The famous 'fly away home' rhyme, warning the ladybird that her house is on fire and her children scattered, all but one hiding under a pudding pan. The tune is cheerful, but the words are worth a quick preview first.
Spoken as a charm, as the ladybird flies off your finger.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home!
Your house is on fire, your children all gone,
All but one, and her name is Ann,
And she crept under the pudding pan.
How it's usually said today
Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home,
Your house is on fire and your children all gone,
All except one, and her name is Ann,
And she hid under the frying pan.
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