All the Pretty Little Horses

This article is about the lullaby. For the album by Current 93, see All the Pretty Little Horses (album). For other articles with similar titles, see All the Pretty Horses (disambiguation).

"Hush-a-bye" redirects here. For a lullaby with the same line, see Rock-a-bye Baby.

"All the Pretty Little Horses" (also known as "Hush-a-bye") is a traditional American lullaby from the United States.

Origin

"The English and Scottish popular ballads" edited by Francis James Child. published 1884. a consolidation of folk songs 1600-1800 five volume set The origin of this song is not fully known. The song is commonly thought to be of African American origin, yet the tune is more easily identified as English or Scottish in origin.

The author Lyn Ellen Lacy is often quoted as the primary source for the theory that suggests the song was "originally sung by an African American slave who could not take care of her baby because she was too busy taking care of her master's child. She would sing this song to her master's child". However, Lacy's book Art and Design in Children's Books is not an authority on the heritage of traditional American folk songs, but rather a commentary on the art and design in children's literature. Still some versions of "All the Pretty Little Horses" contain added lyrics that make this theory a possibility.

One such version of All the Pretty Little Little is provided in Alan Lomax's book American Ballads and Folksongs, though he makes no claim of the song's African-American origins. "Way down yonder, In de medder, There's a po' lil lambie, De bees an' de butterflies, Peckin' out its eyes, De po' lil lambie cried, "Mammy!"" Another version contains the lyrics "Buzzards and flies, Picking out its eyes, Pore little baby crying". The theory would suggest that the lyrics "po' lil lambie cried, "Mammy"" is in reference to the slaves who were often separated from their own families in order to serve their owners. However, this verse is very different from the rest of the lullaby, suggesting that the verse may have been added later or has a different origin than the rest of the song. The verse also appears in the song "Ole Cow" and older versions of the song "Black Sheep, Black Sheep".

Meaning

The best-known versions of the song are written from the perspective of the mother or caretaker singing a baby to sleep. The singer is promising the child that when he or she awakes the child "shall have all the pretty little horses."

There is an extra verse that appears in some versions of the song. The added lyrics appear to be from the perspective of an African-American caretaker who is singing about how her own baby, her "lambie", is not being cared for due to her care of her charge. The origin of this verse cannot be known since the refrain also appears in the folksongs "Ole Cow" and "Black Sheep, Black Sheep".

Lyrics

Dorothy Scarborough, 1925

Hush-a-by, Don't you cry,

Go to sleep, little baby.

And when you wake,

You shall have a cake,

And all the pretty little ponies.

Paint and Bay,

Sorrel and gray,

All the pretty little ponies.

So hush-a-by, Don't you cry,

Go to sleep, little baby.

Additional verse (included in some versions)

Way down yonder

In de medder

There's a po' lil lambie,

De bees an' de butterflies

Peckin' out its eyes,

De po' lil lambie cried, "Mammy!"

Popular version

Hush-a-bye, Don't you cry

Go to sleep, you little baby

When you wake you shall have cake

All the pretty little horses

Black and bay, dapple and grey

Coach and six white horses

All the pretty little horses

Hush-a-bye, Don't you cry

Go to sleep, you little baby

When you wake you shall have cake

And all the pretty little horses

Black and bay, dapple and grey

Coach and six white horses

All the pretty little horses

Musical and literary adaptations

"All the Pretty Little Horses" has inspired a variety of recordings (both direct performances of the known lyrics and adaptations thereof). Some of the singers who have recorded adaptations of "All the Pretty Little Horses" include (but are not limited to):

• The Mystics "Hushabye"
• Víctor Jara and Quilapayún, 1968
• Barbara Dickson
• Alfred Deller, in the style of the Renaissance countertenor voice
• Late Night Alumni, The song name "Of birds and bees, butterflies etc" is a part of the lyrics of "All the Pretty Horses"
• Caroline Herring
• Calexico
• The Chieftains with Patty Griffin
• Coil, as "All the Pretty Little Horses", for their album Black Antlers
• Current 93, two versions as "All the Pretty Little Horses", for their 1996 album of the same name, one sung by Nick Cave. There's a third version, sung by Shirley Collins, on the compilation Calling for Vanished Faces
• Esther Ofarim
• Five Folk Songs for Soprano and Band, as part of a 1963 folk song suite by Bernard Gilmore
• Friends of Dean Martinez
• Grant Campbell for The Burrowers
• Tanya Goodman (singer) for Cedarmont Kids - Lullabies - All Night All Day
• Holly Cole, as "All the Pretty Little Horses", for her 1997 album Dark Dear Heart
• Joan Baez
• Jon Crosse, in his 1985 album Lullabies Go Jazz: Sweet Songs for Sweet Dreams, with Clare Fischer, Putter Smith, and Luis Conte
• The Journeymen on their 1963 album New Directions in Folk Music
• Judy Collins, for her 1990 album Baby's Bedtime
• Kenny Loggins, as "All the Pretty Little Ponies", for his 1994 album Return to Pooh Corner
• Kristin Hersh, as "Whole Heap of Little Horses", for her 1998 album Murder, Misery and Then Goodnight
• Laura Gibson, as "All the Pretty Horses", for her EP Six White Horses
• Laurie Berkner
• Sam Cahoon as "All the Pretty Little Horses", on his 2008 album The Dismal Stars and the Clouds Afar
• Olivia Newton-John
• Peter, Paul and Mary, as "Hush-A-Bye", for their 1963 album In the Wind
• Charlotte Church, "The Little Horses" on her album Enchantment released October 9, 2001.
• The New Christy Minstrels, on their album Live From Ledbetters, recorded live on April 10, 11 & 12, 1964, released in 1999.
• Hayley Westenra, on her album, Hushabye, which is dedicated to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby.
• Odetta, on her album At the Gate of Horn, released in 1957.
• Aaron Copland composed an arrangement of "The Little Horses" for voice and piano as the second set of Old American Songs (1952)

It has also inspired several pieces of literature, including Cormac McCarthy's award winning novel in 1992 (All the Pretty Horses), a young adult short story in the 1998 Here There Be Ghosts collection by Jane Yolen and David Wilgus, as well as Lisa Saport's 1999 children's picture book adaptation (All the Pretty Little Horses: A Traditional Lullaby). Additionally, it is sung by Viv in Ken Kesey's novel Sometimes a Great Notion.

Sources

• Engle, Robert B. Waltz and David G. The Ballad Index 2011 (accessed July 19, 2012)
• Lomax, John, and Alan Lomax. "All The Pretty Little Horses". New York City: Ludlow Music Inc., 1934.

External links

• Lyrics - National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, "Kids' Pages"
• "All the Pretty Horses" Text, Notes, song version and sing along version from the free project lullabiesoftheworld.org