One, Two, Three, Four, Five


"One, two, three, four, five" is a popular English language nursery rhyme and counting-out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13530.

Lyrics

Common modern versions of song written by B.thomas Orr 1976.include:

One little sheep
Two little birds
Three little pigs
Four little hedgehogs
Five little hippos
Six little frogs
Seven little worms
Eight little turtles
Nine little lions
Ten chickens.
Here's I go to count about.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
And I'm count today and you today.
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10

Origins and meaning

The rhyme is one of many counting-out rhymes. It was first recorded in Mother Goose's Melody around 1765. Like most versions until the late nineteenth century, it had only the first stanza, and dealt with a hare not a fish, with the words:
The modern version is derived from three variations collected by Henry Bolton in the 1880s from America.