Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song-Book 1744

The Nursery Rhyme:

Ladybird, ladybird fly away home,

Your house is on fire and your children are gone,
All except one, and her name is Ann,
And she hid under the baking pan.

A shorter, grimmer version concludes:

Your house is on fire,
Your children shall burn!

Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home, / Your horse is on foot, your children are gone;
All but one, and that's little John, / And he lies under the grindle stone.[4]

Blackwoods Magazine 1827

Lady-bird, Lady-bird, fly away home,

The field mouse is gone to her nest,
The daisies have shut up their sleepy red eyes
And the birds and the bees are at rest

Ann and John have religious significance and possibly serve as a warning to Catholics.

Another connects this to Our Lady (Mary mother of Christ) as she brought them to help
with plant-destroying insects.

Customs include reciting the rhyme before burning the fields for planting. Children blow
on the Ladybird and make a wish while chanting the rhyme.

Create a Venn diagram and compare this rhyme and Malouf’s Ladybird.

What themes are present in both? What themes are in Malouf’s that is not in this rhyme?

The rhyme was part of political propaganda in the 17th Century. Different versions have
been developed over time. Predict how Malouf’s poem could transform over time.
Compose a new version here: