Some snippets of a children's song popped into my head recently, starting with "The Tottingham Toad went hopping down the road..."
So I googled around, and the internet is unanimous about the lyrics:
The Tottenham Toad came trotting down the roadWith his feet all swimming in the seaPretty little squirrel with your tail in curlThey’ve all got a wife but me.
Here's the weird part: the internet says that this is the whole song, but I clearly remember it has having three verses! I distinctly remember other lines from the song, and there is no record of them on the internet.
I remember the following lines:
- "The Wimbledon Whale he stood upon his tail"
- "The Canterbury Crow said 'Now I have to go'"
- "As he drank three cups of bread and tea"
- "It's so sad it fills me full of glee"
- "Lazy little lynx she just sits and winks"
And zero of these lines appear on the googleable (or duckduckgoable or bingable) internet!
I'm particularly confident about the "lynx" line because Child!Me had never heard of a lynx, so I wouldn't have made up or misremembered in the direction of something I'd never heard of. Wimbledon might be wrong, because Child!Me had heard of Wimbledon and therefore might have interpolated it into the lyrics.
Has any other human being in the world heard these verses, or are they completely lost to history?
10 comments:
I've never heard of this song -- from the title, I'd guess it's British/Canadian -- but I've had similar experiences. In one case, I did find the lyrics I remembered in print, in a book of children's nursery rhymes. IIRC, the Toronto Reference Library has a huge sheet music collection.
Unrelated but of note: I am still receiving your posts by email, months after Google/Blogger said that the service would end.
Here's a version with more verses.
http://www.ariver-runsthroughit.org.uk/events/singing-tottenham-toad-bruce-castle
https://flic.kr/p/uPdMGb
Here are some more lyrics, including The Wimbledon Whale.
The Birmingham Bat, he tipped his little hat,
With his elbow resting on his knee.
Lazy little lynx, she just sits and winks,
They've all got a wife but me.
The Wimbledon Whale, he stood upon his tail,
As he ate three cups of bread and tea.
Dimpled little dog, in her hollow log,
They've all got a wife but me.
The Canterbury Crow, said now I've got to go.
It's so sad, it fills me full of glee!
Friendly little fly, with her apron high,
They've all got a wife but me.
The Galloway Goat, he buttoned up his coat,
As he climbed the branches of a tree.
Busy little bird, she is feather'd, not furred.
They've all got a wife but me.
OMG, this is awesome! Thank you so much! (And I'm so glad I didn't hallucinate whole-ass Tottenham Toad verses!)
Do you know anything about what book that page is from? I don't think that's where I first heard of the song because I picture the Tottenham Toad as anthropomorphic. (He's totally wearing a top hat and monocle), but something about the, I don't know, font? Layout? General vibe? looks familiar.
Hi
The book was used in schools in Canada in the 60s. it is called Songtime 3 (maybe that was for grade 3?). Published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
The person who posted the page on Flickr is Katherine Sedgwick (her page says she is a journalist living in Queensborough Not).
I remember the song - we had neighbours who were British (I grew up in Scarborough) and I think I heard it from them).
Also Mr Toad from Wind in the Willows was sometimes depicted with a top hat and monocle. Could you be conflating the two toads?
I was able to google up the cover of Songtime 3 and it's not familiar, but the idea of Grade 3 rings a bell, and now I have the Tottenham Toad mentally linked to the smell of my Grade 3 classroom. (It was the only class I had in a portable, so it had a distinctive smell.)
So maybe I learned it in Grade 3!
Also, I think Tottenham may have made me think of Sir Topham Hatt, from Thomas the Tank Engine, who, of course, wore a top hat. And, obviously, if you're wearing a top hat you have to wear a monocle too!
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