Hurrah for Mary
AKA
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb,
Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went,
Everywhere that Mary went, that lamb was sure to go.
Hurrah for Mary! Hurrah for the lamb!
Hurrah for the Union Boys who did not give a damn!
And everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
Mary had a little lamb... its foot was black as soot. And everywhere that lamb did go.... its sooty foot it put.
She brought the lamb to school one day... which was against the rules. And when the teacher kicked it out... it
pthhht all o'er the school.
Mary had a little lamb... her father shot it dead. She brought the lamb to school next day.... between two chunks of bread.
Mary had a little lamb.... the doctors were surprised. And Old McDonald had a farm... they couldn't believe their eyes.
Mary had a little bear... the bear was good and kind. And everywhere that Mary went... You'd see her bear behind.
Mary had a little lamb... its fleece was white as snow. And when she took it to the club... It dropped it hella low. (Beatboxing on the following chorus encouraged)
Mary had a little lamb... she also had a duck. She put them both upon her bed... TO SEE IF THEY'd fall off.
Mary had a little lamb... its fleece was white as snow. She also had a little RAM... About a gig or so.
Notes: From tirerim (in the context of whether it is "Union Boys" or "Fenian Boys"):
The story is a little unclear, as it often is with the folk process. 🙂 the original song (besides mary had a little lamb) was "battle cry of freedom", which was an extremely popular pro-union song published in 1862. like, the sheet music went platinum popular. the first written evidence of the parody is from 1867, but it didn't have the chorus, just verses of mary had a little lamb sung to the tune of battle cry of freedom, with "shouting the battle cry of freedom" as a refrain after every half verse
the current structure with a full chorus is probably a bit later, but i haven't seen any primary sources for how much later, and there are of course many different versions, including e.g. "soldiers" instead of "Fenian boys" or "Union boys", and other parts different as well
and the Fenians were already active in the 1860s, so who knows
This songbook is collected mainly for my personal use and the enjoyment of my friends.
If you are the author or copyright holder of this song and would like me to take it down, please just write to me at
songbook-at-waks-dot-org, and I will do so.
