When I Was a Little Boy lyrics

When I was a little boy to London I did go,

But now I've turned a roguish blade,

my courage it will show.

My feet was on the table, my head was hanging down,

And I jumped over Kingston Hill

and never touched the ground,

My tooral laddy whack fol laddy tooral looral ling.

Oh, I bought myself a little bull about three inches high;

People all admired me, all for to hear him cry.

People all admired me, he made such an awful sound,

That he made the steeple of St Paul's Church

come a-tumbling to the ground,

My tooral laddy whack fol laddy tooral looral ling.

Oh, I bought myself a flock of sheep

and most of them were wethers;

Sometimes they brought me wool,

sometimes they brought me feathers.

They were as fine a flock, sir,

as anyone could possess,

For every month or six weeks

they brought me six lamb apiece,

With my tooral laddy whack fol laddy tooral looral ling.

Oh, I bought myself a little hen,

and of her I took great care;

I set her on a mussel shell, she hatched me out a hare.

The hare grew to a milk-white steed

about eighteen yard high,

And if anybody tell you a bigger story, I'll tell you it's a lie,

With my tooral laddy whack fol laddy tooral looral ling.

And I bought myself a little box about three acres square;

Stowed it in my breeches' pocket, guineas they were there.

People all admired me, thanked me for what I'd done,

And they gave me a portion of silver

and gold about ten thousand ton,

My tooral laddy whack fol laddy tooral looral ling.

• Artist:Martin Carthy