Animal Fair (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

4582) is a traditional

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

and

children's song A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studie ...

. It was sung by minstrels and sailors as early as 1898. The song was referred to in ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine in 1941 as a cadence of soft shoe

tap dancing Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its ow ...

Lyrics

The 1897 version has the following lyrics: :I went to the animal fair, :The birds and the beasts were there; :The little baboon by the light of the moon :Was combing his auburn hair. :The monkey he got drunk, :And sat on the elephant's trunk, :The elephant sneezed and fell on his knees :And that was the end of the monk. Other versions substituted "the old raccoon" (1914) for "the little raccoon", while modern recordings use "the big baboon". "The monkey he got drunk" is sometimes changed to "The monkey fell out of his bunk", "The monkey bumped the skunk", "You ought to have seen the monk" or "You should have seen the monk", "the monkey jumped and jumped". The ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series created by Sheryl Leach targeted at children ages two to five. The flagship production of the ''Barney'' franchise, it originally aired on PBS under the PBS Kids brand from Ap ...

'' and the

Captain Kangaroo ''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program ...

versions changed other lyrics as well. Some versions reverse the sentence about the baboon thus: by the light of the moon, the great baboon,...etc which makes no difference to the meaning and retains the rhyming couplet. Another alternative lyric concerning the monkey falling out of 'the bunk', is that the monkey 'slid down' the elephant's trunk... The song may be sung as a

round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere * Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number * Round number, ending with one or more zeroes * Round (crypt ...

with the last word "monkey, monkey" repeated until the song finishes or the group repeats.

Recordings

* Sung by

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

in ''

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'' (1943) * Recorded and sung by

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a singer, and an actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s. He was the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John Ritter, grandso ...

as part of ''Children's Songs and Stories'' (1948) * Captain Kangaroo with

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...

orchestra & The Sandpipers (1958) * Sung by Richard Dreyfuss's character Moses Wine to his sons in the film '' The Big Fix'' (1978) * Sung by

Larry Groce Larry Groce (born April 22, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and radio host. From 1983 until 2021, Groce served as the host and artistic director of '' Mountain Stage'', a two-hour live music radio program produced by West Virginia Publi ...

on ''

Disney Children's Favorite Songs 1 ''Disney's Children's Favorites, Volume 1'' is the first entry of the Disney's Children's Favorites series. The album contains 25 classic children's songs.CD liner notes Track listing #"This Old Man, This Old Man (Nick Nack Paddy Whack)" #"I've ...

'' in 1979 * Sung on

Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show ''The Elephant Show'' (from the second season onward, ''Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show'') is a Canadian preschool television show. It premiered on CBC on October 8, 1984, and ended on February 26, 1989, after 65 episodes over five seasons. ...

Sharon, Lois & Bram Sharon, Lois & Bram (also known as Sharon, Bram & Friends, Sharon & Bram or Sharon & Randi) are a Canadian children's music group founded in Toronto, Ontario, 1978. The group's original lineup consisted of Sharon (née Trostin) Hampson, L ...

(Season 4 - Pet Fair Episode - 1987) * Sung in

Kidsongs ''Kidsongs'' is an American children's media franchise that includes Kidsongs Music Video Stories on DVD and video, the Kidsongs TV series, CDs of children's songs, songbooks, sheet music, toys, and a merchandise website. It was created by produc ...

: A Day at Camp (1989) * Sung by

Laurie Berkner Laurie Berkner (born March 15, 1969) is a French-American musician and singer best known for her work as a children's musical artist and as a teacher. She plays guitar and sings lead vocals in The Laurie Berkner Band, along with pianist Susie ...

in 1997 * Used as Elmyra's theme in ''

Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...

'' * Sung in

episodes ''The Dentist Makes Me Smile'' (1993) and ''Barney's Super Singing Circus'' (2000) * Used in

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...

several times * Used in the ''Storybook Rhymes'' toys made by

Fisher-Price Fisher-Price, Inc. is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York, East Aurora, New York (state), New York. It was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression ...

. First performed by Kate Higgins as the narrator in the original 2006 release, then as Puppy in the 2013—onwards releases

References

{{authority control American folk songs English children's songs Songs about animals Traditional children's songs