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I Am a Little Beggar-Girl

I am a little beggar-girl, / My mother she is dead…

ChantsLong rope

I am a little beggar-girl,
My mother she is dead,
My father is a drunkard
And won’t give me no bread.
I look out of the window
To hear the organ play--
God bless my dear mother,
She gone far away.
Ding-dong the castle bells
Bless my poor mother--
Her coffin shall be black,
Six white angels at her back--
Two to watch and two to pray,
And two to carry her soul away.

Where this rhyme comes from

Printed
1916
Where
London

We have copied these words exactly as they were printed in 1916, spelling and all. The book marks it as a skipping rhyme.

Douglas: "Not a very cheerful rope-song, you'll say; but our girls love it; you can't think how it makes them laugh."

Source: Norman Douglas, London Street Games (London: The St. Catherine Press, 1916) (public domain).

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Tell me when your mother dies…