Ladybird rhyme

[bonzi!]

where did the rhyme "Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away home, your house is on fire and your children are at home" originate from, you would sing this then you would blow the ladybird of your hand, any ideas?

[nickmo]

This site says first seen 1865 http://www.rhymes.org.uk/ladybug_ladybug.htm but another says no known origin: http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/nursery_rhymes/ladybird_ladybird.htm and another comes up with : 'Dates to Pre-18th century Europe. This rhyme accompanies a game in which a child places a lady on her finger and says the verse. The bug then flies away or is shaken off.
It is believed to have originated as an ancient superstitious chant, possibly (with different words) to guide the sun through dusk into darkness, once regarded as a mysterious time when the sun �disappeared� for many hours'.
Like the bit that it 'may have had different words........'

[Narolines]

As I knew it as a kid, it was "your house is on fire and your children all gone".

[EllyD]

I think it is taken from a collection of old German children`s rhymes called Knaben Wunderhorn. Robert Schumann set the words - second verse of which is what we know as Ladybird, ladybird fly away home. Your house is on fire and your children are crying. My German is pretty awful but I bet some clever person from AB will know what the rest of it says. Good luck with the search!