Bluebells, cockle-shells (Jennifer Bastable)

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• (Posted 2025-10-30)  CPDL #87266:       

Editor: Jennifer Bastable (submitted 2025-10-30).   Score information: Letter, 4 pages, 329 kB   Copyright: Personal

Edition notes:

General Information

Title: Bluebells, cockle-shells
Composer: Jennifer Bastable
Lyricist:
Number of voices: 4vv   Voicing: SATB
Genre: Secular, Partsong

Language: English
Instruments: A cappella

First published:
Description: Two playground rhymes, set for four voices. Led in by a short bass solo, the soprano, alto and bass sing the words of a short skipping rhyme (so short that in the playground it would often be combined with others into a longer verse). The tenor has the words of the traditional counting-rhyme for numbers one to ten, in a variant from North Yorkshire. This is a version from the children's playground, with characteristic substitution of everyday words for some of the number-names used in local adult versions.

Original text and translations

English text

Bluebells, cockle-shells,
eevy, ivy, over.

Yan, tean, tithera, mithera, mimph,
hitter, litter, over, dover, dik.