The street cry of the hot-cross-bun seller, complete with the going rate, one a penny, two a penny. Easy to clap along to, and still sung every Easter.
Sung. Three notes, the first tune most children ever learn to play.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
Hot-cross Buns!
Hot-cross Buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot-cross Buns!
Hot-cross Buns!
Hot-cross Buns!
If ye have no daughters,
Give them to your sons.
How it's usually said today
Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons,
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns!
Traditional rhymes have no single fixed text. The main version on this page is as printed in our source edition; this one is the wording most people say today.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition