What a queer bird
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What a queer bird is a poem, possibly from the nineteenth century or before. However, it first can be found in print in 1922, rapidly disseminating across dozens of publications in the United States that year. Its origin is still unclear.
The words are as follows:
- What a queer bird, the frog are
- When he sit he stand (almost)
- When he walk he fly (almost)
- When he talk he cry (almost)
- He ain't got no sense, hardly
- He ain't got no tail, neither, hardly
- He sit on what he ain't got hardly
It is more likely an old folk poem or song, even sung as a round.[1][2]
For one older version, see a reference to it as an old poem.[3]
It appeared in the "Pleasantries" section of Christian Register in 1922, attributed to "a foreigner in a Chicago night school."[4] It also appeared in the American Consular Bulletin in 1922 with no attribution.[5]
An alternate version substitutes the word "wonderful" for "queer," and is attributed in multiple United States publications to "a young Norwegian in Chicago," allegedly printed in the Bulletin of the Chicago Board of Education.[6][7]
References
- ^ "The Frog Round: a Children's Folk Song sung as a Round". Music Files Ltd. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
- ^ Malinowski, Stephen. "Frog Round". Retrieved 2018-03-15.
- ^ Fisher-Davis, Eric and Elizabeth. "George Elmer Fisher (1864-1953)". Archived from the original on 2016-06-18. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
- ^ Christian Register, Sept. 28, 1922
- ^ American Consular Bulletin, May 1922
- ^ Cleveland Engineering, January 18, 1923
- ^ Nebraska Educational Journal, Vol. 2, Nov. 1922
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