A jaunty rhyme about a Piccadilly coachman driving off with a girl by the hand, built around a rolling 'oh!' refrain that's fun to belt out. The setting nods to old London street life.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
Up at Piccadilly, oh!
The coachman takes his stand,
And when he meets a pretty girl
He takes her by the hand;
Whip away forever, oh!
Drive away so clever, oh!
All the way to Bristol, oh!
He drives her four-in-hand.
About this rhyme
A bouncy driving rhyme, built for a knee ride: the coachman picks up his passenger at Piccadilly and drives her all the way to Bristol with a great show of speed and cleverness. There's no plot beyond the journey, just the rattle and bounce of it. Good for jogging a child on your knee in time with the beat.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition