Good Night, Sleep Tight

DESCRIPTION: "Good night, sleep tight, Don't let the bedbugs bite." Perhaps continues, "If they do, don't squall; Take a spoon and eat them all," or "And if they bight, Hold them tight, They'll not come back Another night"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Opei & Opie, I Saw Esau, first edition)
KEYWORDS: bug nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Sackett/Koch-KansasFolklore, p. 122, "(Good night)" (1 short text)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #595, p. 208 note 48, "(Good night, sleep tight)"
Brady-AllInAllIn, p. 19, "(Good night, sleep tight)" (1 text)
Peirce-KeepTheKettleBoiling, p. 45, "(Good night)" (1 text)
MidwestFolklore, W. L. McAtee, "Some Folklore of Grant County, Indiana, in the Nineties," Volume 1, Number 4 (WInter 1951), p. 260, "(Good Night! Sleep tight!)" (1 short text)
ADDITIONAL: Peter and Iona Opie, _I Saw Esau: Traditional Rhymes of Youth_, #168, "(Good night, sleep tight)" (1 text)
Roud #19322
NOTES [50 words]: The Baring-Goulds claim this as a parody of something that runs "Good night, Sleep tight, Wake up bright In the morning light To do what's right With all your might." All I can say is, I've heard the "bed bugs bite" version but never this alleged original, which sounds too feeble to be traditional. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: SaKo122G

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