The earliest and simplest form in which the nursery song appears is the
lullaby, which may be defined a gentle song used for the purpose of
inducing sleep. The term was generally, though not exclusively, confined
to nurses:
Philomel, with melody
Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby.
The etymology is to be sought for in the verb _lull_, to sing gently,
which Douce thinks is connected with λαλεω or λάλλη.
One of the earliest nursery lullabies that have descended to our day
occurs in the play of Philotimus, 1583:
Trylle the ball againe my Jacke,
And be contente to make some play,
And I will lull thee on my lappe,
With hey be bird now say not nay.
Another is introduced into the comedy of Patient Grissel, printed in the
year 1603:
Hush, hush, hush, hush!
And I dance mine own child,
And I dance mine own child,
Hush, hush, hush, hush!