A Dutch Lullaby

- In erery Dutch family in New York colonial times the grandpa or grandma trotted the little four-year-old to the song of Trip a trop a tronjes, De varkens in de boonjes, ' De koejes in de klaver, De paarden in de haver, De eenjes in de waterplass, So groot myn kleine was A free translation of the above is that to climb up to father's or mother's knee was for the child a little throne, upon which he might be as happy as were the pigs among the beans, the cows among the clover, the horses among the oats and the ducks splashing in the water. At the last line the singer is supposed to toss the ehild as high as he could reach, giving the real name in the blank left above in saying, "so great my little was." We flnd upon inquiry that this little eradle song was everywhere in use in the Dutch settlements from Albany to Long Island.