Did you know the nursery rhyme 'Lavender Blue' is almost 350 years old, if not older?
The earliest surviving version dates to between1672 and 1679, when it was known as Diddle Diddle, Or The Kind Country Lovers.
And since then it has caught the imagination of many, and has been recorded by many artists including Sammy Turner, while Benjamin Britten popped a version in his opera The Turn of The Screw.
It even reached the dizzy heights of Hollywood, when a version was even nominated for an Oscar after it featured in Walt Disney film So Dear to My Heart, where it was sung by Burl Ives.
'Lavender Blue' lyrics
Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green, When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen: Who told you so, dilly dilly, who told you so? 'Twas mine own heart, dilly dilly, that told me so.
Call up your men, dilly dilly, set them to work, Some with a rake, dilly dilly, some with a fork; Some to make hay, dilly dilly, some to thresh corn, Whilst you and I, dilly dilly, keep ourselves warm.
If you should die, dilly dilly, as it may hap, You shall be buried, dilly dilly, under the tap; Who told you so, dilly dilly, pray tell me why? That you might drink, dilly dilly, when you are dry.
Main image © Walter Crane, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons