Over the river, and through the wood, 
With a clear blue winter sky, 
The dogs do bark,
And children hark, 
As we go jingling by. 

Over the river, and through the wood, 
To have a first-rate play — 
Hear the bells ring 
Ting a ling ding, 
Hurra for Thanksgiving day! 

Over the river, and through the wood — 
No matter for winds that blow; 
Or if we get 
The sleigh upset, 
Into a bank of snow. 

Over the river, and through the wood, 
To see little John and Ann; 
We will kiss them all, 
And play snow-ball, 
And stay as long as we can. 

Over the river, and through the wood, 
Trot fast, my dapple grey! 
Spring over the ground, 
Like a hunting hound, 
For ‘t is Thanksgiving day! 

Over the river, and through the wood, 
Old Jowler hears our bells; 
He shakes his pow, 
With a loud bow wow, 
And thus the news he tells. 

Over the river, and through the wood, 
And straight through the barn-yard gate; 
We seem to go 
Extremely slow, 
It is so hard to wait. 

Over the river, and through the wood — 
When grandmother sees us come, 
She will say, Oh dear, 
The children are here, 
Bring a pie for every one. 

Over the river, and through the wood — 
Now grandmother’s cap I spy! 
Hurra for the fun! 
Is the pudding done? 
Hurra for the pumpkin pie! 

American-Born Thanksgiving Song: Over The River and Through the Woods

Gwen Berry

“Over the River and Through the Woods” is a classic Thanksgiving song that many of us grew up singing. The song describes the excitement of bundling up and riding a horse-drawn sleigh to visit Grandmother for Thanksgiving. In case you never learned it, don’t remember it, or haven’t heard it in a while, you can listen to the song here:  https://youtu.be/Zl5r76hVYF0?si=OsgbgnIOdHB5bTWG. There are lots of renditions of the song on YouTube and other places, but this is one of my favorites.

“Over the River and Through the Wood” was originally titled, “The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day.” It was a poem written by Lydia Maria Child and published in her 1844 book of poems, Flowers for Children, Volume 2. The poem celebrated going to family gatherings for Thanksgiving at her grandfather’s house in Medford, Massachusetts. In time, Child’s poem was set to music by an unknown composer. It became popular after the Civil War, and by the turn of the century it was a classroom standard. 

Over the years, the song has taken on a few adaptations. The end of the first line was changed from “wood” to “woods,” to match modern American English; and although most of us know the words as “to Grandmother’s house we go,” the original poem read “to Grandfather’s house we go.” In addition, lines about Christmas are sometimes substituted in place of Thanksgiving. For instance, the line “Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!” becomes “Hurrah for Christmas Day!” 

The original poem had twelve stanzas, though only four are typically included in the song. With twelve  to choose from, you can guess that current arrangements don’t all contain the same ones. Actually, most people have been unaware that there were originally twelve. In 1871, six of the stanzas were published as a book with the name, “Over the River and Through the Wood.” Beautifully illustrated with woodcuts by Christopher Manson, it became widely known, and so for a long time eclipsed the original poem.

Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was born in Medford, Massachusetts, where her grandfather’s house still stands. Much more than an author of children’s poems, Lydia Maria Child was one of the first American women to earn a living through writing. She wrote novels, pamphlets, and works for children. She was also an activist, and often used her writing to advocate for slaves, women, and Native Americans.

Interestingly, during the author’s childhood in the early 1800s, Thanksgiving was a regional holiday mostly celebrated in New England. On April 13, 1815, President James Madison declared it a national day of thanksgiving to celebrate the end of the War of 1812. It wasn’t until November 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln reserved the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving.

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