Perrie, Merrie Dixi, Domini- Hubbard (MA) c.1900 Linscott
[From Linscott; Folk Songs of Old New England. Mrs. Elizabeth Anna Wheeler Hubbard of Taunton, Massachusetts, probably heard this from her father, Dr. Edward Reed Wheeler of Spencer, Massachusetts. According to Linscott, Elizabetth's ten year old daughter was singing it as a lullaby.
Elizabeth was born in Elmira, New York. c. 1873 and became the wife of Frank Allen Hubbard, 30 June, 1896. Daughter of Edward Reed Wheeler and Anna Eloise Field, his wife, she was the granddaughter of Walter Field and Mary Holton, his wife.
I'm guestimating a date of c. 1900 but it could be 20 years older.
R. Matteson 2014]
Perrie, Merrie Dixi, Domini
1. I had four brothers over the sea,
Perrie, merrie, dixi, Domini;
And they sent a present unto me,
Petrum, partrum, Paradisi, tempore,
Perrie, merrie, dixi, Domini.
2. The first sent a cherry without any stone,
Perrie, merrie, dixi, Domini;
The second seat a chicken without a bone
Petrum, partrum, Paradisi, tempore,
Perrie, merrie, dixi, Domini.
3. The third sent a blanket without any thread,
Perrie, merrie, dixi, Domini;
The fourth sent a book that no man had read,
Petrum, partrum, Paradisi, tempore,
Perrie, merrie, dixi, Domini.
4. When the cherry's in blossom, there is no stone,
Perrie, merrie, dixi, Domini;
When the chicken's in the egg, there is no bone,
Petrum, partrum, Paradisi, tempore,
Perrie, merrie, dixi, Domini.
5. When the blanket's on the sheep's back there is no thread,
Perrie, rnerrie, dixi, Domini,
When the book is in the press, then no man hath read,
Petrum, partrum, Paradisi, tempore,
Perrie, merrie, dixi, Domini.