A short, warm verse about spotting a mother coming home from market, a sack of meal on her back and a baby tucked in her basket. Simple enough for the youngest listeners.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
Saw ye aught of my love a-coming from the market?
A peck of meal upon her back,
A babby in her basket;
Saw ye aught of my love a-coming from the market?
About this rhyme
Text is a single repeated question with descriptive lines woven through it; no scripted reply appears in the rhyme.
This one is a question set to a tune, sung over and over like a refrain. The picture it paints is homely: a woman back from market, a peck of meal on her back, a baby riding in the basket. Ask the question yourself, and let your child answer with what she's carrying.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition