There is a little song called `The Chickens They Are Crowing’.
It is an English Folk Song gathered by Cecil Sharp who collected this song in
the Appalachian mountain during his travels between 1916 and 1918. The
inhabitants of the mountains were the English, Scots and Irish who arrived with
few possessions – but they brought their traditional songs.
Eleven plus parents want their children to grow up quickly
and be as mature and `ready’ as possible on the day of the examinations. An eleven plus child sometimes seems to hover
between being a child and a thinking young adult. Parents, however, should not
wish for too much too soon as this little folk song reminds us. As far as we
know `The Chickens They Are Crowing’ was a true English folk song.
The chickens they are crowing, a crowing, a crowing,
The chickens they are a-crowing, for it is almost daylight.
My mother she will scold me, will scold me, will scold me,
My mother she will scold me for staying away all night.
My father he’ll uphold me, uphold me, uphold me,
My father he’ll uphold me and say I`ve done just right.
I won’t go home till morning, till morning, till morning,
I won’t go home till morning and I’ll stay with the girls
all night.
The chickens they are crowing, a crowing, a crowing,
The chickens they are a-crowing, for it is almost daylight.
The whole eleven plus story may be there – mother worrying,
father saying the equivalent of: `Boys will be boys’. The candidate
remaining focused on anything other than work.
“Good luck girls. Don’t stay out too late. Think of your
mother and father. Be good and work hard!”
