When that I was a little tiny boy
This song is in the epilogue of Shakespeare's Twelth Night and the tune is believed by most
authorities to be the traditional one to which it was sung in Shakespeare's day.
1. When that I was a little tiny boy,
With a heigh! ho!, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy.
For the rain it raineth ev'ry day,
With a heigh! ho! the wind and the rain
For the rain it raineth ev'ry day.
2. But when I came to man's estate,
With a heigh! ho! the wind and the rain,
'Gainst thieves and knaves men shut their gate,
For the rain it raineth ev'ry day.
With a heigh! ho! the wind and the rain
For the rain it raineth ev'ry day.
3. But when I came, alas! to wive,
With a heigh! ho! the wind and the rain,
By swaggering never could I thrive,
For the rain it raineth ev'ry day.
With a heigh! ho! the wind and the rain
For the rain it raineth ev'ry day.
4. A great while ago the world begun,
With a heigh! ho! the wind and the rain,
But that's all one, our play is done,
For the rain it raineth ev'ry day.
With a heigh! ho! the wind and the rain
For the rain it raineth ev'ry day.