Question from Sandra - Old rhyme about Henry VIII
posted by Lara | 2:52 PM
Can anyone help me with this one. I remember from school part of a poem about Henry VIII it goes like this
"Bluff King Hal was full of beans, he married half a dozen queens, for 3 called Kate he cried the banns, 1 called Jane and a couple of Annes."
Can you help with the rest of the verses it goes on to describe all the wifes and what happened to them. I would love to get the rest of the words for my children as I think it is a great way to remember and help them with their history.
"Bluff King Hal was full of beans, he married half a dozen queens, for 3 called Kate he cried the banns, 1 called Jane and a couple of Annes."
Can you help with the rest of the verses it goes on to describe all the wifes and what happened to them. I would love to get the rest of the words for my children as I think it is a great way to remember and help them with their history.
3 Comments:
I found this by using the first line of the poem as a phrase for a Google search:
Bluff King Hal was full of beans
He married half a dozen queens
For three called Kate they cried the banns
And one called Jane, and a couple of Annes.
The first he asked to share his reign
Was Kate of Aragon, straight from Spain
But when his love for her was spent
He got a divorce, and out she went.
Anne Boleyn was his second wife.
He swore to cherish her all his life,
But seeing a third, he wished instead
He chopped off poor Anne Boleyn’s head.
He married the next afternoon
Jane Seymour, which was rather soon,
But after one year as his bride
She crept into her bed and died.
Anne of Cleves was number four.
Her portrait thrilled him to the core,
But when he met her face to face
Another royal divorce took place.
Catherine Howard, number five,
Billed and cooed to keep alive.
But one day Henry felt depressed,
The executioner did the rest.
Sixth and last was Catherine Parr
Sixth and last and luckiest far
For this time it was Henry who
Hopped the twig, and a good job too.
I remember parts of this poem from school but thought the teacher had made it up. No one else I met knew anything about it but I have always loved poetry and have found many poems by doing a Google search on a line or part of a line. It's wonderful to find them.
I've just seen 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. I assured my friend that Henry had 6 wives and started to recite this poem but couldn't remember the final verse. I Googled the first line of the poem and couldn't believe that someone else 'out there' also new this one - after all I'm 52! Thank you for filling in the gaps.
Debra
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