Mares eat oats,

[Love Bug]

and does eat oats,
but little lambs eat ivy.
A kid'll eat ivy, too,
wouldn't you?
Mares eat oats,
and does eat oats,
but little lambs eat ivy.
A kid'll eat ivy, too,
wouldn't you!

[Worst Username Ever]

1. My grandparents used to sing this to me when I was little.

I have no idea where it is from.

[Love Bug]

2. It's a novelty song from the 30s or 40s

[Richardo]

5. The spelling made it hard to understand until you saw the 'translation'...

Maresy Doats and Dosey Doats
and Little Lamsbsy Divey
A kiddley Divey too, wouldn't you? :D

Or something like that.

[asjr]

6. I can't remember who wrote it, but he said one day he heard his

daughter saying those words but they came out as Mairzy Doats and Dosy Doats and liddle ambs edivy, and that is the way he wrote it. Came out in 1946.

[qnr]

8. It's in my post below, btw n/t

[qnr]

3. Sang it to my dog when he had sunstroke, he loved it :)

MAIRZY DOATS
Merry Macs
- words and music by Milton Drake, AI Hoffman and Jerry Livingston
- featured by George Olsen and his Orchestra

I know a ditty nutty as a fruitcake
Goofy as a goon and silly as a loon
Some call it pretty, others call it crazy
But they all sing this tune:

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
Yes! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?

If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey
Sing "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy"

Oh! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you-oo?
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[asjr]

9. Oh, darn, you are too smart or did you google?

[qnr]

10. Nah, I have about 10,000 lyrics on one of my hard drives n/t

Edit: This I Googled though:

[Speck Tater]

4. On horse fleas is...

On horse fleas is,
in comb bees is,
on chest knob is,
in knob keys is.

The little kid kept singing that song and everyone thought she was singing in Latin, but she was really revealling the secret location of the key to something or other that solved some murder or mystery or something in some movie I saw when I was about 10 years old back in the early 1950's.

Anybody remember what movie that was?

[baldguy]

7. I learned it like this:

Mairzy doats and dozy doats
And liddle lamzy divey,
A kiddlely tivey too, wouldn't you?
Mairzy doats and dozy doats
And liddle lamzy divey,
A kiddlely tivey too, wouldn't you?

When I was five, it was real fun to sing - even though I had no clue what it meant until MUCH later.

[CBHagman]

11. And according to my mother, the rest of it went...

"Oh, frogs eat bugs and birds eat bugs,
And little dogs eat liver.
A kid'll eat liver, too.
Wouldn't you?"

On edit: I have no information on the dietary habits of little cats and turtles.