Three short rhymes in one: a jaunty counting song about a shrinking sixpence, the gentle Bye, Baby Bunting, and the cautionary tale of Tom, the piper's son, and his stolen pig. All three are staples of the nursery repertoire, with the kind of repetition young children pick up after one hearing.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
I love sixpence, a jolly, jolly sixpence,
I love sixpence as my life;
I spent a penny of it, I spent a penny of it,
I took a penny home to my wife.
Oh, my little fourpence, a jolly, jolly fourpence,
I love fourpence as my life;
I spent twopence of it, I spent twopence of it,
And I took twopence home to my wife.
BYE, BABY BUNTING
Bye, baby bunting,
Father's gone a-hunting,
Mother's gone a-milking,
Sister's gone a-silking,
And brother's gone to buy a skin
To wrap the baby bunting in.
TOM, TOM, THE PIPER'S SON
Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
Stole a pig, and away he run,
The pig was eat,
And Tom was beat,
And Tom ran crying down the street.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition