Fill in the blanks with your favorite foods or other items. You can make a pizza Aiken Drum, a fruit Aiken Drum, or even a hardware version. Imagination is the key to this inventive song. If you prefer not to sing, recite the song as a poem.
I use felt pieces of fruit and make Aiken Drum on a flannelboard as I sing the song. Children and adults are fascinated by the process, and more than one teacher has asked if they can “steal” the idea. Steal? It’s free for the taking!
Aiken Drum
There was a man lived in the moon,
Lived in the moon, lived in the moon.
There was a man lived in the moon,
And his name was Aiken Drum.
Chorus:
And he played upon a ladle, a ladle, a ladle,
And he played upon a ladle,
And his name was Aiken Drum.
And his eyes they were two ___________________
His eyes they were two ______________________
And his name was Aiken Drum.
(Chorus)
And his nose it was a _______________________
His nose it was a __________________________
And his name was Aiken Drum.
(Chorus)
And his cheeks they were two _________________
His cheeks they were two ____________________
And his name was Aiken Drum.
(Chorus)
And his mouth it was a _______________________
His mouth it was a __________________________
And his name was Aiken Drum.
(Chorus)
And his face it was a ________________________
His face it was a ___________________________
And his name was Aiken Drum.
(Chorus)
And his hair it was __________________________
His hair it was _____________________________
And his name was Aiken Drum.
(Chorus)
Now wasn’t he a funny man,
funny man, a funny man,
Now wasn’t he a funny man
And his name was Aiken Drum.
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This nonsense song may or may not be related to the story Aiken Drum. In the story, a brownie helps people do their work, with the stipulation that they never give him any new clothes. The people worry about the little man and finally someone gives him something new and he leaves, never to be seen again.
The two go together well as a story and song set, and the song allows for participation through singing, and putting the felt pieces on the board.
Sources for the poem:
http://www.bladnoch.co.uk/aikendrumpoem.htm
Online text: Celtic Folklore: Welsh And Manxby by John Rhys [1901]
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/cfwm/cf109.htm
“The Brownie of Blednoch” by William Nicholson, originally published in The Dumfries Magazine in October 1825. Online information about the author and the poem can be found at http://www.dumfries-and-galloway.co.uk/people/nicholson.htm
Forsyth, Anne. Aiken Drum: A Story in Scots for Young Readers (A Black and White Book) . Scottish Children's Press; June 1995. ISBN: 1899827005
Story Books: Maroon Group: Aiken Drum the Brownie. James Nisbet & Co Ltd. No date given. ASIN: 0720206278
Source for the melody: www.contemplator.com/folk4/aikendrm.html
