In 1805, the nursery rhyme To Market To Market was released. What an interesting subject to make a poem or song about…going to the market. Something that most of us do all the time. It has been a big hit with songs for kids and continues to thrive to this day. I am sure you have heard a young kid singing this tune. And if not, it may be because this poem has faded away in America like most nursery rhymes.
THE ACTUAL POEM
The lyrics go: “To Market to market, to buy a fat pig, home again, home again jiggety-jig. To market to market, to buy a fat hog, home again home again you Jiggety-jog. To market to market to buy a plum bun, home again home again, market is done.”
WHERE YOU WOULD HEAR THESE LYRICS?
You would be likely to hear of this rhyme in a preschool education setting. A lot of nursery rhyme books have this poem in them. You can check your local library for a book on nursery rhymes or even check the web.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS RHYME?
The meaning of this rhyme is pretty self explanatory. It is about shopping at the market and they are getting full. They are buying pork by the pound and they spare no expense when it comes to buying their pot roast. They go to the store all day long and then the store closes. Well, back then there weren’t as many stores so most went to the local market.
DO THE CHARACTERS HAVE ANY SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE?
The characters do not have any special significance in this poem. They are likely just ordinary people going to the market to buy food. They may have forgotten some items because of how often they return to the store. It almost makes you ask yourself if they went on all these shopping trips in one day or was this over a period of time? And is this where the piggies and the toes story stems from?
This poem is actually one of many that describes everyday activities and makes it fun for kids. Sometimes going to the market can be boring for children, but when they have a nursery rhyme to make it fun it came make all the difference. The next time you are at a grocery store with the little ones you should recite this poem just to get a smile out of them. I think that was one of the goals of the author. To make going to the market fun for kids so they could have something to relate their experience to. This poem is not going anywhere anytime soon!