A well-loved singing game built around one worried refrain, waiting for Johnny to come home from the fair with a promised bunch of ribbons. The tripled lines and rocking rhythm make it a tune as much as a poem, and little ones join in on the repeats almost before they know the words.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the fair.
He promised he'd buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
He promised he'd buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
He promised he'd buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
To tie up my bonny brown hair.
About this rhyme
traditional song
This is a song more than a chant: the same worried line repeated three times before the answer comes on the fourth. Johnny is only late back from the fair, and the ribbons he promised were for tying up hair, a genuine treat rather than a rhyme filler. It has a tune of its own, so it's worth singing rather than reciting.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition