This Is the Key of the Kingdom

DESCRIPTION: "This is the Key of the Kingdon: In that Kingdom is a city; In that city is a town; In that town there is a street" all leading to "A basket of sweet flowers. The game reverses: "Flower in a basket, basket on the bed... this is the key of the Kingdom"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1923 (de la Mare)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad flowers
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #664, pp. 264-265, "(This is the key of the kingdom)"
Delamar-ChildrensCountingOutRhymes, p. 157, "The Key to the Kingdom" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Katherine Briggs, _A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language_, Part A: Folk Narratives, 1970 (I use the 1971 Routledge paperback that combines volumes A.1 and A.2), volume A.2, p. 563, "This Is the Key of the Kingdom" (1 text)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #1=#483, "This Is the Key" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Got a Key to the Kingdom" (lyric)
File: CHit483

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