Wee Willie Winkie
1841 
Scotland Lyrics
Up stairs and down stairs in his night-gown,
Tapping at the window, crying at the lock,
Are the children in their bed, for it's past ten o'clock?
Hey, Willie Winkie, are you coming in?
The cat is singing purring sounds to the sleeping hen,
The dog's spread out on the floor, and doesn't give a cheep,
But here's a wakeful little boy who will not fall asleep!
Anything but sleep, you rogue! glowering like the moon,'
Rattling in an iron jug with an iron spoon,
Rumbling, tumbling round about, crowing like a cock,
Shrieking like I don't know what, waking sleeping folk.
Hey, Willie Winkie – the child's in a creel!
Wriggling from everyone's knee like an eel,
Tugging at the cat's ear, and confusing all her thrums
Hey, Willie Winkie – see, there he comes!"
Weary is the mother who has a dusty child,
A small short sturdy child, who can't run on his own,
Who always has a battle with sleep before he'll close an eye
But a kiss from his rosy lips gives strength anew to me.
History and Meaning
"Wee Willie Winkie" originated in Scotland and was written by Scottish poet William Miller (1810-1872), who is often referred to as "The Laureate of the Nursery" for his contributions to children's poetry. Miller's original version was written in Scots, a West Germanic language variety spoken in Scotland, and was first published in 1841 in the collection "Whistle-Binkie: Stories for the Fireside." An English translation, which is the version most commonly known today, was published in 1844. The rhyme features Wee Willie Winkie as a character who runs through the town in his nightgown, checking if children are in bed by ten o'clock, personifying sleep and serving as a gentle bedtime prompt. Despite his fame as a poet, Miller supported himself as a woodturner and cabinet maker, and died in poverty in 1872—a memorial to him was later erected in the Glasgow Necropolis.