease stamps or some in cases stabs his feet in collapses hand in turns around to view his land. Now these are actions to them, right? 

 There's a chorus to instruct listeners on how to play along. Oh, it's peace beans and barley grow peas, beans, and barley grow.  Can you or I, or anyone know how oats, peas, beans, and barley grow. Waiting for a partner waiting for a partner, opened the ring intake one in while we all gladly dance and sing. So to me, it sounds like what you'd hear like a traditional square dance. Where the caller or whoever is singing, I guess, or Or, or announcing the dance announces when to move. And we have seen through this. Podcast through John Playford that some of these earlier dances, the teach. Women or teach others how to dance. We'll instruct dancers on how to move. So for me, it does seem likely that this could come from a John Playford book, but again, I can't find it anywhere. But I do I do want to play. Two different audio versions for you. Today, the first one is from the Victor military band in Mari Hoffer from 1912 and it's victory records. It's great. It's a wonderful old. Military March of this nursery rhyme. So let's go ahead and listen to it now. 

 Ramblin Wreck from

Georgia

Tech

Ramblin Wreck from Georgia

Tech

Ramblin Wreck

from Georgia Tech

 And you can hear how the lyrics could very easily go along to the tune. The second one is an old favorite as far as me using on the podcasts in that his good old uncle Don. And he's just a happy fellow happy character. And this is from this is from 1944 through Sonora records. And this is uncle Don singing to you. Oh, it's peace beans and barley grow. 

 I like that one. Oh, say, do you know another one called Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow? Well, let's get all set for that one, then. We'll do that one next. Here we go. Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow. Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow. Can you, or I, or anyone know? Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow.

Waiting for a partner. Waiting for a partner. Open the ring and bring one in, while we gaily dance and sing. Here's the farmer sowing seeds. Thus he stands and takes his ease, Stabbing his foot and clapping his hands, Turns around and views his lands. Tra la la la la la, Tra la la la la la, Stabbing his foot and clapping his hands, He turns around and views his lands.



 And here we have the traditional. The lyrics as well as the chorus added in which I really think is a nice touch, but again, I can't find anywhere everyone. I can't. 

But. I guess. 

I mean, I guess the only thing I can really say is even if we look at the lyrics, it doesn't really give us more to go on. Sometimes when I researched this podcast, like I'll really fall down a rabbit hole where I'll like, look up agricultural practices of like the 16th century to see if that would. Can give me like a sign of where this originated. But the lyrics are so generic. Oats, peas, beans in barley are such staple. Grains are such staple they're I guess they're not all grains. But such staple crops that it's really hard to tell where geographically this came from. And when it came from. 

And the lyrics really talks about agricultural practices. So we know that it has to do with something sometime after basic agriculture, agricultural practices came into being because we have a farmer sowing. And standing. And the original lyrics says he stabs his foot. And what I'm assuming that means is that he stabs his Pitchfork down and he doesn't like stab his foot, like. In a gross. Horrific manner, but he stabbing his Pitchfork down into the ground and viewing his land.  He's talking about.  The nursery rhyme talks about sowing, watering, hoeing, and harvest. These are all like very generic, agricultural practicing terms. And therefore it doesn't give us a good idea of, like I said, geographic region or time. 

Now. A quick search. To gusta go into it. It's if you. Google. 

When barley and oats were a staple crop in the UK. You get a really, you get a lot of research, but one. Pieces of research. I found was a book called farm production in England, between 1,719 14. It's edited by M E Turner at all. And there's a chapter chapter, number five called barley and oats. And it's written by Turner and Beck Turner, Beckett and Afton. And the abstract says this chapter does for barley notes. What the previous chapter did for wheat spoiler alert, chapter four is about wheat. And it more or less reinforces that the new findings about the timing of agricultural revolution, but it also allows a wider appreciation of farm output to emerge based on proper measurements rather than estimates. And to bring the argument and added approach based on  productivity. Output is usually measured as green, proper acre, but this misses out on all the important input of seed or what we call the seeding rates. For which a new measure productivity based on output per unit or input can be assessed. This shows that not only were grain yields improving over time, but they improved at the same time as inputs were reduced. This reinforces both the timing of the agricultural revolution and also its magnitude in meeting the extra food needs of the parallel industrial and demographic revolutions. So. If you really. Want to be. Sherlock Holmes. You can read about industrial farming practices the seven from 1,719 14. And perhaps that might give a further insight. However. 

This researcher who does this on a weekly basis. Can't give more information than that. And I have to tell you. This is probably the most disappointed I've been. As far as what I found, because I've really did expect. To find more the history of it at least, or. A better understanding of it and it's. I don't know, I'm just sad this week, but  I wanted to do another episode based on harvest time, because it is September here and in the Northern hemisphere, it's a big harvest time. In which you might be sewing your oats, peas, beans, and barley. So, yeah, join me next week. We're all continuing to talk about. Fun and interesting nursery rhymes, hopefully another harvest theme one. And for the month of October, I'm trying to find spooky. Related nursery rhymes, but Halloween, because I have time to talk about on this episode because I don't have much information to give you. So how will ween Wasn't really practice as this huge cultural moment. Or movement until like 1950s, America. And this is me not going into like the Celtic and saw and practices of like ancient or antiquity. And so I don't know why I was surprised when I couldn't find nursery rhymes on Halloween. But like, when we thinking about these culturally cultural shifts, Halloween become like this huge booming. Capitalistic, if you want to be satirical about it. Movements until 1950s America, and which is a shame. Cause I love Halloween for a lot of different reasons. But on in the month of October, before I leave, I will be doing. Probably four nursery rhymes that have to do with maybe death or darkness. And there are a surprising amount of nursery rhymes that cover death. Because, as I've mentioned before on this podcast, death was much more. Part of life in culture than it really is in the modern era. And infant mortality rate was extraordinarily high. And so, as I've mentioned, nursery rhymes are based on what children are experiencing, what nurses are experiencing. With the family's experiencing. And if you're seeing that every day, Or I guess not every day, but if you're seeing this a lot in life, I, it kinda makes sense to me that yeah, there's. Probably a nursery or cradle rhyme about it. So that's, what's coming up on the podcast. I guess because I had time I could fill you in, but anyway, I hope you enjoyed this episode, even though it disappointed me. I hope it didn't disappoint. You. But at any case states you next week, or I'll continue to talk about  📍 the weirdness of nursery rhymes.