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There is an early recording of Old MacDonald Had a Farm by American Quartet (1924) and an Danish recording Eddie Russell: Jens Hansens Bondegård, Tono SP 4549, 1947. Holger Terp — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.93.254.222 ( talk) 17:15, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
Is it worth adding a note that the traditional way to sabotage this particularly repetitive (annoying) song is to suggest that Old MacDonald had a rabbit, which of course are silent... Graldensblud 23:12, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
Does anyone know if the "McDonald" (or McFarmer) was originally in reference to a real person? 68.40.65.164 ( talk) 01:48, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
Does anyone have more information than the "Ohio-i-o" bit already there? If not, could we have a more specific mention of any history? Sem boy ( talk) 06:40, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
Several years ago, an article in our local (Cincinnati, Ohio) newspaper covered how a Druid group had finally gotten permission to use Stonehenge for a change-of-seasons ritual (solstice or equinox, I forget which.) It included the fact that the high priest began the ritual by intoning "E....I...O..." Immediately I put together the Old McDonald "chant" with that being a Scottish (or other northern United Kingdom) name, and their ancient heritage of Druidism and farming. Does anyone have the resources to look into this further? Barb ( talk) 17:19, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
People I know from the Gikuyu tribe in Kenya have a very similar song. It is about Gikuyu, the founder of their tribe and his farm. Farming is key to their culture. I've been told this song goes way way back for them. They believe the song came to Europe when the Portuguese first arrived in Mombasa in 1477. Has anyone else heard anything else about this?
They sang it for me. Our "E-I-E-I-O" is their "E-KI-E-KI-O" and it had meaning in their tongue. It means "there was, there was, there was" I assume it translates something like "There was a farmer Gikuyu" Does anyone know any more about this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Edayoub ( talk • contribs) 01:27, 7 June 2014 (UTC)
The page says that the earliest known publication, 1917, listed the farmer's name as Macdougal.
The page also says that in 1925, the Sam Patterson Trio released a recording of the song under the title "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," and that this recording is the oldest version listed in The Traditional Ballad Index.
But nowhere on the page does it tell us from where the name "MacDonald" originates. Did the Sam Patterson Trio name the farmer "MacDonald," or did someone else grant the farmer this name sometime between 1917 and 1925?
And, while we're at it, does the Sam Patterson Trio recording say that Old MacDonald's farm is in Ohio, like the Tommy's Tunes version from 1917, or does the Sam Patterson Trio version instead say "ee, aye, ee, aye, oh," or does the Sam Patterson Trio version have yet some other sounds for that section of the rhyme/song? If the trio did use "ee, aye, ee, aye, oh," did that configuration originate with the Sam Patterson Trio, or did it originate sometime between 1917 and 1925, and if so, by whom. If the trio did not, then who did first use those sounds and when?
This page needs a lot more information. It tells us almost nothing about the origination of the modern version of the song.
allixpeeke (
talk) 23:48, 21 September 2016 (UTC)
This is only a recollection, but I once heard this song sung as "Old Mac-a-Derby had a little farm down on the O-I-O [Ohio?]" otherwise it was the same tune and animals / noises. Can anyone corroborate this version?
BletchleyPark (
talk) 09:11, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
What about the one variant from 2000 in the John Hayes for President commercial? -- TMProofreader ( talk) 19:03, 16 January 2020 (UTC)
There a Turkish version:
https://www.bethsnotesplus.com/2016/12/ali-babas-farm.html
And an Irish Gaelic one:
http://www.gsue.ie/naiacuteonaacutein-mhoacutera/feirm-seosamh-rua Seamasmac ( talk) 20:15, 15 January 2023 (UTC)
I'm curious as to why this page is protected 2600:8801:FB13:6B00:A808:3C74:E0B4:BD8 ( talk) 02:48, 14 October 2023 (UTC)
![]() | This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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There is an early recording of Old MacDonald Had a Farm by American Quartet (1924) and an Danish recording Eddie Russell: Jens Hansens Bondegård, Tono SP 4549, 1947. Holger Terp — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.93.254.222 ( talk) 17:15, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
Is it worth adding a note that the traditional way to sabotage this particularly repetitive (annoying) song is to suggest that Old MacDonald had a rabbit, which of course are silent... Graldensblud 23:12, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
Does anyone know if the "McDonald" (or McFarmer) was originally in reference to a real person? 68.40.65.164 ( talk) 01:48, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
Does anyone have more information than the "Ohio-i-o" bit already there? If not, could we have a more specific mention of any history? Sem boy ( talk) 06:40, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
Several years ago, an article in our local (Cincinnati, Ohio) newspaper covered how a Druid group had finally gotten permission to use Stonehenge for a change-of-seasons ritual (solstice or equinox, I forget which.) It included the fact that the high priest began the ritual by intoning "E....I...O..." Immediately I put together the Old McDonald "chant" with that being a Scottish (or other northern United Kingdom) name, and their ancient heritage of Druidism and farming. Does anyone have the resources to look into this further? Barb ( talk) 17:19, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
People I know from the Gikuyu tribe in Kenya have a very similar song. It is about Gikuyu, the founder of their tribe and his farm. Farming is key to their culture. I've been told this song goes way way back for them. They believe the song came to Europe when the Portuguese first arrived in Mombasa in 1477. Has anyone else heard anything else about this?
They sang it for me. Our "E-I-E-I-O" is their "E-KI-E-KI-O" and it had meaning in their tongue. It means "there was, there was, there was" I assume it translates something like "There was a farmer Gikuyu" Does anyone know any more about this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Edayoub ( talk • contribs) 01:27, 7 June 2014 (UTC)
The page says that the earliest known publication, 1917, listed the farmer's name as Macdougal.
The page also says that in 1925, the Sam Patterson Trio released a recording of the song under the title "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," and that this recording is the oldest version listed in The Traditional Ballad Index.
But nowhere on the page does it tell us from where the name "MacDonald" originates. Did the Sam Patterson Trio name the farmer "MacDonald," or did someone else grant the farmer this name sometime between 1917 and 1925?
And, while we're at it, does the Sam Patterson Trio recording say that Old MacDonald's farm is in Ohio, like the Tommy's Tunes version from 1917, or does the Sam Patterson Trio version instead say "ee, aye, ee, aye, oh," or does the Sam Patterson Trio version have yet some other sounds for that section of the rhyme/song? If the trio did use "ee, aye, ee, aye, oh," did that configuration originate with the Sam Patterson Trio, or did it originate sometime between 1917 and 1925, and if so, by whom. If the trio did not, then who did first use those sounds and when?
This page needs a lot more information. It tells us almost nothing about the origination of the modern version of the song.
allixpeeke (
talk) 23:48, 21 September 2016 (UTC)
This is only a recollection, but I once heard this song sung as "Old Mac-a-Derby had a little farm down on the O-I-O [Ohio?]" otherwise it was the same tune and animals / noises. Can anyone corroborate this version?
BletchleyPark (
talk) 09:11, 24 October 2016 (UTC)
What about the one variant from 2000 in the John Hayes for President commercial? -- TMProofreader ( talk) 19:03, 16 January 2020 (UTC)
There a Turkish version:
https://www.bethsnotesplus.com/2016/12/ali-babas-farm.html
And an Irish Gaelic one:
http://www.gsue.ie/naiacuteonaacutein-mhoacutera/feirm-seosamh-rua Seamasmac ( talk) 20:15, 15 January 2023 (UTC)
I'm curious as to why this page is protected 2600:8801:FB13:6B00:A808:3C74:E0B4:BD8 ( talk) 02:48, 14 October 2023 (UTC)