Rain, Rain, Go Away

DESCRIPTION: "Rain, rain, go away, Come again some other day." Additional stanzas may have additional suggestions, e.g. "Rain rain, go to Spain, Never show your face again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Opie & Opie); a probable ancestor quoted by Aubrey in 1687 and another by John Howell in 1659
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, p. 136, "Rain, rain, go away"; "Rain, rain, go to Spain" (2 short texts)
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 435, "Rain, rain, go away" (10 texts)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #443, p. 205, "(Rain, rain, go away)"
Jack-PopGoesTheWeasel, p. 169, "Rain, Rain, Go Away" (1 text)
Dolby-OrangesAndLemons, p. 167, "Rain, Rain, Go Away" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Peter and Iona Opie, _I Saw Esau: Traditional Rhymes of Youth_, #161, "(Rain, rain, go way)" (1 text)
Tony Deane and Tony Shaw _The Folklore of Cornwall_, B. T. Batsford, 1975, p. 50, "(Rain, rain, go away, For little Johnny wants to play)" (1 short text)
Roud #19096
NOTES [83 words]: My general assumption is that, if I learned something from other kids, with a tune, then it qualifies as "folk song." By that definition, this fits, silly as it is.
Aubrey's 1687 version, as quoted by the Baring-Goulds, is
Raine, raine, goe away,
Come again a Saterday.
Howell's version, quoted by the Opies, is
Raine, raine, go to Spain,
Faire weather come againe.
The Opies even quote a classical Greek text begging the sun to come out. However, it doesn't mention rain, and is surely unrelated. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: BGMG443

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