Hot Cross Buns
| "Hot Cross Buns" Roud #13029 |
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| Written by | Traditional |
|---|---|
| Published | c. 1798 |
| Written | England |
| Language | English |
| Form | Nursery rhyme |
"Hot Cross Buns" is an English language nursery rhyme, Easter song and street cry referring to the spiced English bun associated with Good Friday known as a Hot Cross Bun. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13029.
Contents |
[edit] Lyrics
The most common modern version is:
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Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One ha' penny, two ha' penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons
One ha' penny,
Two ha' penny,
Hot Cross Buns![1]
[edit] Origins
The earliest record of the rhyme is in Christmas Box, published in London in 1798.[1] However, there are earlier references to the rhyme as a street cry, for example in Poor Robin's Almanack for 1733, which noted:
Good Friday come this month, the old woman runs
With one or two a penny hot cross buns.[1]
[edit] The tune
There are two versions. The simple version is played with the sequence A, G,F whilst the original uses the notes A, A,D, where the second A is one octave lower than the first. The version current in North Yorkshire has this tune:
