hickety pickety
October 2nd, 2007
hickety pickety my black hen
she lays eggs for gentlemen
gentlemen come everyday
to see what my black hen doth lay.
This is the first of a series I hope to do. Obviously it’s based on the nursery rhyme “Hickety Pickety.” Though I recently discovered that there are two more lines: Sometimes nine, Sometimes ten; Hickety Pickety my black hen. So I guess some eggs are in order. I’ve always liked nursery rhymes, but now that I say it, it sounds strange. My mother would read to me all the time when I was little–from the big, black and white checked Mother Goose book. And because my sisters are much older they had babies when I was the perfect babysitting age and so I read to my nieces and nephews from the same book. And then came high school and college and cigarettes and boys and I forgot completely. But having kids made me remember how lovely those short, little verses can be. They aren’t as intricately constructed as Lewis Carroll’s books and poems, though he did have his way with some (queen of hearts, tweedledum & dee), but the language is still silly and bizarre. And they haven’t been boobified by disney like the fairy tales and really they couldn’t be–some are strangely violent. They are an odd mix of drinking songs and counting rhymes passed down orally. Which I think is fantastic.Jack Sprat and his wife are in the works, but as of this moment are headless.
I keep surfing by your entry in the tags of wordpress, meaning to stop and tell you how much I adore Hickety Pickety and I haven’t yet. So today I HAD to do it, because frankly, I simply ADORE Hickety Pickety! She has so much personality. I keep waiting for her to turn to me and say something. I can’t wait to see how the rest of your works turn out.
[…] call for a bird’s eye view of worktables. Jack Sprat and his round wife that I mentioned before are there waiting to be finished. As is a little clutch from this tutorial (if you were my […]
fabulous softie! i love it.
This is really wonderful! I made up a tune to sing this rhyme for my sons and it’s one of their favorite things to hear before going to bed. Thanks for this great evocation of HP.
I like the proportions of the body to everything else. Great idea.
Ok, is there a possibility that you might do a tutorial? My mom is in love with Roosters, and even though this is a Hen technically, maybe I could modify it a bit to make a cool rooster??? Looking forward to seeing the eggs too! Em
Love, love love her! The nest is fantastic! Love her wings, beak etc!
[…] swing! All of Jack’s friends came out to support him: his beloved pie backed him right away, Hickety Pickety thought him a fine gentlemen, Jack Sprat wouldn’t think of voting for anyone else, and his […]
She is just adorable!!! And thanks, I never knew the rest of that poem :)
[…] October 2, 2007 I moved to a new site and you can now find this post at http://www.elsiemarley.com/hickety-pickety.html […]
can you tell me what does it mean,hickety,picket?thanks.İt sounds wonderful