I’d choose to be a baby

From Bodleian Ballads dated 1840-1866

I'd choose to be a baby, 
A pretty little flower, 
A plaything for the ladies – 
No care in childhood's hour. 
The ladies they would pet me 
And pat me on the brow,
And say I was a beauty
Why don't they do it now? 

I'd choose to be a baby, 
A pretty little flower, 
A plaything for the ladies – 
No care in childhood's hour. 

The girls would kiss and hug me, 
Saying "That's a dear, don't cry", 
And fondly lull me fast asleep,
And sing "Sweet lullaby" 
How they did press and cuddle me, 
Till I felt anyhow, 
Undress, and put me off to bed; 
I wish they do it now.

How they did love to get me,
And take me on their lap,
Then fill my little belly
With lollipops and Pap; 
They'd smother me with kisses,
And dress me fine somehow, 
Let me do whatever I liked,
I wish they do it now.

Oh, when I was a baby, 
They'd walk me out serene, 
They'd powder me and wash me, 
And keep me nice and clean; 
They'd praise my little figure, 
And kiss me on the brow, 
And wish they had one like me – 
Why don't they do it now 

As far as I know this song has not entered traditional singing directly, but it was a precursor of a very popular Music Hall song of the late 1880s and 1890s: I wish they’d do it now, which has had an impact on traditional singing.

The story of this song is a bit messy. There is a great deal of evidence that it was a popular song in the repertoire of EW Mackney, but it’s not entirely clear who wrote the words. The song took its tune from a popular minstrel song from the period, I’d choose to be a daisy (RNV263), written by Fred Buckley and in the repertoire of the minstrel troupe Buckley’s Serenaders. The Daisy version seems to have been published first in New York in 1858 , and the earliest printed evidence of it being performed in the UK I can find is as part of a burlesque opera in Liverpool in 1860:

The words of I’d choose to be a Daisy are very much what you would predict them to be from the title! It has the chorus:

I'd choose to be a Daisy
If I could be a flower
My petals closing softly
At twilight's silent hours
Broadside in Frank Kidson Collection at VWML

Its not surprising that the Daisy song was parodied and the Mackney song appears to have been written in around 1863. The earliest evidence of the parody Baby version is an advert for the sheet music:

I’d choose to be a baby was printed as Sheet music in the Musical Bouquet series in 1863 with words credited to “C Wright” and “Sung by Marcus Wilkinson and EW Mackney”, other sources might suggest the words were written by Mackney himself.

The authorship of the parody remains unclear, but it became almost as popular as the original song. There are numerous newspaper articles and adverts associating it with the singing of EW Mackey and it was subsequently published in a number of song sheets and songbooks on both sides of the Atlantic. Several song sheets published in the 1860s suggest that I’d choose to be a Baby should be sung to the tune of I’d choose to be Daisy, more evidence that the minstrel Daisy song came first. It appears that when the Baby song was reimported into the US, it was once again associated with Buckley’s name. Sheet music for I’d choose to be a Baby crediting Fred Buckley as composer was published in the US in 1864, using the same tune as the “Daisy” version.

Several variations on the words exist, the Vaughan Williams Memorial library has a longer version from the Frank Kidson collection. The early American vaudevillian , Tony Pastor wrote his own variation: