Itsy Bitsy Spider
{{short description|Nursery rhyme}}
{{About|the nursery rhyme|other uses|Itsy Bitsy Spider (disambiguation)}}
File:Itsy Bitsy Spiter - English.webm]]
"The Itsy Bitsy Spider" (also known as "The Incey Wincey Spider" in Australia{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97265265|title=Watervale Notes|newspaper=The Northern Argus|location=Clare, South Australia|date=December 21, 1944|access-date=July 8, 2023|page=7|via=Trove}} or "Incy Wincy Spider" in the United Kingdom,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-incy-wincy-spider/zr4yt39|publisher=BBC School Radio|title=Nursery rhymes and songs: Incy wincy spider|access-date=July 8, 2023}} and other anglophone countries) is a popular nursery rhyme, folksong, and fingerplay that describes the adventures of a spider as it ascends, descends, and re-ascends the downspout or "waterspout" of a gutter system or open-air reservoir. It is usually accompanied by a sequence of gestures that mimic the words of the song. Its Roud Folk Song Index number is 11586.
Lyrics
A commonly used version uses these words and gestures:{{cite web|url=http://www.datsplat.com/words-to-the-itsy-bitsy-spider/|title=Words to The Itsy Bitsy Spider|website=www.datsplat.com}}
| Words | Fingerplay |
|---|---|
Down came the rain And washed the spider out. Out came the sun And dried up all the rain And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again. |style="padding-left:2em;"| Hold both hands up and wiggle the fingers as the hands are lowered. Sweep the hands from side to side. Raise both hands and sweep to the sides to form a semicircle as the sun. Wiggle fingers upwards. (As in the first line) |
Other versions exist.
Origin
While the exact origin for the song "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is unknown, a version recorded in 1909 in Indiana from a college commencement more closely resembles the most common modern version:{{cite book|title=Proceedings of the Convention of the Indiana Sanitary and Water Supply Association – Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Convention|chapter=Evening Session, Thursday, February 15, 1912|date=February 15, 1912|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=0e0TAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA8-PA137-IA136 105]}}
Went up a blooming spout
And down came the rain
And washed the spider out
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
But that bloody blooming son of a gun
Went up that spout again
The song can also be found in later publications including an alternative version in the book, Camp and Camino in Lower California (1910), where it is referred to as [the classic] "Spider Song".{{sfn|North|1910}}{{sfn|North|1910|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/campcaminoinlowe00nort#page/n343/mode/2up/ 279–280]}} It appears to be a different version of this song using "blooming, bloody" instead of "itsy bitsy". One of the song's several modern versions eventually appeared in Western Folklore, by the California Folklore Society (1948),Hansen, Marian. "Children's Rhymes Accompanied by Gestures," Vol. 7, No. 1, p. 53 Mike and Peggy Seeger's, American Folk Songs for Children (1948).[http://library.efdss.org/cgi-bin/query.cgi?index_roud=on&op=and&query=spider%20spout&start=1&output=Record&access=off Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Online search] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315223605/http://library.efdss.org/cgi-bin/query.cgi?index_roud=on&op=and&query=spider%20spout&start=1&output=Record&access=off |date=March 15, 2013 }}, retrieved August 19, 2010.
The song is sung by and for children in countless languages and cultures. It is similar to the melodies of the children's songs "Sweetly Sings the Donkey" in the United States, and "{{ill|Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer|de}}", "Ich bin ein kleiner Esel" (the German-language version of "Sweetly Sings the Donkey") and "{{ill|Spannenlanger Hansel|de}}" in German-speaking countries.
Score
\header { tagline = ##f }
\layout { indent = 0\cm \context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } }
global = { \key g \major \time 6/8 \partial 8 }
right = \relative g' { \global
d8 | g4 g8 g4 a8 | b4. b4 b8 | a4 g8 a4 b8 | g2. |
b4. b4 c8 | d4. d | c4 b8 c4 d8 b2. |
g4. g4 a8 | b4. b | a4 g8 a4 b8 | g4.
fis4 fis8 | g4 g8 g4 a8 | b4. b4 b8 | a4 g8 a4 b8 | g4. ~g4 \bar "|."
}
left = \relative g { \global
d'8 | g,4 r8 4 r8 | g4 r8 4 r8 | fis4 r8
g4 r8 d'4 c8 | b4 a8 g4. | fis4 r8
g4 r8 4 r8 | g4 r8 4 r8 | fis4 r8
r8 d'4 d8 | g,4 r8 b4 a8 | g8 b c d4 r8 | fis,4 r8
}
verse = \lyricmode {
The it -- sy bit -- sy spi -- der crawled up the wa -- ter spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spi -- der out!
Up came the sun and dried up all the rain.
And the it -- sy bit -- sy spi -- der went up the spout a -- gain.
}
kords = \chordmode { \set ChordNames.midiInstrument = "acoustic guitar (steel)"
\set chordChanges = ##t a,8 | g,2. | g,2. | d,2.:7 | g,2. |
\set chordChanges = ##f g,2. | d,2.:7 | \set chordChanges = ##t d,2.:7 | g,2. |
\set chordChanges = ##f g,2. | e,2.:m | \set chordChanges = ##t e,2.:m | g,2. |
g,2. | g,2. | d,2.:7 | g,4. ~g,4 \bar "|."
}
\score {
\new PianoStaff <<
\new ChordNames { \kords }
\new Staff = "right" \with { midiInstrument = "clarinet" }
\right
\addlyrics { \verse }
\new Staff = "left" \with { midiInstrument = "acoustic grand" }
{ \clef bass \left }
>>
\layout { }
\midi { \context { \ChordNames midiMaximumVolume = #0.8 }
\tempo 4.=112
}
}
Legacy
The British broadcaster Wincey Willis (1948–2024) took her name from the nursery rhyme. Born Florence Winsome Leighton, she went by her middle name, Winsome; but at infant school her classmates started calling her Wincey after the nursery rhyme, and she retained this name in adult life.{{cite news |last=Spencer-Elliott |first=Lydia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/wincey-willis-death-itv-b2772917.html |title=Wincey Willis death: ITV's first female weather forecaster dies aged 76 after dementia diagnosis |work=The Independent |date=19 June 2025 |access-date=22 June 2025 }}
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Notes
{{noteslist}}
= Sources =
- {{cite book|last=North|first=Arthur Walbridge|year=1910|title=Camp and Camino in Lower California|publisher=The Baker & Taylor Company|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/campcaminoinlowe00nort#page/n343/mode/2up/279–280 279–280] |ol=7019377M}}
{{Portal bar|Children's literature}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:American children's songs
Category:American nursery rhymes
Category:Articles containing video clips
Category:Early childhood education