Little Johnny's History Lesson!

[HARDCORE]

Got this from an 86 year old veteran I know. [WWII & Korea]. He was taught this little ditty away back in 1926, but said that the rhyme was very old, even when he first learned it!

?I just thought that you all might get a chuckle out of it, and it is a departure, after-all, from the drum that I usually bang upon!"
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"1492 (or "Johnny's Hist'ry Lesson", if you prefer) by Nixon Waterman

I think of all the things at school
A boy has got to do,
That studyin' hist'ry, as a rule,
Is worst of all, don't you?
Of dates there are an aweful sight,
An' though I study day and night,
There's only one I've got just right,
That's fourteen ninety-two.

Columbus crossed the Delaware
In fourteen ninety-two,
We whipped the British, fair and square,
In fourteen ninety-two,
At Concord an' at Lexington
We kept the redcoats on the run
While the band played "Johnny Get Your Gun",
In fourteen ninty-two.

Pat Henry, with his dying breath-
In fourteen ninety-two-
Said "Gimme liberty or death!"
In fourteen ninety-two.
An' Barbara Fritchie, so 'tis said,
Cried, "Shoot if you must this old gray head,
But I'd rather 'twould be your own instead!"
In fourteen ninety-two.

The Pilgrims came to Plymouth Rock
In fourteen ninety-two,
Ab' the Indians standin' on the dock
Aske d, "What are you going to do?"
An' they said, "We seek your harbor drear
May boast that their forefathers landed here
In fourteen ninety-two.

Miss Pocahontas saved a life,
In fourteen ninety-two,
Of John Smith, an' became his wife,
In fourteen ninety-two,
An' the Smith tribe started than an' there,
An now there are John Smiths everywhere,
But they didn't haev any Smiths to spare
In fourteen ninety-two.

Kentucky was settled by Daniel Boone
In fourteen ninety-two,
An' I think the cow jumped over the moon
In fourteen ninety-two,
Ben Franklin flew his kite so high
He drew the lightning from the sky,
An' Washington couldn't tell a lie,
In fourteen ninety-two....

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This was taken, word for word as it appeared - honest. Besides, I don't spell this good!

VERITAS

[HARDCORE]

I went down (today) to visit with the grand old gent who originally related the poem "Johnny's History Lesson (1492)" to me. He handed me a hand-written copy of the verse, the way it was meant to be.

As such, I have taken the liberty of posting the corrected (full) copy on line. I thought that it was cute and worth reading?!

[HARDCORE]

Thought you guys would like to read this again!!!!

[Gail in WI]

I learned this poem as a child. My father had it in a book from the early 1900's. You are missing a line in the stanza on the Pilgrims. I've revised it to match my memory as shown below:


The Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock
In fourteen ninety-two,
An' the Indian standin' on the dock
Asked, "What'cha goin' to do?"
An' they said, "We seek your harbor drear fficeffice" />>>
that our children’s children’s children dear
May boast that their forefathers landed here
In fourteen ninety-two.

I googled Johnny's history lesson because I had forgotten part of it, and found your site. I wanted to thank you for posting it, so I joined.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Gail in WI