Lyrics
(English folk song)
Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead,
Hee-haw, buried and dead,
There grew an old apple-tree over his head,
Hee-haw, over his head.
The apples were ripe and ready to fall,
Hee-haw, ready to fall,
There came an old woman to gather them all,
Hee-haw, gather them all.
Oliver rose and he gave her a drop,
Hee-haw, gave her a drop,
Which made the old woman go hippety hop,
Hee-haw, hippety hop.
The saddle and bridle, they lie on the shelf,
Hee-haw, lie on the shelf,
If you want any more your can sing it yourself,
Hee-haw, sing it yourself.
YouTube
- PDF of the song with chords
- MIDI file of the melody
- MP3 file of the melody
My grandmother, who was born in Enid OK in 1899, and, presumably, brought a version of this song from there in 1910 to Washington State used to sing this to us. It started, “Poor Johnny is dead and he lies in his grave, lies in his grave, lies in his grave.” Does anyone have any idea when or where the variant may have originated?