The Correct Verse Order (And I Will Fight You On This)

Right. This is the post I've been wanting to write since I built this site. This is the hill I will die on. This is the bog I will sink into. The correct verse order for The Rattlin' Bog is as follows, and I will accept NO substitutions:

The Correct Order

1. The Bog — "And in that bog there was a tree..."
2. The Tree — "And on that tree there was a limb..."
3. The Limb — "And on that limb there was a branch..."
4. The Branch — "And on that branch there was a twig..."
5. The Twig — "And on that twig there was a nest..."
6. The Nest — "And in that nest there was an egg..."
7. The Egg — "And in that egg there was a bird..."
8. The Bird — "And on that bird there was a feather..."
9. The Feather — "And on that feather there was a flea..."
10. The Flea — This is the peak. The summit. The greatest verse in the song.

And then the whole thing comes thundering back down: "And the flea on the hair and the hair on the feather and the feather on the bird and the bird in the egg and the egg in the nest and the nest on the twig and the twig on the branch and the branch on the limb and the limb on the tree and the tree in the bog and the bog down in the valley-o!"

Beautiful. Perfect. Correct.

"But Seamus, We Sing It Differently—"

I know. I KNOW. And look, I'm not saying your version is wrong exactly. I'm saying it's less right.

I've heard versions where the branch comes before the limb. That's backwards — a limb is bigger than a branch, the song zooms in as it goes. I've heard versions that skip the twig entirely. The TWIG! The twig is essential! Without the twig, how does the nest attach? Think about it for two seconds.

I've heard versions that go straight from bird to flea. What happened to the feather? You need the feather! The flea lives on the feather! Or on the hair on the feather, depending on your version. The point is, you can't just SKIP things.

The Logic of the Zoom

Here's what makes this order correct: it follows a logical zoom. You start with the biggest thing (the bog) and you get smaller and smaller with each verse. Bog to tree to limb to branch to twig — that's a clear progression from large to small. Then you shift from the tree structure to the life on it: nest, egg, bird. Then smaller again: feather, flea.

It's not random. There's a beautiful internal logic to it, and when people shuffle the order around, they break that logic. The song is a telescope, and each verse is a click of the lens, zooming in closer and closer until you're looking at a flea on a hair on a feather. That's REMARKABLE.

Regional Variations I've Heard

Now, in fairness, I have to acknowledge the regional variations. Different parts of Ireland — and England and Scotland too — have their own traditions:

• Some versions include "a hair on the flea" at the end, which I can accept
• Some versions add a "speck on the hair" — ambitious but risky at speed
• I've heard a version from Galway that puts the nest before the twig and I've had WORDS about it
• Some versions include a "bark on the tree" which is redundant when you've got limb and branch

My Final Position

Sing whatever version your family taught you. Sing whatever version your local session uses. I'm not the verse police. But if you ask me — and you did, because you're reading my website — the order I've listed above is correct, complete, and perfect.

It's the version my nan sang. It's the version we sing at Cruise's. It's the version that makes the most logical and musical sense.

And if you disagree, you know where the guestbook is.

Slan, BogLord2002

P.S. — If anyone sings "and in that flea there was a bog" to try to make it circular, I will leave the session. I will actually leave.