Mary Had a Little Lamb✧
Four notes and a familiar friend. Find your footing with an easy first melody.
Sheet music
Tap a staff note or finger tab to hear it.
Opening
Answer
D whistle · D major · 4/4 · 110 BPM · + upper octave
Opening
Answer
Lyrics
Sarah Josepha Hale · Mary’s Lamb (1830)
The original poem, with modernized spelling and punctuation. In the familiar sung version, repeat “little lamb” twice in the opening phrase; later stanzas use the same pattern.
Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white as snow, And everywhere that Mary went The lamb was sure to go;
He followed her to school one day — That was against the rule, It made the children laugh and play To see a lamb at school.
And so the teacher turned him out, But still he lingered near, And waited patiently about, Till Mary did appear.
And then he ran to her and laid His head upon her arm, As if he said — “I’m not afraid — You’ll shield me from all harm.”
“What makes the lamb love Mary so,” The little children cry; “O, Mary loves the lamb, you know,” The teacher did reply,
“And you each gentle animal In confidence may bind, And make them follow at your call, If you are always kind.”
About this tune
Sarah Josepha Hale published Mary’s Lamb in 1830. Its story of a devoted lamb following a child to school became one of the best-known American nursery songs, with a musical setting associated with Lowell Mason.
The poem ends with a lesson in kindness to animals. The melody’s repeated notes and small steps give the story a direct, conversational feel.
Performances
Watch musicians play this tune on tin whistle. Keys and arrangements may differ from the tabs above.
Mary Had a Little Lamb — tin whistle demonstration
Kirsten Allstaff · Online Academy of Irish Music
Kirsten Allstaff demonstrates the familiar nursery tune in a beginner tin whistle lesson. Opens at the nursery-rhyme section.
Watch on YouTube — Mary Had a Little Lamb — tin whistle demonstration by Kirsten Allstaff · Online Academy of Irish Music (opens in a new tab) ↗