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Bye, Bye Bunting
Visual Interpretations
Playful “Rabbit” - Happy Father
Out for a Stroll - Rabbits Watching
Compressed Conflict - What Are Those Rabbits Thinking?
Back to the Hunt - Safe Rabbits
Rabbit Jammies - Smiling Baby
Textual/Historical Information
The noticeable difference between Halliwell
(1853) and Lang (1897) and all the other versions is the use of the
word "hare" in Halliwell and Lang as opposed the word "rabbit" in
most versions. Hare implies more of a game animal, making the killing
and skinning of it a bit more palatable, as opposed to rabbit, which
carries Easter and domestic pet connotations. An odd change noticed
in Baring-Gould, William and Cecil, is the opening line "Bee baw bunting"
as opposed to the usual "Bye Baby Bunting." This version also changes
the rabbit skin to a lamb's skin, which does not make sense on two
counts:
• One does not skin a lamb (thereby
killing it) as is implied with the line "to get a little lamb's
skin," one sheers a lamb
• nor would you go "a hunting"
for a lamb
Another version is unusual in that it includes
what the rest of the family is doing while "Father's gone a-hunting,"
telling the reader that:
Mother's gone a-milking,
Sister's gone a-silking,
Brother's gone to buy
a skin
To wrap the baby bunting
in.
http://www.epinions.com/otdr-review-3714-2F76A005-3A52AB6D-prod2 "Bye Baby Bunting, Dragon's Gone A'Hunting" Jan 02 '01
(Updated Jun 10 '02) The Bottom Line If
you're gonna kill it, you better plan on eating it!
Social/Political Issues
The focal point for the illustrations for this
rhyme is to skin or not to skin a rabbit. The sticking point being
that in order to wrap the baby in the rabbit skin, one must first
skin the cute bunny. Several squeamish or animal rights oriented illustrators
ignore that prominent aspect of the rhyme completely, while others
seem to revel in man's right to hunt and skin. Other things to look
for in examining the illustrations are: the setting (interior, exterior,
or none); hunting/hunter (present or absent); baby/child (present
or absent); rabbit skin (realistic, unrealistic, or none); live rabbits
(present or absent).
Textual Versions and Variants - A complete listing
of the versions and variants of this rhyme
Visual Versions and Variants -
A comparative listing of all associated within Eclipse
Rhyme Specific Bibliography
Keene, Day. Bye, Baby Bunting. London, UK: W. H. Allen, 1963
and New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.
McKie, Anne, Editor. Bye Baby Bunting and Other Rhymes.
Illustrated by Ken McKie. London, UK: Grandreams Limited, 1989.
Poston, Elizabeth. Bye Baby Bunting. Illustrated by William
Stobbs. London, UK: Bodley Hea, 1971.
Storey, Pam. Bye, Baby Bunting - and other Bedtime Lullabies. London,
UK: Grandreams Ltd, 1989.
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