Ten Green Bottles

"Ten Green Bottles" is the nursery-sized version of "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer," same tune, fewer bottles, no beer. One falls each verse, "accidentally," until the wall is bare, which makes it a painless way to count backward from ten.

Origins

The song has roots in English folk culture. The earliest documented printed version of the lyrics appeared in 1927 when it was included in Volume II of The Oxford Song Book, where editor Thomas Wood noted it as a traditional North country song.

Folklorists have investigated several theories regarding the song's imagery. One popular theory suggests that the "green bottles" refer to early police officers of the Metropolitan Police, established in London in 1829. These officers, who wore blue coats, were sometimes called "green bottles" in slang, and the line "hanging on the wall" was interpreted as standing on duty. However, there is no contemporary evidence to prove this connection. Furthermore, a widely circulated rumor claiming the song appeared in a fourteenth-century manuscript is a confirmed hoax, and the rhyme has no verified medieval origins.

Meaning & Interpretation

The lyrics describe ten glass bottles hanging on a wall, falling down one by one until none remain. The melody is identical to that of the popular American song "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall." The children's version simplifies the theme and uses a smaller count of green bottles, making it an excellent classroom activity for early math lessons.

What is the origin of Ten Green Bottles?

The song is a traditional English folk tune. Its first major publication appeared in Volume II of The Oxford Song Book in 1927, where it was described as a traditional song from northern England.

Is there a fourteenth-century version of Ten Green Bottles?

No. The claim that the rhyme appeared in a fourteenth-century English manuscript with the spelling "Syxthene boetell gryne" is a verified modern hoax. The rhyme's earliest printed record dates to the early twentieth century.