My Hat It Has Three Corners

DESCRIPTION: "My hat it has three corners, three corners has my hat. And if it has not three corners, it would not be my hat." Also sung in German. Sole verse may repeat with words left out, e.g. "My ---, it has three corners, three corners has my ---..."
AUTHOR: Words: unknown / Music: based on "The Carnival of Venice" by Paganini, itself from the Neapolitan folk tune "O Mamma, Mamma Cara" (source: Wikipedia)
EARLIEST DATE: 1970; the German lyric goes back to at least 1886 (Wikipedia). "The Carnival of Venice" is from 1829, according to Wikipedia
KEYWORDS: clothes foreignlanguage nonballad campsong
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, p. 212, "My Hat It Has Three Corners" (1 text, tune referenced)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 393, 395, 417, 515, "My Hat It Has Three Corners"/"My Hat" (notes only)

Roud #12783
RECORDINGS:
Deborah Paulukaitis, "My Hat It Has Three Corners" (Piotr-Archive #726, recorded 10/28/2023)
NOTES [33 words]: I find it hard to believe that this didn't go into the Index until version 6.3. But I guess it is more popular in schools (where I may have learned it) and camps than it is among folk collectors. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: ACSF393H

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.